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Big Books of the Week

Suspects by Danielle Steel (Delacorte) leads holds this week.

Other titles in demand include:

The Locked Room by Elly Griffiths (Morrow)

Red on the River by Christine Feehan (Berkley)

The Girl Who Survived by Lisa Jackson (Kensington)

Hatchet Island by Paul Doiron (Minotaur)

These books and others publishing the week of June 27, 2022 are listed in a downloadable spreadsheet.

Librarians and Booksellers Suggest

Three LibraryReads and five Indie Next picks arrive this week:

The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston (Berkley)

“What would you do if your editor demands that you deliver a finished romance novel tomorrow, but you think romance is dead? And what if he turns up as a ghost on your doorstep the next day? An unputdownable romance that is also about family and death, reconciliation and creativity, stress and the supernatural. For fans of The Love Hypothesis and Go Hex Yourself.”—Rebecca Whalon, Lakeland Public Library, Lakeland, FL

It is also an Indie Next pick:

“I never thought I’d gush over a romance set in a funeral home featuring a ghost. In a plethora of romcoms, The Dead Romantics stands out for being light in humor but deep in feeling. It truly will linger long after you finish the book.”—Chanpreet Singh, Eagle Eye Book Shop, Decatur, GA

The Measure by Nikki Erlick (Morrow)

“Imagine receiving a mysterious string that tells you exactly how long you’ll live. Now imagine everyone in the world getting their own string. This is the type of book that changes your thoughts on life and lingers for a long time. Perfect for book clubs who loved The Immortalists and The Age of Miracles.”—Karen Troutman, Walton Tipton Township Library, Walton IN

The Locked Room by Elly Griffiths (Morrow)

“A new neighbor moves in next door to Ruth Galloway, while Nelson and his team investigate a string of suicides that may be murders. However, England goes into COVID lockdowns. This book integrates the pandemic in a way that is both familiar and terrible. There is less archaeology than in Griffith’s other books, but it doesn't suffer for it. Highly recommended for mystery lovers.”—Amy Gray, Avon Lake Public Library, Avon Lake, OH

Four additional Indie Next picks publish this week:

X by Davey Davis (Catpult)

“Dark, gay, hot, and exquisitely twisted — this is the gay lit I’ve been achingly ready for; lovingly authentic, lovingly grotesque, and utterly disinterested in being ‘good’ representation—Kyra Rathmann, Letters Bookshop, Durham, NC

American Royalty by Tracey Livesay (Avon)

“A British Prince falls for an American Rapper? Yes, please! I adored the premise of this story and the characters were so lovable and fun. Highly enjoyed it and will be talking about it nonstop!”—Jen Miller, Old Town Books, Alexandria, VA

The Angel of Rome : And Other Stories by Jess Walter (Harper)

“The first sentences in this astonishing collection dare you not to read further. Walter exposes his characters for what they are in subtle and startling ways. The stories are profound, hilarious, and suspenseful, leaving us wisdom.”—Alice Meyer, Beaverdale Books, Des Moines, IA

Elsewhere by Alexis Schaitkin (Celadon; LJ starred review)

“Timeless! Beautifully haunting! All of the comparisons are apt — this is a modern day ‘The Lottery’ penned in gorgeous prose, with an underlying mystery that is a thrill to untangle.”—Chelsea Berry, Bull Moose, Portland, ME

In the Media

The People "Picks" book of the week is Horse by Geraldine Brooks (Viking; LJ starred review). Also getting attention are Girls They Write Songs About by Carlene Bauer (Farrar), and Rough Draft by Katy Tur (One Signal). The “Beach Bag Books” picks are Island Time by Georgia Clark (Atria: Emily Bestler Books), This Might Be Too Personal: And Other Intimate Stories by Alyssa Shelasky (St. Martin’s Griffin; LJ starred review), and Vacationland by Meg Mitchell Moore (Morrow). 

The “Picks” section spotlights The Phantom of the Open, based on the book by Simon Farnaby and Scott Murray. Plus, to celebrate Sir Paul McCartney’s birthday, People recommends the coffee table book Paul, with photographs by Harry Benson (TASCHEN).

Reviews

NYT reviews Girls They Write Songs About by Carlene Bauer (Farrar); “is a love story about two friends, but it’s also something thornier — a narrative about the cycles of enchantment, disenchantment and re-enchantment that make up a life.” And, The Angel of Rome: And Other Stories by Jess Walter (Harper): “The stories in The Angel of Rome are largehearted and wonderfully inventive. They can be savored at the dentist’s office, or anywhere, without an eye on the clock.” Also, In the Houses of Their Dead: The Lincolns, the Booths, and the Spirits by Terry Alford (Liveright: Norton): “a well-sourced if slight piece of sideways biography that often strains to justify its thesis, but makes a lively study of two wildly disparate clans nonetheless.”

NPR reviews Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks by Patrick Radden Keefe (Doubleday): “Rogues is a wonderful book, not only because Keefe's prose is masterful, but because he has a preternatural gift for reading people.” And, Learning To Talk: Stories by Hilary Mantel (Holt; LJ starred review): “Learning to Talk is a lovely book, quiet but intense in its own way, and it proves — once again — that Mantel is one of the finest English-language authors working today.”

The Washington Post reviews Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh (Penguin Pr.; LJ starred review): “With its determined anomie and its coldly beautiful sentences, this fable is in service to a stunning, hard, insistent worship of misanthropy.”

USA Today shares the 4-star reviewed rom-coms of the year.

Briefly Noted

The Firecracker Award winners are announced. 

Winners of the 2021 Analog AnLab Awards are announced. 

ALA’s The Scoop blogs from the 2022 Annual Conference.

NPR reports on author protests over Amazon’s read and return e-book policy.

Lidia Yuknavitich discusses her new novel Thrust (Riverhead), “the slipperiness of language, and why she doesn't believe in linear time,” with LA Times.

Salon talks with Michael Slepian, author of The Secret Life of Secrets: How Our Inner Worlds Shape Well-Being, Relationships, and Who We Are (Crown), about “what we're all hiding from each other, and why.”

Slate talks with Carter Bays about the “pleasure of interconnected plot lines, and the How I Met Your Mother Easter eggs” in his new novel, The Mutual Friend (Dutton).

The Washington Post appreciates newly released editions of author Betty Howland’s books including, Things to Come and Go (A Public Space Books: Ingram).

Entertainment Weekly shares new illustrations by Alan Lee from J.R.R. Tolkein’s The Fall of Númenor (Morrow).

Bustle offers an excerpt from Lauren Rae’s forthcoming book, Love, Wine, and Other Highs: A Kind Of Memoir (Little A: Amazon), due out July 1.

NYT updates its article “Ten Books to Understand the Abortion Debate in the United States.”

USA Today picks five books for the week.

CrimeReads suggests 10 books out this week.

NYT shares summer romance recommendations.

The Guardian has a summer booklist: “the 50 hottest new books for a great escape.” Plus, Bernardine Evaristo, Hilary Mantel, David Nicholls and more, recommend their summer picks.

CrimeReads writes about the dangers of conspiracy fiction.

Vogue asks: “Is This the Golden Era of Queer Literature?”

Joe Hill explains changes to his short story ‘The Black Phone’, at Vanity Fair.

The Atlantic posits “Empathy Isn’t Enough” in its latest “Books Briefing."

People suggests the best Jane Austen adaptations to watch before the new Persuasion movie releases.

“Baxter Black, trail boss of the cowboy poets, dies at 77.” The Washington Post has an obituary.

Authors On Air

Screenwriter Abi Morgan will adapt, direct, and executive produce an adaptation of her book, This Is Not a Pity Memoir (Mariner: Houghton Harcourt), for TV.  Deadline reports. 

“The first 'Harry Potter' book was published 25 years ago in the U.K.” NPR’s Morning Edition reflects on this milestone.

Patrick Radden Keefe, Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks (Doubleday), will visit with Seth Meyers tomorrow night. 

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