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Big Books of the Week

The Five-Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand (Little, Brown; LJ starred review), leads holds this week.

Other titles in demand include:

Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood (Berkley; LJ starred review)

Private Moscow by James Patterson (Grand Central)

The Sweetheart List by Jill Shalvis (Avon)

The Spectacular by Fiona Davis (Dutton)

These books and others publishing the week of June 12, 2023, are listed in a downloadable spreadsheet.

Librarians and Booksellers Suggest

Five LibraryReads and four Indie Next picks publish this week:

The Spectacular by Fiona Davis (Dutton)

“Marion Brooks loves to dance. This is the 1950s though, and her father is not so thrilled but she has been able to balance her love of dance and family by teaching in a dance studio. When she sees an opportunity to try out for the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes, Marion decides to go for it, and succeeds. Unexpectedly, after a serial bomber strikes Radio City with tragic results, Marion and her friend Peter investigate.”—Joan Hipp, Florham Park Public Library

Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood (Berkley; LJ starred review)

“Theoretical physicist Elsie Hannaway works as both an adjunct professor and fake girlfriend. This works out fine until she has to contend with Jack Smith, the arrogant experimental physicist who is her professional enemy. Hazelwood makes it easy to get wrapped up in this science-based story with her relatable and witty characters. This is a quick and easy read; a good heartfelt book.”—Elisabeth Byers, Prairie du Chien Memorial Library

It is also an Indie Next pick:

“Love, Theoretically combines meme-based humor, sizzling romantic tension, soul-searching personal growth, and blazing critiques of the glaring disparities in academia. This book isn’t just awesome in theory — it’s a proven fact!”—Sarah Knapp, Inkwood Books, Haddonfield, NJ

The Five-Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand (Little, Brown; LJ starred review)

“When popular food blogger Hollis Shaw unexpectedly becomes a widow, she decides to move on by inviting four friends from different phases of life to spend an all-expenses paid weekend together. Hollis hires her daughter to film the weekend—which turns out to be full of secrets, deceptions, and surprises. Highly recommended for readers who enjoy novels about women’s friendships.”—Sandy Ruhmann, Allen Park Public Library

Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World by Christian Cooper (Random)

“This book is such a great mix of memoir, travelog, and birding. Cooper has lived such a varied life: the infamous viral moment in 2020 is definitely not the most interesting thing about him. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Cooper’s family, his jobs and freelancing at Marvel, his travels around the world his spiritual musings, his experiences through 9/11, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the larger story of what happened in Central Park that fateful day. Filled with empathy, humor, nature, and hard-won wisdom, I recommend this to readers who enjoy well-written non-fiction.”—Migdalia Jimenez, LibraryReads Board Member

Much Ado About Nada by Uzma Jalaluddin (Berkley)

“Jalaluddin updates Jane Austen’s Persuasion to Toronto’s Muslim community, where software engineer Nada, still stinging from a professional disappointment, is unexpectedly reunited with a former flame. Switching between past and present, this second-chance romance shines with humor and heart and is perfect for anyone looking for a sweetly sexy summer read.”—Annabelle Mortensen, LibraryReads Board Member

Three additional Indie Next picks publish this week:

The Puzzle Master by Danielle Trussoni (Random)

“Danielle Trussoni has written a page turner that I’m so excited to share with readers! The combination of the world of puzzles with beautiful writing, suspense, and fascinating characters make this a novel I can’t stop thinking about.”—Sue Kowalski, The Bookstore of Glen Ellyn, Glen Ellyn, IL

Leg: The Story of a Limb and the Boy Who Grew from It by Greg Marshall (Abrams)

“Fans of David Sedaris and R. Eric Thomas will love this memoir of a man who loved creating and acting from a young age. The family is hilarious, and I loved that Greg being gay was no big deal — just one part of a moving, touching story.”—Sissy Gardner, Parnassus Books, Nashville, TN

Psyche and Eros by Luna McNamara (Morrow)

“A lovely tale of different forms of love. Female heroine, Psyche, is strong, sure of herself, and brave. Eros makes us question what makes life worth living and how love affects us. Together, it’s a love story that will wrap you in its arms.”—Baylee Miller, Schuler Books, Grand Rapids, MI

In The Media

People’s book of the week is You Can Trust Me by Wendy Heard (Bantam). Also getting attention are Loot by Tania James (Knopf), and Charm City Rocks: A Love Story by Matthew Norman (Dell; LJ starred review). A “New in Nonfiction” section highlights Rocky Mountain High: A Tale of Boom and Bust in the New Wild West by Finn Murphy (Norton), and What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World’s Most Enigmatic Birds by Jennifer Ackerman (Penguin Pr.). The Star pick by Katie Couric is On Fire Island by Jane L. Rosen (Berkley). 

The “Picks” section spotlights Hulu’s Flamin’ Hot, based on the memoir A Boy, a Burrito and a Cookie: From Janitor to Executive by Richard Montañez, and Apple TV+’s The Crowded Room, based on the true-crime book The Minds of Billy Milligan by Daniel Keyes. There is a feature on Elliot Page and his new memoir, Pageboy (Flatiron). Plus, Catherine McCord, Meal Prep Magic: Time-Saving Tricks for Stress-Free Cooking (Abrams), shares a recipe. 

Reviews

NYT reviews To Name the Bigger Lie: A Memoir in Two Stories by Sarah Viren (Scribner): “She seems to be saying that creating art is as much meaning as we can hope for in this world. This might sound self-congratulatory, but it struck me as the ideal ending for this ouroboros of a book”; Wannabe: Reckonings with the Pop Culture That Shapes Me by Aisha Harris (HarperOne): “For readers already inclined to read culture to understand themselves, Wannabe is a compelling affirmation that they’re looking in the right place”; Mozart in Motion: His Work and His World in Pieces by Patrick Mackie (Farrar): “Mackie’s assertions about the ways Mozart’s identification with his era come through in the music are intriguing and insightful, even when overly sweeping and, at times, too speculative”; and You Can’t Stay Here Forever by Katherine Lin (Harper): “Lin expends more narrative energy interrogating Ellie’s inner life than Ian’s infidelity, crafting a subtle, character-driven story about interracial marriage.”

The Washington Post reviews Notes on Complexity: A Scientific Theory of Connection, Consciousness, and Being by Neil Theise (Spiegel & Grau): “The sheer density of Theise’s insights occasionally makes them difficult to parse, but time spent reading this slender work offers a compelling retreat into the exhilarating and oddly reassuring world of complexity.” Plus, two new books by Jade McGlynn: Memory Makers: The Politics of the Past in Putin’s Russia (Bloomsbury Academic) and Russia’s War (Polity): “Her insightful and creative analysis suggests that we are in for a long conflict not just over the fate of Ukraine, but also over how differing memories of the past will continue to shape the future.”

The Guardian reviews I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home by Lorrie Moore (Knopf): “I Am Homeless is a triumph of tone and, ultimately, of the imagination. For Moore, death doesn’t necessarily mark the end of a story.”

Briefly Noted

Elizabeth Gilbert announced that she will remove her previously announced forthcoming novel, The Snow Forest, from its publication schedule, due to reader feedback.   

The 2023 Griffin Poetry Prize is awarded to Best Barbarian by Roger Reeves.  

Norton celebrates 100 years. NYT reflects.

E.U. Approves Vivendi Purchase of Lagardère. Publishers Lunch reports. 

USA Today shares 5 books for the week. 

CrimeReads has 10 new books for the week. 

Tor offers “Twelve Books About Mermaids, Sirens, and Sea Gods.”

Astronomer Owen Gingerich dies at 93. NYT has an obituary. 

Authors On Air

NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour host Aisha Harris talks about her new book, Wannabe: Reckonings with the Pop Culture That Shapes Me (HarperOne), with NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday. 

Sarafina El-Badry Nance discusses her new memoir, Starstruck: A Memoir of Astrophysics and Finding Light in the Dark (Dutton), with NPR’s Short Wave. 

Bonnie Garmus talks about “constructive anger” with CBS Sunday Morning, as her novel’s adaptation, Lessons in Chemistry, arrives on Apple+ this fall.

PBS Canvas recaps the Tony Awards. 

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