News - Literary News

News - Literary News

THE PROPHETS by Robert Jones, Jr.
August 13, 2021

New York Times bestselling debut novel, THE PROPHETS by Robert Jones, Jr. continues to be featured on many LGBTQ+ summer reading list roundups. TheGrio featured the novel on their Pride summer list, calling THE PROPHETS “spectacular. . . An intimate, poetic, queer love story and a detailed and excruciating portrait of life on a Mississippi plantation. Jones excels at ensemble storytelling, treating each character with compassion while also being brutally unsparing about the system they’re living under and the harmful compromises people living under this system sometimes made to survive.” TheBody.com also featured the novel on their list of 5 Essential Summer Reads by Queer Authors. Putnam Books published the novel on January 5, 2021.

NOW BEACON, NOW SEA by Christopher Sorrentino
August 13, 2021

Christopher Sorrentino's forthcoming memoir received a great review in Shelf Awareness. The reviewer describes the book as "Sagacious and heartbreaking . . . Christopher Sorrentino has written a stunning, gutting memoir about his life as the son of a chronically depressed mother and a celebrated writer father."
Catapult publishes the memoir on September 7, 2021.

TELL ME LIES by Carola Lovering
August 9, 2021

Deadline, Variety, and The Hollywood Reporter announced on August 3 that Carola Lovering’s TELL ME LIES has received a full season order from Hulu, with Emma Roberts executive producing, and Lovering herself serving as consulting producer. This series will be the first project launched via Belletrist’s first-look deal with Hulu, and Grace Van Patten is set to star in the lead role. Atria published TELL ME LIES on June 12, 2018, and St. Martin’s published Lovering’s latest novel, TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, on March 2, 2021.

TOMATOES FOR NEELA by Padma Lakshmi
August 9, 2021

Called “a graceful nod to the concept of food as a mode of global connection “ by Booklist, TOMATOES FOR NEELA is a celebration of food family and culture was written by Padma Lakshmi (Host of Top Chef and Taste the Nation) and illustrated by Caldecott Honor Winner, Juana Martinez-Neal. Viking Books for Young Readers publishes the hardcover August 31, 2021.

THE FINAL REVIVAL OF OPAL & NEV by Dawnie Walton
August 9, 2021

Kirkus Reviews editors featured THE FINAL REVIVAL OF OPAL & NEV by Dawnie Walton on their list of Historical Fiction Headed in New Directions.
37 Ink published the novel March 30, 2021.

BROTHER, SISTER, MOTHER, EXPLORER by Jamie Figueroa
August 9, 2021

Keenan Norris, author of The Confession of Copeland Cane recommended Jamie Figueroa's debut novel, BROTHER, SISTER, MOTHER, EXPLORER in a list of Books by Black Latinx authors for Electric Literature. Catapult published the novel March 2, 2021.

HEAVY: AN AMERICAN MEMOIR by Kiese Laymon
August 9, 2021

Today.com editors recommended HEAVY by Kiese Laymon in a round-up, calling the memoir "powerful, honest and vulnerable." Scribner published the memoir March 5, 2019.

July 30, 2021

#1 New York Times bestselling author Elin Hilderbrand chose Georgia Clark’s delightful rom-com, IT HAD TO BE YOU, as the July pick for her Literati book club. Clark and Hilderbrand hosted a live event via Crowdcast to discuss Clark’s book, as well as other smart, elevated beach reads that are perfect for the summer. Emily Bestler Books published the novel on May 4, 2021.

July 30, 2021

THE ONES WHO DON'T SAY THEY LOVE YOU by Maurice Carlos Ruffin was featured in the AV Club's preview of must-reads for August. The reviewer writes: “Sometimes a story—or any short piece of writing—can get by on the strength of a single scrap of language, be it an unusual description or surprising line of dialogue. In the title short story of Maurice Carlos Ruffin’s debut collection, such a moment comes just after a john approaches a young sex worker on the street and wonders aloud why he’s the only one there. ‘I’m the onliest one you need,’ he hauntingly responds. In THE ONES WHO DON'T SAY THEY LOVE YOU—which follows Ruffin’s novel WE CAST A SHADOW, a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner and the PEN/Open Book Awards—the writer traces the lives of a cast of characters living on the margins in his hometown of New Orleans.” One World publishes the book August 17, 2021.

July 23, 2021

Danielle Steel’s latest novel, NINE LIVES, will make its debut on the New York Times Bestseller list for the week of July 25th. The book will debut at number 2 on the Combined Print & E-book Fiction list, and at number 3 on the Hardcover Fiction list. Delacorte Press published the book on July 6, 2021.