News in May 2021

News in May 2021

27th May, 2021

TIME magazine featured CHINA ROOM by Sunjeev Sahota on its list of “36 New Books You Need to Read This Summer," praising the way Sahota “examines agency, power and human connection.” Viking will publish the novel on July 13, 2021.

27th May, 2021

THE PROPHETS by Robert Jones Jr. was featured on Goodread’s list of “9 Books that Goodreads Editors Highly Recommend.” Senior Editor Cybil Wallace raves: “Believe the hype, folks! This buzzy debut was one of the first books I read in 2021 and it's pretty much set an impossibly high bar for the rest of the year. Chronicling a gorgeous love story between two enslaved Black men on a Mississippi plantation, with a large and memorable cast of secondary characters, THE PROPHETS is by turns brutal and beautiful.” G.P. Putnam’s Sons published the book on January 5, 2021.

27th May, 2021

THE PRETTIEST STAR by Carter Sickels is a fiction finalist for the 2021 Ohioana Book Awards. The winners will be announced in July, and an awards ceremony is set for October 14th at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus. Hub City Press published the book on May 19, 2020.

21th May, 2021

Alex McElroy’s debut novel, THE ATMOSPHERIANS, launched this week to much fanfare. The A.V. Club offered a glowing review, calling the novel “bold, mischievous, and brilliant,” and McElroy sat down for interviews with BOMB Magazine and The Rumpus to discuss their process in crafting their first book. McElroy also published original pieces in BuzzFeed and Literary Hub, and has essays forthcoming in Esquire, Vulture, The Atlantic, GQ, Harper’s Bazaar, and The Cut. McElroy’s virtual book tour includes events with Kristin Arnett, T Kira Madden, Alex Higley, Lauren Oyler, and other amazing fellow authors. Atria Books published the novel on May 18, 2021.

21th May, 2021

EVERYBODY by Oliva Laing continues to gain glowing reviews. The New Yorker raves: "EVERYBODY possesses a looseness, richness, and abundance of originality…One does not expect a political study to perform such sharp close readings of art and literature, or to describe emotions so elegantly…Line by line and thought by thought, Laing writes with surgical discipline." Meanwhile, The Guardian writes: “Laing’s impassioned commitment to the promise of bodily freedom, of every body’s right to move and feel and love without harming or being harmed, shines through every sentence of the book. But she is too canny a writer to miss the rich and bitter irony in which efforts to realise this promise so often get caught: every movement to liberate the body comes to be marked in some way by the constrictive regime it’s trying to escape.” W.W. Norton & Company published the book on May 4, 2021.

21th May, 2021

CHILD OF LIGHT, the first novel in a new fantasy series by Terry Brooks, received a glowing review from Publishers Weekly. They write: “[Brooks] offers an enticing new mystery while delivering enough familiar elements—in both tone and worldbuilding—to make his fans feel right at home…Brooks’s fans will be thrilled to have a new series to savor.” Del Rey will publish the book on October 12, 2021.

21th May, 2021

GOLDEN GATES author Conor Dougherty was honored with a SABEW Best in Business award in the Real Estate – Large Division category for his 2020 coverage of housing and the pandemic for the New York Times. Penguin Press published Golden Gates on February 18, 2020.

21th May, 2021

Craig Davidson’s short story collection CASCADE is a finalist for the 2021 Trillium Book Award, Ontario's “leading award for literature" that was established to "recognize excellence, support marketing and foster increased public awareness of the quality and diversity of Ontario writers and writing.” They praise: “Reminiscent of Stephen King's brilliantly cinematic short stories that went on to inspire films such as THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION and STAND BY ME, here's a collection crackling with Craig Davidson's superb craft and kinetic energy: in the visceral, crystalline, steel-tipped prose; in the psychological perspicacity; and in the endearing humour.” Knopf Canada published the book on August 18, 2020.

21th May, 2021

Bloomberg Businessweek featured an excerpt from Lauren Etter’s upcoming THE DEVIL’S PLAYBOOK. Crown will publish the book on May 25, 2021.

21th May, 2021

The New York Times featured Matt Bell’s APPLESEED on their list of most-anticipated summer reads, writing: “With its urgent warnings about our ecological future, this novel may not be textbook escapist reading, but it conjures up thought-provoking, immersive worlds.” Custom House will publish the novel on July 13, 2021.

21th May, 2021

Wallpaper featured Rosecrans Baldwin's EVERYTHING NOW on their list of “Architecture Books to Inspire Shelf Love.” They write: "Rosecrans Baldwin is a talented writer who is intrigued, rather than infuriated, by [Los Angeles’] eccentricities. Like many of his creative peers, he’s not a native Angeleno, but as an accomplished essayist and writer of fiction, Baldwin’s outsider status gives him a perfect vantage point to challenge, embrace or confront what it means to live in LA in the 21st century...This episodic piece of narrative non-fiction sub-divides the urban experience into personal vignettes, filtered through the city’s copious literature and the many voices Baldwin meets on his quest to understand LA.” MCD will publish the book on June 15, 2021.

21th May, 2021

Indigo named Robert Jones Jr.’s THE PROPHETS as one of their “Best Books of 2021 So Far,” calling the book “[a] singular and stunning debut novel.” G.P. Putnam’s published the novel on January 5, 2021.