Our picks panel could hardly contain itself this week, putting together a list of 25 adult titles (and four kids’), with something for just about every kind of reader out there. There’s big new fiction from John Grisham and Ron Rash; intriguing fiction debuts from poets Jeet Thayil (Indian underworld period piece Narcopolis—see our excerpt) and Regina O’Melveny (Venetian medical period piece The Book of Madness and Cures); urban fantasy from Alaya Johnson and newcomer Suzanne Johnson (Royal Street); edgy YA novels from Pete Hautman and Elizabeth Hand; enlightening commentary in The Social Conquest of Earth and the second edition of Susan Sontag’s journals, As Consciousness is Harnessed to Flesh; hot new memoirs from music legend Carole King and lit agent Bill Clegg; a chronicle of the world’s biggest dog and a survey of the world’s lost species; a memoir of Iran; reference titles for writers, foodies, and the dying; esoteric nonfiction from Terry Tempest Williams; and the usual lineup of thrillers and mysteries, this week from vets S.J. Parris, Phillip Kerr, and debut authors Mark Allen Smith and Patrick Flanery. Plus—dare we say it?—even more.
Adults
April 9
Calico Joe by John Grisham (Doubleday, $24.95; ISBN 978-0385536073). Embargoed.
The Social Conquest of Earth by Edward O. Wilson (Norton/Liveright, $27.95; ISBN 978-0-87140-413-8).
April 10
No One Has to Die Alone: Preparing for a Meaningful Deathby Lani Leary (Atria/Beyond Words, $15; ISBN 978-1-58270-352-7).
Sacrilege by S.J. Parris (Doubleday, $26.95; ISBN 978-0-385-53547-2).
The Cove by Ron Rash (Ecco, $25.99; ISBN 978-0-06-180419-9).
When Women Were Birds: Fifty-Four Variations on Voice by Terry Tempest Williams (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $24; ISBN 978-0-3742-8897-6).
As Consciousness Is Harnessed to Flesh: Journals and Notebooks, 1964-1980 Susan Sontag, edited by David Rieff (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $26; ISBN 978-0-374-10076-6).
We Heard the Heavens Then: A Memoir of Iran by Aria Minu-Sepehr (Free Press, $25; ISBN 978-1-4516-5218-5).
Giant George: Life With the World's Biggest Dog by Dave Nasser, with Lynne Barrett-Lee (Grand Central, $24.99; ISBN 978-1-4555-1145-7).
A Natural Woman by Carole King (Grand Central, $27.99; ISBN 978-1-4555-1261-4).
The Inquisitor by Mark Allen Smith (Holt, $27; ISBN 978-0-8050-9)
Blue Asylum by Kathy Hepinstall (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $24; ISBN 978-0-547-71207-9).
The House of Velvet and Glass by Katherine Howe (Hyperion/Voice, $25.99; ISBN 978-1-4013-4091-9).
Horseshoe Crabs and Velvet Worms: The Story of the Animals and Plants That Time Has Left Behind by Richard Fortey (Knopf, $28.95; ISBN 978-0-307-26361-2).
Ninety Days: A Memoir of Recovery by Bill Clegg (Little Brown, $24.99; ISBN 978-0-316-12252-8).
The Book of Madness and Cures by Regina O'Melveny (Little, Brown, $25.99; ISBN 978-0-316-19583-6).
Wicked City by Alaya Johnson (St. Martin's/Dunne, $25.99; ISBN 978-0-312-56548-0).
Royal Street by Suzanne Johnson (Tor, $14.99; ISBN 978-0-7653-2779-6).
Immobility by Brian Evenson (Tor, $24.99; ISBN 978-0-7653-3096-3).
The Mindful Writer: Noble Truths of the Writing Life by Dinty W. Moore (Wisdom, $12.95; ISBN 978-1-61429-007-0).
April 12
An Economist Gets Lunch: New Rules for Everyday Foodiesby Tyler Cowen (Dutton, $26.95; ISBN 978-0-525-95266-4).
Narcopolis by Jeet Thayil (Penguin Press, $25.95; ISBN 978-1-59420-330-5).
Prague Fatale by Philip Kerr (Putnam/Marian Wood, $26.95; ISBN 978-0-399-15902-2).
When Captain Flint Was Still a Good Man by Nick Dybek (Riverhead, $26.95; ISBN 978-1-59448-809-2).
Absolution by Patrick Flanery (Riverhead, $26.95; ISBN 978-1-59448-817-7).
Children’s/YA
April 10
The Obsidian Bladeby Pete Hautman (Candlewick, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-7636-5403-0).
Boy and Bot by Ame Dyckman, illus. by Dan Yaccarino (Knopf, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-375-86756-9).
The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman (Knopf, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-375-86876-4).
April 12
Radiant Days by Elizabeth Hand (Viking, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-670-01135-3).
