Included this week: highly-anticipated novels from Charlaine Harris and Rick Riordan, plus punditry from Paul Krugman, a memoir from Dan Rather, an ordinary life with Sissy Spacek and a life less ordinary with music legend Gregg Allman. Swedish suspense from Camilla Läckberg and American suspense from Emily St. John Mandel, Muslim matrimony drama from Nell Freudenberger, and the conclusion of Robert A. Caro’s massive LBJ project. Plus: the return of Alison Bechdel, Sadie Jones’s fix for those going through Downton withdrawal, Eric Litwin and James Dean bring back everyone’s favorite blue cat, and more.
Adults
April 30
End This Depression Now! by Paul Krugman (Norton, $24.95; ISBN 978-0-393-08877-9).
“An edifying and often humorous journalist approach to the current economic crisis.”
May 1
Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris (Ace, $27.95; ISBN 978-1-937007-44-7).
“Harris ably sets the stage for the ensemble’s last hurrah.”
A Queer and Pleasant Danger: The True Story of a Nice Jewish Boy Who Joins the Church of Scientology and Leaves Twelve Years Later to Become the Lovely Lady She Is Today by Kate Bornstein (Beacon, $25.95; ISBN 978-0-8070-0165-3).
“Bornstein can be a challenging and confusing narrator at times, but is sympathetic in her universal struggle to be comfortable in her own skin.”
In My Kitchen: 100 Recipes and Discoveries for Passionate Cooks by Ted Allen (Clarkson Potter, $35; ISBN 978-0-307-95186-1).
“The focus is on food that takes time and its inherent pleasures… ‘Corks popping, an endless playlist on the stereo, pans heating up on the stove.’”
Rather Outspoken: My Life in the News by Dan Rather with Digby Diehl (Grand Central, $29.90; ISBN 978-1-4555-0241-7).
“[Rather] maintains a personal connection with his readers in this riveting and revelatory autobiography… [also] a valuable textbook for anyone studying journalism.”
The Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones (Harper, $24.99; ISBN 978-0-06-211650-5).
“Jones’s characters are delightfully eccentric, the wit delightfully droll, and the prose simply delightful. But for all its charm, this is a serious book.”
Are You My Mother? by Alison Bechdel (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $22; ISBN 978-0-618-98250-9).
“Though perhaps not quite as perfectly composed as Fun Home, this is a fiercely honest work about the field of combat that is family.”
Manual of Painting and Calligraphy by José Saramago, trans. from the Portuguese by Giovanni Pontiero Carcanet (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $13.95; ISBN 978-0-547-64022-8).
“A meditation on the writing process and a philosophical look at fiction and reality—for Saramago devotees, this is an insightful and meaningful book.”
My Extraordinary Ordinary Life by Sissy Spacek with Maryanne Vollers (Hyperion, $26.99; ISBN 978-14013-2436-0).
“Like a folk song, Spacek’s storytelling is tender and unhurried.”
The Newlyweds by Nell Freudenberger (Knopf, $25.95; ISBN 978-0-307-26884-6).
“Freudenberger does an excellent job of portraying the plight of a young Muslim woman…[but] is somewhat too dependent on cultural clichés to entirely satisfy.”
The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Vol. 4 by Robert A. Caro (Knopf, $35; ISBN 978-0-679-40507-8).
“Caro’s ugly, tormented, heroic Johnson makes an apt embodiment of an America struggling toward epochal change, one with a fascinating resonance in our era.”
My Cross to Bear by Gregg Allman with Alan Light (Morrow, $27.99; ISBN 978-0-06-211203-3).
“Like an old bluesman riffing through a tale of love, loss, and redemption… A fiercely honest memoir.”
The Lucky Dog Matchmaking Service by Beth Kendrick (NAL, $15; ISBN 978-0-451-23666-1).
“Kendrick not only shines in portraying the subtleties of female friendships, but also at rendering the unbreakable bond between man (or woman) and dog.”
The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit, $14.99; ISBN 978-0-316-18728-2).
“Immerses readers in an unfamiliar but enthralling world as well as a rousing political and supernatural adventure.”
The Stonecutter by Camilla Läckberg, trans. from the Swedish by Steven T. Murray (Pegasus Crown, Norton dist., $25.95; ISBN 978-1-60598-330-1).
“Tightens the disparate narrative strands noose-like around her numerous remorselessly dissected characters… revealing shocking and poignant truths.”
Lady Maggie's Secret Scandal by Grace Burrowes (Sourcebooks Casablanca, $7.99; ISBN 978-1-4022-6377-4).
“Delicious… Charming and original with superb characters ready to walk off the page.”
Garden of Madness by T.L. Higley (Thomas Nelson, $9.99; ISBN 978-1-4016-8680-2).
“Fine writing, suspense, mystery, faith, love, and a new look at an old story.”
The Lola Quartet by Emily St. John Mandel (Unbridled, $24.95; ISBN 978-1-60953-079-2).
“Sophistication and suspense… Excels as a character study that considers the slow depredation of hopes, dreams, and expectations.”
May 2
Prague Fatale: A Bernie Gunther Novelby Philip Kerr (Putnam/Marian Wood, $26.95; ISBN 978-0-399-15902-2).
“A surprising denouement worthy of Agatha Christie.”
Children/YA
May 1
The Council of Mirrors by Michael Buckley (Amulet, $15.95; ISBN 978-1419701863).
Bitterblue by Kristin Chashore (Dial, $19.99; ISBN 978-0-8037-3473-9).
“Many pleasures… devotees of the earlier books and fans of Whalen Turner’s intricate political fantasies will relish this novel of palace intrigue.”
Insurgent by Veronica Roth (HaperCollins/Tegen, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-202404-6).
“The novel’s love story, intricate plot, and unforgettable setting work in concert to deliver a novel that will rivet.”
Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by Eric Litwin, illus. by James Dean (HarperCollins, $16.99; ISBN 978-0062110589).
Destined by Aprilynne Pike (HarperTeen, $17.99; ISBN 978-0061668128).
“Pike’s novel mythology should win fans.”
The Serpent's Shadow by Rick Riordan (Hyperion, $19.99; ISBN 978-1423140573).
“Riordan's Heroes of Olympus spin-off series is a fast-paced adventure with enough familiar elements to immediately hook those eager to revisit his modern world of mythological mayhem.”
Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalipi (Little Brown, $17.99; ISBN 978-0316056243).
“Beautifully written, filled with high-octane action, and featuring badly damaged but fascinating and endearing characters.”
Looking for the full on-sale list? Find it here.
