Reviews+

Anh Duong, Scott Alexander Howard, and Leanne Toshiko Simpson win Canada’s Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prizes. Winners of the UK Society of Authors Awards are announced; Ashani Lewis’s debut novel Winter Animals wins multiple prizes. Tim Blanning’s Augustus the Strong wins the Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography. Shortlists for the Waterstones debut fiction prize and the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize are announced. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for top holds title Sounds Like Love by Ashley Poston. Reese Witherspoon launches a weekly podcast, Bookmarked by Reese’s Book Club. Plus, LJ’s galley guide for the 2025 ALA Annual is now available.

Heart Lamp: Selected Stories by Banu Mushtaq wins the International Booker Prize, marking the first time a story collection has won the award. Sasha Vasilyuk wins the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature for her debut novel, Your Presence Is Mandatory. The Society of Authors’ Awards shortlists are announced, along with the Romantic Novel of the Year Awards winners. Several major newspapers recently published an AI-generated summer reading list featuring fake titles. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for top holds title Nightshade by Michael Connelly. Plus, Quentin Tarantino will release books on three of his films.

Winners of the Society of Authors Translation Prize, the Albertine Translation Prize, and the Westminster Book Awards are revealed. A shortlist is announced for the Athenaeum Literary Award for books from and about Philadelphia. Authors Against Book Bans successfully prevents a book ban in a Florida school district. Plus, a reexamination of the work of Janet Malcolm, interviews with Joe Piscopo and Brigitte Giraud, and new title bestsellers.

Jamie Wesley is the author of A Legend in the Baking, Fake It Till You Bake It, and the “One-on-One” series. When she’s not writing or reading romance, Jamie can be found watching TV, rooting for her favorite sports teams, or planning her next trip to Disney World. She talks with LJ about the appeal of romance, athletes as protagonists, and favorite tropes.

The Audie Award winners are announced, with Surrender, written and narrated by Bono, winning Audiobook of the Year. The Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses announces its 2024 shortlist. RuPaul starts a new online book marketplace and book club and sends the Rainbow Book Bus to deliver banned books. A new publisher, Authors Equity, backed by former Penguin Random House U.S. CEO Madeline McIntosh and others, launches with a profit-sharing financial model. Plus, Chicago Tribune calls Percival Everett’s new book, James, “a masterpiece.”

CrimeReads lists the best crime novels of the year (so far). The Society of Authors’ Awards 2023 are announced. New title Bestsellers include Ruth Ware's Zero Days, Riley Sager's The Only One Left, and Chris Paul's Sixty-One: Life Lessons from Papa, On and Off the Court. Jada Pinkett Smith's memoir, Worthy, will publish in October. Brigittte Bardot is featured in a new photo book, Being Bardot. NYT features a roundtable of translators in conversation, and an essay by Emily Wilson, whose new translation of Homer’s The Iliad publishes in September. The new literary documentary, In the Company of Rose, about Rose Styron, earns good marks from the LA Times. 

The multi-award-winning author of The Beast You Are: Stories tells LJ of his love for the short story format and why he thinks “write what you know” is “terrible writing advice.”

Bryce’s biographical historical novel The Other Princess is based on Sarah Forbes Bonetta, a real-life Yoruba princess who became a ward and goddaughter of Queen Victoria.

A new national NPR/Ipsos poll reveals that 52% of Republicans are opposed to banning books from schools, whereas book bans are supported by 5% of Democrats, 16% of Independents, and 35% of Republicans. Paige Cowan-Hall has won the Women’s Prize Trust 2023 Discoveries Prize for her yet-to-be-published historical fiction novel Marooned. The Society of Authors announced this year’s Authors’ Awards shortlists across 11 categories. Donna Tartt’s agent has debunked the rumor that she is releasing a new novel in June 2023.