PW Best Books of Summer 2017

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PWSummer2017Publishers Weekly’s editors recently selected their Best Books of Summer 2017, including these seven Macmillan titles:
Staff Picks (full list)

BORNE by Jeff VanderMeer
“About that thing on the cover—is it a genetically modified bird-of-paradise? Some cousin of the odoriferous corpse flower? I was intrigued from the moment I saw it, as is Rachel, the postapocalyptic scavenger who finds the improbably sentient and mutable creature—who ‘smelled of beach reeds on lazy summer afternoons and, beneath the sea salt, of passionflowers’—while picking through the fur of the gargantuan flying bear that terrorizes her devastated city. And then things start to get weird.” — Carolyn Juris, features editor

ISADORA by Amelia Gray
“Gray’s most recent book, the story collection GUTSHOT, was weird as hell and as visceral as its title. Whose life would be better for her to fictionalize, then, than that of notorious mother of modern dance Isadora Duncan? An openly bisexual communist and atheist in an era that condemned all three, Duncan was famous for wearing long, flowing scarves even up until her death, when her scarf got caught in one of the axles of the car she was riding in. Flung from the vehicle, Duncan died of a broken neck—a tragic end that will surely make for a riveting finale in Gray’s novel.” — John Maher, assistant news editor

Fiction (full list)

THE PEOPLE WE HATE AT THE WEDDING by Grant Ginder
Ginder takes family dysfunction to its hysterical limit in this joyously ribald novel about siblings Alice and Paul begrudgingly attending the lavish wedding of their half-sister, Eloise, in England. Lovesick Alice and Paul—both in doomed relationships—see Eloise as the snotty daughter of a rich dad, and Donna, their mother, as a coldhearted widow who ditched all remnants of their father after his death. During the boozy pre-wedding days, the resentment and secrets come tumbling out in outbursts and hilariously bad decisions.

THE SEVENTH FUNCTION OF LANGUAGE by Laurent Binet
It’s Paris, 1980, and Roland Barthes has just been hit by a laundry van—but was it murder? Binet’s (HHhH) wild ride through the secret history of the French intelligentsia includes appearances by Derrida, Eco, Foucault, and Kristeva, as detective Jacques Bayard searches for a lost manuscript about the mythic “seventh function of language.”

Nonfiction (full list)

I WAS TOLD TO COME ALONE: My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad by Souad Mekhennet
Washington Post correspondent Mekhennet offers a spellbinding fusion of history, memoir, and reportage while untangling the roots of Islamic radicalism with this enthralling account of her personal experience as a journalist and Muslim on assignment in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.

THE BEACH HOUSE COOKBOOK: Easy Breezy Recipes with a Southern Accent by Mary Kay Andrews
Atlanta-based bestselling novelist Andrews (THE WEEKENDERS) collects recipes inspired by casual Southern coastal cuisine and beach-house living.

THE EXILE: The Stunning Inside Story of Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda in Flight by Cathy Scott-Clark and Adrian Levy
Investigative reporters Scott-Clark and Levy share the deep insights they gleaned through access to al-Qaeda’s inner circle as well as interviews with other key figures and newly declassified materials. The work reveals information kept under close guard by the U.S. government and exposes the many ways in which government actions have fueled terrorism around the globe.

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