Articles tagged "current events"
2019 Kirkus Prize Finalists
The 2019 Kirkus Prize finalists have been announced, and Macmillan has two titles in the running!
TERRITORY OF LIGHT by Yuko Tsushima
2 starred reviews! A haunting, dazzling novel of loss and rebirth from one of the most significant contemporary Japanese writers.
NO VISIBLE BRUISES: What We Don’t Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us by Rachel Louise Snyder
2 starred reviews! An award-winning journalist’s intimate investigation of the true scope of domestic violence, revealing how the roots of America’s most pressing social crises are buried in abuse that happens behind closed doors.
Winners will be announced on October 24, 2020.
Nonfiction Round-Up (9/11/19)
Engineering American economics, secret CIA experimentation, poetry from an Instagram sensation, exploring masculinity in the modern world, and the devastating effects of the East India Company–all in today’s nonfiction round-up!
TRANSACTION MAN: The Rise of the Deal and the Decline of the American Dream by Nicholas Lemann
A Publishers Weekly Most Anticipated Book of Fall 2019 + 2 starred reviews!
“This concise and cogent history of the theories that have transformed the American economy makes a potentially dry subject fascinating.”–Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Through the stories of individuals, often from varied neighborhoods, businesses, and corporations, Lemann makes these experiences come alive.”–Library Journal, starred review
POISONER IN CHIEF: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind Control by Stephen Kinzer
“Highly recommended. This work sheds light on misdeeds done in the name of American democracy and should have wide appeal among general readers.”–Library Journal, starred review
THE TRUTH ABOUT MAGIC: Poems by Atticus
Instagram sensation Atticus returns with another romantic and deeply moving poetry collection.
readmoreremoveNonfiction Round-Up (9/4/19)
Shadow wars + the power of emotions + OBAMA + becoming the best you + the life of a magazine mogul–welcome to today’s nonfiction round-up!
THE RUSSIA TRAP: How Our Shadow War with Russia Could Spiral into Nuclear Catastrophe by George S. Beebe
The former head of CIA’s Russia analysis shows how Washington and Moscow may be headed toward nuclear annihilation.
PERMISSION TO FEEL: Unlocking the Power of Emotions to Help Our Kids, Ourselves, and Our Society Thrive by Marc Brackett
“While Brackett focuses on educational and child-based applications for his methods, his wise principles can easily be applied to adult situations as well. Readers looking for strategies for responding to stress, particularly in children, will find much guidance in this cogent, welcoming work.”–Publishers Weekly
LAUGHING WITH OBAMA: A Photographic Look Back at the Enduring Wit and Spirit of President Barack Obama, Edited by M. Sweeney
Laugh along with a spirited American presidency with this sequel to the best-selling HUGS FROM OBAMA.
readmoreremoveNonfiction Spotlight: LEARNING FROM THE GERMANS (8/28/19)
In today’s nonfiction spotlight, we learn about confronting the evils of the past with Susan Neiman’s LEARNING FROM THE GERMANS: Race and the Memory of Evil.
In the wake of white nationalist attacks, the ongoing debate over reparations, and the controversy surrounding Confederate monuments and the contested memories they evoke, Susan Neiman’s LEARNING FROM THE GERMANS delivers an urgently needed perspective on how a country can come to terms with its historical wrongdoings. Neiman is a white woman who came of age in the civil rights–era South and a Jewish woman who has spent much of her adult life in Berlin. Working from this unique perspective, she combines philosophical reflection, personal stories, and interviews with both Americans and Germans who are grappling with the evils of their own national histories.
“This exceptional piece of historical and political philosophy provides a meaningful way of looking at the Civil War’s legacy.”–Publishers Weekly, starred review
“A fascinating book that assists readers in gaining a deeper understanding of the past in order to move forward. Highly recommended for all history readers and teachers.”–Library Journal, starred review
Read an excerpt here.
Maximum Shelf: AMERICAN DIRT (8/21/19)
Today’s Maximum Shelf pick is Jeanine Cummins’ AMERICAN DIRT–a rare exploration into the inner hearts of people willing to sacrifice everything for a glimmer of hope.
Lydia Quixano Perez lives in the Mexican city of Acapulco. She runs a bookstore. She has a son, Luca, the love of her life, and a wonderful husband who is a journalist. And while there are cracks beginning to show in Acapulco because of the drug cartels, her life is, by and large, fairly comfortable.
Even though she knows they’ll never sell, Lydia stocks some of her all-time favorite books in her store. And then one day a man enters the shop to browse and comes up to the register with four books he would like to buy—two of them her favorites. Javier is erudite. He is charming. And, unbeknownst to Lydia, he is the jefe of the newest drug cartel that has gruesomely taken over the city. When Lydia’s husband’s tell-all profile of Javier is published, none of their lives will ever be the same.
readmoreremoveDrop-In Alert: FREE, MELANIA
On December 3, 2019, Flatiron Books will publish the first behind-the-scenes look at the life of the most enigmatic First Lady in U.S. history, FREE, MELANIA by CNN reporter Kate Bennett.
Melania Trump is an enigma. Regardless of your political leanings, she is fascinating–a First Lady who, in many ways, is the most modern and groundbreaking in recent history. A former model whose beauty in person leaves people breathless, a woman whose upbringing in a communist country spurred a relentless drive for stability, both for herself and for her family. A reluctant pillar in a controversial presidential administration who speaks five languages and runs the East Wing like none of her predecessors ever could–underestimate her at your own peril (as a former government official did and was summarily fired). But who is she really?
readmoreremovePW’s Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2019
This Fall certainly has some whoppers! Publishers Weekly has selected their most anticipated books of the season, including these Macmillan titles:
Fiction
FIND ME by André Aciman
Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror
NINTH HOUSE by Leigh Bardugo
Comics/Graphic Novels
MAKING COMICS by Lynda Barry
Literary Essays/Criticism/Biographies
HUMAN RELATIONS AND OTHER DIFFICULTIES: Essays by Mary-Kay Wilmers
Politics/Current Events
TRANSACTION MAN: The Rise of the Deal and the Decline of the American Dream by Nicholas Lemann
Religion/Spirituality
ASTRO POETS: Your Guides to the Zodiac by Alex Dimitrov and Dorothea Lasky
UNFOLLOW: A Memoir of Loving and Leaving the Westboro Baptist Church by Megan Phelps-Roper
E. Jean Carroll Explores WHAT DO WE NEED MEN FOR? (7/2/19)
America’s longest running advice columnist E. Jean Carroll provides a darkly funny and very personal attempt to answer a burning cultural question in her new book, WHAT DO WE NEED MEN FOR?: A Modest Proposal.
When E. Jean Carroll–possibly the liveliest woman in the world and author of Ask E. Jean in Elle Magazine–realized that her eight million readers and question-writers all seemed to have one thing in common–problems caused by men–she hit the road. Criss-crossing the country with her blue-haired poodle Lewis Carroll, E. Jean stopped in every town named after a woman between Eden, Vermont and Tallulah, Louisiana to ask women the crucial question: What do we need men for?
readmoreremovePolitics Shmolitics
You can’t go anywhere these days without running into some kind of political discussion, and these new and forthcoming books will keep your patrons in the know.
DEMOCRACY MAY NOT EXIST, BUT WE’LL MISS IT WHEN IT’S GONE by Astra Taylor
What is democracy really? What do we mean when we use the term? And can it ever truly exist? Astra Taylor, hailed as a “New Civil Rights Leader” (LA Times), provides surprising answers.
THE NEW RIGHT: A Journey to the Fringe of American Politics by Michael Malice
The definitive firsthand account of the movement that permanently broke the American political consensus. As entertaining as it is informative, THE NEW RIGHT is required reading for every American across the spectrum who would like to learn more about the past, present, and future of our divided political culture.
Most Anticipated Books of 2018
Best of 2017 has come and gone, now here are the most anticipated books of 2018, according to major media:
Entertainment Weekly — 50 books we can’t wait to read in 2018
THE HAZEL WOOD by Melissa Albert
One of the most anticipated debuts of the year — having set off an auction frenzy — THE HAZEL WOOD is a contemporary fantasy of an aggressively literary bent, centered on a 17-year-old whose mother is stolen away.
LOOK ALIVE OUT THERE by Sloane Crosley
Crosley may have put essays aside for her 2015 novel THE CLASP, but she returns with her particular brand of sardonic wit in this new collection. The tone, she told EW, is “somewhere between jaded misanthrope and easily amused child.”
A HIGHER LOYALTY: Truth, Lies and Leadership by James Comey
What will James Comey reveal in this anticipated memoir? Publisher Flatiron Books isn’t giving much away, just saying that the former FBI director promises to give a vital lesson on sound leadership, drawing on his own experiences to provide a manual that certain world leaders desperately need.
USA Today — 10 big books to kick off 2018
THE WIFE BETWEEN US by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen
What it’s about: In this twisty psychological thriller, a woman dumped by her rich husband is determined to prevent his remarriage to her “replacement.”
Why it’s hot: Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Partners, which brought THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN to the big screen, has picked up film rights for THE WIFE BETWEEN US.
A HIGHER LOYALTY: Truth, Lies and Leadership by James Comey
What it’s about: The former FBI director, famously fired by President Trump in May, writes a book about leadership based on his own experiences and observations in government.
Why it’s hot: According to the publisher, Comey’s book will examine what “good, ethical leadership looks like and how it drives sound decisions.” The burning question: What will he say about Trump?
The Washington Post — Leadership Books to Read in 2018
A HIGHER LOYALTY: Truth, Lies and Leadership by James Comey
The former FBI director — fired by President Trump and now, some say, a Zen-like master of throwing subtle shade on Twitter and Instagram — inked what was reported to be a multi-million dollar book deal in August. The book’s publisher has said the book by Comey, also a former Justice Department official and lawyer, promises to give readers “unprecedented entry into the corridors of power, and a remarkable lesson in leadership itself.” Comey, who frequently uses social media to share quotations about character, justice, leadership and power, tweeted an image of the Statue of Liberty on Dec. 5, saying he was in New York to meet with his publisher, with the note: “Hope leadership book will be useful. Reassuring to see Lady Liberty standing tall even in rough weather.”
InStyle — Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2018
THE GREAT ALONE by Kristin Hannah
A Vietnam POW returns from overseas and opts to relocate his family to a remote area of Alaska, far removed from the threats of war-torn societies, for a fresh start. All seems well until his PTSD kicks in during the harsh winter and turns their tiny cabin dream into a living nightmare.
LOOK ALIVE OUT THERE by Sloane Crosley
If accolades from Steve Martin and David Sedaris are any indication, Sloane Crosley’s new collection of essays delivers, with hilarious takes on fertility, mingling with swingers, and her blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo on Gossip Girl.
Esquire — The 27 Most Anticipated Books of 2018
OLIVER LOVING by Stefan Merrill Block
Oliver Loving has been paralyzed and locked in his own mind for nearly a decade, the result of a shooting in his small Texas town. In Stefan Merrill Block’s psychologically astute novel, the damaged people that surround Oliver try to piece together their own versions of what happened that night and since then, even as doctors prepare a new treatment that might help Oliver communicate again.
THE HAZEL WOOD by Melissa Albert
Here is one of those rare young adult fantasy novels that holds a self-contained world in only a few hundred pages. So much world-building, so little space. If the novel’s heroine is a teenage girl, then her story will appeal to readers of all ages, with its intrigue and strange fairy tale magic and very grown up writing.
WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE? by Marilynne Robinson
Even in her fiction, Marilynne Robinson has a nonjudgmental, earnest way of writing about religion that could make an atheist long for spirituality. President Obama is a fan. In this essay collection theology and current events and philosophy take center stage, and it’s through the clarity of Robinson’s words that hope in times of political strife feels appropriate and urgent.
SOME HELL by Patrick Nathan
A heartbreaker of a book, Patrick Nathan’s debut novel captures the hell of adolescence under particularly dire circumstances: Colin is reeling from his father’s suicide even as he navigates coming of age as a gay teenager. As they are wont to do, sex and death dominate Colin’s thoughts as he makes his way, in agony but with an eye towards a hopeful future.
THE MERRY SPINSTER: Tales of Everyday Horror by Mallory Ortberg
Look out, Angela Carter. There’s a new feminist fairy tale queen in town, and her imagination is as sharp as her wit. Ortberg, co-founder of the beloved website The Toast, takes her column “Children’s Stories Made Horrific” to new heights in this collection of twisted tales that will shock and delight you.
Elle — 19 of the Best Books to Read This Winter
THREE DAUGHTERS OF EVE by Elif Shafak
From the most widely read female writer in Turkey, here’s a novel that sees violence and nostalgia vie for one woman’s attention on one intense night. In Istanbul, a relatively minor crime—an attempted robbery—sparks a wave of memories as the wealthy Peri ponders an old photograph of her college friends. As terrorist attacks break out, the religious and cultural differences between the three women demand her attention in the fraught present.
WHEN THEY CALL YOU A TERRORIST: A Black Lives Matter Memoir by Patrisse Khan-Cullors and Asha Bandele
Patrisse Khan-Cullors co-founded one of the most vital activist groups of recent years. Now, get to the heart of Black Lives Matter with her account of how the movement began, and marvel at the brilliance and persistence of her mission despite a continuing lack of understanding and compassion from many.
PEACH by Emma Glass
In the wake of a horrific sexual assault, titular protagonist Peach attempts to navigate a life that has tilted on its axis. As accounts of sexual assault and misconduct have arisen in recent months, our inability to reckon with such events and their aftermath has only become more clear. This short novel—under 100 pages—confronts the enormity with impressionistic grace.
FORCE OF NATURE by Jane Harper
Wow, this crime novel just gave me my newest nightmare: Five colleagues go on a hike (first mistake), and one doesn’t return. Four different stories makes it hard for Agent Aaron Falk (whom we met in Harper’s debut, THE DRY) to discern the truth. Don’t read this one during the workweek.
WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE? by Marilynne Robinson
Equipped with a heart and mind that seem more capacious than ours (though she might have a match in fan Barack Obama), Marilynne Robinson has made a career out of writing life-expanding novels and wonderings, like Pulitzer Prize–winning novel GILEAD. Soon, she’ll give us a new set of essays about faith, life, and culture. readmoreremove
