New Bestsellers Arrive, Oct. 17, 2019 | Book Pulse

The 19th Christmas by James Patterson, Maxine Paetro leads 11 new titles onto the bestseller lists. The T.S. Eliot Prize shortlist is out, the finalists for The Cundill History Prize are announced, and the shortlist for the JCB Prize for Literature is revealed. Plus, more fallout over both the Nobel and the Booker. Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow has been pulled from two big Australian bookstores, Booktopia and Amazon in Australia, after legal threats.

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New to the Bestseller Lists

[Links for the week: NYT Hardcover Fiction Best Sellers | NYT Hardcover Nonfiction Best Sellers | USA Today Best-Selling Books]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fiction

The 19th Christmas by James Patterson, Maxine Paetro (Little, Brown: Hachette) debuts at No. 1 on the NYT Hardcover Fiction Best Sellers list and No. 2 on the USA Today Best-Selling Books list.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: The Illustrated Edition by J. K. Rowling, illustrated by Jim Kay (Arthur A. Levine Books: Scholastic) debuts at No. 1 on the USA Today Best-Selling Books list.

What Happens in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand (Little, Brown: Hachette) opens at No. 3 on both the NYT Hardcover Fiction Best Sellers list and the USA Today Best-Selling Books list.

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo (Flatiron: Macmillan; LJ starred review) holds No. 4 on the NYT Hardcover Fiction Best Sellers list and No. 7 on the USA Today Best-Selling Books list.

Child's Play by Danielle Steel (Delacorte Press: Random House) lands at No. 9 on the NYT Hardcover Fiction Best Sellers list and No. 6 on the USA Today Best-Selling Books list.

Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes (Pamela Dorman Books: Penguin; LJ starred review) takes no. 10 on the NYT Hardcover Fiction Best Sellers list and No. 8 on the USA Today Best-Selling Books list.

Nonfiction

Witch Hunt: The Story of the Greatest Mass Delusion in American Political History by Gregg Jarrett (Broadside Books: Harper) opens at No. 3 on the NYT Hardcover Nonfiction Best Sellers list and No. 15 on the USA Today Best-Selling Books list.

Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For by Susan Rice (S. & S.) lands at No. 6 on the NYT Hardcover Nonfiction Best Sellers list.

Deep State: Trump, the FBI, and the Rule of Law by James B. Stewart (Penguin) takes No. 9 on the NYT Hardcover Nonfiction Best Sellers list.

Letters from an Astrophysicist by Neil deGrasse Tyson (W.W. Norton) is No. 10 on the NYT Hardcover Nonfiction Best Sellers list.

Movies (And Other Things): (And Other Things) by Shea Serrano (Twelve: Hachette) holds No. 13 on the USA Today Best-Selling Books list.

Reviews

NPR reviews Stolen: Five Free Boys Kidnapped into Slavery and Their Astonishing Odyssey Home by Richard Bell (S. & S.): “Meticulously researched … a remarkable narrative.”

The NYT reviews A Tall History of Sugar by Curdella Forbes (Akashic Books): “This is a book for savoring, and the dialect is a rich layer I look forward to revisiting. I can only imagine how textured the audio version would be.”

The Washington Post reviews The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson (Doubleday: Random House): “lucid, amusing.” Also, Music: A Subversive History by Ted Gioia (Basic Books: Hachette): “I can’t speak highly enough about [it] … he is always fun to read.” Beautiful on the Outside: A Memoir by Adam Rippon (Grand Central: Hachette; LJ starred review): “an entertaining, unfiltered look at the path to becoming an elite athlete.”

Briefly Noted

The T.S. Eliot Prize shortlist is out. As are the finalists for The Cundill History Prize. The shortlist is also announced for the JCB Prize for Literature.

Peter Handke responds to the controversy about his Nobel win. The Guardian has a report, including more of the literary fallout. A case in point, an opinion piece in the NYT by Aleksandar Hemon calling the new laurate “an apologist for Slobodan Milosevic.” Another, from Saša Stanišić, who just won the German Book prize, who used the occasion to call out Handke. Bret Stephens takes a different view in an Op-Ed in the NYT today.

There is more criticism of the Booker Prize as well, after a judge hinted that Atwood won for her career rather than the best book of the year. The Telegraph has the story. The Guardian runs a response to some of the fallout by one of the Booker judges.

The NYT considers epistolary memoirs.

CrimeReads gathers the “Best Nonfiction Crime Books of October.”

Book Riot picks “50 Must-Read Contemporary YA Novels of the 2010s.”

Book Marks has “5 Reviews You Need to Read This Week.”

Vulture declares Tana French “Our Best Living Mystery Writer.” The site also has a piece by Charles Finch on writing mystery plots.

The Washington Post interviews Michael Connelly, The Night Fire (Little, Brown: Hachette; LJ starred review). The L.A. Times has a tour of L.A. through the eyes of Harry Bosch.

Entertainment Weekly interviews Erin Morgenstern, The Starless Sea (Doubleday: Random House; LJ starred review).

R.O. Kwon interviews Ali Wong in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Audiofile, by way of LitHub, interviews Nnedi Okorafor.

USA Today digs into some of the opinions Elton John shares in Me (Henry Holt: Macmillan). Time has tidbits about his relationships with the British royal family. Vulture has celebrity stories from the book and even more here.

The NYT showcases Cat Marnell, who has a new Audible Original book, Self-Tanner for the Soul.

People spotlights Adam Rippon, Beautiful on the Outside: A Memoir (Grand Central: Hachette; LJ starred review), in several pieces.

Vulture profiles Andrea Long Chu, Females: A Concern (Verso: Random House).

USA Today features The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson (Harper) and other self-help books. The opening of the piece offers some smart RA advice.

The NYT writes about The Stress Solution: The 4 Steps to Reset Your Body, Mind, Relationships and Purpose by Dr. Rangan Chatterjee (Penguin Life).

Town and Country spotlights Always Audrey: Six Iconic Photographers. One Legendary Star edited by Iconic Images (Acc Art Books). Also a story on Leave Something on the Table: and Other Surprising Lessons for Success in Business and in Life by Frank Bennack (S. & S.).

The Atlantic showcases Julie Andrews's Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years (Hachette; LJ starred review).

Bustle excerpts Lobizona by Romina Garber (Wednesday Books: Macmillan).

The New Yorker excerpts Women on Food: Charlotte Druckman and 115 Writers, Chefs, Critics, Television Stars, and Eaters by Charlotte Druckman (Abrams). Also a story on Morning Glory on the Vine: Early Songs and Drawings by Joni Mitchell (HMH) and an essay on Harold Bloom.

Time excerpts It Shouldn't Be This Hard to Serve Your Country: Our Broken Government and the Plight of Veterans by David Shulkin (PublicAffaris: Hachette).

Tor.com excerpts The Sky Weaver by Kristen Ciccarelli (HarperTeen).

BuzzFeed excerpts Shatter the Nations: ISIS and the War for the Caliphate by Mike Giglio (PublicAffairs: Hachette).

The Los Angeles Review of Books considers Goodnight Moon. The Amazon Book Review considers Bunnicula.

The NYT reports that Catch and Kill has been pulled “from two of Australia’s biggest online book retailers amid legal threats from the former National Enquirer editor who features prominently in the book.” The stores in question are Booktopia and Amazon in Australia. Little, Brown responded, that the book ‘has been meticulously reported, researched, and fact-checked, and we’re proud to bring Ronan Farrow’s important reporting to the public. That one tabloid editor may seek to suppress women’s stories by threatening booksellers only amplifies the powerful message of Mr. Farrow’s book.’”

Netflix’s book-based The Laundromat is also in a legal wrangle. Esquire reports that “Mossack Fonseca & Co., the now dissolved law firm depicted in the film, have filed a libel and trademark infringement lawsuit against Netflix, arguing that The Laundromat is defamatory.”

PEN America opens chapters in Austin, Birmingham, Dallas/Fort Worth, Detroit, the Piedmont Region of North Carolina, and Tulsa.

Ronan Farrow is engaged to Jon Lovett. USA Today has details of how the proposal was written into Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators (Little, Brown: Hachette).

LitHub ranks “50 Fictional Librarians.”

Authors on Air

NPR’s Fresh Air interviews Attica Locke, Heaven, My Home (Mulholland Books: Hachette).

A film about Flannery O’Connor wins the first Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film. The NYT reports.

NPR interviews Christine Coulson, Metropolitan Stories (Other Press: Random House).

The Hollywood Reporter writes that Jeff Smith’s Bone is headed to the movies. The site also has a review of the Broadway production of The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical.

Deadline reports that Drew Barrymore’s Flower Films has TV plans for Howard Wallace, PI by Casey Lyall and Anne Ursu’s The Lost Girl. Mike Isaac’s Super Pumped: The Battle For Uber is headed to Showtime. An update of Oliver Twist, Twist, is in the works, to star Michael Caine, Lena Headey, and Rita Ora. The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson is set for Apple.

The Bookseller writes that Elif Shafak’s The Forty Rules of Love is headed to Netflix, as are Anxious People by Fredrik Backman and Daniel Kehlmann’s Tyll.

Today features Martha Stewart's Cookie Perfection: 100+ Recipes to Take Your Sweet Treats to the Next Level: A Baking Book by the Editors of Martha Stewart Living (Clarkson Potter: Random House). Also, Ali Wong's Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets & Advice for Living Your Best Life (Random House).

The Man in the High Castle gets a trailer. This fourth season will be its last.

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