The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton is the top pick for September’s Library Reads list. You can read a free excerpt now in our Buzz Books 2018 Fall/Winter sampler, along with three other Library Reads picks for the month: T.M. Logan’s Lies, Rebecca Serle’s The Dinner List, and Sarah Bird’s Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen. The rest of the list comprises: Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating, by Christina Lauren Night and Silence, by Seanan McGuire Lake Success, by Gary Shteyngart Transcription, by Kate Atkinson When the Lights Go Out, by Mary Kubica Hitting the Books, by […]
Awards
Briefs: UTA Sells Stake; Clinton and Patterson Sales Milestone; NEH Book Grants
In the capital-raising arms race among the big Hollywood talent agencies — which have grown into entertainment conglomerates themselves — United Talent Agency sold a minority stake to Investcorp and PSP Investments. Deadline and Variety say they sold approximately 40 percent of the agency, for an estimated $200 million. (When the search for investors was initiated earlier this year, Deadline said UTA has revenues of over $325 million a year, with profit of $50 million.) Some proceeds will be spread among employees throughout the agency, while a portion will go to “accelerate” their growth and “enhance UTA’s services.” The agency has more than […]
Moore’s She Would Be King Tops September Indie Next List
The ABA named She Would Be King by Wayetu Moore as its No. 1 pick for September. Also on the list is Rebecca Serle’s The Dinner List, which is excerpted in our Buzz Books 2018 Fall/Winter sampler and available for download now, as well as French Exit, by Patrick deWitt, included in our Buzz Books 2018 Spring/Summer sampler. The rest of the picks: Whiskey When We’re Dry, by John Larison Vox, by Christina Dalcher The Winter Soldier, by Daniel Mason Lake Success, by Gary Shteyngart Ohio, by Stephen Markley Severance, by Ling Ma The Silence of the Girls, by Pat Barker One Person, […]
August Bookseller Picks
Barnes & Noble has a new monthly promotional newsletter that includes a “Book of the Month” feature. Fiction buyer Sessalee Hensley touts Vox by Christina Dalcher (which publishes August 21). as “one of the hottest books to watch for.” She writes: “Vox is one of those rare books that addresses a pressing societal issue while also being a riveting read with unforgettable characters. Christina Dalcher has woven an eerily realistic story in which a brave woman sets out to reclaim her voice for herself, her daughter, and all women. The novel is The Handmaid’s Tale meets Need to Know, as it’s as […]
People, Etc.
Priyanka Krishnan, formerly at Harper Voyager, has joined Orbit as editor. Bradley Englert has been promoted to editor. At Penguin Random House Canada, Beth Lockley is promoted to the new position of vp, marketing and communications, overseeing a combined marketing and publicity team and reporting to chief operating officer Robert Wheaton. Longtime executive Tracey Turriff, who has been vp, publicity and svp, corporate communications, is leaving as a result, after 22 years with the company. (Both Lockley and Turriff had once reported to now-retired ceo Brad Martin.) Josh Glover has been promoted to director, publicity. The August pick for the PBS […]
Ondaatje, Kushner, Powers Among the Booker Longlisted
The Guardian posted the Man Booker Prize longlist early, in advance of Wednesday’s scheduled announcement, and then promptly took it down. But the list survived in the Google cache and across social media (and now is public). Titles from US authors include Rachel Kushner’s The Mars Room (Jonathan Cape/Scribner), Nick Drnaso’s Sabrina (Granta/Drawn and Quarterly) — the first graphic novel to grace a Booker list — and Richard Powers’s The Overstory (William Heinemann/Norton). The only previous Booker winner on the longlist is Michael Ondaatje for Warlight (Jonathan Cape/Knopf), while the other Canadian listed is Giller Prize winner Esi Edugyan for Washington Black (Serpent’s Tail/Knopf). Two debut novels are […]