At the 71st National Book Awards on Wednesday evening, Charles Yu’s Interior Chinatown (Pantheon) won the fiction prize. Roxane Gay presented the award, noting, “This has been an impossible year in almost every way. We are dealing with both a pandemic and a political climate that is terrifying and absurd.” Yu, who said he had not prepared a speech because he was so sure he would not win, spoke briefly, saying “I can’t feel anything in my body right now” and “I’m going to go melt into a puddle.” (Afterwards on Twitter, Yu remarked: “That feeling when you win a […]
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Annysa Polanco has been promoted to director, diversity, equity & inclusion at Penguin Random House. In the coming year, the company will add “more fully-dedicated positions” in diversity, equity & inclusions roles across the divisions, including a new “board-level DE&I leadership position” that will report directly to PRH US ceo Madeline McIntosh. Polanco will report to that new executive once the role is filled. Michael DeFazio had been promoted to vice president & executive director, production planning, analytics, and paper purchasing, Penguin Random House. Film/TV Production outfit The Mazur Kaplan Company — run by bookseller Mitchell Kaplan and producer Paula […]
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David Ebershoff will rejoin Random House as vice president and executive editor starting January 4. Though he reports to Andy Ward, Ebershoff “will be focusing on the Hogarth list,” while also acquiring for the Random House list. Ebersoff was previously executive editor at Random House for 20 years until 2015. At the Simon & Schuster imprint, Priscilla Painton has been promoted to vp, editorial director for nonfiction program. Reporting to publisher Dana Canedy, Painton “will work with our editors to expand, diversify, and strengthen our already stellar nonfiction list.” Hannah Phillips, Kevin Reilly, Gwen Hawkes, Alice Pfeifer, Sallie Lotz, and […]
Williams’ How to Fail at Flirting Tops December Library Reads
Denise Williams’ How to Fail at Flirting is the top pick for the December Library Reads list. Read an excerpt now in our Buzz Books 2020: Romance sampler. The rest of the list: The Arctic Fury, by Greer Macallister How to Catch a Queen, by Alyssa Cole Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder, by T. A. Willberg Pretty Little Wife, by Darby Kane This Time Next Year, by Sophie Cousens Take It Back, by Kia Abdullah Ten Rules for Faking It, by Sophie Sullivan Ten Things I Hate About the Duke, by Loretta Chase The Wrong Family, by Tarryn Fisher
Barnes & Noble’s Best Books of the Year
Barnes & Noble released a list of eight nominees for their best book of 2020, selected by booksellers across the country, from which they’ll choose one title. Among the picks are both Brit Bennett’s The Vanishing Half, and Rumaan Alam’s Leave the World Behind, both featured and previewed ahead of publication in our Buzz Books collections this year. The rest of the list: Accidentally Wes Anderson, by Wally Koval Pieometry, by Lauren Ko Stamped, by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi Untamed, by Glennon Doyle Wintering, by Katherine May World of Wonders, by Aimee Nezhukumatathill Last year, somehow booksellers at […]
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Becky Kraemer will join Tin House as publicity director starting December 1. She most recently led her own book publicity firm, Cursive Communications & Marketing. Elizabeth Breeden has been promoted to associate director of marketing at Simon & Schuster. Obituaries Sharon Propson, 44, a publicist for Random House for more than 20 years, died on November 7 of cancer. Random House Publishing Group president and publisher Gina Centrello writes, “Sharon was a consummate collaborator. She shared some of her most special gifts with her colleagues — her passion, generous heart, boisterous laugh, her patience, and unwavering attention as she mentored […]