Apple Books chose 16 books as their best of the year so far. Titles that overlap with Amazon’s list include: City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert (Amazon’s top pick); The River by Peter Heller; Once More We Saw Stars by Jayson Greene; Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe; and Underland by Robert Macfarlane. The rest of the picks feature: Normal People, By Sally Rooney The Paris Diversion, by Chris Pavone Black Leopard, Red Wolf, by Marlon James The Friend Zone, by Abby Jimenez Blood Relations, by Jonathan Moore Patsy, by Nicole Dennis-Benn The Light Years, by Chris Rush Tinsel, by Devney Perry The […]
Awards
Amazon’s Best Books So Far
Amazon announced its list of the Best Books of 2019 So Far, with the recently-published City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert (Riverhead) as its overall top pick. Also on the list are several titles excerpted in our Buzz Books 2019 Spring/Summer sampler: The Silent Patient, by Alex Michaelides (Celadon); Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, by Lori Gottlieb (HMH); On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, by Ocean Vuong; and The Guest Book, by Sarah Blake (Flatiron). Usually fewer than half of Amazon’s top 20 So Far make it to the top of their end-of-year Best Books list; last year 7 of […]
People, Etc.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt announced that evp and chief learning officer Rosamund Else-Mitchell will leave effective June 28. She will receive a year’s salary, among other benefits. An agreement between the parties “also provides for a release of certain claims by Ms. Else-Mitchell against the company, mutual non-disparagement obligations, certain confidentiality requirements, and non-competition and non-solicitation restrictions for a period of 12 months.” Shannon Donnelly has joined Diversion Books as marketing manager. Kandi Rich has joined Sourcebooks as graphic designer. Molly Koecher will join Longleaf Services as operations manager. She was previously vice president and general manager of Sunrise River Press, […]
People, Etc.
At the Random House publishing group vp, deputy publisher, Del Rey Keith Clayton takes the additional role of vp, director of licensing, for the Random House Group, working across Random House imprints to identify and grow the licensed publishing programs. In the new role, he reports to Scott Shannon and Aaron Wehner. Michelle Giuseffi has been named publishing manager for Crown and Tim Duggan Books, reporting to Annsley Rosner. Christine Johnston is promoted to publicist, and Stacey Stein moves up to associate publicist. At NetGalley, Katie Versluis has been promoted to sales associate, expanding her role to include new client […]
Waxman’s The Bookish Life of Nina Hill Tops July Library Reads
The Top Pick for July’s Library Reads list is The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman. Also on the list is J. Ryan Stradal’s The Lager Queen of Minnesota, excerpted and available for download in our Buzz Books 2019 Spring/Summer sampler. The other picks: The Book Charmer, by Karen Hawkins The Escape Room, by Megan Goldin Gods of Jade and Shadow, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia How to Hack a Heartbreak, by Kristin Rockaway Layover, by David Bell Lock Every Door, by Riley Sager The Nickel Boys, by Colson Whitehead Wanderers, by Chuck Wendig
People, Etc.
At Little Brown UK, Clare Smith moves up to executive publisher, literary, on July 1. The publishers of the Little, Brown/Abacus, Corsair, Dialogue Books, Fleet and Virago imprints will report to her. Alexa von Hirschberg will move to Faber in September, to fill the vacant slot as head of the Faber Social music list, reporting to Alex Bowler. At Chronicle Books, Evelyn Furuta has been hired as designer, entertainment (she was a graphic designer at Insight Editions); and Caitlin Kirkpatrick has been promoted to editor, art. At Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Tom Kruse joined the company as head of store sales and operations […]