The Frankfurt Book Fair Plans Virtual Global Book Festival | Book Pulse

There is much award news, including the winners of the Wainwright prize for nature writing and the longlist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Viet Thanh Nguyen has joined the Pulitzer Prize Board. Carolyn Reidy, the late President and CEO of Simon & Schuster, will be honored with the Literarian Award. Ayad Akhtar, Homeland Elegies, is tapped as the next president of PEN America. The Frankfurt Book Fair goes virtual and now includes a free, global book festival day. Oprah is turning her book club into an Apple Podcast, to discuss Isabel Wilkerson's Caste over eight different episodes. Three forthcoming books get sales bumps.

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 Award News

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dara McAnulty, the sixteen year old author of Diary of a Young Naturalist (Little Toller Books) co-wins the Wainwright prize for nature writing. Benedict Macdonald, Rebirding (Pelagic Publishing), splits the prize with him. The Guardian reports.

Melissa Oliver wins the RNA Joan Hessayon Award for new writers for her debut The Rebel Heiress and the Knight (Harlequin Historical).

The longlist is out for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. CBC reports. Here is the announcement video.

The shortlist is out for the Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize for Global Cultural Understanding. Publishing Perspectives reports.

The Booker Prize will be announced on Nov. 17 in a live stream event. The Bookseller reports.

Viet Thanh Nguyen has joined the Pulitzer Prize Board. Lit Hub reports that he is the first Asian-American and Vietnamese-American member.

Carolyn Reidy, the late President and CEO of Simon & Schuster, will be honored with the 2020 Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community.

Reviews

USA Today reviews One by One by Ruth Ware (Gallery/Scout: Macmillan; LJ starred review), giving it 3 stars, calling it "another solid thriller … claustrophobic, nerve-wracking and deadly." Also, Anxious People by Fredrik Backman (Atria Books: S. & S.; LJ starred review), giving it a perfect four stars, writing it “gradually becomes truer than life itself."

The NYT reviews The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld (Graywolf Press: Macmillan): "an earthy and irreverent new voice, thrillingly uninhibited in style and subject matter.” Also, A Knock at Midnight: A Story of Hope, Justice, and Freedom by Brittany K. Barnett (Crown: Random House; LJ starred review): "This book is important and in certain ways I admired Barnett's decision to overbalance her and her clients' struggles with joy."

The Washington Post reviews Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (Bloomsbury USA: Macmillan; LJ starred review): "none of her enchantment has worn off — it's evolved. Reading her lithe new book, "Piranesi," feels like finding a copy of Steven Millhauser's "Martin Dressler" in the back of C.S. Lewis's wardrobe.” Also, Not a Novel: A Memoir in Pieces by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated by Kurt Beals (New Directions:  W. W. Norton): "Whatever her subject or tone, Erpenbeck keeps coming back to how her work enables us to know the unknowable, especially in our ever-changing heads and hearts." Monogamy by Sue Miller (Harper): "Miller's skillfulness turns a familiar plot into an original story that reflects the real-life complexity of relationships."

NPR reviews What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez (Riverhead: Penguin; LJ starred review): "Nunez has written another deeply humane reminder of the great solace of both companionship and literature."

Briefly Noted

Pulitzer-winning playwright Ayad Akhtar, Homeland Elegies (Little, Brown: Hachette; LJ starred review), is tapped as the next president of PEN America. The NYT has an interview.

Barnes & Noble picks Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi (Knopf; LJ starred review) as its September book club title.

Lit Hub picks eleven books for the month.

PBS’s Canvas offers "7 books that dive into the long history of America’s labor movement."

BuzzFeed selects "13 Spectacular Young Adult Books From Independent Publishers."

The NYT “New & Noteworthy" column is out.

Looking for under the radar suggestions? Lit Hub offers "11 Great Books You Probably Haven’t Read (But Should)."

Three forthcoming books get sizeable sales bumps: Clanlands: Whisky, Warfare, and a Scottish Adventure Like No Other by Sam Heughan, Graham McTavish (Quercus: Hachette), Dessert Person: Recipes and Guidance for Baking with Confidence by Claire Saffitz (Clarkson Potter: Penguin; LJ starred review), and It's Never Too Late: Make the Next Act of Your Life the Best Act of Your Life by Kathie Lee Gifford (Thomas Nelson: Harper).

Even more political books are forthcoming as Scribner announces Joe Biden: The Life, the Run, and What Matters Now by Evan Osnos ( S. & S.).

In the UK, the struggling Brontë Museum gets a gift from the T.S. Eliot estate. The NYT reports. In France, an attempt at official censorship has sent sales soaring for the pamphlet I Hate Men. The Guardian has that story.

The L.A. Times spotlights What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez (Riverhead: Penguin; LJ starred review).

People highlights Biden: The Obama Years and the Battle for the Soul of America by David Lienemann (Voracious: Hachette).

The L.A. Times features Pamela Redmond, Older (Gallery Books: S. & S.).

The Guardian has a piece about Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, the debut author who just landed a seven-figure, two book deal.

The BBC talks with two authors with novels about the British royal family, Wendy Holden, The Royal Governess: A Novel of Queen Elizabeth II's Childhood (Berkley: Penguin) and Clare McHugh, A Most English Princess: A Novel of Queen Victoria's Daughter (William Morrow: Harper).

Elle interviews Meera Shah, You're the Only One I've Told: The Stories Behind Abortion (Chicago Review Press).

Entertainment Weekly interviews Jane Fonda, What Can I Do? My Path from Climate Despair to Action (Penguin). Also, an interview with Jenna Bush Hager, Everything Beautiful in Its Time: Seasons of Love and Loss (William Morrow: Harper).

Electric Lit interviews Lyz Lenz, Belabored: A Vindication of the Rights of Pregnant Women (Bold Type Books).

Shondaland interviews Toni Jensen, Carry: A Memoir of Survival on Stolen Land (Ballantine: Random House).

Amazon interviews Brittany K. Barnett, A Knock at Midnight: A Story of Hope, Justice, and Freedom (Crown: Random House; LJ starred review).

Bitch Media interviews Angela Chen, Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex (Beacon Press).

The NYT has an essay by James Traub about the Doctor Dolittle series.

Isabel Wilkerson joins the Talking Volumes event. The StarTribune reports.

The Frankfurt Book Fair will be virtual, after the physical event is cancelled. PW has a report. As part of the event, there will be a free global Bookfest day.

Shanna Hogan has died. USA Today has an obituary.

Forrest Feen had died. Deadline has an obituary.

Authors on Air

Oprah is turning her book club into an Apple Podcast, to discuss Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson (Random House; LJ starred review) over eight different episodes. It started yesterday and will run every Tuesday and Thursday. The L.A. Times reports.

Entertainment Weekly has a first look at The Mandalorian, season two.

NPR’s Fresh Air interviews Ali Soufan, The Black Banners (Declassified): How Torture Derailed the War on Terror After 9/11 (W.W. Norton). Vanity Fair also has coverage.

Bill Clinton will host a podcast for iHeartMedia. Deadline reports.

The Today Show features Everything Beautiful in Its Time: Seasons of Love and Loss by Jenna Bush Hager (William Morrow: Harper), What Can I Do? My Path from Climate Despair to Action by Jane Fonda (Penguin), and Compromised: Counterintelligence and the Threat of Donald J. Trump by Peter Strzok (HMH).

Star Trek: Discovery gets a trailer for season three. It will air on CBS All Access on Oct. 15.

Rebecca gets a teaser trailer. It is based on the novel by Daphne Du Maurier and debuts on Netflix on Oct. 21.

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