1. Anima Rising, by Christopher Moore
2. The Emperor of Gladness, by Ocean Vuong
3. My Friends, by Fredrik Backman
4. The Devil Times Three, by Rickey Fayne
5. Nightshade, by Michael Connelly
6. Great Big Beautiful Life, by Emily Henry
7. James, by Percival Everett
8. Fever Beach, by Carl Hiaasen
9. The Last Ferry Out, by Andrea Bartz (Brookfield Library June 3 event)
10. Wild Dark Shore, by Charlotte McConaghy
Nightshade is Michael Connelly's fortieth novel and the first to feature Los Angeles County Sheriff's Detective Stilwell (doesn't seem to have a first name in the copy or in any of the reviews). All the advance reviews are great. From the starred Booklist: "specially after he gets a sense of how the victim was treated when she worked as a waitress at an elite island club. Catalina is a playground for visitors, while the working-class denizens scramble, and the powerful scheme. With an intriguingly low-key but skilled and principled hero, his significant other, a pesky if useful reporter, a conniving mayor, and a crime boss known as Baby Head, Nightshade is a gripping and promising start to crime virtuoso Connelly's new series."
Hardcover Nonfiction:
1. Marsha, by Tourmaline
2. Calling In, by Loretta J Ross
3. The Book of Alchemy, by Suleika Jaouad
4. Original Sin, by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson
5. Ginseng Roots, by Craig Thompson (Boswell May 27 event)
6. The Serviceberry, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
7. Mark Twain, by Ron Chernow (Turner Hall Ballroom June 4 ticketed event)
8. Good Stress, by Jeff Krasno
9. Things in Nature Merely Grow, by Yiyun Li
10. A Little History of Mathematics, by Snezana Lawrence
Marsha is Black trans artist Tourmaline's bio of Black trans artist Marsha P Johnson, per the publisher, a central figure in LGBTQIA+ history and the 1969 Stonewall Uprising. From Library Journal: "This biography is abundant with stories about other things in Johnson's life, such as the Angels of Light and the many people she influenced, including Andy Warhol." I also learned that in 2020, the East River State Park was renamed in her honor.
1. Martyr, by Kaveh Akbar
2. Rain Over Snow, by Jameelah Shareef
3. The Secret History, by Donna Tartt
4. Orbital, by Samantha Harvey (Upcoming Boswell book clubs here)
5. The Invisible Life of Addie Larue, by VE Schwab
6. All Fours, by Miranda July
7. The Social Graces, by Renée Rosen
8. Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt
9. Park Avenue Summer, by Renée Rosen
10. Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett
There sure were a good number of hardcover holdouts who finally got their paperback release this spring, including Remarkably Bright Creatures, Lessons in Chemistry, and Tom Lake. For some reason, I think the rule is that if a hardcover release is extended beyond the normal window, the odds of an April or May paperback release increase substantially. I think it's a summer reading thing. Here's an interesting detail from Broadway World about Patchett and Our Town, on attending a Symphony Space performance last October: "Ann shared that despite Wilder’s play being the piece of writing she has read the most in her life, she had never seen a production of Our Town on stage until Kenny Leon’s production on Sunday."
1. A Dumb Birds Field Guide to the Worst Birds Ever, by Matt Kracht
2. On Tyranny, by Timothy Snyder
3. At the Edge of Empire, by Eric Hinderaker
4. Wisconsin's Idols, by Dean Robbins
5. The Light Eaters, by Zoë Schlanger
6. The Bill of Obligations, by Richard Haass
7. No Straight Road Takes You There, by Rebecca Solnit
8. Murdle V1, by GT Karber
9. Men Explain Things to Me, by Rebecca Solnit
10. Midnight in Chernobyl, by Adam Higginbotham
I think I highlighted Zoë Schlanger's The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth, but it's always nice to see an additional pop off the new paperback table. The updated publisher info notes that it was longlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Nonfiction Prize and was a finalist for the Chautauqua Prize, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and won the National Outdoor Book Award for Natural History. I am repeating this in the order of the publisher - you think you would list the winner first!
1. Sunrise on the Reaping, by Suzanne Collins
2. The Patron Saints of Nothing, by Randy Ribay
3. Will the Pigeon Graduate?, by Mo Willems
4. So Over Sharing, by Elissa Brent Weissman
5. Daddy, by Leslie Patricelli
6. Dads Can Do It All, by Ted Maase
7. I Love You Night and Day, by Sriti Prasadam Halls
8. Good Luck, Ice Cream Truck, by Sorce Fairbank, illustrations by Terry Runyan
9. Monarch, by Kirsten Hall
10. Dry, by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
Jenny was working with a local child care center on additions to their library. One recent release that hit the mark was Good Luck, Ice Cream Truck, by Sorche Fairbank, where the characters greet trucks as they await the titled start of the book. Instead they see all kinds of other trucks, including ones for mail, cement, and garbage. But while they are all interesting, there's nothing that matches the one that carries ice cream. See you later, excavator!
