News in September 2023
News in September 2023
ASTOR debuted on The New York Times Bestseller List for the week of October 8, 2023, appearing at #3 on both the Hardcover Nonfiction and Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction lists. Harper published the book on September 19, 2023.
In a starred review, Kirkus calls Thurston Moore’s SONIC LIFE "[a] literate, absorbing account of life in the New York of CBGB, no wave, and affordable spaces for artists” and “[a] self-aware, charmingly rough-and-tumble tale of the rock ’n’ roll life." Doubleday will publish the memoir on October 24, 2023.
Y/N by Esther Yi was shortlisted for The Center for Fiction’s 2023 First Novel Prize. The shortlisted authors will be celebrated at The Center for Fiction First Novel Fête on December 1, 2023, and the winner will be announced at The Center for Fiction Annual Awards Benefit on December 5, 2023.
WE ARE A HAUNTING by Tyriek White was shortlisted for The Center for Fiction’s 2023 First Novel Prize. The shortlisted authors will be celebrated at The Center for Fiction First Novel Fête on December 1, 2023, and the winner will be announced at The Center for Fiction Annual Awards Benefit on December 5, 2023.
Isle McElroy’s sophomore novel PEOPLE COLLIDE published to great acclaim, with raves pouring in from all corners of the media. The Washington Post lauds the novel as “one of the year’s most compelling reads,” with The New York Times adding: “[People Collide is] a big project knocking around in a small package, portending even bigger projects ahead.” The book was also praised by NPR (“a deep exploration of marriage, love, and the ways we know one another — and don’t”), The Los Angeles Times (“a delightfully gimmicky novel about how gender is a gimmick”), and elsewhere. HarperVia published PEOPLE COLLIDE on September 26, 2023.
The Financial Times featured KENNDY 35 by Charles Cumming on its list of “the best new thrillers,” praising: “KENNDY 35 is an enthralling, haunting work…Cumming is often compared to John le Carré, but he is his own man — taking the spy thriller to a new level of storytelling, one that illuminates the darkest corners of our modern world.” Mysterious Press will publish the book on November 7, 2023.
ASTOR is one of Apple Books’ top books for the month of September, and was featured on Entertainment Weekly’s Fall roundup: “If you can't get enough of THE GILDED AGE, this historical biography is a must-read. Anderson Cooper, himself a descendant of the Vanderbilt family, reteams with Katherine Howe for this in-depth look at a family that shaped American history…In an era where the divide between the haves and have-nots is the widest it has been in over a century, Cooper and Howe dig into one of the United States' most influential families and a parable of capitalism, commerce, and greed that established an American way of life.” Cooper also sat down with The Washington Post to discuss ASTOR, “money, power, history and the myths of the American Dream.” Cooper says: “I’m very interested in the pathology of how the fortune is made, the psychology of the person who was so invested in amassing money that they created this fortune, whether it’s Commodore Vanderbilt and certainly John Jacob Astor…It’s very easy to think of this as a story about a wealthy family and their business. And there’s a lot of that in this. But my takeaway is just sort of the human cost of all of this. As unrelatable as the life the Astors led is, there are all these very human moments and human frailties, and how that plays out under the weight of and with the benefit of all this money.” Harper published the book on September 19, 2023.
MOTHER-DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT by Nina Simon debuted at #14 on The New York Times Bestseller list for Hardcover Fiction for the week of October 1, 2023. William Morrow published the book on September 5, 2023.
Eliot Duncan’s debut novel PONYBOY was longlisted for the 2023 National Book Award for Fiction. W.W. Norton & Company published the book on June 13, 2023.
Jayne Anne Phillips’ latest novel, NIGHT WATCH, was longlisted for the 2023 National Book Award for Fiction. Knopf published the book on September 19, 2023.
AMONG THE BROS by Max Marshall received a fantastic review from Booklist. Reviewer David Pitt writes: “In 2016, police in Charleston, South Carolina, busted a fraternity-based drug ring that included Michael ‘Mikey’ Schmidt, who is the focus of this rather shocking book. When journalist Max Marshall began investigating this story in 2018, he expected an interesting story about a small group of college-student Xanax dealers operating out of the College of Charleston. But he wound up uncovering a massive drug-trafficking operation involving millions of dollars, a handful of accidental deaths, and one murder. As he lays out this incredible story, the author also takes the reader behind the scenes of a college fraternity, laying bare the secrets beneath its bright, shiny surface. Readers who enjoy college-campus true crime like UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT (2007) and WE KEEP THE DEAD CLOSE (2020) will be interested in this story, which Marshall tells exceptionally well. He treats his drug-dealing subjects and their victims as fully fleshed-out people. A must-have addition to any library’s true-crime section.” Harper will publish the book on November 7, 2023.
The mass market edition of THE HIGH NOTES by Danielle Steel debuted at #8 on The New York Times Mass Market bestseller list for September 2023. Delacorte Press published the hardcover edition on October 11, 2022, and the mass market edition on July 25, 2023.