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Big Books of the Week

Atmosphere: A Love Story by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Ballantine; LJ starred review) leads holds this week. WSJ Magazine has an interview with Reid. 

Other titles in demand include:

The First Gentleman by James Patterson & Bill Clinton (Little, Brown)

Badlands by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child (Grand Central; LJ starred review)

How To Lose Your Mother: A Daughter’s Memoir by Molly Jong-Fast (Viking)

A Family Matter by Claire Lynch (Scribner)

What Kind of Paradise by Janelle Brown (Random)

These books and others publishing the week of June 2, 2025, are listed in a downloadable spreadsheet.

Librarians and Booksellers Suggest

Ten LibraryReads picks and ten Indie Next picks publish this week: 

The top pick is The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater (Viking; LJ starred review) *Good for Book Clubs

“Joan is the manager of a resort hotel in West Virginia. Life is good until the U.S. is pulled into WWII and the hotel’s only guests are detained Axis diplomats. While Joan is very good at keeping secrets, this adds strain on the staff. Readers who adored Stiefvater’s YA books will welcome this historical fiction that reads like a classic spy thriller.”—Kimberly McGee, Lake Travis Community Library, Austin, TX

It is also an Indie Next pick: 

“A fascinating hotel with magical water running through it, lovable characters with mysterious pasts, and wartime chaos combine in this amazing read. I was so immersed in the world of the Avallon.”—Andie Keith, Word After Word Books, Truckee, CA

The notable nonfiction pick is The River’s Daughter: A Memoir by Bridget Crocker (Spiegel & Grau) *Good for Book Clubs.

"World-class whitewater rafting guide Crocker offers readers a look at her life via stories of the rivers she's known and loved. Faced with an unstable mother and abusive father, she found solace in nature—specifically, in water. In this deeply moving memoir, Crocker explores breaking generational cycles, dealing with sexism in the outdoor industry, recovering from abuse and trauma, and more. Readers will be touched and inspired by Crocker's insights."—Kaite Stover, LibraryReads Board Member

It is also an Indie Next pick:

“I loved learning about Bridget Crocker’s life on these incredible rivers! Crocker made me feel like the river is a living thing—the way it speaks to you, and carries you, and drives its own path across the barriers in its way.”—Cassie Clemans, Roundabout Books, Bend, OR

Hall of Fame picks include Worth Fighting For by Jesse Q. Sutanto (Hyperion Avenue) and What Kind of Paradise by Janelle Brown (Random) *Good for Book Clubs.

Hall of Fame pick Atmosphere: A Love Story by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Ballantine; LJ starred review) is also an Indie Next pick:

“Emotional, thoroughly researched, and packed with characters navigating the demanding world of NASA, this book is all that you want from Taylor Jenkins Reid. Joan will make you believe in the goodness of humanity.”—Cat Bock, Parnassus Books, Nashville, TN

Hall of Fame pick The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark (Sourcebooks Landmark) is also an Indie Next pick:

“This is Julie Clark at her best! Olivia has been hiding from her past all her life. Now that her father is sick, he wants her to ghostwrite his memoir. Clark takes you on a rollercoaster ride that will leave you breathless.”—Toni Chase, Books & Company, Oconomowoc, WI

The Phoenix Pencil Company by Allison King (Morrow) *Debut *Good for Book Clubs

“Monica is determined to reunite her beloved Grandmother Yun with her long-lost cousin after learning about her family’s talent for imbuing ordinary pencils with extraordinary magic, capable of bringing memories to life. The way the author weaves together multiple generations and their intertwined stories is also magical, creating a compelling saga that spans time and cultures. Readers will enjoy King’s exploration of themes like memory, identity, and the enduring bonds of family.”—Tamara English, Derby Public Library, KS

The Summer We Ran by Audrey Ingram (Zibby)

“This compelling romance alternates between two timelines, propelling the story along and driving readers to find out how Grant and Tess go from teenagers in love to gubernatorial candidates with opposing political views who haven’t seen each other for 25 years. Secrets and complicated family dynamics make this a page-turning summer-read that’s perfect for fans of Carley Fortune.”—Amy Lapointe, Amherst Town Library, NH

It is also an Indie Next pick:

“If you’re looking for a novel beyond romance, nostalgic ‘90s summers, and complex characters, The Summer We Ran is for you. Ingram delves into class, ambition, and our capacity to forgive and love despite tragedy.”—Melody Wukitch, Severna Park Books & LitCoLab, Severna, MD

Meet Me at the Crossroads by Megan Giddings (Amistad) *Good for Book Clubs

“Seven mysterious doors suddenly appear in different places across the globe and when they open, they appear to lead to new dimensions in the universe. Two Black twin sisters get caught in the mystery as one sees paradise while the other sees peril. A spellbinding story about the choices that can both bring us together and tear us apart.”—Magan Szwarek, LibraryReads Ambassador, IL

Battle of the Bookstores by Ali Brady (Berkley) *Debut

“When their boss decides to merge their beloved bookstores, romance-reader Ryan and literary ‘Ice Queen’ Josie vie for the title of bookstore manager. Readers will enjoy the witty banter, loveable cast of characters, spicy scenes, literary references, and the representation of the romance genre and bookstores as inclusive stories and places for anyone and everyone to find themselves.”—Dana Treichler, Princeton Public Library, NJ

Five additional Indie Next picks publish this week:

Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove (Bindery; LJ starred review)

“A delightful found family romp through space! Think if Murderbot was a creature feature. I really can’t get over how fantastic and charming this is!”—Athena Palmer, Shelf Life Bookstore, Richmond, VA

Notes on Infinity by Austin Taylor (Celadon)

“Zoe and Jack have found a way to genetically engineer genes related to aging. Their incredible work and parallel love story are almost too good to be true. Fans of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow will race through this.”—Beth Mynhier, Lake Forest Book Store, Lake Forest, IL

The Salt Stones: Seasons of a Shepherd’s Life by Helen Whybrow (Milkweed)

“One of the great gifts of writers is so delicately, artfully, placing characters in our minds that we can fully experience them. Read this for a shepherd’s life and the landscapes they inhabit. Beautiful, telling, and human.”—John Evans, Camino Books, San Diego, CA

Endling by Maria Reva (Doubleday; LJ starred review)

“Endling is a rich stew of the foreign bride industry, nearly extinct snails, familial disappointment, and war in a scabrous, blistering portrait of contemporary Ukraine that is as eye-opening as it is entertaining.”—David Enyeart, Next Chapter Booksellers, St. Paul, MN

A Family Matter by Claire Lynch (Scribner)

“This is a beautiful, quiet book about being unmoored. There is so much love, and much pain—laws in 1982 England classified lesbian relationships as inappropriate. A strong reminder that our past was not so long ago and we have a responsibility to speak up.”—Kira Wizner, Merritt Bookstore, Millbrook, NY

In the Media

People’s book of the week is A Family Matter by Claire Lynch (Scribner). Also getting attention are Park Avenue by Renée Ahdieh (Flatiron) and Food Person by Adam Roberts (Knopf). “Sizzling” summer romances include Not So Fast by Karen Booth (Afterglow: Harlequin), It’s a Love Story by Annabel Monaghan (Putnam), and Plus-Size Player by Danielle Allen (Bramble).

There is a profile of Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of Atmosphere: A Love Story (Ballantine; LJ starred review). There are recipes from Hailee Catalano, By Heart: Recipes To Hold Near and Dear (DK), and Hawa Hassan, Setting a Place for Us: Recipes and Stories of Displacement, Resilience, and Community from Eight Countries Impacted by War (Ten Speed). Plus, People online compiles the best books of June, best summer nonfiction and recommends LGBTQ+ books for adults.  

Reviews

NYT reviews How To Lose Your Mother: A Daughter’s Memoir by Molly Jong-Fast (Viking): “Jong-Fast is cognizant of both her nepo-baby privilege and the thorny ethics of writing a memoir about an ailing parent. Yet she remains unsparing in her analysis, and grief and rage coincide with comedy and uptown-literati charm”; The Gunfighters: How Texas Made the West Wild by Bryan Burrough (Penguin Pr.; LJ starred review): “Burrough scrapes off more than a century of dust and dried blood to give us a work that is part history, part biography, part sociology. In his hands, printing the facts makes for one hell of a good read”; Clam Down: A Metamorphosis by Anelise Chen (One World): “On its cover, Clam Down is billed not as memoir or novel but as a ‘metamorphosis,’ and the word is apt”; Hollywood High: A Totally Epic, Way Opinionated History of Teen Movies by Bruce Handy (Avid Reader: S. & S.; LJ starred review): “Handy’s organizational challenges in this rambling survey (magnified by his eagerness to include every statistic and Googled factoid unearthed in the course of his research) are more daunting than the book’s snappy title might suggest”; Culture Creep: Notes on the Pop Apocalypse by Alice Bolin (Mariner): “Bolin is troubled by the culture of dissociation that the current capitalist system asks us to buy into”; and Mother Emanuel: Two Centuries of Race, Resistance, and Forgiveness in One Charleston Church by Kevin Sack (Crown): “His pages teem with information often eloquently conveyed, leaving his readers as enthralled as he is with his expansive, inspiring and hugely important subject."

Washington Post reviews A Different Kind of Power: A Memoir by Jacinda Ardern (Crown): “A Different Kind of Power leaves readers with a troubling question: Can someone who puts a premium on kindness—who responds with genuine compassion to repeated disasters and acts of blatant cruelty—bear the burdens of leadership, particularly in the modern world where instant ugly rumor often replaces fact?”; and Parallel Lines by Edward St. Aubyn (Knopf): “While exploring topics such as amortality, extinction fatigue, rewilding and transcranial stimulation, the author never resists gravity’s pull.”

Vulture reviews Flashlight by Susan Choi (Farrar): “One thing that hasn’t changed is what an outlandishly talented writer Choi is, her prose possessing an iron confidence in its own beauty.”

The Guardian reviews The Möbius Book by Catherine Lacey (Farrar; LJ starred review): “Lacey is fascinated by literary form and by the metaphors for literary form, finding fiction at once a constraint and a space for play.”

Briefly Noted

New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association announces its Book of the Year awards.  

Judy Blume is presented with the Women’s National Book Association Award. Shelf Awareness has the story. 

Audiofile announces the June 2025 Earphones Award winners.

The Anthony Awards nominees are announced at Bouchercon. 

The CrimeFest Awards winners are announced.

This year’s James Tait Black Prizes winners are announced. 

CrimeReads suggests 10 new books for the week. 

LA Times previews 10 books to read in June. 

A Family Matter by Claire Lynch (Scribner) is the June Read with Jenna pick. 

USA Today recommends new thrillers and romance books for summer. 

NYT suggests eight comics for Pride Month. 

LitHub highlights June’s best nonfiction books and SFF and previews 22 books for summer. 

People offers read-alikes for fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid. 

USA Today talks with Bill Clinton and James Patterson about their latest thriller collaboration, The First Gentleman (Little, Brown). 

Kenyan novelist and scholar Ngugi wa Thiong’o, author of the May 2025 book Decolonizing Language and Other Revolutionary Ideas (The New Pr.), has died at the age of 87. Washington Post has an obituary. Ben Okri writes a remembrance in The Guardian. 

South African novelist Lynn Freed has died at the age of 79. NYT has an obituary. 

Authors on Air

CBS Sunday Morning talks with Bill Clinton and James Patterson about The First Gentleman (Little, Brown) and shares an excerpt. Also, former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern discusses her new memoir, A Different Kind of Power (Crown). 

PBS News Weekend chats with Sophie Gilbert about her book Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves (Penguin Pr.; LJ starred review).

Candace Parker, author of The Can-Do Mindset: How To Cultivate Resilience, Follow Your Heart, and Fight for Your Passions (Zando), will visit GMA today. 

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