Literairyland: Oct. 31-Nov. 6, 2023

This week's new books, writer bdays, and more

Author

Nicholas Barron
October 31, 2023

Hi Friend,

A few years ago, you subscribed to my newsletter, Bidwell Hollow, which told true stories about famous writers. I now have a new email, Literairyland, that I think you might enjoy.

Each issue of Literairyland includes:

  • A quick roundup of the week that was in books and book publishing.

  • A list of that week's new books.

  • Writers' birthdays and notable literary events.

Literairyland goes out on Tuesdays. You'll find this week's Literairyland below.

You don't have to do a thing to keep receiving Literairyland. Or, if you don't want to get Literairyland, just click to unsubscribe at the bottom of this email.

I hope you enjoy Literairyland,
Nick Barron

The Latest In Books

Happy Halloween, Reader,

It's rare for an audiobook to get as much if not more, attention than its book, yet that's what's happening with Britney Spears' memoir The Woman in Me. 

People are raving about actor Michelle Williams' narration in the memoir's audiobook. Clips of Williams' reading became a TikTok meme, and there's talk that Williams could win a Grammy. (Viola Davis won the award last year for narrating her memoir, Finding Me.)

Sticking with memoirs, Henry Winkler's Being Henry is out today. Winkler's busy promoting the book, and you can read interviews with him here, here, here, and here.

Alright, let's get to this week's new books.

Thanks for reading,
Nick

This Week’s New Books

Note: Your email app might cut off part of this email, so you might need to click a link at the bottom of this week's Literairyland to view the entire email.

Affiliate Disclosure: This email contains affiliate links. That means I may receive a small percentage of any purchase you make after visiting one of these links at no additional cost to you.

Fiction

Mystery

  • Dirty Thirty (Stephanie Plum) by Janet Evanovich (Amazon | Bookshop)

  • From a Far and Lovely Country: No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith (Amazon | Bookshop)

  • Wager Smart (An Eddie O'Connell Mystery Thriller) by Tom Farrell (Amazon | Bookshop)

Thriller

Horror

Science Fiction

  • Testimony of a Shifter by Emma Pérez (Bookshop) 🏳️‍🌈

  • Cult of the Wyvern by Sean E. Kelly (Amazon | Bookshop)

  • Godfall (Flyover Fiction) by Van Jensen (Amazon | Bookshop) • (Available Nov. 1)

  • Saint Elspeth by Wick Welker (Amazon | Bookshop) • (Available Nov. 4)

  • The Long Fall Up: And Other Stories by William Ledbetter (Amazon | Bookshop) • (Available Nov. 6)

Fantasy

  • Hekate's Return: A Deep History of Witchcraft by Mark Harris (Amazon | Bookshop)

Romance

Historical

Literary

Short Stories

  • The Body of the Soul: Stories by Ludmila Ulitskaya, translated by Richard Peaver and Larissa Volokhonsky (Amazon | Bookshop)

  • This Modern Man Is Beat: A Novel in Stories by Fawzy Zablah (Amazon | Bookshop) • (Available Nov. 1)

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Nonfiction

Memoir

  • Energy Follows Thought: The Stories Behind My Songs by Willie Nelson and David Ritz (Amazon | Bookshop)

  • The Race to Be Myself: A Memoir by Caster Semenya (Amazon | Bookshop)

  • Being Henry: The Fonz…and Beyond by Henry Winkler (Amazon | Bookshop)

  • Motherland: A Memoir by Paula Ramón, translated by Julia Sanches and Jennifer Shyue (Amazon | Bookshop)

Pop Culture

  • Dressing the Part: Television's Most Stylish Shows by Hal Rubenstein (Amazon | Bookshop)

Music

  • Rise Up!: Indigenous Music in North America by Craig Harris (Amazon | Bookshop) • (Available Nov. 1)

Business

  • The Wolf of Investing: My Playbook for Making a Fortune on Wall Street by Jordan Belfort (Amazon | Bookshop)

  • Why DeFi Matters: What Cryptoassets, Web3 and the Metaverse Really Mean for Finance by Ian Horne (Amazon | Bookshop)

  • Board Talk: 18 Crucial Conversations That Count Inside and Outside the Boardroom by Kathryn Bishop and Gillian Camm (Amazon | Bookshop)

  • Negotiation Made Simple: A Practical Guide for Solving Problems, Building Relationships, and Delivering the Deal (Made Simple Series) by John Lowry (Amazon | Bookshop)

  • BE SEEN: Find Your Voice. Build Your Brand. Live Your Dream. By Jen Gottlieb (Amazon | Bookshop)

Climate

  • You Can’t Make Money From a Dead Planet: The Sustainable Method for Driving Profits by Mark Shayler (Amazon | Bookshop)

Etymology

  • Words from Hell: Unearthing the Darkest Secrets of English Etymology by Jess Zafarris (Amazon | Bookshop)

History

  • American Anarchy: The Epic Struggle Between Immigrant Radicals and the U.S. Government at the Dawn of the Twentieth Century by Michael Willrich (Amazon | Bookshop)

  • Charlie Chaplin vs. America: When Art, Sex, and Politics Collided by Scott Eyman (Amazon | Bookshop)

Politics

  • The Dissident: Alexey Navalny: Profile of a Political Prisoner by David Herszenhorn (Amazon | Bookshop)

  • Renegade: Defending Democracy and Liberty in Our Divided Country by Adam Kinzinger and Michael D'Antonio (Amazon | Bookshop)

Science

Sports

  • George Allen: A Football Life by Michael Richman (Amazon | Bookshop) • (Available Nov. 1)

  • Boston Ball: Rick Pitino, Jim Calhoun, Gary Williams, and the Forgotten Cradle of Basketball Coaches by Clayton Trutor (Amazon | Bookshop) • (Available Nov. 1)

  • Unstoppable: A Story of Love, Faith, and the Power Couple Who Ignited the College Sports Broadcasting Boom by George Hirthler (Amazon | Bookshop) • (Available Nov. 1)

Self-Help

  • The Boundary Boss Workbook: The Right Words and Strategies to Free Yourself from Burnout, Exhaustion, and Over-Giving by Terri Cole (Amazon | Bookshop)

  • Necessary Death: What Horror Movies Teach Us About Navigating the Human Experience by Preston Fassel and Chris Grosso (Amazon | Bookshop)

Spiritual

  • The New Saints: From Broken Hearts to Spiritual Warriors by Lama Rod Owens (Amazon | Bookshop)

  • Blood Sex Magic: Everyday Magic for the Modern Mystic by Bri Luna (Amazon | Bookshop)

  • Wicca Magic: A Handbook of Wiccan History, Traditions, and Rituals (Mystical Handbook, 17) by Agnes Hollyhock (Amazon | Bookshop)

  • 13: One Woman's Sacred Journey to Discovering Her Greatest Power by Nikol Rogers (Amazon | Bookshop) • (Available Nov. 2)

Poetry

  • Beautiful Sad Eyes, Weary Waiting for Love by r.h. Sin and Robert Drake (Amazon | Bookshop)

  • Domestic Bodies by Jennifer Ruth Jackson (Amazon | Bookshop) • (Available Nov. 3)

This Week’s Literary Birthdays & Events

October 31

  • John Evelyn

  • John Keats

  • William H. McNeill

  • Susan Orlean

  • Katherine Paterson

  • Julia Peterkin

  • Neal Stephenson

November 1

  • Jane Austen's father, George, writes to publisher Thomas Cadell, offering his daughter's manuscript of what became Pride and Prejudice (1797)

  • Edmund Blunden

  • Hermann Broch

  • Stephen Crane

  • Susanna Clarke

  • Gordon R. Dickson

  • Sakutarō Hagiwara

  • Zenna Henderson

  • William Melvin Kelley

November 2

  • D.H. Lawrence declared not guilty in obscenity trial over Lady Chatterley's Lover (1960)

  • Jules Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly

  • Dale Brown

  • Lois McMaster Bujold

  • Jonas Gardell

  • Thomas Mallon

  • Moa Martinson

  • Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay

  • Odysseas Elytis

November 3

  • William Cullen Bryant

  • Harry Stephen Keeler

  • André Malraux

  • Charles Martin

  • Ann Scott

  • Martin Cruz Smith

November 4

  • Matthew Tobin Anderson

  • Kristin Cast

  • Charles Frazier

  • Lyndall Gordon

  • Kyōka Izumi

  • Sterling North

  • Hannah Weiner

  • C. K. Williams

November 5

  • John Berger

  • James Elroy Flecker

  • Joyce Maynard

  • Philippe de Mornay

  • Sam Shepard

  • Ida Tarbell

  • Ella Wheeler Wilcox

November 6

  • Chris van Abkoude

  • Michael Cunningham

  • Robert Musil

  • Louis Racine

  • Marco Vassi

  • Colson Whitehead

See you next week!