William Morrow: 326 pages, $28
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Measured by any yardstick, Ruth Tuttle and her husband, Xavier Shaw, are living the dream of Black uplift. “The Kindest Lie,” Nancy Johnson’s debut novel, opens on election night, 2008. Ruth, a 29-year-old Yale engineering grad working for a consumer packaged-goods company, and Xavier, 32, a PepsiCo marketing vice president, are hosting a watch party at their new townhome in the gentrified Bronzeville neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. Their guests are a cross-section of Chicago’s Black community, from an elderly postal worker to a lesbian couple Ruth met through a local Yale alumni group.
The top pick of the month comes from Kristin Hannah, author of the ever-popular The Nightingale. Hannah s newest novel, The Four Winds, vividly and poignantly details the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. February s featured debut Cherie Jones How The One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House is what Vanessa Cronin describes as a can t-look-away winner due to its lively and beautiful critique on the patriarchy, class, and race.
Here are Amazon s top 12 books of February 2021:
Captions have been provided by Amazon s book editors. The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
New voices and stories help balance the books Independent.ie 10/01/2021 Emily Hourican
The pandemic has been, broadly speaking, good for books, in that reading is a vital survival tool for many of us. Books aren t hard to buy online - no faffing with sizes or colours - they are relatively cheap, and usually quickly delivered (kudos to the amazing Irish bookshops that do this so efficiently).
However, the pandemic has not been equally good to all books, favouring established and big-name writers over the new and emerging. When buying online, readers tend to stick with what they know - or rely on algorithms that predict what they ll like, based on previous purchases (I say nuts to these algorithms; they fail to take account of my broad and eclectic taste. Just because I love John le Carré does not mean I want an endless list of spy thrillers…). When buying online, readers do not browse, or chat to those wonderful ambassadors for books - booksellers.
Writers to Watch Spring 2021 publishersweekly.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from publishersweekly.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Release date: 7 January
This is a story of love, friendship, rejection and bravery which looks at the emotional fallout of a cheating husband and whether it’s easier to stay or leave. The moving book is filled with Helen s witty humour and at times you ll be moved to tears. The story revolves around protagonist Iris on New Year’s Eve, having just discovered that her husband of a decade, Adam, is cheating on her. She kicks him out and moves her Dad in to help with the children, but as he starts to show signs of Alzheimer’s she realises how hard bringing up two children will be on her own whilst juggling a busy career. For the sake of the children she decides to give her husband one more chance. But is it braver to stay than to run? And can anyone fall in love with the same person twice?