Looking for an excellent book to read? Barbara VanDenburgh of USA TODAY searches the book shelves for this week’s top new publications. All books go on sale.
For more must-read book suggestions, see our list of the 20 titles we are most anticipating this summer, which includes “Pageboy,” the memoir by Elliot Page, and the newest Stephen King book. You can also see our list of the best books of 2022, which received only perfect four-star reviews, as well as the hottest celebrity memoirs from Matthew Perry, Tom Felton, William Shatner, Jennette McCurdy, and other stars. Additionally, take a look at USA TODAY’s Best-selling Booklist to see what other people are reading this week.
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A Pocketful of Happiness
By Richard E. Grant (nonfiction; Simon & Schuster)
What’s involved: The Oscar-nominated actor (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”) speaks about his life, illustrious career, losing his 35-year wife in 2021, and achieving her final request that he find a “pocketful of happiness in every day.”
Novel by Ann Patchett (Harper)
What it’s about: In this reflection on youthful love and a parent’s life before children, Lara’s three daughters implore their mother to tell them the tale of her labour – and romance – with renowned actor Peter Duke at the family’s orchard in Northern Michigan.
A starred Kirkus review calls the book “poignant and reflective, cementing Patchett’s stature as one of our finest novelists.”
Family Lore
Elizabeth Acevedo (fiction, Ecco)
What’s involved: The National Book Award–winning author and poet publishes her first book for adults, a story about a Dominican–American family gathered for a live wake planned by Flor, a woman with the ability to foretell death. Whose turn is it now?
Acevedo does a fantastic job of capturing the love and devotion the women have for one another. Fans of the author will devour this, according to Publishers Weekly.
What Never Happened
By Rachel Howzell Hall (fiction, Thomas & Mercer)
What it’s about: On Catalina Island, where a large senior population keeps business brisk, Coco has a good job as a professional obituary writer. However, as Coco learns more about the deaths she is writing about, she discovers that they are strangely identical – and not due to natural causes.
It is described as “a character-rich, sleep-depriving thriller” by Kirkus Reviews.
Just Another Missing Person
Gillian McAllister (fiction, Morrow)
What’s involved: Olivia, age 22, vanishes after being last seen walking into a dead end alley. While time is running out, the detective looking into the case must make an impossible moral decision: find Olivia or fabricate a motive for the murder in order to shield her family from the guilty party.
By the end, it veers a little towards formula, but oh! How the middle turned out, claims Kirkus Reviews.