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The Club: Where American Women Artists Found Refuge in Belle Époque Paris

by Jennifer Dasal

Reading The Club: Where American Women Artists Found Refuge in Belle Époque Paris is like being slipped the password to a speakeasy or directions to an exclusive art show happening in a bohemian corner of Paris. The "Club" referenced in the title was a subsidized living and social space in Paris for young American woman artists of the Belle Époque era, prior to World War I. It offered young women a space of their own where they could pursue their artistic studies, and held luxurious common spaces

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Spark

by Chris Baron

Chris Baron (The Gray) will leave readers both teary-eyed and cheering with his novel-in-verse Spark, which evokes the terror of wildfires and the hope of new growth.

Like all Californians, the residents of Redwood Hollows are intimately familiar with red-flag warnings and alerts for wildfires. They are so common that middle-school student Finn keeps track of fires by noting them in his field journal, a meticulous log of local flora and fauna. Then the alarm sounds: "LEAVE NOW-LEAVE NOW-TIME TO GO!" His family's

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History Lessons

by Zoe B. Wallbrook

Clever campus hijinks meet murder mystery in History Lessons, Zoe B. Wallbrook's debut novel. History Lessons follows Daphne Ouverture, the daughter of Ivorian immigrant mother and Louisiana Creole father, and a new junior professor at the prestigious Harrison University. Daphne is one of few Black people on the faculty and she specializes in French colonial history, so she's confused when she receives a strange text from Sam Taylor, a white colleague in the anthropology department with whom she's had very

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Like: A History of the World's Most Hated (and Misunderstood) Word

by Megan C. Reynolds

"Every woman I spoke to had a story about how someone at some point made her feel badly for saying 'like,' " writes Megan C. Reynolds in the conclusion to Like: A History of the World's Most Hated (and Misunderstood) Word, effectively summing up what she has spent the preceding pages exploring. "Like," a maligned word that's often called ungrammatical, is also an exceptionally useful filler word and multiuse modifier. Full of interesting details, humorous asides, and vindication for all the readers who

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El Dorado Drive

by Megan Abbott

El Dorado Drive is another stealthy-steely triumph from Megan Abbott (You Will Know Me; Give Me Your Hand; Beware the Woman), arguably the foremost living author of feminist noir.

It's 2008, and even before the recession, the auto industry's decline was hobbling Detroit and the suburb of Grosse Pointe, where the three Bishop sisters have fallen on hard times. Pam is suing her ex-husband for raiding their kids' trust funds and doesn't know how she's going to cover her son's college tuition. Debra is putting

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Millie Fleur Saves the Night

by Christy Mandin

In Christy Mandin's wondrous, magical Millie Fleur Saves the Night, the follow-up to Millie Fleur's Poison Garden, young Ms. La Fae employs compassion, care, and homemade moon pies to encourage every townsperson of Garden Glen to be a "friend of the Dark."

Every evening, residents of Garden Glen deploy houselights, spotlights, and lanterns to ensure their homes and gardens are safe from the "scary" and "dangerous" dark. Not so Millie Fleur, whose moon garden wasn't growing and who "hadn't seen a single night

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Jazzy the Witch in Broom Doom

by Jessixa Bagley

A young witch must learn to fly in this lovely middle-grade graphic novel featuring bouncy cartoon illustrations, lively magic, and an endearing girl finding her spark.

Jazzy is a young, brown-skinned witch with cute curls and a penchant for wearing purple. Her moms are the town broomstresses, carrying on a long tradition of handcrafting "besoms" (broomsticks). "When a witch starts flying, it's one of the most important days of their lives," Jazzy's moms tell her. But Jazzy doesn't feel like much of a witch:

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Welcome

Shelf Awareness is a free e-newsletter about books and the book industry. We have two separate versions:

For Readers: Every Friday, discover the 25 best books published that week as selected by our industry insiders. Sign up now.

For Book Trade Professionals: Receive daily enlightenment with our FREE weekday trade newsletter. Sign up now.

Learn more about Shelf Awareness.

Shelf Discovery

When Javi Dumped Mari

by Mia Sosa

When his best friend surprises him with her secret fiancé, Javi scrambles to convince Mari they're meant to be together in this hilarious romantic comedy.

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The Place of Tides

by James Rebanks

The Shepherd's Life author James Rebanks offers a quiet, reflective study of an inspiring woman and an old way of life in The Place of Tides, and his gentle, evocative writing shines.

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Let's Make a Scene

by Laura Wood

Two former co-stars reunite for a sequel to their first film and an encore of their fake--or is it real?--relationship in Laura Wood's charming second rom-com for adults.

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Beinoni

by Mari Lowe

In this compelling middle-grade fantasy based on Jewish history and mythology, a young boy must grapple with impossible choices to save the world--all before his bar mitzvah.

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Death of an Ex

by Delia Pitts

A private investigator investigates the murder of her ex-husband, who is also the father of her deceased daughter, in this exciting sequel to Trouble in Queenstown.

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Crossing: A True Story

by Glyn Vincent

Glyn Vincent's riveting memoir of sailing across the Atlantic offers a wistful soliloquy on family and the crossing of troubled seas, figuratively and literally.

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Room on the Sea

by André Aciman

Room on the Sea by André Aciman is a trio of elegant novellas in which characters pine for love and strive to make human connections, all set against the backdrop of a passion for Italy.

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Off Menu

by Amy Rosen

In her first novel, food writer Amy Rosen mixes food and fiction to serve up the hilarious and utterly endearing story of Ruthie Cohen and her exploration of culinary school, life, and love.

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Tyger

by SF Said, illus. by Dave McKean

In an alternate London where the British Empire still rules the world and slavery was never abolished, a boy learns how to harness his own magic from a world-hopping magical being.

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Don't Let Him In

by Lisa Jewell

In Lisa Jewell's absorbing Don't Let Him In, a serial con artist leaves a ruinous path in his wake for the women involved with him--until some of them catch on to his tricks and lies.

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Cheesecake

by Mark Kurlansky

Mark Kurlansky lends his considerable skills to this loving tribute to Manhattan's Upper West Side during the booming 1980s.

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Blowfish

by Kyung-Ran Jo, trans. by Chi-Young Kim

Kyung-ran Jo hauntingly, gorgeously, explores a cautious, hesitant relationship between two strangers drawn together by legacies of suicide.

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Chronicle Books: Bibliophile Advent Calendar for Booklovers by Jane Mount

Media Heat

Thursday, July 17, 2025

Fresh Air: Michael Grynbaum, author of Empire of the Elite: Inside Condé Nast, the Media Dynasty That Reshaped America (Simon & Schuster, $29.99, 9781668003916).

The View: Zarna Garg, author of This American Woman: A One-in-a-Billion Memoir (Ballantine, $30, 9780593975022).

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

All Things Considered: Tim Weiner, author of The Mission: The CIA in the 21st Century (Mariner Books, $35, 9780063270183).

Fresh Air: Stacey Abrams, author of Coded Justice: A Thriller (Doubleday, $30, 9780385548342).

Good Morning America: J. Randy Taraborrelli, author of JFK: Public, Private, Secret (St. Martin's Press, $35, 9781250346384).

Monday, July 14, 2025

Good Morning America: James Patterson and Vicky Ward, authors of The Idaho Four: An American Tragedy (Little, Brown, $32.50, 9780316572859).

CBS Mornings: Daniel Silva, author of An Inside Job: A Novel (Harper, $32, 9780063384217).

Fresh Air: Calvin Duncan, co-author of The Jailhouse Lawyer (Penguin Press, $32, 9780593834305).

Thursday, July 10, 2025

Good Morning America: Adriana Trigiani, author of The View From Lake Como: A Novel (Dutton, $29, 9780593183359).

Live with Kelly and Mark: Matt Groark, author of The Meat Teacher Cookbook: The Ultimate Backyard BBQ Guide for an A+ in Pitmastery (Harper Influence, $36, 9780063288416).

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