In search of something good to read? USA TODAY’s Barbara VanDenburgh scopes out the shelves for this week’s hottest new book releases. All books are on sale Tuesday.
1. “Better, Not Bitter: Living on Purpose in the Pursuit of Racial Justice,” by Yusef Salaam (Grand Central, nonfiction)
What it’s about: From a grave miscarriage of justice comes this inspirational memoir and call to action from a prison reform activist and one of the exonerated Central Park Five.
The buzz: “Warm, generous, and inspirational: a book for everyone,” says a starred review from Kirkus Reviews.
2. “Where the Grass Is Green and the Girls Are Pretty,” by Lauren Weisberger (Random House, fiction)
What it’s about: From the bestselling author of “The Devil Wears Prada” comes an entertaining story about two sisters – stylish TV anchor Peyton and stay-at-home mom Skye – and the one little lie that cracks their illusions.
The buzz: A ★★★ (out of four) review for USA TODAY says the book “goes down like an ice-cold guilty pleasure on a hot beach-reading day.”
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3. “The Double Life of Bob Dylan: A Restless, Hungry Feeling, 1941-1966,” by Clinton Heylin (Little, Brown and Co., nonfiction)
What it’s about: One of pop culture’s most iconic and mysterious figures gets the definitive biography treatment. With fresh research, Heylin tells the story of Dylan’s rise to fame and takes readers inside his creative process.
The buzz: “This ambitious biography seeks the truth,” says Kirkus Reviews.
4. “Punch Me Up to the Gods,” by Brian Broome (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, nonfiction)
What it’s about: A raw coming-of-age memoir of growing up Black and gay in the Midwest framed around Gwendolyn Brooks’ poem “We Real Cool.”
The buzz: “(Broome’s) testimony rings out as a searing critique of soul-crushing systems and stereotypes,” says a starred review from Publishers Weekly.
5. “Phase Six,” by Jim Shepard (Knopf, nonfiction)
What it’s about: A harrowing story set in the near future that imagines the next pandemic – one that emerges from a remote village in Greenland and begins to spread around the world.
The buzz: “All the narrative propulsion of escapist fiction without the escape,” says a starred review from Kirkus Reviews.
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