Books: New and noteworthy
USA TODAY’s Jocelyn McClurg scopes out the hottest books on sale each week.
1. The Rainbow Comes and Goes: A Mother and Son on Life, Love and Loss by Anderson Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt (Harper, non-fiction, on sale April 5)
What it’s about: CNN’s Cooper and his famous mom engage in a book-length dialogue about their relationship; tied to the HBO documentary Nothing Left Unsaid, debuting April 9.
The buzz:Rainbow arrives the same day as another memoir by a TV news personality — Lesley Stahl’s Becoming Grandma (Blue Rider Press).
2. Miller’s Valley by Anna Quindlen (Random House, fiction, on sale April 5)
What it’s about: A coming-of-age story about a Pennsylvania farm girl whose family is being pressured to move to make way for a reservoir.
The buzz: Quindlen writes “with great empathy…(a) quietly powerful novel,” says Kirkus Reviews.
3. Family Jewels by Stuart Woods (Putnam, fiction, on sale April 5)
What it’s about: Stone Barrington’s new client, a woman of considerable means who wants help fending off an unwanted suitor, is suddenly linked to two lethal crimes.
The buzz: The last Stone Barrington thriller, January’s Scandalous Behavior, was Woods’ first title to land at No. 1 on USA TODAY’s Best-Selling Books list.
4. Kill ’Em and Leave: Searching for James Brown and the American Soul by James McBride (Spiegel & Grau, non-fiction, on sale April 5)
What it’s about: A major biography of the Godfather of Soul, 10 years after his death at age 73.
The buzz: McBride, a musician as well as a writer, won the National Book Award for his novel The Good Lord Bird. “Superb,” Booklist says of Kill ’Em and Leave.
5. Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly (Ballantine, fiction, on sale April 5)
What it’s about: Debut novel about the intersecting lives of three women — an American, a Pole and a German — during World War II.
The buzz: It’s an Indie Next pick of independent booksellers. “I would recommend this to anyone who loved Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale,” says Melissa Law of Island Bookstore in Corolla, N.C.