NYT lists 'Kin' and 'London Falling'

The New York Times Book Review published its “Best Books of the Year (So Far)” on April 27, and the list included Tayari Jones’s “Kin” and Patrick Radden Keefe’s “London Falling.” (nytimes.com) Book Riot amplified the list the same day and led its highlights with “Kin,” calling attention to how the Times grouped books by reader interest. (bookriot.com) In Book Riot’s summary, “Kin” was tagged by the Times for readers who want “a lush historical novel about sisterhood.” The roundup also mentioned Daniyal Mueenuddin’s “This Is Where the Serpent Lives” and Rachel Lyon’s “Yesteryear” as other standouts. (bookriot.com) “Kin,” published by Penguin Random House, is Tayari Jones’s fifth book and an Oprah’s Book Club pick. Emory University said the novel follows Annie and Niecy, two motherless friends in rural Louisiana and Atlanta whose bond is tested by time, geography, and class. (news.emory.edu) Jones told Emory that the novel is set in the mid-20th century and centers friendship. The university also said Jones signed 3,720 books ahead of a three-month, 24-city tour tied to the release. (news.emory.edu) “London Falling,” published April 7, is Patrick Radden Keefe’s 384-page nonfiction account of Zac Brettler’s death and his family’s search for answers. Penguin Random House describes the book as beginning with surveillance footage near MI6 headquarters on November 29, 2019. (penguinrandomhouse.com) According to the publisher, Zac Brettler jumped into the Thames at 2:24 a.m., and his parents later concluded that “something much more nefarious than a suicide” had claimed his life. The book traces their investigation into business figure Akbar Shamji, a gangster known as Indian Dave, and what Keefe portrays as London’s dirty-money underworld. (penguinrandomhouse.com) The Times list matters in publishing because it lands early enough to shape summer reading tables, bookstore displays, and awards-season expectations without waiting for the fall lists. Book Riot noted that even at one-third of the way through the year, the roundup hints at what could return on the Book Review’s year-end list. (bookriot.com) For now, the clearest signal from the April 27 list is that one of spring’s biggest fiction releases and one of its biggest nonfiction investigations are already in the Times’s top tier. (nytimes.com)