New and noteworthy
USA TODAY’s Jocelyn McClurg scopes out the hottest books on sale each week.
1 Ali: A Life
by Jonathan Eig ( Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, non- fiction, on sale Tuesday)
WHAT IT’S ABOUT: A biography of legendary, complex boxer Muhammad Ali (“The Greatest”), who died in 2016 at age 74.
“EvenTHE BUZZ: handed… sharp quotations and expert pacing make the 600plus pages light on their feet,” says Publishers Weekly.
2 Origin
by Dan Brown ( Doubleday, fiction, on sale Tuesday) WHAT IT’S ABOUT: Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon ( The Da Vinci Code) returns in this thriller set in Spain, on the hunt ( and run) again as he searches for a cryptic password. Brown’s series THE BUZZ: featuring Langdon has sold millions of copies. The last title, Inferno, hit No. 1 on USA TODAY’s Best- Selling Books list in 2013.
3 Manhattan Beach
by Jennifer Egan ( Scribner, fiction, on sale Tuesday)
WHAT IT’S ABOUT: During World War II, a woman goes to work at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and her search for her missing father leads her into the world of gangsters, showgirls and graft.
The novel has been THE BUZZ: long- listed for the National Book Award fiction prize.
4 Going Into Town: A Love Letter to New York
by Roz Chast ( Bloomsbury, non- fiction, on sale Tuesday)
WHAT IT’S ABOUT: A humorous graphic memoir by the native Brooklynite about excursions into the Big City.
Chast also wrote THE BUZZ: the much- buzzed about Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?, a graphic memoir about her elderly parents.
5 I’m Fine… and Other Lies
by Whitney Cummings ( Putnam, non- fiction, on sale Tuesday)
WHAT IT’S ABOUT: In this memoir, the comedian/ writer ( 2 Broke Girls) tells some wild tales from her life, including her too- close encounter with a Guatemalan prison.
THE BUZZ: Cummings joins the parade of funny women penning their stories ( Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Amy Schumer ...)