Prize-winning authors weigh in with sequels, memoirs, more

In search of something good to read? USA TODAY’s Barbara VanDenburgh scopes out the shelves for this week’s hottest new book releases.

1. “Klara and the Sun”

by Kazuo Ishiguro (Knopf, fiction, on sale Tuesday)

What it’s about: From the Nobel Prize-winning author of “Never Let Me Go” and “The Remains of the Day” comes a new story told from the perspective of Klara, an Artificial Friend who watches the world from her place in the store, hopeful that someone will choose her.

The buzz: “A haunting fable of a lonely, moribund world that is entirely too plausible,” says a starred review from Kirkus Reviews.

2. “The Committed”

by Viet Thanh Nguyen (Grove, fiction, on sale Tuesday)

What it’s about: This sequel to Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “The Sympathizer” follows its spy protagonist to Paris in the 1980s with his brother Bon, where the two deal drugs and are roped into Paris’ criminal underworld.

The buzz: “Readers who found new ways to think about race and the refugee experience in ‘The Sympathizer’ will find plenty more to explore here,” says a ★★★☆ review for USA TODAY.

3. “Infinite Country”

by Patricia Engel (Avid Reader Press, fiction, on sale Tuesday )

What it’s about: A girl being held at an adolescent correctional facility in the mountains of Colombia must break free before she misses her flight to the United States and her only chance to be reunited with her family.

The buzz: “Attention, TV and movie people: This story is made for the screen,” says a starred review from Kirkus Reviews.

4. “The Soul of a Woman”

by Isabel Allende (Ballantine, nonfiction, on sale Tuesday)

What it’s about: The author of “A Long Petal of the Sea” and “The House of Spirits” offers a meditation on feminism and what it means to be a woman.

The buzz: Kirkus Reviews calls it a “pithy, upbeat memoir by a self-described romantic feminist.”

5. “Dusk, Night, Dawn: On Revival and Courage”

by Anne Lamott (Riverhead, nonfiction, on sale Tuesday)

What it’s about: The bestselling author of “Help, Thanks, Wow” returns with an inspiring guide to restoring hope and joy in the midst of suffering, drawing from her own life experience.

The buzz: “Lamott’s many fans will enjoy this ode to relishing small things,” says a starred review from Publishers Weekly.