Lots of non-fiction, this time, and a fair few Hollywood-/entertainment-related titles.

Featuring: Jennifer Keishin Armstrong, Martin Baron, Bernard Cornwell, Guy Haley, Sarah James, Michael Lewis, David Mitchell, Joanna Robinson, Alan Sepinwall, Casey Sherman, Patrick Stewart

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Jennifer Keishin Armstrong, SO FETCH (Dey Street)

From the New York Times bestselling author of Seinfeldia comes the totally fetch story of one of the most iconic teen comedies of all time, Mean Girls, revealing how it happened, how it defined a generation, “like, invented” meme culture, and why it just won’t go away — filled with exclusive interviews from the director, cast, and crew.

Get in, loser. We’re going back to 2004.

It’s been 20 years since Mean Girls made “fetch” happen. But, Mean Girls was never meant to be the global phenomenon it became. Given a mid-Spring release date — the film industry’s equivalent of a wasteland — and up against the much more hyped 13 Going on 30, the studio, writer Tina Fey, and director Mark Waters, could only hope that their little film would be a modest success at best. Despite the odds, and thanks in no small part to Fey’s infinitely quotable script and the burgeoning social media era, Mean Girls has gone on to be one of the biggest pop culture influences of the past 20 years.

In So Fetch, the first comprehensive book on the story of Mean Girls, the making of the movie, and its impact on pop culture, social media, and more, New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Keishin Armstrong takes readers through the entire Mean Girls journey, from its conception in Saturday Night Live’s offices to Fey’s battle to keep a “wide-set vagina” in the script; from peak Lohan to the high school vibe on the movie’s Toronto set; from its hot-pink brand of feminism to its place in the rise of 2000s tabloid culture; from its instant catchphrases to its enduring internet popularity and hit Broadway adaptation. The limit truly does not exist when it comes to Mean Girls’ enduring legacy.

I was a relative late-comer to Mean Girls, but I have now seen it so many times. Excellent comedy, and so I’m rather looking forward to reading this behind-the-scenes/making-of book. So Fetch is due to be published by Dey Street in North America (January 16th, 2024) and Harper Collins in the UK (January 18th).

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Review copy received via Edelweiss

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Martin Baron, COLLISION OF POWER (Flatiron Books)

A first-row seat to the epic power struggle between politics, money, media, and tech…

Marty Baron took charge of The Washington Post newsroom in 2013, after nearly a dozen years leading The Boston Globe. Just seven months into his new job, Baron received explosive news: Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, would buy the Post, marking a sudden end to control by the venerated family that had presided over the paper for 80 years. Just over two years later, Donald Trump won the presidency.

Now, the capital’s newspaper, owned by one of the world’s richest men, was tasked with reporting on a president who had campaigned against the press as the “lowest form of humanity.” Pressures on Baron and his colleagues were immense and unrelenting, having to meet the demands of their new owner while contending with a president who waged a war of unprecedented vitriol and vengeance against the media.

In the face of Trump’s unceasing attacks, Baron steadfastly managed the Post’s newsroom. Their groundbreaking and award-winning coverage included stories about Trump’s purported charitable giving, misconduct by the Secret Service, and Roy Moore’s troubling sexual history. At the same time, Baron managed a restive staff during a period of rapidly changing societal dynamics around gender and race.

In Collision of Power, Baron recounts this with the tenacity of a reporter and the sure hand of an experienced editor. The result is elegant and revelatory―an urgent exploration of the nature of power in the 21st century.

Sounded like an interesting read — especially given my interest in the way politics and media interact and inform each other. Collision of Power is out now, published by Flatiron Books in North America and in the UK.

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Bernard Cornwell, SHARPE’S COMMAND(Harper)

If any man can do the impossible it’s Richard Sharpe…

And the impossible is exactly what the formidable Major Sharpe is asked to do when he’s dispatched on an undercover mission behind enemy lines, deep in the Spanish countryside.

For a remote village is about to become the centre of a battle for the future of Europe. Sitting high above the Almaraz bridge, it is the last link between two French armies, one in the north and one in the south; if they meet, the British are doomed.

Only Sharpe’s small group of men – with their cunning and courage to rely on – stand in their way. But they’re rapidly outnumbered, enemies are hiding in plain sight, and time is running out…

The fourteenth novel in Cornwell’s mega-selling Sharpe series. I’ve read all but this and the previous book, so I’ll need just a little bit of time to get caught up. Sharpe’s Command is due to be published by Harper in and North America in the UK.

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Review copy received via NetGalley

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Guy Haley, GENEFATHER (Black Library)

Archmagos Belisarius Cawl invites representatives from across the Imperium, hoping to secure their assistance in unlocking the secrets of the pylon network. Among the attendees, however, is an uninvited guest who may possess the only mind in the galaxy greater than that of the fabled Archmagos…

In the hope of taming the Great Rift that divides the galaxy in two, Archmagos Belisarius Cawl invites representatives from across the Imperium to the artificial world of Pontus Avernes. Confident he can convince them of his genius, he must secure their assistance in unlocking the secrets of the pylon network – significant structures built by an ancient race that he believes can stave off the pull of the warp. But among the attendees is an uninvited guest: Fabius Bile himself.

The Pater Mutatis needs no validation of his genius and has his own agendas, the pursuit of which will bring about an epic confrontation of the galaxy’s greatest scientific minds – and from which only one can emerge victorious.

Haley has written some of the best Black Library fiction that’s been published in the last few years. His books featuring Cawl, in particular, have been great. I started reading it on its release day. Genefather is out now, published by Black Library in North America and in the UK.

Also on CR: Interview with Guy Haley (2015); Reviews of Pharos, Perturabo, Wolfsbane, Corax, Konrad Curze, Lost and the Damned, Dante, The Devastation of Baal, Darkness in the Blood, Avenging Son, Dark Imperium, Plague War, Godblight, The Great Work

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Sarah James, LAST NIGHT AT THE HOLLYWOOD CANTEEN (Sourcebooks)

Perhaps the best place in 1943 Hollywood to see the stars is the Hollywood Canteen, a club for servicemen staffed exclusively by those in show business. Murder mystery playwright Annie Laurence, new in town after a devastating breakup, definitely hopes to rub elbows with the right stars. Maybe then she can get her movie made.

But Hollywood proves to be more than tinsel and glamour. When despised film critic Fiona Farris is found dead in the Canteen kitchen, Annie realizes any one of the Canteen’s luminous volunteers could be guilty of the crime. To catch the killer, Annie falls in with Fiona’s friends, a bitter and cynical group — each as uniquely unhappy in their life and career as Annie is in hers — that call themselves the Ambassador’s Club.

Solving a murder in real life, it turns out, is a lot harder than writing one for the stage. And by involving herself in the secrets and lies of the Ambassador’s Club, Annie just might have put a target on her own back.

Thought this sounded interesting, and it was “Read Now” on NetGalley, so thought I’d give it a try. Looking forward to reading it soon. Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen is due to be published by Sourcebooks Landmark in North America and in the UK, on November 7th.

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Review copy received via NetGalley

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Vaseem Khan, DEATH OF A LESSER GOD (Hodder)

Persis and Archie travel to the old colonial capital of Calcutta, where they collide head-on with the prejudices and bloody politics of an era engulfed in flame.

Can a white man receive justice in post-colonial India?

Bombay, 1950

James Whitby, sentenced to death for the murder of prominent lawyer and former Quit India activist Fareed Mazumdar, is less than two weeks from a date with the gallows. In a last-ditch attempt to save his son, Whitby’s father forces a new investigation into the killing.

The investigation leads Inspector Persis Wadia of the Bombay Police to the old colonial capital of Calcutta, where, with the help of Scotland Yard criminalist Archie Blackfinch, she uncovers a possible link to a second case, the brutal murder of an African-American G.I. during the Calcutta Killings of 1946.

Are the cases connected? And if Whitby didn’t murder Mazumdar, then who did?

This is the fourth novel in Khan’s excellent Malabar House series — I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the first three, and am very eager to get around to reading this latest. Death of a Lesser God is out now in the UK, published by Hodder; it will be published in North America — also by Hodder — on December 5th.

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Michael Lewis, GOING INFINITE (W. W. Norton)

The story of FTX’s spectacular collapse and the enigmatic founder at its center.

When Michael Lewis first met him, Sam Bankman-Fried was the world’s youngest billionaire and crypto’s Gatsby. CEOs, celebrities, and leaders of small countries all vied for his time and cash after he catapulted, practically overnight, onto the Forbes billionaire list. Who was this rumpled guy in cargo shorts and limp white socks, whose eyes twitched across Zoom meetings as he played video games on the side?

In Going Infinite Lewis sets out to answer this question, taking readers into the mind of Bankman-Fried, whose rise and fall offers an education in high-frequency trading, cryptocurrencies, philanthropy, bankruptcy, and the justice system. Both psychological portrait and financial roller-coaster ride, Going Infinite is Michael Lewis at the top of his game, tracing the mind-bending trajectory of a character who never liked the rules and was allowed to live by his own ― until it all came undone.

I’ve been a fan of Lewis’s work for a very long time, so I look forward to each new book he writes. They’re not all excellent, but for the main he knocks it out of the park — Flash Boys and The Fifth Risk are, in my opinion, very good indeed. Looking forward to reading this as soon as I get the chance. Going Infinite is out now, published by W. W. Norton in North America and Allen Lane in the UK

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David Mitchell, UNRULY (Crown)

A rollicking history of England’s kings and queens from Arthur to Elizabeth I, a tale of power, glory, and excessive beheadings…

Think you know the kings and queens of England? Think again.

In Unruly, David Mitchell explores how early England’s monarchs, while acting as feared rulers firmly guiding their subjects’ destinies, were in reality a bunch of lucky bastards who were mostly as silly and weird in real life as they appear today in their portraits.

Taking us back to King Arthur (spoiler: he didn’t exist), Mitchell tells the founding story of post-Roman England up to the reign of Elizabeth I (spoiler: she dies). It’s a tale of narcissists, inadequate self-control, middle-management insurrection, uncivil wars, and a few Cnuts, as the English evolved from having their crops stolen by the thug with the largest armed gang to bowing and paying taxes to a divinely anointed king.

How this happened, who it happened to, and why the hell it matters are all questions that Mitchell answers with brilliance, wit, and the full erudition of a man who once studied history — and won’t let it off the hook for the mess it’s made.

A funny book that takes history seriously, Unruly is for anyone who has ever wondered how the British monarchy came to be — and who is to blame.

I’ve been a fan of Mitchell’s writing for a long time, as well as his comedy; Back Story remains one of my favourite memoirs (especially the audiobook edition, read by the author). I’m really intrigued by this book, and looking forward to reading it (ok, listening, because I also pre-ordered the audiobook), and perhaps actually learning something about the British Monarchy… Unruly is out now, published by Crown Publishing in North America and Michel Joseph in the UK.

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Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzales & Gavin Edwards, MCU: THE REIGN OF MARVEL STUDIOS (Liveright)

The unauthorized, behind-the-scenes story of the stunning rise — and suddenly uncertain reign — of the most transformative cultural phenomenon of our time: the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Marvel Entertainment was a moribund toymaker not even twenty years ago. Today, Marvel Studios is the dominant player both in Hollywood and in global pop culture. How did an upstart studio conquer the world? In MCU, beloved culture writers Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzales, and Gavin Edwards draw on more than a hundred interviews with actors, producers, directors, and writers to present the definitive chronicle of Marvel Studios and its sole, ongoing production, the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For all its outward success, the studio was forged by near-constant conflict, from the contentious hiring of Robert Downey Jr. for its 2008 debut, Iron Man, all the way up to the disappointment of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and shocking departures of multiple Marvel executives in 2023. Throughout, the authors demonstrate that the original genius of Marvel was its resurrection and modification of Hollywood’s old studio system. But will it survive its own spectacular achievements? Dishy and authoritative, MCU is the first book to tell the Marvel Studios story in full—and an essential, effervescent account of American mass culture.

The first time I read anything of length about the rise of Marvel Studios was in Ben Fritz’s excellent The Big Picture (still one of my favourite books about the movie industry). Given how much time has passed since that book was published, I’m looking forward to learning more about the behind-the-scenes situation at Marvel. Hopefully read this book, by three writers for the Ringer, very soon. MCU is out now, published by Liveright in North America and Headline in the UK

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Follow the Author (Gonzales): Website, Goodreads, Instagram, Twitter
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Alan Sepinwall, WELCOME TO THE O.C. (Mariner)

Welcome to the O.C., b*tch: it’s the definitive oral history of beloved TV show The O.C., from the show’s creators, featuring interviews with the cast and crew, providing a behind-the-scenes look into how the show was made, the ups and downs over its four seasons, and its legacy today.

On August 5th, 2003, Ryan Atwood found himself a long way from his home in Chino — he was in The O.C., an exclusive suburb full of beautiful girls, wealthy bullies, corrupt real-estate tycoons, and a new family helmed by his public defender, Sandy Cohen. Ryan soon warms up to his nerdy, indie band-loving new best friend Seth, and quickly falls for Marissa, the stunning girl next door who has secrets of her own. Completing the group is Summer, Seth’s dream girl and Marissa’s loyal—and fearless—best friend. Together, the friends fall in and out of love, support each other amidst family strife, and capture the hearts of audiences across the country.

Just in time for the show’s twentieth anniversary, The O.C.’s creator Josh Schwartz and executive producer Stephanie Savage are ready to dive into how the show was made, the ups and downs over its four seasons, and its legacy today. With Rolling Stone’s chief TV critic and bestselling author Alan Sepinwall conducting interviews with the key cast members, writers, and producers who were there when it all happened, Welcome to the O.C. will offer the definitive inside look at the beloved show — a nostalgic delight for audiences who watched when it aired, and a rich companion to viewers currently discovering the show while it streams on HBO Max and Hulu.

The O.C. paved the way for a new generation of iconic teen soaps, launched the careers of young stars, and even gave us the gift of Chrismukkah. Now, it’s time to go back where we started from and experience it all over again.

I’ve only seen The O.C. through once, but I did enjoy it. I’m a fan of Sepinwall’s writing and podcasts, so when this became available for review, I jumped at the chance to request it. Hopefully read it ASAP. Welcome to the O.C. is due to be published by Mariner in North America, on November 28th. At the time of writing, I could only find a link for an audiobook edition in the UK, to be published by Blackstone.

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Review copy received via Edelweiss

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Casey Sherman, A MURDER IN HOLLYWOOD (Sourcebooks)

The dark story behind the bright lights of Tinseltown

From the outside, Hollywood starlet Lana Turner seemed to have it all-a thriving film career, a beautiful daughter, and the kind of fame and fortune that most people could only dream of. But when the famous femme fatale began dating mobster Johnny Stompanato, thug for the infamous west coast mob boss Mickey Cohen, her personal life became violent and unpredictable. Lana’s teenage daughter, Cheryl, watched her beloved mother’s life deteriorate as Stompanato’s intense jealousy took over. Eventually, the physical and emotional abuse became too much to bear, and Lana attempted to break it off with Johnny-with disastrous consequences. The details of what happened that fateful night remain foggy, but it ended in a series of frantic phone calls and Stompanato dead on Lana’s bedroom floor, with Cheryl claiming to have plunged a knife into his abdomen in an attempt to protect her mother. The subsequent murder trial made for the biggest headlines of the year, its drama eclipsing every Hollywood movie.

New York Times bestselling author Casey Sherman pulls back Tinseltown’s velvet curtain to reveal the dark underbelly of celebrity, rife with toxic masculinity and casual violence against women, and tells the story of Lana Turner and her daughter, who finally stood up to the abuse that plagued their family for years. A Murder in Hollywood transports us back to the golden age of film and illuminates one of the 20th century’s most notorious true crime tales.

I haven’t read any true crime set in Hollywood, despite it being a rather popular sub-genre — and also despite my interest in Hollywood more generally. Thought this could be interesting, and was given the chance to take an early look. Will read as soon as I can. A Murder in Hollywood is due to be published by Sourcebooks in North America and in the UK, on March 13th, 2024.

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Review copy received via NetGalley

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Patrick Stewart, MAKING IT SO (Gallery)

The long-awaited memoir from iconic, beloved actor and living legend Sir Patrick Stewart!

From his acclaimed stage triumphs to his legendary onscreen work in the Star Trek and X-Men franchises, Sir Patrick Stewart has captivated audiences around the world and across multiple generations with his indelible command of stage and screen. Now, he presents his long-awaited memoir, Making It So, a revealing portrait of an artist whose astonishing life — from his humble beginnings in Yorkshire, England, to the heights of Hollywood and worldwide acclaim — proves a story as exuberant, definitive, and enduring as the author himself.

Of course I was interested in this. Pre-ordered the audiobook as soon as I could. I’ll be reading/listening ASAP. Making It So is out now, published by Gallery Books in North America and in the UK.

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