TIME

From Anna Marie Tendler's memoir to T.J. Newman's thriller

The Best New Books to Read in August 2024

Halfway through the year is a good time to take stock of our reading. The spare elegies of winter have left their mark; the elegant literary novels of spring have come and gone; the big juicy beach reads of summer are just beginning. Let’s pause here and take a look at what good things the year has already brought to us before we look ahead to the riches of the fall. Here are the 10 best books from the first half of 2024.

The best books of the year (so far)

Every audiobook listener is different. While I typically prefer listening to nonfiction, I’ve discovered that memoir reliably works for me on audio. I love listening to memoir, especially when the author reads their own story. It’s not a guarantee that every memoirist will narrate their own audiobook but it makes sense that so many are. It’s a uniquely personal writing form and there’s something special about hearing it brought to life in the author’s own voice.

7 memoirs read by the author

New York City, NY

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Cheryl E Preston

Yesterday was the third time this year that an ad stating Chelsea Clinton lives in a beautiful Virginia home popped up on my laptop. My computer did not warn me this was a dangerous site, so this time, I clicked on the link.

Chelsea Clinton is rumored to be living in Virginia but probably still in NYC

The New Republic

As Trump desperately tries to separate his campaign from Project 2025, users on X have noted one big problem: J.D. Vance wrote the foreword to a forthcoming book by the plan’s lead author, Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts.On the Amazon product page, the promotional material for the book, titled Dawn’s Early Light, highlights Roberts’s role in composing Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation proposal for a conservative overhaul of the federal government.The product page also includes a favorable review from Vance. “Never before has a figure with Roberts’s depth and stature within the American Right tried to articulate a genuinely new...

J.D. Vance in Serious Trouble After Damning Project 2025 Book Foreword

San Francisco, CA

New York Post

Laurene Powell Jobs, the billionaire widow of Apple visionary Steve Jobs, has set a new residential sale record for the city of San Francisco. 

Powell, 60, purchased a home in the Pacific Heights neighborhood for a cool $70 million, individuals with knowledge of the sale told the Wall Street Journal.  

The property wasn’t publicly listed for sale, but the sellers — Sloan Lindemann Barnett, the daughter of billionaire George L. Lindemann and Roger Barnett, chief executive of Shaklee, a health-supplement maker — initially wanted more than $100 million for it, sources told the Journal. It is sandwiched between homes owned by billionaire...

This billionaire just bought the most expensive home in San Francisco

South Carolina State

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Colleton County, SC

Explore Beaufort SC

Some beachgoers were in for a surprise this week when a bizarre looking prehistoric fish washed ashore in Colleton County along Edisto Beach at Edisto Beach State Park. It turned out to be an atlantic sturgeon.

Rare Atlantic sturgeon washes ashore on South Carolina beach

Herbie J Pilato

Actor Buddy Ebsen, who died at age 95 in 2003, found fame by starring in two of the most popular classic television shows in history: The Beverly Hillbillies (CBS, 1962 to 1971) and Barnaby Jones (CBS, 1973 to 1980). On the Hillbillies, he played former Tennessee country mountain-folk-turned-wealthy Beverly Hills resident Jed Clampett. On Barnaby Jones, he was one of TV's most senior, slyest, health-conscious detectives. Ebsen, however, almost became even more famous for a certain big-screen classic film in which he ultimately did not appear.

'Beverly Hillbillies" Actor Buddy Ebsen Was "Bitter" about not playing the Tin Man in 'Wizard of Oz'

Looking for recently published books to add to your TBR list? Here are five new books to consider adding to your reading list. Each offers a unique journey through history, culture, and personal discovery. Every book on this list takes readers on an enlightening journey into the transformational power of...

5 Recently Published Books to Add to Your TBR List

The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Newspapers across the country have historically made issue of the race of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris since her first days in public office.
                Newspaper stories now more than 20 years old have referenced Harris as an Indian-American and as a Black woman. More recently, they have described the vice president also as "Asian American."
                Race has become an issue because former President Donald Trump said...

Kamala Harris has been identified as Indian, Black and Asian American by newspapers

Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft and one of the world’s wealthiest individuals, has been a prominent figure in the tech industry for decades. However, in recent years, his personal life has drawn significant attention, particularly following his high-profile divorce from Melinda Gates in 2021. Their split came on the heels of another notable billionaire breakup, that of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife MacKenzie Scott in 2019. Speculation abounds that one contributing factor could have been Gates’ past workplace conduct. In particular, Bill Gates faced allegations regarding an affair with a Microsoft employee that was deemed inappropriate.

Who is Bill Gates’ girlfriend Paula Hurd?

The Conversation U.S.

Born enslaved, John Andrew Jackson spent his life fighting for freedom as a fugitive, abolitionist, lecturer and writer. Along the way, he met an aspiring writer.

The Black fugitive who inspired ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ and the end of US slavery

Actor Clarence Williams III, best known as the super cool undercover cop Lincoln "Linc" Hayes on TV's classic crime drama, The Mod Squad, died three years ago from colon cancer at 81 years old. This is the story of a talent that lives on.

The Tragic Death of 'Mod Squad'/'Purple Rain' Actor Clarence Williams III: Three Years Later

Virginia State

Ronkonkoma, NY

The New York Post reveals that two men who died in a plane crash at MacArthur Airport were from Virginia. The men had been visiting friends in Long Island and were returning home when the tragedy occurred.

Life partners from Virginia have been identified as the victims of a New York plane crash

Tampa, FL

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Jacksonville, FL

Jacksonville Today

Three men and a woman have been arrested on murder charges in connection with the fatal shooting of Charles Jones , a Jacksonville rapper known as Julio Foolio,” outside a hotel in Tampa.

4 arrested in slaying of Jacksonville rapper Julio Foolio

Los Angeles, CA

L.A. TACO

L.A. TACO has identified the police officer seen in a viral video sucker-punching a detained man named Alexander Mitchell in Watts over the weekend as Los Angeles Police Department Officer (LAPD) Joshua Sportiello.

LAPD Officer Identified After Punching Detained Man In Face In Watts On Video

21Ninety

There has been an onslaught of book bannings in recent years in K-12 schools, universities, and public libraries. Unfortunately, the prohibition of certain paperbacks does not seem to be stopping anytime soon. In the 2021-2022 school year, local and state-level efforts banned more books in U.S. school districts than in any previous year. Almost 140… Continue reading 7 Novels by Black Women Authors That Are Facing Book Bans

7 Novels by Black Women Authors That Are Facing Book Bans

It’s Women in Translation Month! Like it says on the Women in Translation website, “Every August, readers from all continents around the world (except Antarctica, but we’ll get those penguins yet!) gather in spirit (and sometimes in person) to read, review, and discuss works by women writers in translation.” I first started observing #WITmonth back in 2016 and have loved it ever since. So today, we’re looking at two different nonfiction titles by women in translation. But first, bookish goods!

It’s Women in Translation Month!

Indy100

The wealth enjoyed by the likes of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos may be unfathomable to most of us mere mortals, but to the richest man in history, it was mere pocket change.Indeed, Mansa Musa, who ruled the African kingdom of Mali between 1312 and 1337, was so rich, economic historians say it is impossible to quantify his net worth. Although, some, inevitably, have tried.In 2012, the website Celebrity Net Worth estimated his wealth at $400 billion (around £313 billion) which, to put it into context, is almost $180 billion (£130 billion) more than Musk is worth and $213 billion...

The richest man of all time was worth $180 billion more than Elon Musk

Sad news for the journalism world tonight. Sam Rubin, KTLA reporter and one of the driving forces behind the Critics Choice Association has died. He was 64 years old. According to Variety, the legendary reporter died of a heart attack at home after completing his Hollywood report this morning. Both...

Reporter Sam Rubin Dead at 64

NewsBreak

Get Lit! Ian K. Smith's Detective Cayne Is Back and More Black Authors to Read this August

It's still warm outside—a perfectly good reason to head outside with a book in tow. And this month, there's plenty to choose from. Whether it's Ian...

Get Lit! Ian K. Smith's Detective Cayne Is Back and More Black Authors to Read this August

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