#The best books of the week

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (A Hunger Games Novel)

Suzanne Collins (fiction, Scholastic Press)


A much-anticipated prequel to the Hunger Games trilogy, “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” kicks off before the 10th annual Hunger Games, with 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow preparing for his turn as a mentor in the games.

The Daughters of Erietown

Connie Schultz (fiction, Random House)


It is 1957 in Clayton Valley, Ohio, and Ellie is a good student with plans of marriage and nursing school. When she learns she is pregnant, she and her boyfriend Brick quickly rearrange their lives, planning for a family. But one day a knock on the door threatens to throw everything into chaos.

Operation Dimwit: A Penelope Lemon Novel

Inman Majors (fiction, LSU Press)


Penelope Lemon is a single working mom trying to navigate post-divorce life with humor. Now that her son Theo is away at camp for two weeks, she’s free to start dating, an adventure on its own. But her date paints nude portraits, her work at a trailer-park office is filled with bizarre characters, and a skunk infestation guarantees she won’t have much time to relax.

Countdown 1945: The Extraordinary Story of the Atomic Bomb and the 116 Days That Changed the World

Chris Wallace and Mitch Weiss (nonfiction, Avid Reader Press)


A fascinating look at the 116 days leading up to the American attack on Hiroshima, plus an account of American and Japanese civilians in the last months of World War II.

Broken People

Sam Lansky (fiction, Hanover Square Press)


One night at a dinner party in the Hollywood Hills, Sam hears about a shaman who performs “open-soul surgery” on people. “He’ll fix everything that’s wrong with you in three days,” one guest declares. Intrigued, Sam signs up for his services.

Last Tang Standing

Lauren Ho (fiction, GP Putnam’s Sons)


Andrea Tang is 33 and by all accounts a success on the partner track at her law firm. But she’s the only unmarried member in her generation of the Tang clan — and no one will let her forget it. When a wealthy entrepreneur named Eric begins to court her, she tries to give romance a chance — if only to shut everyone up.