
The week's bestselling books, June 8
1. The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong (Penguin Press: $30) An unlikely pair develops a life-altering bond.
2. Nightshade by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown & Co.: $30) The bestselling crime writer returns with a new cop on a mission, this time on Catalina Island.
3. Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry (Berkley: $29) Two writers compete for the chance to tell the larger-than-life story of an heiress.
4. Never Flinch by Stephen King (Scribner: $32) Holly Gibney is back on the case, this time facing both a serial killer and a stalker.
5. My Friends by Fredrik Backman (Atria Books: $30) The bond between a group of teens 25 years earlier has a powerful effect on a budding artist.
6. Spent by Alison Bechdel (Mariner Books: $32) The bestselling writer's latest comic novel takes on capitalism and consumption.
7. James by Percival Everett (Doubleday: $28) An action-packed reimagining of 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.'
8. Fever Beach by Carl Hiaasen (Knopf: $30) Two Floridians are plunged into a mystery involving dark money and darker motives.
9. My Name Is Emilia del Valle by Isabel Allende (Ballantine Books: $30) A young writer in the late 1800s travels to South America to uncover the truth about her father.
10. Audition by Katie Kitamura (Riverhead Books: $28) An accomplished actor grapples with the varied roles she plays in her personal life.
…
1. The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins (Hay House: $30) How to stop wasting energy on things you can't control.
2. Original Sin by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson (Penguin Press: $32) Inside President Biden's doomed decision to run for reelection and the hiding of his serious decline by his inner circle.
3. Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson (Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster: $30) A call to renew a politics of plenty and abandon the chosen scarcities that have deformed American life.
4. The Book of Alchemy by Suleika Jaouad (Random House: $30) A guide to the art of journaling, with contributions from Jon Batiste, Salman Rushdie, Gloria Steinem and others.
5. The Creative Act by Rick Rubin (Penguin: $32) The music producer on how to be a creative person.
6. One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad (Knopf: $28) Reckoning with what it means to live in a West that betrays its fundamental values.
7. Steve Martin Writes the Written Word by Steve Martin (Grand Central Publishing: $30) A collection of greatest hits from the beloved actor and comedian.
8. Mark Twain by Ron Chernow (Penguin Press: $45) The Pulitzer-winning biographer explores the life of the celebrated American writer.
9. Notes to John by Joan Didion (Knopf: $32) Diary entries from the famed writer's journal.
10. Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane (W. W. Norton & Co.: $32) The naturalist explores rivers as living beings whose fate is tied with our own.
…
1. All Fours by Miranda July (Riverhead Books: $19)
2. Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood (Berkley: $20)
3. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt (Ecco: $20)
4. Orbital by Samantha Harvey (Grove Press: $17)
5. Sandwich by Catherine Newman (Harper Perennial: $19)
6. Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar (Vintage: $18)
7. The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden (Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster: $19)
8. I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman (Transit Books: $17)
9. One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune (Berkley: $19)
10. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (Bloomsbury
…
1. On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder (Crown: $12)
2. The Wager by David Grann (Vintage: $21)
3. The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron (TarcherPerigee: $20)
4. All the Beauty in the World by Patrick Bringley (Simon & Schuster: $19)
5. Cultish by Amanda Montell (Harper Perennial: $20)
6. The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz (Amber-Allen: $13)
7. All About Love by bell hooks (Morrow: $17)
8. The Art Thief by Michael Finkel (Vintage: $18)
9. The Body Keeps the Score by Dr. Bessel van der Kolk (Penguin: $19)
10. The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan (Knopf: $36)
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Tom's Guide
4 hours ago
- Tom's Guide
7 top new movies and shows to stream this weekend on Netflix, HBO Max and more (June 20-22)
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New York Post
5 hours ago
- New York Post
Wealthy Whoopi Goldberg fails to see the irony of her ‘oppression' narrative – or that the US is NOTHING like Iran
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Indianapolis Star
7 hours ago
- Indianapolis Star
'Jaws' took a big bite out of the box office and changed Hollywood
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Hollywood was never the same after "Jaws" and its effects "are still resonating today," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. "The sensation 'Jaws' created made the movie theater experience the epicenter of culture and spawned what would become known as the summer popcorn movie blockbuster," Dergarabedian told USA TODAY. Join our Watch Party! Sign up to receive USA TODAY's movie and TV recommendations right in your inbox The Guinness Book of World Records agrees. "Not only did people queue up around the block to see the movie, during its run in theatres it became the first film to reach more than $100 million in U.S. box office receipts," according to the Guinness description of its first summer blockbuster film award. In just over two months, "Jaws" surpassed previous box office leaders "The Godfather" and "The Exorcist." Despite being blockbusters in their own way, "those obviously were not aimed at younger moviegoers and not released in the summer," Dergarabedian said. While "Jaws" is a movie classic, Spielberg recently said he deemed "The Godfather," the film "Jaws" overtook as the box office godfather at the time, stands as the "greatest American film ever made." By the time "Jaws" finished its domestic run in theaters it had made more than a quarter of a billion dollars ($260 million), which is over a billion dollars today," said Ross Williams, founder and editor of The Daily Jaws website in a new documentary "Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story." The documentary premieres July 10 on National Geographic and streams the next day on Disney+ and Hulu. Shark screen attack: From 'Jaws' to 'The Meg,' we rank the 10 best shark movies of all time Also in the "Jaws @ 50" documentary, filmmaker George Lucas recalled how Spielberg invited him and some others to see the in-development shark. 'He (Steven) wanted to show us the construction of the shark, which was impressive. So I thought, 'Great this is going to be a good movie.' It was obvious it was going to be a big hit.' Spielberg, who discusses the struggles making the film in the documentary, was skeptical. "George looked at the shark and said, 'Wow this is going to be the most successful movie ever made.' and I, of course, looked at George like, 'Well you know from your lips to you know' ... but I didn't believe that." Lucas would go on to write and direct "Star Wars," which was released in May 1977 and would break the box office record set by "Jaws." Then, Spielberg would leapfrog him with "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" in 1982. Before "Jaws," summer had been theatrical territory owned primarily by B movies and exploitation films such as 1974's "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre." After "Jaws," the major Hollywood studios, which had avoided summer, now identified it as the prime releasing season, and 'Jaws' inspired hundreds of summer thrillers and F/X pictures," wrote the late Roger Ebert in his book "The Great Movies II." Spielberg himself would go on to spawn many more summer blockbusters including "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "Jurassic Park," "A.I. Artificial Intelligence," "War of the Worlds" and "Minority Report" – all hitting theaters in the month of June. Two Indy adventures – "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" and "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" – released in May, the years 1989 and 2008, respectively, and "Saving Private Ryan" in July 1998. Outliers: "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" landed in theaters in December 1977; other December releases were "The Color Purple" (1985) and "Schindler's List" (1993). Spielberg had "hit after hit after hit for so long, and most of the time they were summer blockbusters," Shawn Robbins, founder and owner of Box Office Theory, told USA TODAY. His hit list included thrillers, fantasy and science fiction. "Genres, in a lot of ways, evolved because of what 'Jaws' did for summer blockbusters," he said. "Jaws" also raised the stakes, by moving "the bar in terms of audiences and what kind of thrill they might get," said J.J. Abrams, in the "Jaws @ 50" documentary. For instance, Lucas in "Star Wars," sought to match the thrill audiences got when Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) kills the shark in "Jaws," said Abrams. "When you think about it, it is a bit like the Death Star moment.' Studios' desire to have a release crowned as a summer blockbuster continues today. This summer's success, so far, of "Lilo & Stitch" and "Mission Impossible – The Final Reckoning" suggests the goal of a summer hit remains. "'Lilo & Stitch' has been a huge start to the summer season and one of Disney's most successful remakes that they've done," Robbins said. The financial success of "Jaws" migrated beyond the movie theater. Spielberg, along with Lucas, transformed movies into intellectual properties, which could be parlayed into merchandise, theme parks, video games, books, and TV shows, Robbins said. "They became a significant part of the pop culture fabric." ''Jaws' was the perfect movie at the right time to become an absolute sensation and in turn changed the whole model on which Hollywood based its revenue generating capabilities," Dergarabedian said. "Nothing was ever the same after 'Jaws.'" Mike Snider is a reporter on USA TODAY's Trending team. You can follow him on Threads, Bluesky, X and email him at mikegsnider & @ & @mikesnider & msnider@