USA TODAY Book Club: T.J. Newman discusses 'Drowning', which chronicles a deep-sea rescue
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Today is our favorite day of the month: Book club day!
June's book pick is T.J. Newman's latest novel "Drowning: The Rescue of Flight 1421" (Avid Reader Press, out now), the follow-up to her 2021 airplane thriller "Falling."
In "Drowning," Flight 1421 crashes into the ocean less than 10 minutes after takeoff. The plane sinks to the bottom with 12 passengers trapped inside, including engineer Will Kent and his 11-year-old daughter Shannon. Their only shot at survival is an elite rescue team led by Chris Kent, Shannon’s mother and Will’s soon-to-be ex-wife.
With the tragic news of the Titanic submersible crew, the book's deep-sea rescue plot is even more timely.
Newman will join USA TODAY editor Barbara Vandenburgh for the book club discussion. Click the Youtube link to join in at 7 p.m. ET Thursday, June 22:
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"Drowning" at Bookshop for $26
What is USA TODAY's Book Club?
The USA TODAY Book Club is part of our commitment to help you find the good stuff on crowded shelves and continue the conversation after the final page has been turned.
Every month, we pick a newly released book we love that we can't wait to share with you. Then, USA TODAY journalists reporters host an in-depth virtual conversation with featured authors, experts and fellow lovers of the written word.
Catch up on past USA TODAY book club picks:
'Our Missing Hearts,' by Celeste Ng
The "Little Fires Everywhere" author did not disappoint with her third novel, a dystopian tale set in the near future when Asian Americans are marked by the government with distrust and their art is destroyed. In her ★★★★ (out of four) review, USA TODAY Life & Entertainment managing editor Laura Trujillo writes, "Coupled with the humanity and sweetness of the unbreakable love between a mother and her child, it is a book you won’t be able to put down, nor stop thinking about long after you do."
Ng joined USA TODAY's Barbara VanDenburgh and Trujillo on Twitter Spaces in November 2022 to discuss why the uptick in violence against Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic made this book necessary and essential reading.
"Our Missing Hearts" at Amazon for $15
"Our Missing Hearts" at Bookshop for $27
'Fairy Tale,' by Stephen King
The horror maestro put his own signature on the fantastical genre in a coming-of-age tale that references everything from “Rumpelstiltskin” and “Three Little Pigs” to “Star Wars” and “Hunger Games.” And of course, this being King, there are man-eating giants and electric zombies. “After turning that last page, you’ll feel a little stronger in spirit, yearn for another story and, dare we say, maybe even live happily ever after," says reporter Brian Truitt in his review.
In a Twitter Spaces book club meeting in October 2022, panelists including King collaborator Richard Chizmar, author Danielle Paige, and The Kingcast podcasters Scott Wampler and Eric Vespe talked about King's influence on them as young readers and how "Fairy Tale" evoked the feeling of reading King as precocious kids and teenagers.
"Fairy Tale" at Amazon for $17
"Fairy Tale" at Bookshop for $30
'Life on Delay: Making Peace with a Stutter,' by John Hendrickson
The journalist went viral in 2020 when he wrote about his stutter – and then-presidential candidate Joe Biden's. "My goal with this book was to tell a life story through the prism of stuttering," Hendrickson said. "But you don't have to be a person who stutters, and you don't have to be a person with a disability to see yourself in this book."
Hendrickson joined VanDenburgh and reporter David Oliver in February for a YouTube conversation about the book and "all of the layers of living with this disorder," he said. "This is a wildly misunderstood disorder. People commonly perceive it to be a manifestation of anxiety or fear, but it's actually brain chemistry. It's also genetic."
"Life on Delay" at Amazon for $18
"Life on Delay" at Bookshop for $27
'Promises of Gold,' by José Olivarez
The Chicago poet's second collection focuses on all kinds of love: familial, brotherly, romantic, platonic and self. But they're also welcoming, urging readers to "allow poetry into your life," a genre that's often deemed intimidating. He writes of the "fake gold chain on my neck," the joys of hanging with friends at the mall "where we can't afford anything" and about fried tortillas "sprinkled with sugar dessert." Olivarez said, "I like to write about those things because the everyday deserves to be celebrated."
In a March YouTube conversation with VanDenburgh and reporter Pamela Avila, Olivarez talked about why his book is bilingual, with poems published in English and Spanish in the same volume. "It's the first time that my mom has been able to read my poems, the first time that my dad has been able to read my poems," Olivarez said of his parents, whose first language is Spanish. "When I was in school, I couldn't ever bring home a book I was reading and share it with my parents."
"Promises of Gold" at Amazon for $22
"Promises of Gold" at Bookshop for $23
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