May 14, 2015

First up, in ironic news: Selfies were banned from Kim K. W.’s Manhattan event for her new book, SELFISH, last week. Nikki has a theory that Kim is hoarding all the selfies for herself --- talk about selfish! It’s a selfie monopoly! Bingo!

But seriously, Kim --- along with the rest of the Kardashian Klan --- has managed to make a Killing in so many diverse industries; she’s Konquered TV, fashion, beauty and the letter K, and now she’s got the biggest book of the season. For those of you who pretend not to be interested in these Kinds of things, SELFISH is a collection of Kim’s selfies, some seen around the world and some never before seen. SELFISH is already a top 100 Amazon bestseller, and the fact that Kim can get us to buy something that we can get for free is a testament to her A+ marketing skills. Personally, we’re waiting to invest in the updated edition with an introduction by Dr. Kanye West.

When asked how many Kardashians on the Supreme Court would be “enough,” Ruth Bader Ginsburg answered --- without hesitation --- “When there are nine.” In case you're missing

Celebrities do seem to be all over the book world. According to our casual Google research, celeb books came on strong in the early ‘90s; now they’ve kind of exploded into a genre of their very own. American celebrities have become way more accessible than they were 20 years ago --- in no small part to social media (see: Ryan Phillippe’s instagram). Our generation in particular feels connected to its celebrities, from Kardashians to presidents (hollaaaaa, @WhiteHouse), and everyone else in between. Celebrities interacting on social media and publishing books give them more control over their images.

We were not surprised that Neil Patrick Harris' CHOOSE YOUR OWN AUTOBIOGRAPHY came out last October. We’re all obsessed with our own personal “brands” (follow us on ig at @okayfoucault), so how can we resist a book that “puts the U back in aUtobiography?” Should we write autobiographies? More importantly, would you pay for our autobiographies? Let us know. We are only slightly kidding.

Just because we’re mildly intrigued by celebrities’ meta autobiographies does not mean we’re not interested in old-school memoirs and conventional biographies. Tina Fey’s BOSSYPANTS was probably the first book that got us interested in the comedy memoir (comemoir?). Lately, we’ve been branching out: We can’t get enough of THE BOOK OF JOAN, Melissa Rivers’ biography of her mother, and Emily is literally holding her breath until her PERSONAL HERO Mindy Kaling’s book, WHY NOT ME?, hits stores in September. Someone get that girl a canceled network sitcom! Others on the top of our to-read list: NOT MY FATHER’S SON by Alan Cumming, and Aziz Ansari’s MODERN ROMANCE and Judd Apatow’s SICK IN THE HEAD: Conversation About Life and Comedy, which both hit stores on June 16th.

Celebrities are people, too! Let’s give them money to control their me$$age! The point we’re trying to make here is that it’s important not to always listen to the things the tabloids tell us; maybe every once in a while we should pick up a celebrity book to get the true (okay, the one that they want us to think is true) story. After all actresses and actors are not always acting, are they?

Here are some other current titles for your consideration:

In his hilarious, poignant memoir DANGEROUS WHEN WET, Jamie Brickhouse tells the story of his relationship with his mother, Mama Jean. From the age of five, all Jamie wanted was to be at a party with a drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other, and all Mama Jean wanted to do was to keep Jamie froze at age five --- forever. A Texan Elizabeth Taylor with the split personality of Auntie Mame and Mama Rose, always camera-ready and flamboyantly outspoken, Mama Jean haunted him his whole life, no matter how far away he went or how deep in booze he swam. Until the day he stopped both drinking and his reckless life --- and living only through Mama Jean's eyes.

Kate Atkinson's award-winning 2013 novel, LIFE AFTER LIFE, explored the possibility of infinite chances and the power of choices as it followed Ursula Todd as she lives through the turbulent events of the last century over and over again. Now, A GOD IN RUINS tells the dramatic story of the 20th century through Ursula's beloved younger brother, Teddy --- would-be poet, heroic pilot, husband, father and grandfather --- as he navigates the perils and progress of a rapidly changing world.

Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan give us a taste of their British obsession in THE ROYAL WE. American Rebecca Porter was never one for fairy tales. Her twin sister, Lacey, has always been the romantic who fantasized about glamour and royalty, fame and fortune. Yet it's Bex who seeks adventure at Oxford and finds herself living down the hall from Prince Nicholas, Great Britain's future king. And when Bex can't resist falling for Nick, the person behind the prince, it propels her into a world she did not expect to inhabit, under a spotlight she is not prepared to face.

If you happen to be in a book group, then we want to hear from you. We invite you to take the 2015 Book Group Survey, presented by ReadingGroupGuides.com, here. It should take about 15-20 minutes to complete it. And, of course, there are prizes available, so scroll down to learn more! But please only do this if you are in a book group. We want good intel here; no faking allowed!

5 Things We’re Obsessed With at This Very Moment, in no particular order:
1. The countdown to Dave Letterman's last show --- we'll miss you, Dave; not as much as our Editorial Director, Tom, will, but nonetheless!
2. The start of the new "Bachelorette" season; ladies, meet your contestants!
3. Sia's haunting, dreamy cover of The Mamas & The Papas "California Dreamin'."
4. The birth of Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana! Babies!
5. Memorial Day sales! Sales!

Nicole Sherman (Nicole@bookreporter.com) + Emily Hoenig (Emily@bookreporter.com)

Home is where the books are. Enter to win a year of books from PenguinRandomHouse.com!

Ready to build your own literary landscape? Now that they're merging their libraries at Penguin and Random House, they want to help you create and polish your own home collection.

Have a favorite genre? Pick and choose from their list of literary fiction, sci-fi/fantasy, romance, non-fiction, young adult, and more! One winner will randomly be selected to win 5 books in their favorite genres a month for a year. We did the math; that's 60 books!

Click here to enter to win a year of books from PenguinRandomHouse.com!

A lot of you are probably familiar with Tumblr --- that social media website where you can engage in your favorite fandoms, share images, stories, memes and quotes and connect with people from across the globe.

One of the cool things about Tumblr is that it has a HUGE book presence, including authors, readers, publishers, bookstores and everything in between. You can connect in Tumblr’s book club, share photos of your favorite-book-inspired manicure or participate in genuine discussions with authors about your favorite (or least favorite) character.

And even cooler still, it’s someone’s JOB to make sure that all of this “book content” runs smoothly. Teenreads.com talked to that person --- officially called the Head of Publisher Outreach --- for the latest "REAL TALK Publishing" interview, and we're very excited to share this super modern, ever-changing and fun part of the business.

Read the interview to get all of Rachel Fershleiser’s insights on “the bookternet,” learn what it’s like to work at a startup, discover some of Tumblr’s newest book-themed initiatives and hear why this is the best time to work in the book world.

Click here to read Part 1 of our "REAL TALK Publishing" interview with Rachel Fershleiser!

We invite you to take our 2015 Book Group Survey. It should take about 15-20 minutes to complete it. The results of this survey will be shared with publishers and authors for the purposes of creating programs and promotions to enhance your book club experience.

If you belong to more than one group, as you answer the survey please select one group to answer the questions about. If you would like to supply replies about another group, please take the survey again once you have completed it.

Those who complete the survey will be eligible to win one of the following prizes:
1 (one) Grand Prize - $250 gift certificate to the bookstore of your choice.
10 (ten) First Prizes - $100 gift certificate to the bookstore of your choice.
50 (fifty) Second Prizes - $25 gift certificate to the bookstore of your choice.

The survey will be open through Wednesday, July 15th. If you are in a book group, we would appreciate your participation!
 

14th DEADLY SIN by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro (Thriller)
Detective Lindsay Boxer is called to a gruesome crime scene, where a woman has been murdered in broad daylight. As she investigates, shocking video footage of another crime surfaces. Their faces obscured by masks, the cold-blooded criminals on the tape could be anyone --- and now all of Lindsay's co-workers are suspects. As a rash of violence sweeps through San Francisco, Lindsay and her friends must risk their lives in the name of justice before it's too late. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

THE ART OF BAKING BLIND by Sarah Vaughan (Fiction)
In 1966, Kathleen Eaden, cookbook writer and wife of a supermarket magnate, published The Art of Baking, her guide to nurturing a family by creating the most exquisite pastries, biscuits and cakes. Now, five amateur bakers are competing to become the New Mrs. Eaden. As unlikely alliances are forged and secrets rise to the surface, making the choicest pastry seems the least of the contestants' problems. For they will learn --- just as Mrs. Eaden did before them --- that while perfection is possible in the kitchen, it's very much harder in life. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.

BENEATH THE BONFIRE: Stories by Nickolas Butler (Fiction/Short Stories)
Young couples gather to participate in an annual "chainsaw party," cutting down trees for firewood in anticipation of the winter. A group of men spend a weekend hunting for mushrooms in the wilderness where they grew up and where some still find themselves trapped. An aging environmentalist takes out his frustration and anger on a singular, unsuspecting target. Together, the 10 stories in Nickolas Butler’s collection evoke a landscape that will be instantly recognizable to anyone who has traveled the back roads and blue highways of America. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

THE BRINK: Stories by Austin Bunn (Fiction/Short Stories)
The stories in Austin Bunn’s collection explore the existential question: What happens at “the end” and what lies beyond it? In “How to Win an Unwinnable War,” a summer class on nuclear war for gifted teenagers turns a struggling family upside down. A young couple’s idyllic beach honeymoon is interrupted by terrorism in the lush, haunting “Getting There and Away.” When an immersive videogame begins turning off in the heartbreaking “Griefer,” an obsessive player falls in love with a mysterious player in the final hours of a world. Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman.

DANGEROUS WHEN WET: A Memoir by Jamie Brickhouse (Memoir)
From the age of five, all Jamie Brickhouse wanted was to be at a party with a drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other, and all Mama Jean wanted was to keep him at that age, her Jamie doll forever. A Texan Elizabeth Taylor with the split personality of Auntie Mame and Mama Rose, always camera-ready and flamboyantly outspoken, Mama Jean haunted him his whole life, no matter how far away he went or how deep in booze he swam. Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman.

THE DAYLIGHT MARRIAGE by Heidi Pitlor (Fiction)
After a magical honeymoon, Hannah and Lovell settled in the suburbs to raise their two children. But over the years, their conversations have become charged with resentments and unspoken desires. Until, after one explosive argument, Hannah vanishes. As Lovell tries to piece together what happened to his wife --- and to their lives together --- readers follow Hannah through that single day when the smallest of decisions takes her to places she never intended to go. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.

THE DOLL MAKER by Richard Montanari (Mystery)
A murdered girl is found posed on a newly painted bench. Beside her is a formal invitation to a tea dance in a week's time. Seven days later, two more young victims are discovered in an abandoned house, posed on painted swings. At the scene is an identical invitation. This time, though, there is something extra waiting for Detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano: a delicate porcelain doll. They have just seven more days to find the link between the murders before another innocent child is snatched from the streets. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

THE FALL by John Lescroart (Thriller)
Late one night, a teenage African American foster child named Tanya Morgan plummets to her death from the overpass above San Francisco’s Stockton tunnel. But did she fall…or was she pushed? Homicide inspectors focus their attention on a naïve young man named Greg Treadway. At first, the only thing connecting him to Tanya’s death is the fact that they shared a meal earlier that night. But soon enough, elements of that story seem to fall apart…and Hardy’s daughter, Rebecca, finds herself drawn into the young man’s defense. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

GATHERING PREY by John Sandford (Thriller)
They call them Travelers. They move from city to city, panhandling, committing no crimes --- they just like to stay on the move. And now somebody is killing them. Lucas Davenport’s adopted daughter, Letty, gets a phone call from a woman Traveler who thinks somebody is killing her friends, she’s afraid she knows who it is, and now her male companion has gone missing. In the days to come, Lucas will embark upon an odyssey through a subculture unlike any he has ever seen --- and that just may change the course of his life. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

A GOD IN RUINS by Kate Atkinson (Fiction)
Kate Atkinson's LIFE AFTER LIFE explored the possibility of infinite chances and the power of choices, following Ursula Todd as she lived through the turbulent events of the last century over and over again. A GOD IN RUINS tells the dramatic story of the 20th century through Ursula's beloved younger brother, Teddy --- would-be poet, heroic pilot, husband, father and grandfather --- as he navigates the perils and progress of a rapidly changing world. Reviewed by Ray Palen.

HOT PURSUIT: A Stone Barrington Novel by Stuart Woods (Thriller/Adventure)
Stone Barrington meets a gorgeous pilot who’s soon moving to New York and available for closer acquaintance. Their travels together lead them from Wichita to Europe, but trailing them is his new lady love’s unstable, criminal ex-boyfriend. And while Stone is fending off his newest adversary, trouble is brewing on the international stage. Several enemy operatives are at large, and only a coordinated intelligence effort will have any chance of stopping their deadly plot. Reviewed by Judy Gigstad.

MARTIN MARTEN by Brian Doyle (Fiction)
Dave is 14 years old, eager and headlong. He is about to start high school, which is scary and alluring. Martin is a pine marten, a small, muscled hunter of the deep woods. He is about to leave home for the first time, which is scary and thrilling. Both of these wild animals are setting off on adventures on their native Mount Hood in Oregon, and their lives, paths and trails will cross, weave and blend. Reviewed by Eileen Zimmerman Nicol.

THE ROYAL WE by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan (Fiction)
American Rebecca Porter was never one for fairy tales. Her twin sister, Lacey, has always been the romantic who fantasized about glamour and royalty, fame and fortune. Yet it's Bex who seeks adventure at Oxford and finds herself living down the hall from Prince Nicholas, Great Britain's future king. And when Bex can't resist falling for Nick, the person behind the prince, it propels her into a world she did not expect to inhabit, under a spotlight she is not prepared to face. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.

THE SILENCE THAT SPEAKS: A Forensic Instincts Novel by Andrea Kane (Psychological Thriller)
The first order of business for Forensic Instincts is to find out who's targeting their client, Madeline Westfield. Under the leadership of Casey Woods, the investigative team has the resources to do just that, working inside the law --- and outside it. FI's strength is its members, among them Casey's associate Marc Devereaux, former navy SEAL and a man who's equal to any situation. Except maybe this one… Reviewed by Christine M. Irvin.

WHAT YOU LEFT BEHIND by Samantha Hayes (Psychological Thriller)
Two years after a terrifying spate of teenage suicides, the remote village of Radcote has just begun to heal. Then a young man is killed in a freak motorcycle accident, and a suicide note is found among his belongings. When a second boy is found dead shortly thereafter, the nightmare of repeat suicides once again threatens the community. Detective Inspector Lorraine Fisher becomes determined to discover the truth behind these deaths. Are they suicides, or is there something more sinister at work? Reviewed by Ray Palen.

YOUR NEXT BREATH by Iris Johansen (Thriller)
Catherine Ling is one of the CIA's most prized operatives. Just as she is building a relationship with her son, who was kidnapped nine years ago, it seems that someone from Catherine's past is playing a deadly game with her. Someone is picking off the people she cares about one by one, with the circle narrowing closer and closer to those she loves the most. Catherine has no choice but to weed through her past to find out who is targeting her now, and then go after the vicious killer herself. Reviewed by Judy Gigstad.

A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES by Sarah J. Maas (Fantasy)
When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin-one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world. As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow over the faerie lands is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it...or doom Tamlin --- and his world --- forever. Reviewed by Kate F.

EDEN WEST by Pete Hautman (Dystopian)
Twelve square miles of paradise, surrounded by an eight-foot-high chain-link fence: this is Nodd, the land of the Grace. It is all 17-year-old Jacob knows. Beyond the fence lies the World, a wicked, terrible place, doomed to destruction. When the Archangel Zerachiel descends from Heaven, only the Grace will be spared the horrors of the Apocalypse. But something is rotten in paradise. A wolf invades Nodd, slaughtering the Grace’s sheep. A new boy arrives from outside, and his scorn and disdain threaten to tarnish Jacob’s contentment. Then, while patrolling the borders of Nodd, Jacob meets Lynna, a girl from the adjoining ranch, who tempts him to sample the forbidden Worldly pleasures that lie beyond the fence. Jacob’s faith, his devotion, and his grip on reality are tested as his feelings for Lynna blossom into something greater and the End Days grow ever closer. Reviewed by Benjamin Boche.

SAINT ANYTHING by Sarah Dessen (Fiction)
Sydney has always felt invisible. She's grown accustomed to her brother, Peyton, being the focus of the family’s attention and, lately, concern. Peyton is handsome and charismatic, but seems bent on self-destruction. Now, after a drunk-driving accident that crippled a boy, Peyton’s serving some serious jail time, and Sydney is on her own, questioning her place in the family and the world. Reviewed by Brianna Robinson.

EXQUISITE CORPSE by Penelope Bagieu (Graphic Novel)
Zoe isn't exactly the intellectual type, which is why she doesn't recognize world-famous author Thomas Rocher when she stumbles into his apartment...and into his life. Zoe doesn't know Balzac from Batman, but she's going to have to wise up fast...because Rocher has a terrible secret, and now Zoe is sitting on the literary scandal of the century. Reviewed by Matt Lazorwitz.

THE SPECTATORS by Victor Hussenot (Comic Books, Graphic Novel)
What if we are merely shadows, our characters defined by a simple inflection of light? The realm of possibilities opens up, because in our world we are nothing but spectators. THE SPECTATORS unfolds as a poetic and philosophical introspection on the nature of man. Victor Hussenot's palette is awash with subtle color, gently carrying the narrative and allowing the reader to envelop themselves in the lyricism of the work. Reminiscent of French New Wave cinema with its clipped dialogue, gentle pacing, and departure from a classic narrative structure, THE SPECTATORS is an exciting new graphic novel by a unique illustrator. Reviewed by Jeff Ayers.