Skip to main content

July 14, 2015

July 14, 2015

The following are lists of books releasing the weeks of July 13th and July 20th that we think will be of interest to Bookreporter.com readers.

May we ask that you forward this newsletter to friends who you think would enjoy reading it?

On Sale the Week of July 13th in Hardcover


July 14th

AFTER THE STORM: A Kate Burkholder Novel by Linda Castillo (Thriller)
When a tornado tears through Painters Mill and unearths human remains, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder finds herself tasked with the responsibility of identifying the bones. Evidence quickly emerges that the death was no accident, and Kate finds herself plunged into a 30-year-old case that takes her deep into the Amish community to which she once belonged. Under siege from an unknown assailant, Kate digs deep into the case only to discover proof of an unimaginable atrocity, a plethora of family secrets and the lengths to which people will go to protect their own.
Minotaur Books * 9781250061560

ARMADA
by Ernest Cline (Science Fiction/Adventure)
Zack Lightman dreams that the real world could be a little more like the countless science-fiction books, movies and videogames he’s spent his life consuming. Then he sees the flying saucer. Even stranger, the alien ship he’s staring at is straight out of the videogame he plays every night, a hugely popular online flight simulator called Armada --- in which gamers just happen to be protecting the earth from alien invaders. His skills --- as well as those of millions of gamers across the world --- are going to be needed to save the earth from what’s about to befall it.
Crown * 9780804137256

THE ART OF THE CON: The Most Notorious Fakes, Frauds, and Forgeries in the Art World by Anthony M. Amore (True Crime/History)
Art scams are so numerous today that the specter of a lawsuit arising from a mistaken attribution has scared a number of experts away from the business of authentication and forgery, and with good reason. Art scams are increasingly convincing and involve incredible sums of money. The cons perpetrated by unscrupulous art dealers and their accomplices are proportionately elaborate. Anthony M. Amore's THE ART OF THE CON tells the stories of some of history's most notorious yet untold cons.
St. Martin's Press * 9781137279873

BENNINGTON GIRLS ARE EASY by Charlotte Silver (Fiction)
Bennington College, founded in 1932 as a suitable refuge for the wayward daughters of good families, maintains its saucy reputation for attracting free spirits. Cassandra Puffin and Sylvie Furst met in high school but cement what they ardently believe will be everlasting friendship on Bennington's idyllic Vermont campus. Graduation sees Sylvie moving to New York City, where, later on in their 20s, Cassandra joins her. These early, delirious years are spent decorating their Fort Greene apartment with flea market gems, dating "artists" and trying to figure out what they're doing with their lives.
Doubleday * 9780385538961

THE BEST TEAM MONEY CAN BUY: The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Wild Struggle to Build a Baseball Powerhouse by Molly Knight (Sports)
In 2012, the Los Angeles Dodgers were bought out of bankruptcy in the most expensive sale in sports history. Los Angeles icon Magic Johnson and his partners hoped to put together a team worthy of Hollywood: consistently entertaining. By most accounts they have succeeded, if not always in the way they might have imagined. Now Molly Knight tells the story of the Dodgers’ 2013 and 2014 seasons with detailed, previously unreported revelations.
Simon & Schuster * 9781476776293

BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME by Ta-Nehisi Coates (Memoir)
Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race,” a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men --- bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden? BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME is Ta-Nehisi Coates’ attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son.
Spiegel & Grau * 9780812993547

CONFESSION OF THE LIONESS written by Mia Couto, translated by David Brookshaw (Fiction)
In Kulumani, a village in present-day Mozambique, lions are killing local women, including three of the four daughters of the Mpepe family. Only 32-year-old Mariamar is left. Village elders recruit Archangel Bullseye, a hunter from Maputo who saved Mariamar from danger 16 years earlier, to end the attacks. Now, as she wonders whether or not she wants to see the hunter she once loved, Mariamar suspects that spiritual forces may be the cause of the village’s troubles.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux * 9780374129231

GO SET A WATCHMAN by Harper Lee (Fiction)
Originally written in the mid-1950s, GO SET A WATCHMAN was the novel Harper Lee first submitted to her publishers before TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. Assumed to have been lost, the manuscript was discovered in late 2014. GO SET A WATCHMAN features many of the characters from TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD some 20 years later. Returning home to Maycomb to visit her father, Jean Louise Finch --- Scout --- struggles with issues both personal and political, involving Atticus, society, and the small Alabama town that shaped her.
Harper * 9780062409850

HOSTILE TAKEOVER: A John Lago Thriller
by Shane Kuhn
(Thriller)
Professional assassin John Lago and his former nemesis, Alice, execute a hostile takeover of Human Resources, Inc., the “placement agency” that trains young assassins to infiltrate corporations disguised as interns and knock off high-profile targets. As HR’s former top operatives, they are successful until conflicting management styles cause an ugly breakup that locks John out of the bedroom and the boardroom. But when Alice takes on a new HR target, John is forced to return to the office battlefield in a role he swore he would never play again: the intern.
Simon & Schuster * 9781476796185

LET ME EXPLAIN YOU by Annie Liontas (Fiction)
Stavros Stavros Mavrakis, Greek immigrant and proud owner of the Gala Diner, believes he has just 10 days to live. As he prepares for his final hours, he sends a scathing email to his ex-wife and three grown daughters, outlining his wishes for how they each might better live their lives. With varying degrees of laughter and scorn, his family and friends dismiss his behavior as nothing more than a plea for attention. But when Stavros disappears, those closest to him are forced to confront the possibility of his death.
Scribner * 9781476789088

THE NAKED EYE
by Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen (Thriller)
Kendra Michaels was instrumental in bringing serial killer Eric Colby to justice. And yet, despite his apparent execution, Kendra is convinced that Colby is still alive. The problem is that she can't prove it. Even her razor-sharp powers of observation --- developed to an amazing capacity during the 20 years she spent blind and now in constant demand by law enforcement agencies --- have gotten her nowhere. But then a reporter who very publicly humiliated Kendra is murdered. Visiting the crime scene in search of anything that might link the brutal homicide to Colby, Kendra instead finds evidence that points to her.
St. Martin's Press * 9781250020543

NAKED GREED: A Stone Barrington Novel by Stuart Woods (Thriller)
Stone Barrington isn’t one to turn away in the face of danger, so when he witnesses a tricky situation underway, he jumps in to lend a hand. He never expected, though, that this favor would lead to a mutually beneficial business deal with a prominent gentleman who requires the ever-discreet services of Woodman & Weld. But in the ruthless corporate world, no good deed goes unpunished, and Stone soon finds himself the target of a ragtag group of criminal toughs who don’t appreciate his interference in their dealings.
G.P. Putnam's Sons * 9780399174667

OPEN GRAVE by Kjell Eriksson (Mystery)
Professor Bertram von Ohler has been awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine. This news causes problems in his otherwise quiet upper-class neighborhood in Uppsala, Sweden, as not everybody is happy with the choice of winner. Mysterious incidents start to occur. “Boyish pranks” say the police, but what follows is certainly not innocent amusement. Detective Inspector Ann Lindell becomes involved in the case and immediately is transported back into her own past.
Minotaur Books * 9781250025494

SCENTS AND SENSIBILITY: A Chet and Bernie Mystery by Spencer Quinn (Mystery)
Private investigator Bernie Little and his canine companion, Chet, return home to encounter some alarming developments. First off, Bernie’s wall is gone, and with it Bernie’s grandfather’s watch, their most valuable possession. And next door, old Mr. Parsons is under investigation for being in possession of a saguaro cactus illegally transplanted from the desert. Bernie and Chet go deep into the desert to investigate. Is it possible that such a lovely old couple have a terrible secret in their past?
Atria Books * 9781476703428

THE WATCHMAKER OF FILIGREE STREET by Natasha Pulley (Historical Mystery/Fantasy)
1883. Thaniel Steepleton returns home to his tiny London apartment to find a gold pocket watch on his pillow. Six months later, the mysterious timepiece saves his life, drawing him away from a blast that destroys Scotland Yard. At last, he goes in search of its maker, Keita Mori, a kind, lonely immigrant from Japan. Although Mori seems harmless, a chain of unexplainable events soon suggests he must be hiding something. When Grace Carrow, an Oxford physicist, unwittingly interferes, Thaniel is torn between opposing loyalties.
Bloomsbury USA * 9781620408339

On Sale the Week of July 13th in Paperback


July 14th

AMONG THE FAIR MAGNOLIAS: Four Southern Love Stories by Tamera Alexander, Shelley Gray, Dorothy Love and Elizabeth Musser (Historical Romance)
Paperback Original
In the most turbulent decade of our nation's history, four Southern women --- destinies forged by birth, hearts steeled by war --- face near impossible choices on their journeys in life…and in love. Tamera Alexander, Shelley Gray, Dorothy Love and Elizabeth Musser are the contributors to AMONG THE FAIR MAGNOLIAS, and each novella includes a scrumptious Southern recipe that's inherent to each author's story.
Thomas Nelson * 9781401690731

BEFORE I GO by Colleen Oakley (Fiction)
On the eve of what was supposed to be a triumphant “Cancerversary” with her husband, Jack, to celebrate three years of being cancer-free, Daisy suffers a devastating blow: her doctor tells her that the cancer is back, but this time it’s an aggressive stage four diagnosis. Terrified of what will happen to Jack when she’s no longer there to take care of him, Daisy resolves to find him another wife. But as the thought of her husband with another woman becomes all too real, Daisy is forced to decide what’s more important in the short amount of time she has left: her husband’s happiness, or her own.
Gallery Books * 9781476761671

BLUE-EYED BOY: A Memoir by Robert Timberg (Memoir)
In January 1967, Robert Timberg was a short-timer, counting down the days until his combat tour ended. He had 13 days to go when his vehicle struck a Viet Cong land mine, resulting in third-degree burns of his face and much of his body. He survived, barely, then began the arduous battle back, determined to build a new life and make it matter.
Penguin Books * 9780143127598

CENTER OF GRAVITY by Laura McNeill
(Suspense)
Paperback Original
When Ava Carson's picture-perfect marriage begins unraveling at the seams, Ava convinces herself she can fix it. However, her husband Mitchell’s behavior is recklessly erratic, and the unanswered questions about his past now hint at something far more sinister than she can stomach. Ava decides to take matters into her own hands, digging deep into the past. But will finding the truth be enough to beat Mitchell at his own game?
Thomas Nelson * 9780718030902

THE GIRLS OF AUGUST by Anne Rivers Siddons (Fiction)
Every August, four women gather to spend a week together at the beach. When one of them dies tragically, the group drifts apart and the vacations come to a halt. Years later, a new marriage reunites them and they come together once again on a remote island off the coast of South Carolina. There, far from civilization, the women make startling discoveries that will change them in ways they never expected.
Grand Central Publishing * 9780446698313

THE HEART HAS ITS REASONS by Maria Duenas (Fiction)
A talented college professor in Madrid, Blanca Perea seems to have it all. Sadly her world is suddenly shattered when her husband of 20 years leaves her for another woman. She accepts what looks like a boring research grant in California involving an exiled Spanish writer who died decades ago. But in delving into the past, Blanca finds herself simultaneously awakened to the present by Daniel Carter, a charismatic professor with crucial knowledge about the dead writer that he has never before revealed.
Atria Books * 9781451668353

HOUNDED: An Andy Carpenter Mystery by David Rosenfelt (Legal Thriller/Mystery)
After getting a mysterious phone call from a good friend, policeman Pete Stanton, Andy Carpenter appears at the scene of a crime, where the body of ex-convict Danny Balfour has been discovered. It isn’t long before Pete himself comes under suspicion for Danny’s murder, and he needs defense attorney Andy to represent him…and to find out what really happened in Danny's house that day.
Minotaur Books * 9781250055156

THE INVENTION OF EXILE by Vanessa Manko (Historical Fiction)
When Austin Voronko is wrongly accused of attending anarchist gatherings, his limited grasp of English condemns him to his fate as a deportee, retreating with his new bride to his home in Russia, where he and his young family become embroiled in the Civil War and must flee once again, to Mexico. While Julia and the children are eventually able to return to the U.S., Austin becomes indefinitely stranded in Mexico City because of the black mark on his record.
Penguin Books * 9780143127680

JACK OF SPIES by David Downing (Historical Thriller)
Jack McColl has always hoped to make a job for himself as a spy. As his sales calls take him from city to great city, he moonlights collecting intelligence for His Majesty's Navy. With a geopolitical catastrophe brewing, he soon realizes what his aspirations may cost him. Meanwhile, an American suffragette journalist has wiled her way deep into his affections, and it’s not long before he realizes that her family might be embroiled in the Irish Republican movement his bosses are fighting against.
Soho Crime * 9781616955366

LIBERTY’S TORCH: The Great Adventure to Build the Statue of Liberty by Elizabeth Mitchell (History)
The Statue of Liberty has become one of the most recognizable monuments in the world: a symbol of freedom and the American Dream. But the story of the creation of the statue has been obscured by myth. In reality, she was the inspiration of one quixotic French sculptor hungry for fame and adoration. LIBERTY'S TORCH tells the story of an artist, entrepreneur and inventor who fought against all odds to create this wonder of the modern world.
Grove Press * 9780802123794

MADEMOISELLE: Coco Chanel and the Pulse of History by Rhonda K. Garelick (Biography)
Certain lives are at once so exceptional, and yet so in step with their historical moments, that they illuminate cultural forces far beyond the scope of a single person. Such is the case with Coco Chanel, whose life offers one of the most fascinating tales of the 20th century --- throwing into dramatic relief an era of war, fashion, ardent nationalism and earth-shaking change --- here treated, for the first time, with wide-ranging and incisive historical scrutiny.
Random House Trade Paperbacks * 9780812981858

MISS EMILY by Nuala O’Connor (Historical Fiction)
Paperback Original
Eighteen-year-old Ada Concannon has just been hired by the respected but eccentric Dickinson family of Amherst, Massachusetts. Despite their difference in age and the upstairs-downstairs divide, Ada strikes up a deep friendship with Miss Emily, the gifted elder daughter living a spinster’s life at home. But Emily’s passion for words begins to dominate her life. When Ada’s safety and reputation are threatened, however, Emily must face down her own demons in order to help her friend --- with shocking consequences.
Penguin Books * 9780143126751

MY TWO ITALIES by Joseph Luzzi (Memoir)
The child of Italian immigrants and an award-winning scholar of Italian literature, in MY TWO ITALIES Joseph Luzzi straddles these two perspectives to link his family’s dramatic story to Italy’s north-south divide, its quest for a unifying language, and its passion for art, food and family. With topics ranging from the pervasive force of Dante’s poetry to the meteoric rise of Silvio Berlusconi, Luzzi presents the Italians in all their glory and squalor, relating the problems that plague Italy today to the country’s ancient roots.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux * 9780374535391

NAKED: A Novel of Lady Godiva by Eliza Redgold (Historical Fiction)
Paperback Original
We all know the legend of Lady Godiva, who famously rode naked through the streets of Coventry, covered only by her long, flowing hair. As the story goes, she begged her husband Lord Leofric of Mercia to lift a high tax on her people, who would starve if forced to pay. Lord Leofric demanded a forfeit: that Godiva ride naked on horseback through the town. There are various endings to Godiva's ride, but NAKED contains a twist that may be closer to the truth: By the end of his life, Leofric had fallen deeply in love with Lady Godiva.
St. Martin's Griffin * 9781250066152

THE REMOVERS: A Memoir by Andrew Meredith (Memoir)
When Andrew Meredith’s father was fired from a university for unspecified sexual misconduct, it throws his family into long-lasting despair. Broke, Andrew moves home and takes a job with his father as a “remover,” the unseen workers who take away bodies of those who die at home. He describes intimate, poignant and morbidly comic aspects of the job, and begins to see his father as an imperfect man who loves his family despite his flaws.
Scribner * 9781476761220

SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL by Terrence McCauley (Thriller)
Paperback Original
The clandestine organization known as The University has used its vast intelligence resources to help defeat the Nazis, end the Cold War and strike back at terrorists all over the globe. Entrusted with running The University, James Hicks is one of the most powerful and secretive men alive. But when Hicks’ brilliant protégé is turned by a terrorist group that has alarmingly already begun operating on U.S. soil, Hicks finds himself in a race against time to find out just how the agent has been turned and why.
Polis Books * 9781940610344

THOSE WHO WISH ME DEAD by Michael Koryta (Thriller)
When 14-year-old Jace Wilson witnesses a brutal murder, he is plunged into a new life, issued a false identity and hidden in a wilderness skills program for troubled teens. The plan is to get Jace off the grid while police find the two killers. The result is the start of a nightmare. The killers, known as the Blackwell Brothers, are slaughtering anyone who gets in their way in a methodical quest to reach him.
Back Bay Books * 9780316122573

THE UNDERGROUND GIRLS OF KABUL: In Search of a Hidden Resistance in Afghanistan by Jenny Nordberg (Biography/Religion)
In Afghanistan, a culture ruled almost entirely by men, the birth of a son is cause for celebration and the arrival of a daughter is often mourned as misfortune. A bacha posh (literally translated to "dressed up like a boy" in Dari) is a third kind of child --- a girl temporarily raised as a boy and presented as such to the outside world. At the heart of this emotional narrative is a new perspective on the extreme sacrifices of Afghan women and girls against the violent backdrop of America's longest war.
Broadway Books * 9780307952509

THE UNDERTAKER’S DAUGHTER: A Memoir by Kate Mayfield (Memoir)
After Kate Mayfield was born, she was taken directly to a funeral home. Her father was an undertaker, and for 13 years the family resided in a place nearly synonymous with death. A place where the living and the dead entered their house like a vapor. The place where Kate would spend the entirety of her childhood. In a memoir that reads like a Harper Lee novel, the author draws the reader into a world of Southern mystique and ghosts.
Gallery Books * 9781476757292


July 15th

THE LAST WHITE ROSE: The Secret Wars of the Tudors by Desmond Seward (History)
One of the most dramatic periods of British history, the Wars of the Roses didn't end at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. Despite the death of Richard III and Henry VII's victory, it continued underground into the following century with plots, pretenders and subterfuge by the ousted white rose faction. In a brand new interpretation of this turning point in history, historian Desmond Seward reviews the story of the Tudors' seizure of the throne and shows that for many years they were far from secure.
Pegasus * 9781605988382

RICHARD III: England's Black Legend by Desmond Seward (Biography)
Some historians claim that Richard III's "black legend" is nothing more than political propaganda. Yet such an interpretation, according to Desmond Seward, suggests a refusal to face the facts of history. Even in the king's lifetime, there were rumors about his involvement in the murders of Henry VI and of his nephews, while his reign was considered by many to be a nightmare, not least for the king himself. The real Richard III was both a chilling and compelling monarch, a peculiarly grim young English precursor of Machiavelli's Prince.
Pegasus * 9781605988399

On Sale the Week of July 20th in Hardcover

July 21st

ALL TOGETHER NOW by Gill Hornby (Fiction)
The small town of Bridgeford is in crisis. Downtown is deserted, businesses are closing, and the idea of civic pride seems old-fashioned to residents rushing through the streets to get somewhere else. But there is one thing that just might unite the community --- music. The local choir, a group generally either ignored or mocked by most of Bridgeford's inhabitants, is preparing for an important contest. To win it, they need new members and a whole new sound.
Little, Brown and Company * 9780316234740

BARBARIAN DAYS: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan (Memoir)
Raised in California and Hawaii, William Finnegan started surfing as a child. He has chased waves all over the world, wandering for years through the South Pacific, Australia, Asia and Africa. A bookish boy, and then an excessively adventurous young man, he went on to become a distinguished writer and war reporter. BARBARIAN DAYS takes us deep into unfamiliar worlds and immerses us in the edgy camaraderie of close male friendships annealed in challenging waves.
Penguin Press * 9781594203473

THE DEVIL’S BAG MAN by Adam Mansbach (Supernatural Thriller/Adventure)
Locked in a Mexican jail for a crime he didn’t commit, Jess Galvan made a devil’s bargain to escape and make it back home. He’s now trapped in his own personal hell, his mind and body inhabited by the soul of Cucuy, a fearsome, 500-year-old Aztec priest and major crime kingpin determined to bring about hell on earth. Estranged from his daughter, Sherry, and now his own body, Galvan’s every moment is a battle to keep the evil priest at bay. He must find a way to exorcise his inner demon and save the world from annihilation.
Harper Voyager * 9780062199683

THE FIRST CONFESSOR: The Legend of Magda Searus by Terry Goodkind (Fantasy)
Married to the powerful leader of her people, safe among those gifted with great ability, Magda Searus is protected from a distant world descending into war. But when her husband, a man who loved life and loved her, unexpectedly commits suicide, she suddenly finds herself alone. Despite her grief, she is driven to find the reasons behind why her husband would do such a thing. Though she is not gifted, she begins to discover that there may be more to his suicide than anyone knew.
Tor Books * 9780765383068

THE FLICKER MEN by Ted Kosmatka (Science Fiction/Thriller)
Eric Argus’ prodigious early work clouded his reputation and strained his sanity. But an old friend gives him an opportunity to step back into the light. With three months to produce new research, Eric replicates the paradoxical double-slit experiment to see for himself the mysterious dual nature of light and matter. A simple but unprecedented inference blooms into a staggering discovery about human consciousness and the structure of the universe. His findings are celebrated and condemned in equal measure. But no one can predict where the truth will lead.
Henry Holt and Co. * 9780805096194

LOVE LIES BENEATH by Ellen Hopkins (Fiction)
Tara lives in an impeccably restored Russian Hill mansion in San Francisco. Once a widow, twice divorced, she’s a woman with a past she prefers keeping to herself. Enter Cavin Lattimore, the surgeon assigned to Tara following a ski accident in Lake Tahoe. In the weeks it takes her to recover, Cavin sweeps her off her feet and their relationship blossoms into something Tara had never imagined possible. But then she begins to notice some strange things. However perfect Tara’s life appears, things are starting to get messy.
Atria Books * 9781476743653

MOVIE STAR BY LIZZIE PEPPER by Hilary Liftin (Fiction)
Actress Lizzie Pepper was America’s Girl Next Door, and her marriage to Hollywood mega-star Rob Mars was tabloid gold. But fame, beauty and wealth weren’t enough to keep their marriage together. Hollywood’s “It” couple are over --- and now Lizzie is going to tell her side of the story. Celebrity ghostwriter Hilary Liftin chronicles the tabloids’ favorite marriage as Lizzie Pepper realizes that, when the curtain falls, her romance isn’t what she and everyone else thought.
Viking * 9780670016419

THE NOVEL HABITS OF HAPPINESS: An Isabel Dalhousie Novel by Alexander McCall Smith (Mystery)
Isabel Dalhousie is introduced to a six-year-old boy who has been experiencing vivid recollections of a past life, which include a perfect description of an island off the coast of Scotland and a house on the island where he claims to have lived. When the boy’s mother asks Isabel to investigate, Isabel, along with her husband and their son, set off for the island. They actually locate the house that the boy described, which leads to more complicated questions, as Isabel’s desire to find rational explanations comes up against the uncanny mystery unfolding before her.
Pantheon * 9780307907356

THE OTHER DAUGHTER by Lauren Willig (Historical Fiction)
Raised in a poor yet genteel household, Rachel Woodley is working in France as a governess when she receives news that her mother has died suddenly. Grief-stricken, she returns to the small town in England where she was raised to clear out the cottage...and finds a cutting from a London society magazine, with a photograph of her supposedly deceased father dated all of three months before. He is an earl, and is standing with another daughter --- his legitimate daughter. Everything Rachel thought she knew about herself and her past --- even her very name --- is a lie.
St. Martin's Press * 9781250056283

OUR MAN IN CHARLESTON: Britain's Secret Agent in the Civil War South by Christopher Dickey (History)
When Robert Bunch arrived in Charleston to take up the post of British consul in 1853, he was young and full of ambition, but even he couldn’t have imagined the incredible role he would play in the history-making events to unfold. In an age when diplomats often were spies, Bunch’s job included sending intelligence back to the British government in London. Yet as the United States threatened to erupt into Civil War, Bunch found himself plunged into a double life, settling into an amiable routine with his slavery-loving neighbors on the one hand, while working furiously to thwart their plans to achieve a new Confederacy.
Crown * 9780307887276

THE PINE TAR GAME: The Kansas City Royals, the New York Yankees, and Baseball's Most Absurd and Entertaining Controversy by Filip Bondy (Sports)
On July 24, 1983, during the finale of a heated four-game series between the dynastic New York Yankees and small-town Kansas City Royals, umpires nullified a go-ahead home run based on an obscure rule, when Yankees manager Billy Martin pointed out an illegal amount of pine tar on Royals third baseman George Brett’s bat. The call temporarily cost the Royals the game, but the decision was eventually overturned, resulting in a resumption of the game several weeks later that created its own hysteria. THE PINE TAR GAME chronicles this watershed moment.
Scribner * 9781476777177

THE REDEEMERS: A Quinn Colson Novel by Ace Atkins (Thriller)
Quinn Colson has been voted out of office as sheriff of Tibbehah County, Mississippi, thanks to the machinations of county kingpin Johnny Stagg. He has offers, but before he goes, he has one more job to do --- bring down Stagg’s criminal operations for good. But in the middle of the long, hot summer, a trio of criminals stage a bold, wall-smashing break-in at the home of a local lumber mill owner, making off with a million dollars in cash from his safe, which is curious, because the mill owner is wealthy --- but not that wealthy.
Putnam * 9780399173943

SEEING IN THE DARK: Finding God's Light in the Most Unexpected Places by Nancy Ortberg (Christian Living/Spiritual Growth)
In her much anticipated follow-up to LOOKING FOR GOD, Nancy Ortberg takes readers on a journey that began thousands of years ago. From an ancient cave in Turkey to the California coast, Ortberg highlights the often unexpected, sometimes imperceptible, yet always extraordinary means God uses to light our way through even the most painful and challenging moments in life.
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. * 9781414375601

SPEAKING IN BONES
by Kathy Reichs (Thriller)
Hazel “Lucky” Strike comes to Temperance Brennan with a tape recording of an unknown girl being held prisoner and terrorized. Strike is convinced the voice is that of 18-year-old Cora Teague, who went missing more than three years earlier. She is also certain that the teenager’s remains are gathering dust in Brennan’s lab. While local legends of eerie nocturnal phenomena and sinister satanic cults abound, it’s a zealous and secretive religious sect that has Brennan spooked and struggling to separate the saints from the sinners.
Bantam * 9780345544049

THE TOURNAMENT by Matthew Reilly (Historical Mystery)
Suleiman the Magnificent, the feared Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, issues an invitation to every king in Europe: You are invited to send your finest player to compete in a chess tournament to determine the champion of the known world. Thousands converge on Constantinople, including the English court’s champion and his guide, the esteemed scholar Roger Ascham. Seeing a chance to enlighten the mind of a student, Ascham brings along Elizabeth Tudor, a brilliant young woman not yet consumed by royal duties in Henry VIII’s court. On the opening night of the tournament, however, a powerful guest of the Sultan is murdered.
Gallery Books * 9781476749549

WHEN THE MOON IS LOW by Nadia Hashimi (Fiction)
Mahmoud's passion for his wife Fereiba, a schoolteacher, is greater than any love she's ever known. But their happy, middle-class world implodes when their country is engulfed in war, and the Taliban rises to power. Mahmoud, a civil engineer, becomes a target of the new fundamentalist regime and is murdered. Forced to flee Kabul with her three children, Fereiba has one hope to survive: she must find a way to cross Europe and reach her sister's family in England.
William Morrow * 9780062369574

WHO LET THE DOG OUT?: An Andy Carpenter Mystery by David Rosenfelt (Mystery)
Lawyer Andy Carpenter's true passion is the Tara Foundation, the dog rescue organization he runs with his friend, Willie Miller. So it's frightening when Willie calls him to say the alarm has gone off at the foundation building, and there's clearly been a break-in. It turns out that a recently rescued dog has been stolen. Andy and Willie track the missing dog to a house in downtown Paterson, New Jersey. Sure enough, they find the dog...standing right next to a dead body. Could it be a coincidence? Or could the dog theft somehow be connected to the killing?
Minotaur Books * 9781250055330
On Sale the Week of July 20th in Paperback

July 21st

ANGRY OPTIMIST: The Life and Times of Jon Stewart by Lisa Rogak (Biography)
Since his arrival at "The Daily Show," Jon Stewart has become one of the major players in comedy as well as one of the most significant liberal voices in the media. In ANGRY OPTIMIST, Lisa Rogak follows his unlikely rise to stardom --- from his early days growing up in New Jersey, through his years as a struggling stand-up comic in New York, and on to the short-lived but acclaimed "The Jon Stewart Show," before at last landing a job as host of a half-hour comedy show that at the time was still finding its footing amidst roiling internal drama.
St. Martin’s Griffin * 9781250080479

CHILDREN OF THE REVOLUTION: An Inspector Banks Novel by Peter Robinson (Mystery/Thriller)
The body of a disgraced college lecturer is found on an abandoned railway line. In the four years since his dismissal for sexual misconduct, he'd been living like a hermit. So where did he get the 5,000 pounds found in his pocket? Leading the investigation, Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks begins to suspect that the victim's past may be connected to his death.
William Morrow Paperbacks * 9780062240514

THE COINCIDENCE OF COCONUT CAKE by Amy E. Reichert (Fiction)
Paperback Original
Talented chef Lou works tirelessly to build her beloved --- yet struggling --- French restaurant Luella's into a success. Looking forward to her wedding and laughing with her employees, it's smooth sailing. Until the morning she discovers her fiance in the buff with an intern. Meanwhile, the day that a mean-spirited review of Luella's runs courtesy of a food critic named Al, the two cross paths in a pub. It’s only a matter of time before the two fall in love. But when the truth about the review comes out, can Lou overlook the past to chase her future?
Gallery Books * 9781501100710

HUSH by Karen Robards (Romantic Suspense)
When Riley Cowan finds her estranged husband, Jeff, dead in his palatial home, she’s sure it’s no coincidence. The police rule it a suicide, but Riley thinks someone’s out for blood. Finn Bradley, a Philly-based FBI agent and Riley’s love interest from way back when, agrees to help Riley, and the two reignite sparks they both thought were extinguished long ago. But can they discover the killer’s identity in time before he resurfaces --- and strikes again?
Pocket Books * 9781476766607

I AM PILGRIM by Terry Hayes (Thriller)
PILGRIM is the code name for a world class and legendary secret agent. At the novel’s opening, a woman lies face down in a pool of acid. The room has been sprayed down with DNA-eradicating antiseptic spray. All the techniques are pulled directly from Pilgrim's book, a cult classic of forensic science written under a pen name. In offering the NYPD some casual assistance with the case, Pilgrim gets pulled back into the intelligence underground.
Pocket Books * 9781501119453

I MUST SAY: My Life As a Humble Comedy Legend by Martin Short (Memoir)
In this engagingly witty, wise and heartfelt memoir, Martin Short tells the tale of how a showbiz-obsessed kid from Canada transformed himself into one of Hollywood’s favorite funnymen. But there is another side to Short’s life that he has long kept private. He lost his eldest brother and both of his parents, and, more recently, his wife succumbed to cancer. In I MUST SAY, Short talks for the first time about the pain that these losses inflicted and the upbeat life philosophy that has kept him resilient and carried him through.
Harper Paperbacks * 9780062309549

I ONLY KNOW WHO I AM WHEN I AM SOMEBODY ELSE: My Life on the Street, On the Stage, and in the Movies
by Danny Aiello (Memoir)
Danny Aiello had numerous run-ins with the law growing up, and was temporarily committed to a psychiatric ward for a nervous disorder. Fate ultimately intervened when the owner of a famous New York comedy club, The Improv, offered Danny a job as a bouncer. From there, he launched his acting career. Here, for the first time in print, he shares what it’s felt like to be an outsider in the acting community --- the good, the bad and the downright ugly.
Gallery Books * 9781476751917

IT’S GOOD TO BE QUEEN: Becoming as Bold, Gracious, and Wise as the Queen of Sheba
by Liz Curtis Higgs (Christian Life/Bible Studies)
Paperback Original
When it comes to famous queens of the Bible, we know the good one, Queen Esther, and the bad one, Queen Jezebel. Now meet the wise one, the queen of Sheba, who traveled to Jerusalem to test the mind and heart of a king. Her quest for wisdom will surprise you, challenge you, inspire you and change you. This wealthy royal from antiquity will show you how to live boldly, seek after truth, ask the right questions, encourage others, receive graciously, and honor the Lord above all.
WaterBrook Press * 9781400070039

LOVE LETTERS: A Rose Harbor Novel by Debbie Macomber (Romance)
Summer is a busy season at the Rose Harbor Inn, so proprietor Jo Marie Rose and handyman Mark Taylor have spent a lot of time together keeping the property running. Jo Marie knows surprisingly little about Mark’s life, due in no small part to his refusal to discuss it. She’s determined to learn more about his past, but first she must face her own --- and welcome three visitors who, like her, are setting out on new paths.
Ballantine Books * 9780553391770

PRIVATE VEGAS by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro (Thriller)
In Las Vegas, Lester Olsen treats gorgeous young women to five-star restaurants, splashy shows and limo rides --- and then teaches them how to kill. Private Jack Morgan spends most of his time in Los Angeles, where his top investigation firm has its headquarters. But a hunt for two criminals leads him to the city of sin --- and to a murder ring that is more seductively threatening than anything he's witnessed before.
Grand Central Publishing * 9781455515929

THE RISE & FALL OF GREAT POWERS by Tom Rachman (Fiction)
Tooly Zylberberg, the American owner of an isolated bookshop in the Welsh countryside, conducts a life full of reading, but with few human beings. Books are safer than people, who might ask awkward questions about her life. She prefers never to mention the strange events of her youth, which mystify and worry her still. Then startling news arrives from a long-lost boyfriend in New York, raising old mysteries and propelling her on a quest around the world in search of answers.
Dial Press Trade Paperback * 9780812982398

THE ROSIE EFFECT by Graeme Simsion (Humor/Romance)
The Wife Project is complete, and Don Tillman and Rosie Jarman are happily married and living in New York. But they’re about to face a new challenge because Rosie is pregnant. Fortunately, Don’s best friend, Gene, is on hand to offer advice: he’s left Claudia and moved in with Don and Rosie. As Don tries to schedule time for pregnancy research, and getting Gene and Claudia to reconcile, he almost misses the biggest problem of all: he might lose Rosie when she needs him the most.
Simon & Schuster * 9781476767321

STAND STRONG: You Can Overcome Bullying (and Other Stuff That Keeps You Down) by Nick Vujicic (Self-Help/Motivational)
With no arms, no legs and no defense, Nick Vujicic was once a bully’s target and knows what it feels like to be picked on and pushed around: It makes your stomach hurt, gives you nightmares, and feels like there is no hope in sight. But Nick shows how you too can overcome and rise above bullying. You can stand up to the challenge, because you have greater power over your feelings and your life than you may think!
WaterBrook Press * 9781601427823

THE STORY OF LAND AND SEA by Katy Simpson Smith (Historical Fiction)
Set in a small coastal town in North Carolina during the waning years of the American Revolution, THE STORY OF LAND AND SEA is a debut novel that follows three generations of family --- fathers and daughters, mother and son, master and slave, characters who yearn for redemption amidst a heady brew of war, kidnapping, slavery and love.
Harper Perennial * 9780062335951

WAR OF THE WHALES: A True Story by Joshua Horwitz (Military History)
Joel Reynolds, a crusading attorney, stumbles on one of the US Navy’s best-kept secrets: a submarine detection system that floods entire ocean basins with high-intensity sound --- and drives whales onto beaches. As Reynolds launches a legal fight to expose and challenge the Navy program, marine biologist Ken Balcomb witnesses a mysterious mass stranding of whales near his research station in the Bahamas. Investigating this calamity, Balcomb is forced to choose between his conscience and an oath of secrecy he swore to the Navy in his youth.
Simon & Schuster * 9781451645026

Don't forget to forward this newsletter to a friend or to visit the websites in TheBookReportNetwork.com:
Bookreporter.com, 20SomethingReads.com, ReadingGroupGuides.com, GraphicNovelReporter.com, FaithfulReader.com, Teenreads.com, Kidsreads.com and AuthorsOnTheWeb.com.

The Book Report Network
250 W. 57th Street - Suite 1228

New York, New York 10107

connect with us twitterfacebook