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December 6, 2016

December 6, 2016
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In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of December 5th and December 12th that we think will be of interest to Bookreporter.com readers, along with Bonus News, where we call out a contest, feature or review that we want to let you know about so you have it on your radar.

This week, we are calling attention to our bookshelf commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack. Also, we encourage you to enter our Word of Mouth and Sounding Off on Audio contests for an opportunity to win some fabulous hardcovers and audiobooks. And please be sure to vote in our latest poll; we'd like to know if you're planning to give books as gifts this holiday season.

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This Week's Bonus News: Bookreporter.com's Latest Bookshelf --- Commemorating the 75th Anniversary of the Attack on Pearl Harbor
December 7th marks 75 years since Japan's 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and six other military bases. The annual commemoration of Pearl Harbor fosters reflection, remembrance and ever-growing understanding. This particular anniversary is a unique opportunity to honor the dedication and sacrifices of those who fought and endured. Today, the legacy speaks to peace, cooperation and a commitment to freedom. The history of Pearl Harbor is layered and complex, as new accounts and research continue to surface today.

In honor of this milestone anniversary, we’ve curated a wide array of books to enlighten and pay tribute. Each of these titles brings a unique perspective to the narrative, so whether you’re a longtime scholar or just beginning to delve into this pivotal point in our history, you’ll find a powerful read on our bookshelf.

 
Click here to see our Pearl Harbor bookshelf.
On Sale the Week of December 5th in Hardcover

December 6th

BEYOND THE TRUTH: A Hanne Wilhelmsen Novel by Anne Holt (Mystery)
Shortly before Christmas, four people are found shot dead at the home of the Stahlbergs, a wealthy family of shipping merchants notorious for their miserliness and infighting. Three of the victims are members of the family, and the fourth is an outsider, seemingly out of place. As Hanne Wilhelmsen investigates the case alongside her longtime police partner, Billy T., motives for the murders emerge in abundance; each surviving member of the Stahlberg family had good reason to want the victims dead. As she searches for the killer, Hanne will once again risk everything to find out the truth. But this time, will she go too far?
Scribner * 9781501123450

CHRISTMAS DAYS: 12 Stories and 12 Feasts for 12 Days by Jeanette Winterson (Fiction/Short Stories)
For years Jeanette Winterson has loved writing a new story at Christmas time, and here she brings together 12 of them --- plus a personal story of her own Christmas memories. These tales give the reader a portal into the spirit of the season, where time slows down and magic starts to happen. From trees with mysterious powers to a tinsel baby that talks, philosophical fairies to flying dogs, a haunted house and a disappearing train, Winterson's innovative stories encompass the childlike and spooky wonder of Christmas.
Grove Press * 9780802125835

CROWN OF BLOOD: The Deadly Inheritance of Lady Jane Grey by Nicola Tallis (History)
The beheading of 17-year-old Lady Jane Grey for high treason in the year 1554 sent shockwaves through the Tudor world, and served as a gruesome reminder to all who aspired to a crown that the axe could fall at any time. Set at the time of Jane’s downfall and following her journey through to her trial and execution, each chapter in CROWN OF BLOOD moves between the past and the “present,” using a rich abundance of primary source material (some of which has never been published) in order to paint a vivid picture of Jane’s short and turbulent life.
Pegasus Books * 9781681772448

A DECLINE IN PROPHETS: A Rowland Sinclair Novel by Sulari Gentill (Historical Mystery)
With direct threats from Australia’s warring Right and the Left having quieted, wealthy Rowland Sinclair and his group of bohemian friends are on their way home to Sydney via New York after a lengthy stay in Europe. The wealthy Sinclair scion has treated his artist friends to first-class accommodations on the Cunard ship, the luxury liner of the day. Also on board are some members of the Theosophical Society, as well as an aggressively conservative Irish Catholic Bishop and his cohorts. Their clash ups the tensions in first class and presents the liner’s captain with a tricky situation when bodies start to drop.
Poisoned Pen Press * 9781464206818

DON'T TURN OUT THE LIGHTS by Bernard Minier (Mystery)
Christine Steinmeyer thought the anonymous suicide note she found in her mailbox on Christmas Eve wasn’t meant for her. But the man calling in to her radio show seems convinced otherwise. Bit by bit, her life is turned upside down. Martin Servaz is on leave in a clinic for depressed cops, haunted by his childhood sweetheart’s kidnapping by his psychopathic nemesis. One day, he receives a key card to a hotel room --- the room where an artist committed suicide a year earlier. Servaz soon uncovers evidence of a truly terrifying crime. Could someone really be cruelly, consciously hounding women to death?
Minotaur Books * 9781250106056

EIGHT FLAVORS: The Untold Story of American Cuisine by Sarah Lohman (Cooking/History)
The United States boasts a culturally and ethnically diverse population that makes for a continually changing culinary landscape. But a young historical gastronomist named Sarah Lohman discovered that American food is united by eight flavors: black pepper, vanilla, curry powder, chili powder, soy sauce, garlic, MSG and Sriracha. In EIGHT FLAVORS, Lohman sets out to explore how these influential ingredients made their way to the American table.
Simon & Schuster * 9781476753959

EVERYTHING LOVE IS by Claire King (Fiction)
Baptiste Molino has devoted his life to other people's happiness. Unlike those who come to him for help, Baptiste is more concerned with his past than his future --- particularly the mysterious circumstances of his birth and the identity of his birth mother. But Sophie, the young waitress in his local bar, believes it is time for Baptiste to raise his aspirations and rediscover passion…and she thinks she can help. She talks of striving for something more and leads him into the world on his doorstep he has long tried to avoid. However, it is Baptiste's new client who may end up being the one to change his perspective.
Bloomsbury USA * 9781632865380

THE FEUD: Vladimir Nabokov, Edmund Wilson, and the End of a Beautiful Friendship by Alex Beam (History)
In 1940, Edmund Wilson was the undisputed big dog of American letters. Vladimir Nabokov was a near-penniless Russian exile seeking asylum in the States. Wilson eventually became a mentor to Nabokov. Their intimate friendship blossomed over a shared interest in all things Russian, ruffled a bit by political disagreements. But then came the worldwide bestselling novel LOLITA, and the tables were turned. The feud finally erupted in full when Nabokov published his hugely footnoted and virtually unreadable literal translation of Pushkin’s famously untranslatable verse novel, EUGENE ONEGIN.
Pantheon * 9781101870228

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION: From Enlightenment to Tyranny
by Ian Davidson (History)
The French Revolution casts a long shadow, one that reaches into our own time and influences our debates on freedom, equality and authority. Its significance morphs according to the sympathies of the viewer, who may see it as a series of gory tableaux, a regrettable slide into uncontrolled anarchy --- or a radical reshaping of the political landscape. Ian Davidson provides a fresh look at this vital moment in European history. He reveals how it was an immensely complicated and multifaceted revolution, and how subsequently it became weighted with political, social and moral values.
Pegasus Books * 9781681772509

GEORGE LUCAS: A Life by Brian Jay Jones (Biography)
On May 25, 1977, a problem-plagued, budget-straining independent science-fiction film opened in a mere 32 American movie theaters. Conceived, written and directed by a little-known filmmaker named George Lucas, the movie originally called The Star Wars quickly drew blocks-long lines, bursting box-office records and ushering in a new way for movies to be made, marketed and merchandised. Now, the author of the bestselling biography JIM HENSON delivers a long-awaited, revelatory look into the life and times of the man who created Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Indiana Jones.
Little, Brown and Company * 9780316257442

THE GLASS UNIVERSE: How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars by Dava Sobel (Science/History)
In the mid-19th century, the Harvard College Observatory began employing women as calculators, or “human computers,” to interpret the observations their male counterparts made via telescope each night. As photography transformed the practice of astronomy, the ladies turned from computation to studying the stars captured nightly on glass photographic plates. The “glass universe” of half a million plates that Harvard amassed over the ensuing decades enabled the women to make extraordinary discoveries that attracted worldwide acclaim.
Viking * 9780670016952

HEMINGWAY AT WAR: Ernest Hemingway's Adventures as a World War II Correspondent
by Terry Mort (History)
In the spring of 1944, Ernest Hemingway traveled to London and then to France to cover World War II for Collier's magazine. Obviously he was a little late in arriving. Why did he go? He had resisted this kind of journalism for much of the early period of the war, but when he finally decided to go, he threw himself into the thick of events and so became a conduit to understanding some of the major events and characters of the war. HEMINGWAY AT WAR is also an investigation into Hemingway’s subsequent work --- much of it stemming from his wartime experience --- which shaped the latter stages of his career in dramatic fashion.
Pegasus Books * 9781681772479

HOW WILL I KNOW YOU? by Jessica Treadway (Psychological Thriller)
The body of high school senior Joy Enright is discovered in the woods at the edge of a pond. She had been presumed drowned, but an autopsy shows that she was, in fact, strangled. As the investigation unfolds, four characters tell the story from widely divergent perspectives: Susanne, Joy's mother and a professor at the local art college; Martin, a black graduate student suspected of the murder; Harper, Joy's best friend and a potential eyewitness; and Tom, a rescue diver and son-in-law of the town's police chief. As a web of small-town secrets comes to light, a dramatic conclusion reveals the truth about Joy's death.
Grand Central Publishing * 9781455554119

IN SUNLIGHT OR IN SHADOW: Stories Inspired by the Paintings of Edward Hopper edited by Lawrence Block (Mystery Anthology)
"Edward Hopper is surely the greatest American narrative painter. His work bears special resonance for writers and readers, and yet his paintings never tell a story so much as they invite viewers to find for themselves the untold stories within." So says Lawrence Block, who has invited 17 writers to join him in an unprecedented anthology of brand-new stories. Contributors include Stephen King, Joyce Carol Oates, Robert Olen Butler, Michael Connelly, Megan Abbott, Joe R. Lansdale, Jonathan Santlofer, Jeffery Deaver and Lee Child.
Pegasus Books * 9781681772455

MINCEMEAT: The Education of an Italian Chef written by Leonardo Lucarelli, translated by Lorena Rossi Gori and Danielle Rossi (Memoir)
The restaurant industry in Italy is as tough, cutthroat and unforgiving as anywhere else in the world --- sometimes even colluding with the shady world of organized crime. Leonardo Lucarelli is a professional chef who has been roaming Italy opening restaurants, training underpaid, sometimes hopelessly incompetent sous-chefs, courting waitresses, working long hours, riding high on drugs, and cursing a culinary passion he inherited as a teenager from his hippie father. In MINCEMEAT, Lucarelli teaches us that even among rogues and misfits, there is a moral code in the kitchen that must, above all else, always be upheld.
Other Press * 9781590517918

OF ALL THAT ENDS written by Günter Grass, translated by Breon Mitchell (Essays)
In spite of the trials of old age, and with the end in sight, suddenly everything seems possible again: love letters, soliloquies, scenes of jealousy, swan songs, social satire, and moments of happiness crowd onto the page. Only an aging artist who has once more cheated death can set to work with such wisdom, defiance and wit. A wealth of touching stories is condensed into artful miniatures. In a striking interplay of poetry, lyric prose and drawings, Nobel Prize-winning author Günter Grass creates his final major work of art.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt * 9780544785380

THE ONE HUNDRED NIGHTS OF HERO by Isabel Greenberg (Graphic Novel)
In the Empire of Migdal Bavel, Cherry is married to Jerome, a wicked man who makes a diabolical wager with his friend, Manfred: If Manfred can seduce Cherry in 100 nights, he can have his castle --- and Cherry. But what Jerome doesn't know is that Cherry is in love with her maid, Hero. The two women hatch a plan: Hero, a member of the League of Secret Story Tellers, will distract Manfred by regaling him with a mesmerizing tale each night for 100 nights, keeping him at bay. Those tales are beautifully depicted here, touching on themes of love, betrayal, loyalty and madness.
Little, Brown and Company * 9780316259170

THE ORNATRIX by Kate Howard (Historical Fiction)
Cursed from birth by the bird-shaped blemish across her face, Flavia spends much of her life hidden from the outside world. After sabotaging her sister’s wedding in a fit of jealous rage, she is exiled to serve in the convent of Santa Giuliana. Soon she finds that another exile dwells in the convent: a former Venetian courtesan named Ghostanza, whose ostentatious appearance clashes with the otherwise austere convent. When Ghostanza claims Flavia as her ornatrix --- her personal hairdresser and handmaid --- Flavia is pulled into a world where admiration is everything and perfection is the ultimate, elusive goal.
The Overlook Press * 9781468313826

OUT OF BOUNDS: A Karen Pirie Novel by Val McDermid (Mystery/Thriller)
When a teenage joyrider crashes a stolen car and ends up in a coma, a routine DNA test reveals a connection to an unsolved murder from 22 years before. Finding the answer to the cold case should be straightforward, but it’s as twisted as the DNA helix itself. Meanwhile, decetive Karen Pirie finds herself irresistibly drawn to another mystery that she has no business investigating, a mystery that has its roots in a terrorist bombing two decades ago. And again, she finds that nothing is as it seems.
Atlantic Monthly Press * 9780802125743

PLAID AND PLAGIARISM: The Highland Bookshop Mystery Series, Book 1 by Molly MacRae (Cozy Mystery)
PLAID AND PLAGIARISM begins on a morning shortly after the four new owners of Yon Bonnie Books take possession of their bookshop in the Highlands. Unfortunately, Janet Marsh is told she’ll have to wait before moving into her new home. Then she finds out the house has been vandalized. Again. The chief suspect is Una Graham, an advice columnist for the local paper. When Janet and her business partners go looking for clues at the house, they find Una in the garden shed with a sickle in her neck. Who wanted Una dead? After discovering a cache of nasty letters, Janet and her friends are beginning to wonder who didn’t, including Janet’s ex-husband.
Pegasus Books * 9781681772561

THE RISE OF ATHENS: The Story of the World's Greatest Civilization by Anthony Everitt (History)
Filled with tales of adventure and astounding reversals of fortune, THE RISE OF ATHENS celebrates the city-state that transformed the world --- from the democratic revolution that marked its beginning, through the city’s political and cultural golden age, to its decline into the ancient equivalent of a modern-day university town. Anthony Everitt constructs his history with unforgettable portraits of the talented, tricky, ambitious and unscrupulous Athenians who fueled the city’s rise. Here also are riveting, you-are-there accounts of the milestone battles that defined the Hellenic world.
Random House * 9780812994582

RIVER OF TIME: My Descent into Depression and How I Emerged with Hope by Naomi Judd with Marcia Wilkie (Memoir)
Struggling through a childhood of harsh family secrets, the death of a young sibling, and absent emotional support, Naomi Judd found herself reluctantly married and an expectant mother at age 17. Four years later, she was a single mom of two, who survived being beaten and raped, and was abandoned without any financial support and nowhere to turn in Hollywood. She put herself through nursing school to support her young daughters, then took a courageous chance by moving to Nashville to pursue their fantastic dream of careers in country music. Naomi has always been a survivor, and RIVER OF TIME is her poignant message of hope to anyone whose life has been scarred by trauma.
Center Street * 9781455595747

THEY ARE TRYING TO BREAK YOUR HEART by David Savill (Fiction)
In 1994, Marko Novak's world is torn apart by the death of his best friend, Kemal, a young soldier in the darkest days of the Bosnian war. After the funeral, Marko flees to England, hoping to put his broken homeland, and the part he played in the loss of his friend, behind him. In 2004, human rights researcher Anya Teal is following a tenuous lead in the hunt for a Bosnian man with blood on his hands. She is also clinging to the fragile hope that she can rebuild a relationship with her first love, William Howell. What nobody knows is that a disaster as destructive as a war is approaching, one that will connect the fates of Marko, William and Anya. In its wake, everything Marko thought he knew will be overturned.
Bloomsbury USA * 9781632865465

TOM CLANCY TRUE FAITH AND ALLEGIANCE: A Jack Ryan Novel by Mark Greaney (Thriller/Adventure)
After months at sea, U.S. Navy Commander Scott Hagan, captain of the USS James Greer, is on leave when he is attacked by an armed man in a crowded restaurant. Though severely wounded, the gunman reveals he is a Russian whose brother was killed when his submarine was destroyed by Commander Hagan’s ship. As more deadly events involving American military and intelligence personnel follow, it becomes clear that there has been some kind of massive information breach and that a wide array of America’s most dangerous enemies have made a weapon of the stolen data. With U.S. intelligence agencies potentially compromised, it’s up to John Clark and the rest of The Campus to track the leak to its source.
G.P. Putnam's Sons * 9780399176814

TRIGGER YAPPY by Diana Orgain (Cozy Mystery)
Although still not quite a dog lover, Maggie Patterson meets with her new group of dog-loving friends for “Yappy Hour” every Friday night. Both she and her sister Rachel have put the past murderous summer behind them, with Rachel even securing a headline feature for the Wine & Bark in Doggie Day magazine. But when her sister comes down with a case of salmonella poisoning, Maggie is left to run the business in her absence. Even worse, Maggie overhears an argument between her friend Yolanda and Bonnie, who runs the Chic Chickie shop. Then poor Bonnie turns up dead. With evidence pilling up against Yolanda, the Roundup Crew is desperate to find the real killer and convince Maggie to investigate.
Minotaur Books * 9781250069122

THE UNDOING PROJECT: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds by Michael Lewis (Psychology/Economics)
Forty years ago, Israeli psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky wrote a series of breathtakingly original studies undoing our assumptions about the decision-making process. Their papers showed the ways in which the human mind erred, systematically, when forced to make judgments in uncertain situations. Their work created the field of behavioral economics, revolutionized Big Data studies, advanced evidence-based medicine, led to a new approach to government regulation, and made much of Michael Lewis’ own work possible. THE UNDOING PROJECT is about a compelling collaboration between two men who have the dimensions of great literary figures.
W. W. Norton & Company * 9780393254594

A WANT OF KINDNESS by Joanne Limburg (Historical Fiction)
The wicked, bawdy Restoration court is no place for a child princess. Ten-year-old Anne cuts an odd figure: a sickly child, she is drawn towards improper pursuits. Cards, sweetmeats, scandal and gossip with her Ladies of the Bedchamber figure large in her life. But as King Charles' niece, Anne is also a political pawn, who will be forced to play her part in the troubled Stuart dynasty. Transformed from overlooked princess to the heiress of England, she will be compelled to overcome grief for her lost children, the political maneuverings of her sister and her closest friends, and her own betrayal of her father, before the fullness of her destiny is revealed.
Pegasus Books * 9781681772592

THE WARS OF THE ROOSEVELTS: The Rutheless Rise of America's Greatest Political Family by William J. Mann (Biography)
Drawing on previously hidden historical documents and interviews with the long-silent "illegitimate" branch of the Roosevelt family, William J. Mann paints an elegant, meticulously researched and groundbreaking group portrait of this legendary clan. Mann argues that the Roosevelts’ rise to power and prestige was actually driven by a series of intense personal contests that at times devolved into blood sport. THE WAR OF THE ROOSEVELTS is the story of a family at war with itself, of social Darwinism at its most ruthless --- in which the strong devoured the weak and repudiated the inconvenient.
Harper * 9780062383334

WHO WATCHETH: An Inspector Irene Huss Investigation written by Helene Tursten, translated by Marlaine Delargy (Mystery)
A woman is found dead in a cemetery. Just a few days before her death, the victim had received a flower, an unintelligible note, and a photograph of herself. Detective Inspector Irene Huss and her colleagues on the Violent Crimes Unit have neither clue nor motive to pursue, and when similar murders follow, their search for the killer becomes increasingly desperate. Meanwhile, strange things have been going on at home for Irene: first the rose bush in her garden is mangled, then she receives a threatening package with no return address. Is Irene being paranoid, or is she next on the killer’s list?
Soho Crime * 9781616954048

A WOMAN LOOKING AT MEN LOOKING AT WOMEN: Essays on Art, Sex, and the Mind by Siri Hustvedt (Social Science/Essays)
Siri Hustvedt has always been fascinated by biology and how human perception works. She is a lover of art, the humanities and the sciences. She is a novelist and a feminist. Her lively, lucid essays in A WOMAN LOOKING AT MEN LOOKING AT WOMEN begin to make some sense of those plural perspectives. There has been much talk about building a beautiful bridge across the chasm that separates the sciences and the humanities. At the moment, we have only a wobbly walkway, but Hustvedt is encouraged by the travelers making their way across it in both directions.
Simon & Schuster * 9781501141096
On Sale the Week of December 5th in Paperback

December 6th

THE ABSOLUTION by Jonathan Holt (Mystery/Thriller)
On Venice’s popular Lido beach, a man is found lying on the shore, his throat slit and his tongue viciously torn out, and his face covered by an unusual antique mask. Superiors inside the Venice Carabinieri have finally given Captain Kat Tapo permission to run her first murder case. But when she learns that the mask is a Masonic “hoodwink” --- and that the circumstances of the man’s death are eerily similar to the Masonic punishment for betrayal --- she suspects that her appointment has darker implications.
Harper Paperbacks * 9780062267085

BROWSINGS: A Year of Reading, Collecting, and Living with Books by Michael Dirda (Literary Criticism/Essays)
Michael Dirda's latest volume collects 50 of his witty and wide-ranging reflections on literary journalism, book collecting, and the writers he loves. Reaching from the classics to the post-moderns, his allusions dance from Samuel Johnson, Ralph Waldo Emerson and M. F. K. Fisher to Marilynne Robinson, Hunter S. Thompson and David Foster Wallace. Dirda's topics are equally diverse: literary pets, the lost art of cursive writing, novelists in old age, Oberlin College, a year in Marseille, writer's block and much more, not to overlook a few rants about Washington life and American culture.
Pegasus Books * 9781681772585

BRUTALITY by Ingrid Thoft (Mystery)
When soccer mom Liz Barone is attacked in her kitchen and left with a life-threatening injury, Fina Ludlow is hired by Liz’s mother to identify her attacker. Twenty years earlier, Liz was a soccer star at New England University known for her physical toughness. She’s now convinced that her aggressive style of play --- and the university’s willingness to ignore head injuries in favor of wins --- has put her health and future in jeopardy. Was Liz attacked to stop her lawsuit, or were there other secrets in the seemingly innocent woman’s life?
G.P. Putnam’s Sons * 9781101982501

THE CHOSEN by Kristina Ohlsson (Mystery/Thriller)
Paperback Original
On a cold winter’s day, a pre-school teacher is shot to death in front of parents and children at the Jewish Congregation in Stockholm. Just a few hours later, two Jewish boys go missing on their way to tennis practice, and an unexpected blizzard destroys any trace of the perpetrator. As investigative analyst Fredrika Bergman and police superintendent Alex Recht struggle to pin down a lead, someone or something called the Paper Boy --- a mysterious old Israeli legend of a nighttime killer --- keeps popping up in the police investigation. But who was the Paper Boy really? And how could he have resurfaced in Stockholm?
Atria/Emily Bestler Books * 9781476734064

CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE: The Tox Files, Book 1 by Ronie Kendig (Thriller/Adventure)
Paperback Original
Four years after a tragic mission decimated his team, Cole "Tox" Russell has been disavowed by the United States. But when a dormant, centuries-old disease is unleashed, he is lured back into action. Tox and his former Special Forces team regroup to work with FBI deception expert Kasey Cortes and fiery archaeologist Tzivia Khalon to search the globe for answers --- and a cure. As the mission leads from one continent to another, it becomes clear they're not just fighting a plague but battling an ancient secret society whose true goals remain hidden. Tox and his team soon realize that their sole chance might be to reach back through centuries of silence to find the only answer that can save them all.
Bethany House Publishers * 9780764217654

FAMILY JEWELS: A Stone Barrington Novel
by Stuart Woods (Thriller/Adventure)
Stone Barrington’s newest client seems to be a magnet for trouble. A poised lady of considerable wealth, she’s looking for help discouraging the attentions of a tenacious gentleman. But no sooner does Stone fend off the party in question than his client becomes involved in two lethal crimes. With suspects aplenty, Stone must probe deep into his client’s life to find the truth, and he discovers that the heart of the mystery may be a famous missing piece of history, a stunningly beautiful vestige of a bygone era. It’s a piece with a long and storied past and untold value…the kind of relic someone might kill to obtain.
G.P. Putnam’s Sons * 9780451477248

THE GARDENS OF CONSOLATION written by Parisa Reza, translated by Adriana Hunter (Fiction)
Paperback Original
In the early 1920s, in the remote village of Ghamsar, teenagers Talla and Sardar fall in love and marry. Sardar brings his young bride with him across the mountains to the suburbs of Tehran, where the couple settles down and builds a home. From the outskirts of the capital city, they will watch as the Qajar dynasty falls and Reza Khan rises to power as Reza Shah Pahlavi. Into this family of illiterate shepherds is born Bahram, a boy whose brilliance and intellectual promise are apparent from a very young age. Through his education, Bahram will become a fervent follower of reformer Mohammad Mosaddegh and will participate first-hand in his country's political and social upheavals.
Europa Editions * 9781609453503

THE KNIFE SLIPPED: The Lost Cool & Lam Mystery by Erle Stanley Gardner (Hard-boiled Mystery)
Paperback Original
Lost for more than 75 years, THE KNIFE SLIPPED was meant to be the second book in the Cool & Lam series, but was shelved when Erle Stanley Gardner’s publisher objected to (among other things) Bertha Cool’s tendency to “talk tough, swear, smoke cigarettes, and try to gyp people.” But this tale of adultery and corruption, of double-crosses and triple identities --- however shocking for 1939 --- shines today as a glorious present from the past, a return to the heyday of private eyes and shady dames, of powerful criminals, crooked cops, blazing dialogue and delicious plot twists.
Hard Case Crime * 9781783299270

LIKE FAMILY written by Paolo Giordano, translated by Anne Milano Appel (Fiction)
When Signora A first enters the narrator’s home, his wife, Nora, is experiencing a difficult pregnancy. First as their maid and nanny, then their confidante, this older woman begins to help her employers negotiate married life, quickly becoming the glue in their small household. She is the steady, maternal influence for both husband and wife, and their son, Emanuele, whom she protects from his parents’ expectations and disappointments. But the family’s delicate fabric comes undone when Signora A is diagnosed with cancer.
Penguin Books * 9780143108610

THE LITTLE RED CHAIRS by Edna O’Brien (Fiction)
Vlad, a stranger from Eastern Europe masquerading as a healer, settles in a small Irish village where the locals fall under his spell. One woman, Fidelma McBride, becomes so enamored that she begs him for a child. All that world is shattered when Vlad is arrested, and his identity as a war criminal is revealed. A disgraced Fidelma flees to England and seeks work among the other migrants displaced by wars and persecution. But it is not until she confronts him --- her nemesis --- at the tribunal in The Hague that her physical and emotional journey reaches its breathtaking climax.
Back Bay Books * 9780316378246

OPENING BELLE by Maureen Sherry (Fiction)
In 2008, Isabelle appears to have it all: an Upper West Side apartment, three healthy children, a handsome husband and a high-powered job. But her reality is something else. Her work environment resembles a 1980s frat party, her husband feels that employment is beneath him, and the bulk of childcare and homecare still falls to Belle. As she deals with her former college fiancé, Henry, becoming her biggest client and a group of sexually harassed women beginning to organize, Belle can sense the financial markets heading toward their soon-to-be historic crash and that something has to give.
Simon & Schuster * 9781501110634

THE OTHER WIDOW by Susan Crawford (Psychological Thriller)
It isn’t safe. That’s what Joe tells Dorrie when he ends their affair --- moments before their car skids off an icy road in a blinding snowstorm and hits a tree. Desperate to keep her life intact, Dorrie will do everything she can to protect herself. Joe’s death has left his wife in free fall as well. Trying to cope with grief is devastating enough without the constant fear that someone is watching you. Insurance investigator Maggie Devlin is suspicious of the latest claim that’s landed on her desk --- a man dying on an icy road shortly after buying a lucrative life insurance policy. As the fates of these three women become more tightly entwined, layers of lies and deception begin to peel away.
William Morrow Paperbacks * 9780062362896

THE POISON ARTIST by Jonathan Moore (Psychological Thriller/Mystery)
Caleb Maddox is a San Francisco toxicologist studying the chemical effects of pain. He’s out drinking after a bad breakup when a hauntingly seductive woman sits down at his side. He talks to Emmeline over absinthe, but their encounter is fleeting. She brushes her lips on his ear and disappears. He must find her. As Caleb scours the city, he begins helping the city’s medical examiner with a serial-murder investigation. Soon the search for the killer entwines with Caleb’s hunt for Emmeline, and the closer he gets to each, the more dangerous his world becomes.
Mariner Books * 9780544811829

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO INTERRACIAL LOVE?: Stories by Kathleen Collins (Fiction/Short Stories)
Paperback Original
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO INTERRACIAL LOVE? is a never-before-published collection of stories from African-American artist and filmmaker Kathleen Collins, whose stories masterfully blend the quotidian and the profound in a personal, intimate way, exploring deep, far-reaching issues --- race, gender, family and sexuality --- that shape the ordinary moments in our lives. Her work seamlessly integrates the African-American experience in her characters’ lives, creating rich, devastatingly familiar, full-bodied men, women and children who transcend the symbolic, penetrating both the reader’s heart and mind.
Ecco * 9780062484154

YOUNG ELIZABETH: The Making of the Queen by Kate Williams (Biography)
We can hardly imagine a Britain without Elizabeth II on the throne. It seems to be the job she was born for. And yet, for much of her early life, the young princess did not know the role that her future would hold. Kate Williams reveals how the 25-year-old young queen carved out a lasting role for herself amid the changes of the 20th century. Her monarchy would be a very different one to that of her parents and grandparents, and its continuing popularity in the 21st century owes much to the intelligence and elusive personality of this remarkable woman.
Pegasus Books * 9781681772530
On Sale the Week of December 12th in Hardcover

December 13th

BRYANT & MAY: STRANGE TIDE: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery by Christopher Fowler (Mystery)
Along the River Thames, the body of a woman has been discovered chained to a stone post and left to drown. “The Bride in the Tide,” as the London press gleefully dubs her, has the Peculiar Crimes Unit stumped. Why wouldn’t the killer simply dump her body in the river as so many do? Arthur Bryant wonders if the answer lies in the mythology of the Thames itself. Unfortunately, the venerable detective seems to be losing his grip on reality. John May fears the worst, as Bryant starts hallucinating that he’s traveled back in time to solve the case. As more bodies are pulled from the river’s depths, May and the rest of the PCU find themselves in over their heads.
Bantam * 9781101887035

ILL MET BY MURDER: A Shakespeare in the Catskills Mystery by Elizabeth J. Duncan (Cozy Mystery)
It’s the most important night of the year for costume designer Charlotte Fairfax and the Catskills Shakespeare Theater Company --- the annual fundraising performance at the country estate of the wealthy widow Paula Van Dusen. This year, the company will give a moonlight performance of "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" as part of the wedding celebrations for Paula's daughter, Belinda, and her fiancé Adrian. But then Hugh Hedley, family friend of the Van Dusens and Adrian's rival in the cutthroat world of high-end Manhattan real estate, is found murdered with a stolen prop from the play. Charlotte throws herself into an investigation of shady business deals, a missing dog and long-buried family secrets.
Crooked Lane Books * 9781629537696

KILL THE NEXT ONE by Federico Axat (Psychological Thriller)
After being diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor, Ted McKay finds himself with a gun to his temple, ready to pull the trigger. Then the doorbell rings. A stranger makes him a proposition: Why not kill two deserving men before dying? The first target is a criminal, and the second is a man with terminal cancer who, like Ted, wants to die. After executing these kills, he will become someone else's next target. As Ted commits the murders, the crime scenes strike him as odd. The targets know him by name and possess familiar mementos. Even more bizarrely, Ted recognizes locations and men he shouldn't know. As Ted's mind begins to crack, dark secrets from his past seep through the fissures.
Mulholland Books * 9780316354219

THE SEVENTH PLAGUE: A Sigma Force Novel by James Rollins (Thriller/Adventure)
A British archaeologist --- a member of an expedition gone missing for over two years --- stumbles out of the Egyptian desert. Before he can explain what happened to his team, he dies. But his remains hold a terrifying discovery that only deepens the mystery: something had begun mummifying his body while he was still alive. Commander Grayson Pierce of Sigma Force is tasked with uncovering the truth behind the brutal murder and discovering the fate of the missing team. He and his allies must confront a danger that will unleash a cascading series of plagues around the globe, culminating in a scourge that could kill all of the world’s children…and forever end mankind’s future.
William Morrow * 9780062381682
On Sale the Week of December 12th in Paperback

December 13th

AT WHAT COST: A Detective Penley Mystery by James L’Etoile (Mystery/Thriller)
Paperback Original
Detective John Penley and his new partner, Detective Paula Newberry, of the Sacramento Police Department are tasked with leading the investigation into a local serial killer who has dumped three bodies in the past six weeks --- and all of them are missing their internal organs. But while pursuing a lead, the detectives stumble upon a personal message the killer left behind for Penley. And it's attached to a human kidney. How could the killer know that Penley's son is on the kidney transplant waiting list? Now Penley is baited into an impossible trap that could jeopardize his entire career.
Crooked Lane Books * 9781629539966

EVEN DOGS IN THE WILD by Ian Rankin (Mystery)
Detective Inspector Siobhan Clarke is investigating the death of a senior government prosecutor, David Minton, while Malcolm Fox is helping a surveillance team track a notorious Glasgow crime family. John Rebus gets a call from his old nemesis, "Big Ger" Cafferty; someone just fired a bullet through his front window, and the only man he trusts with his life is Rebus. As the cases collide, it's up to Clarke, Fox and Rebus to connect the dots and save their unlikely ally, whose past harbors a shocking secret that implicates Minton's friends in an unspeakable crime.
Back Bay Books * 9780316342544

FORGOTTEN CITY: A Claire Codella Mystery by Carrie Smith (Mystery)
Paperback Original
Broadway legend Lucy Merchant has tragically succumbed to early onset Alzheimer’s. At age 56, she’s tucked away in the dementia care unit of the ultra-exclusive Manhattan care facility Park Manor. When she falls asleep and doesn’t wake up, her billionaire husband is ready for the funeral, but her daughter demands an investigation. Only three months back on the job after cancer treatment, NYPD Detective Claire Codella finds herself at the center of a high-profile case that nearly everyone wants to shut down. But the forensic evidence raises alarming questions, and Codella needs answers. To find them, she will have to crack the defenses of slippery administrators, frightened caregivers and unobliging family members, all while unlocking some of her own dark memories.
Crooked Lane Books * 9781629537856

THE IMMORTALS by Jordanna Max Brodsky (Fantasy/Thriller)
The city sleeps. Selene DiSilva walks her dog along the banks of the Hudson. She is alone --- just the way she likes it. She doesn't believe in friends, and she doesn't speak to her family. Most of them are simply too dangerous. In the predawn calm, Selene finds the body of a young woman washed ashore, gruesomely mutilated and wreathed in laurel. Her ancient rage returns. And so does the memory of a promise she made long ago --- when her name was Artemis.
Orbit * 9780316306249

LIFE AND DEATH IN THE ANDES: On the Trail of Bandits, Heroes, and Revolutionaries by Kim MacQuarrie (History)
The Andes Mountains are the world’s longest mountain chain, linking most of the countries in South America. Emmy Award-winning filmmaker and author Kim MacQuarrie takes us on a historical journey through this unique region. Through the stories he shares, MacQuarrie raises such questions as: Where did the people of South America come from? Did they create or import their cultures? What makes South America different from other continents --- and what makes the cultures of the Andes different from other cultures in South America?
Simon & Schuster * 9781439168905

THE LOVERS: Afghanistan's Romeo and Juliet, the True Story of How They Defied Their Families and Escaped an Honor Killing by Rod Nordland (Biography)
Zakia and Ali were from different tribes, but they grew up on neighboring farms in the hinterlands of Afghanistan. By the time they were young teenagers, Zakia and Ali had fallen in love. Defying their families, sectarian differences, cultural conventions, and Afghan civil and Islamic law, they ran away together only to live under constant threat from Zakia’s large and vengeful family, who have vowed to kill her to restore the family’s honor. They are still in hiding. Rod Nordland not only has chronicled their plight, but also has shepherded them from danger.
Ecco * 9780062378835

MARLENE by C. W. Gortner (Historical Fiction)
Raised in genteel poverty after the First World War, Maria Magdalena Dietrich dreams of a life on the stage. With her sultry beauty, smoky voice, seductive silk cocktail dresses and androgynous tailored suits, Marlene performs to packed houses and becomes entangled in a series of stormy love affairs. For the beautiful, desirous Marlene, neither fame nor marriage and motherhood can cure her wanderlust. Setting sail for America, she quickly becomes one of Hollywood’s leading ladies. C. W. Gortner’s novel reveals the inner life of a woman of grit, glamour and ambition who defied convention, seduced the world, and forged her own path on her own terms.
William Morrow Paperbacks * 9780062406071

MASTERS OF EMPIRE: Great Lakes Indians and the Making of America by Michael A. McDonnell (History)
In MASTERS OF EMPIRE, the historian Michael A. McDonnell reveals the pivotal role played by the native peoples of the Great Lakes in the history of North America. Though less well known than the Iroquois or Sioux, the Anishinaabeg, who lived across Lakes Michigan and Huron, were equally influential. The book charts the story of one group, the Odawa, who settled at the straits between those two lakes, a hub for trade and diplomacy throughout the vast country west of Montreal known as the pays d’en haut.
Hill and Wang * 9780809068005

THE PRIVATE LIFE OF MRS SHARMA by Ratika Kapur (Fiction)
Paperback Original
Renuka Sharma is a dutiful wife, mother and daughter-in-law holding the fort in a modest rental in Delhi while her husband tries to rack up savings in Dubai. Working as a receptionist and committed to finding a place for her family in the New Indian Dream of air-conditioned malls and high-paid jobs at multi-national companies, life is going as planned until the day she strikes up a conversation with an uncommonly self-possessed stranger at a Metro station. Because while Mrs. Sharma may espouse traditional values, India is changing all around her. And it wouldn't be the end of the world if she came out of her shell a little, would it?
Bloomsbury Publishing * 9781408873649

SAY GOODBYE FOR NOW by Catherine Ryan Hyde (Historical Fiction)
Paperback Original
On an isolated Texas ranch, Dr. Lucy cares for abandoned animals. The solitude allows her to avoid the people and places that remind her of the past. Not that any of the townsfolk care. In 1959, no one is interested in a woman doctor. Nor are they welcoming Calvin and Justin Bell, a newly arrived African American father and son. When Pete Solomon, a neglected 12-year-old boy, and Justin bring a wounded wolf-dog hybrid to Dr. Lucy, the outcasts soon find refuge in one another. Lucy never thought she’d make connections again, never mind fall in love. Pete never imagined he’d find friends as loyal as Justin and the dog. But these four people aren’t allowed to be friends, much less a family, when the whole town turns violently against them.
Lake Union Publishing * 9781503939448

THE SOUND OF RAIN by Gregg Olsen (Mystery/Thriller)
Paperback Original
Former homicide detective Nicole Foster has hit rock bottom. Driven off the force by her treacherous partner and lover, she’s flat broke and struggling with a gambling addiction. All Nicole has left is the dream of a warm bed at a homeless shelter and the haunting memories of three-year-old Kelsey Chase --- whose murder case ended her career. As Nicole obsesses over the old facts, she realizes everything about that case felt off. When the little girl’s grieving father begs Nicole for help, she’s drawn back into the investigation…and given one shot at redemption. But the deeper Nicole digs, the more evil she uncovers, including betrayals that hit painfully close to home.
Thomas & Mercer * 9781503941960

STORIES I TELL MYSELF: Growing Up with Hunter S. Thompson by Juan F. Thompson (Memoir)
From the outset, Hunter S. Thompson was the Wild Man of American journalism with a journalistic appetite that touched on subjects that drove his sense of justice and intrigue. He lived larger than life and pulled it up around him in a mad effort to make it as electric, anger-ridden and drug-fueled as possible. Now Juan Thompson tells the story of his father and of their getting to know each other during their 41 fraught years together. He writes of the many dark times, how far they ricocheted away from each other, and how they found their way back before it was too late.
Vintage * 9780307277855

TIME OF DEATH: A Stillwater General Mystery by Lucy Kerr (Mystery)
Paperback Original
It’s been 12 years since ER nurse Frankie Stapleton fled the quiet banks of Stillwater, but with her sister’s pregnancy taking a dangerous turn and a string of failed relationships in Chicago hanging over her, Frankie is back --- and hoping to put the past behind her. Within minutes of arriving at Stillwater General Hospital, however, she ends up saving a man’s life, only to have him turn up dead hours later --- and the hospital blames Frankie. Her instincts say Clem Jensen didn’t die of natural causes, but the more she digs, the more she discovers too many suspects, a few surprising allies, and some hard truths about the first man she ever loved --- and left.
Crooked Lane Books * 9781629539911

THE WINTER GIRL by Matt Marinovich (Psychological Thriller)
Scott and his wife, Elise, have come to the Hamptons to be with Elise’s terminally ill father. Every night at precisely 11, the lights in their neighbor's bedroom turn off. There's something about that light that Scott can't let go of. So one day he breaks in --- and feels a jolt of excitement he hasn't felt in a long time. Soon he enlists his wife as a partner in crime. Their one simple transgression quickly sends husband and wife down a deliriously wicked spiral of bad decisions, infidelities, escalating violence and absolutely shocking revelations.
Vintage * 9781101873816

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