May 23, 2014

While it’s not yet beach weather, I definitely have “summer fever” heading into this weekend. The pool is open, though nights in the low 50s mean the heater has not been turned on, so I have not gotten more than my toes wet. (Note to self: get a full-body wet suit with gloves and booties this summer!) We got lots of planting done last weekend, though I still am on a quest for apricot/peach-colored hibiscus plants in two sizes. I have a spreadsheet of all the pots we have to fill with a goal not to overbuy. I also have photos of what we did last year since I never remember what worked well planted where. The peonies are ready to explode…right on time as they typically pop when I am at BookExpo America (BEA) and not home to enjoy them!

In the office, we are racing around full speed making our plans to attend BEA next week. This is the big book trade convention held in New York City where publishers, booksellers, librarians, authors, bloggers and media folks gather to hear about the upcoming season’s books --- and talk about new trends in the industry.

Among the programming, there are Buzz Book panels that feature selected titles in the adult, YA and children’s categories. Buzz titles are decided on by a committee of publishing professionals who cull these titles from dozens that are submitted by publishers. The goal is to bring attention to authors who are not yet household names --- and to books that are worthy of some extra spotlight attention. The editors of the adult books will present these titles --- there are seven this year --- on Wednesday afternoon. And on Thursday morning, I am going to be interviewing the seven authors.

Thus I have been doing a LOT of reading…quickly. The seven books are: WE ARE NOT OURSELVES (August 19th), THE MINIATURIST (August 26th), NEVERHOME (September 9th), STATION ELEVEN (September 9th), THE SHORT AND TRAGIC LIFE OF ROBERT PEACE (September 23rd), ON IMMUNITY: An Inoculation (September 30th), and MY SUNSHINE AWAY (January 15th). I'm looking forward to sharing more about them with you in the weeks and months ahead.

Then on Friday, Emily, Nikki, Greg and John from our staff will be working with me on the Speed Dating session for book groups where we have 21 publishers presenting to close to 200 booksellers, librarians, bloggers and book club leaders. Beyond this, we all have panels and meetings that we will be attending with an eye on figuring out what to share with you in the weeks and months to come. We met last week to coordinate our plans for the show with a mission to cover as much as possible. We have a recon meeting when the show is over, and it’s one of my favorite days of the year as I look forward to hearing what our staffers saw at the show, as well as sharing what I learned.

But first, a loooong weekend.

Next week, we’re kicking off one of our most popular programs of the year --- our Summer Reading Contests and Feature, where we’re giving away a different book on select days throughout the summer. The contests begin next week when we’ll be giving away THE CURSED by Heather Graham, SUMMER DAYS by Lisa Jackson, Elizabeth Bass, Holly Chamberlin and Mary Carter, and THE TRUTH ABOUT THE HARRY QUEBERT AFFAIR by Joël Dicker. The first giveaway will be announced this coming Tuesday the 27th at noon ET. Click here to see all our featured titles. Are you signed up for our Summer Reading newsletter so you get word as soon as these contests go live? If not, click here to get signed up! Please note: If you signed up for the Summer Reading newsletter in the previous years we’ve done these contests, you don’t need to do so again…you already are signed up!

Since we already have summer on our minds, we’re curious as to whether or not you’re going on vacation this summer for some much-needed (and, I’m sure, well-deserved) rest and relaxation….and perhaps to read as many books as possible. Let us know in our latest poll!

Also kicking off this week --- for the NINTH year in a row, we’re celebrating dads with our Father’s Day Contest and Feature. From now through June 13th at noon ET, we're giving you the opportunity to win a number of books and assorted goodies for you or the special man in your life. Ten readers will be awarded a prize package that includes nine of the titles in this year’s feature, along with a "Best. Dad. Ever." T-shirt, a $10 Starbucks gift card, and some dark chocolate with toffee. Click here to see all our featured titles and enter for your chance to be a big winner!

Emily Giffin, the bestselling author of such novels as SOMETHING BORROWED and WHERE WE BELONG, is back with her latest, THE ONE & ONLY. Shea Rigsby has spent her entire life in Walker, Texas, too devoted to her hometown football team to leave. But when an unexpected tragedy strikes the tight-knit Walker community, Shea’s comfortable world is upended, and she begins to wonder if the life she has chosen is really enough for her. Norah Piehl has our review and calls the book “a sports novel that will appeal to a broad swath of readers, even those who don't care one iota about football. Giffin also sets up several legitimately compelling conflicts, none of which have easy answers, and she integrates these overlapping conundrums seamlessly into Shea's overall development as a character.”

Also returning is Steve Berry and his protagonist, Cotton Malone, in their latest thriller, THE LINCOLN MYTH, an adventure involving a flaw in the United States Constitution, a mystery about Abraham Lincoln, and a political issue that’s as explosive as it is timely --- not only in Malone’s world, but in ours. According to reviewer Ray Palen, “Whether speculative or true, the history that is at the center of THE LINCOLN MYTH is enough to raise serious questions about the interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. The combination of American history with provocative modern themes fuels this thought-provoking thriller, a well-researched work filled with non-stop, globe-hopping action.”

We’re also pleased to share our review of Ruth Reichl’s much-talked-about debut novel, DELICIOUS!, which I announced last week as a Bookreporter.com Bets On selection. Reviewer Terry Miller Shannon has this to say: “DELICIOUS! is pure pleasure --- a beautifully penned page-turner filled with delights, including a few fascinating mysteries, such as Billie's extreme aversion to cooking…. This satisfying novel about food, family and second chances certainly lives up to its title.”

Much to my delight, DELICIOUS! received the most number of votes in our last poll, where we asked which of 20 fiction titles you were planning to read. It received 34% of the vote, followed very closely by ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE by Anthony Doerr (33%); THE HIDDEN CHILD by Camilla Läckberg (29%), which I am selecting as a Bets On title this week; and THE SON by Jo Nesbo (24%). Click here for the complete results.

My second Bets On pick this week is WE WERE LIARS, E. Lockhart's new YA novel that's a perfect crossover title for adults. Norah Piehl has our review of it and says, "[T]hat surprise ending? Yes, it's a doozy --- the kind of thing that will make readers want to flip back to the beginning and read the whole thing over again, as much to absorb the themes Lockhart is incorporating as to trace the narrative's skillful twists and turns." I so agree with Norah! Click here for my Bets On commentary.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out the review we have of THE THIRD PLATE: Field Notes on the Future of Food by Dan Barber, which was written by Jesse Kornbluth, who founded Bookreporter.com with me and went on to create and run HeadButler.com. After more than a decade spent investigating farming communities around the world in pursuit of singular flavor, Barber finally concluded that America’s cuisine required a radical transformation. The revelations Barber shares here took root in his restaurant’s kitchen. But his process of discovery took him far afield --- to alternative systems of food production and cooking that maximize sustainability, nutrition and flavor. In his review, Jesse comments: “I thought Michael Pollan’s THE OMNIVORE’S DILEMMA was pretty much the last word about the food we eat, why we eat it, its cost to our health and the planet’s health, and how we can do better. I wasn’t alone in that view. But the gold standard is now Dan Barber’s THE THIRD PLATE.”

Reading this review, I wished I had the wherewithal to plant a vegetable garden. Last weekend, I planted basil, poblano chilis and blue corn (the latter supposedly cooks up turquoise!). Instead, there will be lots of time at the farmer’s markets this summer!

In anticipation of this year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, which airs on HBO next Saturday the 31st at 8pm ET/PT, we’ve assembled a bookshelf displaying 20 memoirs and biographies of some of the most legendary talents in the music business. Among the featured artists are Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Keith Richards, Bruce Springsteen, Steven Tyler, and many more.

We’ve posted a new Word of Mouth contest today. Let us know the books you’ve read by Friday, June 6th at noon ET, and you’ll be in the running to win highly anticipated novels from Stephen King (MR. MERCEDES), Lisa See (CHINA DOLLS) and Joseph Finder (SUSPICION). Please fill out the form on the Word of Mouth page for your chance to be one of five lucky winners. I want to take a moment to give a shout-out to Melanie, who has been working with us on Word of Mouth over the last few months. We appreciate her editing and posting these responses for us. We are lucky to have her helping out the New York office team!

Speaking of team play. A couple of weeks ago, Greg was in my office wearing a striped shirt that is actually a polo shirt from the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. I said that matches the cover of THE TRUTH ABOUT THE HARRY QUEBERT AFFAIR, and so I snapped a photo, which you can see above. So amusing. By the way, this book is in stores on Tuesday, and our Sneak Peek readers were crazy about it. You can read their comments here.

The youth hostel continued at our house this week, with Tom loving the idea that he has company for early dinners every night. I am happy that there are others to share BIG dinners so I can eat lighter. When I eat with the menfolk here, I quickly put on weight! They do not believe in salad for dinner.

On Sunday, we are heading up to Connecticut for the wedding of one of my closest friends, which should be a ton of fun. Then we dash back to NJ to be home for the town parade on Monday morning, which always makes me focus on the true meaning of this long holiday weekend as our retired servicemen walk in the parade and there is a ceremony afterwards. Many years, there is a flyover in the missing man formation, but this year will be different for us with that. One of my husband’s family friends, Joe, usually was part of the flyby, but sadly he was killed in a small plane crash a couple of months ago. He died doing what he loved, but moments like this remind me how fragile life is.

Go out and make some memories of your own this weekend. Read on, and Happy Memorial Day!

Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)

THE ONE & ONLY by Emily Giffin (Fiction)
Thirty-three-year-old Shea Rigsby has spent her entire life in Walker, Texas, too devoted to her hometown football team to leave. But when an unexpected tragedy strikes the tight-knit Walker community, Shea’s comfortable world is upended, and she begins to wonder if the life she has chosen is really enough for her. Shea discovers unsettling truths about the people and things she has always trusted most --- and is forced to confront her deepest desires, fears and secrets. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.

-Click here to read more about the book.
 

THE LINCOLN MYTH by Steve Berry (Thriller)
From the streets of Copenhagen to the catacombs of Salzburg to the rugged mountains of Utah, the grim specter of the Civil War looms as a dangerous conspiracy gathers power. Cotton Malone risks life, liberty and his greatest love in a race for the truth about Abraham Lincoln --- while the fate of the United States of America hangs in the balance. Reviewed by Ray Palen.

-Click here to read more about the book.
-Click here to read an excerpt.

Summer is just around the corner! At Bookreporter.com, this means it's time for us to share some great summer book picks with our Summer Reading Contests and Feature. We will be hosting a number of 24-hour contests for these titles on select days throughout the summer, so you will have to check the site each day to see the featured prize book and enter to win. We also will be sending a special newsletter to announce the day's title, which you can sign up for here.

Our first prize book will be announced on Tuesday, May 27th at noon ET.

This year's featured titles include:

• ALL GOOD THINGS: From Paris to Tahiti: Life and Longing by Sarah Turnbull
• ALL THOSE VANISHED ENGINES by Paul Park
• THE ASTRONAUT WIVES CLUB by Lily Koppel
• THE CURSED by Heather Graham
• FAIR PLAY by Deeanne Gist
• THE FAMILY BEACH HOUSE by Holly Chamberlin
• FLYING SHOES by Lisa Howorth
• THE FORTUNE HUNTER by Daisy Goodwin
• THE GLASS KITCHEN by Linda Francis Lee
• GOOD AS GONE by Douglas Corleone
• THE GOOD GIRL by Mary Kubica
• GUESTS ON EARTH by Lee Smith
• HEADHUNTERS ON MY DOORSTEP: A True Treasure Island Ghost Story by J. Maarten Troost
• THE IDEA OF HIM by Holly Peterson
• MY ACCIDENTAL JIHAD: A Love Story by Krista Bremer
• NECESSARY LIES by Diane Chamberlain
• NO RIVER TOO WIDE by Emilie Richards
• SAVE THE DATE by Mary Kay Andrews
• SCARED SCRIPTLESS by Alison Sweeney
• THE STORIES WE TELL by Patti Callahan Henry
• SUMMER DAYS by Lisa Jackson, Elizabeth Bass, Holly Chamberlin and Mary Carter
• THE SUPREME MACARONI COMPANY by Adriana Trigiani
• The Tangled Series (TANGLED, TWISTED, TAMED) by Emma Chase
• THAT NIGHT by Chevy Stevens
• THE THIRD SON by Julie Wu
• THE TRUTH ABOUT THE HARRY QUEBERT AFFAIR by Joël Dicker
• WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY BESIDE OURSELVES by Karen Joy Fowler

• AMERICAN GUN: A History of the U.S. in Ten Firearms by Chris Kyle with William Doyle
• BLACKLIST by Jerry Ludwig
• THE BOYS IN THE BOAT: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown
• A CASE FOR REDEMPTION by Adam Mitzner
• CRY FATHER by Benjamin Whitmer
• A DAD'S PRAYERS FOR HIS DAUGHTER: Praying for Every Part of Her Life by Rob Teigen and Joanna Teigen
• ENDURING COURAGE: Ace Pilot Eddie Rickenbacker and the Dawn of the Age of Speed by John F. Ross
• GOOD CALL: Reflections on Faith, Family, and Fowl by Jase Robertson with Mark Schlabach
• GUY ON FIRE: 130 Recipes for Adventures in Outdoor Cooking by Guy Fieri with Ann Volkwein
• THE HOUR OF THE INNOCENTS by Robert Paston
• THE KILL SWITCH: A Tucker Wayne Novel by James Rollins and Grant Blackwood
• NATCHEZ BURNING by Greg Iles
• THE SERPENT OF VENICE by Christopher Moore
• STARFIRE by Dale Brown
• THINK LIKE A FREAK by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
• THE TRUTH ABOUT THE HARRY QUEBERT AFFAIR by Joël Dicker
• WARRIORS: An Alex Hawke Novel by Ted Bell
• WHEN I FIRST HELD YOU edited by Brian Gresko

DELICIOUS! by Ruth Reichl (Fiction)
Soon after Billie Breslin takes a job at Delicious!, New York’s most iconic food magazine is abruptly shut down. Billie agrees to stay on in the empty office, maintaining the hotline for reader complaints in order to pay her bills. In a hidden room in the magazine’s library, Billie finds a cache of letters written during World War II. They provide her with a feeling of deep connection to the young writer whose courage in the face of hardship inspires her to come to terms with her fears. Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon.

-Click here to read more about the book.
-Click here to see why we’re betting you’ll love this book.

BITTERSWEET by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore (Psychological Suspense)
On scholarship at a prestigious East Coast college, ordinary Mabel Dagmar is surprised to befriend her roommate, Genevra Winslow. Ev invites Mabel to spend the summer at her Vermont cottage, Bittersweet, where her family has held court for more than a century. However, a terrible discovery leads to shocking violence and reveals what the Winslows may have done to keep their power intact. Mabel must choose to either expose the secret and be expelled from paradise, or make Ev's dark world her own. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.

-Click here to read more about the book.
-Click here to read an excerpt.

THE THIRD PLATE: Field Notes on the Future of Food by Dan Barber (Food/Cooking)
After more than a decade spent investigating farming communities around the world in pursuit of singular flavor, Dan Barber finally concluded that --- for the sake of our food, our health, and the future of the land --- America’s cuisine required a radical transformation. The revelations Barber shares in THE THIRD PLATE took root in his restaurant’s kitchen. But his process of discovery took him far afield --- to alternative systems of food production and cooking that maximize sustainability, nutrition and flavor. Reviewed by Jesse Kornbluth, founder of HeadButler.com.

-Click here to read more about the book.

The following guides are now available on ReadingGroupGuides.com:

ANNIHILATION: Southern Reach Trilogy #1 by Jeff VanderMeer (Science Fiction)
In the first book of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy, Area X has been cut off from the rest of the continent for decades and nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization.

AUTHORITY: Southern Reach Trilogy #2 by Jeff VanderMeer (Science Fiction)
From a series of interrogations, a cache of hidden notes and hours of profoundly troubling video footage, the secrets of Area X from ANNIHILATION, the first book in Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy, begin to reveal themselves --- and what they expose pushes Control to confront disturbing truths about both himself and the agency he’s promised to serve.

ACCEPTANCE: Southern Reach Trilogy #3 by Jeff VanderMeer (Science Fiction)
In the final installment of Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy, the mysteries of Area X may have been solved, but their consequences and implications are no less profound --- or terrifying.

APART AT THE SEAMS: A Cobbled Court Quilts Novel by Marie Bostwick (Fiction)
New York Times bestselling author Marie Bostwick welcomes readers back to picturesque New Bern, Connecticut --- a perfect place for a woman whose marriage is in turmoil to discover a new pattern for living.

THE BLESSINGS by Elise Juska (Fiction)
Through departures and arrivals, weddings and reunions, THE BLESSINGS reveals the interior worlds of the members of a close-knit Irish-Catholic family and the rituals that unite them.

THE BOOK OF YOU by Claire Kendal (Psychological Suspense)
Like the bestselling novels of Gillian Flynn and S. J. Watson, THE BOOK OF YOU --- an utterly original fiction debut --- is a sophisticated psychological thriller that will haunt you long after it reaches its terrifying, breathtaking conclusion.

THE GLASS KITCHEN by Linda Francis Lee (Fiction)
Three sisters move from Texas to New York City to open a restaurant in this novel about food, family and finding true love from the author of EMILY AND EINSTEIN.

LITTLE MERCIES by Heather Gudenkauf (Fiction)
In her latest ripped-from-the-headlines tour de force, New York Times bestselling author Heather Gudenkauf shows how one innocent mistake can have life-altering consequences.

LOVERS AT THE CHAMELEON CLUB, PARIS 1932 by Francine Prose (Historical Fiction)
Here is a richly imagined and stunningly inventive literary masterpiece of love, art and betrayal, exploring the genesis of evil, the unforeseen consequences of love, and the ultimate unreliability of storytelling itself.

THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE by Neil Gaiman (Fantasy)
This summer, dive into THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE, the #1 New York Times bestseller by Neil Gaiman, about a man who returns to his childhood home and discovers an unremembered past of danger, sacrifice and love.

ONE MORE LAST CHANCE: A Place to Call Home, Book 2 by Cathleen Armstrong (Romance)
After ending a tumultuous engagement, Sarah Cooley returns to the one place where nothing changes --- or so she thinks.

THE PEARL THAT BROKE ITS SHELL by Nadia Hashimi (Fiction)
Debut Afghan-American author Nadia Hashimi’s THE PEARL THAT BROKE ITS SHELL is the entwined stories of two Afghan women separated by a century who find freedom in the tradition of bacha posh, which allows girls to dress and live as boys…until they are of marriageable age.

THE SHELF: From LEQ to LES: Adventures in Extreme Reading by Phyllis Rose (Literary Criticism)
Essayist and biographer Phyllis Rose chose a bookshelf at random --- LEQ-LES --- challenging herself to an adventure in “extreme reading” in the wilds of a historic library on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

THE SNOW QUEEN by Michael Cunningham (Fiction)
By turns heartwarming and heartrending, Michael Cunningham’s THE SNOW QUEEN is a haunting exploration of the longings that seem to define us and the love that sustains us.

'TIL THE WELL RUNS DRY by Lauren Francis-Sharma (Historical Fiction)
'TIL THE WELL RUNS DRY is a glorious and moving multi-generational, multicultural saga that begins in the 1940s and sweeps through the 1960s in Trinidad and the United States.

THE YEAR SHE LEFT US by Kathryn Ma (Fiction)
From the winner of the 2009 Iowa Short Fiction Prize comes the extraordinary, unexpected debut tale of three generations of Chinese-American women in a San Francisco family who must confront their past and carve out a future.

Please note that these titles, for which we already had the guides when they appeared in hardcover, are now available in paperback:

AND THEN I FOUND YOU by Patti Callahan Henry (Fiction)
AND THEN I FOUND YOU gives new life to the phrase “inspired by a true story.” By traveling back to a painful time in her own family’s history, bestselling author Patti Callahan Henry explores the limits of courage, and the price of a selfless act.

FIN & LADY by Cathleen Schine (Historical Fiction)
From the author of THE THREE WEISSMANNS OF WESTPORT comes a wise, clever story of New York in the ’60s. This comic, romantic love story is about a brother and sister who must form their own unconventional family in increasingly unconventional times.

GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn (Thriller)
In a story full of surprising twists, GONE GIRL tracks the course of a marriage gone spectacularly wrong. For the protagonists, it’s a psychological battle with everything at stake; for the reader, an excavation of human failings and incredible depths of betrayal…and a mystery whose resolution is every bit as troubling as its beginning.

LADIES' NIGHT by Mary Kay Andrews (Fiction)
Heartache, humor and a little bit of mystery come together in a story about life’s unpredictable twists and turns. Mary Kay Andrews's LADIES’ NIGHT will have you raising a glass and cheering these characters on.

THE LIGHT IN THE RUINS by Chris Bohjalian (Historical Fiction)
From the New York Times bestselling author of MIDWIVES and THE SANDCASTLE GIRLS comes a spellbinding novel of love, despair and revenge --- set in war-ravaged Tuscany.

THE SUPREME MACARONI COMPANY by Adriana Trigiani (Fiction)
New York Times bestselling author Adriana Trigiani takes us from the cobblestone streets of Greenwich Village to lush New Orleans to Italy and back again, from the tricky dynamics between Old World craftsmanship and New World ambition, all amid a passionate love affair that fuels one woman's determination to have it all.

BUT ENOUGH ABOUT YOU: Essays by Christopher Buckley (Essays)
This collection of short essays, Christopher Buckley’s first since WRY MARTINIS, contains 89 pieces written for publications such as Forbes, the New York Times and The Daily Beast. Some of the pieces are serious, most notably his tributes to deceased friends and a report on his visit to Auschwitz. But most of the essays contain the sardonic humor one expects from a writer who, while riding a train’s quiet car, appoints himself “Shush, Destroyer of Conversation.” Reviewed by Michael Magras.

BORDERLINE by Lawrence Block (Thriller)
The lives of five desperate people collide on the no-holds-barred border between the United States and Mexico with disastrous results. Bestselling and acclaimed author Lawrence Block wrote BORDERLINE under a pseudonym in 1958, and now it is being published for the first time under his own name. Reviewed by Tom Callahan.

BIRD BOX by Josh Malerman (Horror/Thriller)
Something terrifying is out there that must not be seen. One glimpse and a person is driven to deadly violence. Five years after it began, a handful of scattered survivors remain, including Malorie and her two young children. Living in an abandoned house near the river, she has dreamed of fleeing to a place where they might be safe. Now that the boy and girl are four, it is time to go. But the journey ahead will be terrifying --- one wrong choice and they will die. And something is following them. Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman.

ONE NIGHT IN WINTER by Simon Sebag Montefiore (Historical Mystery)
As Moscow celebrates the motherland's glorious victory over the Nazis, shots ring out on the crowded streets. On a nearby bridge, a teenage boy and girl --- dressed in traditional 19th-century costumes --- lie dead. But this is no ordinary tragedy, because these are no ordinary teenagers. As the son and daughter of high-ranking Soviet officials, they attend the most elite school in Moscow. Was it an accident, or murder? Is it a conspiracy against Stalin, or one of his own terrifying intrigues? Reviewed by Christine M. Irvin.

PRAYER by Philip Kerr (Psychological Thriller)
Gil Martins, an agent with the FBI’s Domestic Terrorism Unit in Houston, confronts the violence generated by extremism within our nation’s borders every day. But when Gil discovers that he played a key role in wrongly condemning an innocent man to death row, it shakes his faith. As Gil investigates both cases, he realizes that there may be a connection --- answering his prayers in a most terrifying way. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

THE IMPOSSIBLE EXILE: Stefan Zweig at the End of the World by George Prochnik (Biography/History)
By the 1930s, Stefan Zweig had become the most widely translated living author in the world. Yet, after Hitler’s rise to power, this celebrated writer plummeted into an increasingly isolated exile, where, in 1942, he killed himself. THE IMPOSSIBLE EXILE tells the tragic story of Zweig’s extraordinary rise and fall while also depicting the gulf between the world of ideas in Europe and in America, and the consuming struggle of those forced to forsake one for the other. Reviewed by Harvey Freedenberg.

GLORIOUS: A Novel of the American West by Jeff Guinn (Historical Fiction)
When tragedy strikes, all of Cash McLendon’s plans and his entire future dissolve in an instant. With nothing to lose, McLendon attempts to reconcile with an old flame. He heard that she and her father moved their dry-goods store out west, to a mining town named Glorious. There, McLendon tries to win her back, and in the process discovers a new way of life at the edge of the final American frontier. But he can’t outrun his past forever. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

THE THREE EMPERORS: An Ethan Gage Adventure by William Dietrich (Historical Thriller/Adventure)
Ethan Gage is rushing to rescue "Egyptian priestess" Astiza and son Harry from imprisonment by a ruthless mystic who seeks revenge for disfigurement, and an evil dwarf alchemist who experiments with the occult on Prague's Golden Lane. Using death as his ruse, along with a pair of unlikely allies --- a Jewish Napoleonic soldier and his sutler father --- Ethan must decipher clues while Astiza uses her own research to concoct an explosive escape and find a lost tomb. Reviewed by Roz Shea.

BRED IN THE BONE: A Jasmine Sharp and Catherine McLeod Novel by Christopher Brookmyre (Mystery/Thriller)
Set in the disturbing underworld of Glasgow, BRED IN THE BONE is the third novel in Christopher Brookmyre’s series featuring private investigator Jasmine Sharp and Detective Superintendent Catherine McLeod. As one battles her demons and the other chases her ghosts, these two very different detectives will ultimately confront the secrets that have entangled both of their fates since before Jasmine was even born. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

WHAT HAS BECOME OF YOU by Jan Elizabeth Watson (Psychological Thriller)
True crime aficionado Vera Lundy has just landed a job as a private school substitute teacher in a small Maine town, where she encounters close-to-home true-crime action, beginning with the recent murder of a local girl. The environment grows ever more ominous as Vera forges a connection with an odd but brilliant student. Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon.