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July 24, 2015

Bookreporter.com Newsletter July 24, 2015
Glorious Weather...FINALLY!
Today in the New York area is one of those picture-perfect days. Blue skies, sun and low humidity. I love it! Flowers are in bloom, including the huge dinner-dish-sized hibiscus plants above that are in their full glory. The flowers themselves only last about a day, thus many came and went during this busy week when I was clocking some very long hours. I ran out to capture these early one morning.

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday in New Haven speaking at and participating in the Yale Publishing Course. It’s a fabulous weeklong program for those in the publishing business who are looking to broaden their backgrounds. My presentation was “It’s All About the Reader,” which meant you were very much on my mind. It was enormously fun to present and share what we have learned from readers --- which has been a lot --- and to hear about other parts of the business. I loved it!

I zipped back to the office for the Romance Writers of America Literacy Signing, where 300+ authors were gathered at the Marriott Marquis to meet readers, sign books and raise money for literacy. I got a chance to catch up with Mary Kay Andrews, Karen Robards, Carla Neggers, Mary Burton, Wendy Corsi Staub, Jane Porter, Sabrina Jeffries and many, many others. Watching readers line up to see their favorite writers (from afar, I watched Nora Roberts have numerous photos taken with her readers) and seeing their unbridled enthusiasm was a ton of fun. I missed saying hi to many others as their signing lines were so long. The event, which kicks off their annual conference, is in San Diego next year!

On Thursday, I had a really fun visit with Jane Porter, who you can see with me above. I read her book, IT’S YOU, last weekend; it’s one of our Summer Reading titles, and I had meant to get to it sooner. It’s a wonderfully told historical fiction story about a young woman, Dr. Ali McAdams, who visits her dad at a retirement community in Napa and there meets Edie Stephens, a feisty elderly woman who lived in Berlin during the War. Edie worked at the U.S Embassy and was brilliant with languages. Once war was declared by the United States, she was supposed to return home. But she had fallen in love with a young German soldier and denounced her citizenship to become a German. In a sudden turn of events, her world is spinning.

There are wonderful diary entries that fill in the backstory; I read it in an afternoon and thoroughly enjoyed it. Edie is an accomplished pianist, and music plays prominently into the story. Jane even created a playlist for readers to look to for some inspiration. Note: I think this book could use a better title, jacket and promo copy! The book is much better than its packaging. I thoroughly enjoyed it. And there are some nice flashbacks to Jane’s Brennan Sisters series that I also enjoyed.

On Sunday, I picked up ORPHAN X by Gregg Hurwitz (coming January 16, 2016), and 233 pages later I looked up. WOW! This is the start of a new series for him, and it’s fabulous. In it, Evan Smoak is a guy with a dangerous past. He was an orphan, and as a child was recruited into a deep-dark black box program called Orphan. He was the 24th recruit. He broke from the program and instead has now become a vigilante known as The Nowhere Man. But someone from his past is on to him and is out to get him. I had to stop reading to write my speech for the Yale program, but each night and morning this very busy week, I have been reading more and it continues to wow me. Gregg has written some terrific thrillers in the past, but here he ratcheted up his game to a whole new level. I cannot wait for you to get it in your hands!

On Tuesday, readers around the world suffered a huge loss with the death of E. L. Doctorow at 84 years old, following complications from lung cancer. A lifelong writer, Doctorow was critically acclaimed for his works of historical fiction, including THE MARCH, RAGTIME and BILLY BATHGATE, among several others. Throughout his prolific career, he was awarded three National Book Critics Circle Awards, two PEN Faulkner Awards and the National Book Award. In recent years, he was celebrated for his lifelong dedication to literature with a Man Booker International Prize nomination, the PEN Saul Bellow Award, and, from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Gold Medal for Fiction. In celebration of his contributions to literature, Bookreporter.com reviewer Michael Magras, a devoted fan, has written a tribute to this beloved author, which you can see here.

Fan favorite forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan tackles her most complicated case yet in Kathy ReichsSPEAKING IN BONES. When Temperance is approached by Hazel “Lucky” Strike with a tape recording of an unknown girl being imprisoned and terrorized, she is interested but wary. Strike spends her time mining the Internet for cold cases, and Temperance doesn’t know if she wants to get involved with the amateur. But when Strike convinces her that the girl on the recording could be 18-year-old Cora Teague, who went missing three years ago, Temperance can’t ignore the evidence. Now Temperance must visit the eerie backwoods where the recording was found, also home to a secretive religious sect that has her sufficiently spooked. With evidence piling up, Temperance must identify the saints from the sinners to discover the truth.

Roz Shea has our review and says that SPEAKING IN BONES “may be [Reichs’] best book yet, as Brennan attempts to balance her career with personal life decisions while trying to untangle the fate of the mysterious Cora Teague…. How Reichs manages to juggle two completely different storylines, featuring two versions of the same character, with her professional civilian life as a forensic anthropologist puts her in stratospheric dimensions as an overachiever.”

Following the success of her internationally bestselling debut novel, THE PEARL THAT BROKE ITS SHELL, Nadia Hashimi returns with WHEN THE MOON IS LOW. Set in Kabul during the Taliban’s rise to power, this sophomore effort introduces readers to a happy, middle class man, Mahmoud, and his wife, Fereiba. As the country becomes engulfed in war, Mahmoud, a civil engineer, is murdered by a new fundamentalist regime. Left alone in a dangerous new world, Fereiba has no choice but to flee for Europe with her three children. Armed with forged papers and the kindness of strangers, Fereiba and her family make it as far as Greece, where her teenage son, Saleem, disappears. Desperate to get her remaining children to safety, Fereiba pushes forth, as Saleem struggles to remain afloat among the many undocumented Afghans of Europe, all the while struggling to reunite with his family.

Reviewer Jana Siciliano raves, “WHEN THE MOON IS LOW is a beautifully rendered novel with fully wrought characters and the dramatic backdrop of a world gone insane. It’s a tale for our times and a much more emotional way to look at the state of the world than any bland newspaper reporting could present. Hashimi is on her way to becoming a great historical fiction writer, and I can’t wait to see what she does next.” WHEN THE MOON IS LOW is my latest Bookreporter.com Bets On selection; find out why in next week’s newsletter.

Our newest Women's Fiction Author Spotlight features Emilie Richards, whose upcoming novel, THE COLOR OF LIGHT, releases on July 28th. For over a decade, Minister Analiese Wagner has never wavered in her commitment to God and her parishioners. But one night, she encounters a homeless family hiding in the churchyard and offers them shelter in a vacant parish house apartment --- to the disapproval of her congregation. Her faith tested, she confides in Isaiah Colburn, the Catholic priest for whom she has always longed. Isaiah, meanwhile, is at a crossroads himself, torn between his priestly vows and his desire for Analiese. In anticipation of the release of THE COLOR OF LIGHT, we are giving away 10 copies to those who would like to read the book and share their comments on it. To enter, please fill out this form by Thursday, August 6th at noon ET.

Our latest Paperback Spotlight highlights THE WONDER OF ALL THINGS, Jason Mott’s deeply emotional novel of love and sacrifice, which releases in paperback on July 28th. Set in the ordinary town of Stone Temple, North Carolina, the book follows 13-year-old Ava as she grapples with her extraordinary gift. After a tragic plane crash at the Fall Festival’s air show, Ava is found beneath some rubble with her best friend, Walsh, who is badly injured. When Ava places her hands over him, however, his wounds disappear. Ava quickly becomes a national icon, with sick and curious people flocking to Stone Temple to see the Miracle Child. But Ava’s gift makes her weaker with each healing, and she is not sure how much more she can sacrifice --- even for the ones she loves most.

THE WONDER OF ALL THINGS will be a prize book one day next week in our Summer Reading contests. Others will be BAD NEWS COWBOY: A Copper Ridge Novel by Maisey Yates, BROKEN PROMISE by Linwood Barclay (see what our early readers had to say about the book here), and DEAR DAUGHTER by Elizabeth Little. The first contest of the week will be announced on Monday, July 27th at noon ET. This past week we gave away THE COINCIDENCE OF COCONUT CAKE by Amy E. Reichert, FISHBOWL by Bradley Somer, MISS EMILY by Nuala O'Connor, and A WEDDING ON PRIMROSE STREET by Sheila Roberts.

Where did you get the book you're currently reading? Did you buy it in a bookstore? Borrow it from the library? Or did it come from a friend? Please take our latest poll here and let us know!

In our previous poll, we were curious about the books releasing in July that you’re planning to read. It’s no surprise that GO SET A WATCHMAN was the clear winner with 61% of the votes. Right behind it was THOSE GIRLS by Chevy Stevens (31%), CIRCLING THE SUN by Paula McLain (28%), A PARIS AFFAIR by Tatiana de Rosnay (24%), BROKEN PROMISE by Linwood Barclay (23%) and SPEAKING IN BONES by Kathy Reichs (21%). Click here for the full results.

In our new Word of Mouth contest, five readers will have a chance to win THE MARRIAGE OF OPPOSITES by Alice Hoffman, along with the aforementioned BROKEN PROMISE and CIRCLING THE SUN. All you have to do is fill out the form on this page by Friday, August 7th and noon ET and let us know the books you’ve finished reading.

Our current Sounding Off on Audio contest continues for one more week. Let us know by Friday, July 31st at noon ET what audiobooks you’ve listened to, and you’ll be in the running to win the digital version or a CD of both DRUNKEN FIREWORKS written by Stephen King and read by Tim Sample, and DOES THIS BEACH MAKE ME LOOK FAT?: True Stories and Confessions written and read by Lisa Scottoline and Francesca Serritella.

News and Pop Culture:

Paula Hawkins: The author of THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN is interviewed by Megan Abbott. Since we have not heard a lot from Paula --- many do not even know her name as well as the name of the book --- you might enjoy this.

Woman in Gold: I highly recommend this movie. Well, well done.

MOCKINGBIRD: As readers continue to read and talk about GO SET A WATCHMAN (comments have started to come in on Word of Mouth, and they will be shared when this contest period ends), I was reminded of MOCKINGBIRD: A Portrait of Harper Lee by Charles J. Shields, which is a biography of Harper Lee. Granted, it was unauthorized, but I think as companion reading it’s worth looking at. Charles is a noted biographer who delves in deeply to tell a story.

"Ray Donovan": Loving this season.

"True Detective": Glad I skipped it.

I am off to finish ORPHAN X; I think I have 20 pages to go, and I REALLY want to savor them. Oh, movie rights have already been snapped up for this one! I am listening to I AM PILGRIM by Terry Hayes, which was recommended to me by one of our readers, Bobbie Cloud. It’s terrific! Lots of entertaining on tap at the house this weekend --- in between reading and floating --- which will kick off this afternoon. Greg is off to Bar Harbor, Maine, for a lighthousing trip with friends. His big news for the week is that the Land Rover he was rebuilding finally runs after some major engine rebuilding. At one moment, I actually saw an issue that he and Tom missed during this process. I think I just got lucky.

Oh, and for those who were kind enough to write notes about Cory, he was released from the doctor on Monday and okayed to swim and get on with his life. His calculus exam was successfully rescheduled. YOUTH! Now back to the list of things I have for him to do around the house. He may curse the doctor’s swift discharge!

Read on, and have a great week.

Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)

P.S. For those of you who shop online, if you use the store links below, Bookreporter.com gets a small affiliate fee on your purchases. We would appreciate your considering this!
An Appreciation of E. L. Doctorow (1931-2015)
Bookreporter.com mourns the loss of author E. L. Doctorow, who passed away Tuesday at the age of 84, following complications from lung cancer. Doctorow's works of fiction --- which include RAGTIME, THE BOOK OF DANIEL, BILLY BATHGATE and THE MARCH --- span centuries, taking readers into many eras of the American experience, and from the Great Plains to the Adirondacks, from the Deep South to New York City. Among his honors were the National Book Award, three National Book Critics Circle Awards, two PEN Faulkner Awards, The Edith Wharton Citation for Fiction, and the presidentially conferred National Humanities Medal. In this wonderful tribute, Bookreporter.com reviewer Michael Magras reflects on Doctorow's immense body of work and his lasting legacy.
 
Click here to read Michael Magras' tribute to E. L. Doctorow.
Now in Stores: SPEAKING IN BONES by Kathy Reichs
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. Reviewed by Roz Shea.

-Click here to read more about the book.
-Click here to read an excerpt.
 
Click here to read a review.
Now in Stores: WHEN THE MOON IS LOW by Nadia Hashimi
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. Reviewed by Jana Siciliano.

-Click here to read more about the book.
 
Click here to read a review.
New Women's Fiction Author Spotlight & Contest: THE COLOR OF LIGHT by Emilie Richards
We have 10 copies of THE COLOR OF LIGHT by Emilie Richards to give away to readers who would like to read the book, which releases on July 28th, and share their comments on it. To enter, please fill out this form by Thursday, August 6th at noon ET.

THE COLOR OF LIGHT by Emilie Richards (Fiction)
For more than a decade, minister Analiese Wagner has felt privileged to lead her parishioners along a well-lit path. Her commitment has never been seriously tested until the frigid night she encounters a homeless family huddling in the churchyard. Offering them shelter in a vacant parish house apartment and taking teenage Shiloh Fowler --- a girl desperate to rescue her parents --- under her wing, she tests the loyalty and faith of her congregation.

Isaiah Colburn, the Catholic priest who was her first mentor and the man she secretly longed for, understands her struggles only too well. At a crossroads, he's suddenly reappeared in her life, torn between his priesthood and his growing desire for a future with Analiese.

Divided between love and vows they've taken, both must face the possibilities of living very different lives or continuing to serve their communities. With a defeated family's trust and her own happiness on the line, Analiese must define for herself where darkness ends and light begins.

-Click here to read an excerpt.
-Click here to read Emilie Richards’ bio.
-Click here to visit Emilie Richards’ official website.
-Connect with Emilie Richards on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.
 
Click here to read more in our Women’s Fiction Author Spotlight and enter the contest.
New Paperback Spotlight: THE WONDER OF ALL THINGS by Jason Mott
THE WONDER OF ALL THINGS by Jason Mott (Fantasy)
On an ordinary day, at an air show like that in any small town across the country, a plane crashes into a crowd of spectators. After the dust clears, a 13-year-old girl named Ava is found huddled beneath a pocket of rubble with her best friend, Wash. He is injured and bleeding, and when Ava places her hands over him, his wounds disappear.

Ava has an unusual gift: she can heal others of their physical ailments. Until the air show tragedy, her gift was a secret. Now the whole world knows, and suddenly people from all over the globe begin flocking to her small town, looking for healing and eager to catch a glimpse of The Miracle Child. But Ava's unique ability comes at a great cost, and as she grows weaker with each healing, she soon finds herself having to decide just how much she's willing to give up in order to save the ones she loves most.

THE WONDER OF ALL THINGS releases in paperback on July 28th.

-Click here to read a review.
-Click here to read an excerpt.
-Click here to read Jason Mott’s bio.
-Click here to visit Jason Mott’s official website.
-Connect with Jason Mott on Facebook and Twitter.
 
Click here to read more in our Paperback Spotlight.
Now in Stores: BARBARIAN DAYS by William Finnegan
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. Reviewed by Barbara Bamberger Scott.

-Click here to read more about the book.
 
Click here to read a review.
Now in Stores: NAKED GREED by Stuart Woods
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. Reviewed by Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum.

-Click here to read more about the book.
-Click here to read an excerpt.
 
Click here to read a review.
Now in Stores: THE REDEEMERS by Ace Atkins
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. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

-Click here to read more about the book.
 
Click here to read a review.
Bookreporter.com's Summer Reading Contests and Feature
Summer has arrived! 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 are 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 are sending a special newsletter to announce the day's title, which you can sign up for here.

Our next prize book will be announced on Monday, July 27th at noon ET.

This year's featured titles include:

Click here to read all the contest details and see our featured titles.
New Guides Now Available on ReadingGroupGuides.com
The following guides are now available on ReadingGroupGuides.com:

DEATH AND MR. PICKWICK by Stephen Jarvis (Historical Fiction)
DEATH AND MR. PICKWICK is a vast, richly imagined, Dickensian work about the rough-and-tumble world that produced Dickens and is, like the great writer’s immortal novels, full of preposterous characters, shaggy-dog stories, improbable reversals, skulduggery, betrayal and valor.

INSIDE THE O'BRIENS by Lisa Genova (Fiction)
From award-winning, New York Times bestselling author and neuroscientist Lisa Genova comes a powerful new novel that does for Huntington’s Disease what her debut STILL ALICE did for Alzheimer’s.

A NECESSARY END by Holly Brown (Psychological Thriller)
The author of DON'T TRY TO FIND ME returns with a taut, riveting novel of psychological suspense --- a domestic drama full of secrets and twists --- about a woman determined to have a child, her ambivalent husband and a pregnant teenager with a secret agenda of her own.

NEVERWHERE: Author's Preferred Text by Neil Gaiman (Fantasy)
The #1 New York Times bestselling author’s ultimate edition of his wildly successful first novel --- about a young London businessman who is plunged through the cracks of reality into a world of shadows and darkness called the Neverwhere --- features Neil Gaiman's “preferred text.”

NEWPORT by Jill Morrow (Historical Fiction)
Following in the steps of Beatriz Williams and Amor Towles, this richly atmospheric, spellbinding novel transports readers to the dazzling, glamorous world of Newport during the Roaring Twenties and to a mansion filled with secrets as a debonair lawyer must separate truth from deception.

PLEASANTVILLE by Attica Locke (Thriller)
In this sophisticated thriller, lawyer Jay Porter, hero of Attica Locke’s bestseller BLACK WATER RISING, returns to fight one last case, only to become embroiled once again in a dangerous game of shadowy politics and a witness to how far those in power are willing to go to win.

THE TIDE WATCHERS by Lisa Chaplin (Historical Thriller)
In the tradition of Jennifer Robson comes this compelling debut that weaves the fascinating story of a young woman who must risk her life as a spy to help stop Napoleon’s invasion of Great Britain in the winter of 1803.


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

BEFORE I GO
by Colleen Oakley (Fiction)

BEFORE I GO is a heartfelt novel in the bestselling tradition of P.S. I LOVE YOU about a young woman in Georgia with stage four breast cancer who undertakes a mission to find a “replacement wife” for her husband before she passes away.

THE CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF LIES: A Novel of the Great War by Jacqueline Winspear (Historical Fiction)
The New York Times bestselling author of the Maisie Dobbs series turns her prodigious talents to this World War I stand-alone novel, a lyrical drama of love struggling to survive in a damaged, fractured world.

EYRIE by Tim Winton (Fiction)
Australia’s most decorated literary novelist Tim Winton brings to light the corners of humanity where hope prevails in even the most trying circumstances --- episodes that are by turns tough and tender, captured in scenes of unflinching realism.

THE REMEDY FOR LOVE by Bill Roorbach (Romantic Thriller)
Intensely moving and frequently funny, THE REMEDY FOR LOVE is a harrowing story about the truths we reveal when there is no time or space for artifice.

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, this incandescent debut novel follows three generations of family --- fathers and daughters, mother and son, master and slave --- who yearn for redemption amidst a heady brew of war, kidnapping, slavery and love.

US by David Nicholls (Fiction)
The highly anticipated new novel from David Nicholls, author of the mega-bestselling fiction sensation ONE DAY, follows one man’s efforts to salvage his marriage --- and repair his troubled relationship with his teenaged son --- during the course of a trip around Europe.
 
Click here to visit ReadingGroupGuides.com.
More Reviews This Week
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? Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman.

THE FLYING CIRCUS by Susan Crandall (Historical Fiction)
Three very different people find themselves bound together by need and torn apart by blind obsessions and conflicting goals: Henry “Schuler” Jefferson, son of German immigrants from Midwestern farm country; Cora Rose Haviland, a young woman of privilege whose family has lost their fortune; and Charles “Gil” Gilchrist, an emotionally damaged WWI veteran pilot. Each one holds a secret that, if exposed, would destroy their friendship. But their journey of adventure and self-discovery has a price --- and one of them won’t be able to survive it. Reviewed by Jana Siciliano.

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. Reviewed by Ray Palen.

BRADSTREET GATE by Robin Kirman (Fiction)
Georgia, Charlie and Alice each arrive at Harvard with hopeful visions of what the future will hold. But when a classmate is found murdered on campus just before graduation, they find themselves facing a cruel and unanticipated new reality. Moreover, a charismatic professor who has loomed large in their lives is suspected of the crime. Though his guilt or innocence remains uncertain, the unsettling questions raised by the case force the three friends to take a deeper look at their tangled relationship. Reviewed by Kate Ayers.

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. Reviewed by Amy Gwiazdowski.

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. Reviewed by Rebecca Munro.

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. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

THE WILD GIRL by Kate Forsyth (Historical Romance)
Dortchen Wild, who lives in the small German kingdom of Hesse-Cassel in the early 19th century, finds herself irresistibly drawn to the boy next door. Forced to live under oppressive French rule, Wilhelm Grimm and his brothers preserve old half-forgotten tales. As Dortchen tells Wilhelm some of the most powerful and compelling stories in what one day will become his and Jacob's famous fairy tale collection, their love blossoms. But Dortchen's father will not give his consent for them to marry, and war, death and poverty also conspire to keep the lovers apart. Yet Dortchen is determined to find a way. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.


THE JEWISH OLYMPICS: The History of the Maccabiah Games by Ron Kaplan (Sports/History)
Having grown from 390 athletes from 14 countries to 9,000 athletes from 78 countries, the Maccabiah Games (or the “Jewish Olympics,” as it has come to be known) continue to gain popularity. THE JEWISH OLYMPICS by Ron Kaplan details the history of the Maccabiah Games, including how they began, how they have impacted the Jewish community worldwide, and much more. In addition, it highlights the countless special achievements of the athletes over the course of the 19 games. Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman.
Our Latest Poll: Where Did You Obtain the Book You're Reading Now?
Where did you get the book you're currently reading? If you're reading more than one book, please select one to answer this question.

  • Chain bookstore (Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, etc.)
  • Big-box store (Costco, Sam's Club, Target, Walmart, etc.)
  • Independent bookstore
  • Used bookstore
  • Library
  • Amazon.com
  • BN.com
  • Supermarket
  • Drugstore
  • Friend or family member
  • None of the above
Click here to vote in the poll.
Word of Mouth Contest: Tell Us What You're Reading --- and You Can Win Three Books!
Tell us about the books you’ve finished reading with your comments and a rating of 1 to 5 stars. During the contest period from July 24th to August 7th, five lucky readers each will be randomly chosen to win a copy of BROKEN PROMISE by Linwood Barclay, CIRCLING THE SUN by Paula McClain, and THE MARRIAGE OF OPPOSITES by Alice Hoffman.

To make sure other readers will be able to find the books you write about, please include the full title and correct author names (your entry must include these to be eligible to win). For complete rules and guidelines, click here.

-To see reader comments from previous contest periods, click here.
 
Click here to enter the contest.
Sounding Off on Audio Contest: Tell Us What You're Listening to --- and You Can Win Two Audiobooks!
Tell us about the audiobooks you’ve finished listening to with your comments and a rating of 1 to 5 stars for both the performance and the content. During the contest period from July 10th to July 31st, THREE lucky readers each will be randomly chosen to win the digital version or a CD of both DOES THIS BEACH MAKE ME LOOK FAT?: True Stories and Confessions written and read by Lisa Scottoline and Francesca Serritella, and DRUNKEN FIREWORKS by Stephen King, read by Tim Sample.

To make sure other readers will be able to find the audiobook, please include the full title and correct author names (your entry must include these to be eligible to win). For complete rules and guidelines, click here.

-To see reader comments from the previous contest period, click here.

 
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