December 14, 2018

December 14, 2018

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Carol is reading LOST ROSES by Martha Hall Kelly (on sale April 9th), which will be a Bets On pick.
Next up on her reading list is THE ISLAND OF SEA WOMEN by Lisa See (on sale March 5th).

Carol's skinny Christmas tree, and a gingerbread house at the Princeton Club

The Holidays Are Coming! I Am Not Ready. Are You?

Remember how excited I was that there was an extra week between Thanksgiving and Christmas and how that would be great for holiday prep? Well, I am not one bit ahead. I still have presents to buy/wrap and few ideas on what to get people, menus to prepare and a house to decorate. I used the extra week to work! Last week, I joined a friend for dinner at the Princeton Club, and they had the most gorgeous gingerbread houses on display. You can see one above. Note: It did not inspire me to make one.

I came up with a decoration idea for outside the house that involves some five-foot birch logs that I bought, and greens, based on something I saw at a hotel a block away from our office. Of course, the plan has ramped up. Tom is building me planters for it. Sometime this week, I came up with the concept that they should be painted with copper metallic paint, like two of the walls of my office here at the house, and a turquoise band across the top to match the front door. And this should then be lacquered with two coats of varnish so they shine. I know…a complete production.

Tom keeps reminding me that we do not live in a hotel, so the scale can be different. I still am trying to figure out the design for the sticks, greens, willows and whatever else will go into it; I am on a hunt for magnolia leaves. The wreath is up and the candles are in the windows, so we have made some progress on decorating. And I bought the skinny tree above so we do not have to move any furniture to enjoy a tree in the living room; I decorated that this morning.

Tomorrow I am headed out at the crack of dawn as it is the day of the year when I play an elf for Mrs. Claus; I have a snazzy new costume that I will share in the next newsletter. Last year, I read a popup book of 'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS to each family who was invited, and it was such fun. This year, I think that Darlene, aka Mrs. Claus, has a plan for me to celebrate with families in one of the other rooms with puzzles, or making a craft. I love this day, which is all about giving. I am happy to share that each child will be receiving an age-appropriate book. Thanks to the generosity of some of our publishing friends, and our Kidsreads/Teenreads editor, Rebecca Munro, combing the shelves in our office with me, there are books wrapped for all of the 50+ children!

I have been having such a great time reading ahead. I feel like the Ghost of Christmas Future when I tell you that there are some GREAT books coming in 2019. I finished THE GUEST BOOK by Sarah Blake (on sale May 7th) last weekend, and wow, I cannot wait to share it with you. And I am about halfway through LOST ROSES by Martha Hall Kelly, who many of you will remember as the author of LILAC GIRLS. Here we get Caroline’s mother, Eliza’s, story, and it is brilliantly done. Yes, this will be yet another Bookreporter.com Bets On selection when it releases on April 9th. Next up, I am looking forward to THE ISLAND OF SEA WOMEN by Lisa See, which will be out on March 5th. It takes place in South Korea, which is a new setting for Lisa. I confess that I took a quick peek at the first chapter, and I cannot wait to read more.

Our staff and I will be celebrating the holiday at lunch next week; it’s been so hectic that I am looking forward to kicking it back a notch and toasting them. Tom, Nicole, Rebecca and Greg are a great team for me to work with. I am so proud of what they have accomplished this year. And stay tuned, as we have some pretty big plans on tap for 2019!

At this time of year, we always look forward to sharing with you our special year-end features…and this year is certainly no exception! First up is our eighth annual End-of-the-Year Contest, where one grand prize winner will be awarded all 45(!) of my Bets On picks from 2018, while nine other winners will receive a selection of five of these titles. Here are just a few of the books you’ll have a chance to win: AN AMERICAN MARRIAGE by Tayari Jones, HELLBENT: An Orphan X Novel by Gregg Hurwitz, LOVE AND RUIN by Paula McLain, and THE WIDOWER’S NOTEBOOK: A Memoir by Jonathan Santlofer. To enter, please fill out this form by Monday, January 7th at noon ET.

Next, we have our Reviewer Picks, where some of our reviewers reveal their favorite books of the year. Take a look at their fiction and nonfiction faves here, and see which of their selections you agree or disagree with --- and which titles you may want to add to your 2019 reading lists. This has always been one of my favorite features, and it gives me the opportunity to thank our reviewers for their consistently excellent work throughout the year. We so appreciate each and every one of them! So many of them have loyal followers among our readers.

For more highlights from 2018, take a look at this page where you’ll find a number of “Best Of” lists that we’ve compiled from around the web ---  including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, People, Time, Huffington Post, Publishers Weekly, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and many more.

How many print books or e-books did you read this year? And how many audiobooks did you listen to? Those are our final two poll questions of the year. Click here to let us know how bookish you have been in 2018!

Our previous poll asked if you use Goodreads and, if so, all the ways you interact with the site. 73% of you read reviews from other people, 66% voted in the Goodreads Choice Awards, 65% save their already-read list on Goodreads, and 59% save their to-be-read list on there. Click here for the full results.

We are excited to announce that Bookreporter.com is now on Goodreads, which is why we were so interested in finding out whether or not you use the site (and many thanks to those who voted in the poll!). So far we have our reviews posted in three categories: Mystery & Thriller, Historical Fiction, and Biography & Memoir. The Mystery & Thriller page has all the titles that we reviewed in 2018, thus I wanted to pass along this link, where you can see all 330(!) of these reviews. The other pages will be fully updated in the next few weeks. Our plan for 2019 is to include our “Want to Read” titles on these pages as well. It will be another way for you to keep on top of our reviews. Other pages will be planned; we think we need one for Fiction that we will start in the new year. 

I’ve been LOVING the various pieces we’ve received for our Holiday Author Blog series. Thus far, we’ve heard from Fiona Davis, Lynda Cohen Loigman, Lisa Wingate, T. Greenwood, James Rollins and Whitney Scharer. Still to come are contributions from Bonnie Kistler, John Lescroart, Alex Michaelides and Kate Morton. Endless thanks to all the authors who’ve taken time out of their busy lives to share these wonderful holiday memories of giving or receiving books. I know that many of you have told us how much reading these pieces means to you.

In this week’s Holiday Cheer contests, we gave away BECOMING by Michelle Obama (Oprah’s latest Book Club pick) and IMAGINE HEAVEN DEVOTIONAL: 100 Reflections to Bring Heaven to Your Life Today by John Burke and Kathy Burke. These giveaways wrap up next week with THE MARTIN CHRONICLES by John Fried and THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM by Marie Benedict, the latter of which will be a Bets On pick. Our penultimate Holiday Cheer contest will be up on Wednesday, December 19th at noon ET.

We wrap up the year with our final 12 reviews of 2018. Among them are YOU DON’T OWN ME, the fifth book in Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke’s Under Suspicion series, which finds television producer Laurie Moran stopping at nothing to solve the murder of a celebrity doctor --- even as she finds herself in grave danger as a mysterious stalker plots his next move; John Boyne’s new novel, A LADDER TO THE SKY, which sweeps across the late 20th century and is a fascinating portrait of a relentlessly immoral man; and BROKEN GROUND by Val McDermid, in which cold case detective Karen Pirie faces her hardest challenge yet. And yes, a couple of these will be slid onto our Goodreads pages.

We have a new Word of Mouth contest to tell you about. Submit your comments about the books you’ve read, and you’ll have a chance to win THE BOY by Tami Hoag and VERSES FOR THE DEAD: A Pendergast Novel by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, both of which release on December 31st. The deadline for your submissions is Friday, January 4th at noon ET.

Also, please be sure to enter our Sounding Off on Audio contest if you haven’t done so already. This month’s prizes are the audio versions of Diane Setterfield's ONCE UPON A RIVER, read by Juliet Stevenson, and Lisa Jewell's WATCHING YOU, read by Gabrielle Glaister (the latter will be my first Bets On pick of 2019). Let us know by Wednesday, January 2nd at noon ET what audiobooks you’ve listened to, and you’ll be in the running to win both these audio titles.

Over on Teenreads.com, the voting has begun for the 2019 Teen Choice Book Award. From now until Friday, February 1st, we're asking our readers to let us know their five favorite books of 2018. The five books that receive the most votes will serve as the finalists for Every Child a Reader’s 2019 Teen Choice Book of the Year. Click here to cast your vote, and don't forget to spread the word by using #TeenNom2019 on Twitter and Instagram.

Rebecca attended Random House's Fall Open House last Friday. She has this report to share with us where she talks about some of the panels she attended and the authors she heard speak.

Tommy Orange's THERE THERE won the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize. At a ceremony on Tuesday evening, Oprah Winfrey honored Nobel laureate Toni Morrison, her friend of the last two decades. Sadly, Toni was not there to hear Oprah say, "It's impossible to actually imagine the American literary landscape without a Toni Morrison. She is our conscience, she is our seer, she is our truth-teller."

News & Pop Culture

Reader Mail:

Cheri has a great idea: “I chuckled over your story about the Christmas decorations. I found a solution a few years ago when I got my first smartphone. When I put away the Christmas cards I buy on sale after Christmas or when I put away the last-minute decorations, I go to the calendar on my phone. Scroll to November/December of the next year and write down your hiding places!! It works. As long as I remember to do it.”

Katherine wrote a long note that I am going to share in its entirety, as I love how she has embraced so many of the books that we have covered:

“I so enjoy your newsletter. I can’t put into words what it means to me. All my friends know I am the ‘book’ person. And just this week I approached the HOA to get a Little Library Box built and put up out back by our ponds and benches. I feel this will bring more people out and about, and we do have a lot of readers. It was passed in a flash and already started building. Yay! Several of us have stacks of books ready to trade.

"I wanted to mention how much I loved, loved THE LIBRARY BOOK. Having worked in a library for 12 years, I enjoyed it so much more. The author writes to make it so readable. Other recent reads have been WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING, which I can see as a movie. Loved this one. And VOX was such a different premise, as was THE DINNER LIST. I’ve been thinking all week which five people I’d choose for a dinner list. Fiona Davis’ THE MASTERPIECE was another two-day read that I couldn’t put down, as was KINGDOM OF THE BLIND; so glad Louise Penny has continued to write.

"Our book club is looking forward to the new Kate Quinn book on the Russian women flyers, THE HUNTRESS. We Skyped with her about THE ALICE NETWORK, and she was such a fun and gracious person. I’ve joined a third book club, a nonfiction one, with varying themes. This proves to be interesting, as we all read a different book and share facts. Here in Florida, we have people from all states, and many countries, so our discussions are lively and very interesting. So many viewpoints.

"Life is just too short! I wish I’d retired to this when I was 25. I knit and read every day...and walk around water and palm trees. What’s not to like?! Keep the good book reviews coming; my TBR list is 11 pages at the moment. I’m reading as fast as I can.” Indeed Katherine, read on!

Thank you to the many readers who sent me birthday wishes. They made the day all the more special! And a few of you wrote that you will be at the Tucson Festival of Books, and I look forward to meeting you there. Nancy also shared that she will be at the Savannah Book Festival and will cover it for us; I will not be able to attend that one.

"Momentum Generation" on HBO: Terrific documentary looking back at the surf scene in the 1990s from those who made it what it was.

Cory is having a blast in Aruba where the weather has been 82 degrees every day this week. Greg is heading to California on the 26th to do a Land Rover off-road trip for a week (this was a last-minute plan). Again, I will be doing airport drop-offs and pickups. 

We are going to take next week off, so your next newsletter will arrive on Friday, December 28th. It will be shorter than usual as our Editorial Director and I are planning to duck in from vacation time to give you a quick update. Our next full newsletter will be on Friday, January 4th, where we magically will do an update in three days when we get back to the office.

Request from me to all of you: Over the holidays, if you meet up with other readers at various celebrations, please share word about our newsletter with your friends. They can sign up for any of our newsletters here. We would LOVE to welcome more friends of yours to our readership!

Merry Christmas to those who are celebrating. As I say each year, make some great new memories while valuing your special traditions. And I hope you get some books, or gift cards for buying books.

Read on, and have a great TWO weeks!

Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)

P.S. For those of you who are doing online shopping, if you use the store links below, Bookreporter.com gets a small affiliate fee on your purchases. We would appreciate your considering this, perhaps as you do your holiday shopping!

Special Contest: Enter to Win Our End-of-the-Year Celebration, Featuring All 45 "Bets On" Titles from 2018

We are thrilled to announce a very special contest featuring Carol Fitzgerald’s Bookreporter.com Bets On picks from 2018. One Grand Prize winner will be awarded all 45 books, while nine other winners will receive a selection of five of these titles. To enter, please fill out this form by Monday, January 7th at noon ET.

Here are this year's Bookreporter.com Bets On titles:

• ALL THE BEAUTIFUL GIRLS by Elizabeth J. Church
• AN AMERICAN MARRIAGE by Tayari Jones
• ANATOMY OF A SCANDAL by Sarah Vaughan
• THE BANKER'S WIFE by Cristina Alger
• BEAUTY IN THE BROKEN PLACES: A Memoir of Love, Faith, and Resilience by Allison Pataki
• BECOMING MRS. LEWIS by Patti Callahan
• BELIEVE ME by JP Delaney
• CARNEGIE'S MAID by Marie Benedict
• A CLOUD IN THE SHAPE OF A GIRL by Jean Thompson
• THE DINNER LIST by Rebecca Serle
• THE DREAM DAUGHTER by Diane Chamberlain
• EDUCATED: A Memoir by Tara Westover
• EVERY NOTE PLAYED by Lisa Genova
• THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE OF SAM HELL by Robert Dugoni
• THE FAMILY NEXT DOOR (Audiobook) written by Sally Hepworth, read by Barrie Kreinik
• FAMILY TRUST by Kathy Wang
• GHOSTED by Rosie Walsh
• THE GLASS OCEAN by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig and Karen White
• THE GREAT ALONE by Kristin Hannah
• HEARTLAND: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth (Audiobook) written and read by Sarah Smarsh
• HELLBENT: An Orphan X Novel by Gregg Hurwitz
• HOW HARD CAN IT BE? by Allison Pearson
• THE IMMORTALISTS by Chloe Benjamin
• LAKE SUCCESS by Gary Shteyngart
• THE LIBRARY BOOK (Audiobook) written and read by Susan Orlean
• THE LIDO by Libby Page
• LOVE AND RUIN by Paula McLain
• MAKE ME EVEN AND I’LL NEVER GAMBLE AGAIN by Jerrold Fine
• THE MARS ROOM (Audiobook) written and read by Rachel Kushner
• THE MASTERPIECE by Fiona Davis
• NEED TO KNOW by Karen Cleveland
• A NOISE DOWNSTAIRS by Linwood Barclay
• NOVEMBER ROAD by Lou Berney
• THE REAL LOLITA: The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel That Scandalized the World by Sarah Weinman
• ROSIE COLORED GLASSES by Brianna Wolfson
• SOMETIMES I LIE by Alice Feeney
• THE SUMMER WIVES by Beatriz Williams
• TRUST ME by Hank Phillippi Ryan
• VOX by Christina Dalcher
• A WELL-BEHAVED WOMAN: A Novel of the Vanderbilts (Audiobook) written by Therese Anne Fowler, read by Barrie Kreinik
• WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU LULULEMONS (Audiobook) written by Lauren Weisberger, read by Laura Benanti
• WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING by Delia Owens
• THE WIDOWER'S NOTEBOOK: A Memoir by Jonathan Santlofer
• THE WIFE BETWEEN US by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
• THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW by A. J. Finn

Click here to enter the contest.

Bookreporter.com Reviewers Choose
Their Favorite Books of 2018

We've asked our reviewers to provide us with a list of some of their favorite books from 2018. Included is a mix of fiction and nonfiction titles, all published this year. Among their top picks are THE GREAT ALONE by Kristin Hannah, EDUCATED: A Memoir by Tara Westover, THERE THERE by Tommy Orange, THE LIBRARY BOOK by Susan Orlean, CHURCHILL: Walking with Destiny by Andrew Roberts, THE LIDO by Libby Page, and SWEET LITTLE LIES by Caz Frear. Take a moment to read these varied lists of titles and see if you agree with any of their selections!

Click here to see our reviewer picks for 2018.

Featured Review: YOU DON’T OWN ME
by Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke

YOU DON'T OWN ME by Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke (Mystery/Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by January LaVoy
Laurie Moran is approached by Robert and Cynthia Bell, the parents of Dr. Martin Bell, who was shot dead five years ago. The Bells are sure that Martin’s disgraced and erratic wife, Kendra, carried out the murder. Determined to prove Kendra’s guilt and win custody over their grandchildren, they plead with Laurie to feature their son’s case on “Under Suspicion.” Kendra has lived under a blanket of suspicion since Martin’s death, with the tabloid media depicting her as a secretive, mentally unstable gold-digger. But once Laurie dives into the case, she learns that Martin wasn’t the picture-perfect husband, father and doctor he appeared to be and was carrying secrets of his own. Reviewed by Amie Taylor.

- Click here to read more about the book.

Click here to read the review.

Featured Review: A LADDER TO THE SKY by John Boyne

A LADDER TO THE SKY by John Boyne (Fiction)
Audiobook available; read by Richard E. Grant, Richard Cordery, Nina Sosanya and Laurence Kennedy
Maurice Swift is handsome, charming and hungry for fame. Working as a waiter in a West Berlin hotel in 1988, he has a chance encounter with celebrated novelist Erich Ackermann. Maurice quickly ingratiates himself with the powerful --- but desperately lonely --- older man, teasing out of Erich a terrible, long-held secret about his activities during the war. Perfect material for Maurice’s first novel. Moving from the Amalfi Coast, where he matches wits with Gore Vidal, to Manhattan and London, Maurice hones his talent for deceit and manipulation, preying on the talented and vulnerable in his cold-blooded climb to the top. But the higher he climbs, the further he has to fall. Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman.

- Click here to read more about the book.

Click here to read the review.

Featured Review: BROKEN GROUND by Val McDermid

BROKEN GROUND: A Karen Pirie Novel by Val McDermid (Mystery/Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Cathleen McCarron
Six feet under in a Highland peat bog lies Alice Somerville’s inheritance, buried by her grandfather at the end of World War II. But when Alice finally uncovers it, she finds an unwanted surprise --- a body with a bullet hole between the eyes. Meanwhile, cold case detective Karen Pirie is called in to unravel a case where nothing is quite as it seems. And as she gets closer to the truth, it becomes clear that not everyone shares her desire for justice. Or even the idea of what justice is. Reviewed by Ray Palen.

- Click here to read more about the book.

Click here to read the review.

Bookreporter.com's Holiday Author Blogs: Authors Write About Their Favorite Holiday Memories
of Giving or Receiving Books

Our Holiday Author Blogs have returned for an 11th consecutive year! We are featuring a new blog post from an author on select days through December 22nd talking about the books that he or she has given and/or received during the holidays.

Here are the wonderful pieces we have received so far:

• Fiona Davis: A Sense of Place
• Lynda Cohen Loigman: An Unforgettable Hanukkah Present
• Lisa Wingate: The Dangerous Book for Boys (and Their Moms)
• T. Greenwood: A Very Young Dancer
• James Rollins: The Book that Launched Two Careers
• Whitney Scharer: A Yankee Book Swap

Still to come are contributions from Bonnie Kistler, John Lescroart, Alex Michaelides and Kate Morton.

Click here to read Bookreporter.com's 2018 Holiday Author Blogs.

Bookreporter.com's Holiday Cheer Contests and Feature

At Bookreporter.com, we are celebrating the holiday season in style with our Holiday Cheer Contests and Feature. As our gift to you, on select days through December 20th, we are spotlighting a book and giving five lucky readers the chance to win it. You have to visit the site each day to see the featured prize book and enter the 24-hour contest. As always, we are sending our special Holiday Cheer newsletter on the days when there are contests. Click here to sign up for these email alerts.

Our next prize book will be announced on Wednesday, December 19th at noon ET.

This year's featured titles are:

• ALASKAN HOLIDAY and COTTAGE BY THE SEA by Debbie Macomber
• BECOMING by Michelle Obama
• THE CHRISTMAS SISTERS by Sarah Morgan
• THE GLASS FOREST by Cynthia Swanson
• IMAGINE HEAVEN DEVOTIONAL: 100 Reflections to Bring Heaven to Your Life Today by John Burke and Kathy Burke
• IN PIECES by Sally Field
• KINGDOM OF THE BLIND: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny
• LADY OF A THOUSAND TREASURES by Sandra Byrd
• MARK OF THE RAVEN: The Ravenwood Saga, Book 1 by Morgan L. Busse
• THE MARTIN CHRONICLES by John Fried
• NINE PERFECT STRANGERS by Liane Moriarty
• NOVEMBER ROAD by Lou Berney
• THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM by Marie Benedict
• SEASON OF WONDER: A Haven Point Novel by RaeAnne Thayne
• A THOUSAND DOORS: An Anthology of Many Lives edited by J.T. Ellison

Click here to read all the contest details
and learn more about our featured titles.

2018 "Best Of" Lists from Around the Web

Click here to see 2018 "Best Of" lists.

Our Interview with Matt Coyle
and a Review of WRONG LIGHT

Matt Coyle revived the Raymond Chandler hard-boiled PI model, set in today’s fancy (and seedy) side of San Diego and the adjacent affluent city, La Jolla. WRONG LIGHT has protagonist Rick Cahill mired in the perplexing case of a stalker homing in on sultry radio talk show host Naomi Hendrix. Meanwhile, Rick revisits Sergei Volkov and “the devil’s daughter,” Tatiana, leaders of San Diego’s Russian mafia. They offer a deal that Rick can’t refuse --- if he wants to live.

Rick pushes compatriot PI Moira MacFarlane’s friendship to the brink, yet feisty Moira doles out favors that Rick can never recompense. The multifaceted plot structure makes for one satisfying hard-boiled detective lore.

In this interview, Coyle chats with Bookreporter.com’s Dean Murphy about his appointment as upcoming Left Coast Crime Convention Toastmaster, Rick’s strained friendships, Russian collusion and the next Cahill adventure.

WRONG LIGHT: A Rick Cahill Novel by Matt Coyle (Hard-boiled Mystery/Thriller)
A demented soul is stalking Naomi Hendrix, waiting for the right moment to snatch her and fulfill a twisted fantasy. When Naomi’s radio station hires PI Rick Cahill to protect Naomi and track down the stalker, he discovers that Naomi is hiding secrets about her past that could help unmask the man. However, before Rick can extract the truth from Naomi, he is thrust into a missing person’s case --- an abduction he may have unwittingly caused. The investigating detective questions Rick’s motives for getting involved and pressures him to stop meddling. While Rick pursues Naomi’s stalker and battles the police, evil ricochets from his own past and embroils him in a race to find the truth about an old nemesis. Reviewed by L. Dean Murphy.

- Click here to read more about the book.

Read the review and interview.

More Reviews This Week

ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS: A Biography of Rock Hudson by Mark Griffin (Biography)
Audiobook available, read by Jeremy Arthur
Devastatingly handsome, broad-shouldered and clean-cut, Rock Hudson reigned supreme as the king of Hollywood throughout the ’50s and ’60s. In a more conservative era, his wholesome, straight arrow screen image was at odds with his closeted homosexuality. Mark Griffin provides new details concerning Hudson’s troubled relationships with wife Phyllis Gates and boyfriend Marc Christian. And here, for the first time, is an in-depth exploration of Hudson’s classic films, including Written on the Wind, A Farewell to Arms and the cult favorite Seconds. With unprecedented access to private journals, personal correspondence and production files, Griffin pays homage to the idol whose life and death had a lasting impact on American culture. Reviewed by Bianca Ambrosio.

BRYANT & MAY: HALL OF MIRRORS: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery by Christopher Fowler (Historical Mystery)
After accidentally sinking a barge painted like the Yellow Submarine, detectives Arthur Bryant and John May are relegated to babysitting Monty Hatton-Jones, the star prosecution witness in the trial of a disreputable developer whose prefabs are prone to collapse. The job for the demoted detectives? Keep the whistle-blower safe for one weekend. The task proves unexpectedly challenging when their unruly charge insists on attending a party at the vast estate Tavistock Hall. With falling stone gryphons, secret passageways, rumors of a mythical beast, and an all-too-real dismembered corpse, the bedeviled policemen soon find themselves with “a proper country house murder” on their hands. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

INFLUENZA: The Hundred-Year Hunt to Cure the Deadliest Disease in History by Dr. Jeremy Brown (History/Health)
Audiobook available, read by Holter Graham
While influenza is now often thought of as a common and mild disease, it still kills over 30,000 people in the US each year. Dr. Jeremy Brown, currently Director of Emergency Care Research at the National Institutes of Health, expounds on the flu's deadly past to solve the mysteries that could protect us from the next outbreak. In INFLUENZA, he talks with leading epidemiologists, policy makers, and the researcher who first sequenced the genetic building blocks of the original 1918 virus to offer both a comprehensive history and a roadmap for understanding what’s to come. Reviewed by Barbara Bamberger Scott.

FOR THE SAKE OF THE GAME: Stories Inspired by the Sherlock Holmes Canon edited by Laurie R. King and Leslie S. Klinger (Mystery/Short Stories)
Audiobook available, read by a full cast
FOR THE SAKE OF THE GAME is the latest volume in the award-winning series from Laurie R. King and Leslie S. Klinger, with stories of Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson and friends in a variety of eras and forms. King and Klinger have a simple formula: ask some of the world’s greatest writers --- regardless of genre --- to be inspired by the stories of Arthur Conan Doyle. Some tales are pastiches, featuring the recognizable figures of Holmes and Watson; others step away in time or place to describe characters and stories influenced by the Holmes world. Some of the authors spin whimsical tales of fancy; others tell hardcore thrillers or puzzling mysteries. One beloved author writes a song; two others craft a melancholy graphic tale of insectoid analysis. Reviewed by Ray Palen.

WHEN WOMEN RULED THE WORLD: Six Queens of Egypt by Kara Cooney (History)
Audiobook available, read by Kara Cooney
Female rulers are a rare phenomenon --- but thousands of years ago in ancient Egypt, women reigned supreme. Regularly, repeatedly and with impunity, queens like Hatshepsut, Nefertiti and Cleopatra controlled the totalitarian state as power-brokers and rulers. But throughout human history, women in positions of power were more often used as political pawns in a male-dominated society. What was so special about ancient Egypt that provided women this kind of access to the highest political office? What was it about these women that allowed them to transcend patriarchal obstacles? What did Egypt gain from its liberal reliance on female leadership, and could today's world learn from its example? Reviewed by Carly Silver.

INTO THE NIGHT by Sarah Bailey (Mystery)
Audiobook available, read by Kate Hosking
Detective Sergeant Gemma Woodstock finds herself lost and alone after a recent move to Melbourne, brokenhearted by the decisions she's had to make. Her new workplace is a minefield, and Detective Sergeant Nick Fleet, the partner she has been assigned, is uncommunicative and often hostile. When a homeless man is murdered and Gemma is put on the case, she can't help feeling a connection with the victim and his lonely, isolated existence. Then Sterling Wade, an up-and-coming actor filming his breakout performance in a closed-off city street, is murdered in the middle of an action-packed shot, and Gemma and Nick have to put aside their differences to unravel the mysteries surrounding the actor's life and death. Reviewed by Kate Ayers.

RAPID FALLS by Amber Cowie (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Kate Marcin
It’s been 20 years since Cara’s boyfriend died in a horrible accident and her sister, Anna, went to prison. The tragedy has become a local legend, but Cara has moved past her grief to have a successful career and a happy family. Pity about Anna. Recently released from incarceration, she’s struggling with addiction, guilt and shame --- a shattered life. Cara’s forgiveness seems to be the only thing that helps her pick up the pieces. But as Anna pulls herself together, her memories of that night on the bridge start to come into focus. And few of them match her sister’s. As past secrets unfold and nothing is what it seems anymore, Anna desperately searches for the truth. But what if Cara doesn’t want her to find it? Reviewed by Kate Ayers.

THE SECOND GOODBYE: A Pacific Homicide Novel by Patricia Smiley (Mystery)
For every homicide investigation she undertakes, Detective Davie Richards is determined to learn as much about the victim as she does about the killer. But there's nothing about 34-year-old Sara Montaine or her death that makes sense. Was Sara a saint caring for her dying husband or a gold-digger with a sketchy background? Did she commit suicide or was she murdered? Before her marriage, Sara lived comfortably without any obvious source of income, unusual for an orphan raised in foster care. As Davie digs deeper, she unearths Sara's troubled past and a viper's nest of villains who are willing to kill to keep their secrets hidden. Reviewed by L. Dean Murphy.

Noteworthy Books Releasing on December 18th and 26th

Below are some notable titles releasing on December 18th and 26th that we would like to make you aware of. We will have more on many of these books in the weeks to come. For a list of additional titles available the week of December 17th, see our “On Sale This Week” newsletter here. You can find more hardcovers and paperbacks releasing the week of the 24th in the December 18th edition of the “On Sale This Week” newsletter.

December 18th

INFLUENZA: The Hundred Year Hunt to Cure the Deadliest Disease in History by Jeremy Brown (History/Health)
While influenza is now often thought of as a common and mild disease, it still kills over 30,000 people in the US each year. Dr. Jeremy Brown, currently Director of Emergency Care Research at the National Institutes of Health, expounds on the flu's deadly past to solve the mysteries that could protect us from the next outbreak.

MICKEY SPILLANE’S MIKE HAMMER: THE NIGHT I DIED written by Max Allan Collins, with illustrations by Marcelo Salaza and Marcio Freire (Graphic Novel/Hard-boiled Mystery)
When a chance encounter with a captivating femme fatale leads to a violent mob retaliation, hard-boiled detective Mike Hammer finds himself dodging both bullets and hard broads as he undertakes the most dangerous case of his career.

December 26th

WATCHING YOU by Lisa Jewell (Psychological Thriller)
The instant New York Times and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of THEN SHE WAS GONE delivers another suspenseful page-turner about a shocking murder in a picturesque and well-to-do English town.

Click here to see the latest "On Sale This Week" newsletter.

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