Bookreporter.com Bets On: CULPABILITY by Bruce Holsinger
CULPABILITY by Bruce Holsinger is a brilliant look at a family that is involved in an accident in their autonomously driven minivan. The collision kills an elderly couple and sends their car down a cliff. It seems that it’s not just the vehicle that behaved badly here, as each person in the family has his or her own reason for feeling guilty about what happened. Charlie was behind the wheel, and his father, Noah, was writing an email beside him. In the back seat were Noah’s wife, Lorelei, who was working on a project, and their two daughters, Alice and Izzy, who were on their phones.
To recover from the accident, both emotionally and physically, the family rents a home for a week on the Chesapeake Bay. It is right across the bay from a compound-size property (with its own heliport) that is owned by tech pioneer Daniel Monet, who is very passionate about AI. Charlie meets Daniel’s daughter, Eurydice, and they go off on adventures on the water, including one that will put them in jeopardy.
» Click here to read more of Carol's Bets On commentary.
» Click here to read our review.
» Click here to watch our "Bookreporter Talks To" interview with Bruce Holsinger.
» Click here to listen to a podcast of the interview.
Bookreporter.com Bets On: THE UNRAVELING OF JULIA by Lisa Scottoline
I love how Lisa Scottoline changes things up, especially with her last few books. We went with her to Italy for ETERNAL, the story of three childhood friends who come of age during World War II. LOYALTY brought us through the beginning days of the Mafia. While she kept us stateside with WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BENNETTS and THE TRUTH ABOUT THE DEVLINS, she continued to examine justice and family.
Now, in THE UNRAVELING OF JULIA, Julia’s husband tragically dies at the hands of an unknown assailant in Philadelphia while protecting her. She lost her adoptive parents at a young age, and it feels like she is not destined to be forever happy. After her husband’s death, Julia is barely going through the motions of her life when she receives a letter that she has inherited an Italian villa and a vineyard. Cautious but also ready to try something new, she heads to the Italian countryside to learn more about this piece of property. A surprise awaits her there.
» Click here to read more of Carol's Bets On commentary.
» Click here to read our review.
» Click here to watch a video series featuring Lisa Scottoline's travels to Italy as she discusses her inspiration and research for the book.
» Click here to visit Lisa Scottoline's website.
» Click here to see Lisa Scottoline's book tour schedule.
Bookreporter.com's Word of Mouth Contest: Tell Us What You've Read --- and You Can Win Two Books!
Let us know by Friday, August 8th at noon ET what books you’ve read, and you’ll have a chance to win FULL BLOOM by Francesca Serritella and YOU BELONG HERE by Megan Miranda in our Word of Mouth contest.
In FULL BLOOM, a stunning novel about ambition and untapped desire, a woman's life is forever changed by a mysterious perfume. Memories fade, but on this campus, legacies are never forgotten --- or forgiven --- in YOU BELONG HERE.
» Click here to enter the contest.
Bookreporter.com's 21st Annual Summer Reading Contests and Feature
Summer is here! 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 series of 24-hour contests for these titles on select days through mid-August, 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 two contests will be up at noon ET on Tuesday, August 5th and Wednesday, August 6th. The prize books will be THE LOCKED WARD by Sarah Pekkanen and FULL BLOOM by Francesca Serritella.
» Click here to read all the contest details and learn more about our featured titles.
As part of our mission to expand The Book Report Network, we have been shooting video interviews with authors and posting them on our YouTube channel. We also have been making them available as podcasts. Carol loves interviewing authors, so this feels like a natural.
Carol enjoyed talking to Bruce Holsinger about his new novel, CULPABILITY, which is Oprah’s Book Club pick for July and an upcoming Bets On selection. Bruce explains why he chose to explore AI and the decision to have each member of a family be culpable in a car accident involving an autonomously driven vehicle. The beach house that the Cassidy-Shaws retreat to is similar to the one that Bruce and his family enjoyed during the pandemic, and that peaceful setting kept coming back to him as he wrote. He also talks about the audiobook’s narrators, Stacy Carolan and January LaVoy, and how they each played roles that served the novel. And yes, Bruce walks us through what it was like to get “the call” from Oprah. Watch the video or listen to the podcast.
EL DORADO DRIVE is the first book that Megan Abbott has written about suburban Detroit, which is where she lived for her early years. The story is set during the time when the automobile market crashed, jobs were suddenly lost, and the lifestyle to which people were accustomed disappeared. Megan talks about those days when the rug was pulled out from under people after years of not worrying about money. She also explains what it was like to write about sisters, even though she only has a brother. And she shares the exciting screenwriting news of what is next for her. Watch the video or listen to the podcast.
Jeanine Cummins' latest novel, SPEAK TO ME OF HOME, is a deeply felt multigenerational family story and a Bets On selection. Jeanine talks about her inspiration for the book and the significance of home. What does it mean to different people and to different generations? She and Carol point out that we go through life either as passengers or as those who “control the wheel of the bus.” There is a family tree in the front of the book, which is helpful in following the story --- and Jeanine shows its beautiful design. Watch the video or listen to the podcast.
» Click here for a complete list of our "Bookreporter Talks To" videos and podcasts, along with upcoming interviews.
Terlu Perna broke the law because she was lonely. She cast a spell and created a magically sentient spider plant. As punishment, she was turned into a wooden statue and tucked away into an alcove in the North Reading Room of the Great Library of Alyssium. This should have been the end of her story. Yet one day, Terlu wakes in the cold of winter on a nearly deserted island full of hundreds of magical greenhouses. The only other human on the island is Yarrow, a grumpy gardener who offers her a place to sleep and clean clothes. As she grows closer with him, she learns that the magic that sustains the greenhouses is failing --- causing the death of everything within them. Assisted by Yarrow and a sentient rose, Terlu must unravel the secrets of a long-dead sorcerer if she wants to save the island --- and have a fresh chance at happiness and love.
“Back then, when I was a young woman, there were still witches”: That was how Nana Alba always began the stories she told her great-granddaughter, Minerva, who is now researching the life of Beatrice Tremblay, an obscure author of macabre tales. In the course of assembling her thesis, Minerva uncovers information that reveals that Tremblay’s most famous novel, The Vanishing, was inspired by a true story. Decades earlier, during the Great Depression, Tremblay attended the same university where Minerva is now studying and became obsessed with her beautiful and otherworldly roommate, who then disappeared under mysterious circumstances. As Minerva descends ever deeper into Tremblay’s manuscript, she begins to sense that the malign force that stalked Tremblay and the missing girl might still walk the halls of the campus.
Immigrating alone from Paris to New York after the crucible of World War II, young Gazala becomes friends with two spirited sisters, Anne and Alma. When Gazala’s lost, beloved brother, Samir, joins her in Manhattan, this contentious, inseparable foursome makes their way into the 21st century, becoming the beating heart of a multigenerational found family. The passing years are marked by the business of everyday existence and the inevitable surprises of erupting passions, of great and small waves of joy and despair, from the beginning of life to its end. Gazala and Samir make a home together, Anne leaves her husband for his sister, and Anne’s restless daughter grows up to raise a child on her own and to join a throuple, becoming who she wants to be.
Summer, 1999. Rachel Fiske is almost 18 when she arrives at her aunt and uncle’s mansion in Greenwich, Connecticut. Her glamorous aunt is struggling to heal from an injury, and Rachel wants to help --- and escape her own troubles back home. But her aunt is oddly spacey, and her uncle is consumed with business. The only bright spot is Claudia, a recent college graduate, an aspiring artist, and the live-in babysitter for Rachel’s cousin. As summer deepens, Rachel eagerly hopes their friendship might grow into more. But when a tragic accident occurs, Rachel must make a pivotal choice. Caught between her desire to do the right thing and to protect her future, she’s the only one who knows what really happened --- and her decision has consequences far beyond what she could have predicted.
For nearly five decades after the Second World War, the Iron Curtain divided Europe, forming the longest and most heavily guarded border on earth. No physical combat would take place along this frontier. Instead, the war was fought psychologically. It was a battle for hearts, minds and intellects. Few understood this more clearly than George Minden, head of a covert intelligence operation known as the “CIA book program,” which aimed to undermine Soviet censorship and inspire revolt by offering different visions of thought and culture. Minden’s “book club” secretly sent 10 million banned titles into the East. Charlie English narrates this tale of Cold War spycraft, smuggling and secret printing operations for the first time, highlighting the work of a handful of extraordinary people who fought for intellectual freedom.
The Hellebore Technical Institute for the Gifted is the premier academy for the dangerously powerful: the Anti-Christs and Ragnaroks, the world-eaters and apocalypse-makers. Hellebore promises redemption, acceptance and a normal life after graduation. At least that’s what Alessa Li is told after she’s kidnapped and forcibly enrolled. But the Institute is more than just a haven for monsters. On graduation day, the faculty embark on a ravenous rampage, feasting on their students. Trapped in the school’s cavernous library, Alessa and her surviving classmates must do something they were never taught: work together. If they don't, this school will eat them alive.
British scientist Kesta Shelley has spent her life looking down the barrel of a microscope rather than cultivating personal relationships. But that changed when she met Tim. So when he was one of the last people in London to be infected with a perplexing virus that left the city ravaged, Kesta went into triage mode. Though the government has rounded up and disposed of all the infected, Kesta is able to keep her husband (un)alive --- and hidden --- with resources from the hospital where she works. As she races against the clock, her colleagues start noticing changes in her behavior and appearance. There are whispers of a top-secret lab working on a cure, and Kesta clings to the possibility of being recruited like a lifeline. But can she save her husband before he is discovered? Or worse, will they trigger another outbreak?
When legendary horror author Mortimer Queen passes, a group of writers find themselves invited to his last will and testament reading expecting a piece of his massive fortune. Each have their own unique connection to the literary icon --- some known, some soon to be discovered --- and they've been waiting for their chance to step into the author's shoes for some time. Instead, they arrive at his grand manor and are invited to play a game. The rules are simple: solve the riddle and progress to the next room. If they don't, the manor will take one of them for itself. You see, the Queen estate was built on the bones of Mortimer's family, and like any true horror story, the house is still very, very hungry.
LLIAM is the world’s most powerful supercomputer, built to make the toughest decisions for its users. But when it suddenly goes offline with no explanation, the world is thrust into chaos. Then, on every continent, mysterious envelopes arrive in the mail, exposing people’s darkest secrets and most shocking crimes. All beginning with the same chilling words: “We must confess.” With millions of people suddenly made to confront their past transgressions, CEO Kaitlan Goss must track down the only person who can help undo the resulting violent chaos: Maud Brookes, an ex-nun who taught LLIAM what it means to be human. But when Maud receives a letter herself, revealing Kaitlan’s own unforgivable sin, the two women are forced into a deadly game of deceit as the world teeters on the brink.
Hannah knows that her son, Isaac, is gifted and that those gifts make him vulnerable. To keep him safe, she spends every waking moment by his side. If she lets her guard down, he will be taken from her. When the Soundfield arrived 20 years ago, the world changed with it. Now, people are forced to live at night due to the deadly heat of the day, food and water are scarce, and everyday life is punctuated by the constant and disconcerting hum from the Field. A brilliant scientist, Hannah spent her early career working on the enigma of the Soundfield, looking for answers. Now, resigned, she has focused all her energies on keeping Isaac living, not just alive. To do so, she will have to lie to the people she knows and hope she can trust the ones she doesn't. Because the only thing more dangerous than her lies is the truth of what she has done.