Bookreporter.com's Holiday Cheer Contests and Feature
At Bookreporter.com, we kick off the holiday season in style with our Holiday Cheer Contests and Feature. As our gift to you, on select days in November and December, 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 contest will be up on Tuesday, December 2nd at noon ET. The prize book will be A SEA GLASS CHRISTMAS by Davis Bunn, in which a bracing Christmas on North Carolina’s Outer Banks opens the door to a second chance at love.
» Click here to read all the contest details and learn more about our featured titles.
Bookreporter.com's "What to Give, What to Get" Guide
We at Bookreporter.com know that readers crave ideas for gift-giving --- and getting --- at the holidays. With this in mind, we are offering a "What to Give, What to Get" Guide with four "Reader Perfect" suggestions.
This year's titles are BURY OUR BONES IN THE MIDNIGHT SOIL by V. E. Schwab, GIRL DINNER by Olivie Blake, GIRL LOST by Kate Angelo, and THE SANDS OF SEA BLUE BEACH by Rachel Hauck.
» Click here to see our "What to Give, What to Get" Guide.
Historical Fiction Author Spotlight: CALDER STRONG by Janet Dailey
At 24, Joseph Dollarhide is struggling to find his place as the future head of his ranching family. His childhood friend, Chase Calder, has inherited the rival Calder operation, and longstanding battles over water and grass continue. But there’s yet another weight on Joseph’s shoulders. Years ago, he abandoned his teenage love, Annabeth, to court glamorous Lucy Merriweather, a seductive trickster. The affair imploded, and Annabeth went on to marry a farmer, Silas Mosby, and have two children. But now Joseph has spotted Annabeth and her family in town...and he has no doubt that her oldest, a boy, is his. Joseph’s love for Annabeth never died --- and Annabeth, too, still has feelings for him, though they’re tainted by anger. Learning that Silas is involved in a bootlegging ring leaves Joseph troubled.
» Click here to read more in our Historical Fiction Author Spotlight.
Bookreporter.com's Word of Mouth Contest: Tell Us What You've Read --- and You Can Win Two Books!
Let us know by Friday, December 5th at noon ET what books you’ve read, and you’ll have a chance to win THE BURNING LIBRARY by Gilly Macmillan and SOME BRIGHT NOWHERE by Ann Packer in our Word of Mouth contest.
Set in remote St. Andrews, Scotland, THE BURNING LIBRARY is a thrilling dark academic tale of murder, obsession and ruthless ambition. SOME BRIGHT NOWHERE, Oprah's Book Club pick for November, is an intimate and profoundly moving look at a long marriage and the ways in which a startling request can change a couple’s understanding of who they are, together and apart.
» Click here to enter the contest.
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.
Brisa Carleton's debut novel, LAST CALL AT THE SAVOY, is a Bets On selection. The inspiration for the book came when Brisa was visiting The Savoy Hotel in London more than a decade ago. She saw a footnote about Ada Coleman in a cocktail menu and was surprised that so little information existed about her. Ada was a prominent mixologist at the hotel from 1903 to 1925, and she invented many cocktails, including the Hanky Panky. Brisa discusses writing a dual timeline for the book: the historical story about Ada and the modern one featuring Cinnamon Scott, an aspiring New York writer who travels to London to help her pregnant sister, Rosemary, at The Savoy. An award-winning Broadway producer with three Tonys to her credit, Brisa also talks about her role as a producer and how it differs from being a writer. Watch the video or listen to the podcast.
Carol had a wonderful conversation with Alex DeMille about THE TIN MEN, the third installment in the Scott Brodie & Maggie Taylor series, which he wrote with his father, Nelson DeMille. Set at a fictional military base in the Mojave Desert, the book explores autonomous weapons and AI in warfare. Alex explains what drew him to set a thriller in the American Southwest and fills us in on the research trip that he took there. He talks about the themes of humanity versus technology in warfare, which he and Nelson wanted to address. Alex also shares his personal reflections on completing the book while grieving his father's death. Watch the video or listen to the podcast.
HEART THE LOVER, Lily King's instant New York Times bestseller, is a Bets On title. Lily shares that she was working on a political murder mystery that came to a grinding halt when she got a manuscript from Ann Patchett, which led her to write college scenes that were the start of HEART THE LOVER. She talks about a significant plot point that was changed in the manuscript about 12 days before the book was submitted, as well as the long path to getting the right cover. She also touches on how this novel is a companion to her previous work, WRITERS & LOVERS. 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.
Long ago, Arthur Poole built a grand house overlooking the turbulent ocean in a Maine village that bore his name. Today, Sonya MacTavish lives in that house --- a manor that has been cursed for generations. Within its walls, she has witnessed the deaths of seven brides and the thefts of seven wedding rings. And now, to break the curse and banish a malevolent spirit once and for all, a difficult task must be completed. After Sonya; her boyfriend, Trey; and their friends are forced to hear, see --- and feel --- the suffering of the house’s many ghosts, their bond only strengthens and their anger is renewed. Refusing to let her spirit be broken, Sonya searches each room for clues to her ancestors’ hidden story. But the enemy in the black dress continues to hover and come at her in frightening forms.
Vic Hale is one of the biggest --- and loudest --- podcasters in the nation and got there by spewing overheated rhetoric that’s reviled by some but loved by even more. His particular brand of “entertainment” is so successful, he’s about to sign the biggest contract in the history of online broadcasting. Vic is riding high…until he gets a visit from Spenser. Spenser is there on behalf of Daniel Lopez, a young man who believes Hale may be his father. It’s a potentially explosive revelation for a man in the podcaster’s position, and it might even be enough to blow up his massive new deal. That could explain the bodies that start popping up --- bodies connected in one way or another with the mystery surrounding Daniel’s birth. There are a lot of questions remaining, and Spenser is going to have to find the answers before someone shuts Hale or Daniel up for good.
In honor of Jane Austen’s 250th birthday, nine authors --- Adriana Trigiani, Sarah MacLean, Eloisa James, Elinor Lipman, Audrey Bellezza, Karen Dukess, Emily Harding, Nikki Payne and Diana Quincy --- have come together with wildly imaginative reboots of the lives of several of Austen’s minor characters. Written with plenty of love and wit, these clever stories star everyone from PRIDE AND PREJUDICE’s snobbish Caroline Bingley to the modern descendant of SENSE AND SENSIBILITY’s Eliza Williams, and much more. Blurring genres and taking us across the oceans, LADIES IN WAITING is a heartfelt celebration of Jane Austen and her timeless masterpieces.
Eliot and his wife, Claire, have been happily married for nearly four decades. But eight years after Claire was diagnosed with cancer, the end is near, and it's time to gather loved ones and prepare for the inevitable. Over the years of Claire’s illness, Eliot has shifted into the role of caregiver. But as he focuses on settling into what will be their last days and weeks together, Claire makes an unexpected request that leaves him reeling. In a moment, his carefully constructed world is shattered. What if your partner’s dying wish broke your heart? How well do we know the deepest desires of those we love dearly? As Eliot is confronted with this profound turning point in his marriage and his life, he grapples with the man and husband he’s been, and with the great unknowns of Claire’s last days.
On a frigid, windswept day in Scotland’s Western Hebrides, Eleanor Bruton’s body is discovered on the shore. Little did Eleanor’s family know that she was harboring a dark and all-consuming secret --- a scrap of fraying embroidery that seems worthless at first glance. For over a century, two rival organizations of women have gone to deadly lengths to secure the valuable artifact in the hopes of finding the original medieval manuscript from which it was torn. When Dr. Anya Brown garners international attention for her translation of the cryptic Folio 9, she is handpicked by Diana Cornish, a professor and high-ranking member of the Fellowship, to join the exclusive Institute of Manuscript Studies in St. Andrews. Unbeknownst to Anya, she’s been recruited at great personal danger to translate ancient texts that the Fellowship believes critical to their mission.
At 24, Joseph Dollarhide is struggling to find his place as the future head of his ranching family. His childhood friend, Chase Calder, has inherited the rival Calder operation, and longstanding battles over water and grass continue. But there’s yet another weight on Joseph’s shoulders. Years ago, he abandoned his teenage love, Annabeth, to court glamorous Lucy Merriweather, a seductive trickster. The affair imploded, and Annabeth went on to marry a farmer, Silas Mosby, and have two children. But now Joseph has spotted Annabeth and her family in town...and he has no doubt that her oldest, a boy, is his. Joseph’s love for Annabeth never died --- and Annabeth, too, still has feelings for him, though they’re tainted by anger. Learning that Silas is involved in a bootlegging ring leaves Joseph troubled.
Out of place next to her beautiful, immortal sisters and her parents --- both gods, albeit minor ones --- Meddy dreams of leaving her family’s island for a life of adventure. So when she catches the eye of the goddess Athena, who invites her to train as an esteemed priestess in her temple, Meddy leaps at the chance to see the world beyond her home. In the colorful market streets of Athens and the clandestine chambers of the temple, Meddy flourishes in her role as Athena’s favored acolyte. But when she is noticed by another Olympian, Poseidon, the course of Meddy’s promising future is suddenly and irrevocably altered. When her locs are transformed into snakes as punishment for a crime she did not commit, Medusa must embrace a new identity --- not as a victim, but as a vigilante --- and the chance to write her own story as mortal, martyr and myth.
Billy Collins’ DOG SHOW celebrates the joy of our canine best friends, honoring the love we feel for the animals who play such vital roles in our lives. In 25 poems, Collins distills the many ways dogs warm our hearts, from the happiness we experience as we watch a dog run unencumbered by our burdens, to the silliness of cradling a dog in our arms as we step on the scale together. Turning his inimitable eye and ear to the complexities of dog behavior, Collins ponders all that these winning creatures give us and what we learn from them about ourselves.
After his victory at Vorgossos, Hadrian Marlowe finds himself a fugitive, on the run not only from the Extrasolarians, but from his own people, the Sollan Empire he betrayed --- and who betrayed him. Hidden safely beyond the borders of human space, Hadrian awaits the arrival of the one ally he has left: the Jaddian Prince Kaim-Olorin du Otranto. What's more, the inhuman Cielcin have vanished, unseen for more than 100 years. The armies of men have grown complacent, but Hadrian knows the truth: the Cielcin are preparing for their final assault against the heart of all mankind. Only Hadrian possesses the power to stem the tide: an ancient war machine, forged by the daimon machines at the dawn of time. The mighty Demiurge. With it, Hadrian must face not just the Cielcin horde, but their Prophet-King, and the dark gods it serves --- the very gods who shaped the universe itself.
Stuck in a Production Assistant job and living at home with her parents after a painful breakup, 31-year-old Chloe Fairway isn’t where she wants to be in life. The last thing she needs is to face the people who once voted her "most likely to succeed" at her upcoming 10-year college reunion. And she definitely doesn’t want to see her former best friend, Sean Adler, who is now a hotshot film director living the life Chloe dreamed of. Desperate to make a splash --- and to save face in front of the man who might be the one that got away --- she turns to a mysterious dating service. Enter Rob, her handsome, well-read and charming match, the perfect plus-one to take to her reunion. The more she gets to know him, the more perfect he appears to be. As Chloe reconnects with old friends, she begins to question everything she thought she wanted.
Fern has weathered the stillness and storms of a bookseller’s life for decades. But now, in the face of crippling ennui, she transplants herself to the city of Thune to hang out her shingle beside a long-absent friend’s coffee shop. What could be a better pairing? Surely a charming renovation montage will cure what ails her! If only things were so simple. It turns out that fixing your life isn’t a one-time prospect, nor as easy as a change of scenery and a lick of paint. A drunken and desperate night sees the rattkin waking far from home in the company of a legendary warrior, an imprisoned chaos-goblin with a fondness for silverware, and an absolutely thumping hangover. As together they fend off a rogue’s gallery of ne’er-do-wells trying to claim the bounty the goblin represents, Fern may finally reconnect with the person she actually is when nothing seems inevitable.
Tenderhearted Galilee was raised by the Kincaids, a formidable clan of Black women sequestered deep in the weeping willows and dark rushing creeks of their land. Galilee has always known that she’s different --- that there is an old and unknowable secret around her very existence. Lucifer Helel is fronting as the head of security for her wealthy friend Oriaku’s family, protecting a mysterious, ancient artifact. But from the moment she lays eyes on him, Galilee knows he’s not human. From her first incendiary touch, Lucifer knows something even Galilee herself doesn’t --- that she isn’t human either. Leviathan, Lucifer’s most trusted prince of Hell, is determined to eliminate the intolerable danger that is Galilee before she brings death and disaster to those he loves. But Lucifer and Galilee’s attraction threatens to bring all the structures of their existence crashing down around them.
Margaret’s rare autoimmune condition has destroyed her life, leaving her isolated and in pain. It has no cure, but she’s making do as best she can --- until she’s offered a fully paid-for spot in an experimental medical trial at Graceview Memorial. The conditions are simple, if grueling: she will live at the hospital as a full-time patient, subjecting herself to the near-total destruction of her immune system and its subsequent regeneration. The trial will essentially kill most, but not all, of her. But as the treatment progresses and her body begins to fail, she stumbles upon something sinister living and spreading within the hospital. Unsure of what's real and what's just medication-induced delusion, Margaret struggles to find a way out as her body and mind succumb further to the darkness lurking throughout Graceview's halls.
The FBI calls on former agent Jessica Blackwood to look at a puzzling crime. A wildlife officer has found the body of a popular YouTuber encased in an obelisk made of salt in a remote refuge. When the agency is tipped off to a second body, that of a TikTok star chained to the bottom of Nevada’s Pyramid Lake --- her hands clasped in prayer --- Jessica recruits a trusted colleague of her own: Floridian underwater investigator Sloan McPherson. It appears to be the work of a ritualistic serial killer preying on influencers. That tracks when a third victim --- a fantasy-game live streamer --- barely survives a pipe bomb attack. As the threats multiply across the country, Jessica and Sloan fear they’re playing with something more extreme than they imagined: a killer’s endgame that could be nothing less than apocalyptic.
Although they started out as roommates at Harvard, Sara, Bee, Dina, Allie, Wesley and Claudine soon became family. They had their whole bright lives ahead of them --- until their senior year, when a shocking tragedy changed everything. Twenty years later, five of the roommates still indulge in a secret tradition they’ve kept alive since their campus days: the Circus, a harmless elimination-style “killing” game played across the private rooms and hidden alleys of New York City. The game is a nod to their younger selves and a tribute to the sixth roommate they lost too young. But this year, Sara wants out of the game --- until she discovers there is a small fortune awaiting the winner of this final round. As the Circus unfolds, Sara begins to suspect that the others aren’t playing by the rules.