Bookreporter.com Bets On: STRANGERS: A Memoir of Marriage, by Belle Burden
I had the pleasure of meeting Belle Burden at a publisher event in November. After she told us her story, which is detailed in STRANGERS, I immediately requested a prerelease audio download. I love listening to memoirs on audio. After finishing it, I would share the book’s opening with friends, and they all said that it sounded like a really good novel. Then I would tell them that it’s a memoir.
So what did they react to?
In the first week of the pandemic, while Belle and her family were staying at their home on Martha’s Vineyard, life was going as well as it could be during those uncertain times. There were lovely fires in the fireplace, with wood that was carefully selected by Belle’s husband, and cocktails in the afternoon. Yes, there still was fear of COVID, but they felt safe where they were.
The following week, Belle was mopping the floor (I remember thinking that she knew exactly what she was doing when her world turned upside down), and the phone rang.
» Click here to read more of Carol's commentary.
» Click here to read our review.
» Click here to watch our "Bookreporter Talks To" interview with Belle Burden.
» Click here to listen to a podcast of the interview.
Bookreporter.com Bets On: ANATOMY OF AN ALIBI by Ashley Elston
I thought it would be tough for Ashley Elston to match her previous thriller, FIRST LIE WINS. But she certainly did that, and more, with ANATOMY OF AN ALIBI.
Small towns often have their own hierarchy with those in power who call the shots. They typically are not elected; rather, they wield power because of money or who they know. Many have secrets that go back decades, all linked to their own nefarious deeds. In ANATOMY OF AN ALIBI, Ashley puts those who have this unelected power on the hot seat, as their deeds from the past come back. And this time judgment is made.
Right from the start, there is a setup where an impersonation can help uncover part of a secret. Camille Bayliss enlists Aubrey Price to pretend to be her at a bar in St. Francisville, Louisiana. Why? Camille needs some time to spy on her husband, Ben, a man who tracks her every move.
» Click here to read more of Carol's commentary.
» Click here to read our review.
» Click here to visit Ashley Elston's website.
Bookreporter.com's Word of Mouth Contest: Tell Us What You've Read --- and You Can Win Two Books!
Let us know by Friday, February 6th at noon ET what books you’ve read, and you’ll have a chance to win IT'S NOT HER by Mary Kubica and VIGIL by George Saunders in our Word of Mouth contest.
Two families vacationing at a secluded lake resort are at the center of a chilling crime and mysterious disappearance in IT’S NOT HER. Saunders’ highly anticipated new novel, VIGIL, takes place at the bedside of an oil company CEO in the twilight hours of his life as he is ferried from this world into the next.
» Click here to enter the contest.
Bookreporter.com's 11th Annual Winter Reading Contests and Feature
Our Winter Reading contests have returned for an 11th year! On select days through mid-February, we are hosting a series of 24-hour contests spotlighting a book releasing this winter and giving five lucky readers the chance to win it.
We also are sending a special newsletter to announce the day's title, which you can sign up for here.
Our next contest will be up on Tuesday, February 10th at noon ET. The prize book will be THEO OF GOLDEN, Allen Levi's New York Times bestselling debut novel, which is about the power of creative generosity, the importance of wonder to a purposeful life, and the invisible threads of kindness that bind us to one another.
» Click here to read all the contest details and learn more about our featured titles.
An Interview with Jeffrey Siger, Author of A STUDY IN SECRETS: A Redacted Man Mystery
A retired gentleman with a complicated past. A missing priceless treasure. A young woman in trouble. A STUDY IN SECRETS kicks off Jeffrey Siger’s Redacted Man mystery series, which features a Sherlock Holmes-worthy sleuth. In this interview conducted by former publicity executive Michael Barson, Siger talks about his fascination with the world’s most famous fictional detective and why he made his protagonist a former intelligence agent; his decision to set the series in present-day New York City; and the biggest challenge he faced while writing this opening installment.
» Click here to read the interview.
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.
SKYLARK is Paula McLain's latest novel and a “Good Morning America” Book Club pick. It features dual timelines set in Paris --- one in 1664 and the other in the 1940s during the Nazi occupation. The characters face parallel struggles across different time periods. Both storylines address how people find meaning and hope through connections with others. In SKYLARK, the underground tunnels beneath Paris serve as a space of refuge and resistance throughout history. Paula conducted extensive research, including physically exploring the city’s underground tunnel network. She wanted to create a "drilled-down view" of Paris rather than the glamorous cafés portrayed in her earlier work. Watch the video or listen to the podcast.
Belle Burden discusses her memoir, STRANGERS, which details how her husband abruptly left their marriage during the early days of the pandemic. The book, which is a Bets On selection, chronicles her journey from shock and grief to rebuilding her life as a writer and single mother. Belle explains how the divorce affected her children and her approach to parenting through the crisis. She admits that she handed over financial authority to her husband, despite her being a former corporate lawyer. She has advised her daughters to "never let go of their own financial authority." Belle sees her memoir as reclaiming her narrative rather than letting others define her story. Watch the video or listen to the podcast.
Carol had a wonderful conversation with Rebecca Armitage about her debut novel, THE HEIR APPARENT, which is a Reese's Book Club pick and a Bets On title. Rebecca describes the book as a modern-day fairy tale. Lexi, who is living in Tasmania and training to be a doctor, is summoned home after a skiing accident kills her father and critically injures her brother. Her grandmother is the Queen of England; she is the heir apparent and must return to London. Carol loved the cinematic opening scene with the helicopter landing to whisk Lexi away from her life in Australia. Rebecca drew upon her experience as a journalist covering the royal family to create an authentic portrayal of their lives. 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.
For years, Debbie Mullen has compiled all of her best advice into her column, Dear Debbie, where the wives of New England come for sympathy and neighborly advice. Through her work, Debbie has heard from countless women who are ignored, belittled, or even abused by their husbands. And Debbie does her best to guide them in the right direction. Or at least, she did. These days, Debbie's life seems to be spiraling out of control. She just lost her job. Something strange is happening with her teenage daughters. And her husband is keeping secrets, according to the tracking app she installed on his phone. Now, Debbie is done being the bigger person. She's done being reasonable and practical. It's time to take her own advice. And now it's time for payback against all the people in her life who deserve it the most.
Elinor Gilbert was once a young woman with a thriving career at the FBI. Now decades past solving crimes with the bureau, she is personally and professionally forgettable. Which is exactly what her former FBI boss needs. He disguises Elinor as a middle-aged nanny, and casts her as an agent on the inside of his investigation into a New York art dealer suspected of ties to organized crime. But as Elinor pushes toward the truth, her superpower --- anonymity --- morphs into a fatal flaw. The more the invisible woman integrates into her “host” family, the more dangerously memorable she becomes.
Willow experienced all her big firsts with her high school sweetheart. Now, reeling from their very public breakup, she wants to get a re-do on those important moments. While dog-sitting for her brother during his deployment, she has a chance to start over, and spending time with his best friend gives her the confidence to start checking items off her “Re-Do list.” Deacon promised his best friend two things when Cruz left for a deployment: he would look out for Willow and keep his hands off Cruz’s baby sister. “Operation Re-Do” is innocent enough at first: Deacon likes Willow, and he’s willing to help her out any way he can. But when the list of firsts turns from a first dance to first kisses and more, Deacon can’t deny the connection he feels to Willow.
Ellory Morgan is determined to prove that she belongs at Warren University, an ivy league school whose history is deeply linked to occult rumors and dark secrets. But as she settles into her freshman year, something about the ornate buildings and shadowy paths feels strangely…familiar. And, with every passing day, that sense of déjà vu grows increasingly sinister. Despite all logic, despite all reason, despite all the rules of reality, Ellory knows one thing to be true: she has been here before. And if she can't convince brooding legacy student Hudson Graves to help her remember a past that seems determined to slip through her fingers as if by some insidious magic…this time, she may lose herself for good.
After being fired for taking an uncharacteristic risk at her commodities trading job, Bea Macon sublets her New York apartment and books a one-way ticket to stay with her mother, Christy. Usually the responsible one, Bea isn't about to admit exactly why she's suddenly decided to visit, but she isn’t the only one keeping secrets: Christy has a man. She has a map. She has…a username on a forum devoted to unearthing $1 million in buried treasure that an antiquities dealer claims to have hidden somewhere in the western U.S.? Bea is convinced this is just another one of her mother’s wild larks, an elaborate way to refuse to finally grow up. But Christy believes she’s onto something --- and she’s arranged a rendezvous in a rural town called Mercy with the guy she’s been obsessively trading theories with online to prove it.
Two hundred and fifty years ago, the Declaration of Independence marked the birth of the United States. But two essays of that era appealed even more directly to Americans’ feelings. In January 1776, Thomas Paine --- a recent immigrant to America --- published Common Sense. His straightforward argument upended the fraud of monarchy and dismantled the idea of aristocratic privilege that had dominated the world for centuries. He turned a rebellion over taxes and representation into a true Revolution. Having inspired patriots to declare their independence, Paine enlisted as a militia private. He saw Washington’s army suffer grievous defeats. He slogged through the mud with retreating troops to Pennsylvania. There, he wrote The American Crisis, the most stirring rallying cry in our history. It began: “These are the times that try men’s souls…”
Fatima Bhutto was a teenager when her beloved father was assassinated. Ever since, she longed for a complete and happy family. Years later, still grappling with profound grief, she meets a charismatic man who offers her a new beginning --- promising love, healing, and the children she’s always dreamed of. But the dream soon unravels, revealing a toxic, manipulative relationship that holds her captive for over a decade. By the spring of 2020, Fatima finds herself secluded in the English countryside, accompanied by her most loyal companion: Coco, a fiercely protective Jack Russell terrier. In the presence of nature and Coco’s unwavering devotion, Fatima begins to question everything --- and slowly finds the courage to confront her suffering and reclaim her voice.
Deputy Sheriff Eli North has spent the last year getting his life back together. He hasn’t touched a drop of alcohol, he’s working through his PTSD from his military deployment, and he’s repairing his most important relationships. When an undercover informant disappears and all signs point to murder, Eli must expose the dark underbelly of his idyllic Wisconsin small town while safeguarding his newfound stability. Then, with the unexpected arrival of FBI Agent Alyssa Mason, Eli and his mother, the sheriff, are pulled deeper into a violent criminal network built on the backs of the lost and forgotten. As the case deepens, loyalties fracture and the line between justice and survival begins to blur. In a town where everyone has something to hide, exposing the truth may cost them everything.
When Maya, a young Russian filmmaker, makes a low-budget horror movie with her friends, it seems like a promising start to a career in indie film. Little does she know that her jokey lo-fi film will soon attract the attention of the autocratic censors at the highest levels of the Russian police state. What follows is a propulsive narrative of an artist being crushed by state power, and the choices that one makes within a system where free expression is literally illegal.