In 1920, when she graduated from Vassar College, Rosalie Rayner was ready to make her mark on the world. She won a coveted research position at Johns Hopkins assisting the charismatic celebrity psychologist John B. Watson. Together, Watson and Rayner conducted controversial experiments on hundreds of babies to prove behaviorist principles. They also embarked on a scandalous affair that cost them both their jobs --- and recast the sparkling young Rosalie Rayner, scientist and thinker, as Mrs. John Watson, wife and conflicted, maligned mother, just another “woman behind a great man.”
When brothers Tushar and Nakul Khurana pick up their family’s television set at a repair shop with their friend, Mansoor Ahmed, one day in 1996, disaster strikes without warning. A bomb detonates in the Delhi marketplace, instantly claiming the lives of the Khurana boys, to the devastation of their parents. Mansoor survives, bearing the physical and psychological effects of the bomb. After a brief stint at university in America, Mansoor returns to Delhi, where his life becomes entangled with Ayub, a fearless young activist whose own allegiances and beliefs are more malleable than Mansoor could imagine.
Roscoe T Martin is a prideful electrician in the 1920s. When his wife, Marie, inherits her father’s failing farm, Roscoe is forced to give up his livelihood. He begins to siphon energy from the state, restoring his happiness and well-being --- for a short while. After an accident causes a young man to be electrocuted, Roscoe is arrested and left to face a 20-year sentence in Kilby Prison. Climbing from the ranks of dairy hand to librarian to “dog boy,” he must overcome his past sins and figure out who he is once again.
Graham Gage is battling cancer, but must delay treatment in order to repay the woman who saved his life in San Francisco's Chinatown 30 years earlier. She has come out of hiding after her troubled teenage son was ensnared and killed in a multimillion-dollar microchip robbery executed by the United Bamboo Triad. Gage heads to Asia to untangle a brilliantly orchestrated deal bartering the chips for a billion dollars of China White heroin. In attempting to tie the conspiracy directly to the US-based godfather behind her son's death, Gage is soon drawn into a deadly confrontation with the godfather himself.
Hours after his wife and her family perish in the Christmas Eve tsunami in Brisbane, American expat and former police officer Frank Mercy’s life is changed when he saves a boy stuck in a submerged car. Instead of turning Ian over to the Red Cross, he takes the boy home to his Midwestern farm. He believes that Ian has an extraordinary telepathic gift, but wants to protect the frightened child. Struggling to start over, Frank meets Claudia, a champion equestrian. Both of them know it will be impossible to keep Ian’s gift a secret forever, yet they fight to keep Ian safe from a sinister group who wants him back.
1908: It's the year that proves to be life-changing for our teenage narrator, Mary Davidson, tasked with providing support to her father's boisterous whaling crews while caring for five brothers and sisters in the wake of their mother's death. But when the handsome John Beck --- a former Methodist preacher turned novice whaler with a mysterious past --- arrives at the Davidsons’ door pleading to join her father's crews, suddenly Mary's world is upended. She will soon discover a darker side to these men who hunt the seas, and the truth of her place among them.
RIGHTFUL HERITAGE chronicles Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s legacy as the founder of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and premier protector of America’s public lands. FDR built from scratch dozens of State Park systems and scenic roadways. As America’s president, he established hundreds of federal migratory bird refuges and spearheaded the modern endangered species movement. During its nine-year existence, the CCC put nearly three million young men to work on conservation projects, combating severe unemployment during the Great Depression.
Forty-eight hours after leaving her husband’s body at the base of the stairs, Tanya Dubois cashes in her credit cards, dyes her hair brown, demands a new name from a shadowy voice over the phone and flees town. She meets Blue, a female bartender who offers her a place to stay. With dwindling choices, Tanya (now Amelia) accepts. It’s almost impossible to live off the grid today, but Amelia (now Debra) and Blue have the courage, ingenuity and desperation to try. Hopscotching from city to city, Debra especially is chased by a very dark secret. Can she outrun her past?
The day Aubrey Hamilton’s husband is declared dead by the state of Tennessee should bring closure so she can move on with her life. But Aubrey doesn’t want to move on; she wants Josh back. It’s been five years since he disappeared, since their blissfully happy marriage screeched to a halt and Aubrey became the prime suspect in his disappearance. Why didn’t Josh show up at his friend’s bachelor party? Was he murdered? Did he run away? And now, all this time later, who is the mysterious yet strangely familiar figure suddenly haunting her new life?
The Plumb family is spectacularly dysfunctional. Years of tensions finally reach a breaking point as Melody, Beatrice and Jack Plumb gather to confront their older brother, Leo, freshly released from rehab. Months earlier, an inebriated Leo got in a car accident that has endangered the Plumbs' joint trust fund, “The Nest,” which they are months away from finally receiving. Now, the siblings must grapple with old resentments, present-day truths and the significant emotional and financial toll of the accident, as well as finally acknowledge the choices they have made in their own lives.
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 December 19th to January 9th at noon ET, three lucky readers each will be randomly chosen to win a copy of THE FIRST TIME I SAW HIM by Laura Dave and SKYLARK by Paula McLain.
Our major goal for 2025 is to redesign Bookreporter and the rest of the sites in The Book Report Network. How can you help? We have launched a GoFundMe campaign and are asking for donations. Any level of donation that you would be comfortable with is sincerely appreciated. If you would prefer donating via check, please send to:
The Book Report, Inc.
16 Mt. Bethel Road, Suite 365
Warren, NJ 07059
Click here to read more about our plans and to donate.
Coming Soon
Curious about what books will be released in the months ahead so you can pre-order or reserve them? Then click on the months below.
December's Books on Screen roundup includes the films The Housemaid, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw, 100 Nights of Hero,The Chronology of Water and Not Without Hope; the series premiere of Paramount+'s "Little Disasters"; the season premiere of "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" on Disney+ and Hulu; the season finales of HBO's "IT: Welcome to Derry" and Apple TV+'s "Down Cemetery Road"; the midseason finales of "Tracker" and "Watson" on CBS; and the DVD/Blu-ray releases of Karen Kingsbury's The Christmas Ring and Black Phone 2.