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Bookreporter.com Bets On...

With thousands of books published each year and much attention paid to the works of bestselling and well-known authors, it is inevitable that some titles worthy of praise and discussion may not get the attention we think they deserve. Thus throughout the year, we will continue this feature that we started in 2009, to spotlight books that immediately struck a chord with us and made us say “just read this.” We will alert our readers about these titles as soon as they’re released so you can discover them for yourselves and recommend them to your family and friends.

Below are all of our selections thus far. For future "Bets On" titles that we will announce shortly after their release dates, please visit this page.

Atmosphere: A Love Story by Taylor Jenkins Reid

June 2025

From the time I was a young girl, I loved the space program. It was not just what happened in the skies that intrigued me, but also what transpired at Mission Control. Taylor Jenkins Reid’s ATMOSPHERE gave me a big dose of both.

Joan Goodwin has been looking at the stars since she was a child. She is working as a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University when she finds out that they are accepting female scientists at NASA’s space shuttle program. She applies and is part of the team that begins training at Houston’s Johnson Space Center during the summer of 1980. In these early days, the trainees are learning each other’s strong points and what they need to think about as space travelers.

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The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark

June 2025

I remember meeting Julie Clark before THE LAST FLIGHT came out in 2020, and I have been a committed reader of her books since then. In her third thriller, THE GHOSTWRITER, she has written another propulsive story.

Olivia has grown up being told that her father, Vincent, killed his brother, Danny, and his sister, Poppy, when he was a teenager. He was never charged or convicted, but the idea of him as a murderer has tracked him his whole life. He married his high school girlfriend and went on to become a bestselling horror writer. Olivia has been estranged from him for decades, ever since he sent her to boarding school in Europe.

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What Kind of Paradise by Janelle Brown

June 2025

WHAT KIND OF PARADISE by Janelle Brown captured my attention on so many levels. First, I was intrigued by Jane’s story of being raised off the grid in the woods of Montana from the time she was a toddler. Second, since Bookreporter started in 1996 and we were in the planning stages in 1995, it was a reminder of the primitive days of the internet, as opposed to what it has become now. Third, it made me think about the instant connectivity that we have today --- and what that means for good and bad.

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The Doorman by Chris Pavone

June 2025

With THE DOORMAN, Chris Pavone has written both a taut thriller and a brilliant social commentary on present-day New York, similar to what we saw in THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES.

Set over just one day, with generous backstory to give deeper meaning to his characters, Chris has portrayed different layers of New Yorkers. The first, as noted in the title, is the doorman, who opens doors, collects packages, and is acknowledged (or not) according to how you see him in his role. The others include the occupants of one of the biggest apartments in the building on one of the higher floors --- one that actually combined two spaces --- and the people who live in a more modest space on a lower floor.

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Harlem Rhapsody by Victoria Christopher Murray

May 2025

I confess that I knew little about the Harlem Renaissance before reading HARLEM RHAPSODY by Victoria Christopher Murray. I listened to the audiobook, which is narrated by Robin Miles. Each time I tuned into it, I found myself ensconced in the time period.

Victoria includes wonderful details not just about the writing that happened at The Crisis, the NAACP’s literary magazine, but also about the music, fashion and social scene that filled the times. The novel is set in 1920s Harlem, during the days of Prohibition, as well as enlightenment in the Black community. When I talked to Victoria about the book, she was quick to note that these strides for Black people had happened just 50 years after the end of slavery.

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Speak to Me of Home by Jeanine Cummins

May 2025

After reading AMERICAN DIRT, I was looking forward to what Jeanine Cummins would write next. I was so happy to see that she really delivered again with the generational story in SPEAK TO ME OF HOME. I know many people who have migrated to this country, and sometimes I wonder if they are torn between two places. While life here has so many freedoms and opportunities, I have often considered what it is like to think in two languages and think of home as more than one place. It was very much on my mind as I read this book.

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Saltwater by Katy Hays

April 2025

As my sons are now in their 30s, I miss spring break, which was a standard thing in their youth. So it was no surprise that I was eager for a book that took place in a location with sun and sand. SALTWATER by Katy Hays fit the bill. It’s set on the isle of Capri, where the Lingate family has gathered for a week each summer to vacation. What’s a tad odd about this return trip each year is that it’s the anniversary of the week when Sarah Lingate was found dead in 1992. Are they coming back there to honor her, or to be sure that people believe she died of natural causes and that no one in the family had anything to do with it? Interesting question, right?

But then the necklace that Sarah was wearing on the night she disappeared shows up again, and the investigation into what happened to her is reopened.

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The Maid's Secret: A Maid Novel by Nita Prose

April 2025

There are moments when you finish reading a series that you love, and you exhale and smile. You know that the characters have been through a lot, but they have ended up in a better place.

We met Molly the Maid back in 2022 in Nita Prose’s first book, THE MAID, which went on to win the Anthony Award, Barry Award, Goodreads Choice Award, Macavity Award, and Ned Kelly Award. There was something about this quirky young woman that captivated readers. We went on to learn more about her in the second novel, THE MYSTERY GUEST, in 2023, and the holiday novella, THE MISTLETOE MYSTERY, last year. We knew that Molly loved her grandmother. But now, in THE MAID’S SECRET, we finally get to hear from Gran and learn about her history.

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One Good Thing by Georgia Hunter

April 2025

Following the success of WE WERE THE LUCKY ONES, I was looking forward to what Georgia Hunter would write next. In ONE GOOD THING, she brings us to World War II Italy in 1940. There, we meet Lili and Esti, both of whom are Jewish and have been friends since they were in school together. They become even closer after the birth of Esti’s son, Theo. Esti’s husband, who is of Greek heritage, has returned to Greece to check on his family as attacks on Greek Jews have begun. I was unaware that over 80% of Greece’s pre-war Jewish population was killed by the Nazis.

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The Summer Guests by Tess Gerritsen

March 2025

I realized the other day that lately I have been reading more stand-alone titles than series books. But I was excited to pick up THE SUMMER GUESTS, the second entry in Tess Gerritsen’s series that is set in the town of Purity, Maine, and features a group of ex-CIA agents who have settled there. They have a book club, they drink martinis, and they call themselves the Martini Club. They also are the bane of police chief Jo Thibodeau as they nose their way into crimes, bringing their unique set of skills. Jo tells them to “stay away” when a teen goes missing, but this only motivates them to help as much as they can.

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