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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.

And Then I Found You by Patti Callahan Henry

April 2013

In AND THEN I FOUND YOU by Patti Callahan Henry, Katie Vaughan has tucked away something from her past. It’s a secret she thinks about every day: her daughter Luna, who she gave up for adoption the day she was born. She wonders where Luna is and what she is called now, for without Luna, Katie’s life does not seem whole. One day, she finds a small ring box in her boyfriend Rowan’s drawer, and in a panic she knows she needs to put her own life together before she can embrace a life with him. And part of that life includes Luna. Plus, she has to confront her feelings for Luna’s father, Jack. And Patti takes readers on Katie’s journey of self-discovery with her.

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The Ashford Affair by Lauren Willig

April 2013

As a lawyer in a large Manhattan firm, Clementine Evans has been slaving to make partner in Lauren Willig’s THE ASHFORD AFFAIR. Long hours at the office have taken a toll on her personal life; she has a broken engagement and a lot of fractured friendships and family relationships to show for it. Then suddenly she learns that life is not going to turn out the way she planned, and her personal roadmap for success is taking some serious turns in the wrong direction.

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Palisades Park by Alan Brennert

April 2013

As I read PALISADES PARK by Alan Brennert back in January, I became caught up in Eddie and Adele Stopka’s story, as they started out working at Palisades Park (known to insiders as “The Park”) back in the 1930s running concessions and building their lives one summer season at a time. Amusement parks in the ’60s were very different from the extravaganzas we know now, like Disney theme parks, and PALISADES PARK captures the energy of these special places where memories were made.

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Heart of Palm by Laura Lee Smith

April 2013

I love reading big family dramas, probably because my own family is small and has so little drama. In HEART OF PALM, a debut novel from Laura Lee Smith, we have plenty of big family drama. Here we meet the Bravos, who live in Utina, Florida, a small southern town on “the other side of prosperity.” It was once known for its Palm Sunday palms, but we know how that market has faded away. The town is faded too, and the people there are going through the motions. But the town is primed for the big time with a land deal that could completely change things --- but it all hinges on the Bravos’ next move. Will they sell to allow the big-time marina to come to town bringing in out-of-town big money?

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Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline

April 2013

Christina Baker Kline’s latest novel, ORPHAN TRAIN, introduces readers to Vivian Daly, a now-90-year-old woman who has had a chaotic past --- from her difficult childhood in Ireland to her turbulent adulthood Midwest. This story specifically documents the “orphan trains” that transported more than 200,000 orphaned, abandoned and homeless children to the Midwest for indentured servitude. Those of you who read THE CHAPERONE, another Bookreporter.com Bets On selection, will remember that its plot touched on the orphan trains. It left me wanting to hear more about it, which made this book even more of a delight. Christina did very extensive research, which authenticates her characters.

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Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger

April 2013

In ORDINARY GRACE, William Kent Krueger departs from his Cork O’Connor series with a stand-alone title, and it is a winner. Set in New Bremen, a small town in Minnesota in 1961 during what we know as “The Kennedy Years,” this coming-of-age story is beautifully told in a style that reminds me of some of my favorite Southern writers, which is interesting since Krueger is Midwestern through and through. The prose wraps around you, and suddenly you look up and wonder where you are as the writing has been so vivid and clear that your sense of place has been redefined.

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Life After Life by Jill McCorkle

March 2013

Jill McCorkle’s LIFE AFTER LIFE, her first novel in 17 years, is something to celebrate. Set in the Pine Haven retirement center, the cast of characters --- and they are all characters --- touched me as I came to know each of them. Their “stories” meant even more as I learned how they each connected with one another as the book unfolded with many “aha” moments. The residents, staff and neighbors of Pine Haven include a retired schoolteacher, a prominent  lawyer who is now fighting dementia, a woman who has moved there from Connecticut for reasons no one understands, a feisty young mother who runs the beauty shop, a hospice volunteer who sees her work as a calling, and a 12-year-old girl named Abby who sees the nursing home as her second home.

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The Paradise Guest House by Ellen Sussman

March 2013

Like many of you, I follow my favorite authors. Thus, when I saw that Ellen Sussman’s new book, THE PARADISE GUEST HOUSE, was coming out, I was eager to read an advance copy (I loved her 2011 title, FRENCH LESSONS). Here, Sussman sets her story in Bali. Jamie, who is an adventure guide, returns to Bali years after she was injured in the 2002 nightclub bombings. She longs to reconnect with Gabe, who rescued her that evening. I confess that while I remember these bombings, I had forgotten the details. The intertwining of that history along with their personal stories was so well handled here.

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Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler

March 2013

Before F. Scott Fitzgerald was a literary darling, he was a young World War I army lieutenant who fell hard for a spirited Southern belle named Zelda Sayre, who lived in Montgomery, Alabama. The life he and Zelda would lead together in New York, Long Island, Paris, Hollywood, and on the French Riviera made them legends even in their own time. Set amidst the glamour of the Jazz Age and the Lost Generation’s vivid world abroad, Z by Therese Anne Fowler brings Zelda and Scott’s romantic, tumultuous, extraordinary journey to life. It is one of the most highly anticipated books of the season; when I read it, I immediately saw why.

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The Obituary Writer by Ann Hood

March 2013

Looking at the cover of Ann Hood’s THE OBITUARY WRITER, I was not sure what to expect. I know that she is well known for her works THE KNITTING CIRCLE and THE RED THREAD, but this looked very different.  It opens in 1960 when the country is caught up in the Kennedy/Nixon election. Claire is a young mother who, along with her friends, idolizes Jackie O. Over dinner parties and cocktails, couples are caught up in the moment when the country feels young and vibrant and ready for a change. Young housewives are greeting their husbands as they come home from dinner, but as they move through their routines, they also are restless. And Claire’s restlessness prompts her to start an affair that unlocks parts of her that makes her feel alive. She also finds herself pregnant, which leads to new questions.

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