Skip to main content

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.

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

January 2009

Alice Howland, happily married with three grown children, is a celebrated Harvard professor at the height of her career when she notices a forgetfulness creeping into her life. As confusion starts to cloud her thinking and her memory begins to fail her, she receives a devastating diagnosis: early onset Alzheimer's disease.

Read more »

Shelter Me by Juliette Fay

December 2008

After the sudden death of her husband, Janie LaMarche’s life sweeps her up and unwillingly marches her on with a role as a solo parent to her two small children. As she stumbles through each day overwhelmed and dazed in a haze of grief and overwhelming sadness, she finds a cast of unlikely characters who help her unravel her feelings --- and set a new course. These include a contractor who shows up ready to build the porch her husband had commissioned without her knowledge and the parish priest who is unflinchingly nice even when Janie is acerbic and biting, as well as strong-willed Aunt Jude and a cousin named Cormac, who delivers bakery creations from his shop to match every mood. Along with these well-drawn characters, strong emotion and wry humor ensure that SHELTER ME is a story to savor and love.
 

Read more »