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April 12, 2016 |
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In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of April 11th and April 18th that we think will be of interest to Bookreporter.com readers, along with Bonus News, where we call out a contest, feature or review that we want to let you know about so you have it on your radar. This week, we are calling attention to our "What's Your Book Group Reading This Month?" contest on ReadingGroupGuides.com. April's prize book is the bestselling psychological thriller IN A DARK, DARK WOOD, the much-talked-about debut novel of Ruth Ware (and a Bookreporter.com Bets On pick), which will be available in paperback on April 19th.
Two more items of interest we would like to share with you: Lisa Scottoline's new book, MOST WANTED, is now available. Click here to watch Lisa discuss her latest thriller and why she thinks it's the perfect book club selection. Also, our 11th Annual Mother's Day Contest is up and running. From now through Monday, May 9th at noon ET, readers can enter to win one of our five prize packages, which includes nine books and some Mom-themed treats.
Know a friend or family member who you think may enjoy this newsletter? Then please forward it on to them!
And for those of you who are doing online shopping, if you use the store links below, Bookreporter.com gets a small affiliate fee on your purchases. We would appreciate your considering this!
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound
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This Week's Bonus News: "What's Your Book Group Reading This Month?" Contest on ReadingGroupGuides.com --- Win 12 Copies of IN A DARK, DARK WOOD by Ruth Ware for Your Book Group
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Each month on ReadingGroupGuides.com, we ask book groups to share the titles they are reading that month and rate them. From all entries, three winners are selected, and each wins 12 copies of that month’s prize book for their group. April's prize book is IN A DARK, DARK WOOD, the instant New York Times bestseller by debut author Ruth Ware. In this compulsive and darkly twisted psychological thriller, what should be a cozy and fun-filled weekend deep in the English countryside takes a sinister turn when one of the guests ends up dead.
-Click here to enter the contest by Wednesday, May 4th at noon ET.
Curious about what book groups read last month? Check out March's submissions here and see if there are any titles you may want to consider adding to your reading list.
Craving more bookish suggestions? Look no further than our Word of Mouth and Sounding Off on Audio features on Bookreporter.com, where readers let us know what they're reading and listening to for a chance to win some fabulous new titles. |
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On Sale the Week of April 11th in Hardcover
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April 12th
THE BED MOVED: Stories by Rebecca Schiff (Fiction/Short Stories)
A New Yorker, trying not to be jaded, accompanies a cash-strapped pot grower to a “clothing optional resort” in California. A nerdy high-schooler has her first sexual experience at Geology Camp. A college student, on the night of her father’s funeral, watches a video of her bat mitzvah, hypnotized by the image of the girl she used to be. Frank and irreverent, Rebecca Schiff’s stories offer a singular view of growing up (or not) and finding love (or not) in today’s ever-uncertain landscape.
Knopf * 9781101875414
CLOSE YOUR EYES by Michael Robotham (Mystery/Thriller)
A mother and her teenage daughter are found murdered in a remote coastal home. Joe O'Loughlin is drawn into the investigation when a former student, trading on Joe's reputation by calling himself "the Mindhunter," jeopardizes the police inquiry by leaking details to the media and stirring up public anger. Joe discovers a link between the farmhouse murders and a series of vicious attacks in which the victims are choked unconscious and brutally scarred. Now, he must stop a ruthless and brash criminal who has apparently graduated to murder.
Mulholland Books * 9780316267946
DAREDEVILS by Shawn Vestal (Fiction)
Fifteen-year-old Loretta slips out of her bedroom every evening to meet her so-called gentile boyfriend. Her strict Mormon parents catch her returning one night, and promptly marry her off to Dean Harder, a devout yet materialistic fundamentalist who already has a wife and a brood of kids. The Harders relocate to his native Idaho, where Dean’s teenage nephew Jason falls hard for Loretta. A Zeppelin and Tolkien fan, Jason worships Evel Knievel and longs to leave his close-minded community. When he and Loretta finally make a break for it, someone Loretta left behind is on their trail.
Penguin Press * 9781101979891
DOWN THE DARKEST STREET: A Pete Fernandez Mystery by Alex Segura (Hard-boiled Mystery)
Pete Fernandez should be dead. His life --- professional and personal --- is in ruins. His best friend is dead. His newspaper career is past tense. His ex is staying with him as her own marriage crumbles. On top of that, the former journalist finds himself in the eye of a dangerous storm. He's investigating a missing girl with an unexpected partner and inching closer and closer to a vicious, calculating killer cutting a swath of blood across Miami --- while at the same time battling his own personal demons that refuse to be silenced.
Polis Books * 9781940610757
DYING FOR A TASTE: A Sally Solari Mystery by Leslie Karst (Mystery)
After losing her mother to cancer, Sally Solari quits her job as an attorney to help her dad run his old-style Italian eatery in Santa Cruz, California. But managing the front of the house is far from her dream job. Then in a sudden twist, her Aunt Letta is found murdered in her own restaurant, and Sally is the only one who can keep the place running. But when her sous chef is accused of the crime, and she finds herself suddenly short-staffed, Sally must delve into the world of sustainable farming --- not to mention a few family secrets --- to help him clear his name and catch the true culprit before her timer runs out.
Crooked Lane Books * 9781629535975
FEVER AT DAWN by Péter Gárdos (Historical Fiction)
In July 1945, Miklos --- a 25-year-old Hungarian who survived the camps --- is brought to Sweden. His doctor has given him a death sentence; his lungs are filled with fluid, and he will be gone in six months. But Miklos has other plans. He acquires the names of 117 Hungarian women also recovering in Sweden and writes a letter to each of them. One of these women, Lili, reads his letter and decides to respond. The two engage in a funny, absurd, hopeful epistolary dance for the next two months…eventually finding a way to meet.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt * 9780544769793
FIRST WOMEN: The Grace and Power of America's Modern First Ladies by Kate Andersen Brower (Social History)
One of the most underestimated --- and challenging --- positions in the world, the First Lady of the United States must be many things: an inspiring leader with a forward-thinking agenda of her own; a savvy politician, skilled at navigating the treacherous rapids of Washington; a wife and mother operating under constant scrutiny; and an able CEO responsible for the smooth operation of countless services and special events at the White House. Former White House correspondent Kate Andersen Brower draws on a wide array of untapped, candid sources to tell the stories of the 10 remarkable women who have defined that role since 1960.
Harper * 9780062439659
AN HONORABLE MAN by Paul Vidich (Historical Thriller)
In 1953, the CIA is reeling from a double agent within their midst. Someone is selling secrets to the Soviets, compromising missions around the globe. Undercover agents have been assassinated, and anti-Communist plots are being cut short in ruthlessly efficient fashion. George Mueller seems to be the perfect man to help find the mole: Yale-educated, extensive experience running missions in Eastern Europe, an operative so dedicated to his job that it left his marriage in tatters. Mueller, though, has secrets of his own, and as he digs deeper into the case, suspicion begins to fall on him as well.
Atria/Emily Bestler Books * 9781501110382
KICK KENNEDY: The Charmed Life and Tragic Death of the Favorite Kennedy Daughter by Barbara Leaming (Biography)
Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy was the incandescent life-force of the fabled Kennedy family, her father’s acknowledged “favorite of all the children” and her brother Jack’s “psychological twin.” She was the Kennedy of Kennedys, sure of her privilege, magnetically charming and somehow not quite like anyone else on whatever stage she happened to grace. To Kick, everything about this life was fun and amusing --- until suddenly it was not. For this is also a story of how a girl like Kick confronted crushing sadness. Willing to pay the price for choosing the love she wanted, she would have to face the consequences of forsaking much that was dear to her.
Thomas Dunne Books * 9781250071316
KING MAYBE: A Junior Bender Mystery by Timothy Hallinan (Mystery/Thriller)
Los Angeles’s most talented burglar, Junior Bender, is in the middle of stealing one of the world’s rarest stamps from a professional killer when his luck suddenly turns sour. It takes an unexpected assist to get him out alive, but his escape sets off a chain reaction of blackmail, strong-arming and escalating crime. By the time Junior is forced to commit his third burglary of the week --- in the impregnable fortress that’s home to the ruthless studio mogul called King Maybe --- he’s beginning to wish he’d just let the killer take a crack at him.
Soho Crime * 9781616954321
THE LADY WITH THE BORZOI: Blanche Knopf, Literary Tastemaker Extraordinaire by Laura Claridge (Biography)
Left off her company's fifth anniversary tribute but described by Thomas Mann as "the soul of the firm," Blanche Knopf began her career when she founded Alfred A. Knopf with her husband in 1915. With her finger on the pulse of a rapidly changing culture, Blanche quickly became a driving force behind the firm. As Knopf celebrates its centennial, Laura Claridge looks back at the firm's beginnings and the dynamic woman who helped to define American letters for the 20th century. Drawing on a vast cache of papers, Claridge also captures Blanche's "witty, loyal, and amusing" personality, and her charged yet oddly loving relationship with her husband.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux * 9780374114251
THE LAST GOODNIGHT: A World War II Story of Espionage, Adventure, and Betrayal by Howard Blum (Biography)
Betty Pack was charming, beautiful and intelligent. As an agent for Britain’s MI-6 and then America’s OSS during World War II, these qualities proved crucial to her success. THE LAST GOODNIGHT is the remarkable story of this “Mata Hari from Minnesota” and the passions that ruled her tempestuous life --- a life filled with dangerous liaisons and death-defying missions vital to the Allied victory. For decades, much of Betty’s career working for MI-6 and the OSS remained classified. Through access to recently unclassified files, Howard Blum discovers the truth about the attractive blond, codenamed “Cynthia.”
Harper * 9780062307675
MOST WANTED by Lisa Scottoline (Thriller)
When a woman and her husband, desperate for a baby, find themselves unable to conceive, they decide to take further steps. Since it is the husband who is infertile, the heroine decides to use a donor. And all seems to be well. Three months pass, and she is happily pregnant. But a shocking revelation occurs when she discovers that a man arrested for a series of brutal murders is her donor --- the biological father of the child she is carrying. Delving deeper to uncover the truth, the heroine must face her worst fears and confront a terrifying reality.
St. Martin's Press * 9781250010131
THE NATURALIST: Theodore Roosevelt, a Lifetime of Exploration, and the Triumph of American Natural History by Darrin Lunde (History)
No U.S. president is more popularly associated with nature and wildlife than Theodore Roosevelt --- prodigious hunter, tireless adventurer and ardent conservationist. We think of him as a larger-than-life original, yet Darrin Lunde has firmly situated Roosevelt’s indomitable curiosity about the natural world in the tradition of museum naturalism. Drawing on his diaries and travel journals, as well as Lunde’s own role as a leading figure in museum naturalism today, THE NATURALIST reads Roosevelt through the lens of his love for nature.
Crown * 9780307464309
THE OBSESSION by Nora Roberts (Romantic Suspense)
Naomi Bowes lost her innocence the night she followed her father into the woods. In freeing the girl trapped in the root cellar, Naomi revealed the horrible extent of her father’s crimes and made him infamous. No matter how close she gets to happiness, she can’t outrun the sins of Thomas David Bowes. Now a successful photographer living under the name Naomi Carson, she has found a place that calls to her, a rambling old house in need of repair, thousands of miles away from everything she’s ever known. But the sins of her father can become an obsession, and, as she’s learned time and again, her past is never more than a nightmare away.
Berkley * 9780399175169
POISONOUS by Allison Brennan (Thriller)
Teenaged Internet bully Ivy Lake fell off a cliff, and few people cared. After a year, the police still have no answers. With too many suspects and not enough evidence, the investigation has grown cold. At the request of Ivy's mentally challenged 18-year-old stepbrother, Tommy, Maxine Revere takes the case. But the more Max learns about Tommy and his dysfunctional family, the more she thinks she’s taken on an impossible task: this may be the one case she can’t solve.
Minotaur Books * 9781250066848
THE REGIONAL OFFICE IS UNDER ATTACK! by Manuel Gonzales (Fiction)
In a world beset by amassing forces of darkness, one organization --- the Regional Office --- and its coterie of super-powered female assassins protects the globe from annihilation. But a prophecy suggests that someone from inside might bring about its downfall. And now, the Regional Office is under attack. Recruited by a defector from within, Rose is a young assassin leading the attack. Defending the Regional Office is Sarah, who is fiercely devoted to the organization that took her in as a young woman in the wake of her mother’s sudden disappearance. On the day that the Regional Office is attacked, Rose’s and Sarah’s stories will overlap, their lives will collide, and the world as they know it just might end.
Riverhead Books * 9781594632419
SUNSET CITY by Melissa Ginsburg (Literary Noir Mystery)
Before the drugs, Danielle Reeves was Charlotte Ford’s most loyal and vibrant friend. Sadly, though, Danielle’s addiction got the best of her, and she went to prison for four years. When she gets out, she and Charlotte reconnect. Charlotte hopes this is a new start for their friendship. But then a detective shows up at Charlotte’s apartment. Danielle has been murdered, bludgeoned to death. Overwhelmed by grief, Charlotte is determined to understand how the most alive person she has ever known could end up dead. The deeper Charlotte descends into Danielle’s dark world, however, the less she understands.
Ecco * 9780062429704
TITANS by Leila Meacham (Historical Fiction)
Texas in the early 1900s was on the cusp of an oil boom that, unbeknownst to its residents, would spark a period of dramatic changes and economic growth. In the midst of this transformative time in Southern history, two unforgettable characters emerge and find their fates irrevocably intertwined: Samantha Gordon, the privileged heiress to the sprawling Las Tres Lomas cattle ranch, and Nathan Holloway, a sweet-natured and charming farm boy. As changes sweep the rustic countryside, Samantha and Nathan's connection drives this narrative compulsively forward as they love, lose and betray.
Grand Central Publishing * 9781455533831
TRUE REAGAN: What Made Ronald Reagan Great and Why It Matters by James Rosebush (Biography)
What made Ronald Reagan tick? What was the secret to his greatness, the source of his influence, the key to his character, the strength behind his leadership? And why does it matter to the nation today? Just the mention of his name still evokes deep admiration and affection among Americans of every stripe, on both sides of the aisle. Many have previously sought to capture the essence of this very public figure often called "mysterious and unknowable." But now, as James Rosebush tells Reagan's story from first-hand experience, we come closer to understanding the heart of this great American.
Center Street * 9781455593828
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On Sale the Week of April 11th in Paperback
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April 11th
CHASING GOLD: The Incredible Story of How the Nazis Stole Europe's Bullion by George M. Taber (History)
For the entire history of human civilization, gold has enraptured people around the globe. The Nazis were no less enthralled by it and felt that gold was the solution to funding Hitler's war machine. Gold was also on the mind of FDR across the Atlantic, as he worked with Europe's other leaders to bring the United States and the rest of the world out of a severe depression. CHASING GOLD is the story of how the Nazis attempted to grab Europe’s gold to finance history’s bloodiest war.
Pegasus * 9781605989754
April 12th
ADELINE: A Novel of Virginia Woolf by Norah Vincent (Historical Fiction)
On April 18, 1941, 22 days after Virginia Woolf went for a walk near her weekend house in Sussex and never returned, her body was reclaimed from the River Ouse. Norah Vincent’s ADELINE reimagines the events that brought Woolf to the riverbank. She channels Virginia and Leonard Woolf, T. S. and Vivienne Eliot, Lytton Strachey and Dora Carrington, laying bare their genius and their blind spots, their achievements and their failings, from the inside out.
Mariner Books * 9780544704855
ARMADA by Ernest Cline (Science Fiction/Adventure)
Zack Lightman dreams that the real world could be a little more like the countless science-fiction books, movies and videogames he’s spent his life consuming. Then he sees the flying saucer. Even stranger, the alien ship he’s staring at is straight out of the videogame he plays every night, a hugely popular online flight simulator called Armada --- in which gamers just happen to be protecting the earth from alien invaders. His skills --- as well as those of millions of gamers across the world --- are going to be needed to save the earth from what’s about to befall it.
Broadway Books * 9780804137270
BURNING DOWN GEORGE ORWELL’S HOUSE by Andrew Ervin (Fiction)
Ray Welter, who until recently was a high-flying advertising executive in Chicago, has left the world of newspeak behind. He decamps to the isolated Scottish Isle of Jura in order to spend a few months in the cottage where George Orwell wrote most of his seminal novel, NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR. A few of the local islanders take a decidedly shallow view of a foreigner coming to visit in order to sort himself out, and Ray quickly finds himself having to deal with not only his own issues but also a community whose eccentricities are at times amusing and at others downright dangerous.
Soho Press * 9781616956523
GET YOUR HOPES UP!: Expect Something Good to Happen to You Every Day by Joyce Meyer (Christian Life/Inspirational)
One of the most powerful forces in the universe is hope --- the happy and confident anticipation that something good is going to happen. Regardless of where one is in life, it is impossible to live successfully and to the fullest without hope. With GET YOUR HOPES UP! Joyce Meyer will help readers achieve a lasting sense of hope, built on their faith in God. Hope is only as strong as its source. This book will help readers avoid misplacing their trust in unreliable things, and help them ground their hope steadfastly in God for limitless joy and possibilities for their lives.
FaithWords * 9781455517329
I WAS A CHILD: A Memoir by Bruce Eric Kaplan (Memoir)
Bruce Eric Kaplan, also known as BEK, is one of the most celebrated and admired cartoonists in America. I WAS A CHILD is the story of his childhood in words and drawings, in which he recalls growing up in New Jersey with his parents and two older brothers. It would seem like a conventional childhood, although Kaplan’s anecdotes are accompanied by his signature drawings of family outings and life at home --- road trips, milk crates, hamsters, ashtrays, wigs, a platypus and much more.
Blue Rider Press * 9780399183416
LITTLE BLACK LIES by Sharon Bolton (Mystery)
In such a small community as the Falkland Islands, a missing child is unheard of. In such a dangerous landscape, it surely can only be a terrible tragedy. When another child goes missing, and then a third, it's no longer possible to believe that their deaths were accidental, and the villagers must admit that there is a murderer among them. Even Catrin Quinn, a damaged woman living a reclusive life after the accidental deaths of her own two sons a few years ago, gets involved in the searches and the speculation.
Minotaur Books * 9781250080677
MARTIN MARTEN by Brian Doyle (Fiction)
Dave is 14 years old and living with his family in a cabin on Oregon’s Mount Hood. He will soon enter high school, with adulthood and a future not far off --- a future away from his mother, father, his precocious younger sister, and the wilderness where he’s lived all his life. Meanwhile, Martin, a pine marten (of the mustelid family), is leaving his own mother and siblings and setting off on his own as well. As Dave and Martin embark on their own adventures, their lives, paths and trails will cross, weave and blend.
Picador * 9781250081056
MY JOURNEY WITH MAYA by Tavis Smiley, with David Ritz (Memoir)
For nearly 30 years, Maya Angelou and Tavis Smiley shared an unlikely, special bond. Angelou was a teacher and a maternal figure to Smiley, and they talked often of art, politics, history, race, religion, music, love, purpose and --- more than anything --- courage. In MY JOURNEY WITH MAYA, Smiley recalls a joyful friendship filled to the brim with sparkling conversation. In Angelou's gardens surrounded by her caged birds, before lectures, sharing meals, and on breaks from it all, they sought each other out for comfort, advice and, above all else, friendship.
Back Bay Books * 9780316341776
A PATTERN OF LIES: A Bess Crawford Mystery by Charles Todd (Historical Mystery)
An explosion and fire at the Ashton Gunpowder Mill in Kent has killed over a hundred men, and suspicion and rumor raise the specter of murder. While visiting the Ashton family, Bess Crawford finds herself caught up in a venomous show of hostility that doesn’t stop with Philip Ashton’s arrest. The only known witness to the tragedy is now at the Front in France, and he refuses to tell Bess anything that will help the Ashtons. Bess has no choice but to risk her own life to protect this man from a clever killer intent on preventing either of them from ever reaching England.
William Morrow Paperbacks * 9780062386250
PLEASANTVILLE by Attica Locke (Thriller)
When a girl goes missing on Election Night, 1996, in the neighborhood of Pleasantville, Jay Porter is deeply disturbed. She was a volunteer for one of the local mayoral candidates, and her disappearance complicates an already heated campaign. When the nephew of one of the candidates is arrested, Jay reluctantly finds himself serving as a defense attorney. With a man’s life and his own reputation on the line, Jay is about to try his first murder in a case that will also put an electoral process on trial.
Harper Perennial * 9780062259349
THE SYMPATHIZER by Viet Thanh Nguyen (Historical Fiction)
It is April 1975, and Saigon is in chaos. At his villa, a general of the South Vietnamese army is drinking whiskey and, with the help of his trusted captain, drawing up a list of those who will be given passage aboard the last flights out of the country. The general and his compatriots start a new life in Los Angeles, unaware that one among their number, the captain, is secretly observing and reporting on the group to a higher-up in the Viet Cong.
Grove Press * 9780802124944
WOMAN WITH A SECRET by Sophie Hannah (Psychological Thriller)
A controversial newspaper columnist named Damon Blundy has been murdered, and the detectives begin peppering Nicki Clements with questions. Why was she seen fleeing the scene? What is her connection to the victim? Why was the knife that killed him used in such a peculiar way? Why were the words “HE IS NO LESS DEAD” painted on the wall of Blundy’s study, and what do they signify? One simple answer could clear her. But she can’t explain why she fled that day without revealing the secret that could ruin her.
William Morrow Paperbacks * 9780062388278
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On Sale the Week of April 18th in Hardcover
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April 18th
BRILLIANT BEACONS: A History of the American Lighthouse by Eric Jay Dolin (History)
Set against the backdrop of an expanding nation, BRILLIANT BEACONS traces the evolution of America's lighthouse system from its earliest days, highlighting the political, military and technological battles fought to illuminate the nation's hardscrabble coastlines. Beginning with "Boston Light," America's first lighthouse, Eric Jay Dolin shows how the story of America --- from colony to regional backwater, to fledgling nation, and eventually to global industrial power --- can be illustrated through its lighthouses.
Liveright * 9780871406682
LIFE WITHOUT A RECIPE: A Memoir of Food and Family by Diana Abu-Jaber (Memoir)
On one side, there is Grace: prize-winning author Diana Abu-Jaber’s tough, independent sugar-fiend of a German grandmother, wielding a suitcase full of holiday cookies. On the other, Bud: a flamboyant, spice-obsessed Arab father, full of passionate argument. The two could not agree on anything: not about food, work, or especially about what Diana should do with her life. Grace warned her away from children. Bud wanted her married above all --- even if he had to provide the ring. Caught between cultures and lavished with contradictory “advice” from both sides of her family, Diana spent years learning how to ignore others’ well-intentioned prescriptions.
W. W. Norton & Company * 9780393249095
April 19th
APPROVAL JUNKIE: Adventures in Caring Too Much by Faith Salie (Humor/Essays)
Faith Salie has done it all in the name of validation. Whether it’s trying to impress her parents with a perfect GPA, undergoing an exorcism in the hopes of saving her toxic marriage, or maintaining the BMI of “a flapper with a touch of dysentery,” Salie is the ultimate approval seeker --- an “approval junkie,” if you will. With thoughtful irreverence, Salie reflects on why she tries so hard to please others, and herself, highlighting a phenomenon that many people --- especially women --- experience at home and in the workplace.
Crown Archetype * 9780553419931
BEFORE THE WIND by Jim Lynch (Fiction)
For Joshua Johannssen and his two siblings, their backyard was the Puget sound and sailing their DNA. But both his sister and brother fled many years ago: Ruby to Africa and Bernard to god-knows-where at sea. Suddenly 31, Josh --- who repairs boats of all kinds on the south of Seattle --- is pained and confused by whatever went wrong with his family that split them apart. When the Johannssens unexpectedly reunite for the most important race in these waters --- all of them together on a classic vessel they made decades ago --- they will be carried to destinies and heart-shattering revelation uniting past and present.
Knopf * 9780307958983
BEFORE WE VISIT THE GODDESS by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (Fiction)
The daughter of a poor baker in rural Bengal, India, Sabitri yearns to get an education, but college is an impossible dream. Then an influential woman from Kolkata takes Sabitri under her wing, but her generosity soon proves dangerous after the girl makes a single, unforgiveable misstep. Years later, Sabitri’s own daughter, Bela, haunted by her mother’s choices, flees abroad with her political refugee lover --- but the America she finds is vastly different from the country she’d imagined. As the marriage crumbles and Bela is forced to forge her own path, she unwittingly imprints her own child, Tara, with indelible lessons about freedom, heartbreak and loyalty that will take a lifetime to unravel.
Simon & Schuster * 9781476792002
THE BLACKBIRDS by Eric Jerome Dickey (Romance)
They call themselves the Blackbirds. Kwanzaa Browne, Indigo Abdulrahaman, Destiny Jones and Ericka Stockwell are four best friends who are closer than sisters, and will go to the ends of the earth for one another. Yet even their deep bond can’t heal all wounds from their individual pasts, as the collegiate and post-collegiate women struggle with their own demons, drama and desires. As they try to overcome --- or give into --- their impulses, they find not only themselves tested, but the one thing they always considered unbreakable: their friendship.
Dutton * 9781101984109
THE DARK LADY’S MASK: A Novel of Shakespeare's Muse by Mary Sharratt (Historical Fiction)
Aemilia Bassano Lanier is beautiful and accomplished, but her societal conformity ends there. She frequently cross-dresses to escape her loveless marriage and to gain freedoms only men enjoy, but a chance encounter with a ragged, little-known poet named Shakespeare changes everything. They begin secretly writing comedies together and fall in love, but their collaborative affair comes to a devastating end. Will gains fame and fortune for their plays in London and years later publishes the sonnets mocking his former muse. Not one to stand by in humiliation, Aemilia takes up her own pen in her defense and in defense of all women.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt * 9780544300767
DAUGHTER OF ALBION: A Novel of Ancient Britain by Ilka Tampke (Historical Fantasy)
A baby girl is abandoned on the doorstep of the Tribequeen’s kitchen. Cookmother takes her in and names her Ailia. Despite being an outsider in her village, Ailia grows up an intelligent and brave young woman, serving the Tribequeen of her township until the day when an encounter with an enigmatic man named Taliesin leads Ailia to the Mothers, the tribal ancestors, who have chosen her for another path. Ailia’s growing awareness of her future role as the tribal protector and her relationships with the two very different men she loves will be utterly tested by the imminent threat of Emperor Claudius preparing to take the island.
Thomas Dunne Books * 9781250081094
DESIGN FOR DYING: A Lillian Frost & Edith Head Novel by Renee Patrick (Historical Mystery)
Los Angeles, 1937. Lillian Frost has traded dreams of stardom for security as a department store salesgirl...until she discovers she's a suspect in the murder of her former roommate, Ruby Carroll. Party girl Ruby died wearing a gown she stole from the wardrobe department at Paramount Pictures, domain of Edith Head. Edith has yet to win the first of her eight Academy Awards; right now she's barely hanging on to her job, and a scandal is the last thing she needs. To clear Lillian's name and save Edith's career, the two women join forces.
Forge Books * 9780765381842
ELIGIBLE: A Modern Retelling of Pride and Prejudice by Curtis Sittenfeld (Fiction)
This version of the Bennet family --- and Mr. Darcy --- is one that you have and haven’t met before. Liz is a magazine writer in her late 30s who, like her yoga instructor older sister, Jane, lives in New York City. When their father has a health scare, they return to their childhood home in Cincinnati to help --- and discover that the sprawling Tudor they grew up in is crumbling and the family is in disarray.
Random House * 9781400068326
THE EXCELLENT LOMBARDS by Jane Hamilton (Fiction)
Mary Frances "Frankie" Lombard is fiercely in love with her family's sprawling apple orchard and the tangled web of family members who inhabit it. But she cannot help being haunted by the historical fact that some family members end up staying on the farm and others must leave. Change is inevitable, and threats of urbanization, disinheritance and college applications shake the foundation of Frankie's roots. As Frankie is forced to shed her childhood fantasies and face the possibility of losing the idyllic future she had envisioned for her family, she must decide whether loving something means clinging tightly or letting go.
Grand Central Publishing * 9781455564224
JOIN by Steve Toutonghi (Science Fiction/Thriller)
What if you could live multiple lives simultaneously; have constant, perfect companionship; and never die? That’s the promise of Join, a revolutionary technology that allows small groups of minds to unite, forming a single consciousness that experiences the world through multiple bodies. But as two best friends discover, the light of that miracle may be blinding the world to its horrors. Chance and Leap are jolted out of their professional routines by a terrifying stranger --- a remorseless killer who freely manipulates the networks that regulate life in the post-Join world.
Soho Press * 9781616956707
THE LAST MILE by David Baldacci (Thriller)
Convicted murderer Melvin Mars is counting down the last hours before his execution --- for the violent killing of his parents 20 years earlier --- when he's granted an unexpected reprieve. Another man has confessed to the crime. Amos Decker, newly hired on an FBI special task force, takes an interest in Mars' case after discovering the striking similarities to his own life. Who wants Mars out of prison? And why now? But when a member of Decker's team disappears, it becomes clear that something much larger --- and more sinister --- than just one convicted criminal's life hangs in the balance.
Grand Central Publishing * 9781455586455
THE LETTER WRITER by Dan Fesperman (Historical Thriller)
When Woodrow Cain leaves North Carolina for New York City, he also leaves behind a wife who had left him, a daughter in the care of his sister, and a career as a police officer marred by questions surrounding his partner’s murder. He gets a job with the NYPD --- hoping to start anew --- but comes into contact with a man who calls himself Danzinger. He speaks five languages and has the appearance of a “crackpot,” yet he is the only person who can help Cain identity a body just found floating in the Hudson. Who is this mysterious man, and how does he know so much about Cain? The more Cain and Danzinger investigate, the nearer they come to the center of a citywide web of traitorous corruption from which neither of them may get out alive.
Knopf * 9781101875063
MAESTRA by L. S. Hilton (Psychological Thriller)
By day, Judith Rashleigh is a put-upon assistant at a prestigious London art house. By night, she’s a hostess at one of the capital’s notorious champagne bars, although her work there pales against her activities on nights off. Feeling reckless, she accompanies one of the champagne bar’s biggest clients to the French Riviera, only to find herself alone again after a fatal accident. Tired of striving and the slow crawl to the top, Judith has a realization: If you need to turn yourself into someone else, loneliness is a good place to start. And she’s been lonely a long time.
G.P. Putnam's Sons * 9780399184260
MIDNIGHT IN BERLIN by James MacManus (Historical Fiction)
While Hitler is preparing for war, Colonel Noel Macrae, a British diplomat, plans the ultimate sacrifice to stop him. Since the West’s appeasement policies have failed, there is only one alternative: assassination. The Gestapo, aware of Macrae’s hostility, seeks to compromise him in their infamous brothel. There Macrae meets and falls in love with Sara, a Jewish woman blackmailed into becoming a Nazi courtesan. Macrae finds himself trapped between the blind policies of his government and the dark world of betrayal and deception in Berlin. As he seeks to save the woman he loves from the brutality of the Gestapo, he defies his government and plans direct action to avert what he knows will be a global war.
Thomas Dunne Books * 9781250079404
MOTHERING SUNDAY: A Romance by Graham Swift (Romance)
Twenty-two-year-old Jane Fairchild has worked as a maid at an English country house since she was 16. For almost all of those years, she has been the clandestine lover to Paul Sheringham, young heir of a neighboring house. The two now meet on an unseasonably warm March day --- Mothering Sunday --- a day that will change Jane’s life forever. As the narrative moves back and forth from 1924 to the end of the century, what we know and understand about Jane expands with every vividly captured moment.
Knopf * 9781101947524
NOBLE CHASE by Michael Rudolph (Legal Thriller)
Young lawyer Beth Swahn makes a rookie mistake: she believes her client. While basking in the glory of winning a hundred-million-dollar judgment for a U.S. division of C. K. Leung’s Chinese conglomerate, Beth realizes that because of her naïveté, Leonard Sloane, president of the division, has absconded to the Caribbean with his banker girlfriend and $70 million of the judgment money. Shortly thereafter, they are both presumed dead when a Mayday call to the Coast Guard reports the sinking of their yacht. Determined to retrieve Leung’s money and save her firm from bankruptcy, Beth investigates her way through a maze of money laundering and white-collar corruption.
Ballantine Books * 9781101884379
ONLY IN NAPLES: Lessons in Food and Famiglia from My Italian Mother-in-Law by Katherine Wilson (Memoir)
Full of lighthearted humor, sumptuous food, the wisdom of an Italian mother-in-law, and all the atmosphere of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels, this warm and witty memoir follows American-born Katherine Wilson on her adventures abroad. Thanks to a surprising romance --- and a spirited woman who teaches her to laugh, to seize joy, and to love --- a three-month rite of passage in Naples turns into a permanent embrace of this boisterous city on the Mediterranean.
Random House * 9780812998160
’TIL DEATH DO US PART by Amanda Quick (Historical Romantic Suspense)
Calista Langley operates an exclusive “introduction” agency in Victorian London, catering to respectable ladies and gentlemen who find themselves alone in the world. But now, a dangerously obsessed individual has begun sending her trinkets and gifts suitable only for those in deepest mourning. Desperate for help and fearing that the police will be of no assistance, Calista turns to Trent Hastings, a reclusive author of popular crime novels. As Trent and Calista comb through files of rejected clients in hopes of identifying her tormentor, it becomes clear that the danger may be coming from Calista’s own secret past.
Berkley * 9780399174469
WAR HAWK: A Tucker Wayne Novel by James Rollins and Grant Blackwood (Thriller/Adventure)
Tucker Wayne’s past and his present collide when a former army colleague comes to him for help. She’s on the run from brutal assassins hunting her and her son. To keep them safe, Tucker must discover who killed a brilliant young idealist --- a crime that leads back to the most powerful figures in the U.S. government. From the haunted ruins of a plantation in the deep South to the beachheads of a savage civil war in Trinidad, Tucker and Kane must discover the truth behind a mystery that leads back to World War II, to a true event that is even now changing the world…and will redefine what it means to be human.
William Morrow * 9780062135278 |
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On Sale the Week of April 18th in Paperback
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April 19th
AND SOMETIMES I WONDER ABOUT YOU: A Leonid McGill Mystery by Walter Mosley (Mystery)
P.I. Leonid McGill isn’t usually one to refuse a case. But when Hiram Stent, a man down on his luck, begs him to find a cousin who is about to inherit millions of dollars, he senses something fishy. His instincts prove right: The night after he turns Hiram away, Hiram is found dead and Leonid’s office is broken into. Feeling partly responsible for this bizarre turn of events, Leonid is forced to open an investigation that will pull him into the lurid history of an old-money New York family.
Vintage Crime/Black Lizard * 9780804172097
BENEATH THE SURFACE: Killer Whales, SeaWorld, and the Truth Beyond Blackfish by John Hargrove, with Howard Chua-Eoan (Nature & Ecology)
When two fellow trainers were killed by orcas in marine parks, John Hargrove decided that SeaWorld's wildly popular programs were both detrimental to the whales and ultimately unsafe for trainers. After leaving SeaWorld, he became one of the stars of the controversial documentary "Blackfish" and now contributes his expertise to an advocacy movement that is convincing both federal and state governments to act. In BENEATH THE SURFACE, Hargrove paints a compelling portrait of these highly intelligent and social creatures.
St. Martin’s Griffin * 9781250081407
CAPITAL DAMES: The Civil War and the Women of Washington, 1848-1868 by Cokie Roberts (History)
With the outbreak of the Civil War, Washington, D.C. found itself caught between warring sides in a four-year battle that would determine the future of the United States. With their husbands, brothers and fathers marching off to war, the women of Washington, D.C. joined the cause as well. Cokie Roberts chronicles their increasing independence, their political empowerment, their indispensable role in keeping the Union unified through the war, and in helping heal it once the fighting was done.
Harper Perennial * 9780062002778
THE CHERRY HARVEST by Lucy Sanna (Historical Fiction)
With food rationed and money scarce, Charlotte struggles to keep her family well fed during World War II. When their upcoming cherry harvest is threatened, she helps persuade local authorities to allow German war prisoners from a nearby camp to pick the fruit. But when Charlotte’s husband befriends one of the prisoners, a teacher named Karl, and invites him to tutor their daughter, the implications of Charlotte’s decision become apparent --- especially when she finds herself unexpectedly drawn to Karl.
William Morrow Paperbacks * 9780062343635
THE DIG by John Preston (Historical Fiction)
Paperback Original
In the long, hot summer of 1939, Britain is preparing for war, but on a riverside farm in Suffolk there is excitement of another kind. Mrs. Pretty, the widowed owner of the farm, has had her hunch confirmed that the mounds on her land hold buried treasure. As the dig proceeds, it becomes clear that this is no ordinary find. This fictional recreation of the famed Sutton Hoo dig follows three months of intense activity when locals fought outsiders, professionals thwarted amateurs, and love and rivalry flourished in equal measure.
Other Press * 9781590517802
DRAWING DEAD: A Cross Novel by Andrew Vachss (Supernatural Thriller)
Paperback Original
Even the deadliest gangs in Chicagoland fear the Cross Crew and carefully avoid their cinderblock bunker headquarters.The Crew is notorious for its ruthless efficiency and cold-blooded cunning. Why, then, would anyone be foolhardy enough to threaten them --- and, even more dangerously, their loved ones? As Cross catches the scent of a far-reaching conspiracy, he realizes that it all connects to an unexplained event in his past: a massacre from which he emerged inexplicably unscathed, save for the blue mark on his face that pulses when danger is near. If he's reading the signs accurately, Cross might find himself again facing a terrible menace that is not altogether human.
Vintage Crime/Black Lizard * 9781101970294
ENGLAND AND OTHER STORIES by Graham Swift (Fiction/Short Stories)
Graham Swift presents a vision of a country, England, that is both a crucible of history and a maze of contemporary confusions. Moving from the 17th century to the present day, from world-shaking events to domestic dramas and frequently mixing tragedy with comedy, ENGLAND AND OTHER STORIES is bound together by an underlying instinct for the story of us all: an evocation of that mysterious thing, a nation, enriched by a clear-eyed compassion for how human individuals find or lose their way in the nationless territory of birth, growing up, sex, aging and death.
Vintage * 9781101872383
IF YOU FIND THIS LETTER: My Journey to Find Purpose Through Hundreds of Letters to Strangers by Hannah Brencher (Memoir)
Fresh out of college, Hannah Brencher moved to New York, where she found herself lonely and depressed. When she noticed a woman who looked like she felt the same way on the subway, Hannah did something strange --- she wrote the woman a letter. She folded it, scribbled “If you find this letter, it’s for you...” on the front and left it behind. When she realized that it made her feel better, she started writing and leaving love notes all over the city. She found solace in the idea that her words might brighten someone’s day.
Howard Books * 9781476784106
IN A DARK, DARK WOOD by Ruth Ware (Psychological Thriller)
Leonora, known to some as Lee and others as Nora, is a reclusive crime writer, unwilling to leave her “nest” of an apartment unless it is absolutely necessary. When a friend she hasn’t seen or spoken to in years unexpectedly invites Nora (Lee?) to a weekend away in an eerie glass house deep in the English countryside, she reluctantly agrees to make the trip. Forty-eight hours later, she wakes up in a hospital bed injured but alive, with the knowledge that someone is dead.
Gallery/Scout Press * 9781501112331
THE MELODY LINGERS ON by Mary Higgins Clark (Thriller)
As the sole assistant to a famous upscale interior designer, Lane Harmon is accustomed to visiting opulent homes. When called upon to assist in redecorating a modest townhouse in Bergen County, she learns the home belongs to the wife of notorious and disgraced financier Parker Bennett, who has been missing for two years. Gradually, Lane finds herself drawn to Eric, the Bennetts’ son, who is determined to prove that his father is not guilty. Lane doesn’t know that the closer she gets to the Bennetts, the more she puts her life --- and her daughter's life --- in jeopardy.
Pocket Books * 9781476749129
ONE NIGHT CHARMER: A Copper Ridge Novel by Maisey Yates (Romance)
Paperback Original
Ace Thompson is the last person Sierra West wants to ask for a bartending job, but she has no choice. Ever since discovering that her "perfect" family is built on a lie, Sierra has been determined to make it on her own. Resisting her new boss should be easy when they're always bickering. Until one night, the squabbling stops…and something far more dangerous takes over. Ace has a personal policy against messing around with staff --- or with spoiled rich girls. But there's a steel backbone beneath Sierra's silver-spoon upbringing. She's tougher than he thought, and so much more tempting.
HQN Books * 9780373789658
A PERFECT HERITAGE by Penny Vincenzi (Fiction)
The House of Farrell is a prolific skincare company and home of The Cream, an iconic face product. But the world of cosmetics is changing, and the once glorious House of Farrell is now in decline, its customers tempted away by more fashionable brands. With no idea how to right the ship, company figurehead Athina Farrell hires Bianca Bailey, a formidable businesswoman. Athina and Bianca lock horns over the future of the House of Farrell, but it’s the past that tells its devastating tale of ambition and ego, passion and wonder.
The Overlook Press * 9781468312614
RE JANE by Patricia Park (Fiction)
For Jane Re, half-Korean, half-American orphan, Flushing, Queens, is the place she’s been trying to escape from her whole life. So she’s thrilled to become the au pair for the Mazer-Farleys, two Brooklyn English professors and their adopted Chinese daughter. Jane is the recipient of Beth Mazer’s feminist lectures and Ed Farley’s very male attention. But when a family death interrupts Jane and Ed’s blossoming affair, she flies off to Seoul. Reconnecting with family and struggling to learn the ways of modern-day Korea, Jane begins to wonder if Ed Farley is really the man for her.
Penguin Books * 9780143107941
THE SEMPER SONNET by Seth Margolis (Thriller)
Paperback Original
Lee Nicholson takes the academic world by storm, seemingly unearthing a never-before published sonnet by William Shakespeare. When she reads the poem on the air, her words are ignored by all but a small group of people. Buried in the language of the sonnet, in its allusions and wordplay, secrets have been hidden dating back to Elizabethan times, shared by the queen and her doctor, by men who seek the crown and men who seek the world. If the riddles are solved, it could explode what the world knows of the monarchy. Or it could release a pandemic more deadly than the world has ever seen.
Diversion Publishing * 9781682300565
WHAT COMES NEXT AND HOW TO LIKE IT: A Memoir by Abigail Thomas (Memoir)
What comes next? What comes after the devastating loss of Abigail Thomas’ husband, a process both sudden and slow? What form does her lifelong platonic friendship take after a certain line is crossed? How to cope with her daughter’s diagnosed illness? Or the death of her beloved dog? And how to like it? How to accept, appreciate, enjoy? Who are our most trusted, valuable companions, and what will we do for them?
Scribner * 9781476785066
WHERE THEY FOUND HER by Kimberly McCreight (Psychological Suspense)
No one knows the identity of a newborn whose body has just been discovered in the woods or what ended her very short life. Freelance journalist Molly Sanderson is unexpectedly called upon to cover the news for her local paper. A severe depression followed the loss of her own baby, and this assignment could unearth memories she has tried hard to bury. But the disturbing history Molly uncovers is not her own. Her investigation reveals a decades-old trail of dark secrets hiding behind Ridgedale's white picket fences.
Harper Perennial * 9780062225474
YOU’RE NEVER WEIRD ON THE INTERNET (ALMOST): A Memoir by Felicia Day (Memoir)
Felicia Day is a violinist, filmmaker, Internet entrepreneur, compulsive gamer, hoagie specialist, and former lonely homeschooled girl who overcame her isolated childhood to become at least semi-influential in the world of Internet geeks and Goodreads book clubs. She moved to Hollywood to pursue her dream of becoming an actress and was immediately typecast as a crazy cat-lady secretary. But her misadventures in Hollywood led her to produce her own web series, own her very own production company, and become an Internet star.
Touchstone * 9781476785660
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