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September 20, 2016

September 20, 2016
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In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of September 19th and September 26th 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 Women's Fiction Author Spotlight & Contest for THE WANGS VS. THE WORLD by Jade Chang, along with three contests for book groups on ReadingGroupGuides.com. Also, if you missed our reviews of the latest books from Ann Patchett, Ian McEwan and Jonathan Safran Foer, which were posted last Friday, all you have to do is click on the covers above and you'll be taken right to them.

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!

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This Week's Bonus News: Our Women's Fiction Author Spotlight & Contest for THE WANGS VS. THE WORLD by Jade Chang and Three Contests on ReadingGroupGuides.com
Win a Copy of THE WANGS VS. THE WORLD by Jade Chang and Share Your Comments on It
We have 25 copies of THE WANGS VS. THE WORLD by Jade Chang --- a hilarious debut novel about a wealthy but fractured Chinese immigrant family that had it all, only to lose every last cent, and about the road trip they take across America that binds them back together --- to give away to readers who would like to read the book, which releases on October 4th, and share their comments on it. Enter here by Thursday, September 29th at noon ET.

Win 12 Copies of FATES AND TRAITORS by Jennifer Chiaverini for Your Book Group
We are celebrating the release of Jennifer Chiaverini's FATES AND TRAITORS --- a riveting work of historical fiction following the notorious John Wilkes Booth and the four women who kept his perilous confidence --- by giving three book groups the chance to win 12 copies. Enter here by Wednesday, October 19th at noon ET.

"What's Your Book Group Reading This Month?": Tell Us and You Will Be Entered to Win 12 Copies of THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS by M. L. Stedman
Each month, we ask book groups to share the titles they are reading that month and rate them. From all entries, three winners will be selected, and each will win 12 copies of that month’s prize book for their group. September's prize book is M. L. Stedman's THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS, the years-long New York Times bestseller (now a major motion picture) about an isolated couple, an orphaned child and an impossible choice. Enter here by Wednesday, October 5th at noon ET.

Win 12 Copies of THE BITTER SEASON by Tami Hoag for Your Book Group

We are celebrating the trade paperback release of THE BITTER SEASON by Tami Hoag --- a Kovac and Liska thriller that explores the devastating consequences of the secrets families keep --- with a special contest that will give three book groups the chance to win 12 copies. Enter here by Wednesday, October 5th at noon ET.
On Sale the Week of September 19th in Hardcover

September 20th

BASED ON A TRUE STORY: A Memoir
by Norm Macdonald (Humor/Memoir)
As this book’s title suggests, Norm Macdonald tells the story of his life --- more or less --- from his origins on a farm in the-back-of-beyond Canada and an epically disastrous appearance on “Star Search” to his account of auditioning for Lorne Michaels and his memorable run as the anchor of Weekend Update on “Saturday Night Live” -- until he was fired because a corporate executive didn’t think he was funny. But BASED ON A TRUE STORY is much more than a memoir; it’s the hilarious, inspired epic of Norm’s life.
Spiegel & Grau * 9780812993622

BLOOD AT THE ROOT: A Racial Cleansing in America by Patrick Phillips (History)
Forsyth County, Georgia, at the turn of the 20th century was home to a large African American community. Many black residents were poor sharecroppers, but others owned their own farms. But then in September 1912, three young black laborers were accused of raping and murdering a white girl. One man was dragged from a jail cell and lynched on the town square, two teenagers were hung after a one-day trial, and soon bands of white “night riders” launched a coordinated campaign of arson and terror. National Book Award finalist Patrick Phillips tells Forsyth’s tragic story in vivid detail and traces its long history of racial violence all the way back to antebellum Georgia.
W. W. Norton & Company * 9780393293012

DAISY IN CHAINS by Sharon Bolton (Mystery)
He’s a serial killer. A murderer of young women, all killed in brutal attacks. Despite serial killer Hamish Wolfe’s conviction, he’s always stuck to his story --- he is innocent of the murders of young women and has been wrongly imprisoned. Now he wants someone to investigate and, more importantly, to write his story. Maggie Rose is a notorious defense attorney and writer whose specialty is getting convictions overturned. At first, Maggie is reluctant to even acknowledge Hamish’s requests to meet, ignoring his letters. But this is a very charismatic and persuasive man, good-looking and intelligent. Eventually even she can’t resist his lure…
Minotaur Books * 9781250103420

THE FAMILY PLOT by Cherie Priest (Supernatural Thriller/Romance)
Inventory at Chuck Dutton's Music City Salvage is running low, so he's thrilled when Augusta Withrow appears in his office offering salvage rights to her entire property. He assigns his daughter, Dahlia, to personally oversee the project, and the crew finds a handful of surprises, including a cemetery. When human remains turn up after bulldozing the property, Augusta goes missing and Dahlia's concerns grow. As things get even stranger, there's nowhere to go and no one she can call for help, even if anyone would believe that she and her crew are being stalked by a murderous phantom.
Tor Books * 9780765378248

THE FORTRESS: A Love Story by Danielle Trussoni (Memoir)
From their first kiss, 27-year-old writer Danielle Trussoni is spellbound by a novelist from Bulgaria. The two share a love of jazz, books and travel, passions that intensify their whirlwind romance. Eight years later, hopeful to renew their marriage, Danielle and her husband move to the south of France, to a picturesque medieval village in the Languedoc. It is here, in a haunted stone fortress built by the Knights Templar, that she comes to understand the dark, subterranean forces that have been following her all along. While Danielle and her husband eventually part, Danielle's time in the fortress brings precious wisdom about life and love that she could not have learned otherwise.
Dey Street Books * 9780062459008

GEORGE WASHINGTON'S SECRET SPY WAR: The Making of America's First Spymaster by John A. Nagy (History)
This is the untold story of how George Washington took a disorderly, ill-equipped rabble and defeated the best trained and best equipped army of its day in the Revolutionary War. Author John A. Nagy has become the nation’s leading expert on the subject, discovering hundreds of spies who went behind enemy lines to gather intelligence during the American Revolution, many of whom are completely unknown to most historians. Using George Washington’s diary as the primary source, Nagy tells the story of Washington’s experiences during the French and Indian War and his first steps in the field of espionage.
St. Martin's Press * 9781250096814

HERO OF THE EMPIRE: The Boer War, a Daring Escape, and the Making of Winston Churchill by Candice Millard (History)
At age 24, Winston Churchill was utterly convinced it was his destiny to become prime minister of England one day. To achieve his goal, he believed he needed do something spectacular on the battlefield. Churchill arrived in South Africa in 1899 to cover the brutal colonial war the British were fighting with Boer rebels. But just two weeks after his arrival, the soldiers he was accompanying on an armored train were ambushed, and he was taken prisoner. Remarkably, he pulled off a daring escape. Churchill then enlisted, returned to South Africa, fought in several battles, and ultimately liberated the men with whom he had been imprisoned.
Doubleday * 9780385535731

HOME by Harlan Coben (Thriller)
A decade ago, kidnappers grabbed two boys from wealthy families and demanded ransom, then went silent. No trace of the boys ever surfaced. For 10 years their families have been left with nothing but painful memories and a quiet desperation for the day that has finally, miraculously arrived: Myron Bolitar and his friend, Win, believe they have located one of the boys, now a teenager. Where has he been for 10 years, and what does he know about the day, more than half a life ago, when he was taken? And most critically: What can he tell Myron and Win about the fate of his missing friend?
Dutton * 9780525955108

INFAMY by Robert K. Tanenbaum (Legal Thriller)
When a former Army veteran suddenly murders a colonel in New York, he claims that he had to do it because he was being used in mind control experiments. Surprisingly, a top Wall Street criminal defense lawyer decides to defend the killer, arguing that his client suffered from post-traumatic stress from his tours in Afghanistan. As New York District Attorney Roger “Butch” Karp prepares a murder case against the veteran, he meets with investigative reporter Ariadne Stupenagel, who suspects that one of her sources for a story on high-level government corruption was a victim in the shooting. This points not to a random act of violence, but a hired killing that goes to the top levels of our nation.
Gallery Books * 9781476793191

THE KEPT WOMAN by Karin Slaughter (Psychological Thriller)
With the discovery of a murder at an abandoned construction site, Will Trent of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is brought in on a case that becomes much more dangerous when the dead man is identified as an ex-cop. Studying the body, Sara Linton --- the GBI’s newest medical examiner and Will’s lover --- realizes that the extensive blood loss didn't belong to the corpse. Sure enough, bloody footprints leading away from the scene indicate there is another victim who has vanished and will die soon if she isn’t found. Evidence soon links Will’s troubled past to the case, and the consequences will tear through his life with the force of a tornado, wreaking havoc for Will and everyone around him.
William Morrow * 9780062430212

NO ECHO: A Hanne Wilhelmsen Novel by Anne Holt (Mystery)
When celebrity chef Brede Ziegler is discovered stabbed to death on the steps of the Oslo police headquarters, it sends a shockwave through the city’s hip in-crowd. Chef Ziegler had lots of famous associates. Could the culprit be among them, or was this a random act of violence? Police investigator Billy T. takes on the case, but is stymied by conflicting information about what kind of man Ziegler was. Meanwhile, Hanne Wilhelmsen returns to Oslo after a six-month absence. Hanne discovers that not only had Ziegler been stabbed, but he also had ingested a lethal dose of painkillers. As the plot thickens, Hanne and Billy T. are pulled deeper into the nefarious world in which Ziegler lived.
Scribner * 9781501123351

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD
by Stephanie Bishop (Historical Fiction)
While struggling with motherhood, and the changes marriage and parenthood bring, Charlotte decides to travel with her husband, Henry, to Australia. But upon their arrival in Perth, it becomes apparent that their new life is not the answer either was hoping for. Charlotte barely recognizes herself in this place where she is no longer a promising young artist, but instead a lonely housewife, venturing into the murky waters of infidelity. Henry, an Anglo-Indian, is slowly ostracized at the university where he teaches poetry. Subtle at first, it soon invades his entire sense of identity. Trapped by nostalgia, Charlotte and Henry are both left wondering if there is anywhere in this world they truly belong.
Atria Books * 9781501133121

PEARL HARBOR: From Infamy to Greatness by Craig Nelson (History)
The America we live in today was born, not on July 4, 1776, but on December 7, 1941, when an armada of 354 Japanese warplanes supported by aircraft carriers, destroyers and midget submarines suddenly and savagely attacked the United States, killing 2,403 men --- and forced America’s entry into World War II. PEARL HARBOR follows, moment by moment, the sailors, soldiers, pilots, diplomats, admirals, generals, emperor and president as they engineer, fight and react to this stunningly dramatic moment in world history.
Scribner * 9781451660494

PUSHING UP DAISIES: An Agatha Raisin Mystery by M. C. Beaton (Mystery)
When Agatha Raisin left behind her PR business in London, she fulfilled her dream of settling in the cozy British Cotswolds where she began a successful private detective agency. Unfortunately, Lord Bellington, a wealthy land developer, wants to turn the community garden into a housing estate. When Agatha and her friend, Sir Charles Fraith, attempt to convince Lord Bellington to abandon his plans, he scoffs: “Do you think I give a damn about those pesky villagers?” So when Agatha finds his obituary in the newspaper two weeks later, it’s no surprise that some in town are feeling celebratory.
Minotaur Books * 9781250057440

THE QUEEN OF BLOOD: Book One of The Queens of Renthia
by Sarah Beth Durst
(Fantasy/Adventure)
Everything has a spirit: the willow tree with leaves that kiss the pond, the stream that feeds the river, the wind that exhales fresh snow,” but the spirits that reside within this land want to rid it of all humans. One woman stands between these malevolent spirits and the end of humankind: the queen. But queens are still only human, so young women are chosen to train as heirs. Daleina, a seemingly quiet academy student, simply wants to right the wrongs that have befallen the land. Ven, a disgraced champion, has spent his exile secretly fighting against the growing number of spirit attacks. Joining forces, these daring partners embark on a treacherous quest to find the source of the spirits’ restlessness.
Harper Voyager * 9780062413345

THE REAL LIDDY JAMES by Anne-Marie Casey (Fiction)
Liddy James is one of New York’s top divorce attorneys, a bestselling author, and a mother of two. She and her husband, literature professor Peter James, have a tangled history that his new partner, Rose, is only just sorting out. But Rose is a patient woman with faith in a well-timed miracle, and is determined to be sympathetic to Peter’s plight. Together, Liddy, Peter and Rose have formed a modern family to raise Liddy and Peter’s truculent teen and Liddy’s fatherless six-year-old. But when Rose announces she’s pregnant, Liddy’s nanny takes flight, the bill for a roof repair looms, and a high-profile divorce case becomes too personal, Liddy realizes her days as a guilt-free woman might be over.
G.P. Putnam's Sons * 9780399160226

REPUTATIONS by Juan Gabriel Vásquez (Fiction)
Javier Mallarino is a living legend. He is his country's most influential political cartoonist, the consciousness of a nation. A man capable of repealing laws, overturning judges' decisions, destroying politicians' careers with his art. His weapons are pen and ink. Those in power fear him and pay him homage. At 65, after four decades of a brilliant career, he's at the height of his powers. But this all changes when he's paid an unexpected visit from a young woman who upends his sense of personal history and forces him to reevaluate his life and work, questioning his position in the world.
Riverhead Books * 9781594633478

SO SAY THE FALLEN by Stuart Neville (Mystery)
Henry Garrick, a local car dealer who was maimed in an accident five months before, has apparently taken his own life. A simple case, it should be wrapped up in a few days. But something doesn’t feel right to Belfast detective Serena Flanagan, despite the fact that there is no evidence of foul play. As she investigates, Flanagan interviews Roberta Garrick, Henry’s widow, who is comforted in her grief by Reverend Peter McKay, rector of the local church and a close family friend. But with the secrets McKay is keeping, he is in no position to help anyone. As Flanagan picks at the threads of the dead man’s life, a disturbing picture emerges, and she realizes that Roberta is not what she seems.
Soho Crime * 9781616957391

SOUL AT THE WHITE HEAT: Inspiration, Obsession, and the Writing Life
by Joyce Carol Oates (Essays)
"Why do we write?" With this question, Joyce Carol Oates begins an imaginative exploration of the writing life, and all its attendant anxieties, joys and futilities, in this collection of seminal essays and criticism. Leading her quest is a desire to understand the source of the writer’s inspiration. Do subjects haunt those that might bring them back to life until the writer submits? Or does something "happen" to us, a sudden ignition of a burning flame? Can the appearance of a muse-like Other bring about a writer’s best work? In SOUL AT THE WHITE HEAT, Oates deploys her keenest critical faculties, conjuring contemporary and past voices whose work she dissects for clues to these elusive questions.
Ecco * 9780062564504

THRICE THE BRINDED CAT HATH MEW'D: A Flavia de Luce Novel by Alan Bradley (Historical Mystery)
Only too eager to run an errand for the vicar’s wife, 12-year-old Flavia de Luce hops on her trusty bicycle, Gladys, to deliver a message to a reclusive wood-carver. Finding the front door ajar, Flavia enters and stumbles upon the poor man’s body hanging upside down on the back of his bedroom door. The only living creature in the house is a feline that shows little interest in the disturbing scene. Curiosity may not kill this cat, but Flavia is energized at the prospect of a new investigation. However, what awaits Flavia will shake her to the very core.
Delacorte Press * 9780345539960

THE UNDOING OF SAINT SILVANUS by Beth Moore
(Mystery/Suspense)
Only God knew why Jillian Slater agreed to return to New Orleans on the news that her father had finally drunk himself to death. She hadn’t seen him or her grandmother in almost 20 years, and the trip would be all expenses paid by Adella Atwater, the manager of her grandmother’s apartment house. What Adella didn’t tell her was that the apartment house, Saint Silvanus, bore the dead weight of a long and painful history. Jillian walks into a web of spiritual and personal danger borne out of her family’s broken history, and despite Adella’s wiliest efforts, only God himself can orchestrate the undoing of all that is going on at Saint Silvanus.
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. * 9781496416476

THE VANISHED: A Konrad Simonsen Thriller written by Lotte and Søren Hammer, translated by Martin Aitken (Mystery/Thriller)
Lying at the bottom of his apartment stairs, a postman is found dead. At first glance, his death appears to be a simple fall, a straightforward accident and the perfect case for Detective Chief Superintendent Konrad Simonsen to return to after a severe heart attack. But when he is called to investigate, new forensic evidence comes to light and something doesn't add up. When life-size images of a girl are discovered plastering the walls of the dead man's attic, the case takes a new and sinister turn. Who is she? Could she be alive? Soon members of the homicide team find themselves delving into the past, but as they approach the truth, Simonsen discovers long-hidden skeletons in his own closet.
Bloomsbury USA * 9781632864857

THE WONDER by Emma Donoghue (Psychological/Historical Thriller)
Tourists flock to the cabin of 11-year-old Anna O'Donnell, who believes herself to be living off manna from heaven, and a journalist is sent to cover the sensation. Lib Wright, a veteran of Florence Nightingale's Crimean campaign, is hired to keep watch over the girl. Written with all the propulsive tension that made ROOM a huge bestseller, THE WONDER works beautifully on many levels --- a tale of two strangers who transform each other's lives, a powerful psychological thriller, and a story of love pitted against evil.
Little, Brown and Company * 9780316393874
On Sale the Week of September 19th in Paperback

September 20th

ALL DRESSED IN WHITE: An Under Suspicion Novel by Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke (Mystery/Thriller)
Five years ago, Amanda Pierce was excitedly preparing to marry her college sweetheart. Then, with their guests and families all gathered together, she disappeared. In present-day New York City, Laurie Moran realizes a missing bride is the perfect cold case for her investigative television series, “Under Suspicion.” She and her team set out to recreate the night of the disappearance at the Florida resort with Amanda’s friends and family in attendance. Laurie and “Under Suspicion” host Alex Buckley quickly realize everyone has a theory about why Amanda vanished into thin air.
Pocket Books * 9781501108563

BLUE by Danielle Steel (Fiction)
Ginny Carter was once a rising star in TV news, married to a top anchorman, with a three-year-old son and a full and happy life in Beverly Hills --- until her whole world dissolved in a single instant on the freeway two days before Christmas. In the aftermath, she pieces her life back together and tries to find meaning in her existence as a human rights worker in the worst areas around the globe. Then, on the anniversary of the fateful accident --- and wrestling with the lure of death herself --- she meets a boy who will cause her life to change forever yet again.
Dell * 9780425285404

THE BOOKSHOP ON THE CORNER by Jenny Colgan (Fiction)
Paperback Original
Nina Redmond is a literary matchmaker. Pairing a reader with that perfect book is her passion…and also her job. Or at least it was. Until yesterday, she was a librarian in the hectic city. But now the job she loved is no more. Determined to make a new life for herself, Nina moves to a sleepy village many miles away. There she buys a van and transforms it into a bookmobile --- a mobile bookshop that she drives from neighborhood to neighborhood, changing one life after another with the power of storytelling. Nina soon discovers there’s plenty of adventure, magic and soul in a place that’s beginning to feel like home --- a place where she just might be able to write her own happy ending.
William Morrow Paperbacks * 9780062467256

BOY, 9, MISSING by Nic Joseph (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
It should have been just a quiet evening with friends. But Francis lost his brother that night in what was ruled a tragic accident. He's tried to move on in the last 23 years, even though his father certainly hasn't. Indeed, his father still blames the lone witness, Sam, the nine-year-old son of friends. Perhaps if Sam would have just said something, anything, about what happened that night, but Sam still seems unable --- or unwilling --- to utter a word about the accident. And now, 23 years later, Sam's own nine-year-old son has disappeared.
Sourcebooks Landmark * 9781492633587

BRADY VS. MANNING: The Untold Story of the Rivalry That Transformed the NFL by Gary Myers (Sports)
Tom Brady and Peyton Manning are perhaps the two greatest quarterbacks of all time. But what do they actually think of each other? What are they like behind closed doors and in the locker room, and how does that influence their careers? Veteran NFL correspondent Gary Myers tackles this subject from every angle and with unprecedented access and insight, drawing on a huge number of never-before-heard interviews with Brady and Manning, their coaches, their families, and those who have played with them and against them.
Three Rivers Press * 9780804139397

CHASING UTOPIA: A Hybrid by Nikki Giovanni (Poetry/Essays)
The poetry of Nikki Giovanni has spurred movements and inspired songs, turned hearts and informed generations. But if her reputation is writ large upon the national stage, her heart resides in the everyday where family and lovers gather, friends commune, and those no longer with us are remembered. And at every gathering there is food: food as sustenance, food as aphrodisiac, food as memory.
William Morrow Paperbacks * 9780062562883

EMPIRE OF SELF: A Life of Gore Vidal by Jay Parini (Biography)
The product of 30 years of friendship and conversation, Jay Parini’s EMPIRE OF SELF probes behind the glittering surface of Gore Vidal's colorful life to reveal the complex emotional and sexual truth underlying his celebrity-strewn life. But there is plenty of glittering surface as well --- a virtual Who's Who of the American Century, from Eleanor Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart through the Kennedys, Princess Margaret and the crème de la crème of Hollywood.
Anchor * 9780345805836

THE GIRL WHO FOUGHT NAPOLEON: A Novel of the Russian Empire by Linda Lafferty (Historical Fiction)
Paperback Original
It’s 1803, and an adolescent Nadya is determined not to follow in her overbearing Ukrainian mother’s footsteps. She’s a horsewoman, not a housewife. When Tsar Paul is assassinated in St. Petersburg and a reluctant and naive Alexander is crowned emperor, Nadya runs away from home and joins the Russian cavalry in the war against Napoleon. Disguised as a boy and riding her stallion, Nadya rises in the ranks, even as her father begs the tsar to find his daughter and send her home. Both Nadya and Alexander defy expectations --- she as a heroic fighter and he as a spiritual seeker --- while the battles of Austerlitz, Friedland, Borodino and Smolensk rage on.
Lake Union Publishing * 9781503937260

HIDE AWAY: An Eve Duncan Novel by Iris Johansen (Thriller)
Forensic sculptor Eve Duncan lies in a well-guarded hospital room in Carmel, California. But she and Joe Quinn have sworn to protect an innocent young girl, Cara Delaney, whose enemies are getting closer by the hour. Weighing her own health against Cara’s safety, Eve decides they must disappear --- and so she turns to her daughter, Jane MacGuire, for an unexpected solution. After years of resistance, Jane has finally succumbed to the inevitable: John MacDuff’s insistent plea to track down a treasure presumed buried in Scotland. The remote mountains should be a perfect hiding place for Eve and Cara, but they soon realize there is nowhere distant enough from the ruthless predators who are on their trail.
St. Martin's Paperbacks * 9781250075895

INJUSTICE by Lee Goodman (Legal Thriller)
Someone close to Nick Davis is murdered. Investigators see it as either a case of mistaken identity or the work of a jealous fiancé. As a federal prosecutor, Nick tries shepherding the case to a swift conclusion, but it keeps slipping away. Meanwhile, Nick’s relationship with his wife, Tina, hangs by the thinnest of threads. She is also a lawyer, working to vindicate a young man convicted of killing a child eight years previously. When old DNA evidence is uncovered in the murder case, its analysis hurls Nick’s universe into upheaval.
Atria/Emily Bestler Books * 9781476728056

THE NIXON TAPES: 1973 by Douglas Brinkley and Luke A. Nichter (History/Politics)
Between 1971 and 1973, President Richard Nixon’s voice-activated tape recorders captured 3,700 hours of conversations. Douglas Brinkley and Luke Nichter’s intrepid two-volume transcription and annotation of the highlights of this essential archive provides an unprecedented and fascinating window into the inner workings of a momentous presidency. THE NIXON TAPES: 1973 tells the concluding chapter of the story, the final year of taping, covering such events as the Vietnam cease-fire, the Wounded Knee standoff and, of course, the Watergate investigation.
Mariner Books * 9780544811843

ONCE IN A GREAT CITY: A Detroit Story by David Maraniss (History)
Detroit in 1963 is on top of the world. The city’s leaders are among the most visionary in America: Grandson of the first Ford; Henry Ford II; Motown’s founder Berry Gordy; the Reverend C.L. Franklin and his daughter, the incredible Aretha; Governor George Romney, Mormon and Civil Rights advocate; car salesman Lee Iacocca; Police Commissioner George Edwards; Martin Luther King. The time was full of promise. The auto industry was selling more cars than ever before. Yet the shadows of collapse were evident even then.
Simon & Schuster * 9781476748399

ONLY DAUGHTER by Anna Snoekstra (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
In 2003, 16-year-old Rebecca Winter disappeared. She had been enjoying her summer break before ominous things began to happen --- a presence in her room at night, periods of blackouts, a feeling of being watched. Eleven years later, a young woman claims to be the decade-missing Bec. Soon the impostor is living Bec's life. But her welcoming family and enthusiastic friends are not quite as they seem. As the impostor dodges the detective investigating her case, she begins to delve into the life of the real Bec Winter --- and soon realizes that whoever took Bec is still at large, and that she is in imminent danger.
Mira * 9780778319443

OUTRAGE: A Faith McMann Novel by T.R. Ragan (Thriller)
Paperback Original
The happy life Faith McMann knew as a wife, mother and teacher was destroyed when vicious criminals murdered her husband, kidnapped her children, and left her for dead. Though her daughter remains missing and her son is lost in the wilderness, Faith’s relentless efforts have reunited some children with their families. They’ve also made her and the rest of her family the targets of a sadistic crime boss. But Faith has forged an unbreakable bond with two no-holds-barred allies in the war against evil. As they dodge assassins and take down predators, Faith travels deeper into the heart of darkness, determined to rescue her children at any cost.
Thomas & Mercer * 9781503938809

THE PAST by Tessa Hadley (Fiction)
Four middle-aged siblings meet in their grandparents’ home in the English town of Kington for a three-week holiday. They have convened to discuss whether or not to sell the house, but family tensions dominate conversations. The brother has brought his Argentinian third wife, whom the three sisters haven’t met. One sister brings an ex-boyfriend’s teenage son; another laments her unsatisfying love life. THE PAST is a quiet exploration of suppressed desire and internal struggles.
Harper Perennial * 9780062270429

SO YOU DON'T GET LOST IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD written by Patrick Modiano, translated by Euan Cameron (Mystery/Psychological Suspense)
In the stillness of his Paris apartment, Jean Daragane has built a life of total solitude. Then a surprising phone call shatters the silence of an unusually hot September, and the threatening voice on the other end of the line leaves Daragane wary but irresistibly curious. Almost at once, he finds himself entangled with a shady gambler and a beautiful, fragile young woman, who draw him into the mystery of a decades-old murder. The investigation will force Daragane to confront the memory of a trauma he had all but buried.
Mariner Books * 9780544811867

A STRANGENESS IN MY MIND by Orhan Pamuk (Fiction)
Arriving in Istanbul as a boy, Mevlut Karataş is enthralled by both the old city that is disappearing and the new one that is fast being built. He becomes a street vendor, like his father, hoping to strike it rich, but luck never seems to be on Mevlut’s side. He spends three years writing love letters to a girl he has seen just once, only to elope by mistake with her sister. Although he grows to cherish his wife and the family they have together, Mevlut stumbles toward middle age as everyone around him seems to be reaping the benefits of a rapidly modernizing Turkey.
Vintage * 9780307744845

UNDER THE UDALA TREES by Chinelo Okparanta (Fiction)
Ijeoma comes of age as her nation does; born before independence, she is 11 when civil war breaks out in the young republic of Nigeria. Sent away to safety, she meets another displaced child, and they fall in love. They are from different ethnic communities. They are also both girls. When their love is discovered, Ijeoma learns that she will have to hide this part of herself. But there is a cost to living inside a lie.
Mariner Books * 9780544811799

THE WITCHES: Suspicion, Betrayal, and Hysteria in 1692 Salem by Stacy Schiff (History)
It began in 1692 when a minister's daughter began to scream and convulse. It ended less than a year later, but not before 19 men and women had been hanged and an elderly man crushed to death. The panic spread quickly, involving the most educated men and prominent politicians in the colony. Neighbors accused neighbors, parents and children each other. Aside from suffrage, the Salem Witch Trials represent the only moment when women played the central role in American history. In curious ways, the trials would shape the future republic.
Back Bay Books * 9780316200592
On Sale the Week of September 26th in Hardcover

September 26th

WOMAN OF GOD by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro (Thriller)
Faith has never come easy for Brigid Fitzgerald. From her difficult childhood with drug-addled parents to her career as a doctor healing the wounded in Sudan to a series of trials that test her beliefs at every turn, Brigid's convictions and callings have made her the target of all those who fear that the Church has lost its way --- dangerous adversaries who abhor challenges to tradition. Locked in a deadly, high-stakes battle with forces determined to undermine everything she believes in, Brigid must convert her enemies to her cause before she loses her faith...and her life.
Little, Brown and Company * 9780316274029


September 27th

ASYLUM: A Survivor's Flight from Nazi-Occupied Vienna Through Wartime France by Moriz Scheyer (Memoir)
As arts editor for one of Vienna's principal newspapers, Moriz Scheyer knew many of the city's foremost artists, and was an important literary journalist. With the advent of the Nazis, he was forced from both job and home. In 1943, in hiding in France, Scheyer began drafting what was to become this book. Tracing events from the Anschluss in Vienna, through life in Paris and unoccupied France, including a period in a French concentration camp, contact with the Resistance, and clandestine life in a convent caring for mentally disabled women, he gives an extraordinarily vivid account of the events and experience of persecution.
Little, Brown and Company * 9780316272889

THE BIRTH OF A NATION: Nat Turner and the Making of a Movement edited by Nate Parker (History)
This official tie-in to the highly acclaimed film The Birth of a Nation surveys the history and legacy of Nat Turner, the leader of one of the most renowned slave rebellions on American soil, while also exploring Turner’s relevance to contemporary dialogues on race relations. Beautifully illustrated with stills from the movie and original illustrations, the book also features an essay by writer/director Nate Parker, contributions by members of the cast and crew, and commentary by educator Brian Favors and historians Erica Armstrong Dunbar and Daina Ramey Berry, who place Nat Turner and the rebellion he led into historical context.
Atria / 37 Ink * 9781501156588

THE BITCH IS BACK: Older, Wiser, and (Getting) Happier edited by Cathi Hanauer (Women's Studies/Essays)
More than a decade after the New York Times bestselling anthology THE BITCH IN THE HOUSE spoke up loud and clear for a generation of young women, nine of the original contributors are back --- along with 16 captivating new voices --- sharing their ruminations from an older, stronger and wiser perspective about love, sex, work, family, independence, body-image, health and aging: the critical flash points of women’s lives today.
William Morrow * 9780062389510

BORN TO RUN by Bruce Springsteen (Memoir)
Over the past seven years, Bruce Springsteen has privately devoted himself to writing the story of his life, bringing to these pages the same honesty, humor and originality found in his songs. BORN TO RUN will be revelatory for anyone who has ever enjoyed the Boss, but this book is much more than a legendary rock star’s memoir. This is a book for workers and dreamers, parents and children, lovers and loners, artists, freaks, or anyone who has ever wanted to be baptized in the holy river of rock and roll.
Simon & Schuster * 9781501141515

CHRISTMAS CARAMEL MURDER: A Hannah Swensen Holiday Mystery with Recipes! by Joanne Fluke (Mystery)
The holidays have arrived, and Hannah and her good pal Lisa have agreed to provide all the goodies for the town’s annual production of “A Christmas Carol.” But before anyone can say “Bah, humbug!” a Santa-sized sackful of trouble ensues. Like the fact that Lisa’s husband will be playing Mr. Claus to his ex-girlfriend Phyllis Bates’ Mrs. Claus. Or that Phyllis is found dead in the snow, wearing a costume that the real Mrs. Claus would put on the naughty list. Soon after, the suspects pile up faster than snowdrifts in a blizzard, while a merry murderer remains on the loose. With clues even harder to find, it might take a visit from ghosts of Christmas past to wrap up this mystery in time for the holidays.
Kensington * 9781617732287

FIELDS OF BATTLE: Pearl Harbor, the Rose Bowl, and the Boys Who Went to War by Brian Curtis (History)
In the wake of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the 1942 Rose Bowl was moved from Pasadena to Duke University out of fear of further Japanese attacks on the West Coast. Shortly after this unforgettable game, many of the players and coaches left their respective colleges, entered the military, and went on to serve around the world in famous battlegrounds. Fate and destiny would bring them back together on faraway battlefields, fighting on the same team. FIELDS OF BATTLE sheds light on a little-known slice of American history where World War II and football intersect.
Flatiron Books * 9781250059581

THE GUSTAV SONATA by Rose Tremain (Historical Fiction)
Gustav Perle grows up in a small town in Switzerland, where the horrors of the Second World War seem only a distant echo. He begins an intense friendship with a Jewish boy, Anton Zweibel, a budding concert pianist. The novel follows Gustav’s family, tracing the roots of his mother’s anti-Semitism and its impact on her son and his beloved friend. Moving backward to the war years and the painful repercussions of an act of conscience, and forward through the lives and careers of the two men --- one who becomes a hotel owner, the other a concert pianist --- THE GUSTAV SONATA explores the passionate love of childhood friendship as it is lost, transformed and regained over a lifetime.
W. W. Norton & Company * 9780393246698

IRENA'S CHILDREN: The Extraordinary Story of the Woman Who Saved 2,500 Children from the Warsaw Ghetto by Tilar J. Mazzeo (Biography)
In 1942, social worker Irena Sendler was granted access to the Warsaw ghetto as a public health specialist. While there, she reached out to the trapped Jewish families, going from door to door and asking the parents to trust her with their young children. She started smuggling them out of the walled district, convincing her friends and neighbors to hide them. Driven to extreme measures and with the help of a network of local tradesmen, ghetto residents, and her star-crossed lover in the Jewish resistance, Irena ultimately smuggled thousands of children past the Nazis. In IRENA’S CHILDREN, Tilar Mazzeo tells the incredible story of this courageous and brave woman who risked her life to save innocent children from the Holocaust.
Gallery Books * 9781476778501

MERCURY by Margot Livesey (Psychological Thriller)
Donald is sure that he and his wife, Viv, who runs the local stables, are both devoted to their two children and to each other. Then Mercury --- a gorgeous young thoroughbred with a murky past --- arrives at Windy Hill, and everything changes. Mercury’s owner, Hilary, is a newcomer to town who has enrolled her daughter in riding lessons. When she brings Mercury to board at Windy Hill, everyone is struck by his beauty and prowess, particularly Viv. As she rides him, Viv begins to dream of competing again, embracing the ambitions that she had harbored, yet relinquished, as a young woman. Her daydreams soon morph into consuming desire, and her infatuation with the thoroughbred escalates to obsession.
Harper * 9780062437501

RECKLESS CREED: A Ryder Creed Novel by Alex Kava (Thriller)
In Chicago, a young man jumps from his 30th-story hotel room; along the Missouri River, a hunter and his son stumble upon a lake whose surface is littered with snow geese, all of them dead; and in southern Alabama, Ryder Creed and his search-and-rescue dog, Grace, find the body of a young woman who went missing in the Conecuh National Forest...and it appears she filled her pockets with rocks and walked into the river. Before long, Ryder and FBI profiler Maggie O’Dell will discover the ominous connection among these mysterious deaths. What they find may be the most prolific killer the United States has ever known.
G.P. Putnam's Sons * 9780399170782

THE SECOND WINTER
by Craig Larsen (Historical Thriller)
In occupied Denmark, an uneasy relationship between the Danish government and the Germans allows the country to function under the protection of Hitler’s army, while Danish resistance fighters wage a bloody, covert battle against the Nazis. Fredrik Gregersen, a brutish, tormented caretaker of a small farm, profits from helping Jewish fugitives cross the border into Sweden. Meanwhile, in Copenhagen, Polina, a young refugee from Krakow, finds herself impressed into prostitution by Germans and Danes alike. When Fredrik steals a precious necklace from a helpless family of Jews, his own family’s fate becomes intertwined with Polina’s, triggering a ripple effect that will take decades and the fall of the Berlin Wall to culminate.
Other Press * 9781590517888

SHIRLEY JACKSON: A Rather Haunted Life by Ruth Franklin (Biography)
Still known to millions primarily as the author of “The Lottery,” Shirley Jackson (1916–1965) has been curiously absent from the mainstream American literary canon. A genius of literary suspense and psychological horror, Jackson plumbed the cultural anxiety of postwar America more deeply than anyone. Now, biographer Ruth Franklin reveals the tumultuous life and inner darkness of the author of such classics as THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE and WE HAVE ALWAYS LIVED IN THE CASTLE.
Liveright * 9780871403131

SING FOR YOUR LIFE: A Story of Race, Music, and Family
by Daniel Bergner (Biography)
As a child, Ryan Speedo Green lived in a trailer park and later a bullet-riddled house across the street from drug dealers. His father was absent, while his mother was volatile and abusive. At the age of 12, Ryan was sent to Virginia's juvenile facility of last resort and placed in solitary confinement. In 2011, at the age of 24, Ryan won a nationwide competition hosted by New York's Metropolitan Opera. Today he is a rising star, performing major roles at the Met and Europe's most prestigious opera houses. SING FOR YOUR LIFE chronicles Ryan's suspenseful, racially charged and artistically intricate journey from solitary confinement to stardom.
Lee Boudreaux Books * 9780316300674
On Sale the Week of September 26th in Paperback

September 27th

THE 7th CANON by Robert Dugoni (Legal Thriller)
Paperback Original
In San Francisco’s seamy Tenderloin district, a teenage street hustler has been murdered in a shelter for boys. And the dedicated priest who runs the struggling home stands accused. But despite damning evidence that he’s a killer, Father Thomas Martin stands by his innocence. And attorney Peter Donley stands with him. But a ruthless DA seeking headlines and a brutal homicide cop bent on vengeance have their own agendas. Now, as he unearths the dirty secrets surrounding the case, Donley must risk his neck to save his client’s life --- and expose the face of true evil.
Thomas & Mercer * 9781503939424

1944: FDR and the Year That Changed History by Jay Winik (History)
1944 witnessed a series of titanic events: FDR at the pinnacle of his wartime leadership as well as his reelection, the planning of Operation Overlord with Churchill and Stalin, the unprecedented D-Day invasion, the liberation of Paris and the horrific Battle of the Bulge, and the tumultuous conferences that finally shaped the coming peace. But on the way, millions of more lives were still at stake as President Roosevelt was exposed to mounting evidence of the most grotesque crime in history: the Final Solution.
Simon & Schuster * 9781501125362

ASHLEY BELL by Dean Koontz (Psychological Thriller)
Bibi Blair is a fierce, funny, dauntless young woman --- whose doctor says she has one year to live. Her sudden recovery astonishes medical science. An enigmatic woman convinces Bibi that she escaped death so that she can save someone else. Someone named Ashley Bell. But save her from what? And who is Ashley Bell? Where is she? Bibi’s obsession with finding Ashley sends her on the run from threats both mystical and worldly, including a rich and charismatic cult leader with terrifying ambitions.
Bantam * 9780345545985

BIG MAGIC: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert (Self-Help/Motivational)
Readers of all ages and walks of life have drawn inspiration and empowerment from Elizabeth Gilbert’s books for years. Now this beloved author digs deep into her own generative process to share her wisdom and unique perspective about creativity. With profound empathy and radiant generosity, she offers potent insights into the mysterious nature of inspiration. Balancing between soulful spirituality and cheerful pragmatism, Gilbert encourages us to uncover the “strange jewels” that are hidden within each of us.
Riverhead Books * 9781594634727

THE BLACK NOTEBOOK
written by Patrick Modiano, translated by Mark Polizzotti (Fiction)
Paperback Original
In the aftermath of Algeria's war of independence, Paris was a city rife with suspicion and barely suppressed violence. Amid this tension, Jean, a young writer adrift, met and fell for Dannie, an enigmatic woman fleeing a troubled past. A half century later, with his old black notebook as a guide, he retraces this fateful period in his life, recounting how, through Dannie, he became mixed up with a group of unsavory characters connected by a shadowy crime. Soon Jean, too, was a person of interest to the detective pursuing their case --- a detective who would prove instrumental in revealing Dannie's darkest secret.
Mariner Books * 9780544779822

THE GIRL IN THE CASTLE by Santa Montefiore
(Historical Fiction)
Paperback Original
Although she’s Anglo-Irish, Kitty Deverill’s heart completely belongs to the wild countryside of the Emerald Isle, and her devotion to her Irish-Catholic friends Bridie Doyle, the daughter of the castle’s cook, and Jack O’Leary, the vet’s son, is unmatched. Jack and Kitty can’t help falling in love, although they both know their union faces the greatest obstacles since they are from different worlds. Bridie can’t help dreaming of someday having all the wealth and glamour Kitty’s station in life affords her. But when she discovers a secret that Kitty has been keeping from her, Bridie finds herself growing resentful toward the girl in the castle who seems to have it all.
William Morrow Paperbacks * 9780062456854

THE LIFE SHE WANTS by Robyn Carr (Fiction)
Paperback Original
In the aftermath of her financier husband’s suicide, Emma Shay Compton’s dream life is shattered. She bears the burden of Richard's crimes and is left with nothing. When a friend encourages her to come home to Sonoma County, Emma must decide if she can face Riley Kerrigan, her ex-best friend. It turns out she can’t escape her husband’s reputation and is forced to turn to the last person she thought she’d ever ask for help --- Riley. It’s an uneasy reunion as both women face the mistakes they’ve made over the years. Only if they find a way to forgive each other --- and themselves --- can each of them find the life she wants.
Mira * 9780778319672

NFL CONFIDENTIAL: True Confessions from the Gutter of Football by Johnny Anonymous (Sports/Memoir)
In NFL CONFIDENTIAL, a current pro player takes fans on a pseudonymous trip through one of the most infamous years of football --- the very long, sometimes funny, often controversial 2013-2014 season --- sharing raucous, behind-the-scenes, on-the-field and in-the-locker-room truth about life in the National Football League.
Dey Street Books * 9780062422439

NICK OF TIME by John Gilstrap (Thriller)
Paperback Original
Nicki Janssen’s days are numbered, but she refuses to accept her fate lying down. Defying her father and doctors, she hits the road with a pocketful of cash, a bus ticket, and a romantic fantasy of riding off with her childhood crush. Handsome, dangerous Brad Ward is facing a different kind of sentence. Sent to prison for felony murder, he has escaped and rekindled his relationship with Nicki. But when Nicki’s father joins forces with a deputy sheriff, the search for the runaways ignites a manhunt --- a blistering chase that accelerates with every stolen car, every act of violence.
Pinnacle * 9780786032952

THE NIGHTMARE PLACE by Steve Mosby (Thriller)
DI Zoe Dolan is tracking the Creeper, a stalker who's been breaking into women's homes and attacking them. Meanwhile, Jane Webster gets a call to the helpline where she volunteers. The soft voice at the end of the line says he loves these women, but it's a love that ends in blood. When Jane tells the police, it should be the lead that Zoe needs --- but it only pulls her further into a case that is already taking her dangerously close to the past she's never fully escaped.
Pegasus Books * 9781681772073

WHY NOT ME? by Mindy Kaling (Humor/Essays)
In WHY NOT ME?, Mindy Kaling --- the creator and star of "The Mindy Project" --- shares her ongoing journey to find contentment and excitement in her adult life, whether it’s falling in love at work, seeking new friendships in lonely places, attempting to be the first person in history to lose weight without any behavior modification whatsoever, or most important, believing that you have a place in Hollywood when you’re constantly reminded that no one looks like you.
Three Rivers Press * 9780804138161

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