In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of October 14th and October 21st 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 Favorite Monthly Lists & Picks feature for October, which includes the Indie Next and LibraryReads lists, the Barnes & Noble Book Club selection, the Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club pick, and many more.
Also, please click on the covers above for our reviews of three books that we featured in last Friday's Weekly Update newsletter: WHAT HAPPENS IN PARADISE, Elin Hilderbrand’s follow-up to last year’s WINTER IN PARADISE, in which secret lives and new loves emerge in the bright Caribbean sunlight; NINTH HOUSE, a dark fantasy from YA author Leigh Bardugo, who has written her first novel for adults (this is October's Barnes & Noble Book Club pick); and INSIDE OUT, actress Demi Moore’s bold memoir that lays bare the trials and traumas of her youth in an effort to better understand herself and her damaged family’s history.
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
Special Preview of Friday's Bookreporter Update
Carol Fitzgerald shares a video preview of what you will see in the October 18th Weekly Update newsletter here. There are two authors in this update who factor into the history of The Book Report Network. We hope you enjoy it!
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This Week's Bonus News:
Our Favorite Monthly Lists & Picks for October
Below is a preview of our Favorite Monthly Lists & Picks feature for October, which we've expanded this year to include many more prominent picks. For the complete Indie Next and LibraryReads lists, as well as additional links pertaining to this month's selections, please click here.
You can see previous years' features here: 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014.
Indie Next
#1 Pick: RED AT THE BONE by Jacqueline Woodson
THE DUTCH HOUSE by Ann Patchett
NINTH HOUSE by Leigh Bardugo
OLIVE, AGAIN by Elizabeth Strout
THE WATER DANCER by Ta-Nehisi Coates
LibraryReads
LibraryReads Top Pick: THE BODY: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson
THE ART OF THEFT: The Lady Sherlock Series, by Sherry Thomas
THE BUTTERFLY GIRL by Rene Denfeld
CILKA'S JOURNEY by Heather Morris
IMAGINARY FRIEND by Stephen Chbosky
Pennie's Pick (Costco)
A WELL-BEHAVED WOMAN: A Novel of the Vanderbilts by Therese Anne Fowler
Oprah's Book Club
THE WATER DANCER by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Barnes & Noble Book Club
NINTH HOUSE by Leigh Bardugo
Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club
FAIR PLAY: A Game-Changing Solution for When You Have Too Much to Do (and More Life to Live) by Eve Rodsky
Jenna Bush Hager's "Today" Book Club, #ReadWithJenna
THE DUTCH HOUSE by Ann Patchett
"Good Morning America's" "Cover to Cover" Book Club
DOMINICANA by Angie Cruz
PBS NewsHour-New York Times “Now Read This” Book Club
WE ARE CORPORATIONS: How American Businesses Won Their Civil Rights, by Adam Winkler
Simon & Schuster's Book Club Favorites
THE LIBRARY BOOK by Susan Orlean
On Sale the Week of October 14th in Hardcover
October 14th
DAD'S MAYBE BOOK by Tim O’Brien (Memoir)
In 2003, already an older father, Tim O’Brien resolved to give his young sons what he wished his own father had given to him --- a few scraps of paper signed “Love, Dad.” Maybe a word of advice. Maybe some scattered glimpses of their rapidly aging father, a man they might never really know. For the next 15 years, the author talked to his sons on paper, as if they were adults, imagining what they might want to hear from a father who was no longer among the living. O’Brien traverses the great variety of human experience and emotion, moving from soccer games to warfare to risqué lullabies, from alcoholism to magic shows to history lessons to bittersweet bedtime stories, but always returning to a father’s soul-saving love for his sons.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | 9780618039708
October 15th
THE ADVENTURE OF THE PECULIAR PROTOCOLS: Adapted from the Journals of John H. Watson, M.D. by Nicholas Meyer (Historical Mystery)
January 1905: Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John H. Watson are summoned by Holmes' brother, Mycroft, to undertake a clandestine investigation. An agent of the British Secret Service has been found floating in the Thames, carrying a manuscript smuggled into England at the cost of her life. The pages purport to be the minutes of a meeting of a secret group intent on nothing less than taking over the world. Based on real events, the adventure takes the famed duo --- in the company of a bewitching woman --- aboard the Orient Express from Paris into the heart of Tsarist Russia, where Holmes and Watson attempt to trace the origins of this explosive document. On their heels are desperate men of unknown allegiance, determined to prevent them from achieving their task.
Minotaur Books | 9781250228956
ALL THE RIGHT CIRCLES by John Russell (Fiction)
Jack Callahan is an outsider in his adopted hometown of Raleigh, North Carolina. A successful lawyer, he has spent years trying to move in all the right circles. But with his literary mother in a sanitarium, his society marriage on the rocks, and his biggest client --- Raleigh’s family-owned newspaper the Criterion --- facing a hostile takeover, he’s beginning to wonder if it’s really worth it. Step by step, readers are drawn into the “non-secret secrets” of an elite that wields power founded on intricate manners and unsolved crimes. Wall Street raider Victor Broman, Jack’s former client, is hell-bent to acquire the Criterion for shadowy patrons. Eventually, Jack takes counsel from his friend Lowry, a mysterious Native American mystic, who unveils a different path, away from all the right circles.
Rare Bird Books | 9781644280423
BEAUTIFUL ON THE OUTSIDE: A Memoir by Adam Rippon (Memoir)
Your mom probably told you it's what's on the inside that counts. Well, then she was never a competitive figure skater. Olympic medalist Adam Rippon has been making it pretty for the judges even when, just below the surface, everything was an absolute mess. From traveling to practices on the Greyhound bus next to ex-convicts to being so poor he could only afford to eat the free apples at his gym, Rippon got through the toughest times with a smile on his face, a glint in his eye, and a quip ready for anyone listening. BEAUTIFUL ON THE OUTSIDE looks at his journey from a homeschooled kid in Scranton, Pennsylvania, to a self-professed American sweetheart on the world stage and all the disasters and self-delusions it took to get him there.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538732403
THE BODY: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson (Science/Humor)
Bill Bryson once again proves himself to be an incomparable companion as he guides us through the human body --- how it functions, its remarkable ability to heal itself, and (unfortunately) the ways it can fail. Full of extraordinary facts (your body made a million red blood cells since you started reading this) and irresistible Bryson-esque anecdotes, THE BODY will lead you to a deeper understanding of the miracle that is life in general and you in particular.
Doubleday | 9780385539302
A BOOK OF BONES by John Connolly (Supernatural Thriller)
On a lonely moor in northern England, the body of a young woman is discovered. In the south, a girl lies buried beneath a Saxon mound. To the southeast, the ruins of a priory hide a human skull. Each is a sacrifice, a summons. And something in the darkness has heard the call. Charlie Parker has also heard it, and from the forests of Maine to the deserts of the Mexican border, from the canals of Amsterdam to the streets of London, he will track those who would cast the world into darkness. Parker fears no evil --- but evil fears him.
Atria/Emily Bestler Books | 9781982127510
CATCH AND KILL: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow (True Crime)
In 2017, a routine network television investigation led Ronan Farrow to a story only whispered about: one of Hollywood's most powerful producers was a predator. As he drew closer to the truth, shadowy operatives mounted a secret campaign of intimidation, threatening his career, following his every move, and weaponizing an account of abuse in his own family. All the while, Farrow and his producer faced a degree of resistance they could not explain --- until now. This is the untold story of the exotic tactics of surveillance and intimidation deployed by wealthy and connected men to threaten journalists, evade accountability and silence victims of abuse. And it's the story of the women who risked everything to expose the truth and spark a global movement.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316486637
CHRISTMAS SHOPAHOLIC by Sophie Kinsella (Fiction)
’Tis the season for change, and Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood) is embracing it, returning from the States to live in the charming village of Letherby and working with her best friend, Suze, in the gift shop of Suze’s stately home. Life is good, especially now that Becky takes time every day for mindfulness…which actually means listening to a meditation tape while hunting down online bargains. But Becky still adores the traditions of Christmas. Things are looking cheerier than ever, until Becky’s parents announce they’re moving to ultra-trendy Shoreditch --- unable to resist the draw of craft beer and smashed avocados --- and ask Becky if she’ll host this year. What could possibly go wrong?
The Dial Press | 9780593132821
THE CONTENDER: The Story of Marlon Brando by William J. Mann (Biography)
The most influential movie actor of his era, Marlon Brando changed the way other actors perceived their craft. His approach was natural, honest and deeply personal, resulting in performances --- most notably in A Streetcar Named Desire and On the Waterfront --- that are without parallel. Brando’s impact on American culture matches his professional significance; he both challenged and codified our ideas of masculinity and sexuality. Brando was also one of the first stars to use his fame as a platform to address social, political and moral issues, courageously calling out America’s deeply rooted racism. William Mann’s biography of the Hollywood legend illuminates this culture icon for a new age.
Harper | 9780062427649
CURIOUS TOYS by Elizabeth Hand (Historical Mystery/Thriller)
In the sweltering summer of 1915, Pin, the 14-year-old daughter of a carnival fortune-teller, dresses as a boy and joins a teenage gang that roams the famous Riverview amusement park, looking for trouble. Unbeknownst to the well-heeled city-dwellers and visitors who come to enjoy the midway, the park is also host to a ruthless killer who uses the shadows of the dark carnival attractions to conduct his crimes. When Pin sees a man enter the Hell Gate ride with a young girl, and emerge alone, she knows that something horrific has occurred. The crime will lead her to the iconic outsider artist Henry Darger, a brilliant but seemingly mad man. Together, the two navigate the seedy underbelly of a changing city to uncover a murderer few even know to look for.
Mulholland Books | 9780316485883
A DOG'S PROMISE: A Dog's Purpose Novel by W. Bruce Cameron (Fiction)
A DOG'S PROMISE continues the story of Bailey, the good dog whose journey started in A DOG'S PURPOSE and continued in A DOG'S JOURNEY (both major motion pictures). This time, Bailey is joined by Lacey, another very special dog, who helps Bailey fulfill his promise over the course of several lives. This charming, wise canine soul brings joy, laughter and comfort as he unites a family fractured by life's inevitable obstacles. The love and loyalty of these two memorable dogs shows us the incredible power of hope, truth and unending devotion.
Forge Books | 9781250163516
FISHNET by Kirstin Innes (Psychological Thriller)
Rona Leonard was only 20 years old when she walked out of her sister Fiona’s flat and disappeared. Six years later --- worn down by a tedious job, childcare and an aching absence in her life --- Fiona’s mundane existence is blown apart by the revelation that Rona had been working as a prostitute before she vanished. Driven to discover the truth, Fiona embarks on an obsessive quest to investigate the sex industry that claimed her sister. However, as she is drawn into this complex world, Fiona finds herself seduced by the power it offers women in a society determined to see them only as victims.
Gallery/Scout Press | 9781982116156
GI CONFIDENTIAL: A Sueño and Bascom Investigation Set in South Korea by Martin Limón (Historical Mystery)
A rash of armed robberies at local Korean banks doesn’t concern the American military --- until a fatality occurs, and proof surfaces that US soldiers are behind the crimes. Sergeants George Sueño and Ernie Bascom step in to investigate, though they have their own problems to worry about. Pesky reporter Katie Byrd Worthington has published a story that implicates Army higher-ups in both sex trafficking and treason, and the pressure is on for the CID to disprove her claims. But what if they aren’t false? As George and Ernie dig deeper into the case, they find themselves the targets of a very unflattering publicity campaign, but perhaps also something much more dangerous.
Soho Crime | 9781641290388
GIRL by Edna O'Brien (Fiction)
I was a girl once, but not anymore. So begins GIRL, Edna O’Brien’s harrowing portrayal of the young women abducted by Boko Haram. Set in the deep countryside of northeast Nigeria, this is a brutal story of incarceration, horror and hunger; a hair-raising escape into the manifold terrors of the forest; and a descent into the labyrinthine bureaucracy and hostility awaiting a victim who returns home with a child blighted by enemy blood.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux | 9780374162559
THE GUARDIANS by John Grisham (Legal Thriller)
In the small Florida town of Seabrook, a young lawyer named Keith Russo was shot dead at his desk as he worked late one night. The killer left no clues. But the police soon came to suspect Quincy Miller, a young black man who was once a client of Russo’s. Quincy was tried, convicted and sent to prison for life. For 22 years he languished in prison, maintaining his innocence. But no one was listening. In desperation, he writes a letter to Guardian Ministries, a small nonprofit run by Cullen Post, a lawyer who is also an Episcopal minister. Powerful, ruthless people murdered Keith, and they do not want Quincy exonerated. They killed one lawyer 22 years ago, and they will kill another without a second thought.
Doubleday | 9780385544184
HOME WORK: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years by Julie Andrews with Emma Walton Hamilton (Memoir)
In HOME, Julie Andrews recounted her difficult childhood and her emergence as an acclaimed singer and performer on the stage. With this second memoir, HOME WORK, Andrews picks up the story with her arrival in Hollywood and her phenomenal rise to fame in her earliest films: Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music. Andrews describes her years in the film industry, from the incredible highs to the challenging lows. Not only does she discuss her work in now-classic films and her collaborations with giants of cinema and television, she also unveils her personal story of adjusting to a new and often daunting world.
Hachette Books | 9780316349253
LET IT SNOW by Nancy Thayer (Romance)
Christina Antonioni is preparing for the holidays at her Nantucket toy shop, unpacking last-minute shipments and decorating for her loyal Christmas shoppers. But when her Scrooge of a landlord, Oscar Bittlesman, raises her rent, it seems nearly impossible for Christina to continue business on the wharf. Even so, Christina hopes there is a warm heart underneath Oscar’s steely exterior. When she bonds with Wink, his sweet, young granddaughter who frequents the shop, it becomes clear that perhaps he isn’t so cold after all. And with the help of Wink’s uncle, who happens to be a charming and very handsome bachelor, this may be the best Christmas any of them could have ever imagined.
Ballantine Books | 9781524798680
THE MAN WHO SAW EVERYTHING by Deborah Levy (Fiction)
It is 1988, and Saul Adler, a narcissistic young historian, has been invited to Communist East Berlin to do research. In exchange, he must publish a favorable essay about the German Democratic Republic. As a gift for his translator's sister, a Beatles fanatic who will be his host, Saul's girlfriend will shoot a photograph of him standing in the crosswalk on Abbey Road, a homage to the famous album cover. As he waits for her to arrive, he is grazed by an oncoming car, which changes the trajectory of his life. THE MAN WHO SAW EVERYTHING is about the difficulty of seeing ourselves and others clearly.
Bloomsbury Publishing | 9781632869845
ME by Elton John (Autobiography)
Christened Reginald Dwight, he was a shy boy with Buddy Holly glasses who grew up in the London suburb of Pinner and dreamed of becoming a pop star. By the age of 23, he was performing his first gig in America, facing an astonished audience in his bright yellow dungarees, a star-spangled T-shirt and boots with wings. Elton John had arrived, and the music world would never be the same again. His life has been full of drama, from the early rejection of his work with song-writing partner Bernie Taupin to spinning out of control as a chart-topping superstar; from half-heartedly trying to drown himself in his LA swimming pool to disco-dancing with Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth. All the while, Elton was hiding a drug addiction that would grip him for over a decade.
Henry Holt and Co. | 9781250147608
NO STOPPING US NOW: The Adventures of Older Women in American History by Gail Collins (Social History)
"You're not getting older, you're getting better," or so promised the famous 1970s ad --- for women's hair dye. Americans have always had a complicated relationship with aging: embrace it, deny it, defer it --- and women have been on the front lines of the battle, willingly or not. In her lively social history of American women and aging, acclaimed New York Times columnist Gail Collins illustrates the ways in which age is an arbitrary concept that has swung back and forth over the centuries.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316286541
OLIVE, AGAIN by Elizabeth Strout (Fiction)
Prickly, wry, resistant to change yet ruthlessly honest and deeply empathetic, Olive Kitteridge struggles to understand not only herself and her own life but the lives of those around her in the town of Crosby, Maine. Whether with a teenager coming to terms with the loss of her father, a young woman about to give birth during a hilariously inopportune moment, a nurse who confesses a secret high school crush, or a lawyer who struggles with an inheritance she does not want to accept, the unforgettable Olive will continue to startle us, move us and inspire moments of transcendent grace.
Random House | 9780812996548
A PILGRIMAGE TO ETERNITY: From Canterbury to Rome in Search of a Faith by Timothy Egan (Memoir/History)
Moved by his mother's death and his Irish Catholic family's complicated history with the church, Timothy Egan decided to follow in the footsteps of centuries of seekers to force a reckoning with his own beliefs. He embarked on a thousand-mile pilgrimage through the theological cradle of Christianity, exploring one of the biggest stories of our time: the collapse of religion in the world that it created. Egan sets out along the Via Francigena, once the major medieval trail leading the devout to Rome, and makes his way overland via the alpine peaks and small mountain towns of France, Switzerland and Italy. The goal: walking to St. Peter's Square, in hopes of meeting the galvanizing pope who is struggling to hold together the church through the worst crisis in half a millennium.
Viking | 9780735225237
STEALTH: A Stone Barrington Novel by Stuart Woods (Thriller/Adventure)
Stone Barrington is trying to enjoy some downtime at his English retreat when he's unceremoniously sent off to the remote reaches of the UK and into a deadly snare. As it turns out, this is only the first volley by a rival power, one that has its eyes set on disrupting the peace of the nation. With the help of two brilliant and stunning women, Stone must leverage a new position of power to capture a villain with a lethal agenda. But the closer he comes to nabbing the culprit, the more he realizes there's a bigger plan at work, and a true mastermind who's a force to be reckoned with.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780593083161
STOLEN: Five Free Boys Kidnapped into Slavery and Their Astonishing Odyssey Home by Richard Bell (True Crime/History)
Philadelphia, 1825: Lured onto a small ship with the promise of food and pay, five young, free black boys are instead met with blindfolds, ropes and knives. Over four long months, their kidnappers drive them overland into the Cotton Kingdom to be sold as slaves. Determined to resist, the boys form a tight brotherhood as they struggle to free themselves and find their way home. Their ordeal shines a glaring spotlight on the Reverse Underground Railroad, a black market network of human traffickers and slave traders who stole away thousands of legally free African Americans from their families in order to fuel slavery’s rapid expansion in the decades before the Civil War.
37 Ink | 9781501169434
WILD GAME: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me by Adrienne Brodeur (Memoir)
On a hot July night on Cape Cod when Adrienne was 14, her mother, Malabar, woke her at midnight with five simple words that would set the course of both of their lives for years to come: Ben Souther just kissed me. Adrienne instantly became her mother’s confidante and helpmate, blossoming in the sudden light of her attention, and from then on, Malabar came to rely on her daughter to help orchestrate what would become an epic affair with her husband’s closest friend. The affair would have calamitous consequences for everyone involved, impacting Adrienne’s life in profound ways, driving her into a precarious marriage of her own and then into a deep depression. Only years later will she find the strength to embrace her life --- and her mother --- on her own terms.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | 9781328519030
A YEAR WITHOUT A NAME: A Memoir by Cyrus Grace Dunham (Memoir)
For as long as they can remember, Cyrus Grace Dunham felt like a visitor in their own body. Their life was a series of imitations --- lovable little girl, daughter, sister, young gay woman --- until their profound sense of alienation became intolerable. Moving between Grace and Cyrus, Dunham brings us inside the chrysalis of gender transition, asking us to bear witness to an uncertain and exhilarating process that troubles our most basic assumptions about who we are and how we are constituted.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316444965
YOUR HOUSE WILL PAY by Steph Cha (Thriller)
In the wake of the police shooting of a black teenager, Los Angeles is as tense as it’s been since the unrest of the early 1990s. But Grace Park and Shawn Matthews have their own problems. Grace is sheltered and largely oblivious, living in the Valley with her Korean-immigrant parents, working long hours at the family pharmacy. She’s distraught that her sister hasn’t spoken to their mother in two years. Shawn has already had enough of politics and protest after an act of violence shattered his family years ago. He just wants to be left alone to enjoy his quiet life in Palmdale. But when another shocking crime hits LA, both the Park and Matthews families are forced to face down their history while navigating the tumult of a city on the brink of more violence.
Ecco | 9780062868855
On Sale the Week of October 14th in Paperback
October 15th
ALL THE LIVES WE NEVER LIVED by Anuradha Roy (Fiction)
ALL THE LIVES WE NEVER LIVED is the story of Myshkin and his mother, Gayatri, who rebels against tradition to follow her artist’s instinct for freedom. Freedom of a different kind is in the air across India. The fight against British rule is reaching a critical turn. The Nazis have come to power in Germany. At this point of crisis, two strangers arrive in Gayatri’s town, opening up to her the vision of other possible lives. What took Myshkin’s mother from India and Dutch-held Bali in the 1930s, ripping a knife through his comfortingly familiar universe? Excavating the roots of the world in which he was abandoned, Myshkin comes to understand the connections between the anguish at home and a war torn universe overtaken by patriotism.
Washington Square Press | 9781982100520
CHURCHILL: Walking with Destiny by Andrew Roberts (Biography)
When we seek an example of great leaders with unalloyed courage, the person who comes to mind is Winston Churchill: the iconic, visionary war leader immune from the consensus of the day, who stood firmly for his beliefs when everyone doubted him. But how did young Winston become Churchill? What gave him the strength to take on the superior force of Nazi Germany when bombs rained on London and so many others had caved? In CHURCHILL, Andrew Roberts gives readers the full and definitive Winston Churchill, from birth to lasting legacy.
Penguin Books | 9781101981009
THE DEVIL’S OWN GAME: A Somebody's Bound to Wind Up Dead Mystery by Annie Hogsett (Mystery)
Paperback Original
When a sniper targets a blind man walking along the lagoon of the Cleveland Museum of Art, the bullet is a wake-up call aimed straight for Allie Harper and Tom Bennington, shattering their illusion that the Mondo Mega Jackpot Nightmare is over. Tom and Allie aren't on the case long before they discover a strong lead that takes them into the heights of Cleveland's upper-crust, where husbands and wives weave webs of betrayal with unfathomable sums of money at the center. As the threats --- and murders --- multiply, Allie, Tom and the T&A Detective Agency must fight to beat the devil's own game. Will they get out alive?
Poisoned Pen Press | 9781464211515
EVERY BREATH by Nicholas Sparks (Romance)
Hope Anderson has been dating her boyfriend for six years. With no wedding plans in sight, and her father recently diagnosed with ALS, she decides to use a week at her family's cottage in Sunset Beach, North Carolina, to ready the house for sale and mull over some difficult decisions about her future. Tru Walls is summoned to Sunset Beach by a letter from a man claiming to be his father. He hopes to unravel some of the mysteries surrounding his mother's early life and recapture memories lost with her death. When the two strangers cross paths, their connection is as electric as it is unfathomable. But their feelings for each other will give way to choices that pit family duty against personal happiness in devastating ways.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538728543
IF ONLY I COULD TELL YOU by Hannah Beckerman (Fiction)
Paperback Original
Audrey’s dream as a mother had been for her daughters, Jess and Lily, to be as close as only sisters can be. But now, as adults, they no longer speak to each other, and Audrey’s two teenage granddaughters have never met. Audrey just can’t help feeling like she’s been dealt more than her fair share as she’s watched her family come undone over the years, and she has no idea how to fix her family as she wonders if they will ever be whole again. If only Audrey had known three decades ago that a secret could have the power to split her family in two, and yet also keep them linked. And when hostilities threaten to spiral out of control, a devastating choice that was made so many years ago is about to be revealed, testing this family once and for all.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780062944689
IN PIECES by Sally Field (Memoir)
Sally Field has an infectious charm that has captivated the nation for more than five decades, beginning with her first TV role at the age of 17. From the sweet-faced "girl next door" on “Gidget” to the dazzling complexity of Sybil to the Academy Award-worthy ferocity and depth of Norma Rae and Mary Todd Lincoln, Field has stunned audiences with her artistic range and emotional acuity. Yet there is one character who always remained hidden: the shy and anxious little girl within. In her memoir, Field brings readers not only behind the scenes for the highs and lows of her star-studded early career in Hollywood, but deep into the truth of her lifelong relationships --- including her complicated love for her own mother.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538763032
SUICIDE WOODS: Stories by Benjamin Percy (Crime Fiction/Horror/Short Stories)
Paperback Original
In his first story collection since the acclaimed REFRESH, REFRESH, Benjamin Percy brings his page-turning skills to bear in SUICIDE WOODS, a potent brew of horror, crime and weird happenings in the woods. A boy in his uncle’s care falls through the ice on a pond and emerges in a frozen, uncanny state. A group of people in therapy for suicidal ideation undergoes a drastic session in the woods with fatal consequences. A body found on a train and a blood-soaked carpet in an empty house are clues to a puzzling crime in a small town. And in a pulse-quickening novella, thrill seekers on a mapping expedition into the “Bermuda Triangle” of remote Alaska are stranded on a sinister island that seems to want them dead.
Graywolf Press | 9781644450062
UNSHELTERED by Barbara Kingsolver (Fiction)
How could two hardworking people do everything right in life, a woman asks, and end up destitute? Willa Knox and her husband followed all the rules as responsible parents and professionals, and have nothing to show for it but debts and an inherited brick house that is falling apart. When the family’s one success story, an Ivy-educated son, is uprooted by tragedy, he seems likely to join them. In another time, a troubled husband and public servant asks, How can a man tell the truth, and be reviled for it? Science teacher Thatcher Greenwood’s employer forbids him to speak of the exciting work just published by Charles Darwin. His friendships with a female scientist and a renegade newspaper editor threaten to draw him into a vendetta with the town’s powerful men.
Harper Perennial | 9780062684738
VIETNAM: An Epic Tragedy, 1945-1975 by Max Hastings (History)
Vietnam became the Western world’s most divisive modern conflict, precipitating a battlefield humiliation for France in 1954, then a vastly greater one for the United States in 1975. Max Hastings has spent the past three years interviewing scores of participants on both sides, as well as researching a multitude of American and Vietnamese documents and memoirs. He portrays the set pieces of Dienbienphu, the 1968 Tet offensive, the air blitz of North Vietnam, and also much less familiar miniatures such as the bloodbath at Daido, where a US Marine battalion was almost wiped out, together with extraordinary recollections of Ho Chi Minh’s warriors. Here are the vivid realities of strife amid jungle and paddies that killed two million people.
Harper Perennial | 9780062405678
THE WESTERN WIND by Samantha Harvey (Historical Mystery)
It’s 1491. In the small village of Oakham, its wealthiest and most industrious resident, Tom Newman, is swept away by the river during the early hours of Shrove Saturday. Was it murder, suicide or an accident? Narrated from the perspective of local priest John Reve --- patient shepherd to his wayward flock --- a shadowy portrait of the community comes to light through its residents’ tortured revelations. As some of their darkest secrets are revealed, the intrigue of the unexplained death ripples through the congregation. But will Reve, a man with secrets of his own, discover what happened to Newman? And what will happen if he can’t?
Grove Press | 9780802147721
On Sale the Week of October 21st in Hardcover
October 22nd
AGENT RUNNING IN THE FIELD by John le Carré (Thriller)
Nat, a 47-year-old veteran of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, is back in London with his wife, the long-suffering Prue. But with the growing threat from Moscow Centre, the office has one more job for him. Nat is to take over The Haven, a defunct substation of London General with a rag-tag band of spies. The only bright light on the team is young Florence, who has her eye on Russia Department and a Ukrainian oligarch with a finger in the Russia pie. Nat is not only a spy, he is a passionate badminton player. His regular Monday evening opponent is the introspective and solitary Ed. Ed hates Brexit, Trump and his job at some soulless media agency. And it is Ed who will take Prue, Florence and Nat himself down the path of political anger that will ensnare them all.
Viking | 9781984878878
ALL THIS COULD BE YOURS by Jami Attenberg (Fiction)
Now that her father is on his deathbed, strong-headed lawyer Alex Tuchman feels she can finally unearth the secrets of who Victor is and what he did over the course of his life and career. As her mother Barbra fends off Alex’s unrelenting questions, she reflects on her tumultuous life with Victor. Meanwhile, Gary, Alex’s brother, is incommunicado, trying to get his movie career off the ground in Los Angeles. And Gary’s wife, Twyla, is having a nervous breakdown, buying up all the lipstick in drugstores around New Orleans and bursting into crying fits. As each family member grapples with Victor’s history, they must figure out a way to move forward --- with one another, for themselves and for the sake of their children.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | 9780544824256
BEFORE AND AFTER: The Incredible Real-Life Stories of Orphans Who Survived the Tennessee Children's Home Society by Judy Christie and Lisa Wingate (True Crime/History)
From the 1920s to 1950, Georgia Tann ran a black-market baby business at the Tennessee Children’s Home Society in Memphis. She offered up more than 5,000 orphans tailored to the wish lists of eager parents --- hiding the fact that many weren’t orphans at all, but stolen sons and daughters of poor families, desperate single mothers, and women told in maternity wards that their babies had died. The publication of Lisa Wingate’s novel, BEFORE WE WERE YOURS, brought new awareness of Tann’s lucrative career in child trafficking. Encouraged by their contact with Wingate and award-winning journalist Judy Christie, who documented the stories of 15 adoptees in this book, many determined Tann survivors set out to trace their roots and find their birth families.
Ballantine Books | 9780593130148
BOXING THE OCTOPUS: A Cape Weathers Mystery by Tim Maleeny (Mystery)
At the height of tourist season, an armored car drives off a crowded pier and sinks to the bottom of San Francisco Bay. By the time divers find the wreck, the cash is gone and the driver has vanished. The police are convinced it's an inside job, but local merchant Vera Young, whose boyfriend drove the armored car, claims it was much more than a simple heist. Vera swears the missing driver is innocent and wants him found before the police can throw him in jail. Private investigator Cape Weathers reluctantly takes the case but warns Vera that her boyfriend is likely guilty --- or dead. What starts as a manhunt uncovers a criminal conspiracy of money laundering, illegal drug testing, and a network of corporations willing to do anything to protect their stock price.
Poisoned Pen Press | 9781464211393
THE CHRISTMAS SPIRITS ON TRADD STREET by Karen White (Fiction)
The ongoing excavation of the centuries-old cistern in the garden of Melanie Trenholm’s historic Tradd Street home has been a huge millstone, both financially and aesthetically. Local students are thrilled by the possibility of unearthing more Colonial-era artifacts at the cistern, but Melanie is concerned by the ghosts connected to it that have suddenly invaded her life and her house. A past adversary is convinced there is a long-lost Revolutionary War treasure buried somewhere on the property Melanie inherited --- untold riches rumored to have been brought over from France by the Marquis de Lafayette himself and intended to help the Colonial war effort. This person will stop at nothing to possess it, even if it means destroying everything Melanie and Jack hold dear.
Berkley | 9780451475244
A CRUEL DECEPTION: A Bess Crawford Mystery by Charles Todd (Historical Mystery)
Sister Bess Crawford, who has been working with the severely wounded in England in the wake of the Great War, is asked to carry out a personal mission in Paris for a Matron at the London headquarters of The Queen Alexandra’s. When she locates Lawrence Minton, she finds a bitter and disturbed officer who is well on his way toward an addiction to opiates. He tells her that he doesn’t care if he lives or dies, as long as he can find oblivion. But what has changed him? What is it that haunts him? He can’t confide in Bess, because the truth is so deeply buried in his mind that he can only relive it in nightmares. The officers who had shared a house with him in Paris profess to know nothing. Still, Bess is reluctant to trust them even when they offer her their help.
William Morrow | 9780062859839
THE DESERTER by Nelson DeMille and Alex DeMille (Military Thriller)
When Captain Kyle Mercer of the Army’s elite Delta Force disappeared from his post in Afghanistan, a video released by his Taliban captors made international headlines. But circumstances were murky: Did Mercer desert before he was captured? Then a second video sent to Mercer’s Army commanders leaves no doubt: the trained assassin and keeper of classified Army intelligence has willfully disappeared. When Mercer is spotted a year later in Caracas, Venezuela by an old army buddy, top military brass task Scott Brodie and Maggie Taylor of the Criminal Investigation Division to bring Mercer back to America --- dead or alive. Brodie knows this is a difficult mission, made more difficult by his new partner’s inexperience and by his suspicion that Maggie Taylor is reporting to the CIA.
Simon & Schuster | 9781501101755
DREAMS OF EL DORADO: A History of the American West by H. W. Brands (History)
In DREAMS OF EL DORADO, H. W. Brands tells the thrilling, panoramic story of the settling of the American West. He takes us from John Jacob Astor's fur trading outpost in Oregon to the Texas Revolution, from the California gold rush to the Oklahoma land rush. He shows how the migrants' dreams drove them to feats of courage and perseverance that put their stay-at-home cousins to shame --- and how those same dreams also drove them to outrageous acts of violence against indigenous peoples and one another. The West was where riches would reward the miner's persistence, the cattleman's courage, the railroad man's enterprise. But El Dorado was at least as elusive in the West as it ever was in the East.
Basic Books | 9781541672529
EDISON by Edmund Morris (Biography)
Thomas Alva Edison’s invention of the first practical incandescent lamp 140 years ago so dazzled the world --- already reeling from his invention of the phonograph and dozens of other revolutionary devices --- that it cast a shadow over his later achievements. In all, this near-deaf genius patented 1,093 inventions --- not including others, such as the X-ray fluoroscope --- that he left unlicensed for the benefit of medicine. One of the achievements of this new biography, the first major life of Edison in more than 20 years, is that it portrays the unknown Edison --- the philosopher, the futurist, the chemist, the botanist, the wartime defense adviser, the founder of nearly 250 companies --- as fully as it deconstructs the Edison of mythological memory.
Random House | 9780812993110
FAMOUS IN CEDARVILLE by Erica Wright (Mystery)
When reclusive, retired silver screen actress Barbara Lace dies in her bed, only the young widower of Cedarville suspects a crime. But Samson Delaware has always been something of an outsider, and his wife’s death hasn’t exactly improved his reputation. In fact, the local gossipmongers think he might be losing his mind. Their bless-your-heart manners can’t disguise their distrust, which makes his amateur attempts at an investigation even more difficult. When Lace’s assistant is found decidedly murdered, the town starts to change its tune, though, and soon Samson finds himself in the thick of an improbable chase.
Polis Books | 9781947993723
THE HOUSE OF BRIDES by Jane Cockram (Psychological Thriller)
Miranda receives a mysterious letter from a young cousin in England that plunges her into a dark family mystery. Her mother, Tessa, died when Miranda was a child. The young woman’s only connection to the Summers family is through Tessa’s famous book, The House of Brides --- a chronicle of the generations of women who married into the infamous Summers family and made their home in the rambling Barnsley House, the family’s estate. The house’s current “bride” is the beautiful, effervescent Daphne, who saved Barnsley from ruin, turning the estate into an exclusive culinary destination and hotel. Curious about this legendary family she has never met, Miranda arrives at Barnsley posing as a prospective nanny. But Barnsley is not what Miranda expected. What happened in this house? Where is Daphne? What darkness lies hidden in Barnsley?
Harper | 9780062939296
JANIS: Her Life and Music by Holly George-Warren (Biography)
Janis Joplin has passed into legend as a brash, impassioned soul doomed by the pain that produced one of the most extraordinary voices in rock history. But in these pages, Holly George-Warren provides a revelatory portrait of a woman who wasn’t all about suffering. Janis was a perfectionist: a passionate, erudite musician who was born with talent but also worked exceptionally hard to develop it. She was a woman who pushed the boundaries of gender and sexuality long before it was socially acceptable. She was a sensitive seeker who wanted to marry and settle down --- but couldn’t, or wouldn’t. She was a Texan who yearned to flee Texas but could never quite get away --- even after becoming a countercultural icon in San Francisco.
Simon & Schuster | 9781476793108
THE LIFE AND AFTERLIFE OF HARRY HOUDINI by Joe Posnanski (Biography)
Harry Houdini. Say his name and a number of things come to mind. Escapes. Illusions. Magic. Chains. Safes. Live burials. Close to a century after his death, nearly every person in America knows his name from a young age, capturing their imaginations with his death-defying stunts and daring acts. He inspired countless people, from all walks of life, to find something magical within themselves. This is a book about a man and his extraordinary life, but it is also about the people who he has inspired in death. As Joe Posnanski delves into the deepest corners of Houdini-land, visiting museums, attractions and private archives, he encounters a cast of unforgettable and fascinating characters.
Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster | 9781501137235
A MONTH IN SIENA by Hisham Matar (Travel/Memoir)
After finishing his memoir THE RETURN, Hisham Matar, seeking solace and pleasure, traveled to Siena, Italy. Always finding comfort and clarity in great art, Matar immersed himself in eight significant works from the Sienese School of painting, which flourished from the 13th to the 15th centuries. Artists whom he had admired throughout his life, such as Duccio and Ambrogio Lorenzetti, evoke earlier engagements he has had with works by Caravaggio and Poussin, and the personal experiences that surrounded those moments. Complete with gorgeous full-color reproductions of the artworks, A MONTH IN SIENA is about what occurred between Matar, those paintings and the city.
Random House | 9780593129135
MORNING GLORY ON THE VINE: Early Songs and Drawings by Joni Mitchell (Music/Art)
In 1971, as her album Blue topped charts around the world, Joni Mitchell crafted 100 copies of MORNING GLORY ON THE VINE as a holiday gift for her closest friends. For this stunningly beautiful book, Joni hand-wrote an exquisite selection of her own lyrics and poems and illustrated them with more than 30 of her original pictures. Handcrafted, signed and numbered in Los Angeles, the existing copies of this labor of love have rarely been seen in the past half-century. Now, during Joni’s 75th birthday year, MORNING GLORY ON THE VINE will be widely available for the first time. In this faithfully reproduced edition, Joni’s best-loved lyrics and poems spill across the pages in her own elegant script. The lively, full-color drawings depict a superb array of landscapes, still lifes, portraits of friends, self-portraits, innovative abstractions and more.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | 9780358181729
THE NIGHT FIRE: A Renée Ballard and Harry Bosch Novel by Michael Connelly (Thriller)
Back when Harry Bosch was just a rookie homicide detective, he had an inspiring mentor who taught him to take the work personally and light the fire of relentlessness for every case. Now that mentor, John Jack Thompson, is dead, but after his funeral his widow gives Bosch a murder book that Thompson took with him when he left the LAPD 20 years before --- the unsolved killing of a troubled young man in an alley used for drug deals. Bosch brings the murder book to Renée Ballard and asks her to help him find what about the case lit Thompson's fire all those years ago. They soon arrive at a worrying question: Did Thompson steal the murder book to work the case in retirement, or to make sure it never got solved?
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316485616
THE POISON GARDEN by A. J. Banner (Psychological Thriller)
Elise Watters seems to have it all --- a blissful marriage, a gorgeous Victorian home surrounded by lush gardens, and a dream job running her late mother’s herbal boutique. But on the eve of her first wedding anniversary, Elise makes a shocking discovery that turns her life upside down and casts doubt on everything she thought she knew --- about her marriage, her friends and even herself. As she treads into dangerous territory, Elise is forced to wonder: Is her whole future at stake? Or is paranoia getting the best of her? If she is to believe what she sees, Elise has every reason to fear for her life.
Lake Union Publishing | 9781542004237
THE QUEENS OF ANIMATION: The Untold Story of the Women Who Transformed the World of Disney and Made Cinematic History by Nathalia Holt (Biography)
From Snow White to Moana, from Pinocchio to Frozen, the animated films of Walt Disney Studios have moved and entertained millions. But few fans know that behind these groundbreaking features was an incredibly influential group of women who fought for respect in an often ruthless male-dominated industry and who have slipped under the radar for decades. In THE QUEENS OF ANIMATION, bestselling author Nathalia Holt tells their dramatic stories for the first time, showing how these women infiltrated the boys' club of Disney's story and animation departments and used early technologies to create the rich artwork and unforgettable narratives that have become part of the American canon.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316439152
SECRETS OF THE CHOCOLATE HOUSE by Paula Brackston (Historical Fiction)
After her adventures in the 17th century, Xanthe does her best to settle back into the rhythm of life in Marlborough. But there are still things waiting to be found, still injustices needing to be put right, still voices whispering to Xanthe from long ago about secrets wanting to be shared. While looking for new stock for the shop, Xanthe hears the song of a copper chocolate pot. Soon after, she has an upsetting vision of Samuel in great danger, compelling her to make another journey to the past. This time, she'll meet her most dangerous adversary. This time, her ability to travel to the past will be tested. This time, she will discover her true destiny. Will that destiny allow her to return home? And will she be able to save Samuel when his own fate seems to be sealed?
St. Martin's Press | 9781250072443
SUPERNOVA ERA written by Cixin Liu, translated by Joel Martinsen (Science Fiction)
Eight light years away, a star has died, creating a supernova event that showers Earth in deadly levels of radiation. Within a year, everyone over the age of 13 will die. And so the countdown begins. Parents apprentice their children and try to pass on the knowledge needed to keep the world running. But when the world is theirs, the last generation may not want to continue the legacy left to them. And in shaping the future however they want, will the children usher in an era of bright beginnings or final mistakes?
Tor Books | 9781250306036
TO THE LAND OF LONG LOST FRIENDS: No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (20) by Alexander McCall Smith (Mystery)
Mma Ramotswe has reconnected with an old friend who has been having problems with her daughter. Though Precious feels compelled to lend a hand, she discovers that getting involved in family affairs is always a delicate affair. The young woman appears to be involved with a charismatic preacher. But are his ministrations entirely of a godly nature? Elsewhere, Charlie is also struggling with a tricky matter of the heart. He wishes to propose to his girlfriend, Queenie-Queenie, but he's struggling to come up with a bride price that will impress her father. When Queenie-Queenie's brother offers to help by giving him a job, the offer may not be quite what Charlie expected.
Pantheon | 9781524747824
TOUCHED BY THE SUN: My Friendship with Jackie by Carly Simon (Memoir)
A chance encounter at a summer party on Martha’s Vineyard blossomed into an improbable but enduring friendship. Carly Simon and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis made an unlikely pair --- Carly, a free and artistic spirit still reeling from her recent divorce, searching for meaning, new love and an anchor; and Jackie, one of the most celebrated, meticulous, unknowable women in American history. Nonetheless, over the next decade, their lives merged in inextricable and complex ways, and they forged a connection deeper than either could ever have foreseen. The time they spent together brought a welcome lightness and comfort to their days, but their conversations often veered into more profound territory as they helped each other navigate the shifting waters of life lived, publicly, in the wake of great love and great loss.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux | 9780374277727
On Sale the Week of October 21st in Paperback
October 22nd
THE AGE OF LIGHT by Whitney Scharer (Historical Fiction)
THE AGE OF LIGHT tells the story of Vogue model turned renowned photographer Lee Miller, and her search to forge a new identity as an artist after a life spent as a muse. "I'd rather take a photograph than be one," she declares after she arrives in Paris in 1929, where she soon catches the eye of the famous Surrealist Man Ray. Though he wants to use her only as a model, Lee convinces him to take her on as his assistant and teach her everything he knows. But Man Ray turns out to be an egotistical, charismatic force, and as they work together in the darkroom, their personal and professional lives become intimately entwined, changing the course of Lee's life forever.
Back Bay Books | 9780316524148
A CLOUD IN THE SHAPE OF A GIRL by Jean Thompson (Fiction)
Spanning from World War II to the present, A CLOUD IN THE SHAPE OF A GIRL is about three generations of the Wise family --- Evelyn, Laura and Grace --- as they hunt for contentment amid chaos of their own making. We see these women and their trials, small and large: social slights and heartbreaks; marital disappointments and infidelities; familial dysfunction; mortality. One of the burning questions Jean Thompson asks is: By serving her family, is a woman destined to repeat the mistakes of previous generations, or can she transcend the expectations of a place, and a time? Can she truly be free?
Simon & Schuster | 9781501194375
LITTLE by Edward Carey (Historical Fiction)
In 1761, a tiny, odd-looking girl named Marie is born in a village in Switzerland. After the death of her parents, she is apprenticed to an eccentric wax sculptor and whisked off to the seamy streets of Paris, where they meet a domineering widow and her quiet, pale son. Together, they convert an abandoned monkey house into an exhibition hall for wax heads, and the spectacle becomes a sensation. As word of her artistic talent spreads, Marie is called to Versailles, where she tutors a princess and saves Marie Antoinette in childbirth. But outside the palace walls, Paris is roiling: The revolutionary mob is demanding heads, and…at the wax museum, heads are what they do.
Riverhead Books | 9780525534334
LIVES LAID AWAY: An August Snow Novel by Stephen Mack Jones (Mystery/Thriller)
When the body of an unidentified young Hispanic woman is dredged from the Detroit River, the Wayne County coroner gives her photo to ex-police detective August Snow, insisting August ask around his native Mexicantown to see if anyone recognizes her. August’s good friend Elena, an advocate for undocumented immigrants, immediately pinpoints the girl as local teenager Isadora del Torres. It turns out Izzy isn’t the only young woman to have disappeared during an ICE raid only to turn up dead a few weeks later. Preyed upon by the law itself, the people of Mexicantown have no one to turn to but August. In a guns-blazing wild ride across Detroit, he will put his own life on the line to protect the community he loves.
Soho Crime | 9781641290951
NOVEMBER ROAD by Lou Berney (Historical Thriller)
A loyal street lieutenant to New Orleans’ mob boss, Carlos Marcello, Frank Guidry knows too much about the crime of the century: the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Within hours of JFK’s murder, everyone with ties to Marcello is turning up dead, and Guidry suspects he’s next. With few good options, Guidry hits the road to Las Vegas, to see an old associate --- a dangerous man who hates Marcello enough to help Guidry vanish. When Guidry sees a beautiful housewife on the side of the road with a broken-down car, two little daughters and a dog in the back seat, he sees the perfect disguise to cover his tracks from the hit men on his tail.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780062663856
PRESIDENTS OF WAR: The Epic Story, from 1807 to Modern Times by Michael Beschloss (History/Politics)
Ten years in the research and writing, PRESIDENTS OF WAR is a fresh, magisterial, intimate look at a procession of American leaders as they took the nation into conflict and mobilized their country for victory. It brings us into the room as they make the most difficult decisions that face any President, at times sending hundreds of thousands of American men and women to their deaths. From James Madison and the War of 1812 to recent times, we see them struggling with Congress, the courts, the press, their own advisors and antiwar protesters. We come to understand how these Presidents were able to withstand the pressures of war --- both physically and emotionally --- or were broken by them.
Broadway Books | 9780307409614
WITNESS: Lessons from Elie Wiesel's Classroom by Ariel Burger (Memoir)
The world remembers Elie Wiesel --- Nobel laureate, activist and author of more than 40 books, including Oprah’s Book Club selection NIGHT --- as a great humanist. He passed away in July 2016. Ariel Burger first met Wiesel at age 15. They studied together and taught together. WITNESS chronicles the intimate conversations between these two men over decades, as Burger sought counsel on matters of intellect, spirituality and faith, while navigating his own personal journey from boyhood to manhood, from student and assistant to rabbi and, in time, teacher.
Mariner Books | 9780358108528
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