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In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of October 21st and October 28th 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 reviews of three books that we featured in last Friday's Bookreporter.com Weekly Update newsletter: THE GUARDIANS, John Grisham’s latest legal thriller, in which a man who was convicted of murdering his lawyer but maintains his innocence turns to Guardian Ministries, a small nonprofit run by Cullen Post, a lawyer who travels the country fighting wrongful convictions and taking on clients forgotten by the system; OLIVE, AGAIN, the long-awaited sequel to 2008's OLIVE KITTERIDGE, in which Elizabeth Strout's beloved protagonist struggles to understand not only herself and her own life but the lives of those around her in the town of Crosby, Maine; and DAD’S MAYBE BOOK, the first book in 17 years from Tim O’Brien, who shares wisdom from a life in letters, lessons learned in wartime, and the challenges, humor and rewards of raising two sons. Grisham and O'Brien factor into the history of The Book Report Network, as Carol Fitzgerald explained in Friday's newsletter.
We also encourage you to enter our Word of Mouth and Sounding Off on Audio contests for an opportunity to win some fabulous hardcovers and audiobooks. And please be sure to vote in our latest poll about October fiction titles you are planning to read.
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Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound
Special Preview of Friday's Bookreporter Update
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This Week's Bonus News:
Our Reviews of New Books by
John Grisham, Elizabeth Strout and Tim O'Brien
THE GUARDIANS by John Grisham (Legal Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Michael Beck
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. Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman.
- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to read an excerpt.
Click here to read our review of THE GUARDIANS.
OLIVE, AGAIN by Elizabeth Strout (Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Kimberly Farr
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. Reviewed by Eileen Zimmerman Nicol.
- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to read an excerpt.
Click here to read our review of OLIVE, AGAIN.
DAD'S MAYBE BOOK by Tim O’Brien (Memoir)
Audiobook available, read by Tim O'Brien
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. Reviewed by Harvey Freedenberg.
- Click here to read more about the book.
Click here to read our review of DAD'S MAYBE BOOK.
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
On Sale the Week of October 28th in Hardcover
October 29th
BLUE MOON: A Jack Reacher Novel by Lee Child (Thriller)
Jack Reacher is on a Greyhound bus, minding his own business. He steps off the bus to help an old man who is obviously just a victim waiting to happen. But you know what they say about good deeds. Now Reacher wants to make it right. An elderly couple has made a few well-meaning mistakes, and now they owe big money to some very bad people. One brazen move leads to another, and suddenly Reacher finds himself a wanted man in the middle of a brutal turf war between rival Ukrainian and Albanian gangs. Reacher has to stay one step ahead of the loan sharks, the thugs and the assassins. He teams up with a fed-up waitress who knows a little more than she’s letting on, and sets out to take down the powerful and make the greedy pay.
Delacorte Press | 9780399593543
THE FALL OF RICHARD NIXON: A Reporter Remembers Watergate by Tom Brokaw (Memoir/History)
In August 1974, after his involvement in the Watergate scandal could no longer be denied, Richard Nixon became the first and only president to resign from office in anticipation of certain impeachment. The year preceding that moment was filled with shocking revelations and bizarre events, full of power politics, legal jujitsu and high-stakes showdowns, and with head-shaking surprises every day. As the country’s top reporters worked to discover the truth, the public was overwhelmed by the confusing and almost unbelievable stories about activities in the Oval Office. Tom Brokaw, the young NBC News White House correspondent at the time, gives us a nuanced and thoughtful chronicle, recalling the players, the strategies, and the highs and lows of the scandal that brought down a president.
Random House | 9781400069705
FIND ME by André Aciman (Fiction)
André Aciman’s CALL ME BY YOUR NAME has sold nearly three quarters of a million copies, and the book became an Academy Award–winning film starring Timothée Chalamet as the young Elio and Armie Hammer as Oliver, the graduate student with whom he falls in love. In FIND ME, Elio’s father, Samuel, is on a trip from Florence to Rome to visit Elio, who has become a gifted classical pianist. A chance encounter on the train with a beautiful young woman upends Sami’s plans and changes his life forever. Elio soon moves to Paris, where he, too, has a consequential affair, while Oliver, now a New England college professor with a family, suddenly finds himself contemplating a return trip across the Atlantic.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux | 9780374155018
HYMNS OF THE REPUBLIC: The Story of the Final Year of the American Civil War by S. C. Gwynne (History)
The fourth and final year of the Civil War offers one of that era’s most compelling narratives, defining the nation and one of history’s great turning points. Now, HYMNS OF THE REPUBLIC addresses the time Ulysses S. Grant arrives to take command of all Union armies in March 1864 to the surrender of Robert E. Lee at Appomattox a year later. S. C. Gwynne breathes new life into the epic battle between Lee and Grant; the advent of 180,000 black soldiers in the Union army; William Tecumseh Sherman’s March to the Sea; the rise of Clara Barton; the election of 1864 (which Lincoln nearly lost); the wild and violent guerrilla war in Missouri; and the dramatic final events of the war, including the surrender at Appomattox and the murder of Abraham Lincoln.
Scribner | 9781501116223
KEEP IT MOVING: Lessons for the Rest of Your Life by Twyla Tharp (Self-Help)
At 77, Twyla Tharp is revered not only for the dances she makes, but for her astounding regime of exercise and non-stop engagement. She is famed for religiously hitting the gym each morning at daybreak, and utilizing that energy to propel her breakneck schedule as a teacher, writer, creator and lecturer. KEEP IT MOVING is a series of no-nonsense mediations on how to live with purpose as time passes. From the details of how she stays motivated to the stages of her evolving fitness routine, Tharp models how fulfillment depends not on fortune but on attitude, possible for anyone willing to try and keep trying. Culling anecdotes from Twyla’s life and the lives of other luminaries, each chapter is accompanied by a small exercise that will help anyone develop a more hopeful and energetic approach to the everyday.
Simon & Schuster | 9781982101305
LEADERSHIP IN WAR: Essential Lessons from Those Who Made History by Andrew Roberts (History)
Taking us from the French Revolution to the Cold War, Andrew Roberts presents us with a deeply insightful look at nine major figures in modern history: Napoleon Bonaparte, Horatio Nelson, Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, George C. Marshall, Charles de Gaulle, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Margaret Thatcher. Each one of these leaders fundamentally shaped the outcome of the war in which their nation was embroiled. In what ways were they alike, and in what ways did they differ? Is war leadership unique, or did these leaders have something in common, traits and techniques that transcend time and place and can be applied to the fundamental nature of conflict?
Viking | 9780525522386
THE NAME OF ALL THINGS by Jenn Lyons (Fantasy)
Since he destroyed the Stone of Shackles and set demons free across Quur, Kihrin D'Mon has been on the run from the wrath of an entire empire. His attempt to escape brings him into the path of Janel Theranon, a mysterious Joratese woman who claims to know Kihrin. Janel's plea for help pits Kihrin against all manner of dangers: a secret rebellion, a dragon capable of destroying an entire city, and Kihrin's old enemy, the wizard Relos Var. Janel believes that Relos Var possesses one of the most powerful artifacts in the world --- the Cornerstone called the Name of All Things. And if Janel is right, then there may be nothing in the world that can stop Relos Var from getting what he wants. And what he wants is Kihrin D'Mon.
Tor Books | 9781250175533
NOTHING TO SEE HERE by Kevin Wilson (Fiction/Humor)
Lillian and Madison were unlikely roommates and yet inseparable friends at their elite boarding school. But then Lillian had to leave the school unexpectedly in the wake of a scandal, and they’ve barely spoken since. Until now, when Lillian gets a letter from Madison pleading for her help. Madison’s twin stepkids are moving in with her family, and she wants Lillian to be their caretaker. However, there’s a catch: the twins spontaneously combust when they get agitated, flames igniting from their skin in a startling but beautiful way. Over the course of one humid, demanding summer, Lillian and the twins learn to trust each other --- and stay cool --- while also staying out of the way of Madison’s buttoned-up politician husband.
Ecco | 9780062913463
NOTRE-DAME: A Short History of the Meaning of Cathedrals by Ken Follett (History)
In this short, spellbinding book, international bestselling author Ken Follett describes the emotions that gripped him when he learned about the fire that threatened to destroy one of the greatest cathedrals in the world --- the Notre-Dame de Paris. Follett then tells the story of the cathedral, from its construction to the role it has played across time and history, and he reveals the influence that the Notre-Dame had upon cathedrals around the world and on the writing of one of his most famous and beloved novels, THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH.
Viking | 9781984880253
ORDINARY GIRLS: A Memoir by Jaquira Díaz (Memoir)
While growing up in housing projects in Puerto Rico and Miami Beach, Jaquira Díaz found herself caught between extremes. As her family split apart and her mother battled schizophrenia, she was supported by the love of her friends. As she longed for a family and home, her life was upended by violence. As she celebrated her Puerto Rican culture, she couldn’t find support for her burgeoning sexual identity. From her own struggles with depression and sexual assault to Puerto Rico’s history of colonialism, every page of ORDINARY GIRLS vibrates with music and lyricism. Díaz writes with raw and refreshing honesty, triumphantly mapping a way out of despair toward love and hope, to become her version of the girl she always wanted to be.
Algonquin Books | 9781616209131
THE SURVIVORS: A Story of War, Inheritance, and Healing by Adam Frankel (Memoir)
Adam Frankel’s maternal grandparents survived the Holocaust and built new lives, with new names, in Connecticut. Though they tried to leave the horrors of their past behind, the pain they suffered crossed generational lines --- a fact most apparent in the mental health of Adam’s mother. When Adam sat down with her to examine their family history in detail, he learned another shocking secret. In the midst of piecing together a story of inherited familial trauma, Adam discovered he was only half of who he thought he was, knowledge that raised essential questions of identity. Who was he, if not his father’s son? Does it matter? What defines a family’s bonds? To rewrite his story in truth and to build a life for his own young family, Adam had to navigate his pain to find answers and a way forward.
Harper | 9780062258588
TELL ME A STORY: My Life with Pat Conroy by Cassandra King Conroy (Memoir)
Cassandra King was leading a quiet life as a professor, divorced “Sunday wife” of a preacher, and debut novelist when she met Pat Conroy. Their friendship bloomed into a tentative, long-distance relationship. Pat and Cassandra ultimately married, partly because Pat hated the commute from coastal South Carolina to her native Alabama. It was a union that would last 18 years, until the beloved literary icon’s death from pancreatic cancer in 2016. In TELL ME A STORY, the woman he called King Ray looks back at her love affair with a natural-born storyteller whose lust for life was fueled by a passion for literature, food and the Carolina Lowcountry that was his home.
William Morrow | 9780062905628
VICKSBURG: Grant's Campaign That Broke the Confederacy by Donald L. Miller (History)
Vicksburg, Mississippi, was the last stronghold of the Confederacy on the Mississippi River. It prevented the Union from using the river for shipping between the Union-controlled Midwest and New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico. The Union navy tried to take Vicksburg, which sat on a high bluff overlooking the river, but couldn’t do it. General Grant moved his army south and joined forces with Admiral Porter, but even together they could not come up with a successful plan. At one point, Grant even tried to build a canal so that the river could be diverted away from Vicksburg. In VICKSBURG, Donald L. Miller tells the full story of this year-long campaign to win the city.
Simon & Schuster | 9781451641370
WON'T BACK DOWN: A Jack Keller Novel by J.D. Rhoades (Thriller)
Jack Keller is back in rural North Carolina, looking for steady work and trying to establish a relationship with Francis, the son he never knew. But the boy has heard too much about Keller, particularly from Ben Jones, his half-brother and the son of Marie, the woman Keller loves. Keller is living with the guilt of knowing that much of Ben’s turmoil stems from that fateful day of blood and madness on a burning mountainside when Keller saved Ben’s life and that of his mother. But it came at a terrible price. Keller’s intervention on behalf of a bullied refugee girl and her family draws him into a confrontation with people from that family’s own dark past, including a trio of vicious and sadistic female assassins --- with Ben, Marie and Francis destined to end up in the crosshairs as well.
Polis Books | 9781947993716
On Sale the Week of October 28th in Paperback
October 29th
THE BATTLE OF ARNHEM: The Deadliest Airborne Operation of World War II by Antony Beevor (History)
On September 17, 1944, General Kurt Student, the founder of Nazi Germany's parachute forces, watched the air armada of Dakotas and gliders, carrying the legendary American 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions and the British 1st Airborne Division. Operation Market Garden, the plan to end the war by capturing the bridges leading to the Lower Rhine and beyond, was a bold concept, but could it have ever worked? The cost of failure was horrendous, above all for the Dutch who risked everything to help. German reprisals were pitiless and cruel, and lasted until the end of the war. Antony Beevor, using often overlooked sources from Dutch, American, British, Polish and German archives, has reconstructed the terrible reality of the fighting.
Penguin Books | 9780143128830
COME WITH ME by Helen Schulman (Fiction)
Donny is a baby genius whose play for fortune is an algorithm that may allow people access to their "multiverses" --- all the planes on which their alternative life choices can be played out simultaneously --- to see how the decisions they’ve made have shaped their lives. He chooses Amy Reed to be his guinea pig. Amy’s husband, Dan, accepts a dare of his own, accompanying a seductive, award-winning photographer named Maryam on a trip to Fukushima, the Japanese city devastated by tsunami and meltdown. But when crisis hits at home, the extent of Dan’s betrayal is exposed. As Amy contemplates alternative lives, the couple must confront whether or not the distances between them in the here and now are irreconcilable.
Harper Perennial | 9780062459145
FAMILY TRUST by Kathy Wang (Fiction)
Meet Stanley Huang: father, husband, ex-husband, man of unpredictable tastes and temper, aficionado of all-inclusive vacations and bargain luxury goods, newly diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. For years, Stanley has claimed that he’s worth a small fortune. But the time is now coming when the details of his estate will finally be revealed, and Stanley’s family is nervous. As his death approaches, the Huangs are faced with unexpected challenges that upend them and eventually lead them to discover what they value most.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780062855268
FEAST DAYS by Ian MacKenzie (Fiction)
Emma is a young woman who has moved from New York to Brazil just as massive demonstrations against the government are breaking out across the country amid growing economic inequality. Her early days in Sao Paulo are listless but privileged; she dines at high-end restaurants, tutors wealthy Brazilians in English, and observes the city she now calls home. But when Emma volunteers at a local church to assist refugees and grows more deeply connected to the people she meets in the course of her days, she finds herself unable to resist the tug of Sao Paulo's political and social unrest. As the country moves seemingly closer to a breaking point, so does Emma's marriage.
Back Bay Books | 9780316440158
LITTLE FAITH by Nickolas Butler (Fiction)
Lyle Hovde is living a mostly content life in rural Wisconsin with his wife, Peg; daughter, Shiloh; and six-year-old grandson, Isaac. After a troubled adolescence and subsequent estrangement from her parents, Shiloh has finally come home. But in Shiloh’s absence, she has become deeply involved with an extremist church, and the devout pastor courting her is convinced that Isaac has the spiritual ability to heal the sick. While reckoning with his own faith --- or lack thereof --- Lyle soon finds himself torn between his unease about the church and his desire to keep his daughter and grandson in his life. But when the church’s radical belief system threatens Isaac’s safety, Lyle is forced to make a decision from which the family may not recover.
Ecco | 9780062469724
ON DESPERATE GROUND: The Epic Story of Chosin Reservoir --- The Greatest Battle of the Korean War by Hampton Sides (History)
On October 15, 1950, General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of UN troops in Korea, convinced President Harry Truman that the Communist forces of Kim Il-sung would be utterly defeated by Thanksgiving. The Chinese, he said with near certainty, would not intervene in the war. As he was speaking, 300,000 Red Chinese soldiers began secretly crossing the Manchurian border. Led by some 20,000 men of the First Marine Division, the Americans moved deep into the snowy mountains of North Korea, toward the trap Mao had set for the vainglorious MacArthur along the frozen shores of the Chosin Reservoir. What followed was one of the most heroic --- and harrowing --- operations in American military history, and one of the classic battles of all time.
Anchor | 9781101971215
THE PERFECT ALIBI by Phillip Margolin (Legal Thriller)
When a young woman accuses college football superstar Blaine Hastings of sexual assault, the DNA evidence against him is overwhelming. Yet the athlete swears his innocence and threatens both his lawyer and his accuser. When a second attack occurs, DNA findings once again point to Hastings. The only problem? Hastings was in prison when the crime was committed. Soon he is granted a new trial and bail. Then his original lawyer disappears --- and his law partner is found dead. Who is behind these crimes --- and who will be the next target? These are the questions that Robin Lockwood, a young lawyer and former MMA fighter, intends to answer.
St. Martin’s Paperbacks | 9781250118875
THE RECIPE BOX by Viola Shipman (Fiction)
Samantha “Sam” Mullins felt trapped on her family’s orchard and pie shop, so she left with dreams of making her own mark in the world. But life as an overworked, undervalued sous chef at a reality star’s New York bakery is not what Sam dreamed. When the chef embarrasses Sam, she quits and returns home. Unemployed, single and defeated, she spends a summer working on her family’s orchard cooking and baking alongside the women in her life --- including her mother, Deana, and grandmother, Willo. One beloved, flour-flecked, ink-smeared recipe at a time, Sam begins to learn about and understand the women in her life, her family’s history, and her passion for food through their treasured recipe box.
St. Martin’s Griffin | 9781250149992
SEA OF GREED: A Novel from the NUMA Files by Clive Cussler and Graham Brown (Thriller/Adventure)
After an explosion in the Gulf of Mexico destroys three oil rigs, Kurt Austin and the NUMA Special Projects Team are tapped by the President of the United States to find out what's gone wrong. The trail leads them to a brilliant billionaire whose goal is the end of the oil age; her company has spent billions developing the world’s most advanced fuel-cell systems. The NUMA crew discovers that the oil fields are infected with bacteria that are consuming the oil before it can be pumped out of the earth --- a bacteria originally lost decades ago when two submarines vanished in the Mediterranean. With hired killers on his trail, can Kurt Austin locate a submarine that's remained hidden for more than 50 years?
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780735219045
UNTOUCHABLE by Jayne Ann Krentz (Romantic Suspense)
Jack Lancaster, consultant to the FBI, has always been drawn to the coldest of cold cases. As a survivor of a fire, he finds himself uniquely compelled by arson cases. His almost preternatural ability to get inside the killer's head has garnered him a reputation in some circles --- and complicated his personal life. The more cases Jack solves, the closer he slips into the darkness. His only solace is Winter Meadows, a meditation therapist. After particularly grisly cases, Winter can lead Jack back to peace. But while Quinton Zane is alive, Jack will not be at peace for long. Having solidified his position as the power behind the throne of his biological family's hedge fund, Zane sets out to get rid of Anson Salinas' foster sons, starting with Jack.
Berkley | 9780399585319
THE WEIGHT OF A PIANO by Chris Cander (Fiction)
In 1962, in the Soviet Union, eight-year-old Katya is bequeathed what will become the love of her life: a Blüthner piano, on which she discovers an enrichening passion for music. Yet after she marries, her husband insists the family emigrate to America --- and loses her piano in the process. In 2012, in Bakersfield, California, 26-year-old Clara Lundy is burdened by the last gift her father gave her before he and her mother died in a terrible house fire: a Blüthner upright she has never learned to play. Now a talented and independent auto mechanic, Clara’s career is put on hold when she breaks her hand trying to move the piano, and in sudden frustration she decides to sell it. Only in discovering the identity of the buyer --- and the secret history of her piano --- will Clara be set free to live the life of her choosing.
Vintage | 9780525563587
WHAT IS IT ALL BUT LUMINOUS: Notes from an Underground Man by Art Garfunkel (Memoir)
Art Garfunkel writes about his life before, during and after Simon & Garfunkel --- about their folk-rock music in the roiling age that embraced and was defined by their pathbreaking sound. He writes about growing up in the 1940s and '50s (the son of a traveling salesman); meeting Paul Simon in school; their going to a recording studio in Manhattan to make a demo of their song, "Hey Schoolgirl," (for $7!) and the actual record (with Paul's father on bass) going to #40 on the national charts, selling 150,000 copies; their becoming Simon & Garfunkel, taking the world by storm; his slow unfolding split with Paul and its aftermath; and so much more.
Vintage | 9780525564393
YOU DON’T OWN ME: An Under Suspicion Novel by Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke (Mystery/Thriller)
Television producer Laurie Moran is approached by Robert and Cynthia Bell, the parents of Dr. Martin Bell, who was shot dead five years ago. The Bells are sure that Martin’s disgraced and erratic wife, Kendra, carried out the murder. Determined to prove Kendra’s guilt and win custody over their grandchildren, they plead with Laurie to feature their son’s case on “Under Suspicion.” Kendra has lived under a blanket of suspicion since Martin’s death, with the tabloid media depicting her as a secretive, mentally unstable gold-digger. But once Laurie dives into the case, she learns that Martin wasn’t the picture-perfect husband, father and doctor he appeared to be and was carrying secrets of his own.
Pocket Books | 9781501171802
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