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Latest Update on Our GoFundMe Campaign
Thank you to those of you who have donated to our GoFundMe campaign. So far, with online and snail mail donations, we have raised $34,215 of our $50,000 goal.
You can read about our plans and donate here. If you would prefer donating via check, please send to:
The Book Report, Inc.
16 Mt. Bethel Road, Suite 365
Warren, NJ 07059
Thank you again for your consideration and your donation.
Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)
In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of July 13th and July 20th 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 July, which includes Indie Next, LibraryReads, the Barnes & Noble Book Club, the Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club, the Jenna Bush Hager "Read with Jenna" Today Show Book Club, the "Good Morning America" Book Club, and more.
Also, we are spotlighting the release of FLORENCE ADLER SWIMS FOREVER, the much-talked-about debut novel of Rachel Beanland, this month's Barnes & Noble Book Club pick and an upcoming Bookreporter.com Bets On selection. Don't miss Carol's "Bookreporter Talks To" interview with Rachel in Friday's Bookreporter Weekly Update newsletter.
Our latest "Bookreporter Talks To" interview is with Bruce Holsinger, whose novel, THE GIFTED SCHOOL, is now available in paperback. This Bets On pick from last year follows a close-knit community of friends and their parents as applications open for entry into a school for gifted students. What happens to those families is at the heart of the story. Bruce and Carol explore the wider problems that lead parents to push their children, students dealing with the overwhelming pressure of proving themselves, and how this stressful approach to school combined with modern technology of phones affects learning. Click here to watch the video and here to listen to the podcast.
We are so excited to be hosting our first LIVE virtual reader event. "Bookaccino Live: A Lively Talk About Books" will be held TOMORROW, Wednesday, July 15th at 2pm ET via Zoom. Carol will be presenting books that she thinks are great summer reads to dive into between now and the beginning of August, and also will talk about a couple of fall titles that you may want on your radar now. Click here to register for the event. Given the level of interest from readers, we have expanded the room to hold 300 attendees --- and there are limited spots left, so please sign up now. We will send registration details in the morning!
Scroll further down the newsletter for more upcoming online book and author events that you may want to attend.
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
Now Available: FLORENCE ADLER SWIMS FOREVER
by Rachel Beanland
This Month's Barnes & Noble Book Club Pick
and an Upcoming Bookreporter.com Bets On Selection
FLORENCE ADLER SWIMS FOREVER by Rachel Beanland (Historical Fiction)
Inspired by true events, in this stunning debut that USA Today calls “the perfect summer read,” three generations come together one summer in 1934 Atlantic City as they grapple with sudden heartbreak, family secrets, unexpected romance, and a lie that will change their lives forever.
Author Rachel Beanland can't remember a time when she didn't know the family story that inspired her book, FLORENCE ADLER SWIMS FOREVER. The novel follows the Adler family as they struggle with the sudden loss of their teenage daughter, Florence, and the decision to keep Florence's drowning a secret from their other daughter, Fannie, at the time convalescing at a maternity hospital due to her high-risk pregnancy.
Based on Rachel's own great-great-aunt, Florence Lowenthal, and the breathtaking decision her family made to hide her death to protect Florence's sister --- Rachel's great-grandmother --- the novel is rich with atmospheric historical details, explorations into the weight of family secrets, and uplifting tributes to the endurance of the human spirit.
Click here to read more about the book.
Upcoming Virtual Book and Author Events
As so many book and author events are happening online these days, we are highlighting a number of them that you may be interested in attending. Click on the links below for more info and to register.
Wednesday, July 15th at 2pm ET: The Book Report Network Presents: Bookaccino Live – A Lively Talk About Books: Carol Fitzgerald will give a presentation on some great books for summer reading through early August --- and a couple of fall titles.
Wednesday, July 15th at 6:30pm ET: Buttonwood Books & Toys Virtual Event: Christina Clancy and Lily King will talk about their newly released novels, THE SECOND HOME and WRITERS & LOVERS, respectively.
Wednesday, July 15th at 7pm ET: BookTowne and The Brielle Public Library Virtual Event: Join BookTowne and The Brielle Public Library on Zoom with Megan Miranda and her new novel, THE GIRL FROM WIDOW HILLS.
Wednesday, July 15th at 7pm ET: "Friends and Fiction": Every Wednesday, Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel, Kristy Woodson Harvey, Patti Callahan Henry and Mary Alice Monroe talk books and writing on their "Friends and Fiction" Facebook group page.
Thursday, July 16th at 7pm ET: Porter Square Books Virtual Event: Porter Square Books is delighted to welcome J. Courtney Sullivan, author of FRIENDS AND STRANGERS, to your computer screens for a virtual book talk and reading, in conversation with author Joanna Rakoff.
Friday, July 17th at 2pm ET: Avon Free Public Library Virtual Event: Gail Tsukiyama will be talking about the newly released THE COLOR OF AIR, her first novel in almost a decade.
Sunday, July 19th at 1pm ET: Writer's Block Bookstore: Rachel Beanland will be in conversation with author Fiona Davis as she discusses her debut novel, FLORENCE ADLER SWIMS FOREVER.
Sunday, July 19th at 5pm ET: We Are Family: A Virtual Adventure by the Book: Adventures by the Book is pleased to partner once again with the Carlsbad City Library for a second entertaining Summer Reading Virtual Adventure featuring four New York Times bestselling authors, all of whom have new books that are just ripe for discovery. Join Aimee Liu, Megan Miranda, Kristin Rockaway and Amy Stanley for this virtual event, and you’ll find some great books to add to your reading queue.
Monday, July 20th at 7pm ET: RWR Presents: Unputdownable Novels: What's better than an unputdownable novel in the summer? THREE unputdownable novels, that's what! Join Megan Miranda, Erica Katz, Samantha Downing and Robin Kall of "Reading With Robin" for a fast-paced chat about plot, characters and how they keep us turning those pages.
Tuesday, July 21st 6:30pm ET: Fountain Bookstore Virtual Event: There is nothing better than a trip to the beach in the summer! Join Fountain Bookstore for a discussion with Rachel Beanland about her new release, FLORENCE ADLER SWIMS FOREVER.
Tuesday, July 21st at 7pm ET: A Virtual Event Courtesy of Print: A Bookstore: J. Courtney Sullivan discusses her new book, FRIENDS AND STRANGERS, with Lily King, author of WRITERS & LOVERS.
This Week's Bonus News:
Our Favorite Monthly Lists & Picks for July
Each month, we share top book picks from Indie Next and LibraryReads, as well as the Target Book Club title and Pennie's Pick for Costco. We also feature a number of other prominent picks, including Oprah’s Book Club, the Barnes & Noble Book Club, the Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club, Jenna Bush Hager's "Read with Jenna" Today Show Book Club, the "Good Morning America" Book Club, the PBS NewsHour-New York Times “Now Read This” Book Club, and Simon & Schuster’s Book Club Favorites.
Below is a preview of July's "Favorite Monthly Lists & Picks." For the complete Indie Next and LibraryReads lists, as well as additional links pertaining to this month's selections, please click here.
Indie Next
#1 Pick: MEXICAN GOTHIC by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
TAKE A HINT, DANI BROWN by Talia Hibbert
THE GIRL FROM WIDOW HILLS by Megan Miranda
THE SAFE PLACE by Anna Downes
THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS by Stephen Graham Jones
LibraryReads
LibraryReads Top Pick: PEACE TALKS: A Novel of the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
BOYFRIEND MATERIAL by Alexis Hall
CROOKED HALLELUJAH by Kelli Jo Ford
THE HEIR AFFAIR by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan
THE LOST AND FOUND BOOKSHOP by Susan Wiggs
Target Book Club
ONE TO WATCH by Kate Stayman-London
Pennie's Pick (Costco)
THE WEDDING THIEF by Mary Simses
Barnes & Noble Book Club
FLORENCE ADLER SWIMS FOREVER by Rachel Beanland
Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club
I'M STILL HERE: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown and THE GUEST LIST by Lucy Foley
Jenna Bush Hager's "Read with Jenna" Today Show Book Club
FRIENDS AND STRANGERS by J. Courtney Sullivan
"Good Morning America" Book Club
SEX AND VANITY by Kevin Kwan
PBS NewsHour-New York Times “Now Read This” Book Club
CITIZEN: An American Lyric, by Claudia Rankine
Simon & Schuster's Book Club Favorites
THIS TENDER LAND by William Kent Krueger
On Sale the Week of July 13th in Hardcover
July 14th
AGE OF CONSENT by Amanda Brainerd (Fiction)
It’s 1983, and Justine and Eve are stuck at Griswold Academy, a Connecticut boarding school. Griswold is a far cry from Justine's bohemian life in New Haven, where her parents run a theater and struggle to pay the bills. Eve, the sophisticated daughter of status-obsessed Park Avenue parents, also feels like an outsider amidst Griswold's preppy jocks and debutantes. Despite their differences, they form a deep friendship. After a tumultuous school year, Eve and Justine spend the summer in New York City where they join Eve's childhood friend, India. All three are affected by their sexual relationships with older men and the power adults hold over them, even as the young women begin to assert their independence.
Viking | 9781984879523
BLACKTOP WASTELAND by S. A. Cosby (Thriller)
Beauregard “Bug” Montage is an honest mechanic, a loving husband and a hard-working dad. Bug knows there’s no future in the man he used to be: known from the hills of North Carolina to the beaches of Florida as the best wheelman on the East Coast. He thought he'd left all that behind him, but as his carefully built new life begins to crumble, he finds himself drawn inexorably back into a world of blood and bullets. When a smooth-talking former associate comes calling with a can't-miss jewelry store heist, Bug feels he has no choice but to get back in the driver's seat. Haunted by the ghost of who he used to be and the father who disappeared when he needed him most, Bug must find a way to navigate this blacktop wasteland...or die trying.
Flatiron Books | 9781250252685
THE BURDEN OF TRUTH by Neal Griffin (Thriller)
Eighteen-year-old Omar Ortega is about to graduate high school. For years, he’s danced on the fringes of gang life, trying desperately to stay out of the crosshairs. Once Omar joins the Army, his salary, plus his meager savings, will get his mother and siblings out of the barrio, where they’ve lived since his father was deported. One night, everything changes. Newly released from prison, Chunks, the gang’s shot-caller, has plans for Omar. That boy, Chunks thinks, needs to be jumped in. By dawn, Omar will be labeled a cop-killer. Law-and-order advocates and community organizers will battle over Omar’s fate in the court of public opinion, while the criminal justice system grips him in its teeth. One night can destroy a man and all who depend on him. That he’s innocent does not matter.
Forge Books | 9780765395627
CROOKED HALLELUJAH by Kelli Jo Ford (Fiction)
It’s 1974 in the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, and 15-year-old Justine grows up in a family of tough, complicated and loyal women presided over by her mother, Lula, and Granny. After Justine’s father abandoned the family, Lula became a devout member of the Holiness Church --- a community that Justine at times finds stifling and terrifying. But Justine does her best as a devoted daughter until an act of violence sends her on a different path forever. CROOKED HALLELUJAH tells the stories of Justine --- a mixed-blood Cherokee woman --- and her daughter, Reney, as they move from Eastern Oklahoma’s Indian Country in the hopes of starting a new, more stable life in Texas amid the oil bust of the 1980s.
Grove Press | 9780802149121
A DANGEROUS BREED by Glen Erik Hamilton (Thriller)
An invitation addressed to his long-dead mother sparks Van Shaw’s curiosity about the woman he barely knew. As he digs into young Moira Shaw's past, he uncovers startling details about her life, including her relationship to a boy named Sean Burke. Could he be the biological father who abandoned Van before he was born? Van has more immediate problems, though. His friend Hollis is in a jam, and helping him out accidentally steers Van into the path of a master extortionist named Bilal Nath. Nath demands that the talented thief mastermind a daring heist targeting a Seattle biotechnology firm, or the blackmailer will destroy the lives of people Van loves. Will Van be forced to steal a viral weapon with the potential to kill thousands?
William Morrow | 9780062978516
THE DIVINE MISS MARBLE: A Life of Tennis, Fame, and Mystery by Robert Weintraub (Biography)
In her public life, she was the biggest tennis star of the pre-war era. She also was a fashion designer and trendsetter, a contributor to a pioneering new comic called Wonder Woman --- and friend to the biggest names in Hollywood and society. She helped integrate tennis with her support of Althea Gibson, and even coached two young women who became stars in their own right: Billie Jean King and Sally Ride. Yet her private life provoked constant speculation while she was alive, and her own memoirs added layers of legend upon stories. In THE DIVINE MISS MARBLE, bestselling author Robert Weintraub traveled the country to uncover her fascinating story. And the more he learned about her, the more her mysteries and contradictions deepened.
Dutton | 9781524745363
FILTHY BEASTS: A Memoir by Kirkland Hamill (Memoir)
Following a rancorous split from New York’s upper-class society, newly divorced Wendy Hamill and her three sons are exiled from the East Coast elite circle. Wendy’s middle son, Kirk, is eight when she moves the family to her native Bermuda, leaving the three young boys to fend for themselves as she chases after the highs of her old life: alcohol, a wealthy new suitor and other indulgences. After eventually leaving his mother’s dysfunctional orbit for college in New Orleans, Kirk begins to realize how different his family and upbringing is from that of his friends and peers. Split between extreme privilege and bare survival, Kirk is used to keeping up appearances and burying his inconvenient truths from the world, until he’s 18 and falls in love for the first time.
Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster | 9781982122768
THE LANTERN MEN by Elly Griffiths (Mystery)
Ruth Galloway has a new job, home and partner, and she is no longer North Norfolk police’s resident forensic archaeologist. That is, until convicted murderer Ivor March offers to make DCI Nelson a deal. Nelson was always sure that March killed more women than he was charged with. Now March confirms this and offers to show Nelson where the other bodies are buried --- but only if Ruth will do the digging. March tells Ruth that he killed four more women and that their bodies are buried near a village bordering the fens, said to be haunted by the Lantern Men, mysterious figures holding lights that lure travelers to their deaths. Is Ivor March himself a lantern man, luring Ruth back to Norfolk? What is his plan, and why is she so crucial to it? And are the killings really over?
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | 9780358237044
MAKE RUSSIA GREAT AGAIN by Christopher Buckley (Fiction/Satire)
Herb Nutterman never intended to become Donald Trump’s White House chief of staff. Herb served the Trump Organization for 27 years, holding jobs in everything from a food and beverage manager at the Trump Magnifica to being the first general manager of the Trump Bloody Run Golf Course. And when his old boss asks “his favorite Jew” to take on the daunting role of chief of staff, Herb, spurred on by loyalty, agrees. But being the chief of staff is a lot different from being a former hospitality expert. Soon, Herb finds himself deeply involved in Russian intrigue, deflecting rumors about Mike Pence’s high school involvement in a Satanic cult, and leading President Trump’s reelection campaign.
Simon & Schuster | 9781982157463
MIRACLE COUNTRY: A Memoir by Kendra Atleework (Memoir)
Kendra Atleework grew up in Swall Meadows, in the Owens Valley of the Eastern Sierra Nevada, where annual rainfall averages five inches and in drought years measures closer to zero. After Kendra’s mother died of a rare autoimmune disease when Kendra was just 16, her once-beloved desert world came to feel empty and hostile, as climate change, drought and wildfires intensified. The Atleework family fell apart, even as her father tried to keep them together. Kendra escaped to Los Angeles, and then Minneapolis, a land of tall trees, full lakes and water everywhere you look. But after years of avoiding her troubled hometown, she realized that she needed to come to terms with its past and present and had to go back.
Algonquin Books | 9781616209988
MOTHER LAND by Leah Franqui (Fiction)
When Rachel Meyer, a thirtysomething foodie from New York, agrees to move to Mumbai with her Indian-born husband, Dhruv, she knows some culture shock is inevitable. But the ex-pat American’s sense of adventure is sorely tested when her mother-in-law, Swati, suddenly arrives from Kolkata with an even more shocking announcement: she has left her husband of more than 40 years and is moving in with them. When Dhruv is called away on business, these two strong-willed women from such very different backgrounds, who see life so differently, are alone together in a home that each is determined to run in her own way --- a situation that ultimately brings into question the very things in their lives that had seemed perfect and permanent…with results neither of them expect.
William Morrow | 9780062938848
NEVER ASK ME by Jeff Abbott (Psychological Thriller)
In the wealthy Austin suburb of Lakehaven, the body of Danielle Roberts is discovered on a park bench. Danielle was an adoption consultant who delivered the joy of parenthood to a number of local families. Perhaps no other family is as crushed as the Pollitts, and her death becomes the catalyst for a maelstrom of suspicion and intrigue. You have been told a huge lie, an anonymous email charges the son, Grant. No one can learn the truth now, thinks the father, Kyle. Never ask me what I'd do to protect my family, resolves the wife, Iris. I'll do whatever it takes to save him, vows the daughter, Julia, of Danielle's grieving teenage son. When each begins to suspect the others of the unimaginable, the strength of their bonds will be tested in extraordinary new ways.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538733158
THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS by Stephen Graham Jones (Horror)
Seamlessly blending classic horror and a dramatic narrative with sharp social commentary, THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS follows four American Indian men after a disturbing event from their youth puts them in a desperate struggle for their lives. Tracked by an entity bent on revenge, these childhood friends are helpless as the culture and traditions they left behind catch up to them in a violent, vengeful way.
Gallery/Saga Press | 9781982136451
THE ORDER by Daniel Silva (Thriller/Adventure)
When Pope Paul VII dies suddenly, Gabriel Allon is summoned to Rome by the Holy Father’s loyal private secretary, Archbishop Luigi Donati. A billion Catholic faithful have been told that the pope died of a heart attack. Donati, however, has two good reasons to suspect his master was murdered. The Swiss Guard who was standing watch outside the papal apartments the night of the pope’s death is missing. So, too, is the letter the Holy Father was writing during the final hours of his life. A letter that was addressed to Gabriel. While researching in the Vatican Secret Archives, I came upon a most remarkable book… The book is a long-suppressed gospel that calls into question the accuracy of the New Testament’s depiction of one of the most portentous events in human history.
Harper | 9780062834843
OTHER PEOPLE'S PETS by R.L. Maizes (Fiction)
La La Fine relates to animals better than she does to other people. Abandoned by a mother who never wanted a family, raised by a locksmith-turned-thief father, La La looks to pets when it feels like the rest of the world conspires against her. La La’s world stops being whole when her mother abandons her twice. First, when La La falls through thin ice on a skating trip, and again when the accusations of “unfit mother” feel too close to true. Left alone with her father, La La is denied a regular life. She becomes her father’s accomplice, calming the watchdog while he strips families of their most precious belongings. When her father’s luck runs out and he is arrested for burglary, everything La La has painstakingly built unravels.
Celadon Books | 9781250304131
PEACE TALKS: A Novel of the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher (Urban Fantasy)
When the Supernatural nations of the world meet up to negotiate an end to ongoing hostilities, Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard, joins the White Council's security team to make sure the talks stay civil. But can he succeed, when dark political manipulations threaten the very existence of Chicago --- and all he holds dear?
Ace | 9780451464415
QUEEN OF STORMS: Book Two of The Firemane Saga by Raymond E. Feist (Fantasy)
Hatushaly and his young wife, Hava, have arrived in the prosperous trading town of Beran’s Hill to restore and reopen the fire-damaged Inn of the Three Stars. They are also preparing for the popular midsummer festival, where their friends Declan and Gwen will be wed. But Hatu and Hava are only posing as inkeepers; in fact, they are assassins from the mysterious island of Coaltachin, home to the powerful and lethal Nocusara, the fearsome “Hidden Warriors.” Hatu conceals an even more dangerous secret. He is the last remaining member of the legendary Firemanes, the ruling family of Ithrace. Hatu works hard to hide his true identity from all who would seek to use or to destroy him, as fate has other plans for the noble warrior.
Harper Voyager | 9780062315816
THE REVELATORS: A Quinn Colson Novel by Ace Atkins (Thriller)
Shot up and left for dead, Sheriff Quinn Colson has revenge on his mind. With the help of his new wife Maggie, rehabilitation and sheer force of will, he's walking again, eager to resume his work as a southern lawman and track down those responsible for his attempted murder. But someone is standing in his way: an interim sheriff, appointed by the newly elected Governor Vardaman, the man who Quinn knows ordered his murder. Vardaman sits at the top of the state's power structure --- both legal and criminal --- and little does he know that Quinn is still working to take him down. Now, as a bustling factory shuts down, a labor leader ends up dead, and Quinn's own nephew goes missing, everything looks to be unraveling.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780525539490
THE SAFE PLACE by Anna Downes (Psychological Thriller)
Emily Proudman just lost her acting agent, her job and her apartment in one miserable day. Scott Denny, a successful and charismatic CEO, has a problem that neither his business acumen nor vast wealth can fix. Until he meets Emily. Scott offers Emily a summer job as a housekeeper on his remote, beautiful French estate. Enchanted by his lovely wife, Nina, and his eccentric young daughter, Aurelia, Emily falls headlong into this oasis of wine-soaked days by the pool. But soon Emily realizes that Scott and Nina are hiding dangerous secrets, and if she doesn't play along, the consequences could be deadly.
Minotaur Books | 9781250264800
STRANGER IN THE SHOGUN'S CITY: A Japanese Woman and Her World by Amy Stanley (History)
The daughter of a Buddhist priest, Tsuneno was born in a rural Japanese village and was expected to live a traditional life much like her mother’s. But after three divorces --- and a temperament much too strong-willed for her family’s approval --- she ran away to make a life for herself in one of the largest cities in the world: Edo, a bustling metropolis at its peak. With Tsuneno as our guide, we experience the drama and excitement of Edo just prior to the arrival of American Commodore Perry’s fleet, which transformed Japan. During this pivotal moment in Japanese history, Tsuneno bounces from tenement to tenement, marries a masterless samurai, and eventually enters the service of a famous city magistrate.
Scribner | 9781501188527
SURVIVAL INSTINCTS by Jen Waite (Psychological Thriller)
Twenty-something Anne meets the man of her dreams right out of college, but after they get married, Anne notices that her husband begins acting differently. Why is Ethan suddenly so moody? And will their marriage endure? Ten years later, Anne and her 12-year-old daughter, Thea, are safely living in Vermont. When Thea takes to brooding and showing classic signs of teen angst, a trip to the White Mountains of New Hampshire --- accompanied by Anne’s mother, Rose --- seems like the perfect chance to bond. But a man follows the three women on a hike at a nature reserve and drags them at gunpoint to an abandoned cabin in the woods. Just like that, their peaceful weekend away turns into a fight for survival.
Dutton | 9781524745837
UTOPIA AVENUE by David Mitchell (Dystopian/Science Fiction)
Utopia Avenue is the strangest British band you’ve never heard of. Emerging from London’s psychedelic scene in 1967, it embarked on a meteoric journey from the seedy clubs of Soho, a TV debut on “Top of the Pops,” the cusp of chart success, glory in Amsterdam, prison in Rome, and a fateful American sojourn in the Chelsea Hotel, Laurel Canyon and San Francisco during the autumn of ’68. David Mitchell’s novel tells the unexpurgated story of Utopia Avenue’s turbulent life and times; of fame’s Faustian pact and stardom’s wobbly ladder; of the families we choose and the ones we don’t; of voices in the head, and the truths and lies they whisper; of music, madness and idealism. Can we really change the world, or does the world change us?
Random House | 9780812997439
A VERY PUNCHABLE FACE: A Memoir by Colin Jost (Memoir/Essays)
If there’s one trait that makes someone well suited to comedy, it’s being able to take a punch --- metaphorically and, occasionally, physically. From growing up in a family of firefighters on Staten Island to commuting three hours a day to high school and “seeing the sights” (like watching a Russian woman throw a stroller off the back of a ferry), to attending Harvard while Facebook was created, "Saturday Night Live" head writer and Weekend Update co-anchor Colin Jost shares how he has navigated the world like a slightly smarter Forrest Gump. For every accomplishment (hosting the Emmys), there is a setback (hosting the Emmys). And for every absurd moment (watching paramedics give CPR to a raccoon), there is an honest, emotional one (recounting his mother’s experience on the scene of the Twin Towers’ collapse on 9/11).
Crown | 9781101906323
A WALK ALONG THE BEACH by Debbie Macomber (Fiction)
The Lakey sisters are perfect opposites. After their mother died and their father was lost in grief, Willa had no choice but to raise her sister, Harper, and their brother, Lucas. Then, as an adult, she put her own life on hold to nurse Harper through a terrifying illness. Now that Harper is better and the sisters are living as roommates, Willa has realized her dream of running her own bakery and coffee shop, bringing her special brand of caretaking to the whole Oceanside community. Harper, on the other hand, is always on the go. Overcoming a terrible illness has given her a new lease on life, and she does not intend to waste it. When Harper announces her plan to summit Mount Rainier, Willa fears she may be pushing herself too far. Harper, for her part, urges Willa to stop worrying and do something outside of her comfort zone --- like taking a chance on love with a handsome new customer.
Ballantine Books | 9780399181368
WHAT YOU WISH FOR by Katherine Center (Fiction)
Samantha Casey is a school librarian who loves her job, the kids and her school family with passion and joy for living. But she wasn’t always that way. Duncan Carpenter is the new school principal who lives by rules and regulations, guided by the knowledge that bad things can happen. But he wasn’t always that way. And Sam knows it. Because she knew him before --- at another school, in a different life. Back then, she loved him --- but she was invisible. To him. To everyone. Even to herself. She escaped to a new school, a new job, a new chance at living. And then Duncan, of all people, gets hired as the new principal there. He is now a suit-and-tie-wearing, rule-enforcing tough guy so hell-bent on protecting the school that he’s willing to destroy it.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250219367
WONDERLAND by Zoje Stage (Psychological Thriller/Horror)
After years of city life, Orla and Shaw Bennett are ready for the quiet of New York's Adirondack mountains --- or at least, they think they are. Settling into the perfect farmhouse with their two children, they are both charmed and unsettled by the expanse of their land, the privacy of their individual bedrooms, and the isolation of life a mile from any neighbor. But none of the Bennetts could expect what lies waiting in the woods, where secrets run dark and deep. When something begins to call to the family --- from under the earth, beneath the trees and within their minds --- Orla realizes she might be the only one who can save them…if she can find out what this force wants before it's too late.
Mulholland Books | 9780316458498
On Sale the Week of July 13th in Paperback
July 14th
THE BURNING CHAMBERS by Kate Mosse (Historical Thriller)
France, 1562. War sparks between the Catholics and Huguenots, dividing neighbors, friends and family. Meanwhile, 19-year-old Minou Joubert receives an anonymous letter at her father’s bookshop. Sealed with a distinctive family crest, it contains just five words: She knows that you live. Before Minou can decipher the mysterious message, she meets a young Huguenot convert, Piet Reydon, who will need Minou’s help if he is to stay alive. Soon, they find themselves on opposing sides, as forces beyond their control threaten to tear them apart. As the religious divide deepens, Minou and Piet find themselves trapped in Toulouse, facing new dangers as tensions ignite across the city --- and a feud that will burn across generations begins to blaze.
Minotaur Books | 9781250619723
COSTALEGRE by Courtney Maum (Historical Fiction)
It is 1937, and Europe is on the brink of war. Hitler is circulating a most-wanted list of artists, writers and thinkers whose work is deemed a threat to the new regime. To prevent the destruction of her favorite art (and artists), American heiress and modern art collector Leonora Calaway begins swiftly chartering boats and planes for an elite group of surrealists to Costalegre, a mysterious resort in the Mexican jungle, where she has a home. The story of what happens to these artists is told by Lara, Leonora’s neglected 15-year-old daughter, who has been pulled out of school to follow her mother to Mexico. Inspired by the beautiful and talented Charlotte, alongside an eccentric menagerie of other surrealists, Lara begins to discover herself as an artist.
Tin House Books | 9781951142018
COVENTRY: Essays by Rachel Cusk (Essays)
Rachel Cusk redrew the boundaries of fiction with the Outline Trilogy, whose narrator, Faye, perceives the world with a glinting, unsparing intelligence while remaining opaque to the reader. Now, in COVENTRY, Cusk gathers a selection of her nonfiction writings that both offers new insights on the themes at the heart of her fiction and forges a startling critical voice on some of our most urgent personal, social and artistic questions. The book encompasses memoir, cultural criticism and writing about literature with pieces on family life, gender and politics, and on D. H. Lawrence, Françoise Sagan and Kazuo Ishiguro.
Picador | 9781250619587
FULL COUNT: The Education of a Pitcher by David Cone and Jack Curry (Sports/Memoir)
During his 17-year career, David Cone became a master of the mechanics and mental toughness a pitcher needs to succeed in the major leagues. A five-time All-Star and five-time World Champion now gives his full count --- balls and strikes, errors and outs --- of his colorful life in baseball. From the pitchers he studied to the hitters who infuriated him, FULL COUNT takes readers inside the mind of a thoughtful pitcher, detailing Cone's passion, composure and strategies. The book is also filled with never-before-told stories from the memorable teams Cone played on --- ranging from the infamous late '80s Mets to the Yankee dynasty of the '90s.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538748831
GIDEON THE NINTH by Tamsyn Muir (Science Fiction/Space Opera)
Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse. But her childhood nemesis won’t set her free without a service. Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House and bone witch extraordinaire, has been summoned into action. The Emperor has invited the heirs to each of his loyal Houses to a deadly trial of wits and skill. If Harrowhark succeeds, she will become an immortal, all-powerful servant of the Resurrection. But no necromancer can ascend without their cavalier. Without Gideon’s sword, Harrow will fail, and the Ninth House will die. Of course, some things are better left dead.
Tor.com | 9781250313188
HOW COULD SHE by Lauren Mechling (Fiction)
After a devastating break-up with her fiancé, Geraldine is struggling to get her life back on track in Toronto. Her two old friends, Sunny and Rachel, left ages ago for New York, where they've landed good jobs, handsome husbands and unfairly glamorous lives (or at least so it appears to Geraldine). Sick of watching from the sidelines, Geraldine moves to New York City. After she arrives, though, and zigzags her way through the downtown art scene and rooftop party circuit, she discovers how hard it is to find her footing in a world of influencers and media darlings. Plus, the magazine where Sunny and Rachel work is on the brink of folding. Rachel is struggling to juggle her life as a writer, wife and new mother.
Penguin Books | 9780525559405
HOW TO SAVE A LIFE by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke (Fiction)
Paperback Original
When Dom bumps into Mia, his ex-fiancée whom he hasn’t seen in almost a decade, he believes they’ve been given a second chance and asks her out. When Mia dies tragically on their date, Dom makes a desperate wish: to be given the chance to save her life. And when he wakes the next morning to the shock that she’s alive, he thinks his wish may have been granted. But day after day, no matter what he changes about their time together, she still meets a terrible fate. Dom frantically searches for answers to save his beloved Mia and rekindle their former love. But the further he digs, the more obsessed he becomes, making him realize that slowing down time may be the only way to see things clearly.
Lake Union Publishing | 9781542005098
JUST MAKE BELIEVE: A Lady Adelaide Mystery by Maggie Robinson (Historical Mystery)
Paperback Original
Gloucestershire, 1925. When the hostess of a week-long house party in the country is found dead on the conservatory floor, Lady Adelaide knows just who to call: Detective Inspector Devenand Hunter of Scotland Yard. Dev may not want to kiss Addie again, but he's anxious to solve the crime. Who would want to kill Pamela, the beautiful wife of one of Britain's greatest Great War heroes? Certainly not her devoted and wheelchair-bound husband, Sir Hugh Fernald. The other guests seem equally innocent and improbable. But despite all appearances, something is very wrong at Fernald Hall --- there's a body buried in the garden, and the governess has fallen down the stairs to her death. Who's next?
Poisoned Pen Press | 9781492699439
LAKE OF THE OZARKS: My Surreal Summers in a Vanishing America by Bill Geist (Memoir)
Before there was "tourism" and souvenir ashtrays became "kitsch," the Lake of the Ozarks was a Shangri-La for middle-class Midwestern families on vacation, complete with man-made beaches, Hillbilly Mini Golf and feathered rubber tomahawks. It was there that author Bill Geist spent summers in the ’60s during his school and college years working at Arrowhead Lodge --- a small resort owned by his bombastic uncle --- in all areas of the operation, from cesspool attendant to bellhop. In LAKE OF THE OZARKS, the Emmy Award-winning “CBS Sunday Morning” correspondent reflects on his coming of age in the American Heartland and traces his evolution as a man and a writer.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538729823
THE LAST WIDOW by Karin Slaughter (Mystery/Thriller)
On a hot summer night, a scientist from the Centers for Disease Control is grabbed by unknown assailants in a shopping center parking lot. One month later, the serenity of a sunny Sunday afternoon is shattered by the boom of a ground-shaking blast --- followed by another seconds later. One of Atlanta’s busiest and most important neighborhoods has been bombed. Medical examiner Sara Linton and her partner Will Trent, an investigator with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, rush to the scene --- and into the heart of a deadly conspiracy. When the assailants abduct Sara, Will goes undercover to save her and prevent a massacre --- putting his own life on the line for the woman and the country he loves.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780062858900
THE LOST GIRLS OF DEVON by Barbara O'Neal (Mystery)
Paperback Original
It’s been years since Zoe Fairchild has been to the small Devon village of her birth, but the wounds she suffered there still ache. When she learns that her old friend and grandmother’s caretaker has gone missing, Zoe and her 15-year-old daughter return to England to help. Zoe dreads seeing her estranged mother, who left when Zoe was seven to travel the world. As the four generations of women reunite, the emotional pain of the past is awakened. And to complicate matters further, Zoe also must confront the ex-boyfriend she betrayed many years before. Anxieties spike when tragedy befalls another woman in the village. As the mystery turns more sinister, new grief melds with old betrayal.
Lake Union Publishing | 9781542020725
MIDDLE ENGLAND by Jonathan Coe (Fiction/Dark Humor)
MIDDLE ENGLAND is a piercing and provocative novel about a country in crisis. From the frenzy of the 2012 Olympics to the aftermath of the Brexit referendum, here Jonathan Coe chronicles the story of modern Britain by way of a cast of characters whose world is being upended. There are newlyweds who disagree about the country’s future and, possibly, their relationship; a political commentator who writes impassioned columns about austerity from his lavish town house while his radical teenage daughter undertakes a relentless quest for universal justice; and Benjamin Trotter, who embarks on an apparently doomed new career in middle age, and his father, whose last wish is to vote to leave the European Union.
Vintage | 9780525566847
THE PASSENGERS by John Marrs (Science Fiction/Thriller)
You’re riding in your self-driving car when suddenly the doors lock, the route changes and you have lost all control. Then a mysterious voice tells you, “You are going to die.” Just as self-driving cars become the trusted, safer norm, eight people find themselves in this terrifying situation, including a faded TV star, a pregnant young woman, an abused wife fleeing her husband, an illegal immigrant, a husband and wife, and a suicidal man. From cameras hidden in their cars, their panic is broadcast to millions of people around the world. But the public will show their true colors when they are asked, "Which of these people should we save?” “Who should we kill first?"
Berkley | 9780593098769
RAISED IN CAPTIVITY: Fictional Nonfiction by Chuck Klosterman (Fiction/Short Stories)
A man flying first class discovers a puma in the lavatory. A new coach of a small-town Oklahoma high school football team installs an offense comprised of only one, very special, play. A college professor discusses with his friend his difficulties with the new generation of students. A woman interviews a hit man about killing her husband but is shocked by the method he proposes. Fair warning: RAISED IN CAPTIVITY does not slot into a smooth preexisting groove. If Saul Steinberg and Italo Calvino had adopted a child from a Romanian orphanage and raised him on Gary Larsen and Thomas Bernhard, he would still be nothing like Chuck Klosterman. They might be good company, though.
Penguin Books | 9780735217935
THE RETREAT by Sherri Smith (Psychological Thriller)
Katie Manning was a beloved child star until her mid-teens when her manager attacked and permanently scarred her face, effectively ending her career. Now 27, Katie wants a better answer to those clickbait “Where Are They Now?” articles that float around online. It’s an answer she hopes to find when her brother’s too-good-to-be-true fiancée invites her to a wellness retreat upstate. Together with her two best friends, Katie will try to find the inner peace promised at the tranquil retreat. But finding oneself just might drudge up more memories than Katie is prepared to deal with. Each woman has come to the retreat for different reasons. Each has her secrets to hide. And at the end of this weekend, only one will be left standing.
Forge Books | 9780765386748
TELL ME EVERYTHING by Cambria Brockman (Psychological Thriller)
In her first weeks at Hawthorne College, Malin is swept up into a tight-knit circle that will stick together through all four years. But Malin isn’t like the rest of her friends. She’s an expert at hiding her troubled past. She acts as if she shares the preoccupations of those around her, all while using her extraordinary insight to detect their deepest vulnerabilities and weaknesses. By Senior Day, Malin’s secrets --- and those of her friends --- are revealed. While she scrambles to maintain her artfully curated image, her missteps set in motion a devastating chain of events that ends in a murder. And as fragile relationships hang in the balance and close alliances shift, Malin must test the limits of what she’s capable of to stop the truth from coming out.
Ballantine Books | 9781984817235
TELL ME WHO WE WERE: Stories by Kate McQuade (Fiction/Short Stories)
It begins with a drowning. One day, Mr. Arcilla, the romance-language teacher at Briarfield, an all-girls boarding school, is found dead at the bottom of Reed Pond. Young and handsome, the object of much fantasy and fascination, he was adored by his students. For Lilith and Romy, Evie and Claire, and Nellie and Grace, he was their first love, and their first true loss. In TELL ME WHO WE WERE, Kate McQuade explores the ripple effect of one transformative moment on six lives, witnessed at a different point in each girl’s future.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780062869807
THINGS YOU SAVE IN A FIRE by Katherine Center (Fiction)
As one of the only female firefighters in her Texas firehouse, Cassie Hanwell has seen her fair share of emergencies, and she's a total pro at other people's tragedies. But when her estranged and ailing mother asks her to give up her whole life and move to Boston, Cassie suddenly has an emergency of her own. The tough, old-school Boston firehouse is as different from Cassie's old job as it could possibly be. The firemen aren't exactly thrilled to have a "lady" on the crew --- except for the infatuation-inspiring rookie, who doesn't seem to mind having Cassie around. She can't think about that, though. Because love is girly, and it’s not her thing. But Cassie can feel her resolve slipping...and it means risking it all.
St. Martin’s Griffin | 9781250622129
THE VEXATIONS by Caitlin Horrocks (Historical Fiction)
Erik Satie begins life with every possible advantage. But after the dual blows of his mother's early death and his father's breakdown upend his childhood, Erik and his younger siblings --- Louise and Conrad --- are scattered. Later, as an ambitious young composer, Erik flings himself into the Parisian art scene, aiming for greatness but achieving only notoriety. As the years, then decades, pass, he alienates those in his circle as often as he inspires them. Only Louise and Conrad are steadfast allies. But in a journey that will take her from Normandy to Paris to Argentina, Louise is rocked by a severe loss that ultimately forces her into a reckoning with how Erik --- obsessed with his art and hungry for fame --- will never be the brother she's wished for.
Back Bay Books | 9780316316941
WE KNOW YOU KNOW by Erin Kelly (Psychological Thriller)
Marianne was 17 when she fled her home in Nusstead --- leaving behind her family, her boyfriend, Jesse, and the body they buried. Now, 30 years later, forced to return in order to help care for her sick mother, she can feel the past closing around her. And Jesse, who never forgave her for leaving in the first place, is finally threatening to expose the truth. Marianne will do anything to protect the life she's built, the husband and daughter who must never know what happened all those years ago. Even if it means turning to her worst enemy for help. But Marianne may not know the whole story --- and she isn't the only one with secrets they'd kill to keep.
Minotaur Books | 9781250248237
WHO ARE YOU, CALVIN BLEDSOE? by Brock Clarke (Fiction)
Calvin Bledsoe has never grown up. His mother, an internationally known theologian, was the dominant force in his life. Now she is gone, and at her funeral, Calvin meets an aunt he never knew existed, who immediately takes charge of his life and whisks him off to Europe for a grand adventure. As Calvin and his aunt traverse the continent, it becomes apparent that her clandestine behavior is leading him into danger. Facing a menagerie of antiquities thieves, secret agents and religious fanatics, as well as an ex-wife who is stalking him, Calvin begins to suspect there might be some meaning behind the madness. But there’s little time for soul-searching, as Calvin first has to figure out why he has been kidnapped, why his aunt has disappeared, and who the hell burned down his house in Maine.
Algonquin Books | 9781643750781
On Sale the Week of July 20th in Hardcover
July 21st
THE ANSWER IS...: Reflections on My Life by Alex Trebek (Autobiography)
Since debuting as the host of "Jeopardy!" in 1984, Alex Trebek has been something like a family member to millions of television viewers, bringing entertainment and education into their homes five nights a week. Last year, he made the stunning announcement that he had been diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer. What followed was an incredible outpouring of love and kindness. For over three decades, Trebek had resisted countless appeals to write a book about his life. Yet he was moved so much by all the goodwill, he felt compelled to finally share his story. THE ANSWER IS... combines illuminating personal anecdotes with Trebek’s thoughts on a range of topics, including marriage, parenthood, education, success, spirituality and philanthropy.
Simon & Schuster | 9781982157999
AUSTEN YEARS: A Memoir in Five Novels by Rachel Cohen (Memoir)
In the turbulent period around the birth of her first child and the death of her father, Rachel Cohen turned to Jane Austen to make sense of her new reality. For Cohen, simultaneously grief-stricken and buoyed by the birth of her daughter, reading Austen became her refuge and her ballast. She was able to reckon with difficult questions about mourning, memorializing, living in a household, paying attention to the world, reading, writing and imagining through Austen’s novels. AUSTEN YEARS is a deeply felt and sensitive examination of a writer’s relationship to reading, and to her own family, winding together memoir, criticism and biographical and historical material about Austen herself.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux | 9780374107031
THE BOOK OF LOST NAMES by Kristin Harmel (Historical Fiction)
Eva Traube Abrams, a semi-retired librarian in Florida, is shelving books one morning when her eyes lock on a photograph in a magazine lying open nearby. It’s an image of a book she hasn’t seen in 65 years: The Book of Lost Names. The accompanying article discusses the looting of libraries by the Nazis across Europe during World War II --- an experience Eva remembers well --- and the search to reunite people with the texts taken from them so long ago. The book in the photograph, an 18th-century religious text thought to have been taken from France in the waning days of the war, is one of the most fascinating cases. It appears to contain some sort of code, but researchers don’t know where it came from --- or what the code means. Only Eva holds the answer. But will she have the strength to revisit old memories and help reunite those lost during the war?
Gallery Books | 9781982131890
THE DAUGHTERS OF FOXCOTE MANOR by Eve Chase (Mystery)
England, 1970. On the one-year anniversary of the Harrington family's darkest night, their beautiful London home goes up in flames. Mrs. Harrington, the two children and live-in nanny Rita relocate to Foxcote Manor, ostensibly to recuperate. But when 13-year-old Hera discovers a baby girl abandoned just beyond their garden gate, this tiniest, most wondrous of secrets brings a much-needed sunlit peace, until a visitor detonates the family's tenuous happiness. All too soon a body lies dead in the woods. Forty years later, London-based Sylvie has buried her own origin story decades ago, never imagining her teenage daughter would have a shocking reason to dig up the past --- and to ask Sylvie to finally face the secrets that lead her back to Foxcote Manor.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780525542384
DRAGONFIRE: An Alex Hawke Novel by Ted Bell (Thriller/Adventure)
December 8, 1941, Washington, D.C.: The new Chinese ambassador to the United States, Tiger Tang, meets with President Roosevelt one day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. For the next four years, China and the U.S. will be wartime allies. Today, The Bahamas: Alex Hawke is recovering from serious injuries incurred during a battle with a malevolent enemy. His recuperation is interrupted by a desperate call from the Queen. Her favorite grandson has disappeared in the Bahamas. Lord Hawke is the only man she trusts with a mission this sensitive. All she knows is that the young prince was last seen at the exclusive Dragonfire nightclub owned by the nefarious Tang brothers, grandsons of Ambassador Tiger Tang.
Berkley | 9780593101209
HALF MOON BAY by Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman (Mystery/Thriller)
Clay Edison has his hands full. He has a new baby who won't sleep and is working the graveyard shift. Then comes the first call. Workers demolishing a local park have made a haunting discovery: the decades-old skeleton of a child. But whose? And how did it get there? No sooner has Clay begun to investigate than he receives a second call --- this one from a local businessman, wondering if the body could belong to his sister. She went missing fifty years ago, the man says. Or at least I think she did. It’s a little complicated. Clay’s relentless search for answers will unearth a history of violence and secrets, revolution and betrayal. Because in this town, the past isn’t dead. It’s very much alive. And it can be murderous.
Ballantine Books | 9780525620082
HAMNET: A Novel of the Plague by Maggie O'Farrell (Historical Fiction)
A young Latin tutor --- penniless and bullied by a violent father --- falls in love with an extraordinary, eccentric young woman. Agnes is a wild creature who walks her family’s land with a falcon on her glove and is known throughout the countryside for her unusual gifts as a healer, understanding plants and potions better than she does people. Once she settles with her husband on Henley Street in Stratford-upon-Avon, she becomes a fiercely protective mother and a steadfast, centrifugal force in the life of her young husband, whose career on the London stage is taking off when his beloved young son succumbs to sudden fever.
Knopf | 9780525657606
HE STARTED IT by Samantha Downing (Psychological Thriller)
Beth, Portia and Eddie Morgan haven't all been together in years. And for very good reasons --- we'll get to those later. But when their wealthy grandfather dies and leaves a cryptic final message in his wake, the siblings and their respective partners must come together for a cross-country road trip to fulfill his final wish and --- more importantly --- secure their inheritance. But time with your family can be tough. It is for everyone. It's even harder when you're all keeping secrets and trying to forget a memory, a missing person, an act of revenge, the man in the black truck who won't stop following your car --- and especially when at least one of you is a killer and there's a body in the trunk. Just to name a few reasons. But money is a powerful motivator. It is for everyone.
Berkley | 9780451491756
HEAVEN AND EARTH written by Paolo Giordano, translated by Anne Milano Appel (Fiction)
Every summer Teresa follows her father to his childhood home in Puglia, down in the heel of Italy, a land of relentless, shimmering heat, centuries-old olive groves, and taciturn, proud people. There Teresa spends long afternoons enveloped in a sun-struck stupor, reading her grandmother's paperbacks. Everything changes the summer she meets the three boys who live on the farm next door: Nicola, Tommaso and Bern --- the man Teresa will love for the rest of her life. Raised like brothers on a farm that feels to Teresa almost suspended in time, the three boys share a complex, intimate and seemingly unassailable bond. But no bond is unbreakable and no summer truly endless, as Teresa soon discovers.
Pamela Dorman Books | 9781984877314
THE LIVES OF EDIE PRITCHARD by Larry Watson (Fiction)
Smart, self assured and beautiful, Edie always worked hard. She worked as a teller at a bank, she worked to save her first marriage, and later, she worked to raise her daughter even as her second marriage came apart. Edie just wanted a good life, but everywhere she turned, her looks defined her. Two brothers fought over her. Her second husband became unreasonably possessive and jealous. Her daughter resented her. And now, as a grandmother, Edie finds herself harassed by a younger man. It’s been a lifetime of proving that she is allowed to exist in her own sphere. THE LIVES OF EDIE PRITCHARD tells the story of one woman just trying to be herself, even as multiple men attempt to categorize and own her.
Algonquin Books | 9781616209025
MALORIE: A Bird Box Novel by Josh Malerman (Supernatural Thriller/Horror)
Twelve years after Malorie and her children rowed up the river to safety, a blindfold is still the only thing that stands between sanity and madness. One glimpse of the creatures that stalk the world will drive a person to unspeakable violence. All Malorie can do is survive --- and impart her fierce will to do so on her children. But then comes what feels like impossible news. And with it, the first time Malorie has allowed herself to hope. Someone very dear to her, someone she believed dead, may be alive. Malorie has a harrowing choice to make: to live by the rules of survival that have served her so well, or to venture into the darkness and reach for hope once more.
Del Rey | 9780593156858
MORE BETTER DEALS by Joe R. Lansdale (Hard-boiled Crime/Historical Fiction)
Ed Edwards is in the used car business. Burdened by an aging, alcoholic mother constantly on his case to do something worthier of his lighter skin tone and dreaming of a brighter future for himself and his plucky little sister, Ed is ready to get out of the game. When Dave, his lazy, grease-stained boss, sends him to repossess a Cadillac, Ed finally gets the chance to escape his miserable life. The Cadillac in question was purchased by Frank Craig and his beautiful wife Nancy, owners of a local drive-in and pet cemetery. Fed up with her deadbeat husband and with unfulfilled desires of her own, Nancy suggests to Ed that they kill Frank and claim his insurance policy. It is a tantalizing offer, but does Ed have what it takes to see the plan through?
Mulholland Books | 9780316479912
MUSICAL CHAIRS by Amy Poeppel (Fiction)
For three decades, Bridget and Will have nurtured their baby, the Forsyth Trio --- a chamber group they created as students with their Juilliard classmate, Gavin Glantz. In the intervening years, Gavin has gone on to become one of the classical music world’s reigning stars, while Bridget and Will have learned to embrace the warm reviews and smaller venues that accompany modest success. Bridget has been dreaming of spending the summer at her well-worn Connecticut country home with her boyfriend, Sterling. But her plans are upended when Sterling, dutifully following his ex-wife’s advice, breaks up with her over email and her twin twenty-somethings arrive unannounced, filling her empty nest with their big dogs, dirty laundry and respective crises.
Atria/Emily Bestler Books | 9781501176418
NEAR DARK by Brad Thor (Political Thriller)
The world’s largest bounty has just been placed upon America’s top spy. His only hope for survival is to outwit, outrun and outlast his enemies long enough to get to the truth. But for Scot Harvath to accomplish his most dangerous mission ever --- one that has already claimed the lives of the people closest to him, including his new wife --- he’s going to need a lot of help. Not knowing whom he can trust, Harvath finds an unlikely ally in Norwegian intelligence operative Sølvi Kolstad. Just as smart, just as deadly and just as determined, she not only has the skills, but also the broken, troubled past to match Harvath’s own.
Atria/Emily Bestler Books | 9781982104061
THE NEMESIS MANIFESTO by Eric Van Lustbader (Thriller/Adventure)
Evan Ryder is a lone wolf, a field agent for a black-ops arm of the DOD, who has survived unspeakable tragedy and dedicated her life to protecting her country. When her fellow agents begin to be systematically eliminated, Evan must unravel the thread that ties them all together...and before her name comes up on the kill list. The list belongs to a mysterious cabal known only as Nemesis, a hostile entity hell-bent on tearing the United States apart. As Evan tracks them from Washington, D.C. to the Caucasus Mountains, from Austria to a fortress in Germany where her own demons reside, she unearths a network of conspirators far more complex than anyone could have imagined. Can Evan uproot them before Nemesis forces bring democracy to its knees?
Forge Books | 9781250751171
THE PERFECT FATHER: The True Story of Chris Watts, His All-American Family, and a Shocking Murder by John Glatt (True Crime)
In the early morning hours of August 13, 2018, Shanann Watts was dropped off at home by a colleague after returning from a business trip. It was the last time anyone would see her alive. By the next day, Shanann and her two young daughters, Bella and Celeste, had been reported missing, and her husband, Chris Watts, was pleading for his family’s safe return. But less than 24 hours later, Watts made a shocking confession to police: he had strangled his pregnant wife to death and smothered their daughters, dumping their bodies at a nearby oil site. In this first major account of the case, John Glatt reveals the truth behind the tragedy and constructs a chilling portrait of one of the most shocking family annihilator cases of the 21st century.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250231611
PEW by Catherine Lacey (Fiction)
In a small, unnamed town in the American South, a church congregation arrives for a service and finds a figure asleep on a pew. The person is genderless and racially ambiguous and refuses to speak. One family takes in the strange visitor and nicknames them Pew. As the town spends the week preparing for a mysterious Forgiveness Festival, Pew is shuttled from one household to the next. The earnest and seemingly well-meaning townspeople see conflicting identities in Pew, and many confess their fears and secrets to them in one-sided conversations. By the time Pew’s story reaches a shattering and unsettling climax at the Forgiveness Festival, the secret of who they really are --- a devil or an angel or something else entirely --- is dwarfed by even larger truths.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux | 9780374230920
THE PULL OF THE STARS by Emma Donoghue (Historical Fiction)
In an Ireland doubly ravaged by war and disease in 1918, Nurse Julia Power works at an understaffed hospital in the city center, where expectant mothers who have come down with the terrible new Flu are quarantined together. Into Julia's regimented world step two outsiders: Doctor Kathleen Lynn, a rumoured Rebel on the run from the police, and a young volunteer helper, Bridie Sweeney. In the darkness and intensity of this tiny ward, over three days, these women change each other's lives in unexpected ways. They lose patients to this baffling pandemic, but they also shepherd new life into a fearful world. With tireless tenderness and humanity, carers and mothers alike somehow do their impossible work.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316499019
TROUBLE THE SAINTS by Alaya Dawn Johnson (Historical Fantasy)
Amid the whir of city life, a young woman from Harlem is drawn into the glittering underworld of Manhattan, where she’s hired to use her knives to strike fear among its most dangerous denizens. Ten years later, Phyllis LeBlanc has given up everything --- not just her own past, and Dev, the man she loved, but even her own dreams. Still, the ghosts from her past are always by her side --- and history has appeared on her doorstep to threaten the people she keeps in her heart. And so Phyllis will have to make a harrowing choice, before it’s too late. Is there ever enough blood in the world to wash clean generations of injustice?
Tor Books | 9781250175342
THE VACATION by T. M. Logan (Psychological Thriller)
Kate and her three best friends are spending a week with their families in a luxurious villa in the south of France. But soon after arriving, she discovers an incriminating text on her husband’s cell phone. A text revealing that he’s having an affair. And that the other woman is one of her best friends. But which one? Trapped in paradise with no one to trust, Kate is determined to find out who has put her marriage --- and a lifelong friendship --- in jeopardy. But as she closes in on the truth, she realizes that the stakes are higher than she ever imagined. Everyone on the trip has secrets…and someone may be prepared to kill to keep theirs hidden.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250270771
THE VANISHING SKY by L. Annette Binder (Historical Fiction)
In 1945, as the war in Germany nears its violent end, the Huber family is not yet free of its dangers or its insidious demands. Etta, a mother from a small, rural town, has two sons serving their home country: her elder, Max, on the Eastern front, and her younger, Georg, at a school for Hitler Youth. When Max returns from the front, Etta quickly realizes that something is not right --- he is thin, almost ghostly and behaving very strangely. She strives to protect him from the Nazi rule, even as her husband, Josef, becomes more nationalistic and impervious to Max's condition. Meanwhile, miles away, Georg has taken his fate into his own hands, deserting his young class of battle-bound soldiers to set off on a long and perilous journey home.
Bloomsbury Publishing | 9781635574678
WHO IS ALEX TREBEK?: A Biography by Lisa Rogak (Biography)
After a contestant wrote “We love you, Alex!” as his Final Jeopardy! answer, fans around the world quickly chimed in to proclaim their own love and support for beloved “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek. In the wake of his devastating cancer diagnosis, the moment provided the perfect opportunity to reflect on what the show --- and the man --- meant to them. It was no surprise, since millions of devoted viewers have long considered Alex Trebek to be a part of their daily lives ever since he began hosting the show in 1984. Now, Lisa Rogak gives readers a look at Trebek's early life, his career and his personal life throughout the years, drawing on many sources to tell his full story for the first time.
Thomas Dunne Books | 9781250773661
On Sale the Week of July 20th in Paperback
July 21st
29 SECONDS by T. M. Logan (Psychological Thriller)
Sarah is a young professor struggling to prove herself in a workplace controlled by Alan Hawthorne, whose inappropriate treatment of female colleagues behind closed doors has gone unchallenged for years. And Sarah is his newest target. When Hawthorne's advances become threatening, Sarah is left with nowhere to turn. Until the night she witnesses an attempted kidnapping of a young child on her drive home, and jumps in to intervene. The child’s father turns out to be a successful businessman with dangerous connections --- and her act of bravery has put this powerful man in her debt. He gives Sarah a burner phone and an unbelievable offer. A once-in-a-lifetime deal that can make all her problems disappear. All it takes is a 29-second phone call.
St. Martin’s Griffin | 9781250182302
BERLIN 1936: Fascism, Fear, and Triumph Set Against Hitler's Olympic Games by Oliver Hilmes (History)
BERLIN 1936 takes the reader through the 16 days of the Olympiad, describing the events in the German capital through the eyes of a select cast of characters --- Nazi leaders and foreign diplomats, sportsmen and journalists, writers and socialites, nightclub owners and jazz musicians. While the events in the Olympic stadium, such as when an American tourist breaks through the security and manages to kiss Hitler, provide the focus and much of the drama, it also considers the lives of ordinary Berliners --- the woman with a dark secret who steps in front of a train, the transsexual waiting for the Gestapo's knock on the door, and the Jewish boy fearing for his future and hoping that Germany loses on the playing field.
Other Press | 9781635420418
DECEPTION COVE by Owen Laukkanen (Thriller/Adventure)
Former U.S. Marine Jess Winslow reenters civilian life a new widow, with little more to her name than a falling-down house, a medical discharge for PTSD, and a loyal dog named Lucy. After 15 years in state prison, Mason Burke owns one set of clothes, a wallet, and a photo of Lucy, the service dog he trained while behind bars. When Jess' late husband piloted his final "fishing" expedition, he stole and stashed a valuable package from his drug dealer associates. Now the package is gone, and the sheriff's department has seized Jess' dearest possession --- her dog. Unless Jess turns over the missing goods, Lucy will be destroyed. To rescue Lucy, Jesse and Mason will have to forge an uneasy alliance.
Mulholland Books | 9780316448680
GETTYSBURG by Kevin Morris (Fiction)
John Reynolds resides in a beautiful mansion with his wife and daughter, and his business is booming, but he remains despondent as his attempts to pivot into producing his own movie projects fail again and again. Depressed and at a creative dead-end, Reynolds has secretly signed up to participate in a weekend-long reenactment of the Battle of Gettysburg. Just before his departure, an ex-Playmate --- the very centerfold of his adolescent daydreams --- pitches him her idea for a reality TV show. When Reynolds impulsively invites the former Playmate and her best friend, a former Miss Universe, to accompany him to the reenactment, his plans for a solitary weekend of self-discovery run amok.
Grove Press | 9780802149046
GOING DUTCH by James Gregor (Fiction)
Exhausted by dead-end forays in the gay dating scene, surrounded constantly by friends but deeply lonely in New York City, and drifting into academic abyss, twenty-something graduate student Richard has plenty of sources of anxiety. But at the forefront is his crippling writer’s block. Enter Anne: his brilliant classmate who offers to “help” Richard write his papers in exchange for his company, despite Richard’s fairly obvious sexual orientation. What begins as an initially transactional relationship blooms gradually into something more complex. But then a one-swipe-stand with an attractive, successful lawyer becomes serious, and Richard suddenly finds himself unable to detach from Anne.
Simon & Schuster | 9781982103200
JUST ONE BITE by Jack Heath (Thriller)
Timothy Blake, ex-consultant for the FBI, now works in body disposal for a local crime lord. One night he stumbles across a body he wasn’t supposed to find and is forced to hide it. When the FBI calls Blake in to investigate a missing university professor, Blake recognizes him as the dead man in his freezer. Then another man goes missing. And another. There’s a serial killer in Houston, Texas, and Blake is running out of time to solve the case. His investigation takes him to a sex doll factory, a sprawling landfill in Louisiana and a secret cabin in the woods. As they hunt the killer together, FBI agent Reese Thistle starts to warm to Blake --- but she also gets closer and closer to discovering his terrible secret.
Hanover Square Press | 9781335081896
THE LIBERATION OF PARIS: How Eisenhower, de Gaulle, and von Choltitz Saved the City of Light by Jean Edward Smith (History)
Following their breakout from Normandy in late June 1944, the Allies swept across northern France in pursuit of the German army. As they advanced, local forces in Paris began their own liberation, defying the occupying German troops. Charles de Gaulle, the leading figure of the Free French government, urged General Dwight Eisenhower to divert forces to liberate Paris. Neither man knew that the German commandant, Dietrich von Choltitz, dissembled and schemed to surrender the city to the Allies intact, defying Hitler’s orders to leave it a burning ruin. In THE LIBERATION OF PARIS, Jean Edward Smith puts this dramatic event in context, showing how the decision to free the city came at a heavy price: it slowed the Allied momentum and allowed the Germans to regroup.
Simon & Schuster | 9781501164934
THE SPOTTED DOG: A Corinna Chapman Mystery by Kerry Greenwood (Cozy Mystery)
Rising at 4:00 every morning isn't Corinna Chapman's favorite part of running her Australian bakery, Earthly Delights, and the glowing light of dawn feels even harsher when a man collapses in her shop. When the man, a military veteran, comes around and reveals that his beloved ex-service dog is missing, Corinna and her longtime companion, Daniel, feel compelled to help. It soon becomes clear, though, that they have gotten involved in something much bigger and more complicated than they had bargained for...especially when threatening notes begin to appear in Corinna's apartment. And with recreational drugs rising in popularity, the sleuths suspect that a dangerous smuggling ring might be behind everything.
Poisoned Pen Press | 9781464211195
WHEN YOU SEE ME by Lisa Gardner (Mystery/Thriller)
FBI Special Agent Kimberly Quincy and Sergeant Detective D. D. Warren have built a task force to follow the digital bread crumbs left behind by deceased serial kidnapper Jacob Ness. When a disturbing piece of evidence is discovered in the hills of Georgia, they bring Flora Dane and true-crime savant Keith Edgar to a small town where something seems to be deeply wrong. What at first looks like a Gothic eeriness soon hardens into something much more sinister...and they discover that for all the evil Jacob committed while alive, his worst secret is still to be revealed. Quincy and DD must summon their considerable skills and experience to crack the most disturbing case of their careers --- and Flora must face her own past directly in the hope of saving others.
Dutton | 9781524745035
THE WOMAN BEFORE WALLIS: A Novel of Windsors, Vanderbilts, and Royal Scandal by Bryn Turnbull (Historical Fiction)
Paperback Original
In the summer of 1926, when Thelma Morgan marries Viscount Duke Furness after a whirlwind romance, she’s immersed in a gilded world of extraordinary wealth and privilege. For Thelma, the daughter of an American diplomat, her new life as a member of the British aristocracy is like a fairy tale --- even more so when her husband introduces her to Edward, Prince of Wales. In a twist of fate, her marriage to Duke leads her to fall headlong into a love affair with Edward. But happiness is fleeting, and their love is threatened when Thelma’s sister, Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt, becomes embroiled in a scandal with far-reaching implications. As Thelma sails to New York to support Gloria, she leaves Edward in the hands of her trusted friend Wallis, never imagining the consequences that will follow.
Mira | 9780778361022
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