|
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 $37,895 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 November 30th and December 7th 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 very special contest on ReadingGroupGuides.com, where we are giving readers the opportunity to share their favorite book that they read with their group this year and their favorite book that they read outside their group. One Grand Prize winner will receive six outstanding book group titles releasing next year: THE CHILDREN'S BLIZZARD by Melanie Benjamin, ETERNAL by Lisa Scottoline, THE FOUR WINDS by Kristin Hannah, THE PUSH by Ashley Audrain, THE ROSE CODE by Kate Quinn, and WHAT COULD BE SAVED by Liese O'Halloran Schwarz. Be sure to enter by Wednesday, January 6th at noon ET.
Also, we are sharing Carol's latest "Bookreporter Talks To" interview with Jacqueline Winspear. The title of her new book, THIS TIME NEXT YEAR WE’LL BE LAUGHING (a Bookreporter.com Bets On pick), coincidentally could be our mantra.
After 16 novels, Winspear has taken the bold step of turning to memoir, revealing the hardships and joys of her family history. Both shockingly frank and deftly restrained, her story tackles the difficult, poignant and fascinating family accounts of three generations --- her grandparents, her parents, and she and her brother. Her childhood was spent picking hops and fruit on farms in rural Kent, capturing her ties to the land and her dream of being a writer at its very inception.
Winspear talked about this eye-opening and heartfelt portrayal of a post-War England that we rarely see and how she pulled together these memories. She also discussed the experience of narrating the audiobook. Click here to watch the video and here to listen to the podcast.
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
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, December 2nd at 7pm ET: "Friends and Fiction": The "Friends and Fiction" authors --- Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel, Kristy Woodson Harvey, Patti Callahan Henry and Mary Alice Monroe --- will talk to Robyn Carr, whose most recent novel is RETURN TO VIRGIN RIVER.
Wednesday, December 2nd at 7pm ET: Midtown Scholar Books Virtual Event: Join #1 New York Times bestselling author Philippa Gregory for an exclusive live-stream conversation about her new novel, DARK TIDES. Gregory will be in conversation with BookBub's Jo Golden.
Thursday, December 3rd at 7pm ET: The Strand Book Store Virtual Event: Join The Strand for a virtual event featuring Ernest Cline, who will talk about READY PLAYER TWO, the highly anticipated sequel to his #1 New York Times bestseller, READY PLAYER ONE.
Thursday, December 3rd at 9pm ET: BookShop West Portal Virtual Event: BookShop West Portal is thrilled to welcome back Jacqueline Winspear to discuss her memoir, THIS TIME NEXT YEAR WE'LL BE LAUGHING. She will be joined in conversation with Cara Black, author of the Aimee Leduc series and her latest stand-alone novel, THREE HOURS IN PARIS.
Sunday, December 6th at 2pm ET: Bookshop Santa Cruz Virtual Event: Bestselling author Alexander McCall Smith will share HOW TO RAISE AN ELEPHANT, the next book in his perennially adored No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, which sees Precious Ramotswe calling upon all her maternal instincts when she's faced with a two-ton case.
Sunday, December 6th at 4pm ET: Montclair Public Library Virtual Event: Montclair Public Library presents New York Times Book Review‘s Elisabeth Egan in conversation with Alice Hoffman, who will discuss her newest book, MAGIC LESSONS.
Monday, December 7th at 7pm ET: The Poisoned Pen Bookstore Virtual Event: James Patterson will be in conversation with Lee Child about his two new releases: THE LAST DAYS OF JOHN LENNON, a true crime account of Lennon’s murder, and DEADLY CROSS, the new Alex Cross novel.
Tuesday, December 8th at 7pm ET: Midtown Scholar Books Virtual Event: Join James Patterson for an exclusive live-stream conversation on his new books, DEADLY CROSS and THE LAST DAYS OF JOHN LENNON.
This Week's Bonus News:
Share Your Favorite Books of 2020
and Enter to Win SIX Great Book Group Titles
Releasing in 2021!
This is the time of year when everyone is posting “Best Books of the Year” lists. We would like you and your book group to help us compile ours! Click here to share both your favorite book that you read with your group in 2020 and your favorite book that you read outside your group by Wednesday, January 6th at noon ET.
One Grand Prize winner will be awarded six great book group titles releasing in 2021:
Please note: Your favorite book that you discussed with your group CAN be the same as your favorite book of the year. And they don't need to have been published in 2020. Also, please be careful with the spelling of book titles and authors’ first and last names to save us editing time.
We will have our reader-compiled "Best Of" list to share with you in the early January newsletter. We cannot wait to see what you select!
Click here to share your favorite books of 2020 and enter the contest.
On Sale the Week of November 30th in Hardcover
December 1st
ALL THE YOUNG MEN: A Memoir of Love, AIDS, and Chosen Family in the American South by Ruth Coker Burks with Kevin Carr O'Leary (Memoir)
In 1986, 26-year-old Ruth Coker Burks visits a friend at the hospital when she notices that the door to one of the hospital rooms is painted red. She witnesses nurses drawing straws to see who would tend to the patient inside, all of them reluctant to enter the room. Out of impulse, Ruth herself enters the quarantined space and immediately begins to care for the young man who cries for his mother in the last moments of his life. Before she can even process what she’s done, word spreads in the community that Ruth is the only person willing to help these young men afflicted by AIDS and is called upon to nurse them. As she forges deep friendships with the men she helps, she works tirelessly to find them housing and jobs, even searching for funeral homes willing to take their bodies.
Grove Press | 9780802157249
THE ART OF VIOLENCE: A Lydia Chin/Bill Smith Novel by S.J. Rozan (Mystery)
Former client Sam Tabor, just out of Greenhaven after a five-year homicide stint, comes to Bill Smith with a strange request. A colossally talented painter whose parole was orchestrated by art world movers and shakers, Sam is convinced that since he's been out he's killed two women. He doesn't remember the killings, but he wants Smith, one of the few people he trusts, to investigate and prove him either innocent or guilty. Diagnosed with a number of mental disorders over the years, Sam self-medicates with alcohol, loses focus (except when he's painting) and has few friends. But Smith doesn't think that adds up to serial killer, and he enlists Lydia Chin to help prove it.
Pegasus Crime | 9781643135311
THE BLADE BETWEEN by Sam J. Miller (Supernatural Thriller/Horror)
Ronan Szepessy promised himself he’d never return to Hudson. The sleepy upstate town was no place for a restless gay photographer. But his father is ill, and New York City’s distractions have become too much for him. He hopes that a quick visit will help him recharge. Ronan reconnects with two friends from high school: Dom, his first love, and Dom’s wife, Attalah. The three former misfits mourn what their town has become --- overrun by gentrifiers and corporate interests. With friends and neighbors getting evicted en masse and a mayoral election coming up, Ronan and Attalah craft a plan to rattle the newcomers and expose their true motives. But in doing so, they unleash something far more mysterious and uncontainable.
Ecco | 9780062969828
BLIND VIGIL: A Rick Cahill Novel by Matt Coyle (Hard-boiled Mystery/Thriller)
Blinded by a gunshot wound to the face while working as a private investigator nine months ago, Rick Cahill is now sure of only one thing: he has to start a new life and leave his old one behind. He’s still trying to figure out what that life is when his onetime partner, Moira MacFarlane, asks for his help on a case she’s taken for his former best friend. The case is simple and Moira only needs him for one interview, but Rick is wary of waking sleeping demons. Ultimately, he goes against his gut and takes the case, which quickly turns deadly. Rick’s old compulsion of finding the truth no matter the cost --- the same compulsion that cost him his eyesight and almost his life --- battles against his desire to escape his past. The stakes are raised when his friend is implicated in murder and needs his help.
Oceanview Publishing | 9781608094004
BONE CHASE by Weston Ochse (Supernatural Thriller/Fantasy)
There were giants on the earth in those days --- at least that’s what the Bible says. But where are they? Did they ever really exist at all? When out-of-work math teacher Ethan McCloud is sent a mysterious box, he and his ex-girlfriend begin to unravel a mystery 10,000 years in the making --- and he is the last hope to discovering the world’s greatest conspiracy. Chased by both the Six-Fingered Man and the Council of David, Ethan must survive the chase --- and find the truth.
Gallery/Saga Press | 9781534450097
DANCING IN THE MOSQUE: An Afghan Mother's Letter to Her Son written by Homeira Qaderi, translated by Zaman S. Stanizai (Memoir)
In the days before Homeira Qaderi gave birth to her son, Siawash, the road to the hospital in Kabul would often be barricaded because of the frequent suicide explosions. With the city and the military on edge, it was not uncommon for an armed soldier to point his gun at the pregnant woman’s bulging stomach, terrified that she was hiding a bomb. Propelled by the love she held for her soon-to-be-born child, Homeira walked through blood and wreckage to reach the hospital doors. No ordinary Afghan woman, she refused to cower under the strictures of a misogynistic social order. Defying the law, she risked her freedom to teach children reading and writing and fought for women’s rights in her theocratic and patriarchal society.
Harper | 9780062970312
EDDIE'S BOY: A Butcher's Boy Novel by Thomas Perry (Thriller)
Michael Shaeffer is a retired American businessman, living peacefully in England with his aristocratic wife. But her annual summer party brings strangers to their house, and with them, an attempt on Michael’s life. He is immediately thrust into action, luring his lethal pursuers to Australia before venturing into the lion’s den --- the States --- to figure out why the mafia is after him again, and how to stop them. EDDIE'S BOY jumps between Michael’s current predicament and the past, between the skill set he now ruthlessly and successfully employs and the training that made him what he is.
Mysterious Press | 9780802157775
FOOL ME TWICE by Jeff Lindsay (Thriller)
FOOL ME TWICE opens in St. Petersburg, where thief extraordinaire Riley Wolfe steals a Faberge egg. Betrayed by the pilot he hired to help him get away, he wakes chained to a rock wall on one of the Kerguelen Islands, prisoner of a top-dog international arms dealer and a top-notch art collector. He wants Riley to steal an artwork, which happens to be “The Liberation of St. Peter,” a fresco in the Vatican. But when his captor turns him loose, he's grabbed by another arms dealer looking to do a double cross. Worse, he gives Riley a special incentive: a surveillance photograph of Monique, the love of his life and the art forger he can't pull off any heist without. Riley knows they both have only one way out.
Dutton | 9781524743970
IN LEAGUE WITH SHERLOCK HOLMES: Stories Inspired by the Sherlock Holmes Canon edited by Laurie R. King and Leslie S. Klinger (Mystery/Short Stories)
Sherlock Holmes has not only captivated readers for more than a century and a quarter, he has fascinated writers as well. When renowned Sherlockians Laurie R. King and Leslie S. Klinger invited their writer-friends and colleagues to be inspired by the Holmes canon, a cornucopia of stories sprang forth, with more than 60 of the greatest modern writers participating in four acclaimed anthologies. King and Klinger have invited another 15 masters to become IN LEAGUE WITH SHERLOCK HOLMES. The contributors to the pair’s latest volume include award-winning authors of horror, thrillers, mysteries, westerns and science fiction, all bound together in admiration and affection for the original stories.
Pegasus Books | 9781643135823
LAZARUS written by Lars Kepler, translated by Neil Smith (Psychological Thriller/Mystery)
All across Europe, the most ruthless criminals are suffering gruesome deaths. At first, it seems coincidental that their underworld affiliations are finally catching up to them. But when two of the victims are found to have disturbing connections to Detective Joona Linna, it becomes clear that there’s a single killer at work. Still, police are reluctant to launch an investigation. If a mysterious vigilante is making their jobs easier, why stand in his way? Joona, however, is convinced that these deaths serve a much darker purpose. Desperate for help, he turns to Saga Bauer. If his hunch is correct, she’s one of the few people who stands a chance at bringing this criminal mastermind down. But Saga is fighting her own demons --- and the killer knows just how to use them to his advantage.
Knopf | 9780593317839
THE LIES YOU TOLD by Harriet Tyce (Psychological Thriller)
When Sadie Roper moves back to London, she's determined to pick up the pieces of her shattered life. First, she needs to get her daughter settled into a new school. Next, she's going to get back the high-flying criminal barrister career she sacrificed for marriage 10 years earlier. But nothing goes quite as planned. The school is not very welcoming to newcomers, her daughter hasn't made any friends yet, and the other mothers are as fiercely competitive as their children. However, the tide starts to turn as Sadie begins to work on a scandalous, high-profile case and is befriended by Liza, queen of the school moms. Soon Sadie and her family start to thrive…but does this close new friendship prevent her from seeing the truth?
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538762752
LOVE, KURT: The Vonnegut Love Letters, 1941-1945 written by Kurt Vonnegut, edited by Edith Vonnegut (Literary Collection/Letters)
Kurt Vonnegut’s eldest daughter, Edith, was cleaning out her mother’s attic when she stumbled upon an unexpected treasure: more than 200 love letters written by Kurt to Jane, spanning the early years of their relationship. The letters begin in 1941, after the former schoolmates reunited at age 19 and sparked a passionate summer romance. They continue after Kurt dropped out of college and enlisted in the army in 1943, while Jane in turn graduated and worked for the Office of Strategic Services in Washington, D.C. They also detail Kurt’s deployment to Europe in 1944, where he was taken prisoner of war and declared missing in action, and his eventual safe return home and the couple’s marriage in 1945.
Random House | 9780593133019
THE OPIUM PRINCE by Jasmine Aimaq (Literary Thriller)
After years in Los Angeles, Daniel Sajadi is returning home to Kabul at the helm of a US foreign aid agency dedicated to eradicating the poppy fields that feed the world’s opiate addiction. But on the drive out of Kabul for an anniversary trip with his wife, Daniel accidentally hits and kills a young Kochi girl named Telaya. He is let off with a nominal fine, in part because nomad tribes are ignored in the eyes of the law, but also because a mysterious witness named Taj Maleki intercedes on his behalf. Wracked with guilt and visions of Telaya, Daniel begins to unravel, running from his crumbling marriage and escalating threats from Taj, who turns out to be a powerful opium khan willing to go to extremes to save his poppies.
Soho Crime | 9781641291583
PERESTROIKA IN PARIS by Jane Smiley (Fiction)
Paras, short for "Perestroika," is a spirited racehorse at a racetrack west of Paris. One afternoon, she finds the door of her stall open and wanders all the way to the City of Light. Soon she meets an elegant dog, a German shorthaired pointer named Frida, and they keep company with two irrepressible ducks and an opinionated raven. But then Paras meets a human boy, Etienne, and discovers a new, otherworldly part of Paris: the ivy-walled house where the boy and his nearly 100-year-old great-grandmother live in seclusion. As the cold weather and Christmas near, the unlikeliest of friendships bloom. But how long can a runaway horse stay undiscovered in Paris? How long can a boy keep her hidden and all to himself?
Knopf | 9780525520351
SHED NO TEARS by Caz Frear (Mystery)
Detective Constable Cat Kinsella and her partner, Luigi Parnell, discover a connection to a notorious criminal: serial killer Christopher Masters, who abducted and killed several women in 2012. Though the cops eventually apprehended him, his final victim, Holly Kemp, was never found and he never confessed to her murder, despite the solid eyewitness testimony against him. Now, six years later, the discovery of Holly’s remains seems to be the definitive proof needed to close the case. As Cat and Parnell look closer, they find discrepancies that raise troubling questions. But someone will do anything to keep past secrets hidden --- and as they inch closer to the truth, they may be putting themselves in jeopardy.
Harper | 9780062979858
UNDER A GILDED MOON by Joy Jordan-Lake (Historical Mystery)
Biltmore House, a palatial mansion being built by the Vanderbilts, is in its final stages of construction in North Carolina. Kerry MacGregor’s future is derailed when, after two years in college in New York City, family obligations call her home to the beautiful Appalachians. Her family’s land is among the last pieces required to complete the Biltmore Estate. But something more powerful than an ambitious Vanderbilt heir could change Kerry’s fate as, one by one, more outsiders descend on the changing landscape --- a fugitive from Sicily, a reporter chasing a groundbreaking story, a debutante tainted by scandal, and a conservationist prepared to put anyone at risk to stoke the resentment of the locals.
Lake Union Publishing | 9781542019415
WE HEAR VOICES by Evie Green (Supernatural Thriller/Horror)
Kids have imaginary friends. Rachel knows this. So when her young son, Billy, miraculously recovers from a horrible flu that has proven fatal for many, she thinks nothing of Delfy, his new invisible friend. After all, her family is healthy and that's all that matters. But soon Delfy is telling Billy what to do, and the boy is acting up and lashing out in ways he never has before. As Delfy's influence is growing stranger and more sinister by the day, and rising tensions threaten to tear Rachel's family apart, she clings to one purpose: to protect her children at any cost --- even from themselves.
Berkley | 9780593098301
THE WICKED HOUR: A Natalie Lockhart Novel by Alice Blanchard (Mystery)
The day after Burning Lake’s notorious, debauched Halloween celebration, Detective Natalie Lockhart uncovers a heartbreaking scene --- a young woman, dead and lying in a dumpster. There’s no clue to who she is, save for a mystifying tattoo on her arm and a callus underneath her chin. As Natalie retraces the victim’s steps leading up to her death, she uncovers a deeper, darker horror: a string of murders and disappearances, seemingly unconnected, that may have ties to each other --- and explain the abrupt disappearance of her best friend years ago. As she digs deeper within the mind of the hunter, Natalie finds a darkness she never could have imagined.
Minotaur Books | 9781250205735
On Sale the Week of November 30th in Paperback
December 1st
AFRICAVILLE by Jeffrey Colvin (Historical Fiction)
Structured as a triptych, AFRICAVILLE chronicles the lives of three generations of the Sebolt family --- Kath Ella, her son Omar/Etienne, and her grandson Warner --- whose lives unfold against the tumultuous events of the 20th century from the Great Depression of the 1930s, through the social protests of the 1960s to the economic upheavals in the 1980s. As it explores notions of identity, passing, cross-racial relationships, the importance of place, and the meaning of home, Jeffrey Colvin’s debut novel tells the larger story of the Black experience in parts of Canada and the United States.
Amistad | 9780062913715
AGAAT written by Marlene Van Niekerk, translated by Michiel Heyns (Fiction)
Paperback Original
In 1940s apartheid South Africa, Milla de Wet discovers a child abandoned in the fields of her family farm. Ignoring the warnings of friends and family, Milla brings the girl, Agaat, into her home. But the kindness is fleeting, as Milla makes Agaat her maidservant and, later, a nanny for her son. At turns cruel and tender, this relationship between a wealthy white woman and her Black maidservant is constantly fraught and shaped by a rigid social order. Decades later, Milla is confined to her bed with ALS and is quickly losing her ability to communicate. Her family has fallen apart, her country is on the brink of change, and all she has left are her memories --- and a reckoning with the only person who remains by her side: Agaat.
Tin House Books | 9781951142209
THE ARCTIC FURY by Greer Macallister (Historical Mystery/Thriller)
Paperback Original
Eccentric Lady Jane Franklin makes an outlandish offer to adventurer Virginia Reeve: take a dozen women, trek into the Arctic and find her husband's lost expedition. Four parties have failed to find him, and Lady Franklin wants a radical new approach: put the women in charge. A year later, Virginia stands trial for murder. Survivors of the expedition willing to publicly support her sit in the front row. There are only five. What happened out there on the ice?
Sourcebooks Landmark | 9781728215693
BIG GIRL, SMALL TOWN by Michelle Gallen (Fiction)
Paperback Original
Majella is happiest out of the spotlight, away from her neighbors’ stares and the gossips of the small town in Northern Ireland where she grew up just after the Troubles. She lives a quiet life caring for her alcoholic mother, working in the local chip shop, watching the regular customers come and go. But underneath Majella’s seemingly ordinary life are the facts that she doesn’t know where her father is and that every person in her town has been changed by the lingering divide between Protestants and Catholics. When Majella’s predictable existence is upended by the death of her granny, she comes to realize there may be more to life than the gossips of Aghybogey, the pub and the chip shop.
Algonquin Books | 9781643750897
THE BOOK OF SCIENCE AND ANTIQUITIES by Thomas Keneally (Fiction)
An award-winning documentary filmmaker, Shelby Apple is obsessed with reimagining the full story of the Learned Man --- a prehistoric man whose remains are believed to be the link between Africa and ancient Australia. From Vietnam to northern Africa and the Australian Outback, Shelby searches for understanding of this enigmatic man from the ancient past, unaware that the two men share a great deal in common. Some 40,000 years in the past, the Learned Man has made his home alongside other members of his tribe. Complex and deeply introspective, he reveres tradition, loyalty and respect for his ancestors. Willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good, the Learned Man cannot conceive that a man millennia later could relate to him in heart and feeling.
Washington Square Press | 9781982121044
THE CHICKEN SISTERS by KJ Dell'Antonia (Fiction)
Paperback Original
In tiny Merinac, Kansas, Chicken Mimi's and Chicken Frannie's have spent a century vying to serve up the best fried chicken in the state --- and the legendary feud between their respective owners, the Moores and the Pogociellos, has lasted just as long. No one feels the impact more than 35-year-old widow Amanda Moore, who grew up working for her mom at Mimi's before scandalously marrying Frank Pogociello and changing sides to work at Frannie's. Tired of being caught in the middle, Amanda sends an SOS to “Food Wars,” the reality TV restaurant competition that promises $100,000 to the winner. But in doing so, she launches both families out of the frying pan and directly into the fire.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780593085141
COURTING MISFORTUNE: The Joplin Chronicles, Book 1 by Regina Jennings (Historical Romance)
Paperback Original
Calista York needs one more successful case as a Pinkerton operative to secure her job at the agency. When she's assigned to find the kidnapped daughter of a mob boss, she's sent to the rowdy mining town of Joplin, Missouri. With extended family in the area, Calista must conceal her profession if she hopes to recover the missing girl. When Matthew Cook decided to be a missionary, he never expected to be sent only a short train ride away to Joplin. While fighting against corruption of all sorts, Matthew hears of a baby raffle being held to raise funds for a children's home. He'll do what he can to stop it, but he also wants to stop the reckless Miss York, whose bad judgment consistently puts her in harm's way.
Bethany House Publishers | 9780764235344
DEAD ASTRONAUTS by Jeff VanderMeer (Science Fiction)
A messianic blue fox who slips through warrens of time and space on a mysterious mission. A homeless woman haunted by a demon who finds the key to all things in a strange journal. A giant leviathan of a fish, centuries old, who hides a secret, remembering a past that may not be its own. Three ragtag rebels waging an endless war for the fate of the world against an all-powerful corporation. A raving madman who wanders the desert lost in the past, haunted by his own creation: an invisible monster whose purpose remains hidden. DEAD ASTRONAUTS presents a City where, in the shadow of the all-powerful Company, lives human and otherwise converge in terrifying and miraculous ways. At stake: the fate of the future, the fate of Earth --- all the Earths.
Picador | 9781250758217
DISNEY’S LAND: Walt Disney and the Invention of the Amusement Park That Changed the World by Richard Snow (Entertainment/History)
One day in the early 1950s, Walt Disney stood looking over 240 acres of farmland in Anaheim, California, and imagined building a park where people “could live among Mickey Mouse and Snow White in a world still powered by steam and fire for a day or a week or (if the visitor is slightly mad) forever.” On July 17, 1955, Disneyland opened its gates…and the first day was a disaster. But the curious masses kept coming, and the rest is entertainment history. In DISNEY’S LAND, Richard Snow presents the entire spectacular story, an epic of innovation and error that reflects the uniqueness of the man determined to build “the happiest place on earth” with a watchmaker’s precision, an artist’s conviction, and the desperate, high-hearted recklessness of a riverboat gambler.
Scribner | 9781501190810
THE DOG I LOVED by Susan Wilson (Fiction)
After spending years in prison for a crime she didn’t intend to commit, Rose Collins is suddenly free. Someone who knows about the good work she has done --- training therapy dogs while serving time --- has arranged for her early release. This mysterious benefactor has even set her up with a job in the coastal Massachusetts community of Gloucester. There she works to rebuild her life with the help of Shadow, a stray dog who appears one rainy night. Meghan Custer is a wheelchair-bound war veteran who used to be hopeless, too. But ever since she was matched with a service dog named Shark, who was trained in a puppy-to-prisoner rehabilitation program, Meghan has a brand-new outlook. Finally, she can live on her own, go to work and maybe even find love again.
St. Martin’s Griffin | 9781250078155
THE ELECTRIC HOTEL by Dominic Smith (Historical Fiction)
For more than 30 years, Claude Ballard has been living at the Hollywood Knickerbocker Hotel. A French pioneer of silent films who started out as a concession agent for the Lumière brothers, the inventors of cinema, Claude now spends his days foraging for mushrooms in the hills of Los Angeles and taking photographs of runaways and the striplings along Sunset Boulevard. But when a film history student comes to interview Claude about The Electric Hotel --- the lost masterpiece that bankrupted him and ended the career of his muse, Sabine Montrose --- the past comes surging back. In his run-down hotel suite, the ravages of the past are waiting to be excavated.
Picador | 9781250619679
FOLLOW ME by Kathleen Barber (Psychological Thriller)
Audrey Miller has an enviable new job at the Smithsonian, a body by reformer Pilates, an apartment door with a broken lock, and hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers to bear witness to it all. Having just moved to Washington, DC, Audrey busies herself impressing her new boss, interacting with her online fan base, and staving off a creepy upstairs neighbor. But Audrey’s faulty door may be the least of her security concerns. Unbeknownst to her, her move has brought her within striking distance of someone who’s obsessively followed her social media presence for years. No longer content to simply follow her carefully curated life from a distance, he consults the dark web for advice on how to make Audrey his and his alone.
Gallery Books | 9781982101992
HEART OF BLACK ICE: Sister of Darkness: The Nicci Chronicles, Volume IV by Terry Goodkind (Fantasy)
In the wake of the brutal war that swept the Old World in SIEGE OF STONE, a new danger is forming along the coast. Taken captive by their enemies, King Grieve, along with Lila and Bannon, are about to discover the terrifying force that threatens to bring destruction to the Old World. The Norukai, barbarian raiders and slavers, have been gathering an immense fleet among the inhospitably rocky islands that make up their home. With numbers greater than anyone could have imagined, the Norukai are poised to launch their final and most deadly war.
Tor Fantasy | 9781250194800
HOW QUICKLY SHE DISAPPEARS by Raymond Fleischmann (Literary Thriller)
It's been 20 years since Elisabeth’s twin sister, Jacqueline, disappeared without a trace. Now 30-year-old Elisabeth is living far from home in a small Alaskan town. She is in a loveless marriage and has a precocious young daughter she loves more than anything but who reminds her too much of her long-missing sister. But then Alfred, a dangerous stranger with a plan of his own, arrives in town and commits an inexplicable act of violence. And he offers a startling revelation: He knows exactly what happened to Elisabeth's sister, but he'll reveal this truth only if she fulfills his three requests. Elisabeth can almost hear Jacqueline's voice saying, Come and find me. And so she will, even if it means putting herself --- and her family --- in danger.
Berkley | 9781984805188
HOW TO FAIL AT FLIRTING by Denise Williams (Romantic Comedy)
Paperback Original
When her flailing department lands on the university's chopping block, Professor Naya Turner’s friends convince her to shed her frumpy cardigan for an evening on the town. That night she meets Jake, a charming stranger who is in town on business. He makes her laugh and challenges her to rebuild her confidence, which was left toppled by her abusive ex-boyfriend. Soon she’s flirting with the chance at a more serious romantic relationship, but the complicated strings around her dating Jake might destroy her career. Naya has two options. She can protect her professional reputation and return to her old life, or she can flirt with the unknown and stay with the person who makes her feel like she's finally living again.
Berkley | 9780593101902
IN THE DREAM HOUSE: A Memoir by Carmen Maria Machado (Memoir)
Tracing the full arc of a harrowing relationship with a charismatic but volatile woman, Carmen Maria Machado struggles to make sense of how what happened to her shaped the person she was becoming. And it’s that struggle that gives IN THE DREAM HOUSE its original structure: each chapter is driven by its own narrative trope --- the haunted house, erotica, the bildungsroman --- through which Machado holds the events up to the light and examines them from different angles. She looks back at her religious adolescence, unpacks the stereotype of lesbian relationships as safe and utopian, and widens the view with essayistic explorations of the history and reality of abuse in queer relationships.
Graywolf Press | 9781644450383
INTO THE FIRE: An Orphan X Novel by Gregg Hurwitz (Thriller)
Max Merriweather is at the end of his rope. His cousin has been brutally murdered, leaving Max an envelope that contains nothing but a mysterious key. However, someone really wants that key, badly enough that Max --- and anyone he turns to --- is in deadly danger. What seems like a simple job for The Nowhere Man turns out to be anything but. Behind every threat he takes out, a deadlier one emerges, and Evan Smoak must put himself in greater danger than ever before as he heads once more INTO THE FIRE.
St. Martin’s Paperbacks | 9781250120465
LONG BRIGHT RIVER by Liz Moore (Mystery/Thriller)
In a Philadelphia neighborhood rocked by the opioid crisis, two once-inseparable sisters find themselves at odds. One, Kacey, lives on the streets in the vise of addiction. The other, Mickey, walks those same blocks on her police beat. They don't speak anymore, but Mickey never stops worrying about her sibling. Then Kacey disappears, suddenly, at the same time that a mysterious string of murders begins in Mickey's district, and Mickey becomes dangerously obsessed with finding the culprit --- and her sister --- before it's too late.
Riverhead Books | 9780525540687
MANY RIVERS TO CROSS: A DCI Banks Novel by Peter Robinson (Mystery/Thriller)
In Eastvale, a young Middle Eastern boy is found dead. Detective Superintendent Alan Banks and his team know they must tread carefully to solve this sensitive case. But tensions rise when they learn that the victim was stabbed somewhere else and dumped. Who is the boy, and where did he come from? Then, in a decayed area of Eastvale scheduled for redevelopment, a heroin addict is found dead. Was this just another tragic overdose or something darker? Just when he needs to be his sharpest, the seasoned detective finds himself distracted by a close friend’s increasingly precarious situation. He needs a break --- and gets one when he finds a connection to a real estate developer that could be key to finding the truth.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780062847508
MINOR DRAMAS & OTHER CATASTROPHES by Kathleen West (Fiction)
Isobel Johnson is a devoted teacher who has spent her career in Liston Heights sidestepping the community’s high-powered families. But when she receives a threatening voicemail accusing her of Anti-Americanism and a liberal agenda, she’s in the spotlight. Meanwhile, Julia Abbott, a helicopter mom obsessed with the casting of Liston Heights High's winter musical, makes an error in judgment that has far-reaching consequences for her entire family. Brought together by the sting of public humiliation, Isobel and Julia learn firsthand how entitlement and competition can go too far, thanks to a secret Facebook page created as an outlet for parent grievances.
Berkley | 9780593098417
MORAL COMPASS by Danielle Steel (Fiction)
Saint Ambrose Prep is a place where the wealthy send their children for the best possible education. Traditionally a boys-only school, Saint Ambrose has just enrolled 140 female students for the first time. One day after the school’s annual Halloween event, a student lies in the hospital, her system poisoned by dangerous levels of alcohol. Everyone in this sheltered community is left trying to figure out what actually happened. Only the handful of students who were there when she was attacked truly know the answers, and they have vowed to keep one another’s secrets. As details from the evening emerge, powerful families are forced to hire attorneys and less powerful families watch helplessly. No one at Saint Ambrose can escape the fallout of a life-altering event.
Dell | 9780399179556
MY NAME IS ANTON by Catherine Ryan Hyde (Fiction)
Paperback Original
Nearly a year after his brother died in a tragic accident, 18-year-old Anton Addison-Rice is still wounded --- physically and emotionally. Alone for the holidays, he catches a glimpse of his neighbor Edith across the street one evening and realizes she’s in danger. Anton is determined to help Edith leave her abusive marriage. Frightened and 15 years Anton’s senior, Edith is slow to trust. But when she needs a safe place to stay, she lets down her guard, and an unlikely friendship grows. As Anton falls in love, Edith fears both her husband finding her and Anton getting hurt. She must disappear without telling anyone where she’s going. What would happen, though, if one day their paths should cross again?
Lake Union Publishing | 9781542014342
SEPARATION ANXIETY by Laura Zigman (Fiction/Humor)
Judy never intended to start wearing the dog. But when she stumbled across her son Teddy’s old baby sling during a halfhearted basement cleaning, something in her snapped. So the dog went into the sling, Judy felt connected to another living being, and she’s repeated the process every day since. Life hasn’t gone according to Judy’s plan. Her career as a children’s book author offered a glimpse of success before taking an embarrassing nose dive. Teddy, now a teenager, treats her with some combination of mortification and indifference. Her best friend is dying. And her husband, Gary, has become a pot-addled professional “snackologist” who she can’t afford to divorce.
Ecco | 9780062909084
STOLEN: Five Free Boys Kidnapped into Slavery and Their Astonishing Odyssey Home by Richard Bell (True Crime/History)
Philadelphia, 1825: Lured onto a small ship with the promise of food and pay, five young, free Black boys are instead met with blindfolds, ropes and knives. Over four long months, their kidnappers drive them overland into the Cotton Kingdom to be sold as slaves. Determined to resist, the boys form a tight brotherhood as they struggle to free themselves and find their way home. Their ordeal shines a glaring spotlight on the Reverse Underground Railroad, a black market network of human traffickers and slave traders who stole away thousands of legally free African Americans from their families in order to fuel slavery’s rapid expansion in the decades before the Civil War.
Simon & Schuster | 9781501169441
THIS TIME NEXT YEAR by Sophie Cousens (Romantic Comedy)
Paperback Original
Minnie Cooper knows two things with certainty: her New Year's birthday is unlucky, and it's all because of Quinn Hamilton, a man she's never met. Their mothers gave birth to them at the same hospital just after midnight on New Year's Day, but Quinn was given the cash prize for being the first baby born in London in 1990 --- and the name Minnie was meant to have, as well. When Minnie unexpectedly runs into Quinn on their mutual 30th birthday, she sees only more evidence that fortune has continued to favor him. But if Quinn and Minnie are from different worlds, why do they keep bumping into each other? And why is it that each fraught encounter leaves them both wanting more?
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780593191200
On Sale the Week of December 7th in Hardcover
December 7th
THE LAST DAYS OF JOHN LENNON by James Patterson, with Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge (True Crime)
With the Beatles, John Lennon surpasses his youthful dreams, achieving a level of superstardom that defies classification. Mark David Chapman once worshipped his idols from afar but now harbors grudges against those, like Lennon, whom he feels betrayed him. He is convinced that Lennon has misled fans with his message of hope and peace --- and he is not staying away any longer. Enriched by exclusive interviews with Lennon’s friends and associates, including Paul McCartney, THE LAST DAYS OF JOHN LENNON is the thrilling true story of two men who changed history: one whose indelible songs enliven our world to this day, and the other who ended the beautiful music with five pulls of a trigger.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316429061
December 8th
THE BOOK OF MOODS: How I Turned My Worst Emotions into My Best Life by Lauren Martin (Memoir)
Five years ago, Lauren Martin was sure something was wrong with her. She had a good job, an apartment and a boyfriend, yet every day she wrestled with feelings of inferiority, anxiety and irritability. It wasn't until a chance encounter with a charming and successful stranger --- who revealed that she also felt these things --- that Lauren set out to better understand the hold that these moods had on her and began to blog about the wisdom she uncovered. It quickly exploded into an international online community of women who felt like she did: lost, depressed, moody and desirous of change. Inspired by her audience to press even deeper, THE BOOK OF MOODS shares Lauren's journey to infuse her life with a sense of peace and stability.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538733622
CROSSHAIRS by Catherine Hernandez (Dystopian Fiction)
Set in a terrifyingly familiar near-future, with massive floods leading to rampant homelessness and devastation, a government-sanctioned regime called The Boots seizes on the opportunity to round up communities of color, the disabled and the LGBTQ+ into labor camps. In the shadows, a new hero emerges. After he loses his livelihood as a drag queen and the love of his life, Kay joins the resistance alongside Bahadur, a transmasculine refugee, and Firuzeh, a headstrong social worker. Guiding them in the use of weapons and close-quarters combat is Beck, a rogue army officer, who helps them plan an uprising at a major televised international event.
Atria Books | 9781982146023
D (A TALE OF TWO WORLDS) by Michel Faber (Fantasy/Adventure)
It all starts on the morning the letter D disappears from language. First, it vanishes from Dhikilo’s parents’ conversation at breakfast, then from the road signs outside and from her school dinners. Soon the local dentist and the neighbor’s dalmatian are missing, and even the Donkey Derby has been called off. Though she doesn’t know why, Dhikilo is summoned to the home of her old history teacher Professor Dodderfield and his faithful Labrador, Nelly Robinson. And this is where our story begins.
Hanover Square Press | 9781335916747
HIDDEN TREASURE: A Josie Prescott Antiques Mystery by Jane K. Cleland (Mystery)
Josie Prescott, the owner of Prescott’s Antiques & Auctions, and her new husband, Ty, have finally found their dream home, a Victorian beauty known as the “Gingerbread House.” It was recently vacated by Maudie Wilson, whose concerned nieces have moved her into a nearby assisted living facility. They report that their aunt may have left behind an old trunk that she’s desperate to get back. Sure enough, Josie finds the trunk inside a hidden compartment, and within it a jewel-encrusted box holding a sculpture of a cat. But when Josie goes to return the box to Maudie, the woman has vanished. And on the floor of her empty apartment lies a corpse, a woman bludgeoned to death. Sick with worry for Maudie’s safety, Josie begins to piece together the clues to the murder.
Minotaur Books | 9781250242778
MOZART: The Reign of Love by Jan Swafford (Biography)
At the earliest ages, it was apparent that Wolfgang Mozart’s singular imagination was at work in every direction. He hated to be bored or idle, and through his life he responded to these threats with a repertoire of antidotes mental and physical. Whether in his rabidly obscene mode or not, Mozart was always hilarious. He went at every piece of his life, and perhaps most notably his social life, with tremendous gusto. His circle of friends and patrons was wide, encompassing anyone who appealed to his boundless appetites for music and all things pleasurable and fun. MOZART is the complete exhumation of a genius in his life and ours: a man who would enrich the world with his talent for centuries to come and who would immeasurably shape classical music.
Harper | 9780062433572
THE PARTICULARS OF PETER: Dance Lessons, DNA Tests, and Other Excuses to Hang Out with My Perfect Dog by Kelly Conaboy (Memoir/Humor)
Kelly Conaboy's debut is a funny exploration of the joy found in loving a dog so much it makes you feel like you're going to combust, and her potentially codependent relationship with her own sweet dog, Peter. Readers will follow Peter and his owner to Woofstock, "the largest outdoor festival for dogs in North America," and accompany them to lessons in Canine Freestyle, a sport where dogs perform a routine set to music, creating the illusion that they're dancing with their owners. From learning about Peter's DNA, to seeing if dogs can sense the presence of ghosts, THE PARTICULARS OF PETER will give readers a smart, entertaining respite from the harsh world of humans into the funny little world of dogs.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538717868
PROUSTIAN UNCERTAINTIES: On Reading and Rereading In Search of Lost Time by Saul Friedländer (Literary Criticism)
This engaging reexamination of IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME considers how the narrator defines himself, how this compares to what we know of Marcel Proust himself, and what the significance is of these various points of commonality and divergence. We know, for example, that the author did not hide his homosexuality, but the narrator did. Why the difference? We know that the narrator tried to marginalize his part-Jewish background. Does this reflect the author’s position, and how does the narrator handle what he tries, but does not manage, to dismiss? These are major questions raised by the text and reflected in the text, to which the author’s life doesn’t give obvious answers.
Other Press | 9781590519110
RED HANDS by Christopher Golden (Supernatural Thriller)
A car plows through the crowd at a July 4th parade. The driver climbs out, sick and stumbling, reaching out…and everyone he touches drops dead within seconds. Maeve Sinclair watches in horror as people she loves begin to die, and she knows she must take action. But in the aftermath of this terror, it’s Maeve who possesses that killing touch. Fleeing into the mountains, struggling with her own grief and confusion, Maeve faces the dawning realization that she will never be able to touch another human being again. When "weird s**t expert” Ben Walker and Maeve meet at last, they will unravel a stunning legacy of death and betrayal, and a malignant secret as old as history.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250246301
SNOWDRIFT: An Embla Nyström Investigation written by Helene Tursten, translated by Marlaine Delargy (Mystery)
It’s been 14 years since Detective Inspector Embla Nyström’s best friend disappeared from a nightclub in Gothenburg. So she is stunned when she recognizes her voice on the phone before the call abruptly disconnects. Then she learns that a man has been found shot dead in one of the guest houses that he and his wife manage in rural Sweden. When Embla arrives on the scene, she receives another shock. The dead man is Milo Stavic, a well-known gang member and one of the last people seen with Lollo. The same night that Milo was shot in the guest house, his brother Luca was also killed. Why, after all these years, is someone targeting the Stavic brothers, and where is the third brother?
Soho Crime | 9781641291606
THE SYSTEM by Ryan Gattis (Legal Thriller)
On December 6, 1993, a drug dealer called Scrappy is shot and left for dead on the lawn outside her mother’s house. Augie, a heroin addict, witnesses the whole thing --- before he steals all the drugs on her person, as well as the gun that was dropped at the scene. When Augie gets busted, he names local gang members Wizard and Dreamer the shooters. But only one of them is guilty. A search of Wizard and Dreamer’s premises uncovers the gun that was used in the shooting, and a warrant goes out for their arrest. They know it’s a frame-up, but the word from the gang is to keep their mouths shut and face the charges. With these two off the streets, Dreamer’s friend Little is given one job: discover how the gun got moved, and why.
MCD | 9780374130312
TAKE IT BACK by Kia Abdullah (Legal Thriller)
Zara Kaleel, one of London's brightest legal minds, has exchanged her high-profile career for a job at a sexual assault center, helping victims who need her the most. When Jodie Wolfe, a 16-year-old girl with facial deformities, accuses four boys in her class of an unthinkable crime, the community is torn apart. After all, these four teenage defendants are from hard-working immigrant families, and they all have proven alibis. Even Jodie's best friend doesn't believe her. But Zara does, and she is determined to fight for Jodie to find the truth in the face of public outcry. And as issues of sex, race and social justice collide, the most explosive criminal trial of the year builds to a shocking conclusion.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250273017
On Sale the Week of December 7th in Paperback
December 8th
ALICE ADAMS: Portrait of a Writer by Carol Sklenicka (Biography)
One of only four winners of the O. Henry Special Award for Continuing Achievement, Alice Adams wove her life into her fiction and used her writing to understand the changing tides of the 20th century. Her work portrays vibrant characters both young and old who live on the edge of their emotions, absorbed by love affairs yet always determined to be independent and to fulfill their personal destinies. Carol Sklenicka integrates the drama of Adams’ deeply felt, elegantly fierce life with a cascade of events --- the civil rights and women’s movements, the ’60s counterculture and sexual freedom. This biography’s revealing analyses of Adams’ stories and novels, and extensive interviews with her family and friends, give us the definitive story of a writer often dubbed “America’s Colette.”
Scribner | 9781451621334
ALL THAT’S BRIGHT AND GONE by Eliza Nellums (Mystery)
There's plenty about the grownup world that six-year-old Aoife doesn't understand. Like what happened to her big brother, Theo, and why her mama is in the hospital instead of home where she belongs. Uncle Donny says she just needs to be patient, but Aoife is sure her mama won't be able to come home until Aoife learns what really happened to her brother. The trouble is no one wants to talk about Theo because he was murdered. But by whom? With her imaginary friend, Teddy, by her side and the detecting skills of her nosy next-door neighbor, Aoife sets out to uncover the truth about her family. But she will learn that some secrets can't stay hidden forever, and sometimes the pain we bury is the biggest secret of them all.
Crooked Lane Books | 9781643856476
ANYONE by Charles Soule (Science Fiction/Thriller)
Inside a barn in Ann Arbor, Michigan, a scientist searching for an Alzheimer’s cure throws a switch --- and finds herself mysteriously transported into her husband’s body. What begins as a botched experiment will change her life --- and the world --- forever. Over two decades later, all across the planet, “flash” technology allows individuals the ability to transfer their consciousness into other bodies for specified periods, paid, registered and legal. Society has been utterly transformed by the process, from travel to warfare to entertainment. But beyond the reach of the law and government regulators is a sordid black market called the darkshare, where desperate “vessels” anonymously rent out their bodies, no questions asked, for any purpose --- sex, drugs, crime...or worse.
Harper Perennial | 9780062890641
THE ARRANGEMENT by Robyn Harding (Psychological Thriller)
Natalie, a young art student in New York City, is struggling to pay her bills when a friend makes a suggestion: Why not go online and find a sugar daddy? Though more than 30 years her senior, Gabe, a handsome corporate finance attorney, seems like the perfect candidate. Within a month, they are madly in love. At least Nat is. Gabe already has a family and has no intention of leaving them. So when he abruptly ends things, Nat can’t let go. She begins drinking heavily and stalking him. But Gabe is not about to let his sugar baby destroy his perfect life. What was supposed to be a mutually beneficial arrangement devolves into a nightmare of deception, obsession and, when a body is found near Gabe’s apartment, murder.
Gallery Books/Scout Press | 9781982110505
THE BERLIN GIRL by Mandy Robotham (Historical Romance)
Paperback Original
Berlin, 1938: It’s the height of summer, and Germany is on the brink of war. When fledgling reporter Georgie Young is posted to Berlin, alongside fellow Londoner Max Spender, she knows they are entering the eye of the storm. Arriving to a city swathed in red flags and crawling with Nazis, Georgie feels helpless, witnessing innocent people being torn from their homes. As tensions rise, she realizes that she and Max have to act --- even if it means putting their lives on the line. But when she digs deeper, Georgie begins to uncover the unspeakable truth about Hitler’s Germany --- and the pair are pulled into a world darker than she ever could have imagined.
Avon | 9780008418632
THE DEAD GIRLS CLUB by Damien Angelica Walters (Supernatural Thriller)
In 1991, Heather Cole and her friends were members of the Dead Girls Club. Obsessed with the macabre, the girls exchanged stories about serial killers and imaginary monsters, like the Red Lady, the spirit of a vengeful witch killed centuries before. Heather knew the stories were just that, until her best friend, Becca, began insisting the Red Lady was real --- and she could prove it. That belief got Becca killed. It's been nearly 30 years, and Heather has done her best to put that fateful summer, Becca and the Red Lady behind her. Until a familiar necklace arrives in the mail, a necklace she hasn't seen since the night Becca died. The night Heather killed her. Now, someone else knows what she did...and they're determined to make Heather pay.
Crooked Lane Books | 9781643856483
THE DEAD SEASON: A Shana Merchant Novel by Tessa Wegert (Mystery/Thriller)
Paperback Original
After leaving the NYPD following her abduction by serial killer Blake Bram, Shana Merchant hoped for a fresh start in the Thousand Islands of Upstate New York. Her former tormentor has other plans. When the decades-old skeleton of Shana's estranged uncle is uncovered, Bram issues a challenge: Return home to Vermont and solve the cold case, or the blood he spills next will be on her hands. As Shana interviews members of her family and the community, mining for secrets that could help her solve her uncle's murder, she begins to realize how little she remembers of her childhood. And when Bram kidnaps again, leaving a trail of clues Shana alone can understand, she knows his new victim will only survive if she wins the psychopath’s twisted game.
Berkley | 9780593097915
GENIUS & ANXIETY: How Jews Changed the World, 1847-1947 by Norman Lebrecht (History)
In a hundred-year period, a handful of men and women changed the way we see the world. Many of them are well known, such as Marx, Freud, Proust, Einstein and Kafka. Others have vanished from collective memory despite their enduring importance in our daily lives. Without Karl Landsteiner, for instance, there would be no blood transfusions or major surgery. Without Rosalind Franklin, genetic science would look very different. Without Fritz Haber, there would not be enough food to sustain life on earth. What do these visionaries have in common? They all had Jewish origins. Norman Lebrecht has devoted half of his life to pondering and researching the mindset of the Jewish intellectuals, writers, scientists and thinkers who turned the tides of history and shaped the world today as we know it.
Scribner | 9781982134266
KEEP IT MOVING: Lessons for the Rest of Your Life by Twyla Tharp (Self-Help)
At 78, Twyla Tharp is revered not only for the dances she makes, but for her astounding regime of exercise and nonstop 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 | 9781982101312
LAYLA by Colleen Hoover (Paranormal Romance)
Paperback Original
When Leeds meets Layla, he’s convinced he’ll spend the rest of his life with her --- until an unexpected attack leaves Layla fighting for her life. After weeks in the hospital, Layla recovers physically, but the emotional and mental scarring has altered the woman Leeds fell in love with. In order to put their relationship back on track, Leeds whisks Layla away to the bed-and-breakfast where they first met. Once they arrive, Layla’s behavior takes a bizarre turn. Feeling distant from Layla, Leeds soon finds solace in Willow, another guest of the B&B with whom he forms a connection through their shared concerns. As his curiosity for Willow grows, his decision to help her find answers puts him in direct conflict with Layla’s well-being.
Montlake | 9781542000178
LIFE ISN’T EVERYTHING: Mike Nichols, as Remembered by 150 of His Closest Friends by Ash Carter and Sam Kashner (Biography)
The work of Mike Nichols pervades American cultural consciousness --- from The Graduate and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? to Angels in America, The Birdcage, Working Girl and Primary Colors, not to mention his string of hit plays, including "Barefoot in the Park" and "The Odd Couple." If that weren’t enough, he was also one half of the timelessly funny duo Nichols & May, as well as a founding member of the original improv troupe. Most fans, however, know very little of the person behind it all. Here, for the first time, Ash Carter and Sam Kashner offer an intimate look behind the scenes of Nichols' life, as told by the stars, moguls, playwrights, producers, comics and crew members who stayed loyal to Nichols for years.
Picador | 9781250763648
THE LIGHT OF ALL THAT FALLS by James Islington (Fantasy/Adventure)
After a savage battle, the Boundary is whole again --- but it may be too late. Banes now stalk the lands of Andarra, and the Venerate have gathered their armies for a final, crushing blow. In Ilin Illan, Wirr fights to maintain a precarious alliance between Andarra's factions of power. With dark forces closing in on the capital, if he cannot succeed, the war is lost. Imprisoned and alone in a strange land, Davian is pitted against the remaining Venerate. As he tries to keep them from undoing Asha's sacrifice, he struggles to come to terms with his own path and all he has learned about Caeden, the friend he chose to set free. Finally, Caeden is confronted with the reality of a plan laid centuries ago --- heartbroken at how it started and devastated by how it must end.
Orbit | 9780316274159
MARY BALL WASHINGTON: The Untold Story of George Washington's Mother by Craig Shirley (Biography)
Stubborn, aristocratic Mary Ball Washington was entrenched in the Old World ways of her ancestors, dismissing the American experiment even as her son led the successful rebellion against the crown. During his youth, ambitious George dove into the hard-scrabble work of a surveyor and rose through the ranks of the fledgling colonial army, even as his overprotective mother tried to discourage these efforts. While she passed down her strength and individuality to George, Mary also sought to protect him from the risks he needed to take to become a daring general and president. But it was this resistance itself that fanned the spark of George’s independence into a flame. The constant tug of war between the two throughout the early years helped define George’s character.
Harper Paperbacks | 9780062456526
THE MISSING AMERICAN: The First Emma Djan Investigation by Kwei Quartey (Mystery)
When her dreams of rising through the Accra police ranks crash around her, 26-year-old Emma Djan is unsure what will become of her career. Through a sympathetic former colleague, she gets an interview with a private detective agency that takes on cases of missing persons, theft and infidelity. Meanwhile, Gordon Tilson, a middle-aged widower in Washington, DC, has found solace in an online community after his wife’s passing. Through the support group, he’s even met a young Ghanaian widow he’s come to care about. When her sister gets into a car accident, he sends her thousands of dollars to cover the hospital bill --- to the horror of his only son, Derek. Then Gordon decides to surprise his new love by paying her a visit --- and disappears.
Soho Crime | 9781641292122
NAKED CAME THE FLORIDA MAN by Tim Dorsey (Mystery/Humor)
With his best bro Colman riding shotgun, Serge A. Storms hits the highway in his ’69 gold Plymouth Satellite, putting pedal to the metal on a grand tour of the past. Beginning in Key West, the sunshine boys’ odyssey includes a forgotten mass grave in Palm Beach County holding the remains of African Americans killed by the Great Hurricane of 1928, and the resting place of one world-famous television dolphin (RIP Flipper) from the 1960s. But one deadland --- a haunted old sugar field --- holds more than just the bones of those who’ve passed. For years, local children have whispered about a boogeyman hiding among the stalks. Could it be the same maniac known as Naked Florida man who’s been raising hell all over the place?
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780062795946
PAPER SON: A Lydia Chin/Bill Smith Novel by S. J. Rozan (Mystery)
The Mississippi Delta isn’t a place that Lydia Chin, an American-born Chinese private detective from Chinatown, NYC, ever thought she’d have reason to go. But when her mother tells her a cousin Lydia didn’t know she had is in jail in Clarksdale, Mississippi --- and that Lydia has to rush down south and get him out --- Lydia finds herself rolling down Highway 61 with Bill Smith, her partner, behind the wheel. From the river levees to the refinement of Oxford, from old cotton gins to new computer scams, Lydia soon finds that nothing in Mississippi is as she expected it to be. Including her cousin’s legal troubles --- or possibly even his innocence.
Pegasus Books | 9781643136127
A PROMISE OF ANKLES: A 44 Scotland Street Novel by Alexander McCall Smith (Fiction)
Paperback Original
For the residents of 44 Scotland Street, life in Edinburgh's intriguing New Town is a thing to be relished. After all, there are new faces to excite Domenica's anthropological imagination, precious moments with his triplets for Matthew to savor, and the prospect of a trip to the promised land of Glasgow for young Bertie. But there are mysteries that need solving too. Could Angus Lordie's dog, Cyril, have unearthed a Neanderthal skull? Does the long-suffering Stuart have any hope of kindling a new relationship when Bruce, ever the navel gazer and consummate seducer, effortlessly steps into his pas de deux? And how will the patrons of Big Lou's cafe react to the menu's imminent culinary transformation?
Anchor | 9780593313282
RELENTLESS: A Brick Kavanagh Mystery by Shawn Wilson (Mystery)
Cherry blossom season is Washington, D.C.’s most beautiful time of the year. But as tourists flock to the city, this year’s festivities are marred by the discovery of the naked body of a young woman floating in the Tidal Basin. Veteran homicide detective Brian (Brick) Kavanagh is assigned to the case. He’s shocked when he learns the victim is connected to another homicide, which makes the investigation very personal for him. Brick’s efforts to solve the case are thwarted by departmental politics and a rush to judgment. Convinced that justice has not been served and the wrong person is in jail, Kavanagh risks all to relentlessly pursue the truth.
Oceanview Publishing | 9781608094028
SEARCHING FOR SYLVIE LEE by Jean Kwok (Fiction)
Sylvie, the beautiful, brilliant, successful older daughter of the Lee family, flies to the Netherlands for one final visit with her dying grandmother --- and then vanishes. Amy, the sheltered baby of the Lee family, is too young to remember a time when her parents were newly immigrated and too poor to keep Sylvie. Seven years older, Sylvie was raised by a distant relative in a faraway, foreign place and didn’t rejoin her family in America until age nine. Timid and shy, Amy has always looked up to her sister, the fierce and fearless protector who showered her with unconditional love. But what happened to Sylvie? Amy and her parents are distraught and desperate for answers.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780062834324
THE SEEP by Chana Porter (Speculative Fiction)
Trina Goldberg-Oneka is a 50-year-old trans woman whose life is irreversibly altered in the wake of a gentle --- but nonetheless world-changing --- invasion by an alien entity called The Seep. Through The Seep, everything is connected. Capitalism falls, hierarchies and barriers are broken down; if something can be imagined, it is possible. Trina and her wife, Deeba, live blissfully under The Seep’s utopian influence --- until Deeba begins to imagine what it might be like to be reborn as a baby, which will give her the chance at an even better life. Using Seeptech to make this dream a reality, Deeba moves on to a new existence, leaving Trina devastated. Heartbroken and deep into an alcoholic binge, Trina follows a lost boy she encounters, embarking on an unexpected quest.
Soho Press | 9781641292153
VALERIE: OR, THE FACULTY OF DREAMS written by Sara Stridsberg, translated by Deborah Bragan-Turner (Fiction)
In April 1988, Valerie Solanas --- the writer, radical feminist, author of the SCUM Manifesto and would-be assassin of Andy Warhol --- was discovered dead at 52 in her hotel room, in a grimy corner of San Francisco, alone, penniless and surrounded by the typed pages of her last writings. In VALERIE, a nameless narrator revisits the room where Solanas died, the courtroom where she was tried and convicted of attempting to murder Andy Warhol, the Georgia wastelands where she spent her childhood, and was repeatedly raped by her father and beaten by her alcoholic grandfather, and the mental hospitals where she was shut away.
Picador | 9781250619594
ZED by Joanna Kavenna (Fiction/Satire)
One corporation has made a perfect world based on a perfect algorithm. Now what to do with all these messy people? Lionel Bigman is dead. Murdered by a robot. Guy Matthias, the philandering founder and CEO of the mega-corporation Beetle, insists it was human error. But was it? Either the predictive algorithms of Beetle's supposedly omniscient “lifechain” don't work, or they've been hacked. Both scenarios are impossible to imagine and signal the end of Beetle's technotopia and life as we know it.
Anchor | 9781984898340
|
