November 9, 2021

November 9, 2021

In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of November 8th and November 15th 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 special contest for OLGA DIES DREAMING by debut novelist Xochitl Gonzalez, which releases on January 4th. A status-driven wedding planner grapples with her social ambitions, absent mother and Puerto Rican roots --- all in the wake of Hurricane Maria. We are giving 25 readers the opportunity to win an advance copy of the book. The deadline for your entries is Friday, November 19th at noon ET. Carol is reading this now and really enjoying it!

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, November 10th at 2pm ET: "Bookaccino Live: A Lively Talk About Books": Carol Fitzgerald will present titles releasing from November 9th through the end of the year, along with a few from January and February, that she would like to get on your radar.

Wednesday, November 10th at 7pm ET: "Friends and Fiction": The "Friends and Fiction" authors --- Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel, Kristy Woodson Harvey and Patti Callahan Henry --- will talk to Armando Lucas Correa, whose memoir IN SEARCH OF EMMA has been revised and updated.

Thursday, November 11th at 8pm ET: Chevalier's Books: Chevalier’s Books, Los Angeles's oldest independent bookstore, will host the release of THE DARK HOURS with an exclusive virtual tour of L.A. with Michael Connelly.

Thursday, November 11th at 8pm ET: Tattered Cover Book Store: Tattered Cover is pleased to welcome Amor Towles in conversation with Erik Larson to discuss Amor's new book, THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY.

Thursday, November 11th at 8:30pm ET: Book Passage: Naomi Krupitsky will be in conversation with Adriana Trigiani about her debut novel, THE FAMILY, which is this month's "Read with Jenna" Today Show Book Club pick.

Thursday, November 11th at 9pm ET: Book Soup: Gary Shteyngart will be in conversation with actor Fred Savage about his new novel, OUR COUNTRY FRIENDS, which is this month's Barnes & Noble Book Club pick.

Monday, November 15th at 9pm ET: The Poisoned Pen Bookstore: Dirk Cussler will talk about the latest entry in the Dirk Pitt series, CLIVE CUSSLER'S THE DEVIL'S SEA, in which our fearless adventurer must unravel a historical mystery of epic importance.

Tuesday, November 16th at 2pm ET: Murder By The Book: Murder By The Book is teaming up with Parnassus, Book People and King’s English to host a virtual event with Ken Follett, who will discuss his new thriller, NEVER.

Tuesday, November 16th at 3pm ET: The Poisoned Pen Bookstore: David Baldacci will discuss his latest Atlee Pine thriller, MERCY, in which the FBI agent's harrowing search for her long-lost sister reaches a boiling point.

Tuesday, November 16th at 4pm ET: Barnes & Noble: Barnes & Noble welcomes Naomi Krupitsky for a live, virtual event to discuss THE FAMILY, this month's "Read with Jenna" Today Show Book Club pick, with Jenna Bush Hager.

Tuesday, November 16th at 7pm ET: Reads & Company Bookshop: Reads & Company is thrilled to welcome H. W. Brands to celebrate the release of his new book, OUR FIRST CIVIL WAR: Patriots and Loyalists in the American Revolution.

Tuesday, November 16th at 8pm ET: "Bookaccino Live" Book Group: Carol Fitzgerald will talk to Jim DeFede about his book, THE DAY THE WORLD CAME TO TOWN. Jim also will answer questions from guests who will be "on stage," as well as from other members of the audience. If you have a question for Jim that you would like to ask on camera, please send Carol an email with the subject line “Question for Jim DeFede.”

This Week's Bonus News:
Our Special Contest for
OLGA DIES DREAMING by Xochitl Gonzalez,
Releasing January 4th

On Sale the Week of November 8th in Hardcover

November 9th

A BLIZZARD OF POLAR BEARS by Alice Henderson (Thriller)
Fresh off her wolverine study in Montana, wildlife biologist Alex Carter lands a job studying a threatened population of polar bears in the Canadian Arctic. Embedded with a small team of Arctic researchers, she tracks the majestic bears by air, following them over vast, snowy terrain, spending days leaning precariously out of a helicopter with a tranquilizer gun, until she can get down on the ice to examine them up close. But as her study progresses, and she gathers data on the health of individual bears, things start to go awry. Her helicopter pilot quits unexpectedly, equipment goes missing, and a late-night intruder breaks into her lab and steals the samples she’s collected. Someone doesn’t want her to complete her study, but Alex is not easily deterred.
William Morrow | 9780062982100

A CHRISTMAS LEGACY by Anne Perry (Historical Mystery)
After leaving her position with Charlotte and Thomas Pitt to get married, Gracie thought her days as a maid were behind her. But when her good friend’s daughter, Millie, turns up on her doorstep just before the holidays, frantic because things are going missing from the kitchen in the household she serves, Gracie knows she has to find out what is happening. Millie can’t risk being accused of theft and getting thrown out on the street, with no character references for a new position. So Gracie takes on Millie’s job herself, claiming Millie is sick and needs a few days to recuperate. She soon begins to realize that Granny is suffering from neglect --- and rather than helping her, the husband and wife have decided she isn’t dying fast enough.
Ballantine Books | 9780593159392

COMFORT ME WITH APPLES by Catherynne M. Valente (Domestic Thriller/Fantasy)
Sophia was made for him. Her perfect husband. She can feel it in her bones. He is perfect. Their home together in Arcadia Gardens is perfect. Everything is perfect. It's just that he's away so much. So often. He works so hard. She misses him. And he misses her. He says he does, so it must be true. He is the perfect husband, and everything is perfect. But sometimes Sophia wonders about things. Strange things. Dark things. The look on her husband's face when he comes back from a long business trip. The questions he will not answer. The locked basement she is never allowed to enter. And whenever she asks the neighbors, they can't quite meet her gaze. But everything is perfect. Isn't it?
Tordotcom | 9781250816214

THE DARK HOURS: A Renée Ballard and Harry Bosch Novel by Michael Connelly (Thriller)
There’s chaos in Hollywood at the end of the New Year’s Eve countdown. Working her graveyard shift, LAPD detective Renée Ballard waits out the traditional rain of lead as hundreds of revelers shoot their guns into the air. Only minutes after midnight, Ballard is called to a scene where a hardworking auto shop owner has been fatally hit by a bullet in the middle of a crowded street party. Ballard quickly concludes that the deadly bullet could not have fallen from the sky and that it is linked to another unsolved murder --- a case at one time worked by Detective Harry Bosch. At the same time, Ballard hunts a fiendish pair of serial rapists, the Midnight Men, who have been terrorizing women and leaving no trace.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316485647

FINAL SPIN by Jocko Willink (Thriller)
It’s a hamster wheel existence. Stocking warehouse store shelves by day, drinking too much whiskey and beer by night. In between, Johnny lives in his childhood home, making sure his alcoholic mother hasn’t drunk herself to death, and looking after his idiosyncratic older brother Arty, whose world revolves around his laundromat job. Rinse and repeat. Then Johnny’s monotonous life takes a tumble. The laundromat where Arty works, and the one thing that gives him happiness, is about to be sold. Johnny doesn't want that to happen, so he takes measures into his own hands. Johnny and his friend, Goat, come up with a plan to get the money to buy the laundromat. But things don’t always go as planned.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250276858

FIVE TUESDAYS IN WINTER: Stories by Lily King (Fiction/Short Stories)
Told in the intimate voices of complex, endearing characters, FIVE TUESDAYS IN WINTER --- Lily King's first book of short fiction --- intriguingly subverts expectations as it explores desire, loss, jolting violence and the inexorable tug toward love at all costs. A reclusive bookseller begins to feel the discomfort of love again. Two college roommates have a devastating middle-aged reunion. A proud old man rages powerlessly in his granddaughter's hospital room. A writer receives a visit from all the men who have tried to suppress her voice.
Grove Press | 9780802158765

HEARD IT IN A LOVE SONG by Tracey Garvis Graves (Romance)
Layla Hilding is 35 and recently divorced. Struggling to break free from the past --- her glory days as the lead singer in a band and a 10-year marriage to a man who never put her first --- Layla’s newly found independence feels a lot like loneliness. Then there's Josh, the single dad whose daughter attends the elementary school where Layla teaches music. Recently separated, he's still processing the end of his 20-year marriage to his high school sweetheart. He chats with Layla every morning at school and finds himself thinking about her more and more. They decide to be friends with the potential for something more. But when two people are on the rebound, is it heartbreak or happiness that’s a love song away?
St. Martin's Press | 9781250235688

THE HIDDEN by Melanie Golding (Psychological Thriller)
One dark December night, a little girl is found abandoned. When her mother finally arrives, authorities release the pair. Gregor is found bludgeoned and left for dead in his apartment, but the discovery of children's toys raises more questions than answers. Every night, Ruby gazes into Gregor’s apartment, leading to the discovery of his secret family: his unusually silent daughter and his mentally unstable wife, Constance. DS Joanna Harper's investigation into Gregor’s assault leads her to CCTV footage of the mother-daughter pair from town. Harper realizes she knows the woman almost as well as she knows herself: it's her estranged daughter, Ruby. No matter the depth of Ruby’s involvement, she knows she will choose her daughter over her career.
Crooked Lane Books | 9781643852973

THE LAST KING OF AMERICA: The Misunderstood Reign of George III by Andrew Roberts (Biography)
The best-known modern interpretation of George III is Jonathan Groff's preening, spitting and pompous take in “Hamilton.” But this deeply unflattering characterization is rooted in the prejudiced and brilliantly persuasive opinions of 18th-century revolutionaries like Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson, who needed to make the king appear evil in order to achieve their own political aims. After combing through hundreds of thousands of pages of never-before-published correspondence, award-winning historian Andrew Roberts has uncovered the truth: George III was in fact a wise, humane and even enlightened monarch who was beset by talented enemies, debilitating mental illness, incompetent ministers and disastrous luck.
Viking | 9781984879264

LED ZEPPELIN: The Biography by Bob Spitz (Biography)
Rock star. Whatever that term means to you, chances are it owes a debt to Led Zeppelin. No one before or since has lived the dream quite like Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham. From the opening notes of their first album, the band announced itself as something different --- a collision of grand artistic ambition and brute primal force, of English folk music and African American blues. That record sold over 10 million copies, and it was just the beginning. Led Zeppelin's albums have sold over 300 million certified copies worldwide, and the dust has never settled. The band is notoriously guarded, and previous books provided more heat than light. But Bob Spitz's authority is undeniable and irresistible.
Penguin Press | 9780399562426

LOOK FOR ME AND I'LL BE GONE: Stories by John Edgar Wideman (Fiction/Short Stories)
In his sixth story collection, John Edgar Wideman revisits themes that have infused his work for the duration of his career: family, loss, the penal system, Pittsburgh, physical and emotional life, art and memory. Stories include “Separation,” which begins with a boy standing alone beside his grandfather’s coffin, progressing to a scene with the narrator’s grandmother paying the funeral director weekly installments for the price of the casket. “Atlanta Murders” contemplates James Baldwin’s EVIDENCE OF THINGS NOT SEEN, written about the Atlanta child murders from 1979 to 1981, beginning with a riff on a “why-did-the chicken-cross-the-road” joke that takes a dark turn.
Scribner | 9781982148942

NEVER by Ken Follett (Thriller)
“Every catastrophe begins with a little problem that doesn’t get fixed.” So says Pauline Green, president of the United States, in Ken Follett’s nerve-racking drama of international tension. A shrinking oasis in the Sahara Desert; a stolen US Army drone; an uninhabited Japanese island; and one country’s secret stash of deadly chemical poisons --- all these play roles in a relentlessly escalating crisis. Struggling to prevent the outbreak of world war are a young woman intelligence officer; a spy working undercover with jihadists; a brilliant Chinese spymaster; and Pauline herself, beleaguered by a populist rival for the next presidential election.
Viking | 9780593300015

O BEAUTIFUL by Jung Yun (Fiction)
Former model Elinor Hanson is struggling to reinvent herself as a freelance writer when she receives an unexpected assignment. Her mentor from grad school offers her a chance to write for a prestigious magazine about the Bakken oil boom in North Dakota. Elinor grew up near the Bakken and returns to a landscape she hardly recognizes. Surrounded by roughnecks seeking their fortunes in oil and residents worried about their changing community, Elinor experiences a profound sense of alienation and grief. The longer she pursues this potentially career-altering assignment, the more her past intertwines with the story she’s trying to tell, revealing disturbing new realities that will forever change her and the way she looks at the world.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250274328

OUR FIRST CIVIL WAR: Patriots and Loyalists in the American Revolution by H. W. Brands (History)
What causes people to forsake their country and take arms against it? What prompts their neighbors, hardly distinguishable in station or success, to defend that country against the rebels? That is the question H. W. Brands answers in his powerful new history of the American Revolution. George Washington and Benjamin Franklin were the unlikeliest of rebels. Washington in the 1770s stood at the apex of Virginia society. Franklin was more successful still, having risen from humble origins to world fame. John Adams might have seemed a more obvious candidate for rebellion, being of cantankerous temperament. Even so, he revered the law. Yet all three men became rebels against the British Empire that fostered their success.
Doubleday | 9780385546515

THE RETURN OF THE PHARAOH: From the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D. by Nicholas Meyer (Historical Mystery)
In 1910, Dr. John Watson travels to Egypt with his wife, Juliet. Her tuberculosis has returned, and her doctor recommends a stay at a sanitarium in a dry climate. But while his wife undergoes treatment, Dr. Watson bumps into an old friend --- Sherlock Holmes. An English Duke with a penchant for Egyptology has disappeared, leading to enquiries from his wife and the Home Office. Holmes has discovered that the missing duke has indeed vanished from his lavish rooms in Cairo and that he was on the trail of a previous undiscovered and unopened tomb. With the help of Howard Carter, Holmes and Watson are on the trail of something much bigger, more important and more sinister than an errant lord.
Minotaur Books | 9781250788207

THE SENTENCE by Louise Erdrich (Fiction)
Louise Erdrich's latest novel, THE SENTENCE, asks what we owe to the living, the dead, to the reader and to the book. A small independent bookstore in Minneapolis is haunted from November 2019 to November 2020 by the store's most annoying customer. Flora dies on All Souls' Day, but she simply won't leave the store. Tookie, who has landed a job selling books after years of incarceration that she survived by reading "with murderous attention," must solve the mystery of this haunting while at the same time trying to understand all that occurs in Minneapolis during a year of grief, astonishment, isolation and furious reckoning.
Harper | 9780062671127

TENDERNESS by Alison MacLeod (Historical Fiction)
Alison MacLeod brilliantly recreates the origins of LADY CHATTERLEY’S LOVER and boldly imagines its journey to freedom through the story of Jackie Kennedy, who was known to be an admirer. In MacLeod's telling, Jackie --- in her last days before becoming First Lady --- learns that publishers are trying to bring D.H. Lawrence's long-censored novel to American and British readers in its full form. The U.S. government has responded by targeting the postal service for distributing obscene material. Enjoying what anonymity she has left, determined to honor a novel she loves, Jackie attends the hearing incognito. But there she is quickly recognized, and FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover takes note of her interest and her outrage.
Bloomsbury Publishing | 9781635576108

WHAT JUST HAPPENED: Notes on a Long Year by Charles Finch (Memoir)
In March 2020, at the request of the Los Angeles Times, Charles Finch became a reluctant diarist: As California sheltered in place, he began to write daily notes about the odd ambient changes in his own life and in the lives around him. The result is WHAT JUST HAPPENED, where Finch brings us into his own world: taking long evening walks near his home in L.A., listening to music, and keeping virtual connections with friends across the country as they each experience the crisis. And drawing on his remarkable acuity as a cultural critic, he chronicles one endless year with delightful commentary on current events, and the things that distract him from current events: Murakami’s novels, reality television, the Beatles.
Knopf | 9780593319079

WOODROW ON THE BENCH: Life Lessons from a Wise Old Dog by Jenna Blum (Memoir)
Since she adopted him as a puppy 15 years earlier, Jenna Blum and Woodrow have been inseparable. Known to many as “the George Clooney of dogs” for his good looks and charm, Woodrow and his “Mommoo” are fixtures in their Boston neighborhood. But Woodrow is aging. As he begins to fail, the true nature of his extraordinary relationship with Jenna is revealed. Jenna may be the dog parent, but it is Woodrow, with his amazing personality and trusting nature, who has much to teach her. A divorcée who has experienced her share of sadness and loss, Jenna discovers, over the months she spends caring for her ailing dog, what it is to be present in the moment, and what it truly means to love.
Harper | 9780063113183

On Sale the Week of November 8th in Paperback

November 9th

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 | 9780802157256

FIRST PRINCIPLES: What America's Founders Learned from the Greeks and Romans and How That Shaped Our Country by Thomas E. Ricks (History)
On the morning after the 2016 presidential election, Thomas Ricks awoke with a few questions on his mind: What kind of nation did we now have? Is it what was designed or intended by the nation’s founders? Trying to get as close to the source as he could, Ricks decided to go back and read the philosophy and literature that shaped the founders’ thinking, and the letters they wrote to each other debating these crucial works --- among them the Iliad, Plutarch’s Lives, and the works of Xenophon, Epicurus, Aristotle, Cato and Cicero. Although much attention has been paid to the influence of English political philosophers like John Locke, the founders were far more immersed in the literature of the ancient world.
Harper Perennial | 9780062997463

HEAD WOUNDS: A Kevin Kerney Novel by Michael McGarrity (Mystery)
Given a chance to salvage his law enforcement career, Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Detective Clayton Istee catches a bizarre late-night double homicide at a Las Cruces hotel. Both victims have been scalped with their throats cut. The murders show all the signs of a signature hit, but national and state crime databases reveal no similar profiles. Digging into the victims’ backgrounds, Clayton discovers that six months prior the couple had walked out of a nearby casino with $200,000 of a high-stakes gambler’s money. He also learns the crime had been hushed up by an undercover federal DEA agent, who resurfaces and recruits Clayton for a dangerous mission to seize the Mexican drug lord responsible for the killings.
W. W. Norton & Company | 9780393868425

IF I DISAPPEAR by Eliza Jane Brazier (Psychological Thriller)
Sera loves true crime podcasts. They give her a sense of control in a world where women just like her disappear daily. She’s sure they’re preparing her for something. So when Rachel, her favorite podcast host, goes missing, Sera knows it's time to act. Rachel has always taught her to trust her instincts. Sera follows the clues hidden in the episodes to an isolated ranch outside Rachel's small hometown to begin her search. She's convinced her investigation will make Rachel so proud. But the more Sera digs into this unfamiliar world, the more off things start to feel. Because Rachel is not the first woman to vanish from the ranch, and she won't be the last. Rachel did try to warn her.
Berkley | 9780593198230

IS THIS ANYTHING? by Jerry Seinfeld (Entertainment/Humor)
Since his first performance at the legendary New York nightclub “Catch a Rising Star” as a 21-year-old college student in the fall of 1975, Jerry Seinfeld has written his own material and saved everything. “Whenever I came up with a funny bit, whether it happened on a stage, in a conversation, or working it out on my preferred canvas, the big yellow legal pad, I kept it in one of those old school accordion folders,” Seinfeld writes. “So I have everything I thought was worth saving from forty-five years of hacking away at this for all I was worth.” For this book, Seinfeld has selected his favorite material, organized decade by decade. Readers will witness the evolution of one of the great comedians of our time and gain new insights into the thrilling but unforgiving art of writing stand-up comedy.
Simon & Schuster | 9781982112721

JUST HAVEN’T MET YOU YET by Sophie Cousens (Romantic Comedy)
Paperback Original
Lifestyle reporter Laura’s business trip to the Channel Islands isn’t off to a great start. After an embarrassing encounter with the most attractive man she’s ever seen in real life, she arrives at her hotel and realizes she’s grabbed the wrong suitcase from the airport. Her only consolation is its irresistible contents, each of which intrigues her more and more. The owner of this suitcase is clearly Laura’s dream man. What are the odds that she’d find The One on the same island where her parents first met and fell in love, especially as she sets out to write an article about their romance? But as Laura’s mystery man proves difficult to track down --- and as she uncovers family secrets --- she may have to reimagine the life, and love, she always thought she wanted.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780593331521

THE LADIES OF THE SECRET CIRCUS by Constance Sayers (Historical Fantasy/Romance)
Paris, 1925: To enter the Secret Circus is to enter a world of wonder. It's the only world Cecile Cabot knows until she meets a charismatic young painter and embarks on a passionate affair that could cost her everything. Virginia, 2004: Lara Barnes is on top of the world, until her fiancé disappears on their wedding day. When her desperate search for answers unexpectedly leads to her great-grandmother’s journals, Lara is swept into a story of a dark circus and ill-fated love. Soon secrets about Lara’s family history begin to come to light, revealing a curse that has been claiming payment from the women in her family for generations. A curse that might be tied to her fiancé’s mysterious disappearance.
Redhook | 9780316493680

LAZARUS: A Killer Instinct Novel 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.
Vintage Crime/Black Lizard | 9780593310830

THE LIAR’S DICTIONARY by Eley Williams (Fiction/Humor)
In the final year of the 19th century, Peter Winceworth is toiling away at the letter S for Swansby’s multivolume Encyclopaedic Dictionary. But his disaffection with his colleagues compels him to assert some individual purpose and artistic freedom, and he begins inserting unauthorized, fictitious entries. In the present day, Mallory, the publisher’s young intern, starts to uncover these mountweazels in the process of digitization and through them senses their creator’s motivations, hopes and desires. More pressingly, she’s also been contending with a threatening, anonymous caller who wants Swansby’s staff to “burn in hell.” As these two narratives coalesce, Winceworth and Mallory, separated by 100 years, must discover how to negotiate the complexities of life’s often untrustworthy, hoax-strewn and undefinable path.
Anchor | 9780593311868

THE MIRROR MAN by Jane Gilmartin (Science Fiction/Thriller)
The offer is too tempting: be part of a scientific breakthrough, step out of his life for a year, and be paid hugely for it. When ViMed Pharmaceutical asks Jeremiah to be part of an illegal cloning experiment, he sees it as a break from an existence he feels disconnected from. No one will know he’s been replaced --- not the son who ignores him, not his increasingly distant wife --- since a revolutionary drug called Meld can transfer his consciousness and memories to his copy. From a luxurious apartment, he watches the clone navigate his day-to-day life. But soon Jeremiah discovers that examining himself from an outsider’s perspective isn’t what he thought it would be, and he watches in horror as “his” life spirals out of control.
Mira | 9780778331964

NEVER FALL FOR YOUR FIANCÉE by Virginia Heath (Historical Romantic Comedy)
Paperback Original
The last thing Hugh Standish, Earl of Fareham, ever wants is a wife. Unfortunately for him, his mother is determined to find him one. So Hugh invents a fake fiancée to keep her matchmaking ways at bay. But when Hugh learns that she is on a ship bound for England, he realizes his ruse is about to implode. Until he collides with a beautiful woman. Minerva Merriwell has had to struggle to support herself and her two younger sisters ever since their feckless father abandoned them. So when Hugh asks Minerva to pose as his fiancée while his mother is visiting, she knows that the offer is too good to pass up. Once Minerva and her sisters arrive at Hugh's estate, of course nothing goes according to his meticulous plan.
St. Martin's Griffin | 9781250787767

THE OFFICE OF HISTORICAL CORRECTIONS: A Novella and Stories by Danielle Evans (Fiction/Short Stories)
With THE OFFICE OF HISTORICAL CORRECTIONS, Danielle Evans zooms in on particular moments and relationships in her characters’ lives in a way that allows them to speak to larger issues of race, culture and history. She introduces us to Black and multiracial characters who are experiencing the universal confusions of lust and love, and getting walloped by grief --- all while exploring how history haunts us, personally and collectively. Ultimately, she provokes us to think about the truths of American history --- about who gets to tell them, and the cost of setting the record straight.
Riverhead Books | 9780593189450

READY PLAYER TWO by Ernest Cline (Science Fiction/Adventure)
Days after winning OASIS founder James Halliday’s contest, Wade Watts makes a discovery that changes everything. Hidden within Halliday’s vaults, waiting for his heir to find, lies a technological advancement that will once again change the world and make the OASIS a thousand times more wondrous --- and addictive --- than even Wade dreamed possible. With it comes a new riddle, and a new quest --- a last Easter egg from Halliday, hinting at a mysterious prize. And an unexpected, impossibly powerful and dangerous new rival awaits, one who will kill millions to get what he wants. Wade’s life and the future of the OASIS are again at stake, but this time the fate of humanity also hangs in the balance.
Ballantine Books | 9781524761349

THE SECRET NEXT DOOR by Rebecca Taylor (Psychological Thriller/Mystery)
Paperback Original
Alyson Tinsdale is giving her son the childhood she never had: a stable family, a loving home and a great school in a safe neighborhood. Bonnie Sloan is the neighborhood matriarch. With her oldest son headed to Yale, and her youngest starting kindergarten, Bonnie is now pursuing her own long-held political aspirations despite private family struggles. When the open space behind some of the most expensive homes gets slated for development into an amusement facility, the neighborhood becomes deeply divided. The personal pressures and community conflicts ratchet with every passing day, but it's when a 13-year-old is found dead beside the neighborhood lake that simmering tensions boil over into panic.
Sourcebooks Landmark | 9781728206684

SET MY HEART TO FIVE by Simon Stephenson (Science Fiction/Humor)
Set in a 2054 where humans have locked themselves out of the internet and Elon Musk has incinerated the moon, SET MY HEART TO FIVE is the hilarious yet profoundly moving story of one android’s emotional awakening. One day at a screening of a classic movie, Jared notices a strange sensation around his eyes. Bots are not permitted to have feelings, but as the theater lights come on, he discovers he is crying. Soon overwhelmed by powerful emotions, Jared heads west, determined to find others like himself. But a bot with feelings is a dangerous proposition, and Jared’s new life could come to an end before it truly begins. Unless, that is, he can somehow change the world for himself and all of his kind.
Hanover Square Press | 9781335910233

SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE BEAST OF THE STAPLETONS by James Lovegrove (Historical Mystery)
1894. The monstrous Hound of the Baskervilles has been dead for five years, along with its no less monstrous owner, the naturalist Jack Stapleton. Sir Henry Baskerville is living contentedly at Baskerville Hall with his new wife, Audrey, and their three-year-old son, Harry. Until, that is, Audrey's lifeless body is found on the moors, drained of blood. It would appear that some fiendish creature is once more at large on Dartmoor and, like its predecessor, has targeted the unfortunate Baskerville family. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are summoned to Sir Henry's aid, and our heroes must face a marauding beast that is the very stuff of nightmares. It seems that Stapleton may not have perished in the Great Grimpen Mire after all, as Holmes believed, and is hell-bent on revenge.
Titan Books | 9781789094718

A THOUSAND SHIPS by Natalie Haynes (Historical Fiction)
In the middle of the night, a woman wakes to find her beloved city engulfed in flames. Ten seemingly endless years of conflict between the Greeks and the Trojans are over. Troy has fallen. From the Trojan women whose fates now lie in the hands of the Greeks, to the Amazon princess who fought Achilles on their behalf, to Penelope awaiting the return of Odysseus, to the three goddesses whose feud started it all, these are the stories of the women whose lives, loves and rivalries were forever altered by this long and tragic war.
Harper Perennial | 9780063065406

THREE WOMEN DISAPPEAR by James Patterson and Shan Serafin (Thriller)
Accountant Anthony Costello has a talent for manipulating both numbers and people, turning losses into profits, enemies into allies --- and vice versa. When Costello is found murdered in his own home, three suspects had motive. All three had access to his home. And all three women are missing. Are they in the wind --- or in the grave? Eyes are on Detective Sean Walsh, whose personal connection to the case is stronger than leads to solve it. Neither the powerful bankroll behind Costello nor Walsh's vengeful superior officer can budge the investigation, yet as Walsh continues to dig, he uncovers even more reasons the women have to stay hidden --- from the law, and from each other.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538715451

UNCOMFORTABLE CONVERSATIONS WITH A BLACK MAN by Emmanuel Acho (Social Issues/Ethnicity & Race)
“You cannot fix a problem you do not know you have.” So begins Emmanuel Acho in his essential guide to the truths Americans need to know to address the systemic racism that has recently electrified protests in all 50 states. In UNCOMFORTABLE CONVERSATIONS WITH A BLACK MAN, Acho takes on all the questions, large and small, insensitive and taboo, many white Americans are afraid to ask --- yet which all Americans need the answers to, now more than ever. With the same open-hearted generosity that has made his video series a phenomenon, Acho explains the vital core of such fraught concepts as white privilege, cultural appropriation and “reverse racism.” In his own words, he provides a space of compassion and understanding in a discussion that can lack both.
Flatiron Books: An Oprah Book | 9781250800473

UNRESTRICTED ACCESS: New and Classic Short Fiction by James Rollins (Thriller/Short Stories)
In his first-ever anthology, James Rollins brings together 12 stories that dig a little deeper into his creative stomping grounds and open vistas into new landscapes and characters. At the center of the book is the never-before-published novella "Sun Dogs.” While trekking through the Sonora desert, a gunshot thrusts Tucker and Kane into an adventure that challenges their considerable skills. The discovery of secrets known only to the native tribes of Arizona threatens to unleash an ancient force that could irreparably alter the future. It also forces Tucker to make a terrible choice that will shatter his relationship with his soul-bonded companion, Kane. As these partners learn, nothing remains buried forever and old debts must be paid, no matter the cost.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780062686817

On Sale the Week of November 15th in Hardcover

November 16th

AMERICAN COMICS: A History by Jeremy Dauber (Popular Culture/History)
From our multiplexes, where Marvel and DC movies reign supreme, to our television screens, where comics-based shows like "The Walking Dead" have become among the most popular in cable history, to convention halls and bestseller lists, comics shape American culture, in ways high and low, superficial and deeply profound. In AMERICAN COMICS, Columbia professor Jeremy Dauber takes readers through their incredible but little-known history. His story shows not only how comics have changed over the decades but how American politics and culture have changed them. Throughout, he describes the origins of beloved comics, champions neglected masterpieces, and argues that we can understand how America sees itself through whose stories comics tell.
W. W. Norton & Company | 9780393635607

AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 BOOKS by David Damrosch (Literary Criticism/Travel)
Inspired by Jules Verne’s hero, Phileas Fogg, David Damrosch --- chair of Harvard University’s department of comparative literature and founder of Harvard’s Institute for World Literature --- set out to counter a pandemic’s restrictions on travel by exploring 80 exceptional books from around the globe. Following a literary itinerary from London to Venice, Tehran and points beyond, and via authors from Woolf and Dante to Nobel Prize winners Orhan Pamuk, Wole Soyinka, Mo Yan and Olga Tokarczuk, Damrosch explores how these works have shaped our idea of the world, and the ways in which the world bleeds into literature.
Penguin Press | 9780593299883

BROTHERS IN ARMS: One Legendary Tank Regiment's Bloody War from D-Day to VE-Day by James Holland (History)
In the annals of World War II, certain groups of soldiers stand out, and among the most notable were the Sherwood Rangers. Originally a cavalry unit in the last days of horses in combat, whose officers were landed gentry leading men who largely worked for them, they were switched to the “mechanized cavalry” of tanks in 1942. Winning acclaim in the North African campaign, the Sherwood Rangers then spearheaded one of the D-Day landings in Normandy on June 6, 1944, led the way across France, were the first British troops to cross into Germany, and contributed mightily to Germany’s surrender in May 1945. Acclaimed WWII historian James Holland memorably profiles an extraordinary group of citizen soldiers constantly in harm’s way.
Atlantic Monthly Press | 9780802159083

CHOUETTE by Claire Oshetsky (Fiction)
Tiny is pregnant. Her husband is delighted. “You think this baby is going to be like you, but it’s not like you at all,” she warns him. “This baby is an owl-baby.” When Chouette is born small and broken-winged, Tiny works around the clock to meet her daughter’s needs. Left on her own to care for a child who seems more predatory bird than baby, Tiny vows to raise Chouette to be her authentic self. Even in those times when Chouette’s behaviors grow violent and strange, Tiny’s loving commitment to her daughter is unwavering. When she discovers that her husband is on an obsessive and increasingly dangerous quest to find a “cure” for their daughter, Tiny must decide if Chouette should be raised to fit in or to be herself --- and learn what it truly means to be a mother.
Ecco | 9780063066670

CLIVE CUSSLER'S THE DEVIL'S SEA: A Dirk Pitt Novel by Dirk Cussler (Thriller/Adventure)
In 1959 Tibet, a Buddhist artifact of immense importance was seemingly lost to history in the turmoil of the Communist takeover. But when National Underwater and Marine Agency Director Dirk Pitt discovers a forgotten plane crash in the Philippine Sea over 60 years later, new clues emerge to its hidden existence. But Pitt and his compatriot, Al Giordino, have larger worries when they are ordered to recover a failed hypersonic missile from Luzon Strait. Only someone else is after it, too: a rogue Chinese military team that makes their own earth-shattering discovery, hijacking a ship capable of stirring the waters of the deep into a veritable Devil’s Sea.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780593419649

THE DEEPER THE ROOTS: A Memoir of Hope and Home by Michael Tubbs (Memoir)
“Don’t tell nobody our business,” Michael Tubbs’ mother often told him growing up. For Michael, that meant a lot of things: Don’t tell anyone about the day-to-day struggle of being Black and broke in Stockton, CA. Don’t tell anyone the pain of having a father incarcerated for 25 years to life. Don’t tell anyone about living two lives --- the brainy bookworm and the kid with the newest Jordans. But as he went on to a scholarship at Stanford and an internship in the Obama White House, he began to realize the power of his experience. By the time he returned to Stockton to become, in 2016 at age 26, its first Black mayor and the youngest-ever mayor of a major American city, he knew his story meant something.
Flatiron Books: An Oprah Book | 9781250173447

DOLPHIN JUNCTION: Stories by Mick Herron (Crime Fiction/Short Stories)
Mick Herron, author of the Slough House novels, is on his way to becoming one of the most critically acclaimed and culturally important crime fiction writers of the 21st century. He has been awarded both the Gold and Steel Daggers by the Crime Writers’ Association and has been called “the John le Carré of the future” (BBC). Now, for the first time, his short fiction has been collected into one volume. Five stand-alone nerve-rackingly thrilling crime fiction stories are complemented by four mystery stories featuring the Oxford wife-and-husband detective team of shrewd Zoë Boehm and hapless Joe Silvermann. The collection also includes a peek into the past of Jackson Lamb, the irascible top agent at Slough House.
Soho Crime | 9781641293020

EVEN GREATER MISTAKES: Stories by Charlie Jane Anders (Science Fiction/Short Stories)
The woman who can see all possible futures is dating the man who can see the one and only foreordained future. A wildly popular slapstick filmmaker is drawn, against his better judgment, into working with a fascist militia, against a background of social collapse. Two friends must embark on an Epic Quest To Capture The Weapon That Threatens The Galaxy, or else they’ll never achieve their dream of opening a restaurant. The stories in this collection, by their very outrageousness, achieve a heightened realism unlike any other.
Tor Books | 9781250766502

THE JOY AND LIGHT BUS COMPANY: No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (22) by Alexander McCall Smith (Mystery)
Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni attends a course hosted by the local chamber of commerce entitled “Where Is Your Business Going?” But rather than feeling energized, he comes back in low spirits, unsure how to grow the already venerable and successful Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors. Then an old friend from school approaches him about a new business venture that could be just the ticket. When it turns out he will need to mortgage his property in order to pursue this endeavor, Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi wonder what this will mean for his current business --- as well as their own. Meanwhile, when a concerned son learns that his aging father’s nurse now stands to inherit the family home, he begins to doubt her intentions and takes his case to Botswana’s premier detective agency.
Pantheon | 9780593315736

THE LAST SHADOW by Orson Scott Card (Science Fiction)
THE LAST SHADOW is the long-awaited conclusion to both the original Ender series and the Ender's Shadow series, as the children of Ender and Bean solve the great problem of the Ender Universe --- the deadly virus they call the descolada, which is incurable and will kill all of humanity if it is allowed to escape from Lusitania.
Tor Books | 9780765304957

THE LEFT-HANDED TWIN: A Jane Whitefield Novel by Thomas Perry (Thriller)
Jane Whitefield helps people disappear. Fearing for their lives, fleeing dangerous situations, her clients come to her when they need to vanish completely. And when people are desperate enough to need her services, they come to the old house in rural western New York where Jane was raised to begin their escape. It’s there that, one spring night, Jane finds a young woman fresh from LA. After she cheated on her boyfriend, he dragged her to the home of the offending man and made her watch as he killed him. She testified against the boyfriend, but a bribed jury acquitted him, and now he’s free and trying to find and kill her. Jane agrees to help, but the boyfriend has some new friends: members of a Russian organized crime brotherhood.
Mysterious Press | 9781613162590

A LITTLE HOPE by Ethan Joella (Fiction)
In the small city of Wharton, Connecticut, lives are beginning to unravel. A husband betrays his wife. A son struggles with addiction. A widow misses her late spouse. At the heart of these interlinking stories is one couple: Freddie and Greg Tyler. Greg has just been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a brutal form of cancer. He intends to handle this the way he has faced everything else: through grit and determination. But can Greg successfully overcome his illness? How will Freddie and their daughter cope if he doesn’t? How do the other residents of Wharton learn to live with loss and find happiness again?
Scribner | 9781982171193

LOVE IN THE BIG CITY written by Sang Young Park, translated by Anton Hur (Fiction)
Young is a cynical yet fun-loving Korean student who pinballs from home to class to the beds of recent Tinder matches. He and Jaehee, his female best friend and roommate, frequent nearby bars where they push away their anxieties about their love lives, families and money with rounds of soju and ice-cold Marlboro Reds that they keep in their freezer. Yet over time, even Jaehee leaves Young to settle down, leaving him alone to care for his ailing mother and to find companionship in his relationships with a series of men, including one whose handsomeness is matched by his coldness, and another who might end up being the great love of his life.
Grove Press | 9780802158789

MERCY: An Atlee Pine Thriller by David Baldacci (Thriller)
For her entire life, FBI agent Atlee Pine has been searching for her twin sister, Mercy, who was abducted at the age of six and never seen again. Mercy’s disappearance left behind a damaged family that later shattered beyond repair when Atlee’s parents inexplicably abandoned her. Now, after a perilous investigation that nearly proved fatal, Atlee has finally discovered not only the reason behind her parents’ abandonment and Mercy’s kidnapping, but also the most promising breakthrough yet: proof that Mercy survived her abduction and then escaped her captors many years ago. Though Atlee is tantalizingly close to her family at last, the final leg of her long road to Mercy will be the most treacherous yet.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538719725

A NET FOR SMALL FISHES by Lucy Jago (Historical Fiction)
When Frances Howard, the beautiful but unhappy wife of the Earl of Essex, meets the talented Anne Turner, the two strike up an unlikely yet powerful friendship. Frances makes Anne her confidante, sweeping her into a glamorous and extravagant world, riven with bitter rivalry. As the women grow closer, each hopes to change her circumstances. Frances is trapped in a miserable marriage while loving another, and newly widowed Anne struggles to keep herself and her six children alive as she waits for a promised proposal. A desperate plan to change their fortunes is hatched. But navigating the Jacobean court is a dangerous game, and one misstep could cost them everything.
Flatiron Books | 9781250261953

THE PLEDGE by Kathleen Kent (Mystery/Thriller)
Detective Betty Rhyzyk has settled into a happy marriage and has been promoted to Sergeant in the Dallas Police Department. But when a hostage stand-off puts her on the phone with legendary cartel leader The Knife, things take a turn. The Knife has heard that Evangeline Roy is making a play for the streets of Dallas. The matriarch of a ruthless cult, Evangeline also happens to hold a personal vendetta against Betty. Betty has two weeks to catch her. Or else. With Betty’s young charge Mary Grace already missing --- having left her seven-month-old baby behind in Betty’s care --- and the drug dealers of Dallas donning strange red wigs and delivering cryptic messages, Betty is in a race for answers.
Mulholland Books | 9780316280457

RAISE A FIST, TAKE A KNEE: Race and the Illusion of Progress in Modern Sports by John Feinstein (Sports/Sociology)
Commentators, coaches and fans alike have long touted the diverse rosters of leagues like the NFL and MLB as sterling examples of a post-racial America. Yet decades after Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists in a display of Black power and pride, and years after Colin Kaepernick shocked the world by kneeling for the national anthem, the role Black athletes and coaches are expected to perform --- both on and off the field --- still can be determined as much by stereotype and old-fashion ideology as ability and performance. John Feinstein crisscrossed the country to secure personal interviews with quarterbacks, coaches and more, revealing the stories none of us have heard (but all of us should know).
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316540933

TERMINATION SHOCK by Neal Stephenson (Science Fiction/Technothriller)
One man --- visionary billionaire restaurant chain magnate T. R. Schmidt, Ph.D. --- has a Big Idea for reversing global warming, a master plan perhaps best described as “elemental.” But will it work? And just as important, what are the consequences for the planet and all of humanity should it be applied? Ranging from the Texas heartland to the Dutch royal palace in the Hague, from the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas to the sunbaked Chihuahuan Desert, TERMINATION SHOCK brings together a disparate group of characters from different cultures and continents who grapple with the real-life repercussions of global warming. Ultimately, it asks the question: Might the cure be worse than the disease?
William Morrow | 9780063028050

THESE SILENT WOODS by Kimi Cunningham Grant (Thriller)
For eight years, Cooper and his young daughter, Finch, have lived in isolation in a remote cabin in the northern Appalachian woods. Finch has been raised on the books filling the cabin’s shelves and the beautiful but brutal code of life in the wilderness. But she’s starting to push back against the sheltered life Cooper has created for her --- and he’s still haunted by the painful truth of what it took to get them there. The only people who know they exist are a mysterious local hermit named Scotland, and Cooper's old friend, Jake, who visits each winter to bring them food and supplies. But this year, Jake doesn't show up, setting off an irreversible chain of events that reveals just how precarious their situation really is.
Minotaur Books | 9781250793393

TOM CLANCY CHAIN OF COMMAND: A Jack Ryan Novel by Marc Cameron (Thriller/Adventure)
A shadowy billionaire uses his fortune to further his corrupt ambitions. Along the way, he’s toppled democratically elected governments and exacerbated divisions within stable nations. Now, he’s ready to implement his most ambitious plan of all. There’s only one force standing in his way --- President Jack Ryan. How do you compel a man like Jack Ryan to bend? It will take more than political headwinds or media disfavor to cause him to turn from his duty to the American people, but every man has an Achilles heel. Jack Ryan’s is his family. The answer is as simple as it is shocking. The billionaire has assembled an international team of the most ruthless mercenaries alive. Their mission --- kidnap the First Lady.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780593188163

WAR WOMEN: A Sueño and Bascom Investigation Set in South Korea by Martin Limón (Mystery)
South Korea, 1970s: Sergeant First Class Cecil B. Harvey has long been a friend (willing or unwilling) to Sergeants George Sueño and Ernie Bascom. So when he goes missing with a top-secret document that even a glance at could get an officer court-martialed, Sueño and Bascom take it upon themselves to find him. Meanwhile, Overseas Observer reporter Katie Byrd Worthington is back to make life difficult for top Army brass. When she lands in a Korean jail cell, Sueño and Bascom are sent to get her out --- and negotiate against the publication of an incriminating story about the mistreatment of women in the military that could land important officials in hot water. But what they learn will make it hard for them to stay silent.
Soho Crime | 9781641292795

On Sale the Week of November 15th in Paperback

November 16th

ALL THE FEELS by Olivia Dade (Romantic Comedy)
Paperback Original
Alexander Woodroe has it all, including a starring role as Cupid on TV’s biggest show, “Gods of the Gates.” But the showrunners have wrecked his character, he's dogged by old demons, and his post-show future remains uncertain. When all that reckless emotion explodes into a bar fight, former ER therapist Lauren Clegg is hired to keep him in line. However, the more time they spend together, the harder it gets to keep her professional remove and her heart intact, especially when she discovers the reasons behind his recklessness. When another scandal lands Alex in major hot water and costs Lauren her job, she’ll have to choose between protecting him and offering him what he really wants --- her.
Avon | 9780063005587

THE BUTCHERS’ BLESSING by Ruth Gilligan (Literary Thriller)
Every year, Úna prepares for her father to leave her. He will wave goodbye early one morning, then disappear with seven other men to traverse the Irish countryside. Together, these men form the Butchers, a group that roams from farm to farm, enacting ancient methods of cattle slaughter. THE BUTCHERS' BLESSING moves between the events of 1996 and the present, offering a simmering glimpse into the modern tensions that surround these eight fabled men.
Tin House Books | 9781951142742

THE CARTOGRAPHER'S SECRET by Tea Cooper (Historical Mystery)
Paperback Original
1880: Evie Ludgrove grew up in the shadow of her father’s obsession with the great Australian explorer Dr. Ludwig Leichhardt. So when an advertisement appears offering a thousand-pound reward for proof of where Leichhardt met his fate, Evie is determined to unravel the secret. But when Evie sets out to prove her theory, she vanishes without a trace. 1911: Letitia Rawlings arrives at the family estate to inform her great-aunt Olivia of a loss in their family. But Letitia is also escaping her own problems. So when she discovers a beautifully illustrated map that might hold a clue to the fate of her missing aunt, Evie Ludgrove, she sets out to discover the truth. However, all is not as it seems, and Letitia begins to realize that solving the mystery of her family’s past could offer as much peril as redemption.
Harper Muse | 9780785267317

THE CHRISTMAS BOOKSHOP by Jenny Colgan (Fiction)
Paperback Original
Laid off from her department store job, Carmen has perilously little cash and few options. The prospect of spending Christmas with her perfect sister Sofia does not appeal. Frankly, Sofia doesn’t exactly want her prickly sister Carmen there either. But Sofia has yet another baby on the way, a mother desperate to see her daughters get along, and a client who needs help revitalizing his shabby old bookshop. So Carmen moves in and takes the job. Thrown rather suddenly into the inner workings of Mr. McCredie’s ancient bookshop on the picturesque streets of historic Edinburgh, Carmen is intrigued despite herself. The store is dusty and disorganized but undeniably charming. Can she breathe some new life into it in time for Christmas shopping?
William Morrow Paperbacks ‎| 9780063141674

THE EVERY by Dave Eggers (Dystopian Thriller)
Paperback Original
Delaney Wells is an unlikely new hire at the Every. A former forest ranger and unwavering tech skeptic, she charms her way into an entry-level job with one goal in mind: to take down the company from within. With her compatriot, the not-at-all-ambitious Wes Makazian, they look for the Every's weaknesses, hoping to free humanity from all-encompassing surveillance and the emoji-driven infantilization of the species. But does anyone want what Delaney is fighting to save? Does humanity truly want to be free?
Vintage | 9780593315347

A GALWAY EPIPHANY: A Jack Taylor Novel by Ken Bruen (Mystery/Thriller)
Jack Taylor has finally escaped the despair of his violent life in Galway in favor of a quiet retirement in the country with his friend Keefer, a former Rolling Stones roadie, and a falcon named Maeve. But on a day trip back into the city to sort out his affairs, Jack is hit by a truck in front of Galway's Famine Memorial, left in a coma but mysteriously without a scratch on him. When he awakens weeks later, he finds Ireland in a frenzy over the so-called "Miracle of Galway." People have become convinced that the two children spotted tending to him are saintly, and the site of the accident sacred. The Catholic Church isn't so sure, and Jack is commissioned to help find the children to verify the miracle or expose the stunt. But Jack isn't the only one looking for these children.
Mysterious Press | 9780802157041

THE LUCKIEST MAN: Life with John McCain by Mark Salter (Biography)
More so than almost anyone outside of John McCain’s immediate family, Mark Salter had unparalleled access to and served to influence the late Senator’s thoughts and actions, cowriting seven books with him and acting as a valued confidant. Now, in THE LUCKIEST MAN, Salter draws on the storied facets of McCain’s early biography as well as the later-in-life political philosophy for which the nation knew and loved him, delivering an intimate and comprehensive account of McCain’s life and philosophy. Salter covers all the major events of McCain’s life --- his peripatetic childhood, his naval service --- but also introduces aspects of the man that the public rarely saw and hardly knew.
Simon & Schuster | 9781982120948

NIGHTS WHEN NOTHING HAPPENED by Simon Han (Fiction)
From the outside, the Chengs seem like so-called model immigrants. Once Patty landed a tech job near Dallas, she and Liang grew secure enough to have a second child, and to send for their first from his grandparents back in China. Isn’t this what they sacrificed so much for? But then little Annabel begins to sleepwalk at night, putting into motion a string of misunderstandings that not only threaten to set their community against them but force to the surface the secrets that have made them fear one another. How can a man make peace with the terrors of his past? How can a child regain trust in unconditional love? How can a family stop burying its history and forge a way through it, to a more honest intimacy?
Riverhead Books | 9780593086063

QUEEN OF BONES: A Havana Mystery by Teresa Dovalpage (Mystery)
Juan, a Cuban construction worker who has settled in Albuquerque, returns to Havana for the first time since fleeing Cuba by raft 20 years ago. He is traveling with his American wife, Sharon, and hopes to reconnect with Victor, his best friend from college --- and, unbeknownst to Sharon, he also hopes to discover what has become of two ex-girlfriends, Elsa and Rosita. Juan is surprised to learn that Victor has become Victoria and runs a popular drag show. Elsa has married a wealthy foreigner, and Rosita, still single, works at the Havana cemetery. When one of these women turns up dead, it will cost Padrino, a Santería priest and former detective on the Havana police force, more than he expects to untangle the group’s lies and hunt down the killer.
Soho Crime | 9781641292092

SICILY '43: The First Assault on Fortress Europe by James Holland (History)
On July 10, 1943, the largest amphibious invasion ever mounted took place, larger even than the Normandy invasion 11 months later: 160,000 American, British and Canadian troops came ashore or were parachuted onto Sicily, signaling the start of the campaign to defeat Nazi Germany on European soil. Operation HUSKY, as it was known, was enormously complex, involving dramatic battles on land, in the air and at sea. Yet, despite its paramount importance to ultimate Allied victory, very little has been written about the 38-day Battle for Sicily. James Holland’s SICILY ’43 offers a vital new perspective on a major turning point in World War II and a chronicle of a multi-pronged campaign in a uniquely diverse and contained geographical location.
Grove Press | 9780802157195

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 | 9780593098318

THE WRITER’S LIBRARY: The Authors You Love on the Books That Changed Their Lives by Nancy Pearl and Jeff Schwager (Literary Criticism)
Before Jennifer Egan, Louise Erdrich, Luis Alberto Urrea and Jonathan Lethem became revered authors, they were readers. In this ebullient book, America’s favorite librarian, Nancy Pearl, and noted playwright Jeff Schwager interview a diverse range of America's most notable and influential writers about the books that shaped them and inspired them to leave their own literary mark. Illustrated with beautiful line drawings, THE WRITER’S LIBRARY is a revelatory exploration of the studies, libraries and bookstores of today’s favorite authors --- the creative artists whose imagination and sublime talent make America's literary scene the wonderful, dynamic world it is.
HarperOne | 9780062968494

Please visit the other websites in TheBookReportNetwork.com: ReadingGroupGuides.com and AuthorsOnTheWeb.com.

And be sure to connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.