November 19, 2024

November 19, 2024

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In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of November 18th and November 25th 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 ReadingGroupGuides.com's 13 ½ Annual Book Group Speed Dating event, which is now available for viewing. Earlier this month, representatives from nine publishers presented more than 25 titles perfect for book groups that will be published between now and next May.

This Week's Bonus News:
ReadingGroupGuides.com’s 13 ½ Annual Book Group Speed Dating Event: Great Books for Book Groups

Upcoming Virtual Book and Author Events

Here are four upcoming virtual book and author events that you may be interested in attending. Click on the links for more info and to register.

Wednesday, November 20th at 3pm ET: Barnes & Noble: Join Barnes & Noble as they welcome #1 New York Times bestselling author David Baldacci for a live virtual discussion of TO DIE FOR as part of their B&N Midday Mystery Virtual Event series. David will be in conversation with the #1 New York Times bestselling author of EXTINCTION, Douglas Preston.

Wednesday, November 20th at 7pm ET: “Friends & Fiction”: Join “Friends & Fiction” for a conversation with Michael Connelly about his new thriller, THE WAITING, which is the F&F Pick of the Month. LAPD Detective Renée Ballard tracks a serial rapist whose trail has gone cold and enlists a new volunteer to the Open-Unsolved Unit: Patrol Officer Maddie Bosch, Harry’s daughter.

Thursday, November 21st at 3pm ET: Barnes & Noble: Join Barnes & Noble as they welcome debut author Emma C. Wells for a live virtual discussion of THIS GIRL'S A KILLER as part of their B&N Midday Mystery Virtual Event series. Emma will be in conversation with the bestselling author of THE HEIRESS, Rachel Hawkins.

Monday, November 25th at 8pm ET: The Poisoned Pen Bookstore: Mike Lupica will talk about his new mystery, ROBERT B. PARKER'S HOT PROPERTY, the latest installment in Robert B. Parker’s beloved series, which finds Spenser investigating a case that hits dangerously close to home.

On Sale the Week of November 18th in Hardcover

November 19th

CHER: The Memoir, Part One by Cher (Memoir)
After more than 70 years of fighting to live her life on her own terms, Cher finally reveals her true story in intimate detail, in a two-part memoir. As a dyslexic child who dreamed of becoming famous, Cher was raised in often-chaotic circumstances, surrounded by singers, actors and a mother who inspired her in spite of their difficult relationship. With her trademark honesty and humor, CHER traces how this diamond in the rough succeeded with no plan and little confidence to become the trailblazing superstar the world has been unable to ignore for more than half a century. It follows her extraordinary beginnings through childhood to meeting and marrying Sonny Bono --- and reveals the highly complicated relationship that made them world-famous but eventually drove them apart.
Dey Street Books | 9780062863102

CITIZEN: My Life After the White House by Bill Clinton (Memoir)
On January 20, 2001, after nearly 30 years in politics --- eight of them as president of the United States --- Bill Clinton was suddenly a private citizen. Only 54 years old, he wanted to make meaningful use of his skills, his relationships with world leaders, and all he’d learned in a lifetime of politics. Just days after leaving the White House, the call came to aid victims of a devastating earthquake in India, and Clinton hit the ground running. Over the next two decades, he would create an enduring legacy of public service and advocacy work --- from Indonesia to Louisiana, Northern Ireland to South Africa --- and in the process reimagine philanthropy and redefine the impact a former president could have on the world. CITIZEN is Clinton’s front-row, first-person chronicle of his post-presidential years and the most significant events of the 21st century.
Knopf | 9780525521440

THE CITY AND ITS UNCERTAIN WALLS written by Haruki Murakami, translated by Philip Gabriel (Fiction/Magical Realism)
We begin with a nameless young couple: a boy and a girl, teenagers in love. One day, she disappears…and her absence haunts him for the rest of his life. Thus begins a search for this lost love that takes the man into middle age and on a journey between the real world and another world --- where unicorns roam, a Gatekeeper determines who can enter and who must remain behind, and shadows become untethered from their selves. The man leaves his life in Tokyo behind and ventures to a small mountain town, where he becomes the head librarian, only to learn the mysterious circumstances surrounding the gentleman who had the job before him. As the seasons pass and the man grows more uncertain about the porous boundaries between these two worlds, he meets a strange young boy who helps him to see what he’s been missing all along.
Knopf | 9780593801970

FROM UNDER THE TRUCK: A Memoir by Josh Brolin (Memoir)
Weaving a latticework of different strands, moving back and forth through time, Josh Brolin captures a life marked by curiosity, pain, devotion, kindness and humor. He recounts an unconventional childhood far from Hollywood. Raised on a ranch in Paso Robles, California, he was surrounded as a child by the wolves, cougars and other wild animals gathered by his fearless and explosive mother, Jane Agee Brolin. Her tragic, early death haunts this book, and the force of her unforgettable personality is felt throughout. Brolin also brings to life his career in the film industry and the professional and personal ups and downs in between and since. With unflinching honesty but also great humor, he shares insights into relationships, addiction, love and fatherhood, while letting the white space in between words speak for itself.
Harper | 9780063382183

THE MIRROR: The Lost Bride Trilogy, Book 2 by Nora Roberts
(Paranormal Romance/Fantasy)
When Sonya MacTavish inherits the huge Victorian mansion on the coast of Maine, she has no idea that the house is haunted. The footsteps she hears at night, the doors slamming and the music playing are not figments of her imagination. In her dreams she sees glimpses of the past. In the present she finds portraits of brides. And when she has visions of an antique mirror, she is drawn to it, sensing it holds dark family secrets. Then one night the mirror appears, and Sonya glides through this looking glass, into the past --- and sees a bride murdered on her wedding day, the circle of gold torn from her finger. It is a scene that will play out again and again --- a centuries-old curse that must be broken, and a puzzle she must solve if there is any hope of breaking the curse.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250288776

NOW OR NEVER: A Stephanie Plum Novel by Janet Evanovich (Mystery)
She said yes to Morelli. She said yes to Ranger. Now Stephanie Plum has two fiancés and no idea what to do about it. But the way things are going, she might not live long enough to marry anyone. While Stephanie stalls for time, she buries herself in her work as a bounty hunter, tracking down an unusually varied assortment of fugitives from justice. With timely assists from her stalwart supporters Lula, Connie and Grandma Mazur, Stephanie uses every trick in the book to reel in these men. But only she can decide what to do about the two men she actually loves. She can’t hold Ranger and Morelli at bay for long, and she’s keeping a secret from them that is the biggest bombshell of all. Now or never, she has to make the decision of a lifetime.
Atria Books | 9781668003138

THE SERVICEBERRY: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World written by Robin Wall Kimmerer, illustrated by John Burgoyne (Nature)
As Indigenous scientist and author of BRAIDING SWEETGRASS Robin Wall Kimmerer harvests serviceberries alongside the birds, she considers the ethic of reciprocity that lies at the heart of the gift economy. How, she asks, can we learn from Indigenous wisdom and the plant world to reimagine what we value most? Our economy is rooted in scarcity, competition and the hoarding of resources, and we have surrendered our values to a system that actively harms what we love. Meanwhile, the serviceberry’s relationship with the natural world is an embodiment of reciprocity, interconnectedness and gratitude. The tree distributes its wealth --- its abundance of sweet, juicy berries --- to meet the needs of its natural community. And this distribution insures its own survival.
Scribner | 9781668072240

TIME OF THE CHILD by Niall Williams (Historical Fiction)
Doctor Jack Troy was born and raised in Faha, but his responsibilities for the sick and his care for the dying mean that he has always been set apart from the town. His eldest daughter, Ronnie, has grown up in her father's shadow and remains there, having missed one chance at love --- and passed up another offer of marriage from an unsuitable man. But in the Advent season of 1962, as the town readies itself for Christmas, Ronnie and Doctor Troy's lives are turned upside down when a baby is left in their care. As the winter passes, father and daughter's lives, the understanding of their family and their role in their community are changed forever.
Bloomsbury Publishing | 9781639734207

TOOTH AND CLAW: A Longmire Story by Craig Johnson (Mystery)
TOOTH AND CLAW follows Walt Longmire and Henry Standing Bear up to Alaska as they look for work after they both returned from serving in Vietnam. While working for an oil company in the bitter cold of winter, they soon encounter a ferocious polar bear who seems hell-bent on their destruction. But it’s not too long until they realize the danger does not lurk outside in the frozen Alaskan tundra, but with their co-workers, who are after priceless treasure and will stop at nothing to get it.
Viking | 9780593834169

TRIAL BY FIRE by Danielle Steel (Fiction)
Dahlia de Beaumont has been the sole owner and CEO of the venerable family perfume business based in Paris since her early 20s, following the death of her parents. For 25 years, after losing her young skier husband in an avalanche, her life has centered on running Lambert Perfumes and being a devoted single mother to her four now-adult children. Now 56, she has an “arrangement” with a married French man but has been questioning that relationship. Dahlia comes to San Francisco on a routine business trip to check on her stores in the States. But shortly after her arrival, brush fires ignite in Napa Valley. Dahlia is moved to help, but doing so will bring unforeseen consequences. Forced to remain in San Francisco in the aftermath, she will make unexpected connections while also fighting to protect all she has worked for.
Delacorte Press | 9780593498583

THE TRUNK by Kim Ryeo-ryeong (Fiction)
Noh Inji is almost 30 years old. With five wedding rings and counting, she's never once been in love. When Inji first accepted a job at Wedding & Life, a popular matchmaking service, she never imagined her role would be with NM, their secret marriage division that rents out “husbands” and “wives” to their wealthiest clientele. Just like a real marriage, Inji's assignments involve a wedding, some sex and a bit of housework, all tailored exactly to the client’s desires and length of time before they go their separate ways. But then one of Inji's old husbands, a mysterious high-profile music producer, requests her back for another year. Over the course of their marriage, the secrets of Inji’s past begin to unravel --- as well as the dark, sinister underbelly of NM’s management team, who will stop at nothing to preserve their reputation…and their clients.
Hanover Square Press | 9781335015013

WATER, WATER: Poems by Billy Collins (Poetry)
In this collection of 60 new poems, Billy Collins writes about the beauties and ironies of everyday experience. A poem is best, he feels, when it begins in clarity but ends with a whiff of mystery. In WATER, WATER, Collins combines his vigilant attention and respect for the peripheral to create moments of delight. Common and uncommon events are captured here with equal fascination, be it a cat leaning to drink from a swimming pool, a nurse calling a name in a waiting room, or an astronaut reciting Emily Dickinson from outer space. With his trademark lyrical informality, Collins asks us to slow down and glimpse the elevated in the ordinary, the odd in the familiar.
Random House | 9780593731024

WE THREE QUEENS: A Royal Spyness Mystery by Rhys Bowen (Historical Mystery)
It's late 1936, and King Edward is in turmoil, having fallen in love with the scandalously divorced and even more scandalously American Wallis Simpson. He wants to marry her but knows that doing so will jeopardize his crown. Edward confides in his dear friend Darcy, Georgie's husband, and the couple agree to hide Wallis in their home while Edward figures out what to do. But unbeknownst to Georgie and Darcy, Sir Hubert, the owner of the estate, has given a film crew permission to shoot a motion picture about Henry the Eighth and Anne Boleyn on the grounds. Trying to keep Mrs. Simpson hidden while raising a newborn baby seems like it couldn't be any more stressful for the Rannochs, until one of the stars of the film is found murdered on set. Georgie must solve the murder for king and country before scandal threatens to envelop them all.
Berkley | 9780593641361

On Sale the Week of November 18th in Paperback

November 19th

ALL THE OTHER ME by Jody Holford (Fiction)
Paperback Original
Isabelle Duprees is one of Forbes's most powerful self-made women and has built a reputation as one of New York's savviest investors and sharpest advisors. With a penthouse overlooking Central Park, an open invitation to any event she wishes to attend, and a weekly date with a man who won't ask too much of her, Isabelle's carefully curated life is exactly what she wants. Until it isn't. After her estranged sister shows up, circumstances --- and too much champagne --- have Isabelle Googling herself, only to discover three other women her age, with the same name, birthdate and familiar features. Too curious not to follow this rabbit hole, Isabelle and her sister embark on a road trip that leads them back to their hometown --- and possibly each other. On the way, they seek out all the other Isabelles and find each one of them living a life that could have been hers if she'd made different choices.
Blackstone Publishing | 9798212638197

BAUMGARTNER by Paul Auster (Fiction)
The life of Sy Baumgartner --- phenomenologist, noted author and soon-to-be retired philosophy professor --- had been defined by his deep, abiding love for his wife, Anna, who was killed in a swimming accident nine years earlier. Now 71, Baumgartner continues to struggle to live in her absence as the novel sinuously unfolds into spirals of memory and reminiscence, delineated in episodes spanning from 1968, when Sy and Anna meet as broke students working and writing in New York, through their passionate relationship over the next 40 years, and back to Baumgartner’s youth in Newark and his Polish-born father’s life as a dress-shop owner and failed revolutionary.
‎Grove Press | 9780802163554

CHRISTMAS WITH THE QUEEN by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb (Historical Fiction)
Paperback Original
While the young Queen Elizabeth II finds her feet as the new monarch, she also must find the right words to continue the tradition of her late father’s Christmas Day radio broadcast. As preparations begin for the royal Christmas at Sandringham House in Norfolk, old friends Jack Devereux and Olive Carter are unexpectedly reunited by the occasion. Olive, a single mother and aspiring reporter at the BBC, leaps at the opportunity to cover the holiday celebration. Jack, a recently widowed chef, reluctantly takes up a new role in the royal kitchens at Sandringham. A chance encounter with an old friend helps to reignite the spark of his passion and ambition. As Jack and Olive’s paths continue to cross over the following five Christmases, they grow ever closer. Yet Olive carries the burden of a heavy secret that threatens to destroy everything.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780063276215

DAUGHTER OF ASHES: A Teresa Battaglia Novel written by Ilaria Tuti, translated by Ekin Oklap (Mystery/Thriller)
Superintendent Teresa Battaglia, a trailblazing criminal detective on the Italian police force, is on sick leave, recovering from her recent brush with death in pursuit of a killer. But none of her colleagues, not even her partner, know that her Alzheimer’s is getting worse, and that she is unsure she will ever return to work. Teresa’s plans for retirement are shelved, however, when she is urgently summoned to meet with menacing serial killer Giacomo Mainardi. Refusing to speak with anyone but Teresa, whose investigative work 27 years prior landed him in maximum security prison, Mainardi has disconcerting news: somebody is after him, and only Teresa holds the key to keeping everyone, including herself, safe. To solve the case, Teresa must come face to face with a history she thought she’d buried.
Soho Crime | 9781641296199

DEAD MAN’S HAND: A Pike Logan Novel by Brad Taylor (Thriller/Adventure)
To finally end the war between their nations, a rogue band of Ukranian partisans known as the Wolves teams up with members of Russia’s military intelligence to assassinate Vladimir Putin. But Putin is aware of the traitors in his midst and assigns the loyal commander of the Russian National Guard to root them out. It’s a mission Victor Petrov is expected to undertake after he prevents Sweden from joining NATO --- by assassinating a deputy minister of foreign affairs. After receiving intelligence about the threat in Sweden, the United States sends Pike Logan to identify Petrov’s target --- only for him to get caught in the crossfire. When the smoke clears, Pike makes no effort to stop the Wolves on their ultimate mission, believing it just, until he discovers that their operation has unimaginable consequences.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780063358638

DEATH WRITES: An Inishowen Mystery by Andrea Carter (Mystery)
Preparations are underway for Glenfest, Glendara’s literary festival. Phyllis Kettle, the local bookshop owner, is especially pleased to have persuaded Gavin Featherstone, the local bestselling recluse writer, to take part. The festival begins, and an eager crowd awaits Featherstone’s appearance on stage. He is unexpectedly engaging, but when he stands to read from his new book, he stumbles and keels over on the platform. Solicitor Benedicta “Ben” O’Keeffe discovers that she holds Featherstone’s will at the office, drafted by her predecessor. Soon, she’s drawn into a complicated legal wrangle over the man’s estate involving his family and the assistant who lived with him. But nothing can be resolved yet, as a killer cannot inherit from their victim --- and Gavin Featherstone’s death was a murder.
Oceanview Publishing | 9781608096329

DEEP FREEZE by Michael C. Grumley (Technothriller)
The accident came quickly. With no warning. In the dead of night, a precipitous plunge into a freezing river trapped everyone inside the bus. It was then that Army veteran John Reiff’s life came to an end. Extinguished in the sudden rush of frigid water. There was no expectation of survival. None. Let alone waking up beneath blinding hospital lights. Struggling to move, or see, or even breathe. But the doctors assure him that everything is normal. That things will improve. And yet, he has a strange feeling that there's something they're not telling him. As Reiff's mind and body gradually recover, he becomes certain that the doctors are lying to him. One by one, puzzle pieces are slowly falling into place, and he soon realizes that things are not at all what they seem.
Forge Books | 9781250898739

THE ESTATE by Sarah Jost (Speculative Thriller/Magical Realism)
Paperback Original
Art historian Camille Leray has spent her career surrounding herself with fineries and selling pieces worth millions. But she harbors a secret: she has the ability to enter the world of any piece of artwork, and she can take others with her. But tapping into history comes with great risks. And someone has been watching, someone who knows about her magic…and her mistakes. After Camille ruins her career and reputation by misusing her powers, she vows to get her old life back. So when Maxime Foucault, an enigmatic aristocrat who owns a sprawling French estate, enlists her help in authenticating the statues of a mysterious artist, she knows this could be her chance to turn her career around and get the man she's always wanted. But something isn't right about the Foucault family and the grand chateau they inhabit.
Sourcebooks Landmark | 9781728262734

GIRLFRIEND ON MARS by Deborah Willis (Fiction/Satire)
Amber Kivinen is moving to Mars. Or at least she will be if she wins a chance to join "MarsNow." She and 23 reality TV contestants from around the world are competing for two seats on the first human-led mission to Mars, sponsored by billionaire Geoff Task. Meanwhile, Amber’s boyfriend, Kevin, was content going nowhere until Amber left him --- and their hydroponic weed business --- behind. As he tends to (and smokes) the plants growing in their basement apartment, Kevin tunes in to find out why the love of his life is so determined to leave the planet with somebody else. On screen, Amber competes in globe-trotting, “Survivor”-meets-“Star Trek” challenges and seems like she might be falling for fellow contestant Adam. But is that real, or is it just a tactic to keep from being voted off?
W. W. Norton & Company | 9781324087007

HELLO BEAUTIFUL by Ann Napolitano (Fiction)
William Waters grew up in a house silenced by tragedy, where his parents could hardly bear to look at him, much less love him. So when he meets the spirited and ambitious Julia Padavano in his freshman year of college, it’s as if the world has lit up around him. With Julia comes her family, as she and her three sisters are inseparable. With the Padavanos, William experiences a newfound contentment; every moment in their house is filled with loving chaos. But then darkness from William’s past surfaces, jeopardizing not only Julia’s carefully orchestrated plans for their future, but the sisters’ unshakeable devotion to one another. The result is a catastrophic family rift that changes their lives for generations. Will the loyalty that once rooted them be strong enough to draw them back together when it matters most?
Dial Press Trade Paperback | 9780593243756

HOLLYWOOD HUSTLE by Jon Lindstrom (Thriller)
Winston Greene, a has-been film star, wakes up one morning to find his six-year-old granddaughter at his bedside --- traumatized, unattended and gripping onto a thumb drive. She comes bearing video proof that her mother, Win’s troubled adult daughter, has been kidnapped by a murderous gang demanding all his “movie money” for her safe return. But what they don’t know is that his movie money is long gone. Unable to go to the police for fear the kidnappers will make good on their promise to kill his daughter, Winston turns to two close friends: a legendary Hollywood stuntman and a disgraced former LAPD detective. There’s no easy way out for Winston or his daughter, and he begins to realize that to get her back, he’ll have to beat the kidnappers at their own game.
Crooked Lane Books | 9798892420686

IS SHE REALLY GOING OUT WITH HIM? by Sophie Cousens (Romantic Comedy)
Paperback Original
Columnist Anna Appleby has left her love life behind after a painful divorce. Who needs a man when she has two kids, a cat and uncontested control of the TV remote? Besides, she’d rather be single than subject herself to the hell of online dating. But her office rival is vying for her column, and no column means no stable source of income. In a desperate attempt to keep her job, Anna finds herself pitching a unique angle: seven dates, all found offline, chosen by her children. From awkward encounters to unexpected connections, Anna gamely begins to put herself out there, asking out waiters, the mailman and even her celebrity crush. But when a romantic connection appears where she least expected it, will she be brave enough to take another chance on love?
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780593718902

THE LAST KING OF CALIFORNIA by Jordan Harper (Crime Fiction)
Paperback Original
After years apart from his criminal family, young Luke Crosswhite returns to their flock deep in the California desert. Luke’s father is serving time for a brutal murder that Luke himself witnessed. Now, his uncle vies for power and rival biker gangs encroach on the family’s various criminal enterprises. A sensitive boy grown hard man, Luke navigates the vicious pressures of “home,” and the loyalties to his cousin, Callie, who has hatched a scheme with her boyfriend, Pretty Baby, to escape the control of the gang, the Combine. Hanging over these desperate, lonesome parties is the gang’s motto, tattooed indelibly across the heart: Blood is Love.
Mulholland Books | 9780316581400

THE MAUI EFFECT by Sara Ackerman (Romance)
Paperback Original
‘Iwa Young’s life is high in the Maui rainforest. As a field biologist, she’s happiest in the company of trees, birds and waterfalls. When a developer arrives with plans for a so-called eco resort in the middle of a forest full of endangered species, ‘Iwa puts all her energy into the fight to protect it. But a chance encounter threatens to distract her. His name is Dane Parsons, a big-wave surfer from California. ‘Iwa has a few unbreakable rules, and at the top of her list: never date a surfer. Dane is part of an underground group of big-wave riders, and his connection to the ocean runs deep. When he meets ‘Iwa, he can’t get her out of his mind. But ‘Iwa wants nothing to do with Dane until he offers to help protect her beloved forest and waterfall. Always on the hunt for the ultimate ride, Dane suddenly glimpses something even greater.
Mira | 9780778369561

SHELL GAMES by Bonnie Kistler (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
Julie’s mother, Kate, is a self-made real estate developer, a grande dame in Florida society, and a power broker in Florida politics. It wasn’t easy for Julie to grow up in the shadow of such a dynamo, but she loves her mother. She and her husband, Eric, are thrilled when Kate marries her long-lost high school sweetheart, a salt-of-the-earth man named Charlie. But on their wedding night, Kate calls the police in hysterics to report that Charlie just confessed to a notorious unsolved crime from decades before. Charlie says that Kate imagined it. Eric says that Kate has dementia. And the FBI says that Charlie couldn’t possibly have committed that crime. Julie doesn’t know what to believe. Is her brilliant mother losing her mind? Or is sweet, lovable Charlie gaslighting Kate to gain control of her fortune?
Harper Paperbacks | 9780063378964

A TRUE ACCOUNT: Hannah Masury’s Sojourn Amongst the Pyrates, Written by Herself by Katherine Howe (Historical Fiction)
In Boston, as the Golden Age of Piracy comes to a bloody close, Hannah Masury is ready to take her life into her own hands. When a man is hanged for piracy in the town square and whispers of a treasure in the Caribbean spread, Hannah is forced to flee for her life, disguising herself as a cabin boy in the pitiless crew of the notorious pirate Edward "Ned" Low. To earn the freedom to choose a path for herself, Hannah must hunt down the treasure and change the tides. Meanwhile, professor Marian Beresford pieces Hannah’s story together in 1930, seeing her own lack of freedom reflected back at her as she watches Hannah's transformation. At the center of Hannah’s account lies a centuries-old mystery that Marian is determined to solve, just as Hannah may have been determined to take it to her grave.
Holt Paperbacks | 9781250894212

On Sale the Week of November 25th in Hardcover

November 25th

THE HOUSE OF CROSS: An Alex Cross Thriller by James Patterson (Thriller)
In Washington, DC, the president-elect is planning her inauguration. The list of Supreme Court candidates is highly confidential --- until it becomes evidence in Detective Alex Cross’ toughest investigation. One candidate is gunned down. A second is stabbed. A third is murdered near midnight on a city street. Cross is the FBI’s top expert in criminal behavior. For the sake of his family, his city and his country, he must put himself in the most dangerous place there is: inside the mind of a diabolical killer.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316402682

November 26th

THE BASKETBALL 100: The Story of the Greatest Players in NBA History by David Aldridge and John Hollinger, with The Athletic NBA Staff (Sports/History)
Over the course of 100 luminous player profiles, the best sports newsroom on the planet paints vivid portraits of the game’s most compelling characters. They include George Mikan, Gary Payton, Dennis Rodman, Allen Iverson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Steph Curry. Edited by award-winning reporters David Aldridge and John Hollinger, THE BASKETBALL 100 also answers the game’s toughest, most important questions: How should we weigh championship rings, versus statistical profiles, versus the “eye test”? Were the great players of yesteryear, like Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell, propelled by the inferior athleticism of their competition, or would they have been transcendent in any era? And of course, who’s the GOAT --- MJ or LeBron?
William Morrow | 9780063329126

CHRISTMAS IN BETHEL by Richard Paul Evans (Fiction)
After growing up in an unstable home, escaping an abusive marriage, and witnessing daily tragedies as an EMT, Leigh Beth Stilton just can’t bring herself to care about Christmas cheer. In fact, she’s so convinced she’s not worth loving that one winter’s eve, she decides she can’t go on --- until she comes across a book called Bethel. Leigh is unfamiliar with the author, J.D. Harper, but his words speak directly to her. She avidly reads every novel Harper has written, and when he comes to town for a book signing, she jumps at the opportunity to meet him. In a twist of fate, Leigh runs into J.D. in a coffee shop, and the two immediately click. But she’s leery after a lifetime of pain, and when she discovers that J.D. hasn’t been completely honest, her hopes are dashed. Can they find their way back to each other, and can Leigh learn to trust her heart?
Gallery Books | 9781668014882

CITY OF NIGHT BIRDS by Juhea Kim (Fiction)
On a White Night in 2019, prima ballerina Natalia Leonova returns to St. Petersburg two years after a devastating accident that stalled her career. Once the most celebrated dancer of her generation, she now turns to pills and alcohol to numb the pain of her past. She is unmoored in her old city as the ghosts of her former life begin to resurface: her loving but difficult mother, her absentee father, and the two gifted dancers who led to her downfall. One of those dancers, Alexander, is the love of her life, who transformed both Natalia and her art. The other is Dmitri, a dark and treacherous genius. When the latter offers her a chance to return to the stage in her signature role, Natalia must decide if she again can face the people responsible for both her soaring highs and darkest hours.
Ecco | 9780063394759

FREEDOM: Memoirs 1954-2021 by Angela Merkel (Memoir)
For 16 years, Angela Merkel was Chancellor of Germany and at the forefront of European and international politics. In her memoir, she looks back on her life in two German states --- East Germany until 1990, and reunified Germany thereafter. How did she, coming from the East, rise to the top of the Christian Democratic Union to become the first woman to hold the office of chancellor? And how did she then become one of the most powerful heads of government in the Western world? What guided her? In FREEDOM, Merkel recounts daily life in the chancellor’s office, as well as the dramatic days and nights when she made far-reaching decisions in Berlin, Brussels and beyond. She traces the long lines of change in international cooperation and reveals the pressure politicians face when seeking solutions to complex problems in a globalized world.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250319906

HEAVY ARE THE STONES by J.D. Barker and Christine Daigle (Thriller)
Five years ago, when Detective Jena Campbell put the Leviticus Killer behind bars, she locked her darkest secret away with him. Something never meant to surface. Something better left to rot with the madman who had destroyed so many lives. When a strange man calling himself Azrael appears on social media with threats to unleash 10 plagues and 10 deaths in 10 days unless Leviticus is released, Jena is forced to reopen that door and face her past. Unable to share what she knows, she turns to the only man who can help her find Azrael before he kills again, the man she condemned. Jena quickly learns that the only thing more terrifying than facing him is facing herself.
Hampton Creek Press | 9798990746107

THE INCUBATIONS by Ramsey Campbell (Supernatural Thriller/Horror)
Leo Parker's stay in Alphafen seems idyllic, but after he leaves, the nightmares begin. An airport turns into a labyrinth. His own words become treacherous, if not lethal. And what are those creatures in the photographs he took? Even the therapy Leo undertakes becomes a source of menace. Perhaps Leo has roused an ancient Alpine legend. Even once he understands what he brought back, his attempts to overcome its influence may lead into greater nightmares still.
Flame Tree Press | 9781787589292

IRA GERSHWIN: A Life in Words by Michael Owen (Biography)
The first lyricist to win the Pulitzer Prize, Ira Gershwin (1896–1983) has been hailed as one of the masters of the Great American Songbook, a period that covers songs written largely for Broadway and Hollywood from the 1920s to the 1950s. Now, in this first full-length biography devoted to his life, Michael Owen brings Ira out at last from the long shadow cast by his younger and more famous brother, George. Drawing on extensive archival sources and often using Ira’s own words, Owen has crafted a rich portrait of the modest man who penned the words to many of America’s best-loved songs, like “Fascinating Rhythm,” “Embraceable You” and “They Can’t Take That Away from Me.”
Liveright | 9781324091813

ROBERT B. PARKER'S HOT PROPERTY: A Spenser Novel by Mike Lupica (Mystery)
Spenser is waiting out the latest Boston snowstorm when he gets word that Rita Fiore has been shot. Rita always has been a tricky one. Flirting with Spenser for years, she’s an ever-present figure that transcends friendship in Spenser’s circle. But at the end of the day, Rita is family. And family will always be protected. Both a pit bull in the courtroom and provocateur outside it, Rita is no stranger to controversy. But as one of the city’s toughest lawyers, Spenser knows that there’s no short list of suspects who might want to enact revenge. With Rita’s life hanging in the balance, it’s up to him to get to the bottom of things, even if it means unearthing some unsavory secrets that just might lead him into an age-old game of lies and deceit.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780593716137

THIS IS WHY WE CAN'T HAVE NICE THINGS by Naomi Wood (Fiction/Short Stories)
A woman has an unexpected outburst at a corporate therapy session for working mothers. A couple find some long-overdue time to rekindle their relationship and make an ill-advised home movie. A pregnant film director plots revenge on the actress who betrayed her. An ex-wife deliberately causes conflict at her ex-husband’s wedding. THIS IS WHY WE CAN’T HAVE NICE THINGS illuminates the lives of malicious, subversive and untamed women. Exploring failed sisterhood, dubious parenting and the dark side of modern love, this powerful and funny collection exposes how society wants women to behave and shows what happens when they refuse.
Mariner Books | 9780063399723

On Sale the Week of November 25th in Paperback

November 26th

BETRAYAL: A Robin Lockwood Novel by Phillip Margolin (Legal Thriller)
Robin Lockwood is now a prominent defense attorney in Portland, Oregon, but a decade ago, she was a ranked and rising MMA fighter. Her career came to a quick end when she was knocked out and concussed in the first round by Mandy Kerrigan. Now the situation couldn't be more different, with Kerrigan arrested for the quadruple murder of the entire Finch family...and Kerrigan's only possible friend is the attorney she beat so many years ago. For Robin, it's no simple case: Margaret Finch was a lawyer working for vicious Russian mobsters, and was in the crosshairs of both the mobsters and the widower of a woman a client killed. To complicate matters further, the DA who Robin is facing is the man she's just started dating, the first person she's begun seeing seriously after her husband was killed.
Minotaur Books | 9781250885814

CIRCLE IN THE WATER: A Sharon McCone Mystery by Marcia Muller (Mystery)
San Francisco is home to more than 200 privately owned streets. Most are alleyways, but a select few are lined with mansions and elaborate gardens. When several luxury estate homes are targeted in a series of so-called pranks, Sharon is hired by a coalition of concerned owners to investigate. But as things escalate --- an attempt on Sharon’s life, an explosion at a meth lab and a shocking murder --- Sharon realizes far more is at play than a few misdemeanors gone wrong. The case takes a sudden turn when one of McCone & Ripinsky’s most trusted employees is implicated, and Sharon will have to dig deep to save her agency --- and her life.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538724538

THE GHOST ORCHID: An Alex Delaware Novel by Jonathan Kellerman (Psychological Thriller)
A pool boy enters a secluded Bel Air property and discovers two bodies floating in the bright blue water: Gio Aggiunta, the playboy heir to an Italian shoe empire, and a gorgeous, even wealthier neighbor named Meagin March. A married neighbor. An illicit affair stoking rage is a perfect motive. But the house is untouched. No forced entry, no forensic evidence. The case has “that feeling,” and when that happens, LAPD homicide lieutenant Milo Sturgis turns to his friend, the brilliant psychologist Alex Delaware. As Milo and Alex investigate both victims, they discover two troubled pasts. And as they dig deeper, Meagin March’s very identity begins to blur. Who was this glamorous but conflicted woman? Did her past catch up to her? Or did Gio’s family connections create a threat spanning two continents?
Ballantine Books | 9780593598948

THE KINGDOM OF SWEETS: A Novel of the Nutcracker by Erika Johansen (Dark Fantasy)
Light and dark. This is the cursed birthright placed upon Clara and Natasha by their godfather, Drosselmeyer. Charming Clara grows into a life of beauty and ease, while Natasha is relegated to her sister’s shadow. But Natasha seizes the opportunity for revenge one Christmas Eve, when Drosselmeyer arrives at the family gala with the Nutcracker, an enchanted gift that offers entry into an alternate world: the Kingdom of Sweets. Following Clara into the glittering land of snow and sugar, Natasha discovers a source of power far greater than Drosselmeyer: the Sugar Plum Fairy. But as Natasha uncovers the truth about a dark destiny crafted long before her birth, she must reckon with forces both earthly and magical, human and diabolical, and decide to which world she truly belongs.
Dutton | 9781524742775

MY HEART WILL FIND YOU by Jude Deveraux (Romance)
During the early days of the pandemic, Etta Wilmont finds herself suddenly stranded in Kansas City. Desperate to secure a roof over her head, Etta crosses paths with Henry Logan, a lonely older man in need of a caretaker. His invitation for Etta to stay with him seems to be the solution to both their problems. As Etta and Henry settle into a companionable living arrangement, Etta indulges in Henry’s library. The compelling historical accounts of life in the Midwest soon inspire vivid dreams of Kansas City in the 1870s, dreams in which she’s a mail-order bride, married to a handsome but guarded rancher. Haunted by the story unfolding in her mind, Etta realizes her dreams of the past and the familiar faces featured within are starting to have an impact on the present, altering her current reality.
Mira | 9780778310969

NEVER GIVE UP: A Prairie Family's Story by Tom Brokaw (Memoir)
Tom Brokaw’s father, Red, left school in the second grade to work in the family hotel --- the Brokaw House, established in Bristol, South Dakota, by R. P. Brokaw in 1883. Eventually, through work on construction jobs, Red developed an exceptional talent for machines. Tom’s mother, Jean, was the daughter of a farmer who lost everything during the Great Depression. Although they didn’t have much money early in their marriage, Red’s philosophy of “Never give up” served them well. His big break came after World War II, when he went to work for the Army Corps of Engineers building great dams across the Missouri River. Late in life, Red surprised his family by recording his memories of the hard times of his early life, reflections that inspired this book.
Random House Trade Paperbacks | 9780593596616

THE PATH TO PARADISE: A Francis Ford Coppola Story by Sam Wasson
(Biography/Performing Arts)
Francis Ford Coppola is one of the great American dreamers, and his most magnificent dream is American Zoetrope, the production company he founded in San Francisco years before his gargantuan success, when he was only 30. Through Zoetrope’s experimental, communal utopia, Coppola attempted to reimagine the entire pursuit of moviemaking. Now, more than 50 years later, despite myriad setbacks, the visionary filmmaker’s dream persists, most notably in the production of his decades-in-the-making film and the culmination of his utopian ideals, Megalopolis. Granted total and unprecedented access to Coppola’s archives, conducting hundreds of interviews with the artist and those who have worked closely with him, Sam Wasson weaves together an extraordinary portrait.
Harper Perennial | 9780063037854

RED SKY MOURNING by Jack Carr (Political Thriller)
A storm is on the horizon. America’s days are numbered. A Chinese submarine has gone rogue and is navigating towards the continental United States, putting its nuclear missiles within striking distance of the West Coast. A rising Silicon Valley tech mogul with unknown allegiances is at the forefront of a revolution in quantum computing and Artificial Intelligence. A politician controlled by a foreign power is a breath away from the Oval Office. These seemingly disconnected events are on a collision course to ignite a power grab unlike anything the world has ever seen. The country’s only hope is a quantum computer that has gone dark, retreating to the deepest levels of the internet, learning at a rate inconceivable at her inception. She is now positioned to act as either the country’s greatest savior or its worst enemy.
Pocket Books | 9781668047156

WHAT WAITS IN THE WOODS by Terri Parlato (Domestic Thriller)
When Esmé Foster left the Boston suburbs to become a professional ballerina, the future shimmered with promise. Eleven years later, her career has been derailed by an injury, and she knows it’s time to come back to Graybridge to help her brother care for their ailing father. But her return coincides with an unthinkable crime. Kara Cunningham, one of Esmé’s high school friends, is found dead in the woods behind the Fosters’ house. Esmé is shocked and grieving, but also uneasy. In her dreams, she still sees the man who showed up at the scene of the car accident that killed her mother --- and told Esmé he was going to kill her too. Family and friends insisted the figure was a product of Esmé’s imagination, that she was concussed after the crash. But she and Kara looked alike. Could Kara’s murder have been a case of mistaken identity?
Kensington | 9781496738608

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