December 17, 2024

December 17, 2024

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Please note: There will be no "On Sale This Week" newsletter on December 24th or December 31st as we pause to celebrate the holidays, so we are covering releases from now through the week of January 6th in this edition. Our next newsletter will be sent on January 7th. Wishing you Happy Holidays and a wonderful New Year!

In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of December 16th, December 23rd, December 30th and January 6th 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.

We are leaving you with lots to explore! 

This week, we are calling attention to our Reviewer Picks for 2024, where our reviewers reveal their favorite books of the year, and various "Best Of" lists that we've compiled from around the web. Let us know how many print books and e-books you've read, and how many audiobooks you've listened to, in 2024 in our latest poll.

This Week's Bonus News:
Reviewer Picks for 2024, "Best Of" Lists
from Around the Web, and Our Year-End Poll

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, December 18th at 7pm ET: “Friends & Fiction”: Join “Friends & Fiction” for a conversation with Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb about CHRISTMAS WITH THE QUEEN. “The Crown” meets When Harry Met Sally in their latest heartwarming historical novel, which is the F&F Pick of the Month.

Wednesday, December 25th at 7pm ET: “Friends & Fiction”: Join Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel, Kristy Woodson Harvey and Patti Callahan Henry for the F&F Secret Santa Holiday Party.

Tuesday, January 7th at 3pm ET: Barnes & Noble: Join Barnes & Noble as they welcome Clay McLeod Chapman for a live virtual discussion of WAKE UP AND OPEN YOUR EYES as part of their B&N Midday Mystery Virtual Event series. Clay will be in conversation with the author of THE DEVIL BY NAME, Keith Rosson.

Tuesday, January 7th at 7pm ET: Ashland Public Library: Jayne Ann Krentz will discuss her latest romantic suspense novel (with a dollop of the paranormal), SHATTERING DAWN. She will be in conversation with fellow bestselling author Annelise Ryan, whose forthcoming mystery is BEAST OF THE NORTH WOODS.

On Sale the Week of December 16th in Hardcover

December 17th

DEFINITELY BETTER NOW by Ava Robinson (Fiction/Humor)
Emma is an alcoholic, but she’s been officially sober for an entire year. That’s 12 months of better health. But it’s also been 365 days of not dating. And with her new dating profile, Emma is ready to put herself back out there. Being assigned to plan her office’s holiday party feels like icing on the suddenly very overwhelming cake until her estranged father reappears with devastating news. But then there’s Ben, the charming IT guy who, despite Emma’s awkwardness and shortcomings, seems to maybe actually get her. Sobriety is turning out to be far from the flawless future Emma had once envisioned for herself. But as she allows herself to open up to Ben and confront difficult past relationships, she’s beginning to realize that taking things one day at a time just might be the perfectly imperfect path she’s meant to be on.
Mira | 9780778310594

INVISIBLE HELIX: A Detective Galileo Novel by Keigo Higashino (Mystery)
The body of a young man is found floating in Tokyo Bay. But his death was no accident; Ryota Uetsuji was shot. He'd been reported missing the week before by his live-in girlfriend, Sonoka Shimauchi. But when detectives from the Homicide Squad go to interview her, she is nowhere to be found. When they learn that she was the victim of domestic abuse, they presume she was the killer. But her alibi is airtight; she was hours away in Kyoto when Ryota disappeared, forcing Detectives Kusanagi and Utsumi to restart their investigation. But if Sonoko didn't kill her abusive lover, then who did? A thin thread of association leads them to their old consultant, brilliant physicist Manabu Yukawa, known in the department as "Detective Galileo." With Sonoko still missing, the detectives investigate other threads of association.
Minotaur Books | 9781250875563

On Sale the Week of December 16th in Paperback

December 17th

COLD VICTORY by Karl Marlantes (Historical Fiction)
Helsinki, 1947. Finland teeters between the Soviet Union and the West. Everyone is being watched. A wrong look or a wrong word could end in catastrophe. Natalya Bobrova, from Russia, and Louise Koski, from the United States, are young wives of their country’s military attachés. When they meet at an embassy party, their husbands, world-class skiers Arnie and Mikhail, drunkenly challenge each other to a friendly --- but secret --- cross-country wilderness race. If news of the race gets out and Mikhail loses, Natalya knows it would mean his death, her imprisonment and the loss of her two children. Meanwhile, Louise, who is childless, uses the race as an opportunity to raise money for a local orphanage, naïve to the danger it will bring to Natalya and her family.
Grove Press | 9780802163974

HARBOR LIGHTS: Stories by James Lee Burke (Fiction/Short Stories)
These eight stories from James Lee Burke moves from the marshlands on the Gulf of Mexico to the sweeping plains of Colorado to prisons, saloons and trailer parks across the South, weaving together love, friendship, violence, survival and revenge. A boy and his father watch a German submarine sink an oil tanker as evil forces in the disguise of federal agents try to ruin their family. A girl is beaten up outside a bar as her university-professor father navigates new love and threats from a group of neo-Nazis. A pair of undercover union organizers are hired to break colts for a Hollywood actor, whose “Western hero” façade hides darkness. An oil rig worker witnesses a horrific attack on a local village while on a job in South America and seeks justice through one final act of bravery.
Grove Press | 9780802163912

WHAT REALLY HAPPENS IN VEGAS: True Stories of the People Who Make Vegas, Vegas by James Patterson and Mark Seal (Biography)
What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas --- until now. In WHAT REALLY HAPPENS IN VEGAS, full of surprises for both newcomers and Las Vegas regulars, James Patterson and Vanity Fair contributing editor Mark Seal transport readers from the thrill of adrenaline-fueled vice to the glitter of A-list celebrity and entertainment.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538710883

On Sale the Week of December 23rd in Hardcover

December 24th

KNIFE SKILLS FOR BEGINNERS by Orlando Murrin (Mystery)
The Chester Square Cookery School in the heart of London offers students a refined setting in which to master the fine art of choux pastry and hone their hollandaise. Worn out and newly broke, chef Paul Delamare would be tempted to turn down the request to fill in as teacher for a week-long residential course, if anyone other than Christian Wagner were asking. Christian is one of Paul’s oldest friends, as well as the former recipient of two Michelin stars and host of "Pass the Gravy!" Despite his misgivings, Paul starts to enjoy imparting his extensive knowledge to the recruits --- until someone turns up dead, murdered with a cleaver he used earlier that day to prep a pair of squabs. Did one of his students take the lesson on knife techniques too much to heart, or was this the result of a long-simmering grudge?
A John Scognamiglio Book | 9781496751942

POSTMORTEM: What Survives the John Wayne Gacy Murders by Courtney Lund O'Neil (True Crime/Memoir)
On a December night in 1978, Courtney Lund O’Neil’s mother, teenager Kim Byers, saw her friend, Rob Piest, alive for the last time. At the end of his shift at the pharmacy where they both worked, 15-year-old Rob went outside to speak to a contractor named John Wayne Gacy about a possible job. That night, Rob became Gacy’s final victim; his body was later found in the Des Plaines River. Kim’s testimony --- along with a receipt belonging to her found in Gacy’s house, proving that Rob had been there --- would be pivotal in convicting the serial killer who assaulted and killed over 30 young men and boys. Though she grew up far from Des Plaines, Courtney has lived in the shadow of that nightmare, keenly aware of its impact on her mother. In search of deeper understanding and closure, Courtney and Kim travel back to Illinois.
Citadel | 9780806542997

WATCH YOUR BACK by Terri Parlato (Domestic Thriller)
After a whirlwind courtship, psychiatrist Eve Thayer and her husband, Nathan, have settled into domestic life. But Eve's stress is mounting, both professionally and personally. Though the clinic where she works has been remodeled since its notorious days as an institution for the criminally insane, she feels increasingly uneasy there. And in her own neighborhood, a break-in at a nearby empty house hasn't helped either. Detective Rita Myers hasn’t yet figured out if Eve is a target or a suspect, but every disturbing discovery in this usually peaceful neighborhood seems to revolve around her. Only as a deadly ice storm crashes through does it become clear just how far from perfect Eve and Nathan’s lives really are. And as the cracks in the surface come to light, so do the sinister secrets that lie beneath.
Kensington | 9781496738622

On Sale the Week of December 23rd in Paperback

December 24th

AFTER THE OCEAN by Lauren E. Rico (Fiction)
Paperback Original
Thirty years ago, musicians Emilia Oliveras and Paul Winstead were married in Puerto Rico. Forty-eight hours later, Paul vanished from their honeymoon cruise, leaving Emilia devastated --- and the prime suspect in his disappearance. So she ran for her life, leaving behind her love, her dreams and her identity. Today, “Emily Oliver” is a divorced music teacher and mother of two daughters who know nothing about her past: Gracie, a talented attorney who excels in the courtroom but grapples with personal relationships, and Meg, a gifted concert pianist who wrestles with her ambition and purpose. When a cryptic caller claims the unthinkable --- that Paul is alive --- Emily returns to Puerto Rico in search of the truth. What she doesn’t know is that her daughters aren’t far behind. Gracie and Meg wonder how much of their lives have been a lie.
Kensington | 9781496744661

THE BUSY BODY by Kemper Donovan (Literary Mystery)
Former Senator Dorothy Gibson is the most talked-about person in the country right now. As an independent candidate for President of the United States, Dorothy split the vote and is being blamed for the shocking result. After her very public defeat, she’s retreated to her home in rural Maine, inviting her ghostwriter to join her. Her collaborator is impressed by Dorothy’s work ethic and steel-trap mind, not to mention the stunning surroundings (and one particularly gorgeous bodyguard). But when a neighbor dies under suspicious circumstances, Dorothy is determined to find the killer in their midst. And when Dorothy Gibson asks if you want to team up for a top-secret, possibly dangerous murder investigation, the only answer is: “Of course!” Working together, the two women are soon untangling motives and whittling down suspects.
A John Scognamiglio Book | 9781496744562

CLIVE CUSSLER THE HEIST: An Isaac Bell Adventure by Jack Du Brul (Historical Thriller/Adventure)
1914: As America’s century of dominance dawns, the country’s greatest detective, Van Dorn agent Isaac Bell, is pitted against a master thief and his assassin accomplice. They’re plotting to pull off the greatest heist in America’s history: the theft of a billion dollars from the newly created Federal Reserve. When an aerial attack is launched against Woodrow Wilson’s yacht during a meeting among the Federal Reserve’s branch leaders, Bell thwarts it, only to find that the strike was just the opening of an even deadlier gambit. It’s up to Bell to find the link between the attack, the mysterious death of a Newport heiress, and growing evidence of an unimaginably audacious heist. Double-cross and betrayal are Bell’s stock and trade, but the deeper he delves into this puzzle, the less he seems to understand.
G.P. Putnam’s Sons | 9780593716748

IT HAD TO BE YOU: An Under Suspicion Novel by Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke (Mystery/Thriller)
The two identical brothers seemed perfect in every way --- handsome, intelligent, popular --- until a shocking summer night when one brother killed his parents in cold blood while the other brother had an iron-clad alibi. But which twin was where during the murders? And is it possible the two of them planned the perfect crime together? Years later, the twins are long estranged, each of them claiming to be convinced that the other is responsible for the death of their parents. Married now with children of their own, they finally may be ready to clear one name at the expense of the other and turn to Laurie Moran and her team to reinvestigate their parents’ murder. But as the Under Suspicion crew gets closer to the truth, the danger that was assumed to be left in the past finds its way into the present.
Pocket Books | 9781668034668

ONE IN THE CHAMBER by Robin Peguero (Political Thriller)
Iowa farm boy Cameron Leann is new to Washington, D.C., joining a group of employees working for a powerful cohort of U.S. senators known as The Gang of Six. All of Cam's new colleagues have one thing in common: they hate their bosses. When a bombshell revelation threatens to sink the President's Supreme Court pick, the Gang of Six fractures, pitting senator against senator in a confirmation battle for the ages. Alliances shift with the wind. Everyone is lying to everyone. Cam and his friends are caught up in the midst of everything. And on election night, one senator will end up dead.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538742471

UPSIDE DOWN by Danielle Steel (Fiction)
Oscar-winning actress Ardith Law is a Hollywood icon. Radiant at 62, she is the epitome of glamour and a highly respected artist. But her success has come at a price: She has a strained relationship with her daughter, Morgan, who at 38 still blames Ardith for putting her career before being a mother. Morgan is a successful plastic surgeon in New York City --- and the distance from Ardith’s Bel Air mansion is not lost on either of them. As each woman navigates an unconventional romance, they cautiously approach each other on new terms and attempt to put aside their past for a new future.
Dell | 9780593498392

On Sale the Week of December 30th in Hardcover

December 31st

THE PLAYERS by Minette Walters (Historical Fiction)
England, 1685. Decades after the end of the English Civil War, the country is once again divided when Charles II's illegitimate son, the Protestant Duke of Monmouth, arrives in Dorset to incite rebellion against his Catholic uncle. Armed only with pitchforks, Monmouth's army is quickly defeated by King James II's superior forces and charged with high treason. Those found guilty will be hanged, drawn and quartered. As Dorset braces for carnage, the formidable Lady Jayne Harrier and her enigmatic son, assisted by the reclusive daughter of a local magistrate, contrive ways to save men from the gallows.
Blackstone Publishing | 9798228315075

SISTERS IN SCIENCE: How Four Women Physicists Escaped Nazi Germany and Made Scientific History by Olivia Campbell (History)
In the 1930s, Germany was a hotbed of scientific thought. But after the Nazis took power, Jewish and female citizens were forced out of their academic positions. Hedwig Kohn, Lise Meitner, Hertha Sponer and Hildegard Stücklen were eminent in their fields, but they had no choice but to flee due to their Jewish ancestry or anti-Nazi sentiments. Their harrowing journey out of Germany became a life-and-death situation that required Herculean efforts of friends and other prominent scientists. Lise fled to Sweden, where she made a groundbreaking discovery in nuclear physics, and the others fled to the United States, where they brought advanced physics to American universities. No matter their destination, each woman revolutionized the field of physics when all odds were stacked against them, galvanizing young women to do the same.
Park Row | 9780778333388

WHERE THE CREEK BENDS by Linda Lael Miller (Romance)
Madison Bettencourt has moved back home to Montana to care for her grandmother, who is slipping further and further away. She has called off her wedding and worries that her dreams of a family are fading with it. Bliss Morgan transformed eight-year-old Madison with her loyalty, and for a while, the two girls were as close as can be. But Madison never understood why Bliss suddenly vanished, leaving only a friendship bracelet and a message etched into a matchbook. Before she can begin again, Madison must uncover what happened to Bliss, and Liam McKettrick --- a widowed dad trying to repair his relationship with his two children --- becomes her unlikely ally. Yet there are mysteries that Madison hesitates to explore with anyone, and strange energies in Bettencourt Hall that blur the lines between past and present.
Canary Street Press | 9781335006394

On Sale the Week of December 30th in Paperback

December 31st

DOGS AND WOLVES written by Hervé Le Corre, translated by Howard Curtis (Mystery)
Paperback Original
When Franck gets out after five years in jail, he expects to find the brother he protected with his silence. Instead, waiting for him is his brother Fabien’s girlfriend. Jessica takes him to the gloomy country house where she lives with her cantankerous, hard-drinking parents, her eight-year old daughter, Rachel --- who doesn’t speak, hardly eats, and seems to be carrying a secret much bigger than herself --- and a large mastiff dog they all seem to fear. Time passes, Fabien doesn’t return, and Franck is increasingly mystified by Jessica’s behavior. Nonetheless, Franck follows her around on her crazy nocturnal rounds until he finds himself with a gun pointed at his head. It’s the beginning of a crescendo of retaliation in a gang war in which Franck believes he is participating, only to realize he’s merely a sacrificial pawn.
Europa Editions | 9781609459765

EDDIE WINSTON IS LOOKING FOR LOVE by Marianne Cronin (Fiction)
Paperback Original
Eddie Winston is 90 years old. He has lived and he has loved, but he has never been kissed. A true gentleman and an incurable romantic, Eddie spends his days volunteering at a charity shop, where he sorts through the donations of the living and the dead, preserving letters and tokens of love along the way. And it is here that he meets Bella, a troubled young woman who, at 24 years old, has just lost the love of her life. When Bella learns that Eddie is yet to have his first kiss, she resolves to help him finally find love. This sparks an adventure that will take them to unexpected places and, they hope, bring Eddie to the moment he has waited for all his life.
Harper Perennial | 9780063383517

THE GUEST by B. A. Paris (Domestic Thriller)
Iris and Gabriel have just arrived home from a make-or-break holiday. But a shock awaits them. One of their closest friends, Laure, is in their house. The atmosphere quickly becomes tense as she oversteps again and again: sleeping in their bed, wearing Iris' clothes, even rearranging the furniture. Laure has walked out on her husband --- and their good friend --- Pierre over his confession of an affair and a secret child. Iris and Gabriel want to be supportive of their friends, but as Laure's mood becomes increasingly unpredictable, her presence takes its toll. Iris and Gabriel's only respite comes in the form of a couple new to town. But with them comes their gardener, who has a checkered past. Soon, secrets from all their pasts will unravel, some more dangerous than they could have known.
St. Martin’s Griffin | 9781250908179

MARTYR! by Kaveh Akbar (Fiction)
Cyrus Shams is a young man grappling with an inheritance of violence and loss: his mother’s plane was shot down over the skies of the Persian Gulf in a senseless accident, and his father’s life in America was circumscribed by his work killing chickens at a factory farm in the Midwest. Cyrus is a drunk, an addict and a poet, whose obsession with martyrs leads him to examine the mysteries of his past --- toward an uncle who rode through Iranian battlefields dressed as the angel of death to inspire and comfort the dying, and toward his mother, through a painting discovered in a Brooklyn art gallery that suggests she may not have been who or what she seemed.
Vintage | 9780593685778

THE MYSTERY GUEST: A Maid Novel by Nita Prose (Mystery)
With her flair for cleaning and proper etiquette, Molly Gray has risen through the ranks of the glorious five-star Regency Grand Hotel to become the esteemed Head Maid. But just as her life reaches a pinnacle state of perfection, her world is turned upside down when J. D. Grimthorpe, the world-renowned mystery author, drops dead on the hotel’s tearoom floor. When Detective Stark, Molly’s old foe, investigates the author’s unexpected demise, it becomes clear that this death was murder most foul. Suspects abound, and everyone wants to know: Who killed J. D. Grimthorpe? As the high-profile death threatens the hotel’s pristine reputation, Molly knows that she alone holds the key to unlocking the killer’s identity. But that key is buried deep in her past, as long ago she knew J. D. Grimthorpe.
Ballantine Books | 9780593356203

SHE’S NOT SORRY by Mary Kubica (Psychological Thriller)
Meghan Michaels is trying to find balance between being a single mom and working full time as an ICU nurse when a patient named Caitlin arrives in her ward with a traumatic brain injury. They say she jumped from a bridge and plunged over 20 feet to the train tracks below. When a witness comes forward with new details about Caitlin’s fall, it calls everything they know into question. Was Caitlin actually pushed? And if so, by whom and why? Meghan lets herself get close to Caitlin until she’s deeply entangled in Caitlin’s and her family’s lives. Only when it’s too late does she realize that she and her daughter could be the next victims.
Park Row | 9780778310754

THORNHEDGE by T. Kingfisher (Fantasy/Adventure)
There's a princess trapped in a tower. This isn't her story. Meet Toadling. On the day of her birth, she was stolen from her family by the fairies, but she grew up safe and loved in the warm waters of faerieland. Once an adult though, the fae ask a favor of Toadling: return to the human world and offer a blessing of protection to a newborn child. Simple, right? But nothing with fairies is ever simple. Centuries later, a knight approaches a towering wall of brambles, where the thorns are as thick as your arm and as sharp as swords. He's heard there's a curse here that needs breaking, but it's a curse Toadling will do anything to uphold.
Tor Books | 9781250409195

January 1st

BEST HOUSE ON THE BLOCK by T.R. Ragan (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
Aspiring investigative journalist Shannon Gibbons and her family have moved into a beautiful house in the Fabulous Forties of East Sacramento, where Shannon finds a fast connection with a new neighbor. Renowned journalist Rosella Marlow appears to have a genuine interest in giving Shannon’s own career a boost --- as personal assistant on Rosella’s new project. Appearances are deceiving. Bitter, resentful and consumed by excruciating grief, Rosella is obsessed with wiping the smiles off her contented neighbors’ faces. Now she’s watching closely, ready to expose their secrets. Secrets dark enough to destroy lives. In Shannon, Rosella has a trusting and unwitting accomplice. But Rosella is being watched, too. And when someone is found murdered, everyone on this quiet block is a suspect. Because everyone has a motive.
Thomas & Mercer | 9781662517303

THE DROWNING GAME by Barbara Nickless (Thriller)
Paperback Original
Sisters Nadia and Cass Brenner are heirs to Ocean House, a decades-old empire that builds superyachts for the rich and powerful. They’re a next-generation success with the design of their soon-to-be-commissioned megayacht for a Chinese billionaire. But the sisters’ entrée into the coveted Asian market is tragically cut short when Cass falls from a 40th-floor hotel balcony. A Singapore detective rules suicide. Nadia has been in the yacht business too long not to be suspicious. Especially when she discovers Cass’ involvement in dangerously illicit activities. Pulled into the same web of betrayal, lies and secrets that trapped her sister, Nadia is on the most perilous mission of her life. Because uncovering the truth behind her sister’s death could tear the Brenner family apart --- and it just might get her killed.
Thomas & Mercer | 9781662510014

On Sale the Week of January 6th in Hardcover

January 6th

HOLMES IS MISSING: A Holmes, Margaret & Poe Mystery by James Patterson and Brian Sitts (Mystery/Thriller)
Success has come quickly to Holmes, Marple & Poe Investigations. The New York City agency led by three detectives --- Brendan Holmes, “the brain”; Margaret Marple, “the eyes”; and Auguste Poe, the “muscle” --- with famous names and mysterious pasts is one major case away from cementing its professional reputation. But as a series of child abductions tests the PIs’ legendary skills, the cerebral Holmes’ absence leaves a gaping hole in the agency roster. Only by closing ranks and solving the mystery within can they recover all that’s been lost.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316569972

January 7th

ADRIFT IN CURRENTS CLEAN AND CLEAR by Seanan McGuire (Fantasy)
Nadya had three mothers: the one who bore her, the country that poisoned her, and the one who adopted her. She never considered herself less than whole, not until her adoptive parents fitted her with a prosthetic arm against her will, seeking to replace the one she'd been missing from birth. Frustrated and unable to express why, Nadya began to wander, until the day she fell through a door into Belyyreka, the Land Beneath the Lake --- and found herself in a world of water. In Belyyreka, she found herself understood for who she was: a Drowned Girl, who had made her way to her real home, accepted by the river and its people. But even in Belyyreka, there are dangers and trials, and Nadya soon would find herself fighting to keep hold of everything she had come to treasure.
Tordotcom | 9781250848338

COLD STORAGE: A Thriller of the Near Future by Michael C. Grumley (Technothriller)
Technology never works well the first time. Or even the second. Army veteran John Reiff is living proof. John is revived in the back of a dilapidated ambulance, on the run from a shadowy organization that is desperate to take him back. He is the first one, their archetype, and they need to know what happened after his escape. What is happening to his body and his mind. And they need to know now. Because Reiff knows things he shouldn’t. About them and about what they are hiding. A secret that has been in cold storage for several hundred years. And the insidious, methodical plan that has been in motion for half a century. John Reiff is their key --- a problem and the solution. A lab rat gone rogue at the worst possible time. But they will find him. They have to. And they will stop at nothing to get what they want.
Forge Books | 9781250898753

DARKMOTHERLAND by Samrat Upadhyay (Dystopian Fiction)
In DARKMOTHERLAND, Nepali writer Samrat Upadhyay has created a novel of infinite embrace --- filled with lovers and widows, dictators and dissidents, paupers, fundamentalists, and a genderqueer power player with her eyes on the throne --- in an earthquake-ravaged dystopian reimagining of Nepal. At its heart are two intertwining narratives: one of Kranti, a revolutionary’s daughter who marries into a plutocratic dynasty and becomes ensnared in the family’s politics. And then there is the tale of Darkmotherland’s new dictator and his mistress, Rozy, who undergoes radical body changes and grows into a figure of immense power.
Soho Press | 9781641294720

THE GRANDDAUGHTER written by Bernhard Schlink, translated by Charlotte Collins (Fiction)
It is only after the sudden death of his wife, Birgit, that Kaspar discovers the price she paid years earlier when she fled East Germany to join him: she had to abandon her baby. Shattered by grief yet animated by a new hope, Kaspar closes up his bookshop in present-day Berlin and sets off to find her lost child in the east. His search leads him to a rural community of neo-Nazis, intent on reclaiming and settling ancestral lands to the East. Among them, Kaspar encounters Svenja, a woman whose eyes, hair and even voice remind him of Birgit. Beside her is a red-haired, slouching 15-year-old girl. His granddaughter? Their worlds could not be more different --- an ideological gulf of mistrust yawns between them --- but he is determined to accept her as his own.
HarperVia | 9780063295230

THE HEART OF WINTER by Jonathan Evison (Fiction)
Abe Winter and Ruth Warneke were never meant to be together --- at least if you ask Ruth. Yet their catastrophic blind date in college evolved into a 70-year marriage and a life on a farm on Bainbridge Island with their hens and beloved Labrador, Megs. Through the years, the Winters have fallen in and out of lockstep, and from their haunting losses and guarded secrets, a dependable partnership has been forged. But when Ruth’s loose tooth turns out to be something much more malicious, the beautiful, reliable life they’ve created together comes to a crisis. As Ruth struggles with her crumbling independence, Abe must learn how to take care of her while their three living children question his ability to look after his wife. And once again, the couple has to reconfigure how to be there for each other.
Dutton | 9780593473542

HOMESEEKING by Karissa Chen (Romance)
Haiwen is buying bananas at a 99 Ranch Market in Los Angeles when he looks up and sees Suchi, his Suchi, for the first time in 60 years. To recently widowed Haiwen it feels like a second chance, but Suchi has only survived by refusing to look back. Suchi was seven when she first met Haiwen in their Shanghai neighborhood, drawn by the sound of his violin. Their childhood friendship blossomed into soul-deep love, but when Haiwen secretly enlisted in the Nationalist army in 1947 to save his brother from the draft, she was left with just his violin and a note: Forgive me. HOMESEEKING follows the separated lovers through six decades of tumultuous Chinese history, telling Haiwen’s story from the present to the past while tracing Suchi’s from her childhood to the present, meeting in the crucible of their lives.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780593712993

HOW TO SLEEP AT NIGHT by Elizabeth Harris (Fiction)
Ethan and Gabe have been a devoted couple for years. Sure, they may have drifted to different ends of the political spectrum, but their marriage still has its spark. Then one night, Ethan makes an announcement: he wants to run for Congress as a Republican, but only if he has progressive Gabe’s blessing. For weeks, a slightly queasy Gabe struggles between supporting his husband and maintaining his own lefty ideals. In a nearby town, suburban mom Nicole wonders what happened to her younger self --- living in New York City, freely dating men and women, and on a path to a career in the art world. Nicole feels like an accessory in her husband’s life and like she’s given up on the goals she had for herself. Then an old flame re-enters her life unexpectedly. That woman is Ethan’s sister, Kate.
William Morrow | 9780063353237

I'LL COME TO YOU by Rebecca Kauffman (Fiction)
I’LL COME TO YOU chronicles intersecting lives over the course of one year --- 1995 --- anchored by the anticipation and arrival of a child. Rebecca Kauffman explores overlapping narratives involving a couple whose struggle to become pregnant has both softened and hardened them, a woman whose husband of 40 years has left her for reasons he's unwilling to share and the man who is now disastrously attempting to woo her, a couple in denial about a looming health crisis, and their son, who is fumbling toward middle age and can't stop lying. Ultimately, these storylines crescendo and converge into a dramatic and harrowing turn of events. With heart, wit and courage, and through pain, these characters traverse territory that both challenges and defines the bonds of family.
Counterpoint | 9781640096714

IMMORTAL by Sue Lynn Tan (Fantasy/Romance)
The young heir to a mortal crown, Liyen ascends a precarious throne when her grandfather dies, vowing to end her kingdom’s obligation to the immortals and take vengeance against those she feels responsible for his death. When she is summoned to the Immortal Realm, she seizes the opportunity to learn their secrets and to form a tenuous alliance to safeguard her people, all with the one she should fear and mistrust the most: the ruthless God of War. As they are drawn together, a treacherous attraction ignites between them --- one she has to resist, to not endanger all she is fighting for. But with darker forces closing in around them, and her kingdom plunged into peril, Liyen must risk everything to save her people from an unspeakable fate, even if it means forging a dangerous bond with the immortal. Even if it means losing her heart.
Harper Voyager | 9780063445772

THE LIFE CYCLE OF THE COMMON OCTOPUS by Emma Knight (Fiction)
Arriving at the University of Edinburgh for her first term, Pen knows that her divorced parents back in Canada are hiding something from her. She believes she’ll find the answer here in Scotland, where an old friend of her father’s --- now a famous writer known as Lord Lennox --- lives. When she is invited to spend the weekend at Lord Lennox’s centuries-old estate with his enveloping, fascinating family, Pen begins to unravel her parents’ secret, just as she’s falling in love for the first time. As Pen experiences the sharp shock of adulthood, she comes to rely on herself for the first time in her life.
Pamela Dorman Books | 9780593830451

THE LIFE OF HEROD THE GREAT written by Zora Neale Hurston, edited by Deborah G. Plant (Historical Fiction)
In the 1950s, as a continuation of MOSES, MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN, Zora Neale Hurston penned a historical novel about one of the most infamous figures in the Bible, Herod the Great. In Hurston’s retelling, Herod is not the wicked ruler of the New Testament who is charged with the “slaughter of the innocents,” but a forerunner of Christ --- a beloved king who enriched Jewish culture and brought prosperity and peace to Judea. An intimate of both Marc Antony and Julius Caesar, the Judean king lived during the first-century BCE, in a time of war and imperial expansion that was rife with political assassinations and bribery, as the old world gave way to the new. Portraying Herod within this vivid and dynamic world of antiquity, little known to modern readers, Hurston’s unfinished manuscript brings this complex, compelling and misunderstood leader fully into focus.
Amistad | 9780063161009

THE LOTUS SHOES by Jane Yang (Historical Fiction)
1800s China. Tightly bound feet, or "golden lilies," are the mark of an honorable woman. When Little Flower is sold as a maidservant --- a muizai --- to Linjing, a daughter of the prominent Fong family, she clings to the hope that one day her golden lilies will lead her out of slavery. Not only does Little Flower have bound feet, she is extraordinarily gifted at embroidery, a skill associated with the highest class of a lady. Resentful of her talents, Linjing does everything in her power to thwart Little Flower's escape. But when scandal strikes the Fongs, both women are cast out to the Celibate Sisterhood, where Little Flower’s artistic prowess catches the eye of a nobleman. His attention threatens not only her improved status, but also her life. If Linjing finds out, will she sabotage Little Flower to reclaim her power, or will she protect her?
Park Row | 9780778310679

MOTHERS AND SONS by Adam Haslett (Fiction)
At 40, Peter, an asylum lawyer in New York City, is overworked and isolated. He spends his days immersed in the struggles of immigrants only to return to an empty apartment and occasional hook-ups with a man who wants more than Peter can give. But when the asylum case of a young gay man pierces Peter's numbness, the event that he has avoided for 20 years returns to haunt him. Ann, his mother, who runs a women's retreat center she founded after leaving his father, is hurt by the estrangement from Peter but cherishes the world she has built. She long ago put behind her the decision that divided her from her son. But as Peter’s case plunges him further into the fraught memory of his first love and the night of violence that changed his life, he and his mother must confront the secret that tore them apart.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316574716

THE NAMING OF THE BIRDS by Paraic O'Donnell (Gothic/Historical Mystery)
Something is troubling Inspector Henry Cutter. Sergeant Gideon Bliss is accustomed to his ill-tempered outbursts, but lately the inspector has grown silent and withdrawn. Then the murders begin. The first to die is the elderly Sir Aneurin Considine, a decorated but obscure civil servant who long ago retired to tend his orchids. If the motive for his killing is a mystery, the manner of his death is more bewildering still. The victims who follow suffer similar fates, their deaths gruesome but immaculately orchestrated. The murderer comes and goes like a ghost, leaving only carefully considered traces. As the hunt for this implacable adversary mounts, the inspector’s gloom deepens, and to Sergeant Bliss, his methods seem as mystifying as the crimes themselves.
Tin House Books | 9781963108033

NEVER SAY NEVER by Danielle Steel (Fiction)
Oona Kelly Webster has much to be grateful for. She has a loving family and a job she adores, editing a prestigious line of books. To celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary, she and her husband, Charles, have planned a visit to France. But then Charles drops a bombshell. He has been living a lie --- hiding an affair for a year --- and he is leaving Oona for a younger male lover. Although devastated, Oona decides to travel to France without Charles. Just as she’s catching her breath, she’s dealt another blow: Her company’s merger will eliminate her job. The only silver lining is that she can remain in France, where the simple life in beautiful surroundings slowly begins to heal her, as does the little white dog she rescues and her friendly neighbor hailing from Trinidad, who delights her with his openness and warmth.
Delacorte Press | 9780593498644

THE NOTE by Alafair Burke (Psychological Thriller)
Growing up, May Hanover was always a good girl. Raised by a first-generation Chinese single mother with high expectations, May didn’t have room to slip up, let alone fail. But even good girls have secrets. And regrets. When it comes to her friendship with Lauren and Kelsey, she's had her fair share of both. Their bond --- forged when May was just 12 years old --- has withstood a tragic accident, individual scandals, heartbreak and loss. Now the three friends have reunited for the first time in years for a few days of sun and fun in the Hamptons. But a chance encounter with a pair of strangers leads to a drunken prank that goes horribly awry. When she finds herself at the center of an urgent police investigation, May begins to wonder if Lauren and Kelsey are keeping secrets from her, testing the limits of her loyalty to lifelong friends.
Knopf | 9780593537084

PLAYWORLD by Adam Ross (Fiction)
Griffin Hurt is in over his head. Between his role as Peter Proton on the hit TV show “The Nuclear Family” and the pressure of high school at New York's elite Boyd Prep --- along with the increasingly compromising demands of his wrestling coach --- he's teetering on the edge of collapse. Then comes Naomi Shah, 22 years Griffin’s senior. Unwilling to lay his burdens on his shrink --- whom he shares with his father, mother and younger brother, Oren --- Griffin soon finds himself in the back of Naomi’s Mercedes sedan, again and again, confessing all to the one person who might do him the most harm.
Knopf | 9780385351294

A SEA OF UNSPOKEN THINGS by Adrienne Young (Mystery/Magical Realism)
James and Johnny Golden were once inseparable. For as long as she can remember, James shared an almost supernatural connection with her twin brother, Johnny, that went beyond intuition. So when Johnny is killed in a tragic accident, James knows before her phone even rings that her brother is gone. When James arrives in the secluded town of Six Rivers, California, to settle her brother’s affairs, she’s forced to revisit the ominous events of their shared past and finally face Micah, the only other person who knows their secrets --- and the only man she has ever loved. But as James delves deeper into Johnny’s world, she realizes that their unique connection hasn’t completely vanished. The more she immerses herself in his life, the more questions she has about the brother she thought she knew.
Delacorte Press | 9780593598702

SEE HOW THEY HIDE: A Quinn & Costa Thriller by Allison Brennan (Mystery/Thriller)
Two people were murdered --- at the exact same time, in the same gruesome manner, but on opposite sides of the country. With Detective Kara Quinn investigating in Oregon and Special Agent Matt Costa in Virginia, the Mobile Response Team digs deep to uncover more about each victim. What is the link between the two, and why were they targeted? Yet their search unearths more questions than answers --- until they meet Riley Pierce, the only person still alive who might be able to help them find the killers. Soon, their investigation leads them to the hallowed grounds of Havenwood, an eerily beautiful place rooted in a terrifying past. As more bodies turn up, all tied to the same community, Kara and Matt are desperate to piece the puzzle together before Havenwood’s leader sacrifices everything to keep her secrets buried.
Mira | 9780778368441

SHATTERING DAWN by Jayne Ann Krentz (Romantic Suspense)
Amelia Rivers, a member of the “Lost Night Files” podcast team, hires private investigator Gideon Sweetwater to catch the stalker who has been watching her. Amelia suspects the stalker may be connected to the shadowy organization responsible for the night that she and her two friends lost to amnesia --- a night that upended their lives and left them with paranormal talents. Gideon suspects that Amelia is either paranoid or an outright con artist, but he can’t resist the chemistry between them. Amelia is wary of the powerful attraction between them and deeply uneasy about the nightmarish paintings on the walls of his home. Gideon is forced to reckon with the truth when he disrupts what was intended to be Amelia’s kidnapping. Now the pair is on the run, with no choice but to return to the haunting ruins of the old hotel where Amelia’s lost night occurred.
Berkley | 9780593639917

THE SINNERS ALL BOW: Two Authors, One Murder, and the Real Hester Prynne by Kate Winkler Dawson (True Crime/History)
On a cold winter day in 1832, Sarah Maria Cornell was found dead in a quiet farmyard in a small New England town. When her troubled past and a secret correspondence with charismatic Methodist minister Reverend Ephraim Avery was uncovered, more questions emerged. Was Sarah’s death a suicide...or something much darker? Determined to uncover the real story, Victorian writer Catharine Read Arnold Williams threw herself into the investigation as the trial was unfolding and wrote what many claim to be the first American true-crime narrative, FALL RIVER. The murder divided the country and inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne’s THE SCARLET LETTER. But the reverend was not convicted, and questions linger to this day about what really led to Sarah Cornell’s death. Until now.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780593713617

THE STOLEN QUEEN by Fiona Davis (Historical Mystery)
Egypt, 1936: Anthropology student Charlotte Cross is offered and accepts a coveted spot on an archaeological dig in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings. But then an unbearable tragedy strikes. New York City, 1978: Nineteen-year-old Annie Jenkins lands an opportunity to work for former Vogue fashion editor Diana Vreeland, who’s in the midst of organizing the famous Met Gala. Meanwhile, Charlotte is now leading a quiet life as the associate curator of the Met’s celebrated Department of Egyptian Art. She’s consumed by her research on Hathorkare --- a rare female pharaoh dismissed by most other Egyptologists as unimportant. The night of the gala: One of the Egyptian art collection’s most valuable artifacts goes missing, and there are signs that Hathorkare’s legendary curse might be reawakening. Annie and Charlotte team up to search for the missing antiquity.
Dutton | 9780593474273

SWEET FURY by Sash Bischoff (Thriller)
Lila Crayne is America’s sweetheart: she’s generous and kind, gorgeous and magnetic. She and her fiancé, visionary filmmaker Kurt Royall, have settled into a stunning new West Village apartment and are set to begin filming their feminist adaptation of Fitzgerald’s TENDER IS THE NIGHT. To prepare for the leading role, Lila begins working with charming and accomplished therapist Jonah Gabriel to dig into the trauma of her past. Soon, Lila’s impeccably manicured life begins to unravel on the therapy couch --- and Jonah is just the man to pick up the pieces. But everyone has a secret, and no one is quite who they seem.
Simon & Schuster | 9781668043257

THE THREE LIVES OF CATE KAY by Kate Fagan (Fiction)
Cate Kay knows how to craft a story. As the creator of a bestselling book trilogy that struck box office gold as a film series, she’s one of the most successful authors of her generation. The thing is, Cate Kay doesn’t really exist. She’s never attended author events or granted any interviews. Her real identity had been a closely guarded secret, until now. As a young adult, she and her best friend, Amanda, dreamed of escaping their difficult homes and moving to California to become movie stars. But the day before their grand adventure, a tragedy shattered their dreams, and Cate has been on the run ever since, taking on different names and charting a new future. But after a shocking revelation, Cate understands that returning home is the only way she’ll be a whole person again.
Atria Books | 9781668076217

WAKE UP AND OPEN YOUR EYES by Clay McLeod Chapman
(Apocalyptic Thriller/Social Horror)
Noah has been losing his polite Southern parents to far-right cable news for years. So when his mother leaves him a voicemail warning him that the “Great Reawakening” is here, he assumes it’s related to one of her many conspiracy theories. But when his phone calls go unanswered, Noah makes the drive from Brooklyn to Richmond, Virginia. There, he discovers his childhood home in shambles and his parents locked in a terrifying trancelike state in front of the TV. Panicked, Noah attempts to snap them out of it. Then Noah’s mother brutally attacks him. But Noah isn’t the only person to be attacked by a loved one. Families across the country are tearing each other apart --- literally --- as people succumb to a form of possession that gets worse the more time they spend glued to a screen.
Quirk Books | 9781683693956

THE WOMAN WHO KNEW EVERYONE: The Power of Perle Mesta, Washington’s Most Famous Hostess by Meryl Gordon (Biography)
Perle Mesta was a force to be reckoned with. In her heyday, this wealthy globe-trotting Washington widow was one of the most famous women in America, garnering as much media attention as Eleanor Roosevelt. Renowned for her world-class parties featuring politicians and celebrities, she was very close to three presidents: Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower and Lyndon Johnson. A pioneering supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment, she was a prodigious Democratic fundraiser and rescued Harry Truman’s financially flailing 1948 campaign. In THE WOMAN WHO KNEW EVERYONE, Meryl Gordon chronicles Perle’s lavish life and society adventures in Newport, Manhattan and Washington, while highlighting her important but nearly forgotten contribution to American politics and the feminist movement.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538751244

On Sale the Week of January 6th in Paperback

January 7th

ARGYLLE by Elly Conway (Thriller)
A luxury train speeding towards Moscow and a date with destiny. A CIA plane downed in the jungles of the Golden Triangle. A Nazi hoard entombed in the remote mountains of South-West Poland. A missing treasure, the eighth wonder of the world, lost for seven decades. One Russian magnate's dream of restoring a nation to greatness has set in motion a chain of events that will take the world to the brink of chaos. Only Frances Coffey, the CIA's most legendary spymaster, can prevent it. But to do so, she needs someone special. Enter Argylle, a troubled agent with a tarnished past who just may have the skills to take on one of the most powerful men in the world. If only he can save himself first.
Bantam | 9780593600030

THE BOOK OF FIRE by Christy Lefteri (Fiction)
In present-day Greece, deep in an ancient forest, lives a family: Irini, a musician, who teaches children to read and play music; her husband, Tasso, who paints pictures of the forest, his greatest muse; and Chara, their young daughter, whose name means joy. On the fateful day that will forever alter the trajectory of their lives, flames chase fleeing birds across the sky. The wildfire that will consume their home, and their lives as they know it, races toward them. Months later, as the village tries to rebuild, Irini stumbles upon the man who started the fire, a land speculator who had intended only a small, controlled burn to clear forestland to build on but instead ignited a catastrophe. He is dying, although the cause is unclear, and in her anger at all he took from them, Irini makes a split-second decision that will haunt her.
Ballantine Books | 9780593497296

BURMA SAHIB by Paul Theroux (Historical Fiction)
At age 19, young Eton graduate Eric Blair set sail for India, dreading the assignment ahead. Along with several other young conscripts, he would be trained for three years as a servant of the British Empire, overseeing the local policemen in Burma. Navigating the social, racial and class politics of his fellow British at the same time as he learned the local languages and struggled to control his men would prove difficult enough. But doing all of this while grappling with his own self-worth, his sense that he was not cut out for this, is soon overwhelming for the young Blair. Eventually, his clashes with his superiors, and the drama that unfolds in this hot, beautiful land, will change him forever.
Mariner Books | 9780063297555

BYE, BABY by Carola Lovering (Domestic Thriller)
On a brisk fall night in a New York apartment, 35-year-old Billie West hears terrified screams. It's her lifelong best friend Cassie Barnwell, one floor above, and she's just realized her infant daughter has gone missing. Billie is shaken as she looks down into her own arms to see the baby, remembering --- with a jolt of fear --- that she is responsible for the kidnapping that has instantly shattered Cassie’s world. Once fiercely bonded by their secrets, Cassie and Billie have drifted apart in adulthood. Cassie is married to a wealthy man, has recently become a mother, and is building a following as a lifestyle influencer. She is desperate to leave her past behind --- including Billie, who no longer fits into her world. But Billie knows the worst thing Cassie has ever done, and she will do whatever it takes to restore their friendship.
St. Martin’s Griffin | 9781250908117

THE CAPITAL OF DREAMS by Heather O'Neill (Dystopian Fiction)
Paperback Original
Sofia Bottom lives in Elysia, a small country forgotten by Europe. But inside its borders, the old myths of trees that come alive and faeries who live among their roots have given way to an explosion of the arts and the consolations of philosophy. From the clarinetists to the cabaret singers, no artist is as revered as Sofia’s brilliant mother, the writer Clara Bottom. How can 14-year-old Sofia ever hope to win her mother’s love? When the country’s greatest enemy invades, and the Capital is under threat, Clara turns to her daughter to smuggle her new manuscript to safety on the last train evacuating children from the city. But when the train draws to a suspicious halt in the middle of a forest, Sofia is forced to run for her life and loses her mother’s most prized possession. Frightened and alone in a country at war, Sofia must find a way to reclaim what she has lost.
Harper Perennial | 9780063425996

DEATH OF A SPY: A Hamish Macbeth Murder Mystery by M. C. Beaton with R.W. Green (Mystery)
Sergeant Hamish Macbeth is worried about how the folks of Lochdubh will react to his new assistant officer: the enigmatic American James Bland, whose true mission is to track down the members of a Russian spy network. In the meantime, he and Bland deal with the usual crop of traffic incidents, lost wallets, lost dogs and lost people, but a spate of burglaries committed by a man dubbed “Spiderman” give Hamish cause for serious concern. Hamish has to use all of his contacts and every ounce of his Highland guile to find the robber and protect the village.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538743317

THE DJINN WAITS A HUNDRED YEARS by Shubnum Khan (Gothic Horror/Mystery)
Akbar Manzil was once a grand estate off the coast of South Africa. Nearly a century later, it stands in ruins: an isolated boardinghouse for eclectic misfits. Sana finds herself irresistibly drawn to the history of the mansion: to the eerie and forgotten East Wing, home to a clutter of broken and abandoned objects --- and to the door at its end, locked for decades. Behind the door is a bedroom frozen in time and a worn diary that whispers of a dark past: the long-forgotten story of a young woman named Meena, who died there tragically a hundred years ago. Watching Sana from the room’s shadows is a besotted, grieving djinn, an invisible spirit who has haunted the mansion since her mysterious death. Sana digs into the past, dredging up old and terrible secrets that will change the lives of everyone living and dead at Akbar Manzil.
Penguin Books | 9780593653470

THE FETISHIST by Katherine Min (Fiction)
On a cold, gloomy night, 23-year-old Kyoko stands in the rain with a knife in her hoodie’s pocket. Her target is Daniel, who seduced Kyoko’s mother and then callously dropped her, leading to her death. But tonight there will be repercussions. Following the unsuspecting Daniel home, Kyoko manages to get a rash kidnapping plot off the ground…and then nothing goes as planned. THE FETISHIST is the story of three people --- Kyoko, a Japanese American punk-rock singer full of rage and grief; Daniel, a philandering violinist forced to confront the wreckage of his past; and Alma, the love of Daniel’s life, a Korean American cello prodigy long adored for her beauty, passion and talent, but who spends her final days examining if she was ever, truly, loved.
G.P. Putnam’s Sons | 9780593713679

GOODBYE GIRL: A Jack Swyteck Novel by James Grippando (Legal Thriller)
Jack Swyteck’s latest client, Imani Nichols, is a Grammy-winning pop star whose career has skyrocketed. Despite her success, she’s the most underpaid superstar on the planet because of an onerous record contract she signed as a teenager with her now ex-husband, Shaky Nichols. Preferring to see thieves profit from her music than let her ex-husband pocket one more dime, Imani takes to social media and tells her millions of fans to “go pirate” and download her music illegally. Her hardball tactic leads to scorched-earth litigation, and now she needs Jack’s help. The case takes a deadly turn when salacious allegations of infidelity send Imani and Shaky down a path of mutual assured destruction, each implicating the other in the unsolved murder of Imani’s extramarital lover 12 years ago.
Harper Paperbacks | 9780063223851

HAPPY TO HELP: Adventures of a People Pleaser by Amy Wilson (Humor/Essays)
Paperback Original
Amy Wilson believed it was her destiny to be a people pleaser. She learned to put others first, do what she was told, finish what she started, and look like she had everything under control, even when she very much did not. Along the way, Amy started to wonder why doing it all had been her job. Still, when she tried to hand over some of her to-dos, no one was particularly interested in taking them. And when she asked for help, in return, she got advice: have a sense of humor, quit nagging and stop trying to be perfect. Amy dutifully took on these goals --- with varying degrees of failure --- until the day she started to question if something else needed to be fixed besides herself. HAPPY TO HELP is a collection of essays about how you can be the one everyone else depends on and still be struggling --- how you can be “happy to help,” even when, for your own sake, you shouldn’t.
Zibby Books | 9781958506783

HERE IN AVALON by Tara Isabella Burton (Fiction)
Raised --- and often neglected --- by a wayward mother, Rose finally has built the life she’s always wanted. Her sister Cecilia, on the other hand, has spent her life in pursuit of fairy-tale narratives of transcendence and true love. When Cecilia declares she’s come home for good, following the ending of a whirlwind marriage, Rose hopes Cecilia finally might be ready to face adulthood. But then Cecilia gets involved with the Avalon, a cultish-sounding cabaret troupe, and soon vanishes --- one of a growing number of suspicious disappearances among the city’s lost and loneliest souls. The only way Rose can find Cecilia is by tracking down the Avalon herself. But as Rose gets closer to solving the mystery of what happened to her sister, the Avalon works its magic on her, too.
Simon & Schuster | 9781982170103

HERO by Thomas Perry (Thriller)
Justine Poole provides security for wealthy and high-profile Hollywood stars. When she prevents a brazen robbery at the Beverly Hills home of two of her clients --- killing two of the five armed robbers in the process --- she is initially lauded in the media as a local hero. But the spotlight soon puts her in the crosshairs of the crime kingpin behind the burglaries. Unable to stand the embarrassment of his lackeys having been defeated by a lone woman, Mr. Conger puts in a call to the one man who can make his problems disappear. Known for his swiftness and subtlety, Leo Sealy will kill anyone for a price. Luckily for him, the local news is as eager as he is for any information about the heroic bodyguard --- and quick to broadcast their findings, regardless of what it might mean for her safety. But Sealy isn’t prepared for just how quick and resourceful Justine can be.
Mysterious Press | 9781613166369

HOLIDAY COUNTRY by İnci Atrek (Fiction)
Ada adores spending every summer in a Turkish seaside town with her mother and grandmother at the family villa. The glittering waters, endless olive groves and her spirited friends make it easy to leave her idle life in California behind. But no matter how much Ada feels that she belongs to the country where her mother grew up, deep down, her connection to the culture feels as fleeting as the seasons. When Levent, a mysterious man from her mother’s past, shows up in their town, Ada can’t help but imagine a different future for her mother --- one that promises a return to home, to love, to happiness. But while playing matchmaker, Ada has to come to terms with her own intensifying attraction to Levent. Does the future she’s fighting for belong to her mother --- or to her alone?
Flatiron Books | 9781250889485

KILL FOR ME, KILL FOR YOU by Steve Cavanagh (Psychological Thriller)
One dark evening on New York City’s Upper West Side, two strangers meet by chance. Over drinks, Amanda and Wendy realize they have much in common, especially loneliness and an intense desire for revenge against the men who destroyed their families. As they talk into the night, they come up with the perfect plan: If you kill for me, I’ll kill for you. In another part of the city, Ruth is home alone when the beautiful brownstone she shares with her husband, Scott, is invaded. She’s attacked by a man with piercing blue eyes, who disappears into the night. Will she ever be able to feel safe again while the blue-eyed stranger is out there?
Atria Books | 9781668049358

KING: A Life by Jonathan Eig (Biography)
Jonathan Eig’s KING: A LIFE is the first major biography in decades of the civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. --- and the first to include recently declassified FBI files. The bestselling biographer gives us an intimate view of the courageous and often emotionally troubled human being who demanded peaceful protest for his movement but was rarely at peace with himself. He casts fresh light on the King family’s origins, as well as MLK’s complex relationships with his wife, father and fellow activists. As he follows MLK from the classroom to the pulpit to the streets of Birmingham, Selma and Memphis, Eig dramatically recreates the journey of a man who recast American race relations and became our only modern-day founding father --- as well as the nation’s most mourned martyr.
Picador | 9781250335647

MERCURY by Amy Jo Burns (Fiction)
It’s 1990, and 17-year-old Marley West is blazing into the river valley town of Mercury, Pennsylvania. A perpetual loner, she seeks a place at someone’s table and a family of her own. The first thing she sees when she arrives in town is three men standing on a rooftop. The Joseph brothers become Marley’s whole world before she can blink. Soon, she is young wife to one, The One Who Got Away to another, and adopted mother to them all. As their own mother fades away and their roofing business crumbles under the weight of their unwieldy father’s inflated ego, Marley steps in to shepherd these unruly men. Years later, an eerie discovery in the church attic causes old wounds to resurface, and suddenly the family’s survival hangs in the balance.
Celadon Books | 9781250908582

MY FRIENDS by Hisham Matar (Fiction)
One evening, as a young boy growing up in Benghazi, Khaled hears a bizarre short story read aloud on the radio, about a man being eaten alive by a cat. Obsessed by the power of those words --- and by their enigmatic author, Hosam Zowa --- Khaled eventually embarks on a journey to pursue a life of the mind at the University of Edinburgh. There, thrust into an open society that is miles away from the world he knew in Libya, Khaled begins to change. He attends a protest against the Qaddafi regime in London, only to watch it explode into tragedy. In a flash, Khaled finds himself injured and clinging to life. When a chance encounter in a hotel brings Khaled face to face with Hosam Zowa, the author of the fateful short story, he is subsumed into the deepest friendship of his life.
Random House Trade Paperbacks | 9780812985092

NO RIGHT TO AN HONEST LIVING: The Struggles of Boston's Black Workers in the Civil War Era by Jacqueline Jones (History)
Impassioned antislavery rhetoric made antebellum Boston famous as the nation’s hub of radical abolitionism. In fact, however, the city was far from a beacon of equality. In NO RIGHT TO AN HONEST LIVING, historian Jacqueline Jones reveals how Boston was the United States writ small: a place where the soaring rhetoric of egalitarianism was easy, but justice in the workplace was elusive. Before, during and after the Civil War, white abolitionists and Republicans refused to secure equal employment opportunity for Black Bostonians, condemning most of them to poverty. Still, Jones finds, some Black entrepreneurs ingeniously created their own jobs and forged their own career paths.
Basic Books | 9781541607026

NONE OF THIS IS TRUE by Lisa Jewell (Psychological Thriller)
Celebrating her 45th birthday at her local pub, popular podcaster Alix Summer crosses paths with an unassuming woman called Josie Fair. Josie is also celebrating her 45th birthday. A few days later, they bump into each other again, this time outside Alix’s children’s school. Josie has been listening to Alix’s podcasts and thinks she might be an interesting subject for her series. Josie’s life appears to be strange and complicated, and Alix can’t quite resist the temptation to keep making the podcast. Slowly she starts to realize that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets. Before she knows it, Josie has inveigled her way into Alix’s life --- and into her home. But as quickly as she arrived, Josie disappears. Only then does Alix realize that her life and her family’s lives are under mortal threat.
Atria Books | 9781982179014

NONNA MARIA AND THE CASE OF THE LOST TREASURE by Lorenzo Carcaterra (Mystery)
As Nonna Maria’s longtime pal and sometimes colleague, Captain Murino, who is in charge of the local carabinieri, never wanted to see harm brought to the doorstep of everyone’s favorite amateur sleuth. But when you live a long life, you’re bound to make a few enemies. And when those enemies come calling, you have to rely on friends. Faced with an assassin seeking revenge for a decades-old grudge, Captain Murino has no choice but to turn to Maria, who must use all her neighborly resources, clever faculties and web of connections to save him from his perilous predicament. On the other side of the island, a second mystery begins to unfold at the deathbed of another of Maria’s old friends, as he hands his granddaughter a yellowed map and tells her of a treasure to be found in one of Ischia’s secret caverns. However, there are traps and pitfalls.
Bantam | 9780593499238

PASSIONS IN DEATH by J. D. Robb (Mystery/Thriller)
On a hot August night, Lt. Eve Dallas and her husband, Roarke, speed through the streets of Manhattan to the Down and Dirty club, where a joyful, boisterous pre-wedding girls’ night out has turned into a murder scene. One of the brides lies in a pool of blood, garroted in a private room where she was preparing a surprise for her fiancée --- two scrimped and saved-for tickets to Hawaii. Despite the dozens of people present, useful witnesses are hard to come by. Eve knows that the level of violence and the apparent premeditation involved suggest a volatile mix of hidden, heated passion and ice-cold calculation. This is a crime that can be countered only by hard detective work and relentless dedication. Eve will not stop until she finds the killer who destroyed this couple’s dreams before the honeymoon even began.
St. Martin’s Griffin | 9781250371362

THE PERFECT HOME by Daniel Kenitz (Domestic Thriller)
Paperback Original
Dawn Decker is an American everywoman and the salt to her husband Wyatt’s sweet, media-friendly charm on their Tennessee-based home renovation reality TV show, “The Perfect Home.” But the couple faces infertility issues stemming from Wyatt’s low sperm count. He secretly orders experimental fertility drugs, and they conceive, but his personality takes a dark turn --- he becomes moody, withdrawn and even cruel. When Dawn discovers his horrifying plot to manufacture a tragedy in order to skyrocket their celebrity status, she takes their infant twins and goes on the run. Wyatt appears on national television to turn the public against her, painting Dawn as an unstable kidnapper suffering from postpartum psychosis. His charm is so compelling that even Dawn’s closest friends doubt her.
Scribner | 9781668063873

THE REFORMATORY by Tananarive Due (Historical Fiction/Horror)
Twelve-year-old Robbie Stephens, Jr., is sentenced to six months at the Gracetown School for Boys, a reformatory, for kicking the son of the largest landowner in town in defense of his older sister, Gloria. So begins Robbie’s journey further into the terrors of the Jim Crow South and the very real horror of the school they call The Reformatory. Robbie has a talent for seeing ghosts, or haints. But what was once a comfort to him after the loss of his mother has become a window to the truth of what happens at the reformatory. Boys forced to work to remediate their so-called crimes have gone missing, but the haints Robbie sees hint at worse things. Meanwhile, Gloria is rallying every family member and connection in Florida to find a way to get Robbie out before it’s too late.
S&S/Saga Press | 9781982188351

RIVER OF LIES by James L'Etoile (Mystery/Thriller)
Paperback Original
When the homeless camps spread throughout the city of Sacramento fall victim to a string of devastating arson attacks, Detective Emily Hunter and her partner, Javier Medina, dive into the investigation and become acquainted with the real people whose lives have been destroyed. The attacks only begin to draw attention when two of the victims are identified as the city’s former anti-homeless mayor and a camp social worker. But rather than strengthening the push for justice, the movement to completely abolish the camps intensifies. The investigation becomes politically charged when Emily discovers who stands to gain from burning the homeless out of their shelters. It uncovers an unlikely suspect and a reluctant witness standing between Emily and the shocking truth.
Oceanview Publishing | 9781608095896

STILL SEE YOU EVERYWHERE by Lisa Gardner (Mystery/Thriller)
Missing persons expert and nomadic loner Frankie Elkin travels the country searching for the lost ones the rest of the world has forgotten. Her specialty: cold cases that generally end sadly. But this one could be different. Kaylee Pierson, “The Beautiful Butcher,” confessed from the start to enticing 18 men home before slitting their throats. As the clock winds down to her death, Pierson finally has received a lead on her baby sister, abducted years ago. Kaylee’s dying wish: to know Leilani is safe and sound. Frankie is eager to possibly rescue a teenage girl, even if it involves flying to a remote atoll in the Pacific, where a charming tycoon is constructing an eco-resort --- and possibly holding Leilani against her will. But now Frankie is trapped on an island with a dozen strangers and numerous deadly deceptions. As the danger mounts, she faces her toughest challenge.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538765081

TEMPLE OF SWOON by Jo Segura (Romantic Comedy)
Paperback Original
While her mentor may be the world’s most badass archaeologist, the only thing bad about Dr. Miriam Jacobs are her corny jokes. But when Miri is charged with leading an unmapped expedition through the Amazon for the fabled Lost City of the Moon, she finally has her chance to prove to her colleagues that she’s capable. Journalist Rafael Monfils has joined the archaeological team to chronicle their search for the lost city. Or at least that’s what they think he’s doing. Rafa’s real goal? Make sure the team does not reach the Cidade da Lua, stopping the desecration of the holy city and protecting his mother’s legacy. All he needs to do is keep them on the wrong path. If only the endearingly quirky Dr. Jacobs wasn’t so damn tenacious. But they’re not the only crew hunting for the lost city, and soon the untamed jungle --- and their untamed hearts --- might be the least of their worries.
Berkley | 9780593547489

WILD AND DISTANT SEAS by Tara Karr Roberts (Fiction)
Evangeline Hussey has made a home for herself on Nantucket, though she knows she is still an outsider to the island’s small, close-knit community. Her husband, Hosea, and the life they built together was once all she needed. But now Hosea is gone, lost at sea. Evangeline is only able to hold on to his inn, and her place on the island, by employing a curious gift to glimpse and re-form the recent memories of those who would cast her out. One night, an idealistic sailor appears on her doorstep asking her to call him Ishmael. Yet her careful illusion suddenly begins to fracture. He soon sails away with Ahab to hunt an infamous white whale, and Evangeline is left to forge a new life from the pieces that remain. Her choices ripple through generations, across continents and into the depths of the sea.
W. W. Norton & Company | 9781324105077

WILD HOUSES by Colin Barrett (Fiction)
As Ballina prepares for its biggest weekend of the year, introspective loner Dev answers his door on Friday night to find Doll English --- the younger brother of small-time local dealer Cillian English --- bruised and in the clutches of Gabe and Sketch Ferdia, County Mayo’s fraternal enforcers and Dev’s cousins. Dev’s quiet homelife is upturned as he is quickly and unwillingly drawn headlong into the Ferdias' frenetic revenge plot against Cillian. Meanwhile, Doll’s girlfriend, 17-year-old Nicky --- reeling from a fractious Friday and plagued by ghosts and tragedy of her own --- sets out on a feverish mission to save Doll, even as she questions her future in Ballina.
Grove Press | 9780802164209

THE YEAR OF THE LOCUST by Terry Hayes (Political Thriller)
If, like Kane, you’re a Denied Access Area spy for the CIA, then boundaries have no meaning. Your function is to go in, do whatever is required, and get out again --- by whatever means necessary. You know when to run, when to hide --- and when to shoot. But some places don’t play by the rules. Some places are too dangerous, even for a man of Kane’s experience. The badlands where the borders of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan meet are such a place --- a place where violence is the only way to survive. Kane travels there to exfiltrate a man with vital information for the safety of the West, but instead he meets an adversary who will take the world to the brink of extinction. A frightening, clever, vicious man with blood on his hands and vengeance in his heart.
Atria/Emily Bestler Books | 9781668055793

YELLOWFACE by R. F. Kuang (Fiction)
Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars. But while Athena is a literary darling, June is literally nobody. When June witnesses Athena’s death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athena’s just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers during World War I. So what if June edits Athena’s novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song --- complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? Doesn’t this piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller? But June can’t get away from Athena’s shadow, and emerging evidence threatens to bring June’s (stolen) success down around her.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780063250857

YOU HAVE TO BE PREPARED TO DIE BEFORE YOU CAN BEGIN TO LIVE: Ten Weeks in Birmingham That Changed America by Paul Kix (History)
It’s one of the iconic photographs of American history: a Black teenager, a policeman and his lunging German Shepherd. Birmingham, Alabama, May 1963. In May 2020, as reporter Paul Kix stared at a different photo --- that of a Minneapolis police officer suffocating George Floyd --- he kept returning to the other photo taken half a century earlier, haunted by its echoes. What, Kix wondered, was the full legacy of the Birmingham photo? And of the campaign it stemmed from? In YOU HAVE TO BE PREPARED TO DIE BEFORE YOU CAN BEGIN TO LIVE, Paul Kix takes the reader behind the scenes as he tells the story of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s pivotal 10-week campaign in 1963 to end segregation in Birmingham, Alabama.
Celadon Books | 9781250378088

YOU ONLY CALL WHEN YOU’RE IN TROUBLE by Stephen McCauley (Fiction)
After a lifetime of taking care of his impossible but irresistible sister and his cherished niece, Tom is ready to put himself first. An architect specializing in tiny houses, he finally has an opportunity to build his masterpiece. Assuming, that is, he can stick to his resolution to keep the demands of his needy family at bay. Naturally, that’s when his phone rings. His niece, Cecily --- the real love of Tom’s life, as his boyfriend reminded him when moving out --- is embroiled in a Title IX investigation at the college where she teaches that threatens her career and relationship. And after decades of lying, his sister wants him to help her tell Cecily the real identity of her father. Tom does what he’s always done --- answers the call. Thus begins a journey that will change everyone’s life.
Holt Paperbacks | 9781250296818

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