March 11, 2025

March 11, 2025

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In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of March 10th and March 17th that we think will be of interest to Bookreporter.com readers, along with Bonus News, where we call out a contest, feature or review that we want to let you know about so you have it on your radar.

This week, we are calling attention to our special contest for Brenda Coffee’s upcoming book, MAYA BLUE: A Memoir of Survival. This suspenseful, fast-paced memoir that reads like a thriller will strike a chord with those who have lost their voice or had trouble finding their power. In anticipation of the book’s May 20th release, we are awarding an advance copy to 25 readers and asking them to share their feedback about it with us. The deadline for your entries is Friday, March 21st at noon ET.

Join Us Tomorrow Afternoon!

This Week's Bonus News:
Our Special Contest for MAYA BLUE by Brenda Coffee
Enter to Win One of 25 Advance Copies
and Share Your Comments on It

MAYA BLUE by Brenda Coffee is a searingly honest and unforgettable memoir that challenges women to rethink everything they know about survival, resilience and finding their voice.

We have 25 advance copies to give away to those who would like to read the book, which releases on May 20th, and share their comments on it. All winners must be prepared to provide their feedback by Monday, May 12th.

To enter, please fill out this form by Friday, March 21st at noon ET.

MAYA BLUE: A Memoir of Survival by Brenda Coffee (Memoir)
At 21, Brenda Coffee surrendered herself to her marriage and became a woman who would do almost anything her charismatic and powerful older husband, Philip Ray, wanted. Regardless of whether it was dangerous, adventurous, sexual or illegal, she wanted to be the one woman he couldn’t live without.

Brenda and Philip’s life together was a fairy tale until it wasn’t. Until Philip, the founder of two high-profile, groundbreaking public companies, began making real cocaine in their basement and became addicted. Until the Big Six tobacco companies threatened their lives for creating the first smokeless cigarette --- Brenda coined the terms vape and vaping --- and brutal Guatemalan military commandos forced her into the jungle at gunpoint.

A suspenseful, fast-paced memoir that reads like a thriller, MAYA BLUE will strike a chord with those who have lost their voice or had trouble finding their power. It will resonate with those who live with an addict or have grieved the loss of a spouse. But above all, it is an inspiring reminder that as long as you never surrender your voice and always keep your wits about you, you can survive almost anything.

- Click here to read Brenda Coffee's bio.
- Visit Brenda Coffee's website and her popular Brenda's Blog.
- Connect with Brenda Coffee on Facebook and Instagram.

Click here to enter the contest.

Upcoming Virtual Book and Author Events

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

Wednesday, March 12th at 2pm ET: "Bookaccino Live" Book Preview: Carol Fitzgerald will present titles releasing between March 11th and April 1st, along with a few from May, that we would like to get on your radar. Included will be fiction; historical fiction; thrillers and mysteries; and memoirs, biographies and other nonfiction.

Wednesday, March 12th at 7pm ET: “Friends & Fiction”: Join “Friends & Fiction” for a conversation with Patti Callahan Henry about her latest novel, THE STORY SHE LEFT BEHIND, the sweeping story of a legendary book, a lost mother, and a daughter’s search for them both.

Wednesday, March 12th at 7pm ET: Tewksbury Public Library: In this installment of “Author Hour in Massachusetts,” Lisa Unger will discuss her new thriller, CLOSE YOUR EYES AND COUNT TO 10, with Tim Ehrenberg, creator of Tim Talks Books.

Wednesday, March 12th at 7pm ET: Warwick's: Warwick's presents Nathaniel Ian Miller as he discusses his new book, RED DOG FARM, with Thao Thai. This atmospheric novel is about family, friends and falling in love, as a young man tries to find purpose on a struggling Icelandic cattle farm.

Tuesday, March 18th at 7pm ET: Tewksbury Public Library: In this installment of “Author Hour in Massachusetts,” Lauren Willig will discuss her new historical mystery, THE GIRL FROM GREENWICH STREET: A Novel of Hamilton, Burr, and America's First Murder Trial.

On Sale the Week of March 10th in Hardcover

March 11th

33 PLACE BRUGMANN by Alice Austen (Historical Fiction)
On the eve of the Nazi occupation, in the heart of Brussels, life for the residents of 33 Place Brugmann is about to change forever. Charlotte Sauvin knows all the details of the building and its people --- including the distinct knock of her dear friend, Julian Raphaël. Then the Raphaëls disappear, leaving everything behind but their priceless art collection, which has simply vanished. All else that’s familiar fractures when whispers of German occupation become reality, and the lives of the residents grow increasingly intertwined. Charlotte’s godmother, Masha, deepens her risky affair with a wartime compatriot of Colonel Warlemont --- a man far more calculating than his neighbors believe. When a Nazi functionary with an interest in the Raphaëls moves into the building, knowing who can and cannot be trusted becomes a matter of life and death.
Grove Press | 9780802164087

ACCIDENTS HAPPEN AND OTHER STORIES by F.H. Batacan (Crime Fiction/Short Stories)
In ACCIDENTS HAPPEN, F.H. Batacan explores the darkest corners of human experience, depicting with pitch-black humor the systems of class and politics that her characters are trapped in and the moments of violence that can shatter their lives. In particular, Batacan shines an unsparing light on the epidemic of violence against women in the Philippines. When a wealthy politician’s 12-year-old son disappears, the family’s driver witnesses the aftermath. A field investigator for the World Health Organization travels the globe giving presentations about a biomedical enzyme that will lead to the extinction of the human race. And Father Augusto Saenz, the Jesuit priest and forensic anthropologist from SMALLER AND SMALLER CIRCLES, returns to investigate the murder of a woman whose secretive life holds the key to her death.
Soho Crime | 9781641295116

ALL THE OTHER MOTHERS HATE ME by Sarah Harman (Domestic Thriller/Mystery)
Florence Grimes is a 31-year-old party girl who always takes the easy way out. Single, broke and unfulfilled after the humiliating end to her girl band career, she has only one reason to get out of bed each day: her 10-year-old son, Dylan. But then Alfie Risby, her son’s bully and the heir to a vast frozen food empire, mysteriously vanishes during a class trip, and Dylan becomes the prime suspect. Florence, for once, is faced with a task she can’t quit: She has to find Alfie and clear her son’s name, or risk losing Dylan forever. The only problem? Florence has no useful skills, let alone investigative ones, and all the other school moms hate her. Oh, and Florence has a reason to suspect that Dylan might not be as innocent as she’d like to believe.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780593851463

THE ANTIDOTE by Karen Russell (Historical Fiction)
THE ANTIDOTE opens on Black Sunday, as a historic dust storm ravages the fictional town of Uz, Nebraska. But Uz is already collapsing --- not just under the weight of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl drought but beneath its own violent histories. Karen Russell’s novel follows a "Prairie Witch,” whose body serves as a bank vault for people's memories and secrets; a Polish wheat farmer who learns how quickly a hoarded blessing can become a curse; his orphan niece, a basketball star and witch’s apprentice in furious flight from her grief; a voluble scarecrow; and a New Deal photographer whose time-traveling camera threatens to reveal both the town’s secrets and its fate.
Knopf | 9780593802250

THE CALIFORNIANS by Brian Castleberry (Fiction)
It’s 2024, and Tobey Harlan steals from the wall of his father’s house three paintings by the venerated and controversial artist Di Stiegl. Tobey has just lost everything he owns to a Northern California wildfire, and if he can sell the paintings (albeit in a shady way to a notorious tech bro), he can start life anew in a place no one will ever find him. A hundred years before, German-Jewish immigrant Klaus Aaronsohn inveigles his way into a film studio in Astoria, Queens. He will restyle himself Klaus von Stiegl, a mysterious aristocratic German film director, and end his career directing “Brackett,” a radical, notorious ’60s-era detective show. Weaving between Tobey and Klaus is the story of Diane “Di” Stiegl, Klaus’ granddaughter, raised in Palm Springs, who claws out a career as an artist in gritty 1980s NYC.
Mariner Books | 9780063213333

CARE AND FEEDING: A Memoir by Laurie Woolever (Memoir)
In CARE AND FEEDING, Laurie Woolever traces her path from a small-town childhood to working at revered restaurants and food publications, alternately bolstered and overshadowed by two of the most powerful men in the business. But there’s more to the story than the two bold-faced names on her resume: Mario Batali and Anthony Bourdain. Behind the scenes, Laurie’s life is frequently chaotic, an often pleasurable buffet of bad decisions at which she frequently overstays her welcome. As the food world careens toward an overdue reckoning and Laurie’s mentors face their own high-profile descents, she is confronted with the questions of where she belongs and how to hold on to the parts of her life’s work that she truly values: care and feeding.
Ecco | 9780063327603

GALAPHILE: The First Druids of Shannara by Terry Brooks (Fantasy)
One of the most iconic structures in the Four Lands is Paranor, the fortress home of the Druid Order. Legend holds that it was erected by an Elven leader known as Galaphile Joss. But who was this Galaphile, and how and why did he choose to establish this center of magic and learning? Within these pages we meet the real Galaphile, following him from a friendless teenage orphan stranded in the Human world to a powerful adult and master mage, studying under the infamous recluse, Cogline. Throughout it all, Galaphile’s goal is a noble one: to bring order to a chaotic world, and to make life better for those trying to survive it. To this end, he commences building the citadel that one day will be known as Paranor with the aid of the King of the Silver River. But there is one other who seeks dominion over the Four Lands --- and for far less virtuous ends.
Del Rey | 9780593129807

GIRL ANONYMOUS by Christina Dodd (Romantic Suspense)
As a child, Maarja Daire saw her mother ignite an explosion that killed vengeful mob boss Benoit Arundel --- and herself --- to save Maarja’s life. Maarja has been on the run ever since…fleeing from intimacy, from love, from consequences. Now an adult, Maarja hides in plain sight as a fine arts mover, transporting priceless belongings. Work for a new client brings her to the mansion where the fateful blast from her childhood occurred. There she meets Dante, the ruthless, scarred and brooding Arundel family boss. He watches her with dark intent. But does he remember her? Will he use her to take revenge for his father’s death? A chance turn of events earns her his trust, when she courageously leaps into flames to rescue his mother. And what happens between them in the darkness sets their worlds on fire, as Maarja recklessly abandons her lifelong caution and self-imposed isolation.
Canary Street Press | 9781335463524

GIRL FALLING by Hayley Scrivenor (Mystery/Thriller)
Torn between her girlfriend, Magdu, and her best friend, Daphne, Finn is looking forward to a day of rock climbing and bonding for the three women on the soaring cliffs near their Australian town. But nothing goes as she planned, and in a horrific accident, Magdu falls to her death. Rocked by grief, Finn tries to pinpoint where it all went wrong. Did Magdu die because of Finn’s friendship with overbearing Daphne, who has never wanted Finn to change or leave her? Can Finn trace it all the way back to the tragic childhood loss of her sister? What about Magdu’s family, who never would have accepted their relationship? When the police suspect foul play in Magdu’s death, Finn begins to search for the shocking truth about her relationships and what has been in front of her all along.
Flatiron Books | 9781250362179

GODDESS COMPLEX by Sanjena Sathian (Fiction)
Sanjana Satyananda is trying to recover her life. It’s been a year since she walked out on her husband, a struggling actor named Killian, at a commune in India, after a disagreement about whether to have children. Now, Sanjana is struggling to resurrect her busted anthropology dissertation and crashing at her annoyingly perfect sister’s while her well-adjusted peers obsess over marriages, mortgages and motherhood. Sanjana needs to move forward --- and finalize her divorce ASAP. There’s just one problem: Killian is missing. As Sanjana tries to track him down, she’s bombarded with unnerving calls from women seeking her advice on pregnancy and fertility. Soon, Sanjana comes face to face with what her life might have been if she’d chosen parenthood. And the road not taken turns out to be wilder, stranger and more tempting than she imagined.
Penguin Press | 9780593489772

HOMESTAND: Small Town Baseball and the Fight for the Soul of America by Will Bardenwerper (Sports/Memoir)
Batavia, New York --- between Rochester and Buffalo --- hosted its first professional baseball game in 1897. Despite decades of deindustrialization and evaporating middle-class jobs, the Batavia Muckdogs endured. When Major League Baseball cravenly shut them down in 2020 --- along with 41 other minor league teams --- the town fought back, reviving the Muckdogs as a summer league team comprised of college players. As MLB considers further cuts and private equity buys up what remains, the mom-and-pop operations once prevalent in baseball are endangered. But for now, the sights and sounds of local baseball live on in Batavia. Will Bardenwerper's HOMESTAND exposes the beating heart of small town America, friends and neighbors coming together as the crack of the bat echoes in the summer twilight.
Doubleday | 9780385549653

HOW TO LOVE BETTER: The Path to Deeper Connection Through Growth, Kindness, and Compassion by Yung Pueblo (Love & Relationships/Personal Growth)
Love enters our lives in many forms: friends, family, intimate partners. But all of these relationships are deeply influenced by the love we have for ourselves. If we see our relationships as opportunities to be fully present in our healing and growth, then we can transform and meet one another with compassion instead of judgment. In HOW TO LOVE BETTER, Yung Pueblo examines all aspects of relationships --- from the rose-colored early days when you may be hesitant to show your full self, to the challenges that can arise without clear communication, to dealing with heartbreak and healing as you close a chapter of your life. Ego and attachment can become barriers in a relationship, so the more self-aware you become, the more you can support both your partner and yourself.
Harmony | 9780593582275

THE HUMAN SCALE by Lawrence Wright (Thriller)
Tony Malik, a half-Irish, half-Arab FBI agent based in New York, specializes in tracking money from drug and arms deals. His life takes a dramatic turn when a long-term relationship ends and his job hangs in the balance. Amid personal turmoil, Malik becomes intrigued by his Palestinian father's past. He decides to visit his ancestral homeland for his niece's wedding, accepting a seemingly simple FBI assignment along the way. Upon arrival in Gaza, Malik's world is upended when the Israeli police chief is murdered. Initially a suspect, Malik's investigative prowess soon earns him a place in the Israeli investigation. At the heart of the story is Malik's complex relationship with Yossi, the hardline anti-Arab Israeli police officer leading the case.
Knopf | 9780593537831

THE JACKAL'S MISTRESS by Chris Bohjalian (Historical Thriller)
Virginia, 1864. Libby Steadman’s husband has been away for so long that she can barely conjure his voice in her dreams. While she longs for him in the night, fearing him dead in a Union prison camp, her days are spent running a gristmill with her teenage niece, a hired hand and his wife. It’s an uneasy life in the Shenandoah Valley, and Libby awakens every morning expecting to see her land a battlefield. And then she finds a gravely injured Union officer left for dead in a neighbor’s house. Captain Jonathan Weybridge of the Vermont Brigade is her enemy --- but he’s also a human being, and Libby must make a terrible decision: Does she leave him to die alone? Or does she risk treason and try to nurse him back to health? And if she succeeds, does she try to secretly bring him across Union lines, where she might negotiate a trade for news of her own husband?
Doubleday | 9780385547642

JANE AND DAN AT THE END OF THE WORLD by Colleen Oakley (Fiction/Humor)
Jane is a mother of two who feels unneeded by her teenagers, and her writing career has screeched to an unsuccessful halt. Her one published novel sold under 500 copies. And she’s pretty sure that her husband, Dan, is cheating on her. When the couple goes to the renowned upscale restaurant La Fin du Monde to celebrate their 19th anniversary, Jane thinks it’s as good a place as any to tell Dan she wants a divorce. But before they even get to the second course, an underground climate activist group bursts into the dining room. Nearly everything the disorganized and bumbling activists say and do is right out of the pages of Jane’s failed book. Even Dan admits it’s eerily familiar. Which means they’re the only ones who know what’s going to happen next. And they’re the only ones who can stop it.
Berkley | 9780593200827

KATE & FRIDA: A Novel of Friendship, Food, and Books by Kim Fay (Fiction)
Twentysomething Frida Rodriguez arrives in Paris in 1991, relishing the city’s butter-soaked cuisine and seeking her future as a war correspondent. But then she writes to a bookshop in Seattle and receives more than just the book she requests. A friendship begins that will redefine the person she wants to become. Seattle bookseller Kate Fair is transformed by Frida’s free spirit, spurred to believe in herself as a writer, kiss her handsome coworker, and find beauty even in loss. Through the most tumultuous years of their young lives --- personally and globally --- Kate and Frida sustain and nourish each other as they learn the necessity of embracing joy, especially through our darkest hours.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780593852385

LIQUID: A Love Story by Mariam Rahmani (Fiction)
The unnamed Iranian-Indian American narrator of LIQUID has always believed herself to be the smartest person in the room. And from an early age, she and her best friend --- a poet-turned-marketer named Adam --- have turned their noses up at other peoples’ riches. But two years after earning a PhD from UCLA, the narrator is no closer to the middle-class comfort promised to her by the prestige of her fancy, scholarship-funded education and the successes of her immigrant parents. After Adam jokingly suggests that she just "marry rich," our protagonist makes a spreadsheet and outlines a goal: 100 dates with people of all genders and a marriage proposal in hand by the official start of the fall semester. Only a tragedy in Tehran and an overdue familial reckoning can alter the narrator’s increasingly manic trajectory and force her to confront the contradictions of her life in Los Angeles.
Algonquin Books | 9781643756509

THE MAN NOBODY KILLED: Life, Death, and Art in Michael Stewart's New York by Elon Green (True Crime)
At 25 years old, Michael Stewart was a young Black aspiring artist, deejay and model, looking to make a name for himself in the vibrant downtown art scene of the early 1980s New York City. On September 15, 1983, he was brutally beaten by New York City Transit Authority police for allegedly tagging a 14th Street subway station wall. Witnesses reported officers beating him with billy clubs and choking him with a nightstick. Stewart arrived at Bellevue Hospital hog-tied with no heartbeat and died after 13 days in a coma. This was, at that point, the most widely noticed act of police brutality in the city's history. THE MAN NOBODY KILLED recounts the cultural impact of Michael Stewart’s life and death.
Celadon Books | 9781250898227

ROSE OF JERICHO by Alex Grecian (Historical Fantasy/Supernatural Horror)
Something wicked is going on in the village of Ascension. A mother wasting away from cancer is suddenly up and about. A boy trampled by a milk cart walks away from the accident. A hanged man can still speak, broken neck and all. The dead are not dying. When Rabbit and Sadie Grace accompany their friend, Rose, to Ascension to help take care of her ailing cousin, they immediately notice that their new house, Bethany Hall, is occupied by dozens of ghosts. And something is waiting for them in the attic. The villagers of Ascension are unwelcoming and wary of their weird visitors. As the three women attempt to find out what’s happening in the town, they must be careful not to be found out. But a much larger --- and more dangerous --- force is galloping straight for them.
Tor Nightfire | 9781250874719

SILENT AS THE GRAVE: A Molly Murphy Mystery by Rhys Bowen and Clare Broyles (Historical Mystery)
With a newborn and two children, Molly Murphy Sullivan is tackling motherhood. Her husband, Daniel, is off to work in Washington as Easter break begins in New York. Her dear friend and writer, Ryan O’Hara, is shooting a movie and invites her and the children to visit the set. When one of the actresses is fired, Molly’s adopted daughter, Bridie, is called to replace her in the scene. It turns out she is a natural and is asked to star in the rest of the film. The movie industry is still experimenting with ways to get the best shot. But soon, their special effects start to malfunction. After a few mishaps where no one is hurt, the special effects turn deadly. With rumors of a feud between studios, Molly believes these malfunctions are sabotage. She is invited to go undercover on set to investigate the burgeoning film war.
Minotaur Books | 9781250890818

THE TELL: A Memoir by Amy Griffin (Memoir)
For decades, Amy Griffin ran. Through the dirt roads of Amarillo, Texas, where she grew up; to the campus of the University of Virginia, as a student athlete; on the streets of New York, where she built her adult life; through marriage, motherhood and a thriving career. To outsiders, it all looked, in many ways, perfect. But Amy was running from something --- a secret she was keeping not only from her family and friends, but unconsciously from herself. “You’re here, but you’re not here,” her daughter said to her one night. “Where are you, Mom?” So began Amy’s quest to solve a mystery trapped in the deep recesses of her own memory --- a journey that would take her into the burgeoning field of psychedelic therapy, to the limits of the judicial system, and, ultimately, home to the Texas panhandle, where her story began.
The Dial Press | 9780593731208

WE TELL OURSELVES STORIES: Joan Didion and the American Dream Machine by Alissa Wilkinson (Cultural Biography)
Joan Didion opened THE WHITE ALBUM (1979) with what would become one of the most iconic lines in American literature: “We tell ourselves stories in order to live.” Today, this phrase is deployed inspirationally, printed on T-shirts and posters, used as a battle cry for artists and writers. In truth, Didion was describing something much less rosy: our human tendency to manufacture delusions that might ward away our anxieties when society seems to spin off its axis. Nowhere was this collective hallucination more effectively crafted than in Hollywood. In this riveting cultural biography, New York Times film critic Alissa Wilkinson examines Joan Didion’s influence through the lens of American mythmaking.
Liveright | 9781324092612

WHITE KING by Juan Gómez-Jurado (Mystery/Thriller)
Antonia Scott has an unusually gifted forensic mind, whose ability to reconstruct crimes and solve baffling murders is legendary. She’s the linchpin of a top-secret project, Red Queen, created to work across borders and behind the scenes to solve the most devious and dangerous crimes. But the Red Queen project is under attack on all fronts. The mysterious Mr. White has been weaving a web around Antonia for a very long time. Jon Gutierrez, Antonia’s protector and the only person she trusts, has been kidnapped. Antonia’s husband has been killed, and her remaining family is in hiding. With Jon’s life at stake, Mr. White gives her a seemingly innocuous challenge: solve three crimes and bring the perpetrators to justice. The only way to keep Jon alive is to play Mr. White’s game. But can even Antonia win a game when she can only see part of the board?
Minotaur Books | 9781250853714

THE WOMEN ON PLATFORM TWO by Laura Anthony (Historical Fiction)
Dublin, 1969: Maura has just married Dr. Christy Davenport, and they look forward to growing their family. But as her husband’s vicious temper emerges, Maura worries that her home might never be safe for a child. Meanwhile, her close friend Bernie, a mother of three, learns the devastating news that if she conceives again, her health complications could prove fatal. Dublin, 2023: A close call makes Saoirse realize that she may never want to be a mother. Little does she know that only a few decades ago, a group of women made this option possible for her. And she’s about to meet one of them.
Gallery Books | 9781668047385

On Sale the Week of March 10th in Paperback

March 11th

2054 by Elliot Ackerman and Admiral James Stavridis (Speculative Thriller)
It is 20 years after the catastrophic war between the United States and China that brought down the old American political order. A new party has emerged in the US, and efforts to cement its grip have resulted in mounting violent resistance. The American president has control of the media, but he is beginning to lose control of the streets. Many fear he’ll stop at nothing to remain in the White House. Suddenly, he collapses in the middle of an address to the nation. After an initial flurry of misinformation, the administration reluctantly announces his death. A cover-up ensues, conspiracy theories abound, and the country descends into a new type of civil war. All signs point to a profound breakthrough in AI, of which the remote assassination of an American president is hardly the most game-changing ramification.
Penguin Books | 9780593489888

THE ANATOMY OF MAGIC by J.C. Cervantes (Fiction/Magical Realism)
Paperback Original
Lilian Estrada is part of a family of fiercely loyal and exceptional women, all bound together by an extraordinary secret. The Estrada women each possess a unique power, and Lily shines with the rare gift to manipulate memories. Yet not even her mystical abilities can shield her from a harrowing event at the hospital, one that sends her powers --- and her confidence --- spiraling out of control. Seeking solace, Lily retreats to her family's ancestral home in Mexico, only to find herself face to face with a ghost from her past --- Sam, the first love she never forgot. Nearly a decade since she last saw him, Sam is hardly the boy she once knew. As old flames spark to life, Lily must navigate the mysteries of their shared history and the depths of her own heart if she hopes to control her unpredictable magic.
Park Row | 9780778310822

BEGIN AGAIN by Helly Acton (Romantic Comedy)
Frankie McKenzie dies in a freak kebab-related accident after what she sees as yet another dud of a first date. But life isn’t over for Frankie. Instead, she is miraculously offered a second chance: Frankie can revisit key moments from her past to see if different choices will lead her to the fulfilling life she’s always dreamt of. Should she decide to languidly lounge by warm Mexican waters with sexy Raphael? Or say yes to the proposal of earnestly reliable university-sweetheart Toby? Perhaps a worry-free gilded cage with Callum is the solution! Or what about that high-powered media career she thought she wanted? Soon, Frankie will see what her life would have been if only she’d caught that one-way flight, accepted the marriage proposal, or attended the intimidating job interview.
Avon | 9780063345355

THE BLUES BROTHERS: An Epic Friendship, the Rise of Improv, and the Making of an American Film Classic by Daniel de Visé (Biography/Performing Arts)
“They’re not going to catch us,” Dan Aykroyd, as Elwood Blues, tells his brother Jake, played by John Belushi. “We’re on a mission from God.” So opens the musical action comedy The Blues Brothers, which hit theaters on June 20, 1980. Much delayed and vastly over budget, beset by mercurial and oft-drugged-out stars, the film opened to outraged reviews. However, in the 45 years since, it has been acknowledged a classic. Based on original research and dozens of interviews probing the memories of principals from director John Landis and producer Bob Weiss to Aykroyd himself, THE BLUES BROTHERS illuminates an American masterpiece while vividly portraying the creative geniuses behind modern comedy.
Grove Press | 9780802164360

CHARLIE HUSTLE: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball by Keith O'Brien (Sports/Biography)
Pete Rose is a legend. A baseball god. He compiled more hits than anyone in the history of baseball, a record he set decades ago that still stands today. He was a working-class white guy from Cincinnati who made it. He was everything that America wanted and needed him to be, the American dream personified --- until he wasn’t. In the 1980s, Pete Rose came to be at the center of one of the biggest scandals in baseball history. He kept secrets, ran with bookies, took on massive gambling debts, and was magnificently, publicly cast out for betting on baseball and lying about it. The revelations that followed ruined him, changed life in Cincinnati and forever altered the game. CHARLIE HUSTLE tells the full story of one of America’s most epic tragedies --- the rise and fall of Pete Rose.
Vintage | 9780593469392

DEVOUT: A Memoir of Doubt by Anna Gazmarian (Memoir)
In this revelatory memoir, Anna Gazmarian tells the story of how her evangelical upbringing in North Carolina failed to help her understand the mental health diagnosis she received, and the work she had to do to find proper medical treatment while also maintaining her faith. When Anna is diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2011, she’s faced with a conundrum. While the diagnosis provides clarity about her manic and depressive episodes, she must confront the stigma that her evangelical community attaches to her condition. Over the course of 10 years, we follow Anna on her journey to reframe her understanding of mental health to expand the limits of what her religious practice can offer.
Simon & Schuster | 9781668004043

THE FELLOWSHIP OF PUZZLEMAKERS by Samuel Burr (Fiction)
Clayton Stumper might be in his 20s, but he dresses like your grandpa and fusses like your aunt. Abandoned at birth on the steps of the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers, he was raised by a group of eccentric enigmatologists and now finds himself among the last survivors of a fading institution. When the esteemed crossword compiler and main maternal presence in Clayton’s life, Pippa Allsbrook, passes away, she bestows her final puzzle on him: a promise to reveal the mystery of his parentage and prepare him for life beyond the walls of the commune. So begins Clay’s quest to uncover the secrets surrounding his birth, secrets that will change Clay --- and the Fellowship --- forever.
Vintage | 9780593470114

FLUX by Jinwoo Chong (Speculative Thriller)
Four days before Christmas, eight-year-old Bo loses his mother in a tragic accident; 28-year-old Brandon loses his job after a hostile takeover of his big-media employer; and 48-year-old Blue, a key witness in a criminal trial against an infamous now-defunct tech startup, struggles to reconnect with his family. So begins Jinwoo Chong’s dazzling, time-bending debut that blends elements of neo-noir and speculative fiction as the lives of Bo, Brandon and Blue begin to intersect, uncovering a vast network of secrets and an experimental technology that threatens to upend life itself. Intertwined with them is the saga of an iconic ’80s detective show, "Raider," whose star actor has imploded spectacularly after revelations of long-term, concealed abuse.
Melville House | 9781685891930

THE FRIENDSHIP CLUB by Robyn Carr (Fiction)
Celebrity cooking show host Marni McGuire has been married twice, widowed and divorced. Now in her mid-50s, she’s single. Happily so. She just needs to convince her pregnant daughter, Bella, of this fact. And maybe convince herself, too. Especially after Marni’s efforts to humor her determined daughter result in a series of disastrous dates that somehow prompt Marni to wonder if maybe the right man for her is still out there after all. Similarly single, Marni’s best friend and colleague is confident she’s content without a man, but both older women soon find themselves leading by example as the young intern on their show appears caught in a toxic relationship --- and Bella reveals her own marriage maybe isn’t built to withstand the stresses of the baby on the way. Suddenly, all four women find themselves at a crossroads.
Mira | 9780778305415

GHOST DOGS: On Killers and Kin by Andre Dubus III (Memoir/Essays)
During childhood summers in Louisiana, Andre Dubus III’s grandfather taught him that men’s work is hard. As an adult, whether tracking down a drug lord in Mexico as a bounty hunter or grappling with privilege while living with a rich girlfriend in New York City, Dubus worked --- at being a better worker and a better human being. GHOST DOGS is Dubus’ retelling of his own successes, failures, triumphs and pain. In his longest essay, “If I Owned a Gun,” Dubus reflects on the empowerment and shame he felt in keeping a gun and his decision, ultimately, to give it up. Elsewhere, he writes of a violent youth and of settled domesticity and fatherhood, about the omnipresent expectations and contradictions of masculinity, about the things writers remember and those they forget.
W. W. Norton & Company | 9781324105046

HEADSHOT by Rita Bullwinkel (Fiction)
An unexpected tragedy at a community pool. A family’s unrelenting expectation of victory. The desire to gain or lose control; to make time speed up or stop; to be frighteningly, undeniably good at something. Each of the eight teenage girl boxers in HEADSHOT has her own reasons for the sacrifices she has made to come to Reno, Nevada, to compete to be named the best in the country. Through a series of face-offs that are raw, ecstatic, and punctuated by flashes of humor and tenderness, prizewinning writer Rita Bullwinkel animates the competitors’ pasts and futures as they summon the emotion, imagination and force of will required to win.
Penguin Books | 9780593654125

THE HEARING TEST by Eliza Barry Callahan (Fiction)
When the narrator of THE HEARING TEST, an artist in her late 20s, awakens one morning to a deep drone in her right ear, she is diagnosed with Sudden Deafness but is offered no explanation for its cause. As the specter of total deafness looms, she keeps a record of her year --- a score of estrangement and enchantment, of luck and loneliness, of the chance occurrences to which she becomes attuned --- while living alone in a New York City studio apartment with her dog. Through a series of fleeting and often humorous encounters --- with neighbors, an ex-lover, doctors, strangers, family members, faraway friends, and with the lives and works of artists, filmmakers, musicians and philosophers --- making meaning becomes a form of consolation and curiosity, a form of survival.
Catapult | 9781646222704

THE LAST MURDER AT THE END OF THE WORLD by Stuart Turton (Dystopian Mystery/Thriller)
Outside the island, there is nothing. The world was destroyed by a fog that swept the planet, killing anyone it touched. On the island, it is idyllic. One hundred and twenty-two villagers and three scientists are living in peaceful harmony. Until, to the horror of the islanders, one of their beloved scientists is found stabbed to death. And then they learn that the murder has triggered a lowering of the security system around the island, the only thing that was keeping the fog at bay. If the murder isn't solved within 107 hours, the fog will smother the island --- and everyone on it. But the security system also has wiped everyone's memories of exactly what happened the night before, which means that someone on the island is a murderer --- and they don't even know it. And the clock is ticking.
Sourcebooks Landmark | 9781464245657

THE LIMITS by Nell Freudenberger (Fiction)
From Mo’orea, a tiny volcanic island off the coast of Tahiti, a French biologist obsessed with saving Polynesia’s imperiled coral reefs sends her 15-year-old daughter, Pia, to live with her ex-husband, Stephen, and his new wife, Kate, in New York. A schoolteacher, Kate struggles to connect with a teenager whose capacity for destruction seems exceeded only by her privilege. Meanwhile, one of her 16-year-old students is already caring for a toddler full time. Athyna’s love for her nephew, Marcus, is a burden that becomes heavier as she struggles to finish her senior year online. Just as her fear of what is waiting for her outside her Staten Island community feels insupportable, an incident at home makes her desperate to leave. When their lives collide, Pia and Athyna spiral toward parallel but inescapably different tragedies.
Vintage | 9780593448908

LION & LAMB by James Patterson and Duane Swierczynski (Thriller)
Philadelphia is in a state of shock over the fate of two hometown heroes: Eagles starting quarterback Archie Hughes and his even more famous wife, Grammy-winning singer Francine Hughes. One spouse is murdered. The other is suspect #1. Even before the case hits the courtroom, it’s the hottest ticket in town. For the defense: Cooper Lamb, private investigator to the stars. For the prosecution: Veena Lion, a sleuth so bright she has to wear shades. Between them, they know every secret in Philadelphia. Together, they prove how two wrongs can make a right. They are Lion & Lamb.
Little, Brown and Company | 9781538710760

LITTLE UNDERWORLD by Chris Harding Thornton (Noir/Historical Mystery)
Omaha, 1930. PI Jim Beely’s life wasn’t a peach to begin with. And now there’s a dead guy in his backseat. The last thing he needs to deal with is a cop --- much less the notoriously crooked Frank Tvrdik. But where a square-dealing lawman would see homicide, Frank spots opportunity. He can make the body disappear. All Jim needs to do is double-cross a politician bent on shuttering Omaha’s speakeasies, some of the few places to make an illegal, honest living in a city that’s a racket. After the double-cross goes haywire, Jim gets his bell rung in a bizarre attack. A man on his payroll turns up dead. And Jim and Frank form an unlikely alliance, digging for the reality behind patently false headlines. All the while, the death toll mounts, outmatched only by the absurdity of it all. As the clock runs down, Jim and Frank must make a choice that can’t be unmade.
Picador | 9781250371805

A MIDNIGHT PUZZLE: A Secret Staircase Novel by Gigi Pandian (Mystery)
Secret Staircase Construction is under attack, and Tempest Raj feels helpless. After former client Julian Rhodes tried to kill his wife, he blamed her "accident" on the home renovation company’s craftsmanship. Now the family business --- known for bringing magic into homes through hidden doors, floating staircases and architectural puzzle walls --- is at a breaking point. No amount of Scottish and Indian meals from her grandfather can distract Tempest from the truth: they’re being framed. When Tempest receives an urgent midnight phone call from Julian, she decides to meet him at the historic Whispering Creek Theater --- only to find his dead body, a sword through his chest. After a blade appears from thin air to claim another victim, Tempest is certain they’re dealing with a booby trap...something Secret Staircase Construction easily could build.
Minotaur Books | 9781250880222

THE MORNINGSIDE by Téa Obreht (Fiction)
After being expelled from their ancestral home in a not-so-distant future, Silvia and her mother finally settle at the Morningside, a crumbling luxury tower where Silvia’s aunt Ena serves as the superintendent. Silvia knows almost nothing about the place where she was born and spent her early years, nor does she fully understand why she and her mother had to leave. But in Ena, Silvia finds a person willing to give glimpses into the folktales of her demolished homeland. Enchanted by Ena’s stories, Silvia begins seeing the world with magical possibilities and becomes obsessed with Bezi Duras, the mysterious older woman who lives in the penthouse of the Morningside. Silvia’s mission to unravel the truth about this woman’s life, and her own haunted past, may end up costing her everything.
Random House Trade Paperbacks | 9781984855527

A MOTHER’S LOVE by Sara Blaedel (Thriller)
Paperback Original
When innkeeper Dorthe Hyllested is found murdered, the police are surprised and puzzled to discover a concealed nursery in her upstairs apartment. As far as her friends and family knew, the recently widowed Dorthe was childless. So who lived in this secret toy-strewn room? And, more importantly, where is the child now? Detective Louise Rick has just taken on a challenging new job as head of the freshly created Mobile Task Unit, which is charged with solving the most difficult cases all over Denmark. Could the mystery of Dorthe’s murder and the hidden child have something to do with the cabin in the woods behind the inn where men are often seen coming and going at all hours? Louise finds herself grasping at unlikely connections, but the twisted story she begins to uncover turns out to be darker and more dangerous than she ever imagined.
Dutton | 9780593850541

MY BIG FAT FAKE MARRIAGE by Charlotte Stein (Romantic Comedy)
Paperback Original
Connie has always distrusted nice guys. In her experience, they’re just waiting to reveal some horrible secret. And then she meets editor extraordinaire Henry Samuel Beckett, who’s so cheery that she struggles to believe he’s real. Until Beck tells her the secret underneath his sunny surface: He’s been single all his life. But in a moment of panic, he’s told everyone at his publishing house that he’s married. And when Connie, an aspiring writer herself, can’t help defending him, she ends up being the fake wife he doesn’t actually have. When they head off on a writing retreat, surrounded by people convinced this must be a ruse, both of them can't help but agree. Until they share their first kiss, their first touch, their first time in only one bed. And Connie starts to wonder if this might be real after all.
St. Martin's Griffin | 9781250867971

PARASOL AGAINST THE AXE by Helen Oyeyemi (Fiction/Magical Realism)
For reasons of her own, Hero Tojosoa accepts an invitation she was half expected to decline and finds herself in Prague on a bachelorette weekend hosted by her estranged friend, Sofie. Little does she know she has arrived in a city with a penchant for playing tricks on the unsuspecting. A book Hero has brought with her seems to be warping her mind: the text changes depending on when it’s being read and who’s doing the reading, revealing startling new stories of fictional Praguers past and present. Uninvited companions appear at bachelorette activities and at city landmarks, offering opinions, humor and even a taste of treachery. When a third woman from Hero and Sofie’s past appears unexpectedly, the tensions between the friends’ different accounts of the past reach a new level.
Riverhead Books | 9780593192375

PRIDE AND JOY by Louisa Onomé (Fiction)
Ever the dutiful Nigerian daughter, Joy Okafor has planned every aspect of her mother’s 70th birthday weekend on her own. As the Okafors slowly begin to arrive, Mama Mary goes to take a nap. But when the grandkids go to wake her, they find that she isn’t sleeping after all. Refusing to believe that her sister is gone-gone, Auntie Nancy declares that she has had a premonition that Mama Mary will rise again like Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday. Desperate to believe that they’re about to witness a miracle, the family overhauls their birthday plans to welcome the Nigerian Canadian community, effectively spreading the word that Mama Mary is coming back. But skeptical Joy is struggling with the loss of her mother and not allowing herself to mourn just yet while going through the motions of planning a funeral that her aunt refuses to allow.
Atria Books | 9781668012826

RED SIDE STORY: A Shades of Grey Novel by Jasper Fforde
(Dystopian Fantasy/Humor)
Welcome to Chromatacia, where life is strictly regulated by one’s limited color perception. Civilization has been rebuilt after an unspoken “Something that Happened” 500 years before. Society is now color vision–segregated, everything dictated by an individual’s visual ability and governed by the shadowy National Color in far-off Emerald City. Twenty-year-old Eddie Russett, a Red, is about to go on trial for a murder he didn’t commit, and he’s pretty certain to be sent on a one-way trip to the Green Room for execution by soporific color exposure. Meanwhile, he’s engaged in an illegal relationship with his co-defendant, a Green, the charismatic and unpredictable Jane Grey. Negotiating the narrow boundaries of the Rules within their society, they search for a loophole --- some truth of their world that has been hidden from its hyper-policed citizens.
Soho Press | 9781641297134

THE RESCUE by T. Jefferson Parker (Thriller)
While reporting on a Tijuana animal shelter, journalist Bettina Blazak falls in love with one of her story’s subjects --- an adorable Mexican street dog who is being treated for a mysterious gunshot wound. Bettina impulsively adopts the dog, who she names Felix after the veterinarian who saved him. In investigating Felix’s past, Bettina discovers that his life is nothing like what she assumed. For one thing, he’s not a Mexican street dog at all. A former DEA drug-sniffing dog, Felix has led a very colorful, dangerous and profitable life. With Bettina’s story going viral, some interesting people are looking for Felix, making him a target --- again. Bettina soon finds herself drawn into a deadly criminal underworld from which she and her beloved dog may not return.
Forge Books | 9781250382092

SHOOT YOUR SHOT by Lexi LaFleur Brown (Romantic Comedy)
Paperback Original
After not securing an NHL contract with the Seattle Rainiers, Jaylen “JJ” Jones decides to bid the city farewell with a final night of fun, blowing off steam with an anonymous one-night stand. But when a last-minute roster spot opens up on the Rainiers, he connects his luck to the girl he spent the night with. Superstitious Jaylen is desperate to keep her around; his career depends on it. Aspiring tattoo artist Lucy Ross isn’t so sure about the proposition to remain Jaylen’s lucky charm. But stuck in a career slump, Lucy has everything to gain. Hoping for an apprenticeship hasn’t offered much stability, and Jaylen is willing to pay any price to get Lucy to agree. So maybe sending him a routine text message before each game won’t be too hard. What starts as an agreement to trade favors quickly turns into sizzling chemistry that’s too delicious to deny.
Canary Street Press | 9781335016560

A VERY PRIVATE SCHOOL: A Memoir by Charles Spencer (Memoir)
A VERY PRIVATE SCHOOL offers a clear-eyed, firsthand account of a culture of cruelty at the school Charles Spencer attended in his youth and provides important insights into an antiquated boarding system. Drawing on the memories of many of his schoolboy contemporaries, as well as his own letters and diaries from the time, he reflects on the hopelessness and abandonment he felt at age eight, viscerally describing the intense pain of homesickness and the appalling inescapability of it all. Exploring the long-lasting impact of his experiences, Spencer presents a candid reckoning with his past and a reclamation of his childhood. And now, in a new afterword, he reflects on the aftermath of his memoir’s publication, including the outpouring of support and solidarity from fellow abuse survivors.
Gallery Books | 9781668046395

THE WHITE BOOK written by Han Kang, translated by Deborah Smith (Fiction)
While on a writer's residency, a nameless narrator wanders the twin white worlds of the blank page and snowy Warsaw. THE WHITE BOOK becomes a meditation on the color white, as well as a fictional journey inspired by an older sister who died in her mother's arms, a few hours old. The narrator grapples with the tragedy that has haunted her family, an event she colors in stark white --- breast milk, swaddling bands, the baby's rice cake-colored skin --- and, from here, visits all that glows in her memory: from a white dog to sugar cubes.
Hogarth | 9780525573074

WHY WE LOVE BASEBALL: A History in 50 Moments by Joe Posnanski
(Sports/History)
In WHY WE LOVE BASEBALL, Joe Posnanski writes of major moments that created legends, and of forgotten moments almost lost to time. It's Willie Mays’ catch, Babe Ruth’s called shot and Kirk Gibson’s limping home run; the slickest steals; the biggest bombs; and the most triumphant no-hitters. But these are also moments raw with the humanity of the game, the unheralded heroes and the mesmerizing mistakes drenched in pine tar. Every story, from the immortal to the obscure, is told from a unique perspective. Whether of a real fan who witnessed it, or the pitcher who gave up the home run, the umpire, the coach, the opposing player --- these are fresh takes on moments so powerful they almost feel like myth.
Dutton | 9780593472682

THE WILDEST SUN by Asha Lemmie (Historical Fiction)
When tragedy forces Delphine Auber, an aspiring writer on the cusp of adulthood, from her home in postwar Paris, she seizes the opportunity to embark on the journey she's long dreamed of: finding the father she has never known. But her quest --- spanning from Paris to New York’s Harlem, to Havana and Key West --- is complicated by the fact that she believes him to be famed luminary Ernest Hemingway, a man just as elusive as he is iconic. She desperately yearns for his approval, as both a daughter and a writer, convinced that he holds the key to who she's truly meant to be. But what will happen if she's wrong, or if her real story falls outside of the legend of her parentage that she’s revered all her life?
Dutton | 9780593185735

YOU DESERVE TO KNOW by Aggie Blum Thompson (Domestic Thriller)
Paperback Original
Neighbors Gwen, Aimee and Lisa share more than playdates and coffee mornings on their tranquil street in East Bethesda. They confide their deepest secrets, navigate the challenges of motherhood together, and provide a support system that seems unbreakable. But when Gwen’s husband is found murdered after one of their weekly Friday night dinners, the peaceful quiet of their cul-de-sac shatters. As the police investigate, the veneer of friendship begins to crack, revealing hidden tensions, clandestine affairs, and long-buried jealousies among the three women. With suspicions mounting and the neighborhood gripped by fear, Gwen, Aimee and Lisa must confront the chilling truth about their husbands, and the sinister undercurrents in their own friendship.
Forge Books | 9781250892034

On Sale the Week of March 17th in Hardcover

March 17th

THE WRITER by James Patterson and J.D. Barker (Thriller)
NYPD Detective Declan Shaw gets a call: How fast can you get to the Beresford building on Central Park West? In the tower apartment, Shaw finds a woman waiting for him. She’s covered in blood. A body is lying dead on the floor of the luxurious living room. Every book in the apartment’s floor-to-ceiling shelves is by the same author: bestselling true-crime writer Denise Morrow. "This is you?" Shaw asks the woman. "You're a writer?" Only one person knows the ending to this story. Is it the victim or the killer?
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316570008

March 18th

BEACH VIBES by Susan Mallery (Fiction)
While Beth is proud of her Malibu beach shop, Surf Sandwiches, she's even prouder of her charismatic brother Rick, who rose from foster care through surgical residency. She makes subs, he saves lives. Life takes a turn for the happy after she finds out Rick is dating her new best friend, Jana. Then Jana’s handsome brother adds even more sparkle to Beth’s days...and nights. But when she catches Rick with another woman, her visions of an idyllic family future disappear in one awful instant. Either she betrays her brother, or she keeps his secret and risks losing the man she loves and her best friend.
Canary Street Press | 9781335402530

THE BUFFALO HUNTER HUNTER by Stephen Graham Jones
(Historical Fantasy/Horror)
A diary, written in 1912 by a Lutheran pastor, is discovered within a wall. What it unveils is a slow massacre, a chain of events that go back to 217 Blackfeet dead in the snow. THE BUFFALO HUNTER HUNTER is told in transcribed interviews by a Blackfeet named Good Stab, who shares the narrative of his peculiar life over a series of confessional visits.
S&S/Saga Press | 9781668075081

BUZZ KILL by J. Robert Lennon (Thriller)
The Pool sisters have gone into business together: a down-home, if unequal, PI enterprise. But then Lila receives a shocking piece of news from an old friend of their Aunt Ruth's: their aunt's suicide more than a decade earlier might not have been what it seemed. A lawyer, she had represented a disgraced chemist working on a dangerous synthetic opioid. But once the client, Travis Nutt, was poised to lose, he went rogue and unleashed the adulterant as a street drug, in conjunction with a shadowy cartel. Meanwhile, Jane has been invited to attend a writers' conference, an outlet she relishes until her dangerously confessional prose is seen by the wrong eyes. Her teenage daughter, Chloe, becomes the victim of a deepfake video while campaigning for class president. And old Harry, Jane's father, has stumbled upon a piece of unknown history that opens an unexpected door.
Mulholland Books | 9780316551403

FRIENDS HELPING FRIENDS by Patrick Hoffman (Thriller)
Bunny Simpson grew up poor in Grand Junction, Colorado. Now in his 20s and working in Denver, he has simple dreams: He wants to help his uncle pay rent, save a little money, and maybe start a business one day. His best friend, Jerry LeClair, fantasizes about moving to California. The problem is they don’t have any prospects. Enter Helen McCalla, an attorney with an ax to grind against her ex-husband, who happens to be a judge in the local court. She offers the boys a deal: scare the man, rough him up a little, and she’ll give them a few thousand dollars. It’s simple --- just friends helping friends, right?
Atlantic Monthly Press | 9780802164124

THE HAUNTING OF ROOM 904 by Erika T. Wurth (Paranormal Thriller/Horror)
Olivia Becente was never supposed to have the gift. The ability to commune with the dead was the specialty of her sister, Naiche. But when Naiche dies unexpectedly and under strange circumstances, somehow Olivia suddenly can’t stop seeing and hearing from spirits. A few years later, she’s the most in-demand paranormal investigator in Denver. She’s good at her job, but the loss of Naiche haunts her. That’s when she hears from the Brown Palace, a landmark Denver hotel. The owner can’t explain it, but every few years, a girl is found dead in room 904, no matter what room she checked into the night before. Olivia’s investigation forces her to confront a mysterious and possibly dangerous cult, a vindictive journalist, betrayal by her friends, and shocking revelations about her sister’s secret life.
Flatiron Books | 9781250908599

HOT AIR by Marcy Dermansky (Fiction/Dark Humor)
Joannie hadn’t been on a date in seven years when Johnny invites Joannie and her daughter to dinner. His house is beautiful, his son is sweet, and their first kiss is, well, it’s not the best, but Joannie could convince herself it was nice enough. But when Joannie’s childhood crush, a summer-camp fling turned famous billionaire, crash-lands his hot-air balloon in Johnny’s swimming pool, Joannie dives in. Soon she finds herself alighting on a lost weekend with Johnny the bad kisser, Jonathan the billionaire, and Julia, his smart, stunning wife. Does Joannie want Jonathan? Does Julia want her husband? Or Joannie? Or Joannie’s beautiful little girl? Does Johnny want Julia? Does Jonathan want Joannie, or Julia, or maybe his much younger personal assistant, Vivian, who is tasked to fix it all?
Knopf | 9780593320907

THE HYMN TO DIONYSUS by Natasha Pulley (Historical Fiction)
Raised in a Greek legion, Phaidros has been taught to follow his commander's orders at all costs. But when Phaidros rescues a baby from a fire at Thebes' palace, his commander's orders cease to make sense: Phaidros is forced to abandon the blue-eyed boy at a temple and to keep the baby's existence a total secret. Years later, struggling with panic attacks and flashbacks, Phaidros is enlisted by the Queen to find her son, Thebes' young crown prince, who has vanished to escape an arranged marriage. The search leads him to a blue-eyed witch named Dionysus, whose guidance is as wise as the events that surround him are strange. In Dionysus' company, Phaidros witnesses sudden outbursts of riots and unrest. And everywhere Dionysus goes, rumors follow about a new god, one sired by Zeus but lost in a fire.
Bloomsbury Publishing | 9781639732364

IF YOU WERE MY DAUGHTER: A Memoir of Healing an Unmothered Heart by Marianne Richmond (Memoir)
At nine years old, Marianne Richmond's life is upended when she collapses on her kitchen floor with full-body convulsions. "Pinched nerve," says the ER doctor, a baffling explanation. But when one episode becomes many, it's clear something is wrong. Marianne desperately hopes for help and healing, but her emotionally unavailable mother --- still reeling from her own past trauma --- refuses medication on her behalf, preferring to try prayer and homeopathy. At age 18, a full-body seizure in Marianne's dorm room leads her to a diagnosis, medication and neurological intervention. Physically, she feels "fixed," but emotional healing proves more elusive. When her mother becomes ill, Marianne has a choice to make. Will she be present for the mother who rarely felt present to her?
Sourcebooks | 9781464231902

THE LIBRARY GAME: A Secret Staircase Novel by Gigi Pandian (Mystery)
Tempest Raj couldn’t be happier that the family business, Secret Staircase Construction, is finally getting the recognition it deserves. Known for enchanting architectural features like sliding bookshelves and secret passageways, the company is now taking on a dream project: transforming a home into a public library that celebrates history's greatest fictional detectives. Though the work is far from done, Gray House Library’s new owner is eager to host a murder mystery dinner and literary-themed escape room. But when a rehearsal ends with an actor murdered and the body vanishes, Tempest is witness to a seemingly impossible crime. Fueled by her grandfather’s Scottish and Indian meals, Tempest and the rest of the crew must figure out who is making beloved classic mystery plots come to life in a deadly game.
Minotaur Books | 9781250880239

THE LOVE WE FOUND by Jill Santopolo (Fiction)
It’s been nearly 10 years since Gabe has been gone when Lucy finds a tiny piece of paper in a box of his old photos. An address in Rome. Why did Gabe keep it, and what was he doing in Italy? Lucy buys a last-minute plane ticket. Impulsive, but Gabe always brought that out in her. Lucy’s journey to uncover Gabe’s secret leads her to Dr. Dax Armstrong, a New Yorker in Italy working with an NGO. His broad shoulders and sad, intense eyes draw Lucy in. His touch reaches her in a forgotten place --- one that no one has neared since Gabe. But her old life awaits, along with an earth-shattering decision --- whether she and Darren should tell their son, Samuel, the truth about his father. How can Lucy move forward while she’s rooted in the past? Fate broke her heart once. Can finding new love set her free?
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780593419205

A MAP TO PARADISE by Susan Meissner (Historical Fiction)
With her name on the Hollywood blacklist and her life on hold, starlet Melanie Cole has little choice in company. There is her next-door neighbor, Elwood, but the screenwriter’s agoraphobia allows for just short chats through open windows. He’s her sole confidante, though, as she and her housekeeper, Eva, an immigrant from war-torn Europe, rarely make conversation. Then one early morning, Melanie and Eva spot Elwood’s sister-in-law and caretaker, June, digging in his beloved rose garden. After that they don’t see Elwood at all anymore. Where could a man who never leaves the house possibly have gone? As they try to find out if something has happened to him, unexpected secrets are revealed among all three women, leading to an alliance that seems the only way for any of them to hold on to what they can still call their own.
Berkley | 9780593332863

MURDER, SHE WROTE: SNOWY WITH A CHANCE OF MURDER by Jessica Fletcher and Barbara Early (Mystery)
Jessica Fletcher has taken a nasty spill on the ice, leaving her in a wheelchair for several weeks. She tries to work on her latest manuscript but finds herself distracted by a new neighbor moving in across the street. Soon after unpacking his sparse belongings, Mr. Rymer is out in the front yard, building somewhat risqué (read: naked) snow sculptures. While Cabot Cove debates whether the sculptures are a protected form of art or a public display of lewdness, someone starts destroying them at night. Rymer doesn’t seem upset. He just makes new ones. No need to get the police involved over a little snow, he says. Especially when there’s plenty more of it and a blizzard in the forecast. The morning after the storm, Jessica looks out the window to see a new sculpture across the street --- and the body of Mr. Rymer half-buried in the snow.
Berkley | 9780593820049

O SINNERS! by Nicole Cuffy (Fiction)
Faruq Zaidi, a young journalist processing the recent death of his father, who was a devout Muslim, takes the opportunity to embed himself in a cult called “the nameless.” Based in the California redwoods and shepherded by an enigmatic Vietnam War veteran named Odo, the nameless adhere to the 18 Utterances, including teachings such as “all suffering is distortion” and “see only beauty.” Faruq, skeptical but committed to unraveling the mystery of the nameless, extends his stay over months, as he gets deeper into the cult’s inner workings and alluring teachings. But as he gets closer to Odo, Faruq himself begins to unravel, forced to come to terms with the memories he has been running from while trying to resist Odo’s spell.
One World | 9780593597446

THE PARIS EXPRESS by Emma Donoghue (Historical Fiction)
Based on an 1895 disaster that went down in history when it was captured in a series of surreal, extraordinary photographs, THE PARIS EXPRESS is set on a train packed with a fascinating cast of characters who hail from as close as Brittany and as far as Russia, Ireland, Algeria, Pennsylvania and Cambodia. Members of parliament hurry back to Paris to vote; a medical student suspects a girl may be dying; a secretary tries to convince her boss of the potential of moving pictures; two of the train’s crew build a life away from their wives; a young anarchist makes a terrifying plan, and much more.
S&S/Summit Books | 9781668082799

RED SCARE: Blacklists, McCarthyism, and the Making of Modern America by Clay Risen (History)
The film Oppenheimer has awakened interest in this vital period of American history. Now, for the first time in a generation, RED SCARE presents a narrative history of the anti-Communist witch hunt that gripped America in the decade following World War II. The cultural phenomenon, most often referred to as McCarthyism, was an outgrowth of the conflict between social conservatives and New Deal progressives, coupled with the terrifying onset of the Cold War. This defining moment in American history was marked by an unprecedented degree of political hysteria. Drawing upon newly declassified documents, journalist Clay Risen recounts how politicians like Joseph McCarthy, with the help of an extended network of other government officials and organizations, systematically ruined thousands of lives in their deluded pursuit of alleged Communist conspiracies.
Scribner | 9781982141806

STOP ME IF YOU'VE HEARD THIS ONE by Kristen Arnett (Fiction)
Cherry Hendricks might be down on her luck, but she can write the book on what makes something funny. She’s a professional clown who creates raucous, zany fun at gigs all over Orlando. Between her clowning and her shifts at an aquarium store for extra cash, she’s always hustling. Not to mention balancing her judgmental mother, her messy love life, and her equally messy community of fellow performers. Things start looking up when Cherry meets Margot the Magnificent, a much older lesbian magician. With Margot’s mentorship and industry connections, Cherry is sure to take her art to the next level. Plus, Margot is sexy as hell. It’s not long before Cherry must decide how much she’s willing to risk for Margot and for her own explosive new act --- and what kind of clown she wants to be under her suit.
Riverhead Books | 9780593719770

THE STORY SHE LEFT BEHIND by Patti Callahan Henry (Historical Fiction)
In 1927, Clara Harrington’s magical childhood shatters when her mother, renowned author Bronwyn Newcastle Fordham, disappears off the coast of South Carolina. Bronwyn stunned the world with a book written in an invented language that became a national sensation when she was just 12 years old. Her departure leaves behind not only a devoted husband and heartbroken daughter, but also the hope of ever translating the sequel to her landmark work. By 1952, Clara is an illustrator raising her own daughter, Wynnie. One day, a stranger named Charlie Jameson contacts her from London claiming to have discovered a handwritten dictionary of her mother’s lost language. At the Jameson family’s retreat, Clara must find the courage to uncover the truth about her mother and the story she left behind.
Atria Books | 9781668011874

THE SUMMER GUESTS by Tess Gerritsen (Thriller)
When former spy Maggie Bird retired to the seaside hamlet of Purity, Maine, she settled in for a quiet life with breathtaking views. But enemies from her past soon threatened to destroy everything. Maggie survived, thanks to her wits and the collective intelligence of the Martini Club, the circle of ex-CIA friends in her cocktail-sipping book club. Their handiwork, however, caught the attention of young police chief Jo Thibodeau. Now Jo and her neighborhood ex-spies have an uneasy alliance. After a teenager vanishes --- and Maggie’s neighbor becomes the prime suspect --- she joins the investigation, determined to prove her friend’s innocence. But the girl’s wealthy family pushes for an arrest. And when authorities discover a long-dead corpse in a nearby pond, the case becomes doubly complicated, with unthinkable ties to long-buried secrets.
Thomas & Mercer | 9781662515149

THEFT by Abdulrazak Gurnah (Fiction)
At the turn of the 21st century, three young people come of age in Tanzania. Karim returns to his sleepy hometown after university with new swagger and ambition. Fauzia glimpses in him a chance at escape from a smothering upbringing. The two of them offer a haven to Badar, a poor boy still unsure if the future holds anything for him at all. As tourism, technology, and unexpected opportunities and perils reach their quiet corner of the world, each arrives at a different understanding of what it means to take your fate into your own hands.
Riverhead Books | 9780593852606

On Sale the Week of March 17th in Paperback

March 18th

BABY X by Kira Peikoff (Speculative Thriller)
In the near-future United States, where advanced technology can create egg or sperm from any person’s cells, celebrities face the alarming potential of meeting biological children they never conceived. Famous singer Trace Thorne is tired of being targeted by the Vault, a black market site devoted to stealing DNA. Sick of paying ransom money for his own cell matter, he hires bio-security guard Ember Ryan to ensure his biological safety. Ember will do anything she can to protect her clients. She knows all the Vault’s tricks and has prevented countless DNA thefts. Working for Thorne, her focus becomes split when she begins to fall for him, but she knows she hasn’t let anything slip --- love or not, his DNA is safe. But then she and Thorne are confronted by a pregnant woman who claims that Thorne is the father of her baby, and all bets are off.
Crooked Lane Books | 9798892421416

BECOMING MADAM SECRETARY by Stephanie Dray (Historical Fiction)
Raised on tales of her revolutionary ancestors, Frances Perkins arrives in New York City at the turn of the century. When she’s not working with children in the crowded tenements in Hell’s Kitchen, Frances throws herself into the social scene in Greenwich Village, befriending an eclectic group of politicians, artists and activists, including the millionaire socialite Mary Harriman Rumsey, the flirtatious budding author Sinclair Lewis, and the brilliant but troubled reformer Paul Wilson, with whom she falls deeply in love. But when Frances meets a young lawyer named Franklin Delano Roosevelt at a tea dance, sparks fly in all the wrong directions. Neither knows it yet, but over the next 20 years, they will form a historic partnership that will carry them both to the White House.
Berkley | 9780593437070

THE BLACK BOX: Writing the Race by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
(Literary Criticism/History)
Distilled over many years from Henry Louis Gates, Jr.’s legendary Harvard introductory course in African American Studies, THE BLACK BOX is the story of Black self-definition in America through the prism of the writers who have led the way. From Phillis Wheatley and Frederick Douglass, W. E. B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington, to Zora Neale Hurston and Richard Wright, James Baldwin and Toni Morrison --- these writers used words to create a livable world (a "home") for Black people destined to live out their lives in a bitterly racist society. It is a book grounded in the beautiful irony that a community, formed legally and conceptually by its oppressors to justify brutal sub-human bondage, transformed itself through the word into a community whose foundational definition was based on overcoming one of history’s most pernicious lies.
Penguin Books | 9780593299807

CAMINO GHOSTS by John Grisham (Thriller)
Mercer Mann, a popular writer from Camino Island, is back on the beach, marrying her boyfriend, Thomas, in a seaside ceremony. Bruce Cable, the infamous owner of Bay Books, performs the wedding. Afterward, Bruce tells Mercer that he has stumbled upon an incredible story. Mercer desperately needs an idea for her next novel, and Bruce now has one. The true story is about Dark Isle, a sliver of a barrier island not far off the North Florida coast. It was settled by freed slaves 300 years ago, and their descendants lived there until 1955, when the last one --- Lovely Jackson --- was forced to leave. But now Tidal Breeze, a huge, ruthless corporate developer, wants to build a resort and casino on the island, which Lovely knows is rightfully hers. She also knows something about the island that could seriously cloud the dollar signs in the developer’s eyes: the island is cursed.
Vintage | 9780593157800

DAUGHTER OF MINE by Megan Miranda (Psychological Thriller/Mystery)
When Hazel Sharp, the daughter of Mirror Lake’s longtime local detective, unexpectedly inherits her childhood home, she’s warily drawn back to the town --- and people --- she left behind almost a decade earlier. But Hazel is not the only relic of the past to return. A drought has descended on the region, and as the water level in the lake drops, long-hidden secrets begin to emerge…including evidence that may help finally explain the mystery of her mother’s disappearance.
S&S/Marysue Rucci Books | 9781668010457

THE DAY TRIPPER by James Goodhand (Fiction)
It’s 1995, and Alex Dean has it all: a spot at Cambridge University next year and the love of an amazing woman. But a brutal encounter with a ghost from his past sees him beaten, battered and almost drowning in the Thames. He wakes the next day to find he’s in a messy, derelict room he’s never seen before, with no idea of how he got there. A glimpse in the mirror tells him he’s older --- much older --- and has been living a hard life, his features ravaged by time and poor decisions. He snatches a newspaper and finds it’s 2010 --- 15 years since the fight. After finally drifting off to sleep, Alex wakes the following morning to find it’s now 2019. But the next day, it’s 1999. Never knowing which day is coming, he begins to piece together what happens in his life after that fateful night by the river. But what exactly is going on?
Mira | 9780778368557

THE DIVORCÉES by Rowan Beaird (Historical Fiction)
Lois Saunders thought that marrying the right man would finally cure her loneliness. But as picture-perfect as her husband is, she is suffocating in their loveless marriage. In 1951, though, unhappiness is hardly grounds for divorce --- except in Reno, Nevada. At the Golden Yarrow, the most respectable of Reno’s famous “divorce ranches,” Lois finds herself living with half a dozen other would-be divorcées, all in Reno for the six weeks’ residency that is the state’s only divorce requirement. But it isn’t until Greer Lang arrives that Lois’ world truly cracks open. Greer is unlike anyone Lois has ever met --- and she sees something in Lois that no one else ever has. Under her influence, Lois begins to push against the limits that have always restrained her. How far will she go to forge her independence, on her own terms?
Flatiron Books | 9781250896605

FALLING OVERBOARD by Sariah Wilson (Romantic Comedy)
Paperback Original
Lucky Salerno’s dream is to own a bakery. To earn enough money to achieve it, she has secured a lucrative job as chief stewardess on a superyacht cruising the Mediterranean. Aboard the ship, there’s one unbreakable rule: no hookups among the crew. The last thing Lucky has time for is a man. Then she meets Hunter Smith, the gorgeous new deckhand sharing her cabin. Who needs the drama that comes with a relationship? Not Hunter. Who can ignore a witty, beautiful bunkmate like Lucky? Also not Hunter. There’s something just as enticing for Lucky: a tantalizing mystery behind Hunter’s piercing blue eyes she can’t wait to solve. But at what risk? As they get to know each other, a secret romance buds at sea, and Lucky has to choose. Abide by the rules to make her career dreams come true, or pursue her love for Hunter.
Montlake | 9781662514265

FINDING MARGARET FULLER by Allison Pataki (Historical Fiction)
In the company of Ralph Waldo Emerson and his circle of enlightened friends, Margaret Fuller becomes “the radiant genius and fiery heart” of the Transcendentalists. However, Margaret’s soul yearns for more than poetry and drama. From hosting a women-only literary salon in Boston to becoming the first woman permitted entry to Harvard’s library, Margaret defies societal conventions as an activist for women’s rights and a champion for humanity. On the gritty New York streets, she spars with Edgar Allan Poe and reports on the work of Frederick Douglass. And when offered an assignment in Europe by editor Horace Greeley, Margaret becomes the first female foreign news correspondent. In Rome, she embarks on a passionate love affair with a Roman count, causing an international scandal. As a mother and a countess, Margaret enters a new fight for Italy’s unification.
Ballantine Books | 9780593600252

FIRST WIFE’S SHADOW by Adele Parks (Psychological/Domestic Thriller)
Paperback Original
When Emma meets Matthew, a kind, handsome widower, he seems to be just what she needs. Yet as their relationship moves fast, Emma’s friends worry that she might be exploited. She’s a rich woman after all. Emma doesn’t care that Matthew has no money. But as the memory of his perfect first wife hangs over them, Emma does have one tiny doubt. If Matthew’s wife hadn’t died, he wouldn’t be with her. And Emma wonders if she’s second best. Can she ever fill the dead woman’s shoes? As jealousy and suspicion blossom between Emma and Matthew, events take a darker, dangerous turn. Suddenly Emma doesn’t know who she can trust. Her friends? Her husband? Or even herself?
Mira | 9780778368137

THE HUSBANDS by Holly Gramazio (Fiction)
When Lauren returns home to her flat in London late one night, she is greeted at the door by her husband, Michael. There’s only one problem --- she’s not married. She’s never seen this man before in her life. But according to her friends, her much-improved decor, and the photos on her phone, they’ve been together for years. As Lauren tries to puzzle out how she could be married to someone she can’t remember meeting, Michael goes to the attic to change a light bulb and abruptly disappears. In his place, a new man emerges, and a new, slightly altered life re-forms around her. Realizing that her attic is creating an infinite supply of husbands, Lauren confronts the question: If swapping lives is as easy as changing a light bulb, how do you know you’ve taken the right path? When do you stop trying to do better and start actually living?
Vintage | 9780593687512

KINGDOM OF PLAY: What Ball-bouncing Octopuses, Belly-flopping Monkeys, and Mud-sliding Elephants Reveal about Life Itself by David Toomey (Nature)
Acclaimed science writer David Toomey takes us on a fast-paced and entertaining tour of playful animals and the scientists who study them. From octopuses on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef to meerkats in the Kalahari Desert to brown bears on Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, we follow adventurous researchers as they design and conduct experiments seeking answers to new, intriguing questions: When did play first appear in animals? How does play develop the brain, and how did it evolve? Are the songs and aerial acrobatics of birds the beginning of avian culture? Is fairness in dog play the foundation of canine ethics? And does play direct and possibly accelerate evolution? Through a close examination of both natural selection and play, Toomey argues that life itself is fundamentally playful.
Scribner | 9781982154479

LEAVE NO TRACE: A National Parks Thriller by A. J. Landau (Thriller)
In a daring, brutal act of terrorism, an explosion rocks and topples the Statue of Liberty. Special Agent Michael Walker of the National Park Service is sent to New York as the agent-in-charge. Gina Delgado of the FBI has been placed in charge of the investigation as the lead of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, and threats of a second terrorism attack are already being called into the media. While barred from the meetings of the Joint Task Force for his lack of security clearance, Walker finds a young boy among the survivors with a critical piece of information --- a video linking the attackers to the assault. As a radical domestic terrorist group threatens further attacks against America's cultural symbols, powerful forces within the government are misleading the investigation to further their own radical agenda.
Minotaur Books | 9781250371003

THE LIGHT THROUGH THE STORM by Margalit Ganor (Historical Fiction)
Paperback Original
August 1942. When they realize the danger of remaining under the rule of the Nazi occupation, Dr. Leon Schmelzer, his wife Donya, and their baby daughter attempt to flee Romania under the cover of darkness. Joining a dozen other brave souls, they hastily board a small ship, leaving behind family, friends, and the only life they ever knew --- for a slim chance at survival. But their path to freedom does not sail over smooth waters. As endless waves threaten to drown what little hope they have, the desperate refugees find that the hatred in the hearts of men is more terrifying than any force of nature. And when they are shipwrecked and taken captive in a foreign land, Leon’s own faith and resolve are put to the ultimate test. Can he find the courage and resourcefulness to protect his wife and only daughter?
Seventh Street Books | 9781645061076

LUCKY by Jane Smiley (Historical Fiction)
Before Jodie Rattler became a star, she was a girl growing up in St. Louis. One day in 1955, when she was just six years old, her uncle Drew took her to the racetrack, where she got lucky --- and that roll of two-dollar bills she won has never since left her side. Jodie thrived in the warmth of her extended family, and then --- through a combination of hard work and serendipity --- she started a singing career, which catapulted her from St. Louis to New York City, from the English countryside to the tropical beaches of St. Thomas, from Cleveland to Los Angeles, and back again. Jodie comes of age in recording studios, backstage and on tour, and she tries to hold her own in the wake of Janis Joplin, Joan Baez, Judy Collins and Joni Mitchell. Yet it feels like something is missing. Could it be true love? Or is that not actually what Jodie is looking for?
Vintage | 9780593468302

THE MARS HOUSE by Natasha Pulley (Science Fiction/Romance)
In the wake of an environmental catastrophe, January has become a refugee in Tharsis, the terraformed colony on Mars. There, his life is dictated by his status as an Earthstronger --- a person whose body is not adjusted to lower gravity. A xenophobic politician named Aubrey Gale wants all Earthstrongers to naturalize, a process that is always disabling and sometimes deadly. When Gale chooses January for an on-the-spot press junket interview that goes horribly awry, January's life is thrown into chaos, but Gale's political fortunes are damaged, too. Gale proposes a solution to both their problems: a five-year made-for-the-press marriage that would secure January's future without naturalization and ensure Gale's political success. But when January accepts the offer, he discovers that Gale is not at all like they appear in the press.
Bloomsbury Publishing | 9781639735303

MEMORY PIECE by Lisa Ko (Fiction)
In the early 1980s, Giselle Chin, Jackie Ong and Ellen Ng are teenagers drawn together by their shared sense of alienation and desire for something different. They envision each other as artistic collaborators and embark on a future defined by freedom and creativity. By the time they are adults, their dreams are murkier. As a performance artist, Giselle must navigate an elite social world she never conceived of. As a coder thrilled by the internet’s early egalitarian promise, Jackie must contend with its more sinister shift toward monetization and surveillance. And as a community activist, Ellen confronts the increasing gentrification and policing overwhelming her New York City neighborhood. Over time, their friendship matures and changes, their definitions of success become complicated, and their sense of what matters evolves.
Riverhead Books | 9780593542118

NO JUDGMENT: Essays by Lauren Oyler (Essays)
Lauren Oyler has emerged as one of the most trenchant and influential critics of her generation, a talent whose judgments on works of literature have become notorious. But what is the significance of being a critic and consumer of media in today’s fraught environment? How do we understand ourselves, and each other, as space between the individual and the world seems to get smaller and smaller, and our opinions on books and movies seem to represent something essential about our souls? And, to put it bluntly, why should you care what she --- or anyone --- thinks? In her first collection of essays, Oyler writes about topics like the role of gossip in our exponentially communicative society, the rise and proliferation of autofiction, why we’re all so “vulnerable” these days, and her own anxiety.
HarperOne | 9780063235366

THE SAINT LAURENT MUSE by C. W. Gortner (Historical Fiction)
Paperback Original
It's the 1970s, and reluctant aristocrat Loulou de la Falaise is desperately seeking adventure. Having escaped an early, unhappy marriage, she arrives on a whim in Paris. Glamour, sex and cocaine nights fuel the Paris fashion scene. Its crown prince is the soulful and intensely gifted Yves Saint Laurent. Loulou's bohemian flair immediately captures Yves’ attention, and they embark on a glorious intimate friendship as artist and muse. Their course collides with eccentric designer Karl Lagerfeld. Karl’s bitter professional rivalry with Yves divides Paris even in an era when anything goes. As Yves plunges into a dangerous, secret affair with Karl's enigmatic young companion, and Loulou finds herself falling in love with a colleague's handsome boyfriend, evanescent illusion and savage deception will bring them to the brink of ruin.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780063319837

THE SEARCH FOR THE GENUINE: Nonfiction, 1970-2015 by Jim Harrison (Essays)
New York Times bestselling author Jim Harrison (1937–2016) was a writer with a poet’s economy of style and a trencherman’s appetites. Praised as a “national treasure” (Chicago Tribune) and published in 27 languages, he was one of this country’s most beloved and critically acclaimed authors. Best known for his poetry and fiction, such as LEGENDS OF THE FALL, DALVA and RETURNING TO EARTH, Harrison was also a prolific nonfiction writer, with columns running in Sports Illustrated and Esquire, and work in Outside, Field & Stream and others. The first collection of Harrison’s general nonfiction in 30 years, THE SEARCH FOR THE GENUINE is a sparkling, definitive volume of essays and journalism --- from the near-classic to the never-published.
Grove Press | 9780802157225

THIS IS SALVAGED: Stories by Vauhini Vara (Fiction/Short Stories)
Pushing intimacy to its limits in prose of unearthly beauty, Vauhini Vara explores the nature of being a child, parent, friend, sibling, neighbor or lover, and the relationships between self and others. A young girl reads the encyclopedia to her elderly neighbor, who is descending into dementia. A pair of teenagers seek intimacy as phone-sex operators. A competitive sibling tries to rise above the drunken mess of her own life to become a loving aunt. One sister consumes the ashes of another. And in the title story, an experimental artist takes on his most ambitious project yet: constructing a life-size ark according to the Bible’s specifications. In a world defined by estrangement, where is communion to be found?
W. W. Norton & Company | 9781324076094

THE WIDOW SPY by Megan Campisi (Historical Thriller)
Kate Warne is many things: the country’s first female detective, a Pinkerton agent and a Union spy. It’s August 1861, and her latest assignment could end the bloody Civil War and bring the fractured United States together again. All she must do is win the trust of her captive: Confederate spy and socialite Rose Greenhow. But with Rose well aware of Kate’s working-class background and belief in abolitionism, it seems an impossible task. Worse, Kate has secrets that make her vulnerable, such as her forbidden love affair with a colleague. With time running out, Kate faces not only the moral and political divides between herself and Rose but also the ones she’s made in her own heart. She must decide which divides are worth crossing and how far she’s willing to go to defeat the Confederacy.
Atria Books | 9781668024874

THE WIVES: A Memoir by Simone Gorrindo (Memoir)
When her new husband joins an elite Army unit, Simone Gorrindo is uprooted from New York City and dropped into Columbus, Georgia. With her husband frequently deployed, she is left to find her place in this new world, alone --- until she meets the wives. Gorrindo gives us an intimate look into the inner lives of a remarkable group of women and a tender, unflinching portrait of a marriage. A love story, an unforgettable coming-of-age tale, and a bracing tour of the intractable divisions that plague our country today, THE WIVES offers a rare and powerful gift: a hopeful stitch in the fabric of a torn America.
Gallery/Scout Press | 9781982178505

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