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In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of August 11th and August 18th 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 Favorite Monthly Lists & Picks feature for August, which includes Indie Next, LibraryReads, the Barnes & Noble Book Club, the "Good Morning America" Book Club, Oprah's Book Club, the PBS Books Readers Club, the "Read with Jenna" Book Club, Reese's Book Club, and the Target Book Club.
Join Us Tomorrow Afternoon!
This is your last newsletter reminder to sign up for August’s “Bookaccino Live” book preview event, which will take place TOMORROW, Wednesday, August 13th at 2pm ET.
The focus will be on titles releasing between now and September 2nd, in addition to a few from the first half of October, that we think will appeal to you. Those who join us live will be asked to answer a survey about the books from the presentation that they are most interested in reading and will be eligible to win a prize.
The book’s protagonist is gifted a bespoke perfume, which makes her irresistible. Francesca talks about her fragrance research, which she conducted in Grasse, France, as well as her lifelong love of perfume. She also shares how she views women who are living life on their own terms --- and loving it.
The 24-hour contest is now up, so be sure to enter for your chance to win one of five copies of the book. The deadline for your entries is TOMORROW, Wednesday, August 13th at noon ET.
P.S. For those of you who shop online, if you use the store links that appear on our site for shopping, Bookreporter.com gets a small affiliate fee on your purchases from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and IndieBound. As you read our reviews and features, we would appreciate your considering this as you buy!
This Week's Bonus News:
Our Favorite Monthly Lists & Picks for August
Each month, we share top book picks from Indie Next and LibraryReads. We also feature a number of other prominent selections, including the Barnes & Noble Book Club, the "Good Morning America" Book Club, Oprah’s Book Club, the PBS Books Readers Club, the "Read with Jenna" Book Club, Reese's Book Club, and the Target Book Club.
Below is a preview of August's "Favorite Monthly Lists & Picks." For the complete Indie Next and LibraryReads lists, as well as additional links pertaining to this month's selections, please click here.
Indie Next
#1 Pick: WHEN THE CRANES FLY SOUTH written by Lisa Ridzén, translated by Alice Menzies
THE HOUNDING by Xenobe Purvis
LUCKY DAY by Chuck Tingle
AUTOMATIC NOODLE by Annalee Newitz
NOT QUITE DEAD YET by Holly Jackson
LibraryReads
Top Pick: AUTOMATIC NOODLE by Annalee Newitz
THE BATTLE OF THE BOOKSHOPS by Poppy Alexander
THE BLONDE WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD by Ally Carter
WHAT HUNGER by Catherine Dang
THE WRONG SISTER by Claire Douglas
Barnes & Noble Book Club
SONGS FOR OTHER PEOPLE'S WEDDINGS written by David Levithan, with songs by Jens Lekman
"Good Morning America" Book Club
NOT QUITE DEAD YET by Holly Jackson
Oprah's Book Club
BRIDGE OF SIGHS by Richard Russo
PBS Books Readers Club
BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY by Helen Fielding
"Read with Jenna" Book Club
MY OTHER HEART by Emma Nanami Strenner
Reese's Book Club
ONCE UPON A TIME IN DOLLYWOOD by Ashley Jordan
Target Book Club
THE LION WOMEN OF TEHRAN by Marjan Kamali
Click here for August's Favorite Monthly Lists & Picks.
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, August 13th at 2pm ET: “Bookaccino Live” Book Preview Afternoon Event: Carol Fitzgerald will present titles releasing between August 12th and September 2nd, along with a few from the first half of October, 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, August 13th at 7pm ET: “Friends & Fiction”: Join “Friends & Fiction” for a conversation with Victoria Benton Frank about her latest book, THE VIOLET HOUR, a heartwarming and empowering novel about thriving after tragedy.
Wednesday, August 13th at 8pm ET: The Poisoned Pen Bookstore: Francesca Serritella will talk about her highly anticipated new book, FULL BLOOM, following her 2020 debut, GHOSTS OF HARVARD. Set among the upper echelons of New York City, this sensual and seductive novel is at once a poignant story of becoming and a riveting mystery.
Thursday, August 14th at 7pm ET: Warwick's: Warwick's presents Virginia Evans as she discusses her debut novel, THE CORRESPONDENT, with longtime Warwick’s customer Mary Allen. This gem of a book is about the power of finding solace in literature and connection with people we might never meet in person.
Tuesday, August 19th at 9pm ET: Killer Author Club: Kimberly Belle, Heather Gudenkauf and Kaira Rouda will talk to Karin Slaughter about WE ARE ALL GUILTY HERE, the first thrilling mystery in her North Falls series. North Falls is a small town where everyone knows everyone. Or so they think.
On Sale the Week of August 11th in Hardcover
August 12th
DAWN OF FATE AND FIRE: A Godslayer Novel by Mariely Lares
(Historical Fantasy/Adventure)
After defeating the Obsidian Butterfly, Leonora carries the title of Godslayer. Peace in Mexico City is fragile. Rebellion brews in the North, and when the people’s safety is at risk, Pantera must once again become the demure viceregent Leonora to stop a war before it begins. But her friends are scattered, Tezca is gone, and one wrong move could seal her fate. Caution is her ally, for the real Prince of Asturias --- her former betrothed --- has arrived at court, reigniting rumors that Leonora and Pantera are one. A greater threat looms in the mountains, where a false king seeks to summon the god of night using a weapon of untold power. It’s up to the Godslayer to confront this enemy…and the one growing within her. Only by embracing her divine origins can Leonora triumph over the forces of darkness --- and maybe even spark a revolution that could change Mexico’s fate forever.
Harper Voyager | 9780063254367
FONSECA by Jessica Francis Kane (Historical Fiction)
Winter 1952. Penelope Fitzgerald’s husband is a struggling alcoholic, their literary journal is on the brink, and she is pregnant with their third child. When she receives a letter from two elderly sisters named Delaney, distant relations with a silver mine, who dangle the possibility of an inheritance, she recognizes it as a creative and practical lifeline. FONSECA fictionalizes Penelope’s real and momentous trip to northern Mexico in pursuit of this legacy. She leaves her two-year-old, Tina, with relatives and sails for New York with her six-year-old, Valpy, in tow. From there, mother and son take a bus all the way to…Fonseca. But when they arrive, nothing goes according to plan. Others are vying for the Delaney money, and for three months --- from Day of the Dead to Candlemas --- Penelope must navigate a quixotic household and guide her impressionable son.
Penguin Press | 9780593298855
FOR RICHER FOR POORER by Danielle Steel (Fiction)
After working as the head designer for Oscar de la Renta, Eugenia Ward started her own company when she turned 40. She is now a major name in evening gowns and wedding gowns, ready-to-wear and haute couture. But with the fashion business in a major downturn, she recently has suffered heavy losses and desperately needs new investors --- and new ideas. At the same time, she is the matriarch and guiding light for her five adult children, a single mother for more than a decade. Patrick Hughes, a successful real estate developer, is also going through a rough patch and gives Eugenia valuable advice about her business challenges. But as her family gathers for her daughter’s big wedding, tensions are running high, money may be running out, and a hurricane is looming on the horizon.
Delacorte Press | 9780593498798
THE FREQUENCY OF LIVING THINGS by Nick Fuller Googins (Fiction)
Josie may be the youngest sister, but she takes care of everyone. She is the left-brained scientist to her twin sisters’ right-brained artistic chaos. She also has been their de facto band manager since she was a teenager. When Ara, her middle sister, calls from jail, it isn’t exactly a surprise, and Josie knows exactly how to snap into action. Emma is the quintessential frontwoman, but the success of The Twins’ first (and only) album is two decades behind her. Hiding under the surface of her swagger is a long-held guilt that has turned her into her sister’s enabler. Bertie, who raised her three daughters as a single mother, has always taught them that family won’t always be around to take care of you. But now she must decide if she should reenter their lives in their greatest time of need --- or watch to see if the resilience she’s taught them will help carry them through.
Atria Books | 9781668056066
GONE IN THE NIGHT: A Detective Annalisa Vega Novel by Joanna Schaffhausen (Mystery)
Detective Annalisa Vega hasn’t forgiven her brother for his role in a murder, and he hasn’t forgiven her for turning him in. So she’s surprised when he asks her to visit him in prison. One of his fellow inmates, Joe Green, may be innocent of the murder that landed him behind bars. Joe is doing hard time for killing his ex-wife’s lawyer, but an anonymous letter sent to the prison warns that the eyewitness in Joe’s trial made up her story. With her private investigation business foundering, Annalisa is desperate enough to start poking around into Joe’s meager case. She immediately finds two problems: the eyewitness definitely lied about what she saw the night of the murder, and Annalisa’s husband, Nick, was the cop who arrested Joe. Annalisa’s search for the truth will test the bounds of her marriage, her family and her own sense of justice.
Minotaur Books | 9781250904171
THE GOSSIP COLUMNIST'S DAUGHTER by Peter Orner (Fiction)
Jed Rosenthal hasn’t published a book in 14 years, the mother of his child left him in a “trial separation” that has stretched on indefinitely, and he struggles to navigate the daily sorrows of their co-parenting arrangement. But the implosion of Jed’s family is simply a footnote in the larger history of the Rosenthal family’s decline. Just days after the JFK assassination, Karyn “Cookie” Kupcinet was found dead in her Hollywood apartment. The press reported that the 22-year-old was strangled, yet unanswered questions linger to this day. Decades later, Jed pores over family stories, newspaper archives, old photos and crime scene notes, believing that if he can divine the truth of Cookie's death --- whether it was suicide, murder or part of a larger conspiracy --- it might shed light on a mystery closer to home.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316224659
THE GRAND PALOMA RESORT by Cleyvis Natera (Fiction)
Laura is a local Dominican woman who has risen through the ranks to become manager at the Grand Paloma Resort. Her idea to pair a “platinum” guest with their own resort employee to attend to their every whim has been wildly successful. If only her younger sister, Elena, could get with the program. Elena has tried to live up to her sister’s expectations, but to escape the drudgery of waiting on rich tourists, she’s become increasingly dependent on pills and partying. Now, after an accident, a child left in her charge is believed dead, and Elena knows she'll be held responsible. When Elena runs into the child’s father, he offers her an obscene amount of money for private time with two young local girls. Elena pockets the cash to fund her escape and prays she’s gotten the girls out of harm’s way. But then the girls are reported missing.
Ballantine Books | 9780593873267
HIGH SEASON by Katie Bishop (Psychological Thriller)
On a beautiful summer’s night 20 years ago, troubled 17-year-old Tamara Drayton was found floating face down in the pool of her family’s idyllic mansion in the south of France, leaving her twin brother, golden-boy Blake, to pick up the pieces of their shattered family. Also left behind was their sister, Nina; at six years old, she became the youngest person ever to testify in a French murder trial. She’s the only one who saw what happened --- who watched as her babysitter, Josie Jackson, pushed Tamara under the water and held her there until she stopped breathing. Didn’t she? Twenty years later, Nina's memories have faded, leaving her with no idea of what really transpired that night. When a new true crime documentary about her sister’s murder is announced, Nina thinks this might be her chance to finally find out.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250283931
I KNOW HOW THIS ENDS by Holly Smale (Fiction)
Margot Wayward is in manically gleeful self-destruct mode. Following the implosion of a 10-year relationship, she’s willfully derailing her successful career, joyfully taking down men on dating apps, and living in total chaos. Until one day, when Margot has a vision of herself with a man she’s never met before. She doesn’t believe in fate. But when Margot meets single-dad Henry, the vision comes true: exactly as she’d foreseen it. As her future continues to reveal itself, a glimpse at a time, Margot realizes she knows exactly what’s going to happen, and when. And there’s nothing she can do to change any of it. So Margot has to decide how to live, how to love again, and how to be herself. Because if you can’t change your destiny, how on earth do you live your present?
Mira | 9780778368632
KISS HER GOODBYE by Lisa Gardner (Mystery/Thriller)
Recent Afghan refugee Sabera Ahmadi was last seen exiting her place of work three weeks ago. The local police have yet to open a case, while her older, domineering husband, Isaad, seems unconcerned. Sabera's closest friend, however, is convinced Sabera would never willingly leave her three-year-old daughter, Zahra. At her insistence, missing persons expert Frankie Elkin agrees to take up the search. Just in time for a video of the young mother to surface --- showing her walking away from the scene of a brutal double murder. Frankie quickly realizes there's much more to the Ahmadi family than meets the eye. When Isaad also disappears under mysterious circumstances and an attempt is made on Zahra's life, Frankie realizes that she quickly must crack the code of this family's horrific past.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538765104
LOVED ONE by Aisha Muharrar (Fiction)
When her first-love-turned-close-friend, Gabe, dies unexpectedly at 29, 30-year-old Julia is launched into an intercontinental quest to recover his lost possessions. Her journey takes her from Los Angeles to London and into the murky realm of the past. It also sets Julia on a collision course with the last woman he loved, a guarded, self-possessed florist and restaurateur named Elizabeth, who insists on withholding Gabe’s beloved guitar --- one of the departed indie rock musician’s dearest belongings --- for reasons Julia can’t understand. Both women, it turns out, have something to hide and soon find themselves engaged in a complex dance of withholding and revelation.
Viking | 9780593655849
LUCKY DAY by Chuck Tingle (Horror)
Four years ago, an unthinkable disaster occurred. In what was later known as the Low-Probability Event, eight million people were killed in a single day, each of them dying in improbable, bizarre ways. Vera, a former statistics and probability professor, lost everything that day, and she still struggles to make sense of the unbelievable catastrophe. To her, the LPE proved that the God of Order is dead and nothing matters anymore. When Special Agent Layne shows up on Vera’s doorstep, she learns he's investigating a suspiciously --- and statistically impossibly --- lucky casino. He needs her help to prove that the casino’s success is connected to the deaths of millions, and it's Vera's last chance to make sense of a world that doesn’t.
Tor Nightfire | 9781250398659
SEDUCTION THEORY by Emily Adrian (Fiction)
Simone is the star of Edwards University’s creative writing department: renowned Woolf scholar, grief memoirist and campus sex icon. Her less glamorous and ostensibly devoted husband, Ethan, is a forgotten novelist and lecturer in the same department. But when Ethan sleeps with the department administrative assistant, Abigail, the couple’s faith in their flawless relationship is rattled. While Ethan is away for the summer, she grows inordinately close with her advisee, graduate student Roberta “Robbie” Green. But behind Simone’s back, Robbie fictionalizes her mentor’s marriage in a breathtakingly invasive MFA thesis. Determined to tell her version of the story, Robbie paints a revealing portrait of Simone, Ethan, Abigail and even herself, scratching at the very surface of what may --- or may not --- be the truth.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316584517
THE SOCIETY OF UNKNOWABLE OBJECTS by Gareth Brown (Fantasy/Thriller)
The world of unknowable objects --- magical items that most people have no idea possess powers --- has been quiet for decades. But the three current members of a secret society have remained watchful, meeting every six months in the basement of a bookshop in London. They are pledged to protect their archive of magical items hidden away, safe from the outside world --- and the world safe from them. But when Frank Simpson, the longest-standing member of the Society of Unknowable Objects, hears of a new artifact coming to light in Hong Kong, he sends Magda Sparks to investigate. Within hours of arriving in Hong Kong, Magda is confronted by a professional killer who seems to know all about unknowable objects, specifically one that was stolen from him a decade before. Magda is forced to flee, using an artifact that not even the rest of the Society knows about.
William Morrow | 9780063324039
TOO OLD FOR THIS by Samantha Downing (Psychological Thriller)
Lottie Jones thought her crimes were behind her. Decades earlier, she changed her identity and tucked herself away in a small town. Her most exciting nights are the weekly bingo games at the local church and gossiping with her friends. When investigative journalist Plum Dixon shows up on her doorstep asking questions about Lottie’s past and specifically her involvement with numerous unsolved cases, well, Lottie just can’t have that. But getting away with murder is hard enough when you’re young. And when Lottie receives another annoying knock on the door, she realizes this crime just might be the death of her.
Berkley | 9780593101032
THE VIOLET HOUR: A Lowcountry Tale by Victoria Benton Frank (Fiction)
Violet Adams is the perfect, youngest child in a family of loud, passionate women on Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina. As the sweet, traditional one, she’s always been the steady hand in her family. But after a sudden breakup and subsequent tragedy, she doesn’t know who she is anymore. Aly Knox, Violet’s best friend, is a young influencer still struggling with the loss of her mother and adjusting to joining Violet in Southern living. With her best friend’s help, Violet is determined to break out of her shell --- and who she thought she was --- no matter what. And what better place to look for success, meaning and possibly love than the Lowcountry of South Carolina?
Gallery Books | 9781668067796
WE ARE ALL GUILTY HERE by Karin Slaughter (Mystery/Thriller)
Welcome to North Falls, a small town where everyone knows everyone. Or so they think. Until the night of the fireworks. When two teenage girls vanish, and the town ignites. For Officer Emmy Clifton, it’s personal. She turned away when her best friend's daughter needed help --- and now she must bring her home. But as Emmy combs through the puzzle the girls left behind, she realizes she never really knew them. Nobody did. Every teenage girl has secrets. But who would kill for them? And what else is the town hiding?
William Morrow | 9780063336773
WHAT HUNGER by Catherine Dang (Horror)
The thought of her brother, Tommy, leaving for college fills Ronny Nguyen with dread, as she contemplates the quiet house she will be left alone in with her parents, Me and Ba. They rarely speak of their past in Vietnam, except through the lens of food. In the aftermath of the war, Me and Ba taught Ronny and Tommy that meat was a dangerous luxury, a symbol of survival that should never be taken for granted. But when tragedy strikes, Ronny's world is upended. Her sense of self and her understanding of her family are shattered. A few nights later, at her first high school party, a boy crosses the line, and Ronny is overtaken by a force larger than herself. This newfound power comes with an insatiable hunger for raw meat, a craving that is both a saving grace and a potential destroyer.
Simon & Schuster | 9781668065570
On Sale the Week of August 11th in Paperback
August 12th
THE BIG EMPTY: An Elvis Cole and Joe Pike Novel by Robert Crais (Thriller)
Traci Beller was 13 when her father disappeared in the sleepy town of Rancha, not far from Los Angeles. The evidence says Tommy Beller abandoned his family, but Traci never believed it. The police couldn't find her dad and neither could the detectives her mother hired. But now, 10 years later, Traci is a super-popular influencer with millions of followers and the money to hire a new detective: Elvis Cole. Elvis heads to Rancha where he learns that an ex-con named Sadie Givens and her daughter, Anya, might have a line on the missing man. But when Elvis finds himself shadowed by a deadly gang of vicious criminals, the simple missing persons case becomes far more sinister and dangerous. Elvis calls in his ex-Marine friend, Joe Pike, to help, but even Pike might not be able to help.
G.P. Putnam’s Sons | 9780525535775
THE DANCING FACE by Mike Phillips (Thriller)
Paperback Original
University lecturer Gus knows that stealing the priceless Benin mask, the Dancing Face, from a museum at the heart of the British establishment will gain an avalanche of attention. Which is exactly what he wants. But such a risky theft also will inevitably capture the attention of characters with more money, more power and fewer morals. Naively entangling his loved ones in his increasingly dangerous pursuit of righteous reparation, is Gus prepared for what it will cost him?
Melville House | 9781685891718
A DEATH IN DIAMONDS by SJ Bennett (Historical Mystery)
1957, England. Young Queen Elizabeth II is finding her way in postwar Europe, trying to repair friendships with foreign governments. Advised by her father's old courtiers, the Queen suspects that they may not have her best interests at heart. One of them is trying to sabotage her public appearances. That much she is sure of. When two bodies turn up in Chelsea, the Queen finds herself unwillingly used as the alibi for somebody very close to her. With the reputation of the monarchy at stake, Elizabeth knows she can't face these challenges alone. She needs support from someone she can trust. Therefore, she enlists the help of an ex-code breaker, Joan McGraw, to uncover the truth. But as Elizabeth and Joan are uncovering secrets from the past, the clock is ticking, and they are in more danger than they know.
Crooked Lane Books | 9798892423700
THE DIVORCE written by Moa Herngren, translated by Alice Menzies (Fiction)
Bea couldn't be more excited to trade the stifling Stockholm summer heat for vacation on Gotland Island. She’s looking forward to spending quality time with her beloved husband, Niklas, and their two moody teenage daughters. One night shortly before their departure, Bea and Niklas have a seemingly mundane argument over a trivial issue, and Niklas goes out with a friend to blow off steam. As the hours pass, Niklas doesn’t come home, and Bea’s irritation soon gives way to panic as she imagines what kind of disaster might have happened to delay his return. What she soon learns will change her life forever. While her husband is fine, their marriage is not. Her kind, gentle pediatrician husband wants to leave her. But while this might seem like sudden insanity to Bea, for Niklas, it’s anything but.
HarperVia | 9780063352384
FOR THE RECORD by Emma Lord (Romantic Comedy)
Paperback Original
Once the most notorious rivals in the music scene, pop princess Mackenzie Waters and punk rock star Sam Blaze electrified audiences as their bands clashed on stage. But behind the scenes, their simmering tension grew into something more --- until suddenly both bands fell apart, and the idea of Mackenzie and Sam did, too. Two years later, Sam has traded the rock star lifestyle for a quiet life raising the son he didn’t know about. Meanwhile, Mackenzie is dealing with a postoperative change in her voice by only singing under a pseudonym. The only way to revive their public careers? A joint comeback album. Sam and Mackenzie face their biggest challenge yet: giving up their old rivalry and learning to work together. But as old sparks fly and new secrets emerge, they set off a chain reaction neither of them could have anticipated.
St. Martin's Griffin | 9781250845320
THE HARVEY GIRLS by Juliette Fay (Historical Fiction)
Paperback Original
Charlotte Crowninshield was born into one of the finest Boston society families. Now she’s on the run from a brutal husband. Billie MacTavish is the oldest of nine children born to Scottish immigrants in Nebraska. She quit school in the sixth grade to help with her mother’s washing and mending business, but even that isn’t enough to keep the family afloat. Desperate, both women join the ranks of the Harvey Girls, waitresses who serve in America’s first hospitality chain on the Santa Fe railroad. Hired on the same day, they share three things: a room, a heartfelt dislike of each other…and each has a secret that certainly will get them fired. But when they’re sent to work at the luxurious El Tovar hotel at the Grand Canyon, Billie struggles to hide her young age from would-be suitors, and Charlotte discovers the little-known dark side of the national park’s history.
Gallery Books | 9781668095065
THE HAUNTING OF HECATE CAVENDISH by Paula Brackston (Historical Fantasy)
England, 1881. Hereford Cathedral stands sentinel over the city, keeping its secrets, holding long-forgotten souls in its stony embrace. Hecate Cavendish speeds through the cobbled streets on her bicycle, heading for her new life as Assistant Librarian. But this is no ordinary collection of books. The cathedral houses an ancient chained library. The most prized artifact, however, is the medieval world map that hangs next to Hecate’s desk. Little does she know how much the curious people and mythical creatures depicted on it will come to mean to her. Nor does she suspect that there are lost souls waiting for her in the haunted cathedral. Some will become her dearest friends. Some will seek her help in finding peace. Others will put her in great peril and, as she quickly learns, threaten the lives of everyone she loves.
St. Martin’s Griffin | 9781250865632
HERA by Jennifer Saint (Historical Fiction/Mythology)
When the immortal goddess Hera and her brother, Zeus, overthrow their tyrannical father, she dreams of ruling at Zeus' side. But as they establish their reign on Mount Olympus, Hera begins to see that Zeus is just as ruthless and cruel as the father they betrayed. While Zeus ascends, Hera is relegated to the role of wife and mother, a role she never wanted. She was always born to rule, but must she lose herself in perpetuating this cycle of violence and cruelty? Or can she find a way to forge a better world?
Flatiron Books | 9781250855619
HIGHWAY THIRTEEN: Stories by Fiona McFarlane (Fiction/Short Stories)
In the small town of Barrow, Australia, people go about their ordinary lives. They drive to work through the dense state forest. They raise their families. They flirt and yearn. They lie and confess. Some of them leave home. Some of them return. Darkness thrums beneath the surface of these ordinary lives: the violence of one man, a serial killer whose murders made Barrow infamous. His 12 victims are long gone, but their deaths are felt --- beyond the forest where they were buried, beyond this country, beyond even this time. In the past, where a young woman on a school trip to Rome sees something she shouldn’t have. In the present, where a man confronts an ancient grief on the suburban streets of Texas. In the future, in the hands of journalists, podcast hosts and television actors whose livelihoods hinge on the twin spectacles of loss and violence.
Picador | 9781250390448
HOW TO LEAVE THE HOUSE by Nathan Newman (Fiction/Humor)
It's Natwest's last day before he leaves for university, and there's only one thing on his mind: the deeply embarrassing package he ordered to his house --- which still hasn't arrived. He won't leave town without it. This is the story of 24 hours in the life of Natwest and his small-town odyssey in pursuit of the missing package. Yet it's also the story of a middle-aged dentist who dreams of being a respected artist --- but the only thing he can seem to paint is the human mouth. And it's the story of a tortured imam involved in a quasi-romantic entanglement with the local vicar; an octogenerian mourning the death of her secretive husband; and a troubled teenager whose nudes have leaked on the internet. It's the story of Natwest's obnoxious ex-boyfriend; his class-traitor mother and her childhood boyfriend; and the life-changing secrets he knows about Natwest's past.
Penguin Books | 9780593654927
THE HYPOCRITE by Jo Hamya (Fiction)
August 2020. Sophia, a young playwright, awaits her father’s verdict on her new show. A famous author whose novels haven’t aged as gracefully into the modern era as he might have hoped, he is completely unaware that the play centers on a vacation the two took years earlier to an island off Sicily, where he dictated to her a new book. Sophia’s play has been met with rave reviews, but her father has studiously avoided reading any of them. When the house lights dim, however, he understands that his daughter has laid him bare and used the events of their summer to create an incisive, witty, skewering critique of the attitudes and sexual mores of the men of his generation.
Vintage | 9780593686263
JUST ANOTHER DEAD AUTHOR by Katarina Bivald (Mystery)
Paperback Original
When mystery author Berit Gardner agrees to attend a writer's conference in the idyllic French countryside, she dreams of basking in the sun and nurturing budding talent. But her vacation takes a dark turn when the keynote speaker --- a notorious literary titan known for his biting critiques --- drops dead at the end of her lecture. As whispers of foul play swirl, Berit quickly realizes she's stepped into a tangled web of jealousy, betrayal and long-held grudges. Enter the French commissaire, who is less than thrilled to have a curious author meddling in her investigation. But as the suspects pile up, she reluctantly recognizes that Berit's sharp instincts could crack the case wide open. With a colorful cast of authors, agents and aspiring writers all hiding secrets, the stakes rise higher with every clue uncovered.
Poisoned Pen Press | 9781728295794
MEN HAVE CALLED HER CRAZY: A Memoir by Anna Marie Tendler (Memoir)
In early 2021, popular artist Anna Marie Tendler checked herself into a psychiatric hospital following a year of crippling anxiety, depression and self-harm. Over two weeks, she underwent myriad psychological tests, participated in numerous therapy sessions, connected with fellow patients and experienced profound breakthroughs. In MEN HAVE CALLED HER CRAZY, Tendler recounts her hospital experience, as well as pivotal moments in her life that preceded and followed. As the title suggests, many of these moments are impacted by men --- unrequited love in high school; the 28-year-old she lost her virginity to when she was 16; the frustrations and absurdities of dating in her mid-30s; and her decision to freeze her eggs as all her friends were starting families.
Simon & Schuster | 9781668032350
MIDNIGHT BLACK: A Gray Man Novel by Mark Greaney (Thriller)
A winter sunrise over the great plains of Russia is no cause for celebration. The temperature barely rises above zero, and the guards at Penal Colony IK22 are determined to take their misery out on the prisoners --- chief among them, one Zoya Zakharova. Once a master spy for Russian foreign intelligence, then the partner and lover of the Gray Man, she has information the Kremlin wants, and they don't care what they have to do to get it. But if they think a thousand miles of frozen wasteland and the combined power of the Russian police state is enough to protect them, they don't know the Gray Man. He's coming, and no one's safe.
Berkley | 9780593548202
THE NATURE OF DISAPPEARING by Kimi Cunningham Grant (Thriller)
Emlyn doesn't let herself think about the past. How she and her best friend, Janessa, barely speak anymore. How Tyler, the love of her life, left her half dead on the side of the road three years ago. She now lives alone in her Airstream trailer and works as a fishing and hunting guide in scenic Idaho. Her closest friends are the community's makeshift reverend and a handsome Forest Service ranger. But when Tyler shows up with the news that Janessa is missing, Emlyn is propelled back into the world she worked so hard to forget. As Emlyn and Tyler trace Janessa's path through miles of wild country, Emlyn can't deny the chemistry still crackling between them. But the deeper they press into the wilderness, the more she begins to suspect that a darker truth lies in the woods --- and that Janessa isn't the only one in danger.
Minotaur Books | 9781250907639
PEGGY by Rebecca Godfrey with Leslie Jamison (Historical Fiction)
Venice, 1958. Peggy Guggenheim, heiress and now legendary art collector, sits in the sun at her white marble palazzo on the Grand Canal. She’s in a reflective mood, thinking back on her thrilling, tragic, nearly impossible journey from her sheltered, old-fashioned family in New York to here: iconoclast and independent woman. Rebecca Godfrey’s PEGGY is a blazingly fresh interpretation of a woman who defies every expectation to become an original. The daughter of two Jewish dynasties, Peggy finds her cloistered life turned upside down at 14, when her beloved father perishes on the Titanic. His death prompts Peggy to seek a life of passion and personal freedom and, above all, to believe in the transformative power of art.
Random House Trade Paperbacks | 9780804169165
THE ROAD TO THE COUNTRY by Chigozie Obioma (Historical Fiction)
Set in Nigeria in the late 1960s, THE ROAD TO THE COUNTRY is the epic story of a shy, bookish student haunted by long-held guilt who must go to war to free himself. When his younger brother disappears as the country explodes in civil war, Kunle must set out on an impossible rescue mission. Kunle’s search for his brother becomes a journey of atonement that will see him conscripted into the breakaway Biafran army and forced to fight a war he hardly understands, all while navigating the prophecies of a local Seer, he who marks Kunle as an abami eda --- one who will die and return to life.
Hogarth | 9780593596982
SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE TELEGRAM FROM HELL: A World War I Adventure by Nicholas Meyer (Historical Mystery)
June, 1916. With a world war raging on the continent, exhausted John H. Watson, M.D. is operating on the wounded full-time when his labors are interrupted by a knock on his door, revealing Sherlock Holmes, with a black eye, a missing tooth and a cracked rib. The story he has to tell will set in motion a series of world-changing events in the most consequential case of the detective’s career. Amid rebellion in Ireland and revolution in Russia, Germany has a secret plan to win the war, and Sir William Melville of the British Secret Service dispatches the two aging friends to learn what the scheme is before it can be put into effect. In pursuit of a mysterious coded telegram sent from Berlin to an unknown recipient in Mexico, Holmes and Watson seek to foil the schemes of Holmes’ nemesis, the escaped German spymaster Von Bork.
Mysterious Press | 9781613166758
SOMEONE IN THE ATTIC by Andrea Mara (Domestic Thriller)
Anya is enjoying a relaxing bath when she hears a noise coming from the ceiling. Through the open bathroom door, she sees the attic hatch swing down, and a masked figure drops to the floor. Thirty seconds later, Anya is dead. Across town, Anya's old school friend, Julia, sees an online video of a masked figure climbing out of an attic. She suddenly realizes why the footage is eerily familiar: it was filmed inside her own house in a luxury gated community, designed to keep intruders out. Why would a stranger target Julia? Unless of course, it's not a stranger at all.
Penguin Books | 9780593832080
THE STRANGER AT THE WEDDING by A. E. Gauntlett (Mystery/Thriller)
Annie never much believed in love. That is, until meeting Mark. After crossing paths on morning commutes, they connect at a group counseling session for trauma survivors. Each recognizes something in the other, though both hide their own troubled pasts. It’s a whirlwind romance that propels Annie through their courtship, all the way to her wedding day. But as Annie stands at the altar, casting her eyes over the rows of well-wishers, she spots a stranger in the crowd, and she soon learns that her new life isn’t going to be the happily ever after that she had planned. Who is the stranger at the wedding? What really happened to Mark’s first wife? And was Annie and Mark’s meeting as random as it first appeared, or is something more sinister at work?
Holt Paperbacks | 9781250343345
TELL ME EVERYTHING by Elizabeth Strout (Fiction)
It’s autumn in Maine, and the town lawyer Bob Burgess has become enmeshed in an unfolding murder investigation, defending a lonely, isolated man accused of killing his mother. He also has fallen into a deep and abiding friendship with the acclaimed writer Lucy Barton, who lives down the road in a house by the sea with her ex-husband, William. Together, Lucy and Bob go on walks and talk about their lives, their fears and regrets, and what might have been. Lucy, meanwhile, is finally introduced to the iconic Olive Kitteridge, now living in a retirement community on the edge of town. They spend afternoons together in Olive’s apartment, telling each other stories. Stories about people they have known --- “unrecorded lives,” Olive calls them --- reanimating them, and, in the process, imbuing their lives with meaning.
Random House | 9780593446119
TILL DEATH DO US PART by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn (Domestic Thriller)
Ten years ago, June’s beloved husband, Josh, drowned on their honeymoon, and his body was never found. Now, a decade later, June is finally ready to move on. She owns a natural wine bar in Brooklyn and is engaged to a patient, supportive man named Kyle. But out of the blue, she sees Josh. Is this just a hallucination from the guilt June carries about finally moving on, or is it possible that he never died in the first place? Soon enough, she stumbles across a website for a winery in Napa, and the owner in the photo is identical to her dead husband. With her upcoming wedding looming, June secretly flies to Napa for answers. But she’s not prepared for all the secrets she’s about to unlock because everything she thought she knew about her first love is a lie.
Simon & Schuster | 9781982144692
THE UNRAVELING by Vi Keeland (Psychological Thriller/Romantic Suspense)
After experiencing a terrible loss, New York City psychiatrist Meredith McCall is painfully adrift. When she crosses paths with a man with whom she has a tragic connection, she follows him, sparking an unhealthy obsession with Gabriel Wright. But when Gabriel walks into her office as a patient, seemingly unaware of who she is, she knows it crosses all ethical and moral bounds to treat him. Yet Meredith can’t bring herself to turn him away and becomes further entangled. With her life and career continuing to unravel, it appears that things could not get any worse…until they do.
Atria/Emily Bestler Books | 9781668046869
WHAT TIME THE SEXTON’S SPADE DOTH RUST: A Flavia de Luce Novel by Alan Bradley (Historical Mystery)
Flavia de Luce has taken on the mentorship of her odious moon-faced cousin Undine, who has come to live at Buckshaw following the death of her mother. When Major Greyleigh, a local recluse and former hangman, is found dead after a breakfast of poisonous mushrooms, suspicion falls on the de Luce family’s longtime cook, Mrs. Mullet. After all, wasn’t it she who’d picked the mushrooms, cooked the omelet and served it to Greyleigh moments before his death? But Flavia knows she is innocent. Together with Dogger, estate gardener and partner-in-crime, and the obnoxious Undine, Flavia sets out to find the real killer and clear Mrs. Mullet’s good name. Little does she know that following the case’s twists and turns will lead her to a most surprising discovery --- one with the power to upend her entire life.
Bantam | 9780593724538
THE WILDES: A Novel in Five Acts by Louis Bayard (Historical Fiction)
In September 1892, Oscar Wilde and his family have retreated to the idyllic Norfolk countryside for a holiday. His wife, Constance, has every reason to be happy: two beautiful sons, her own work as an advocate for feminist causes, and a delightfully charming and affectionate husband and father to her children, who also happens to be the most sought-after author in England. But with the arrival of an unexpected houseguest, the aristocratic young poet Lord Alfred Douglas, Constance gradually --- and then all at once --- comes to see that her husband’s heart is elsewhere and that the growing intensity between the two men threatens the whole foundation of their lives.
Algonquin Books | 9781643755526
WOUNDS by Sara Blædel and Mads Peder Nordbo (Thriller)
Paperback Original
When a body is discovered in an abandoned building, Denmark police investigators Liam Stark and Dea Torp are called to the scene to investigate. They learn that the victim has several shallow wounds all over his body that were inflicted over the span of several weeks. With a pile of open cases, including two missing teenage girls, Liam and Dea are staggering under the weight of their already heavy caseload. Tension in town heats up when two more bodies are discovered with the same shallow wounds as the first victim, and their suspects list has dried up. Liam and Dea come to the alarming conclusion that they have another serial killer on their hands. And it’s only a matter of time before they strike again. As the investigation continues, Liam and Dea worry that the missing teens might be connected to the murders.
Crooked Lane Books | 9798892422727
On Sale the Week of August 18th in Hardcover
August 19th
ANONYMOUS MALE: A Life Among Spies by Christopher Whitcomb (Memoir)
In September 2001, Christopher Whitcomb was the most visible FBI agent in the world. His bestselling memoir, COLD ZERO, had led to novels, articles in GQ, and op-eds in The New York Times. Then one day in 2006, without warning, Whitcomb flew into Somalia and dropped off the face of the earth. For 15 years, he waged a mercenary war on himself, traveling the world with aliases, cash and guns. He built a private army in the jungles of Timor-Leste, working contracts for intelligence agencies, where he survived a coup d’état only to lose his friends, abandon his family, and give up on God. While surfing the wilds of Indonesia, Whitcomb found himself trapped beneath a giant wave, where he came to terms with the chaos of his own clandestine life. He survived the wave to find his way home and rebuild the world that he had abandoned.
Random House | 9780593597002
CHANGEOVER: A Young Rivalry and a New Era of Men's Tennis by Giri Nathan (Sports)
For more than two decades, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer dominated men’s tennis so thoroughly that it became difficult to imagine how the game would keep its shine once they retired. Then came 2024 --- the first year since 2002 that none of them won a Grand Slam tournament --- and a technicolor future was revealed. The major titles were divided between a pair of prodigies in their early 20s: the effervescent showman Carlos Alcaraz and the relentlessly cool Jannik Sinner. Though other young contenders jostled for the spotlight, and Djokovic tried to hold his ground, the transcendentally gifted Alcaraz and Sinner just kept installing their new regime.
Gallery Books | 9781668076248
THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT: New Tales of Stephen King's The Stand
edited by Christopher Golden and Brian Keene (Post-Apocalyptic Dark Fantasy/Short Stories)
Since its initial publication in 1978, THE STAND has been considered Stephen King’s seminal masterpiece of apocalyptic fiction. Generations of writers have been impacted by its dark yet ultimately hopeful vision of the end and new beginning of civilization, and its stunning array of characters. Now for the first time, King has fully authorized a return to the harrowing world of THE STAND through this original short story anthology as presented by award-winning authors and editors Christopher Golden and Brian Keene. Bringing together some of today’s greatest and most visionary writers, THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT features unforgettable, all-new stories set during and after (and some perhaps long after) the events of THE STAND.
Gallery Books | 9781668057551
HATCHET GIRLS: A Hap and Leonard Novel by Joe R. Lansdale (Mystery/Humor)
When Hap and Leonard are called in on a strange request (subduing a meth-hopped hog) by a desperate young lady, they quickly learn this woman is part of a fringe group: The Hatchet Girls, who have pledged their allegiance to a crazed and grudge-bearing leader bent on bloody societal revenge. The timing couldn't be worse to be caught in such a vile, sticky wicket of a case. Both boys are wrapped up in their domestic lives. Leonard is in the midst of wedding planning with his fiancée, Pookie. And meanwhile, Hap and Brett are hard at work on their new home. Homemaking bliss will have to wait as Hap and Leonard are driven to stop the danger in its tracks and better understand the group's mission and the plans they already have set in place for helter-skelter-esque mayhem.
Mulholland Books | 9780316514019
HEMLOCK & SILVER by T. Kingfisher (Fantasy/Adventure)
Healer Anja regularly drinks poison. Not to die, but to save --- seeking cures for those everyone else has given up on. But a summons from the King interrupts her quiet, herb-obsessed life. His daughter, Snow, is dying, and he hopes Anja’s unorthodox methods can save her. Aided by a taciturn guard, a narcissistic cat and a passion for the scientific method, Anja rushes to treat Snow, but nothing seems to work. That is, until she finds a secret world, hidden inside a magic mirror. This dark realm may hold the key to what is making Snow sick. Or it might be the thing that kills them all.
Tor Books | 9781250342034
JOY MOODY IS OUT OF TIME by Kerryn Mayne (Fiction)
Strange things are happening behind the bright pink facade of Bayside’s premier laundromat, Joyful Suds, home to Joy Moody and her twin daughters. For much of their lives, Joy has been lying to Cassie and Andie. What started as a colorful tale to explain how the twins came to live with her grew over the years and was always something she meant to set straight. The girls have long believed they are vital to the future and must stay hidden to stay safe. Joy has told them that their impending 21st birthday is significant; they will step into their roles as leaders of a revolution, and life as they know it will change. Everything will change, just not in the way they expected. On Andie and Cassie’s birthday, Joy Moody is found dead, and her girls face a world they are not prepared for without their mother.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250340504
LESSONS IN MAGIC AND DISASTER by Charlie Jane Anders (Fantasy)
Jamie is basically your average New England academic in-training. She has a strong queer relationship, an esoteric dissertation proposal, and inherited generational trauma. But she has one extraordinary secret: she's also a powerful witch. Serena, Jamie's mother, has been hiding from the world in an old one-room schoolhouse for several years, grieving the death of her wife and the simultaneous explosion in her professional life. Jamie is busy digging into a 300-year-old magical book, but she still finds time to teach Serena to cast spells and help her come out of her shell. But Jamie doesn't know the whole story of what happened to her mom years ago. Now it's up to her to understand the secrets behind this mysterious novel from 1749, unearth a long-buried scandal hinted therein, and learn the true nature of magic before her mother ruins both of their lives.
Tor Books | 9781250867322
THE LOST BAKER OF VIENNA by Sharon Kurtzman (Historical Fiction)
In 2018, Zoe Rosenzweig is reeling after the loss of her beloved grandfather, a Holocaust survivor. She becomes obsessed with finding out what really happened to her family during the war. Vienna, 1946: Chana Rosenzweig has endured the horrors of war to find herself, her mother and her younger brother finally free in Vienna. But freedom doesn’t look like they’d imagined it would, as they struggle to make a living and stay safe. Despite the danger, Chana sneaks out most nights to return to the hotel kitchen where she works as a dishwasher, using the quiet nighttime hours to bake her late father’s recipes. Soon, Chana finds herself caught in a dangerous love triangle, torn between the black-market dealer who has offered marriage and protection, and the apprentice baker who shares her passions. How will Chana balance her love of baking against her family’s need for security?
Pamela Dorman Books | 9780593830864
POSITIVE OBSESSION: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler by Susana M. Morris (Biography)
As the first Black woman to consistently write and publish in the field of science fiction, Octavia Butler was a trailblazer. With her deft pen, she created stories speculating the devolution of the American empire, using it as an apt metaphor for the best and worst of humanity --- our innovation and ingenuity, our naked greed and ambition, our propensity for violence and hierarchy. Her fiction charts the rise and fall of the American project --- the nation’s transformation from a provincial backwater to a capitalist juggernaut (made possible by chattel slavery) to a bloated imperialist superpower on the verge of implosion. In POSITIVE OBSESSION, Susana M. Morris places Butler’s story firmly within the cultural, social and historical context that shaped her life.
Amistad | 9780063212077
THE POSSESSION OF ALBA DÍAZ by Isabel Cañas (Gothic Thriller/Horror)
In 1765, plague sweeps through Zacatecas. Alba flees with her wealthy merchant parents and fiancé, Carlos, to his family’s isolated mine for refuge. But she begins suffering from strange hallucinations, sleepwalking and violent convulsions. She senses something cold lurking beneath her skin. Something angry. Something wrong. Elías, haunted by a troubled past, came to the New World to make his fortune and escape his family’s legacy of greed. Alba, as his cousin’s betrothed, is none of his business. Which, of course, is why he can’t help but notice the growing tension between them every time she enters the room…and why he notices her deteriorate when the demon’s thirst for blood gets stronger. In the fight for her life, Alba and Elías become entangled with the occult, the Church, long-kept secrets and each other.
Berkley | 9780593641071
SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO: Fictions by Fannie Flagg (Fiction/Short Stories)
Fannie Flagg once said that what the world needs now is a good laugh. And that is what she gives us in these warmhearted, always surprising stories about people who are finding clever ways to deal with the curveballs life sometimes throws at us. Velma in Kansas, a loving great-grandmother, struggles to bridge generational gaps with her family. We cheer for Helen, in Ithaca, New York, who takes an audacious course of action when her husband leaves her for a younger woman. In Bent Fork, Wyoming; in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; in Tucson, Arizona; and in towns and cities all across America, people figure out inventive ways to overcome obstacles to happiness. And in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Special Agent Frawley is studying the mysteries of being human from an original perspective.
Random House | 9780593734414
THE UNSEEN by Ania Ahlborn (Domestic Thriller/Horror)
Isla Hansen, a mother reeling from a devastating loss, is beside herself when a mysteriously orphaned child appears on the outskirts of the Hansens’ secluded Colorado property. Although strange and unexplainable, the child’s presence breathes new life into Isla. But as the child settles in, Isla’s husband, Luke, and their five children notice peculiarities that hint at something far beyond the ordinary --- anomalies that challenge the very fabric of reality itself. The tension within the Hansen household grows, and with it, the sense that there is something very wrong with the new kid in the house.
Gallery Books | 9781668057667
On Sale the Week of August 18th in Paperback
August 19th
ARCHIPELAGO by Natalie Bakopoulos (Fiction)
Paperback Original
Along the way to a translation writing residency on the Dalmatian coast, ARCHIPELAGO’s unnamed narrator has an unsettling, aggressive encounter with a man on a ferry, which sets off a series of strange events. At the residency, she reunites with Luka, an old friend who seems to have included a version of her in his novel. They strike up a romantic relationship as she continues her translation work. The hazy summer stretches on until, after a sudden shift, she embarks upon an impulsive road trip back to Greece, crossing borders.
Tin House Books | 9781963108309
THE BATTLE OF THE BOOKSHOPS by Poppy Alexander (Romance)
Paperback Original
Capelthorne’s Books may be a tad run-down these days, but to Jules Capelthorne, the wonky, dusty world of literary treasures is full of precious childhood memories. When her great-aunt Florence gets too frail to run it alone, Jules ditches her junior publishing job in London and comes home to make the bookshop’s 100th birthday a celebration to remember. But Jules quickly discovers that the bookshop is close to bankruptcy, and the lease on the building is up for renewal. To make matters worse, the owner of the property is the insufferable Roman Montbeau. The Montbeaus and Capelthornes have feuded for years. Jules may not be able to splash the cash on promotions and marketing like the Montbeaus, but she has some ideas of her own. Plus she has a tenacity that just may win the hardest of hearts and the most hopeless of conflicts.
Avon | 9780063340671
BUTCHER by Joyce Carol Oates (Historical Fiction)
In this harrowing story based on authentic historical documents, we follow the career of Dr. Silas Weir, “Father of Gyno-Psychiatry,” as he ascends from professional anonymity to national renown. Humiliated by a procedure gone terribly wrong, Weir is forced to take a position at the New Jersey Asylum for Female Lunatics, where he reigns. There, he is allowed to continue his practice, unchecked for decades, making a name for himself by focusing on women who have been neglected by the state --- women he subjects to the most grotesque modes of experimentation. As he begins to establish himself as a pioneer of 19th-century surgery, Weir’s ambition is fueled by his obsessive fascination with a young Irish indentured servant named Brigit, who becomes not only his primary experimental subject, but also the agent of his destruction.
Vintage | 9780593686003
BY ANY OTHER NAME by Jodi Picoult (Historical Fiction)
Young playwright Melina Green has just written a new work inspired by the life of her Elizabethan ancestor, Emilia Bassano. But seeing it performed is unlikely, in a theater world where the playing field isn’t level for women. As Melina wonders if she dares risk failure again, her best friend submits the play to a festival under a male pseudonym. In 1581, Emilia Bassano is a ward of English aristocrats. Her lessons on languages, history and writing have endowed her with a sharp wit and a gift for storytelling. But she is allowed no voice of her own. Forced to become a mistress to the Lord Chamberlain, who oversees all theater productions in England, Emilia sees firsthand how the words of playwrights can move an audience. She begins to form a plan to secretly bring a play of her own to the stage --- by paying an actor named William Shakespeare to front her work.
Ballantine Books | 9780593497234
EMMA ON FIRE by James Patterson and Emily Raymond (Thriller)
Paperback Original
Everyone at Ridgemont Academy knows what to expect from Emma Caroline Blake. Perfect grades. Perfect record. Perfect life. Then she stands up in class and commits an act so shocking her reputation will never recover. And that’s exactly what Emma wants. In a world where the path forward is uncertain, expectation is the enemy. EMMA ON FIRE is the unforgettable story of one brave young woman --- and her decision to live life as if everyone’s future depends on it. Because it does.
Little, Brown and Company | 9781538758700
FIVE FOUND DEAD by Sulari Gentill (Mystery/Thriller)
Paperback Original
Crime fiction author Joe Penvale has won the most brutal battle of his life. Now that he has finished his intense medical treatment, he and his twin sister, Meredith, are boarding the glorious Orient Express in Paris. Meredith hopes that the literary ghosts on the train will nudge Joe's muse awake, and he'll be inspired to write again. After their first evening spent getting to know some of their fellow travelers, Joe pulls out his laptop and opens a new document. The next morning, Joe and Meredith are shocked to witness that the cabin next door has become a crime scene. They soon find themselves caught up in an Agatha Christie-esque murder investigation. But when the steward guarding the crime scene is murdered, it marks the beginning of a killing spree that leaves five found dead --- and one still missing.
Poisoned Pen Press | 9781464219719
THE HAUNTING OF MOSCOW HOUSE by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore
(Gothic Horror/Historical Mystery)
It is the summer of 1921, and a group of Bolsheviks have taken over Irina and Lili Goliteva’s ancestral home in Moscow. The remaining members of their family are ordered to move into the cramped attic, while the officials take over an entire wing of grand rooms downstairs. The sisters know they must forget their noble upbringing to make their way in this new Soviet Russia. But the house begins to whisper of a traumatic past not as dead as they thought. Eager to escape it and their unwelcome new landlords, Irina and Lili find jobs with the recently arrived American Relief Administration. But at home, the spirits of their deceased family awaken, desperate to impart what really happened to them during the Revolution. Soon one of the officials living in the house is found dead. Was his death caused by something supernatural, or by someone all too human?
Berkley | 9780593547014
THE IN CROWD by Charlotte Vassell (Mystery)
In the garden of a large Georgian villa in Southwest London, socialites and politicos swap gossip and sip Pimm's. Not far from this frivolity, though, a body has been discovered in the River Thames. At first, it appears to be an unfortunate accident, but the death is connected to this gathering of who's who in a way that may spell scandal. Meanwhile, Detective Inspector Caius Beauchamp, attempting to enjoy an evening at the theater, is shocked to discover another dead body just a few seats away. The death is linked to the decades-old disappearance of a 14-year-old girl at a boarding school in Cornwall. If Caius wants the resources to solve the tragic mystery of the girl's disappearance, he will have to take new orders from a shadowy government minister who contends that the accidental drowning in the Thames was anything but.
Vintage | 9780593685990
THE LOVE ELIXIR OF AUGUSTA STERN by Lynda Cohen Loigman (Historical Fiction)
On the cusp of turning 80, newly retired pharmacist Augusta Stern is adrift. When she relocates to Rallentando Springs, an active senior community in southern Florida, she unexpectedly crosses paths with Irving Rivkin, the delivery boy from her father’s old pharmacy --- and the man who broke her heart 60 years earlier. Augusta is still haunted by the mistakes of her past. What happened all those years ago, and how did her plan involving her Great Aunt Esther’s most potent elixir go so spectacularly wrong? Did Irving ever truly love her, or was he simply playing a part? And can Augusta reclaim the magic of her youth before it’s too late?
St. Martin’s Griffin | 9781250819505
A MASK OF FLIES by Matthew Lyons (Horror/Thriller)
In the grisly aftermath of a botched bank heist, career criminal Anne Heller has no choice but to return to her family’s cabin --- a secluded shack in Colorado’s San Luis Valley, and the site of her mother’s untimely death. Along for the ride are Jessup, Anne’s badly wounded partner, and Dutch, the police officer she’s taken hostage. As they wait for help, Anne discovers strange relics from her mother’s past and begins to unfold the mystery of her childhood at the cabin. Then Jessup goes missing, only to turn up dead. Anne and Dutch bury her friend, but that night, he comes back and knocks at the cabin door. Not a dream, not a hallucination, but not exactly Jessup, either. Something else. Something wearing her friend’s face. Something hungry.
Tor Nightfire | 9781250889843
ONE DARK NIGHT by Hannah Richell (Mystery/Thriller)
Paperback Original
On Halloween, a group of teenage students meet in the woods near Sally in the Wood, a road steeped in local lore and rumored to be haunted by the ghost of a murdered girl. By the end of the night, one student will be dead. Rachel, the school guidance counselor, is trying to keep a handle on her increasingly distant teenage daughter, Ellie, while students and parents panic and mourn. Her ex-husband and detective Ben, dealing with a personal crisis of his own, has concerns about his daughter’s safety as he investigates the death. Meanwhile, Ellie is keeping secrets from both her parents, including one about where she was that night.
Atria Books | 9781668081334
OUR EVENINGS by Alan Hollinghurst (Historical Fiction)
Dave Win, the son of a Burmese man he’s never met and a British dressmaker, is 13 years old when he gets a scholarship to a top boarding school. With the doors of elite English society cracked open for him, heady new possibilities emerge, even as Dave is exposed to the envy and viciousness of his wealthy classmates. OUR EVENINGS follows Dave from the 1960s on --- through the possibilities that remained open for him, and others that proved to be illusory: as a working-class brown child in a decidedly white institution; a young man discovering queer culture and experiencing his first, formative love affairs; a talented but often overlooked actor, on the road with an experimental theater company; and an older Londoner whose late-in-life marriage fills his days with an unexpected sense of happiness and security.
Random House Trade Paperbacks | 9780593243084
PARADISE BRONX: The Life and Times of New York's Greatest Borough by Ian Frazier (History)
Ian Frazier, one of our best observers and describers, has been walking the Bronx for 15 years. PARADISE BRONX goes deep into the eventful and tumultuous history of this amazing New York City borough, a super-vibrant in-between place that attaches the rest of the city to North America. From Jonas Bronck, who bought land from the local Lenape tribes, to the formerly gang-wracked South Bronx, which gave birth to hip-hop, Frazier’s loving exploration of this singular cityscape is a richly textured, raucous, moving tour de force about the polyglot culture that is the United States today.
Picador | 9781250390592
SO THIRSTY: A Vampire Novel by Rachel Harrison (Supernatural Thriller/Horror)
Sloane Parker is dreading her birthday. She doesn’t need a reminder that she’s getting older, or that she’s feeling indifferent about her own life. Her husband surprises her with a birthday-weekend getaway --- not with him, but with her longtime best friend, troublemaker extraordinaire Naomi. Sloane anticipates a weekend of wine tastings, cozy robes and strategic avoidance of issues she’d rather not confront, like her husband’s repeated infidelity. But when they arrive at their rental cottage, it becomes clear that Naomi has something else in mind. She wants Sloane to stop letting things happen to her, for Sloane to really live. So Naomi orchestrates a wild night out with a group of mysterious strangers, only for it to take a horrifying turn that changes Sloane’s and Naomi’s lives literally forever.
Berkley | 9780593642566
THE SURROGATE MOTHER by Freida McFadden (Psychological Thriller)
First Time Published by Poisoned Pen Press
Abby wants a baby more than anything. But after years of failed infertility treatments and adoptions that have fallen through, it seems like motherhood is not in her future. That is, until her personal assistant, Monica, makes a generous offer to serve as a surrogate. It's an offer that will make all of Abby's dreams come true. But soon, strange things start happening. And it turns out Monica isn't who she says she is. The woman now carrying Abby's child has an unspeakable secret. And she will stop at nothing to get what she wants.
Poisoned Pen Press | 9781464227301
THROUGH AN OPEN WINDOW by Pamela Terry (Fiction)
Paperback Original
In the small Southern town of Wesleyan, Georgia, Margaret Elliot has lived a seemingly charmed life --- until the recent loss of her beloved husband. Since then, she has been seeing visions of her aunt Edith, the indomitable woman who raised her after her parents died when she was a baby. As these mysterious and undeniable visitations continue, Margaret becomes convinced that Aunt Edith is trying to tell her something important. As she follows the clues that almost magically present themselves, it becomes clear there is a secret from Margaret’s past waiting to be uncovered. As Margaret grapples with each new revelation, she also worries about her three grown children. Despite the tensions among the siblings, the whole family is soon embroiled in uncovering the truth that the ghost of Aunt Edith is striving to expose.
Ballantine Books | 9780593724637
WHALE FALL by Elizabeth O’Connor (Historical Fiction)
In 1938, a dead whale washes up on the shores of remote Welsh island. For Manod, who has spent her whole life on the island, it feels like both a portent of doom and a symbol of what may lie beyond the island's shores. A young woman living with her father and her sister (to whom she has reluctantly but devotedly become a mother following the death of their own mother years prior), Manod can't shake her welling desire to explore life beyond the beautiful yet blisteringly harsh islands that her hardscrabble family has called home for generations. So the arrival of two English ethnographers who hope to study the island culture feels like a boon to her. The longer the ethnographers stay, the more she feels herself pulled towards them, reckoning with a sensual awakening inside herself, despite her misgivings that her community is being misconstrued and exoticized.
Vintage | 9780593686010
WHEN THE CRANES FLY SOUTH written by Lisa Ridzén, translated by Alice Menzies (Fiction)
Paperback Original
Bo is running out of time. Yet time is one of the few things he has left. These days, his quiet existence is broken up only by daily visits from his home care team. Fortunately, he still has his beloved elkhound, Sixten, to keep him company…though now his son, with whom Bo has had a rocky relationship, insists upon taking the dog away, claiming that Bo has grown too old to properly care for him. The threat of losing Sixten stirs up a whirlwind of emotion, leading Bo to take stock of his life, his relationships, and the imperfect way he’s expressed his love over the years.
Vintage | 9798217006731
THE WHITEWASHED TOMBS: An Emma Djan Investigation by Kwei Quartey (Mystery)
Marcelo Tetteh, a 27-year-old LGBTQ+ activist, is butchered one night after being lured on a dating app to a deserted building site. With rampant homophobia in Ghana, Marcelo’s wealthy father doesn’t trust the Ghana Police Service to find the killer. So he goes to the Sowah Private Investigators Agency for help, partly because he still feels guilty for disowning his son when he came out. PI Emma Djan is assigned the case and goes undercover in the International Congress of Families, a powerful organization seeking to criminalize homosexuality in African countries. As Emma infiltrates the ICF, she uncovers a web of deceit and hypocrisy and discovers that the mastermind behind the murders is someone much closer than she ever imagined.
Soho Crime | 9781641297103
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