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In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of November 3rd and November 10th 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 very special 25th Anniversary Feature on ReadingGroupGuides.com, which includes a BIG contest. We looked back and created a list of some of the most discussed books each year since Reading Group Guides launched in 2000. One lucky reader will win ALL 25 books, while five others will win five of these books. The deadline for your entries is Monday, December 1st at noon ET.
Paula Hawkins recently joined us for October’s “Bookaccino Live” Book Group event to discuss her thriller, THE BLUE HOUR, a Bookreporter.com Bets On pick that is now available in paperback. Readers asked questions before and during the program, and we covered a lot of ground, including the meaning of the book’s title.
Paula shares her love of art and how much she enjoys visiting museums as she travels. THE BLUE HOUR got its start when she was on a vacation; she saw a remote island and thought about what could happen in a place like that. Paula explains how she creates her characters and their backstories. And yes, she talks about what those blue lights at the end of the novel might mean.
We are keeping our 25th Anniversary Book Group Survey up until Monday, December 1st at noon ET. We want to learn more about you and your book group as we have not done a survey of this magnitude for book groups since 2015.
One reader who completes the survey will win the Grand Prize of a $250 gift card to the bookstore of his or her choice. Three runners-up will win a $50 gift card to the bookstore of their choice.
Let us know by Friday, November 14th at noon ET what books you’ve read, and you’ll have a chance to win NASH FALLS by David Baldacci and QUEEN ESTHER by John Irving in our Word of Mouth contest.
When Walter Nash is recruited by the FBI to help bring down a global crime network, his life is turned completely upside down in NASH FALLS, which kicks off a new series for David Baldacci. After 40 years, John Irving returns to the world of THE CIDER HOUSE RULES with the release of QUEEN ESTHER, revisiting the orphanage in St. Cloud’s, Maine, where Dr. Wilbur Larch takes in Esther --- a Viennese-born Jew whose life is shaped by antisemitism.
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:
Celebrate 25 Years of ReadingGroupGuides.com with Us! Enter to Win 25 of the Most Discussed Books
of the Past Quarter Century --- and Check Out Our
Special Anniversary Feature
In 2000, we founded ReadingGroupGuides.com with the idea that readers would be able to conveniently find discussion guides for many of the books that they wanted, as well as information of interest to book groups.
Join us in celebrating this milestone by entering our 25th Anniversary Contest!
We have selected some of the most-read book group titles of the past 25 years for this contest. It was tough to narrow our choices down to 25, just one from each year. But after lots of discussion, we developed the list on this page.
One winner will receive all 25 books. Five others will win five of these books. If you have read one --- or many --- of these books, our prize will give you the opportunity to share the books with others in your group!
- Click here to see all the prize books and access their discussion guides by clicking on the covers.
Click here to enter the contest by Monday, December 1st at noon ET.
Click here for our special 25th Anniversary Feature, which includes
the Most Requested Guides of 2024 and 2025, tips for book groups, and more.
Upcoming Virtual Book and Author Events
Here are three upcoming virtual book and author events that you may be interested in attending. Click on the links for more info and to register.
Wednesday, November 5th at 7pm ET: “Friends & Fiction”: Join “Friends & Fiction” for a conversation with David Baldacci about NASH FALLS, the first installment in his series featuring Walter Nash, who is unexpectedly approached by the FBI in the middle of the night with an important request.
Wednesday, November 5th at 7pm ET: The Poisoned Pen Bookstore: Alex DeMille will talk about THE TIN MEN, the final novel that he wrote with his father, the late Nelson DeMille. At a top-secret Army training facility in the Mojave Desert, Special Agents Scott Brodie and Maggie Taylor plunge into a deadly web of military intrigue, AI technology and robot soldiers as they unravel the shocking murder of a senior scientist.
Tuesday, November 11th at 9pm ET: Killer Author Club: Kimberly Belle, Heather Gudenkauf and Kaira Rouda will talk to Lee Child and Andrew Child about EXIT STRATEGY, book #30 in the page-turning Jack Reacher series.
On Sale the Week of November 3rd in Hardcover
November 4th
BITTER HONEY by Lolá Ákínmádé (Fiction)
1978: A scholarship draws Nancy from Gambia’s warmth into Stockholm’s frigid winter. When her friendship with charismatic scholar Lars blossoms into something more, she thinks she finally may have found her place. But there’s more to Lars than his charming persona, and Nancy is about to discover the danger of being drawn into his world. 2006: Tina has had her taste of fame as Sweden’s sweetheart pop princess, representing her country at Eurovision. But beneath her glittery façade, she’s uncertain who she really is. Her mother, Nancy, seems desperate to keep the past under wraps, but will the unexpected appearance of Tina’s father --- a man she has long thought dead --- help open the door to self-discovery? Nancy just wants to protect her daughter from making the same mistakes she did, but Tina longs for the freedom to mess up.
William Morrow | 9780063317024
BLACK-OWNED: The Revolutionary Life of the Black Bookstore by Char Adams (History)
In BLACK-OWNED, longtime NBC News reporter Char Adams celebrates the living history of Black bookstores. Packed with stories of activism, espionage, violence, community and perseverance, the book starts with the first Black-owned bookstore, which an abolitionist opened in New York in 1834. After its violent demise, Black booklovers carried on its cause. In the 20th century, civil rights and Black Power activists started a Black bookstore boom nationwide. Malcolm X gave speeches in front of the National Memorial African Book Store in Harlem --- a place dubbed “Speakers’ Corner” --- and later, Black bookstores became targets of FBI agents, the police and racist vigilantes. Still, stores continued to fuel Black political movements. Amid these struggles, bookshops were also places of celebration.
Tiny Reparations Books | 9780593474235
BOOK OF LIVES: A Memoir of Sorts by Margaret Atwood (Memoir)
Raised by ruggedly independent, scientifically minded parents --- entomologist father, dietician mother --- Margaret Atwood spent most of each year in the wild forest of northern Quebec. This childhood was unfettered and nomadic, sometimes isolated, but also thrilling and beautiful. From this unconventional start, Atwood unfolds the story of her life, linking seminal moments to the books that have shaped our literary landscape --- from the cruel year that spawned CAT’S EYE to the Orwellian 1980s Berlin where she wrote THE HANDMAID’S TALE. In pages bursting with bohemian gatherings, her magical life with the wildly charismatic writer Graeme Gibson, and major political turning points, we meet poets, bears, Hollywood actors and larger-than-life characters straight from the pages of an Atwood novel.
Doubleday | 9780385547512
BREAD OF ANGELS: A Memoir by Patti Smith (Memoir)
“God whispers through a crease in the wallpaper,” writes Patti Smith in this moving account of her life. A post–World War II childhood unfolds in a condemned housing complex where we enter the child’s world of the imagination. Smith, the captain of her loyal and beloved sibling army, vanquishes bullies, communes with the king of tortoises, and searches for sacred silver pennies. The most intimate of Smith’s memoirs, BREAD OF ANGELS takes us through her teenage years where the first glimmers of art and romance take hold. Arthur Rimbaud and Bob Dylan emerge as creative role models as she begins to write poetry and then lyrics, ultimately merging both into the songs of iconic recordings such as Horses, Wave and Easter.
Random House | 9781101875124
THE CHRISTMAS STRANGER by Richard Paul Evans (Fiction)
Three years after losing his family in a Christmas Eve accident, grief-stricken Paul Wanlass hasn’t just given up on Christmas, he’s given up on life. When a stranger knocks on his door, claiming to be picking up a laptop, Paul allows him in --- but discovers the man has a very different mission in mind. Paul wakes up the next morning unsure if his encounter with the stranger really happened or if it was just a dream. But when the stranger shows up again, Paul challenges this individual to give him just one reason to live. The stranger agrees to the challenge but warns Paul not to expect a path he would have guessed or chosen. As the stranger promised, Paul’s life takes a wild and fateful turn, which involves meeting a woman and a young boy. The twists leave Paul wondering what these people have in common and why they were brought together.
Gallery Books | 9781668014905
CURSED DAUGHTERS by Oyinkan Braithwaite (Fiction)
When Ebun gives birth to her daughter, Eniiyi, on the day they bury her cousin, Monife, there is no denying the startling resemblance between the child and the dead woman. So begins the belief that Eniiyi is the actual reincarnation of Monife, fated to follow in her footsteps in all ways, including that tragic end. There is also the matter of the family curse: “No man will call your house his home. And if they try, they will not have peace...” which causes three generations of abandoned Falodun women to live under the same roof. But when Eniiyi falls in love with the handsome boy she saves from drowning, she can no longer run from her family’s history. She ill-advisedly seeks answers in older, darker spiritual corners of Lagos. Is she destined to live out the habitual story of love and heartbreak? Or can she break the pattern once and for all?
Doubleday | 9780385551472
DESPERATE SPIES: A Secret Lives Mystery by Mark de Castrique
(Political Thriller/Mystery)
Seventy-five-year-old former FBI agent Ethel Fiona Crestwater knows everyone in DC law enforcement --- and is smarter than all of them combined. When a former colleague asks Ethel for help, she agrees without a second thought. But the favor throws Ethel back 18 years, to the botched sting operation that resulted in the murder of an innocent young woman by a Russian gangster --- and nearly ended Ethel’s own life, too. Soon, Ethel and her young tech-whizz sidekick Jesse, her double-first-cousin-twice-removed, find themselves in the crosshairs of some very bad --- and very desperate --- men who will do anything to get their hands on the state secrets they’re seeking. Ethel will have to use all the skills she’s learned during her long career if she’s to save the day, and keep both herself and her beloved cousin alive.
Severn House | 9781448316700
THE DEVIL IN OXFORD: A Ruby Vaughn Mystery by Jess Armstrong
(Gothic/Historical Mystery)
American heiress Ruby Vaughn and her octogenarian housemate and employer, Mr. Owen, run a rare bookshop in Exeter. His penchant for arcane, unusual --- and occasionally illegal --- books has been known to get Ruby into her fair share of trouble. And after the last year, she is looking forward to spending a quiet holiday in picturesque Oxford while Mr. Owen attends the annual meeting of his antiquarian society. When he secures two tickets to an upcoming exhibition of artifacts amassed by disgraced scholar Julius Harker, she reluctantly agrees to attend. Harker’s dead body is discovered amongst the collection, and his business partner is hastily arrested. The murder case is suspicious at best, but the last thing Ruby wants is another investigation. That is, until an old friend comes begging for her help.
Minotaur Books | 9781250374653
THE ELEVENTH HOUR: A Quintet of Stories by Salman Rushdie (Fiction/Short Stories)
Salman Rushdie turns his extraordinary imagination to life’s final act with a quintet of stories that span the three countries in which he has made his work: India, England and America. “In the South” introduces a pair of quarrelsome old men and their private tragedy at a moment of national calamity. In “The Musician of Kahani,” a musical prodigy from the Mumbai neighborhood featured in MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN uses her magical gifts to wreak devastation on the wealthy family she marries into. In “Late,” the ghost of a Cambridge don enlists the help of a lonely student to enact revenge upon the tormentor of his lifetime. “Oklahoma” plunges a young writer into a web of deceit and lies as he tries to figure out whether his mentor killed himself or faked his own death. And “The Old Man in the Piazza” is a powerful parable for our times about freedom of speech.
Random House | 9798217154197
FALLEN CITY by Adrienne Young (Historical Fantasy/Romance)
Luca Matius must carry on the family name, maintaining its presence in the Forum once his powerful and cruel uncle dies. But his noviceship with the city's Philosopher places him in the middle of a catastrophe that will alter the destiny of his people. Maris Casperia was raised amidst the strategic maneuvers of the Citadel's inner workings, and she knows what her future holds --- a lifetime of service to a corrupt city. But her years of serving as a novice to the last Priestess who possesses the stolen magic of the Old War has made her envision a different kind of future for the city. When she meets Luca, a fated chain of events is set into motion that will divinely entangle their lives. As a secret comes to light, Luca and Maris hatch a plot to create a calculated alliance. But when an execution forces Luca to become the symbol of rebellion, he and Maris are thrown onto opposite sides of a holy war.
Saturday Books | 9781250794192
FLAT EARTH by Anika Jade Levy (Fiction)
Avery is a grad student in New York working on a collection of cultural reports and flailing financially and emotionally. She dates older men for money, and others for the oblivion their egos offer. In an act of desperation, Avery takes a job at a right-wing dating app. The "white-paper" she is tasked to write for the startup eventually merges with her dissertation, resulting in a metafictional text that reveals itself over the course of the novel. Meanwhile, her best friend, Frances, an effortlessly chic emerging filmmaker from a wealthy Southern family, drops out of grad school, gets married, and somehow still manages to finish her first feature documentary. Frances' triumphant return to New York as the toast of the art world sends Avery into a final tailspin, pushing her to make a series of devastating decisions.
Catapult | 9781646222810
THE FORGET-ME-NOT LIBRARY by Heather Webber (Fiction/Magical Realism)
Months after a freak accident involving lightning, Juliet Nightingale is fully recovered but is left feeling that something is missing from her life. Impulsively, she decides to take a solo summer road trip. Newly single mom Tallulah Byrd Mayfield is hanging by a thread after her neat, tidy world was completely undone when her husband decided that their marriage was over. In the aftermath of the breakup, she and her two daughters move in with her 80-year-old grandfather. Tallulah starts a new job at the Forget-Me-Not Library, where old, treasured memories can be found within the books --- and where Lu must learn to adapt to the many changes thrown her way. When a road detour leads Juliet to Forget-Me-Not, Alabama, and straight into Tallulah’s life, the two women soon discover there’s magic in between the pages of where you’ve been and where you still need to go.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250369277
HELM by Sarah Hall (Fiction)
Helm is a ferocious, mischievous wind --- a subject of folklore and awe, part-elemental god, part-aerial demon blasting through the sublime landscape of Northern England since the dawn of time. Through the stories of those who’ve obsessed over Helm, an extraordinary history is formed: the Neolithic tribe who tried to placate Helm, the Dark Age wizard priest who wanted to banish Helm, the Victorian steam engineer who attempted to capture Helm --- and the farmer’s daughter who fiercely loved Helm. But now Dr. Selima Sutar, surrounded by infinite clouds and measuring instruments in her observation hut, fears that human pollution is killing Helm.
Mariner Books | 9780063439948
HER ONE REGRET by Donna Freitas (Mystery/Thriller)
When successful Rhode Island real estate agent Lucy Mendoza vanishes, leaving her baby behind in a grocery store parking lot, the news quickly makes national headlines. Lucy’s best friend, Michelle, is devastated, and terrified that Lucy’s life is at stake. But she knows something that could complicate the police investigation. Lucy had confessed something unspeakable: She regretted becoming a mother, so much so that she’d fantasized about faking her own kidnapping. If the police and media were to find out, Lucy would become a monster in the eyes of the public. Michelle is sure Lucy would never abandon her daughter. But could she be wrong? Could Lucy have been so desperate that she chose to escape her life?
Soho Crime | 9781641296380
THE HIDDEN CITY: A Charles Lenox Mystery by Charles Finch (Historical Mystery)
It's 1879, and Charles Lenox is convalescing from the violent events of his last investigation. But a desperate letter from an old servant forces him to pick up the trail of a cold case: the murder of an apothecary seven years before, whose only clue is an odd emblem carved into the doorway of the building where the man was killed. When Lenox finds a similar mark at the site of another murder, he begins to piece together a hidden pattern that leads him into the corridors of Parliament, the slums of East London, and ultimately the very heart of the British upper class. At the same time, Lenox must contend with the complexities of his personal life.
Minotaur Books | 9781250767165
THE LADY ON ESPLANADE: A Royal Street Novel by Karen White (Mystery)
Nola Trenholm is eager to launch a new murder-house-flipping business with contractor, closet psychic and part-time nemesis Beau Ryan. After a near-death ghostly encounter and the return of Beau’s missing sister, they are confident that the ghost of his mother can finally rest. Nola believes the shotgun house on famed Esplanade Avenue is a prime fixer-upper for her first project. It may have been the site of a woman’s murder and the disappearance of an entire family, but the house will be perfect for new-to-town Cooper Ravenel --- who happens to have caused Nola’s first heartbreak. In addition to the elusive spirit of an angry young woman who accompanied Cooper to New Orleans, the house on Esplanade has its own ghosts, including one that is becoming increasingly dangerous as he tries to hide his dark secrets.
Berkley | 9780593549490
LAST CALL AT THE SAVOY by Brisa Carleton (Historical Fiction)
Six years ago, Cinnamon Scott was a young writer on the rise in New York City. But since the sudden loss of her parents, she's been stuck in place. Despite their tragic loss, she and her older sister, Rosemary, have always had each other to lean on. But now, with Rosie living in London and about to give birth to twins, Cinnamon feels more lost than ever. When Rosie is put on bed rest, Cinnamon flies to her sister's side, where she's temporarily living at The Savoy. She’s immediately swept away by the beauty and history of the legendary hotel and its famed American Bar. When the late-shift bartender tells her the story of Ada Coleman, the woman who crafted the cocktail recipes The Savoy popularized in its famous handbook a century ago, Cinnamon is inspired by the bartender's vivid stories of Ada's fearlessness and can't understand why Ada's name is nowhere to be found.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538772881
LIGHTBREAKERS by Aja Gabel (Fiction)
Maya, an artist, and Noah, a quantum physicist, share an insatiable curiosity about the world. But their happy marriage has a shadow over it: Serena, the child Noah had with his first wife, who died before she turned four. When Noah is invited by the Janus Project to unravel the secrets of time travel, he jumps at the opportunity. At a laboratory deep in the Texas desert, he begins participating in a dangerous experiment that could result in something he thought impossible: seeing his daughter again. Meanwhile, Maya embarks on a journey back to her own past in Japan, and to a formative lover who once shattered her heart. As Noah and Maya grapple with hope and despair, new information emerges that the experiments might not be exactly what they seem.
Riverhead Books | 9780593329702
LIKE FAMILY by Erin O. White (Fiction)
Ruth and her wife, Wyn, are living with their four children on their small farm in Radclyffe, New York. It’s a sweet life, but there’s a secret at its center, one that not even Ruth’s best friend, Caroline, knows. What Caroline does know is that she loves and depends on Ruth, and on the bond between their families. More than anything, she wants her tenderhearted son not to grow up lonely the way she did. Unfortunately, no one can assure her of that, especially not her husband. He just wants things to be easy and drama-free --- which is impossible, as he has donated his sperm to his cousin, Tobi, and her wife so that they could have kids of their own. Now those children are asking unanswerable questions. After an unexpected death in their community, all three couples are forced to confront the tensions that have long been buried beneath the surfaces of their lives.
The Dial Press | 9780593978559
THE LOOK by Michelle Obama, with Meredith Koop (Fashion & Design/Photography)
In this celebration of style, from the moment she entered the public eye during her husband’s U.S. Senate campaign through her time as the first Black First Lady and today as one of this country’s most influential figures, Michelle Obama shares how she uses the beauty and intrigue of fashion to draw attention to her message. Featuring the voices of Meredith Koop, Obama’s trusted stylist, as well as her makeup artist Carl Ray, hairstylists Yene Damtew, Johnny Wright and Njeri Radway, and many of the designers who have dressed Obama for notable events, THE LOOK brings readers behind the scenes not only to reveal how her most memorable looks came together but also to tell a powerful story about how we present ourselves.
Crown | 9780593800706
OTHERWISE ENGAGED by Susan Mallery (Fiction)
When Shannon gets engaged, her beloved mom, Cindy, is the first person she wants to tell --- and the last. Cindy is engaged, too, and already has hinted at a double wedding. The image of a synchronized bouquet toss with her mom fills Shannon with horror. She’ll keep her engagement a secret until Cindy’s I-dos are done. Victoria has never been proper enough for her mother, Ava, so she stopped trying. She lives on her own terms and amuses herself by pushing Ava’s buttons. Ava loves but doesn’t understand her stuntwoman daughter. When a movie-set mishap brings Victoria home, Ava longs to finally connect. Chance brings the four women together at a wedding venue, where a shocking secret comes tumbling out. As Shannon and Victoria deal with the fallout from the decisions their mothers made, they wrestle with whether who they are is different from who they might have become.
Mira | 9780778387268
PALAVER by Bryan Washington (Fiction)
In Tokyo, the son works as an English tutor and drinks his nights away with friends at a gay bar. He’s entangled in a sexual relationship with a married man, and while he has built a chosen family in Japan, he is estranged from his mother in Houston, whose preference for the son’s oft-troubled homophobic brother, Chris, pushed him to leave home. Then, in the weeks leading up to Christmas, 10 years since they last saw each other, the mother arrives uninvited on his doorstep. With only the son’s cat, Taro, to mediate, the two of them bristle at each other immediately. The mother, wrestling with memories of her youth in Jamaica and her own complicated brother, works to reconcile her good intentions with her missteps. The son struggles to forgive. But as life steers them in unexpected directions, they begin to see each other more clearly.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux | 9780374609078
THE PLACE WHERE THEY BURIED YOUR HEART by Christina Henry
(Gothic Horror/Supernatural Thriller)
On an otherwise ordinary street in Chicago, there is a house. An abandoned house where, once upon a time, terrible things happened. The children who live on this block are told by their parents to stay away from it. But of course, children don’t listen. Jessie Campanelli dared her little brother, Paul, to go inside. But unlike all the other kids who went inside that abandoned house, Paul didn’t return. His two friends, Jake and Richie, said that the house ate Paul. Of course, adults didn’t believe that. They thought someone kidnapped Paul or otherwise hurt him. His disappearance broke Jessie’s family apart in ways that would never be repaired. Jessie kept living on the same street where the house that ate her brother sat, crouched and waiting. And darkness seemed to spread out from that house, a darkness that was alive --- alive and hungry.
Berkley | 9780593953952
THE PREDICAMENT: A Gabriel Dax Novel by William Boyd (Historical Thriller)
1963, Guatemala. The country is in turmoil, with a presidential election looming and a charismatic, left-wing ex-priest and trade union leader predicted to win. United Fruits, a giant American corporation responsible for a large percentage of the country’s GNP, is not pleased by this prospect. Neither is the CIA. Amid the uncertainty, Gabriel Dax arrives on orders from his MI6 handler Faith Green, who has tasked him with assessing the fallout from the election. Upon arrival, Gabriel meets Frank Sartorius, the local CIA agent. Despite Sartorius’ genial manner, Gabriel suspects something untrustworthy brewing under the surface. Soon, a political assassination with suspicions of Mafia involvement leads to riots. But when Green compels Gabriel to investigate some shady characters in West Berlin, it becomes clear that an even greater danger is afoot.
Atlantic Crime | 9780802166272
QUEEN ESTHER by John Irving (Historical Fiction)
Esther Nacht is born in Vienna in 1905. Her father dies on board the ship to Portland, Maine. Her mother is murdered by antisemites in Portland. Dr. Larch knows it won’t be easy to find a Jewish family to adopt Esther. In fact, he won’t find any family who’ll adopt her. When Esther is 14, soon to be a ward of the state, Dr. Larch meets the Winslows, a philanthropic New England family with a history of providing foster care for unadopted orphans. The Winslows aren’t Jewish, but they despise antisemitism. Esther’s gratitude for the Winslows is unending. Even as she retraces her roots back to Vienna, she never stops loving and protecting the Winslows. In the final chapter, set in Jerusalem in 1981, Esther Nacht is 76.
Simon & Schuster | 9781501189449
SON OF THE MORNING by Akwaeke Emezi (Paranormal Romance/Fantasy)
Tenderhearted Galilee was raised by the Kincaids, a formidable clan of Black women sequestered deep in the weeping willows and dark rushing creeks of their land. Galilee has always known that she’s different --- that there is an old and unknowable secret around her very existence. Lucifer Helel is fronting as the head of security for her wealthy friend Oriaku’s family, protecting a mysterious, ancient artifact. But from the moment she lays eyes on him, Galilee knows he’s not human. From her first incendiary touch, Lucifer knows something even Galilee herself doesn’t --- that she isn’t human either. Leviathan, Lucifer’s most trusted prince of Hell, is determined to eliminate the intolerable danger that is Galilee before she brings death and disaster to those he loves. But Lucifer and Galilee’s attraction threatens to bring all the structures of their existence crashing down around them.
Avon | 9780063323186
THE STOLEN CROWN: Treachery, Deceit, and the Death of the Tudor Dynasty by Tracy Borman (History)
In the long and dramatic annals of British history, no transition from one monarch to another has been as fraught and consequential as that which ended the Tudor dynasty and launched the Stuart in March 1603. At her death, Elizabeth I had reigned for 44 turbulent years, facing many threats. But no danger was greater than the uncertainty over who would succeed her. As Tracy Borman reveals in THE STOLEN CROWN, according to Elizabeth’s earliest biographer, William Camden, on her deathbed the queen indicated that James was her chosen heir, and indeed he did become king soon after she died. That endorsement has been accepted as fact for more than four centuries. However, recent analysis of Camden’s original manuscript shows that key passages were pasted over and rewritten to burnish James’ legacy.
Atlantic Monthly Press | 9780802165909
THE WAR BEYOND by Andrea Stewart (Fantasy/Adventure)
Hakara risked her life to find her long-lost sister, Rasha, only to lose her all over again. Now she and her Unanointed rebels hunt for the shapeshifter Lithuas, knowing that defeating her would strike a blow to the plans of the tyrant god Kluehnn. Rasha once longed to be reunited with Hakara. No longer. Now she is a Godkiller and proud to serve Kluehnn’s divine will. Yet she also harbors doubts about Kluehnn’s teachings. When she is sent to destroy Hakara and her allies, Rasha will have to decide where her loyalty truly lies. As the two sisters hurtle towards a bloody reunion, Sheuan continues her shadowy games of intrigue to uncover the secret that killed her father, while her cousin, Mullayne, seeks the tomb of Tolemne. There, Mull believes he’ll find the answers he desires.
Orbit | 9780316564830
WE DID OK, KID: A Memoir by Anthony Hopkins (Memoir)
Born and raised in Port Talbot --- a small Welsh steelworks town --- amid war and depression, Sir Anthony Hopkins grew up around men who were tough, to say the least, and eschewed all forms of emotional vulnerability in favor of alcoholism and brutality. A struggling student in school, he was deemed by his peers, his parents and other adults as a failure with no future ahead of him. But, on a fateful Saturday night, the disregarded Welsh boy watched the 1948 adaptation of Hamlet, sparking a passion for acting that would lead him on a path that no one could have predicted. With candor and a voice that is both arresting and vulnerable, Sir Anthony recounts his various career milestones and provides a once-in-a-lifetime look into the brilliance behind some of his most iconic roles.
S&S/Summit Books | 9781668075500
WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE by Alissa Lee (Psychological Thriller)
Although they started out as roommates at Harvard, Sara, Bee, Dina, Allie, Wesley and Claudine soon became family. They had their whole bright lives ahead of them --- until their senior year, when a shocking tragedy changed everything. Twenty years later, five of the roommates still indulge in a secret tradition they’ve kept alive since their campus days: the Circus, a harmless elimination-style “killing” game played across the private rooms and hidden alleys of New York City. The game is a nod to their younger selves and a tribute to the sixth roommate they lost too young. But this year, Sara wants out of the game --- until she discovers there is a small fortune awaiting the winner of this final round. As the Circus unfolds, Sara begins to suspect that the others aren’t playing by the rules.
Atria/Emily Bestler Books | 9781668094006
On Sale the Week of November 3rd in Paperback
November 1st
THE KIDNAPPING OF ALICE INGOLD by Cate Holahan (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
Alice Ingold has been kidnapped. Beautiful, blond and immensely privileged, Alice is the perfect victim for a true-crime-obsessed culture --- and for a masked duo with a singular purpose. Instead of a demand for ransom, her captors have a riddle, and they’re inviting the entire country to solve it. No one is more invested in the search than Alice’s parents: Catherine, a socialite with obscene generational wealth, and Brian, a visionary AI tech guru. But while Brian turns to machines to solve the problem, Catherine tries to crowdsource the solution. And America isn’t just watching the story unfold…it’s playing along. As an increasingly desperate Catherine strives to understand each new clue, a complex picture of the crime develops. Soon, everyone will see the kidnapping of Alice Ingold for what it is --- and Alice won’t be the only one who will need saving.
Thomas & Mercer | 9781662529764
WHAT SHE SAW by Mary Burton (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
Cold case reporter Sloane Grayson has come to a small mountain town in Virginia to solve a mystery. Thirty years ago, her mother was one of four women who vanished during a music festival. The event’s promoter was eventually convicted of their murders, and Sheriff CJ Taggart closed the case. But for Sloane, it’s still open. Because the bodies were never found. With Taggart now long dead, Sloane must make do with questioning the victims’ families and the few remaining witnesses once again. If they’re still willing to dredge up memories of a crime that made their town notorious. As for the incarcerated killer, he has always maintained his innocence. Sloane isn’t entirely convinced he’s lying. Somewhere nearby, unmarked graves conceal the bones and secrets of the dead. Sloane will do anything to find them and unearth the truth.
Montlake | 9781662516047
November 3rd
THE DEALMAKER’S WILL by Walker Thrash (Literary Thriller)
Paperback Original
Will Powell’s real estate dreams have stalled, leaving him desperate and vulnerable. Enter Julian Darrow: brilliant, wealthy and dangerously persuasive. Drawn into Julian’s world of ruthless deals, shadowy ethics and rules, Will finds success within reach. But at what cost? THE DEALMAKER’S WILL is a literary business fable with the pacing of a thriller and the depth of a drama. It delivers business insight through storytelling with real-world tactics, ethical dilemmas and psychological tension directly into character and plot. It asks the question: What rules really matter in dealmaking?
Left Field Publishing | 9781966883036
THE STORY OF OOG: A New Thinker's Guide to the Forest written by Len Vlahos, illustrations by Richard DiStefano (Fiction)
Paperback Original
Oog is just like any other teenager. Except Oog, who lived thousands of years ago, has not had a single thought in his entire life. Ever. Until today. When his new-found powers of thought fail him, and he accidentally causes his village's fire to go out, Oog will have to learn to navigate the complex world of thinking as he goes in search of fire to save his people. Part philosophical satire, part bedtime story for adults and teens, Oog's journey will make you laugh and warm your heart.
Left Field Publishing | 9781966883005
November 4th
AGE OF REVOLUTIONS: Progress and Backlash from 1600 to the Present by Fareed Zakaria (History/Politics)
Populist rage, ideological fracture, economic and technological shocks, war and an international system studded with catastrophic risk. The early decades of the 21st century may be the most revolutionary period in modern history. But it is not the first. Humans have lived, and thrived, through more than one great realignment. What are these revolutions, and how can they help us to understand our fraught world? In AGE OF REVOLUTIONS, Fareed Zakaria masterfully investigates the eras and movements that have shaken norms while shaping the modern world.
W. W. Norton & Company | 9781324105824
BLIND TO MIDNIGHT: A Nick Ryan Novel by Reed Farrel Coleman (Thriller)
Every cop in the city knows his name, but no one says it out loud. He doesn't wear a uniform, but he is the most powerful cop in New York. Nick Ryan can find a criminal who's vanished. Or make a key witness disappear. He has cars, safe houses, money and weapons hidden all over the city. Nearly 3,000 New Yorkers died on 9/11. But in the entire city on that tragic day, only one murder actually took place. Now, over two decades later, Detective Nick Ryan must dig beneath the official report --- and into his own past --- to find the truth. Working again for the mysterious power broker "Joe," Nick finds a link between an airman, a billionaire, a trove of Nazi gold and a crew of killers, but he gets sidetracked when his dear "uncle" Tony and Tony's wife are murdered in a professional hit.
Blackstone Publishing | 9798228569331
THE BRIDESMAID by Cate Quinn (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
When a celebrity bridesmaid is murdered weeks before an exclusive society wedding, forensic attorney Holly Stone is drafted as an unlikely undercover replacement. As she works to unpick the lives of the notoriously private Kensington family, glamour-averse Holly discovers a new worst enemy in bridezilla Adrianna. Heir to a multimillion-dollar fortune, Adrianna is set on throwing the event of the decade, and she won't let anything get in her way. But beneath the veneer of poise and sophistication, Adrianna and her bridesmaids have secrets worth killing for. As the wedding day gets closer, it's clear that one of the five hand-picked bridesmaids has committed murder --- and a destination wedding is a perfect place to strike again. Soon, Holly finds herself on the playground of the rich and famous, but if she wants to find answers, she'll have to make it out alive.
Sourcebooks Landmark | 9781464245701
CHER: Part One: The Memoir by Cher (Memoir)
After more than 70 years of fighting to live her life on her own terms, Cher finally reveals her true story in intimate detail, in a two-part memoir. As a dyslexic child who dreamed of becoming famous, Cher was raised in often-chaotic circumstances, surrounded by singers, actors and a mother who inspired her in spite of their difficult relationship. With her trademark honesty and humor, CHER traces how this diamond in the rough succeeded with no plan and little confidence to become the trailblazing superstar the world has been unable to ignore for more than half a century. It follows her extraordinary beginnings through childhood to meeting and marrying Sonny Bono --- and reveals the highly complicated relationship that made them world-famous but eventually drove them apart.
Dey Street Books | 9780062863119
LADIES IN WAITING: Jane Austen's Unsung Characters by Adriana Trigiani, Sarah MacLean, Eloisa James, Elinor Lipman, Audrey Bellezza, Karen Dukess, Emily Harding, Nikki Payne and Diana Quincy (Fiction)
Paperback Original
In honor of Jane Austen’s 250th birthday, nine authors --- Adriana Trigiani, Sarah MacLean, Eloisa James, Elinor Lipman, Audrey Bellezza, Karen Dukess, Emily Harding, Nikki Payne and Diana Quincy --- have come together with wildly imaginative reboots of the lives of several of Austen’s minor characters. Written with plenty of love and wit, these clever stories star everyone from PRIDE AND PREJUDICE’s snobbish Caroline Bingley to the modern descendant of SENSE AND SENSIBILITY’s Eliza Williams, and much more. Blurring genres and taking us across the oceans, LADIES IN WAITING is a heartfelt celebration of Jane Austen and her timeless masterpieces.
Gallery Books | 9781668204177
LOVE THE STRANGER: A Queens Mystery by Michael Sears (Mystery/Thriller)
Ted Molloy has hit his stride with a foreclosure investment scheme that brings him into contact with a cast of shady characters across New York’s most diverse borough. On the side, he helps his activist girlfriend, Kenzie, with her work to halt construction on “the Spike” --- a corporate-backed development project in Corona that would displace the largely immigrant communities surrounding it. Kenzie fends off smear campaigns and tours community spaces in Queens to spread the word, which she can do thanks to Mohammed, a recent Yemeni immigrant and most expedient cab driver. But when Kenzie learns that Mohammed’s immigration lawyer may be taking advantage of him financially, she decides to snoop around at the law offices --- and comes face to face with a dead body and a shadowy figure, fleeing the scene.
Soho Crime | 9781641297370
THE MIGHTY RED by Louise Erdrich (Fiction)
In the Red River Valley of North Dakota, several lives revolve around a wedding fraught with desire, jealousy and uncertainty. Gary Geist, a terrified young man set to inherit two farms, is desperate to marry Kismet Poe, an impulsive, lapsed goth who can’t read her own future but will settle for fulfilling his. Her best friend, Hugo, a gentle, red-haired, homeschooled giant, also loves Kismet and is determined to steal her away and build a life together. Kismet’s mother, Crystal, drives a truck for Gary’s family. On her nightly runs, she tunes in to the darkness of late-night radio, experiences visions of guardian angels, and worries about what’s to come, for her daughter and herself.
Harper Perennial | 9780063277076
THE MIRROR: The Lost Bride Trilogy, Book 2 by Nora Roberts
(Paranormal Romance/Fantasy)
When Sonya MacTavish inherits the huge Victorian mansion on the coast of Maine, she has no idea that the house is haunted. The footsteps she hears at night, the doors slamming and the music playing are not figments of her imagination. In her dreams she sees glimpses of the past. In the present she finds portraits of brides. And when she has visions of an antique mirror, she is drawn to it, sensing it holds dark family secrets. Then one night the mirror appears, and Sonya glides through this looking glass, into the past --- and sees a bride murdered on her wedding day, the circle of gold torn from her finger. It is a scene that will play out again and again --- a centuries-old curse that must be broken, and a puzzle she must solve if there is any hope of breaking the curse.
St. Martin’s Griffin | 9781250901477
MURDER, SHE WROTE: A KILLER CHRISTMAS by Jessica Fletcher and Terrie Farley Moran (Mystery)
Christmas is not an easy time to sell a house, but in Boston tycoon John Bragdon, Cabot Cove Realtor Eve Simpson has found a buyer for the old Jarvis homestead. Unfortunately, Eve gets a lump of coal in her stocking in the form of Kenny Jarvis, who has been missing for years and presumed dead but has now come back to stop his sister from selling their childhood home. Eve presses on, organizing a welcome dinner for Bragdon and his wife, Rose Marie, to meet the leading citizens of the town, including Jessica Fletcher. Dinner is interrupted by an uninvited guest --- not Santa but Kenny, who threateningly promises Rose Marie she will never live in his house. When Rose Marie is found dead a few days later, Kenny is the natural suspect. But Jessica isn′t so sure he′s on the naughty list.
Berkley | 9780593640739
THE NAME OF THIS BAND IS R.E.M.: A Biography by Peter Ames Carlin
(Music/Biography)
In the spring of 1980, an unexpected group of musical eccentrics came together to play their very first performance at a college party in Athens, Georgia. Within a few short years, they had taken over the world. Raw, outrageous and expressive, R.E.M.’s distinctive musical flair was unmatched, and a string of mega-successes solidified them as generational spokesmen. In the tumultuous transition between the wide-open ’80s and the anxiety of the early ’90s, R.E.M. challenged the corporate and social order, chasing a vision and cultivating a magnetic, transgressive sound. In this rich, intimate biography, critically acclaimed author Peter Ames Carlin looks beyond the sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll to open a window into the fascinating lives of four college friends who stuck together at any cost, until the end.
Vintage | 9780593312537
THE PERFECT HOSTS by Heather Gudenkauf (Domestic Thriller)
Paperback Original
Madeline and Wes Drake have invited 200 of their closest friends and family to their sprawling horse ranch for the most anticipated event of the year: a “pistols and pearls” gender reveal party so sensational it is sure to make headlines. But the party descends into chaos when the celebratory explosive misfires, leaving one woman dead and a trail of secrets. As the aftershocks of the bloody party ripple across the small town, Agent Jamie Saldano is brought on the scene to investigate. Battling his own demons from the past, Saldano unearths a web of deceit spun around the Drakes. The appearance of some unexpected houseguests only deepens the mystery. And as tensions mount, it becomes clear that the explosion wasn’t just an unlucky accident. But who was the target, and why?
Park Row | 9780778360049
RENTAL HOUSE by Weike Wang (Fiction)
Keru and Nate are college sweethearts who marry despite their family differences: Keru’s strict, Chinese, immigrant parents demand perfection, while Nate’s rural, white, working-class family distrusts his intellectual ambitions and his “foreign” wife. Some years into their marriage, the couple invites their families on vacation. At a Cape Cod beach house, and later at a luxury Catskills bungalow, Keru, Nate and their giant sheepdog navigate visits from in-laws and unexpected guests, all while wondering if they have what it takes to answer the big questions: How do you cope when your spouse and your family of origin clash? How many people (and dogs) make a family? And when the pack starts to disintegrate, what can you do to shepherd everyone back together?
Riverhead Books | 9780593545553
THE ROAD OF BONES: The Ashen Series, Book One by Demi Winters (Historical Fantasy/Romance)
The Queen of Íseldur has sent warriors to bring Silla Nordvig to Sunnavík, where death awaits her. When her father is killed, his last words set Silla on a perilous quest: travel the treacherous Road of Bones --- a thousand-mile stretch haunted by warbands, creatures of darkness and a mysterious murderer --- and go to Kopa, where a shield-house awaits her. After barely surviving the first stretch of road, a desperate Silla sneaks into a supply wagon belonging to the notorious Bloodaxe Crew. To make it to Kopa, she must win over Axe Eyes, the brooding leader of the Crew, while avoiding the Wolf, his distractingly handsome right-hand man. All the while, the queen's ruthless assassin hunts Silla obsessively. Will Silla make it safely to Kopa? Or will she fall prey to the perils of the Road of Bones?
Dell | 9780593975626
THE SECRET OF THE THREE FATES: A Ruby Vaughn Mystery by Jess Armstrong (Gothic/Historical Mystery)
American heiress Ruby Vaughn still hasn't entirely forgiven her octogenarian employer and housemate, Mr. Owen, for bringing the occult into their lives during her recent trip to Cornwall. He claims their journey to Manhurst Castle in the Scottish Borders is simply to appraise and acquire illuminated manuscripts for their rare books shop. But when Ruby discovers there are no manuscripts and receives news of a séance to be held that very night, she begins to grow suspicious about the true reason why they have come. Mr. Owen is desperate to speak to his dead son, but he doesn’t want to face the spirits alone. When the séance --- hosted by a trio of mediums billing themselves as The Three Fates --- goes awry, Mr. Owen’s secrets begin to unravel. When Ruby finds one of the Three Fates murdered the night of the seance, she and Mr. Owen quickly become the prime suspects.
Minotaur Books | 9781250909909
A VERY INCONVENIENT SCANDAL by Jacquelyn Mitchard (Fiction)
Frankie Attleboro returns home to Cape Cod with thrilling news. She’s met the love of her life, and they’re getting married with a baby on the way. That’s the moment her widowed father makes his own jaw-dropping announcement. At 60, he’s getting married as well, to Frankie’s best friend, Ariel, who is also pregnant, and due soon. As Frankie and Ariel struggle to adjust to their new relationship, Ariel’s estranged mother, Carlotta, returns after a decade-long absence. She claims to be a changed woman. But is she really? And where has she been all these years? Frankie is suspicious, and as Carlotta’s unpredictable behavior intensifies, Frankie must untangle the threads of the past to protect Ariel’s future --- and her own.
Mira | 9780778369578
THE VOYAGE HOME by Pat Barker (Historical Fiction)
THE VOYAGE HOME follows the young Ritsa and the unpredictable Cassandra on their perilous return journey to Mycenae. Cassandra has acquired the powers of prophecy from the kiss of Apollo, but the very same god has taken away the people’s belief in her abilities. Though she warns of the carnage that awaits the Greek warrior king Agamemnon --- who numbs himself with alcohol on the storm-plagued trip home --- her shipmates disregard her. While Cassandra’s prophecies fall on deaf ears, Ritsa instead remains focused on surviving once they make land. When a mysterious young girl begins to shadow them, and Agamemnon’s cruelty takes a new turn, Ritsa must find a safe place for Cassandra, whose mood alternates between cruelty and frenzy. But it’s the ongoing ire between Queen Clytemnestra and Agamemnon that could prove fatal for everyone.
Vintage | 9780593468944
THE WEEKEND CRASHERS by Jamie Brenner (Fiction)
Paperback Original
Maggie Hodges and her daughter, Piper, are looking forward to a restful knitting retreat in the picturesque village of New Hope, Pennsylvania. But instead, they are surprised to find themselves sharing their charming riverside inn with a rowdy bushcraft bachelor party. Undaunted by the clash of interests and personalities, Maggie suggests a lighthearted competition --- a battle of crafts --- that sparks a rivalry between the two groups, and perhaps something more. But as the weekend unfolds, old mistakes and buried resentments begin to surface, threatening to destroy Maggie and Piper’s cherished connection. In knitting, one can easily fix mistakes by picking apart each stitch and starting anew. But life’s tangles aren’t so easily mended. With tensions rising and the retreat coming to a close, Maggie must act quickly before she loses everything she holds dear.
Park Row | 9780778310853
WHERE HE LEFT ME by Nicole Baart (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
Sadie Sheridan’s new husband Felix, a professor of planetary sciences, has vowed to never leave her. But when Felix doesn’t return from a work trip, Sadie is stranded at Hemlock House, the remote mountain homestead where her husband grew up. Doubt creeps into Sadie’s heart. Then panic. Where is he? Scared and alone in a place that feels haunted, Sadie struggles to make sense of what her missing husband left behind. But when she catches strangers lurking around the property, Hemlock House instantly becomes both a sanctuary and a prison. Navigating threats from outside and in, Sadie is forced to confront shocking secrets that leave her questioning if she really knows Felix at all. As a powerful storm bears down, she must decide: Is she fighting only for her own survival now --- or for the man who promised her the stars?
Atria Books | 9781668066171
On Sale the Week of November 10th in Hardcover
November 11th
BRIGANDS & BREADKNIVES by Travis Baldree (Fantasy/Humor)
Fern has weathered the stillness and storms of a bookseller’s life for decades. But now, in the face of crippling ennui, she transplants herself to the city of Thune to hang out her shingle beside a long-absent friend’s coffee shop. What could be a better pairing? Surely a charming renovation montage will cure what ails her! If only things were so simple. It turns out that fixing your life isn’t a one-time prospect, nor as easy as a change of scenery and a lick of paint. A drunken and desperate night sees the rattkin waking far from home in the company of a legendary warrior, an imprisoned chaos-goblin with a fondness for silverware, and an absolutely thumping hangover. As together they fend off a rogue’s gallery of ne’er-do-wells trying to claim the bounty the goblin represents, Fern may finally reconnect with the person she actually is when nothing seems inevitable.
Tor Books | 9781250334886
THE CATHEDRAL OF LOST SOULS by Paula Brackston (Historical Fantasy)
Hereford, England, 1881. After the fire and the tumultuous events in the cathedral library, Hecate Cavendish is determined never again to come so close to losing the beloved mappa mundi. She has shown herself to be the greatest threat to the Essedenes and their plans, and they will stop at nothing to be rid of her. With the help of her archaeologist father, and the support of the redoubtable and loyal Inspector Winter, she must take the fight to her enemies. But the numbers of Embodied Spirits are growing with terrifying speed, and an atmosphere of violence and danger has taken hold of the ancient city of Hereford. The goddess Hekate has called her to action. She must draw upon all her gifts, and the assistance of her family of ghostly allies, if the city is not to be lost to darkness forever.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250284044
THE EMERGENCY by George Packer (Dystopian Fiction)
An empire has collapsed from boredom and loss of faith in itself. In the Emergency that follows, youth rebellions of urban Burghers and rural Yeomen embrace radical new ideas of humanity. Doctor Hugo Rustin, chief surgeon at the Imperial College Hospital, is increasingly estranged from his city and his family --- from his wife, Annabelle, who finds fulfillment in their changed community; and especially from his teenage daughter, Selva, who has turned against her father’s values. When an incident at the hospital leads to Rustin’s disgrace, he seeks redemption in a quixotic and dangerous journey into the countryside, with Selva as his companion, just as the conflict between Burghers and Yeomen is reaching a crisis.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux | 9780374614720
EVENSONG by Stewart O'Nan (Fiction)
The Humpty Dumpty Club is distraught when their powerhouse leader, Joan Hargrove, takes a bad fall down her stairs, knocking her out of commission. Now, as well as running errands and shepherding those less able to their doctors’ appointments, they have to pick up the slack. Between navigating their own relationships and aging bodies and attending choir practice, these invisible yet indomitable women help where they can. In the face of death, divorce and the myriad directions our lives can take, the Humpty Dumpty club represents the power of community and chosen family. Weaving together the perspectives of the four cardinal members as they tend to those in need, Stewart O’Nan revisits beloved characters from his past work --- most notably Emily Maxwell.
Atlantic Monthly Press | 9780802166432
EXIT STRATEGY: A Reacher Novel by Lee Child and Andrew Child (Thriller)
Jack Reacher will make three stops today. Not all of them were planned for. First --- a Baltimore coffee shop. A seat in the corner, facing the door. Black coffee, two refills, no messing around. A minor interruption from two of the customers, but nothing he can’t deal with swiftly. As he leaves, a young guy brushes against him in the doorway. Instinctively Reacher checks the pocket holding his cash and passport. There’s no problem. Nothing is missing. Second --- a store to buy a coat. Nothing fancy. Something he can ditch when he heads to warmer climates. Large enough to fit a man the size of a bank vault. As he pulls out his cash, he finds something new in his pocket. A handwritten note. A desperate plea for help. Third --- wherever this bend in the road takes him. Impressed by the guy’s technique and intrigued by the message, Reacher makes it his mission to find out more.
Bantam | 9780593725849
FALSE WITNESS by Phillip Margolin (Legal Thriller)
Defense Attorney Karen Wyatt exposed corruption in the police force and the District Attorney's office while getting her client exonerated in court. But in doing so, she put a target on her back, and she was set up on a fake drug charge, imprisoned and disbarred until the conspiracy unraveled and her innocence was proven. Now reinstated to the bar, Wyatt is still interested in finding out who ordered her to be set up --- but the key figures were either killed or are in Witness Protection. In the meantime, Wyatt is a practicing defense attorney, whose current client is either guilty of a heinous murder, or is a too-trusting patsy for an acquaintance set up for a crime he didn't commit. It will take all of Wyatt's genius to defend her client successfully, but that's just one piece of an increasingly complex puzzle.
Minotaur Books | 9781250356895
FATEFUL HOURS: The Collapse of the Weimar Republic written by Volker Ullrich, translated by Jefferson Chase (History)
Democracies are fragile. Freedoms that seem secure can be lost. Few historical events illustrate this as vividly as the failure of the Weimar Republic. Germany’s first democracy endured for 14 tumultuous years and culminated with the horrific rise of the Third Reich. As one commentator wrote in July 1933: Hitler had “won the game with little effort…. All he had to do was huff and puff --- and the edifice of German politics collapsed like a house of cards.” But this tragedy was not inevitable. In FATEFUL HOURS, award-winning historian Volker Ullrich chronicles the captivating story of the Republic, capturing a nation and its people teetering on the abyss.
W. W. Norton & Company | 9781324110545
THE KING'S RANSOM by Janet Evanovich (Thriller/Adventure)
Gabriela Rose, recovery agent extraordinaire, can find just about anything. Too bad she can’t seem to lose her gorgeous but infuriating ex-husband, Rafer Jones. And now he needs her help. His cousin, Harley, is in big trouble. As the president of a too-big-to-fail bank, he invested an astronomical amount of money in insuring some of the world’s most priceless artifacts at the urging of his board. It seemed like a low-risk, high-reward business move, so he jumped in with both feet. But recently, these insured pieces started going missing, and there’s no paper trail of Harley being directed to make these risky investments. Unless the artwork can be recovered soon, it looks like Harley is going to be heading to jail as the fall guy for an ingenious crime. Gabriela must travel around the world with Rafer to find the missing works of art, keep Harley out of jail, and save both his skin and his bank.
Atria Books | 9781668027479
THE LAND IN WINTER by Andrew Miller (Historical Fiction)
December 1962: In a village deep in the English countryside, two neighboring couples begin the day. Local doctor Eric Parry commences his rounds in the village, while his pregnant wife, Irene, wanders the rooms of their old house, mulling over the space that has grown between the two of them. On the farm nearby lives witty but troubled Rita Simmons, who is also expecting. She spends her days trying on the idea of being a farmer’s wife, but her head still swims with images of a raucous past that her husband, Bill, prefers to forget. When Rita and Irene meet across the bare field between their houses, a clock starts. When the ordinary cold of December gives way --- ushering in violent blizzards of the harshest winter in living memory --- so do the secret resentments harbored in all four lives.
Europa Editions | 9798889661566
THE LAST WISH OF BRISTOL KEATS by Mary E. Pearson (Fantasy/Romance)
After Bristol Keats nearly loses her beloved King Tyghan to the monsters her mother had unleashed, their love deepens to a whole new level. Together, Bristol and Tyghan work to understand and reconcile their differences, moving forward with their common goal of saving Elphame. But when a daring rescue attempt turns into a disaster, and a beloved knight dies, Bristol is forced to confront the fact that her mother is more powerful than she ever could have imagined --- and more dangerous. Meanwhile, Tyghan’s heart is laid bare when he encounters his former best friend and betrayer again, Bristol's own father, and must wrestle with a new secret that throws everything he thought he knew about his past into question. Bristol is Elphame’s last chance for survival, but where do her loyalties truly lie?
Flatiron Books | 9781250332004
MIDNIGHT FLYBOYS: The American Bomber Crews and Allied Secret Agents Who Aided the French Resistance in World War II by Bruce Henderson (History)
In 1943, the OSS came up with a plan to increase its support to the French resistance forces that were fighting the Nazis. They recruited some of the best American bomber pilots and crews to a secret airfield 20 miles west of London. Given a choice to stay or leave, every airman volunteered for what became known as Operation Carpetbagger. Their dangerous plan called for a new kind of flying: taking their B-24 Liberator bombers in the middle of the night across the English Channel and down to extremely low altitudes in Nazi-occupied France to find drop zones in dark fields. On the ground, resistance members waited to receive steel containers filled with everything from rifles and hand grenades to medicine and bicycle tires. Based on exclusive research and interviews, the definitive story of these heroic flyers --- and of the brave secret agents and resistance leaders they aided --- can now be told.
Gallery Books | 9781668051412
NASH FALLS by David Baldacci (Thriller)
Walter Nash has a very high-level position at Sybaritic Investments, where his innate skills and dogged tenacity have carried him to the top of the pyramid in his business career. However, following his estranged Vietnam-veteran father’s funeral, Nash is unexpectedly approached by the FBI in the middle of the night. They have an important request: become their inside man to expose an enterprise that is laundering large sums of money through Sybaritic. At the top of this illegal operation is Victoria Steers, an international criminal mastermind that the FBI has been trying to bring down for years. Nash has little choice but to accept the FBI’s demands and try to bring Steers and her partners to justice. But when Steers discovers that Nash is working with the FBI, she turns the tables on him in a way he never could have contemplated.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538757987
THE QUEEN WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD by SJ Bennett (Historical Mystery)
1961, England. The Queen is spending a night on board the royal train with her entourage and her sister, Princess Margaret. But before they reach their destination, an unreliable witness claims to have seen a brutal murder from one of the carriages. The Queen and her assistant private secretary, Joan McGraw, get to work on their second joint investigation. No one else saw the crime. If there is a victim, could he be the missing photographer friend of Margaret’s new husband, Tony Armstrong Jones? This time, the Cold War threatens to undermine the Queen’s upcoming visit to Italy. She and Joan must tackle dark forces that follow them all the way, in a tale of spies, lies and treachery.
Crooked Lane Books | 9798892420921
REVENGE, SERVED ROYAL by Celeste Connally (Historical Mystery)
Lady Petra Forsyth and some of the most illustrious members of the ton descend upon Windsor Castle for a week of royal celebrations, with the highlight being Queen Charlotte’s inaugural patisserie contest for the best bakers employed by England’s finest houses. Not only is Lady Petra’s own cook one of the contestants, but Her Majesty has requested that Petra herself serve as one of the judges. Yet upon arrival, Petra encounters a frantic housemaid pointing to a body of one of Her Majesty’s guests --- and to the valet still tugging at the silk ribbon used to strangle the victim. What’s more, the valet turns out to be Oliver Beecham, the ne’er-do-well brother of Petra’s own lady’s maid, Annie. But as Oliver is hauled away to the dungeons, he protests his innocence. When some poisoned tea meant for Petra is consumed by one of her fellow judges, it’s clear that the real killer is still walking the castle’s halls.
Minotaur Books | 9781250387394
THE SILVER BOOK by Olivia Laing (Historical Fiction)
It is September 1974. Two men meet in Venice. One is a young English artist, in panicked flight from London. The other is Danilo Donati, the magician of Italian cinema, the designer responsible for realizing the spectacular visions of Fellini and Pasolini. Donati is in Venice to produce sketches for Fellini’s Casanova. A young apprentice is just what he needs. He sweeps Nicholas to Rome and introduces him to the looking-glass world of Cinecittà, the studio where Casanova’s Venice will be ingeniously assembled. In the spring, the lovers move together to the set of Salò, Pasolini’s horrifying fable of fascism. But Nicholas has a secret, and in this world of constant illusion, his real nature passes unseen. Amid the rising tensions of Italy’s Years of Lead, he acts as an accelerant, setting in motion a tragedy he doesn’t intend.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux | 9780374618315
SOME BRIGHT NOWHERE by Ann Packer (Fiction)
Eliot and his wife, Claire, have been happily married for nearly four decades. But eight years after Claire was diagnosed with cancer, the end is near, and it's time to gather loved ones and prepare for the inevitable. Over the years of Claire’s illness, Eliot has shifted into the role of caregiver. But as he focuses on settling into what will be their last days and weeks together, Claire makes an unexpected request that leaves him reeling. In a moment, his carefully constructed world is shattered. What if your partner’s dying wish broke your heart? How well do we know the deepest desires of those we love dearly? As Eliot is confronted with this profound turning point in his marriage and his life, he grapples with the man and husband he’s been, and with the great unknowns of Claire’s last days.
Harper | 9780063421493
THE STRENGTH OF THE FEW: Hierarchy, Book II by James Islington (Historical Fantasy)
The Hierarchy still call me Vis Telimus. Still hail me as Catenicus. They still, as one, believe they know who I am. But with all that has happened --- with what I fear is coming --- I am not sure it matters anymore. I am no longer one. I won the Iudicium, and lost everything --- and now, impossibly, the ancient device beyond the Labyrinth has replicated me across three separate worlds. A different version of myself in each of Obiteum, Luceum and Res. Three different bodies, three different lives. I have to hide; fight; play politics. I have to train; trust; lie. I have to kill; heal; prove myself again, and again, and again. I am loved, and hated, and entirely alone. Above all, though, I need to find answers before it’s too late. To understand the nature of what has happened to me, and why. I need to find a way to stop the coming Cataclysm, because if all I have learned is true, I may be the only one who can.
S&S/Saga Press | 9781982141233
THE SUNSHINE MAN by Emma Stonex (Literary Thriller/Mystery)
Birdie Keller wakes one freezing January morning to the news she’s been waiting 18 years to hear. Jimmy Maguire, the man who killed her sister, has been freed from jail. She leaves for London with a pistol and a plan: to find this man and make him pay. But every story has two sides. Jimmy can sense he’s being hunted. He knew Birdie a long time ago, in a life she’d sooner forget, and he isn’t the only one with something to hide. As the two circle each other in a heart-stopping game of cat and mouse, they plunge into a murky world of family secrets, betrayals and unsolved mysteries.
Viking | 9781984882189
SWORD BEACH: D-Day Baptism by Fire by Max Hastings (History)
Between 1941 and 1944, the British army contributed relatively little to World War II. On the unremittingly bloody Eastern Front, no Russian or German soldier had experienced the luxury of having four years to prepare and train for a resumption of the European continental campaign. But on D-Day --- June 6, 1944 --- the lives of British soldiers changed. Thiry-five thousand infantrymen, airmen and special service operatives were sent headfirst into the whitest heat of war, almost overnight. Max Hastings’ SWORD BEACH tells the story of a handful of British soldiers and their critical role in D-Day’s parachute and seaborne offensive.
W. W. Norton & Company | 9781324117575
THEO OF GOLDEN by Allen Levi (Fiction)
One spring morning, a stranger arrives in the small southern city of Golden. No one knows where he has come from…or why. His name is Theo. And he asks a lot more questions than he answers. Theo visits the local coffeehouse, where 92 pencil portraits hang on the walls --- portraits of the people of Golden done by a local artist. He begins purchasing them, one at a time, and putting them back in the hands of their “rightful owners.” With each exchange, a story is told, a friendship born, and a life altered.
Atria Books | 9781668236567
WILD INSTINCT by T. Jefferson Parker (Thriller)
Former Marine sniper Lew Gale, now a detective with the Orange County California Sheriff’s Department, is assigned to track and shoot a mountain lion that has killed a man in the rugged country east of Laguna Beach, California. The victim is Bennet Tarlow, a rich developer and man-about-town in upscale coastal Orange County. The investigation takes a chilling turn when Lew and his new partner, Daniela Mendez, discover that Bennet was dead long before the lion got to him. And while he might have been the first to die, he certainly will not be the last.
Minotaur Books | 9781250907912
WITHOUT CONSENT: A Landmark Trial and the Decades-Long Struggle to Make Spousal Rape a Crime by Sarah Weinman (True Crime)
In 1978, Greta Rideout was the first woman in United States history to accuse her husband of rape, at a time when the idea of “marital rape” seemed ludicrous to many Americans and was a crime in only four states. After a quick and conservative trial acquitted John Rideout and a defense lawyer lambasted that “maybe rape is the risk of being married,” Greta was ridiculed and scorned from public life, while John went on to be a repeat offender. Thrust into the national spotlight, Greta and her story would become a national sensation, a symbol of a country’s unrelenting and targeted hate toward women and a court system designed to fail them at every turn. A now little-remembered trial deserving of close, wide and lasting attention, Sarah Weinman turns her signature intelligence and journalistic rigor to the enduring impact of this case.
Ecco | 9780063279889
On Sale the Week of November 10th in Paperback
November 11th
ALL’S FAIR IN LOVE AND TREACHERY by Celeste Connally (Historical Mystery)
London may be cheering the news of Napoleon’s surrender at Waterloo, but Lady Petra Forsyth has little to celebrate after discovering that the death of her viscount fiancé three years earlier was murder. The man responsible is her secret paramour, Duncan Shawcross, yet the scoundrel has disappeared, leaving only a confusing riddle about long-forgotten memories in his wake. Meanwhile, Queen Charlotte has tasked Petra with attending an event at the Asylum for Female Orphans and making inquiries surrounding the death of the orphanage’s matron. There may be a link between the matron’s death and a group of radicals with ties to the aristocracy. Then Petra overhears a nefarious conversation with two other men about a plot to topple the monarchy, set to take place during three days of celebrations currently gripping London.
Minotaur Books | 9781250867629
FALLING APART AND OTHER GIFTS FROM THE UNIVERSE by Catherine Ryan Hyde (Fiction)
Paperback Original
An army veteran with a career as a beat cop behind her, security guard Addie Finch finds Jonathan, a homeless teenager abandoned by his mother, holed up in a warehouse and vulnerable to the elements and to predators. Touched by the boy’s gentle nature and a wisdom beyond his years, Addie offers him temporary shelter in her garden shed in exchange for maintaining the sprawling property. It’s an act of kindness and purpose that means the world to Jonathan. But when Addie faces a situation that sends her internal world tumbling, the emotional connection with Jonathan becomes her lifeline as well. As both process past traumas, Addie and Jonathan forge a surrogate grandmother-grandson bond --- a chosen family that could restore trust and heal hearts they thought were broken forever.
Lake Union Publishing | 9781662522338
FROM HERE TO THE GREAT UNKNOWN: A Memoir by Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough (Memoir)
In 2022, Lisa Marie Presley asked her daughter to help finally finish her long-gestating memoir. A month later, Lisa Marie was dead, and the world would never know her story in her own words, never know the passionate, joyful, caring and complicated woman whom Riley Keough loved and now grieved. Riley got the tapes that her mother had recorded for the book, lay in her bed, and listened as Lisa Marie told story after story. She knew she had to fulfill her mother’s wish to reveal these memories, incandescent and painful, to the world. To make her mother known. FROM HERE TO THE GREAT UNKNOWN is written in both Lisa Marie’s and Riley’s voices, a mother and daughter communicating --- from this world to the one beyond --- as they try to heal each other.
Random House Trade Paperbacks | 9780593733882
GODWIN by Joseph O'Neill (Fiction)
Mark Wolfe, a brilliant if self-thwarting technical writer, lives in Pittsburgh with his wife, Sushila, and their toddler daughter. His half-brother Geoff, born and raised in the United Kingdom, is a desperate young soccer agent. He pulls Mark across the ocean into a scheme to track down an elusive prospect known only as “Godwin” --- an African teenager Geoff believes could be the next Lionel Messi. Narrated in turn by Mark and his work colleague, Lakesha Williams, GODWIN is a tale of family and migration, as well as an international adventure story that implicates the brothers in the beauty and ugliness of soccer, the perils and promises of international business, and the dark history of transatlantic money-making.
Vintage | 9780593687154
THE LAKE OF LOST GIRLS by Katherine Greene (Domestic Thriller/Mystery)
It’s 1998, and female students are going missing at Southern State University in North Carolina. But freshman Jessica Fadley is going through her own struggles. Just as her life seems to be careening dangerously out of control, she suddenly disappears. Twenty-four years later, Jessica’s sister, Lindsey, is desperately searching for answers and uses the momentum of a new chart-topping true crime podcast that focuses on cold cases to guide her own investigation. Soon, interest reaches fever pitch when the bodies of the long-missing women begin turning up at a local lake, which leads Lindsey down a disturbing road of discovery. In the present, one sister searches to untangle a complicated web of lies. In the past, the other descends ever deeper into a darkness that will lead to her ultimate fate.
Crooked Lane Books | 9798892423724
LAZARUS MAN by Richard Price (Fiction)
East Harlem, 2008. In an instant, a five-story tenement collapses into a fuming hill of rubble, pancaking the cars parked in front and coating the street with a thick layer of ash. As the city’s rescue services and media outlets respond, the surrounding neighborhood descends into chaos. At day’s end, six bodies are recovered, but many of the other tenants are missing. In LAZARUS MAN, Richard Price, one of the greatest chroniclers of life in urban America, creates intertwining portraits of a group of compelling and singular characters whose lives are permanently impacted by the disaster.
Picador | 9781250397829
LIKE MOTHER, LIKE MOTHER by Susan Rieger (Fiction)
Detroit, 1960. Lila Pereira is two years old when her angry, abusive father has her mother committed to an asylum. Lila never sees her mother again. Three decades later, Lila rises to the pinnacle of American media as the powerful, brilliant executive editor of The Washington Globe. Lila leaves the rearing of her daughters to her generous husband, Joe. Grace, their youngest daughter, feels abandoned. She wishes her mother would attend PTA meetings, not White House correspondents’ dinners. As she grows up, she cannot shake her resentment. She wants out from under Lila’s shadow, yet the more she resists, the more Lila seems to shape her life. Grace becomes a successful reporter, even publishing a bestselling book about her mother. In the process of writing it, she realizes how little she knows about her own family.
Dial Press Trade Paperback | 9780525512516
A LONG TIME GONE by Joshua Moehling (Mystery/Thriller)
Ben Packard was just a boy when his older brother disappeared. Decades later, Deputy Packard finds himself with too much time on his hands. A shooting has him on leave and under investigation. For the first time in years, new information about his brother has surfaced that may lead them to the location of a body. The midwinter ground is frozen solid. Worse, Packard is cut off from department resources. As he strikes out to finally uncover the truth behind his brother's disappearance, he stumbles on a separate, suspicious death. A tenuous connection exists between the two cases, and as Packard starts to dig, he meets fierce resistance from friends and foes alike who want him to stand down. The winter is long and cold. By the end of it, Packard will risk everything to catch a killer and reveal the shocking truth about his brother.
Poisoned Pen Press | 9781728279039
LUCKY GIRL by Allie Tagle-Dokus (Fiction)
Paperback Original
Lucy Gardiner felt like she was put on earth to dance. Amid the chaos of her Massachusetts upbringing --- her loving, erratic brothers; her overburdened mother --- 12-year-old Lucy is discovered and cast on a new dance reality show. When its pop star judge, Bruise, takes an obsessive interest in her raw talent, Lucy’s life suddenly becomes what she’s always wanted. Or has it? In the whirlwind of talk shows, movie sets and extravagant Hollywood parties of her teenage years, Lucy slowly grows more alienated from her family. And when a series of youthful mistakes comes back to haunt her, she finds she must free herself from Bruise’s world of fame and all its trappings, and decide where her home truly is.
Tin House Books | 9781963108620
THE MAGNIFICENT RUINS by Nayantara Roy (Fiction)
Lila De is on the verge of a breakthrough in her career at a prestigious New York publishing house. But when she gets a call from her mother in India, informing her that she’s inherited her family’s sprawling estate, she must confront the legacy of an extended family that she thought she left behind 16 years ago. Returning to Kolkata reunites Lila with her mother after a decade of estrangement. Then there are her grandmother, aunts, uncles and cousins, all of whom still live in the house and resent her sudden inheritance. To make matters more complicated, her first boyfriend seeks her out, and her star author --- and occasional lover --- is suddenly determined to make things serious. As Lila tries to come to terms with both past and present, long-suppressed secrets from her family emerge, culminating in an act of shocking violence.
Algonquin Books | 9781643755861
THE MAN IN BLACK: And Other Stories by Elly Griffiths (Mystery & Thriller/Short Stories)
Elly Griffiths has always written short stories to experiment with different voices and genres, as well as to explore what some of her fictional creations such as Ruth Galloway, Harbinder Kaur and Max Mephisto might have done outside of the novels. THE MAN IN BLACK gathers these bite-sized tales all together in one splendid volume. There are ghost stories, cozy mysteries, tales of psychological suspense, and poignant vignettes of love and loss.
Mariner Books | 9780063289345
NEXT TIME WILL BE OUR TURN by Jesse Q. Sutanto (Fiction)
Paperback Original
Izzy Chen is dreading her family’s annual Chinese New Year celebration, where they all come together at a Michelin-starred restaurant to flaunt their status and successes in hopes to one up each other. So when her 73-year-old glamorous and formidable grandmother walks in with a stunning woman on her arm and kisses her in front of everyone, it shakes Izzy to her core. She’d always considered herself the black sheep of the family for harboring similar feelings to the ones her Nainai just displayed. Seeing herself in her teenage granddaughter's struggles with identity and acceptance, Magnolia Chen tells Izzy her own story --- of how as a teen she was sent by her Indo-Chinese parents from Jakarta to Los Angeles for her education and fell in love with someone completely forbidden to her by both culture and gender norms.
Berkley | 9780593816875
NOT YOU AGAIN by Erin La Rosa (Romantic Comedy)
Paperback Original
In Julian, California, every day is April 23rd --- and in a time loop, there are no rules. Being trapped inside the plot of a sci-fi film would almost be inspiring for LA screenwriter Carly Hart…if she wasn’t waking up at her dad’s funeral every single day. Carly wants out. Funeral director Adam Rhodes is equally frustrated. Every loop, Adam regenerates in the middle of a fight with his ex-wife. Her infidelity wrecked their perfect life together, and now Adam must relive her confession over and over again. There’s only one solution to ending the misery: breaking the time loop. Which is easier said than done. And there’s another hurdle to overcome: Carly and Adam can’t stand each other. The sooner they find a solution, the sooner they’ll never have to see each other again. Yet somehow the tension between the two is hotter than a solar flare and as rare as the daily total solar eclipse.
Canary Street Press | 9781335916372
ONLY HERE, ONLY NOW by Tom Newlands (Fiction)
In the blazing hot summer of 1994, there’s nothing for Cora Mowat to do but hang around in empty parking lots. Stuck in her mother's small house and tired of her own restless mind, she’s desperate to break free of the limits of Fife but unsure of what the future holds --- if it holds anything at all for a girl like her trying to find her way in the world. After her mother invites a new man to live with them, tensions quickly rise in the cramped house. Gunner is kind but also strange --- a one-eyed shoplifter with more than a few hidden secrets. But when tragedy strikes shortly after, Cora rebels against her small-town existence in search of love, acceptance and a path to something good. If only she can learn to navigate her grief and everything she thinks she knows about who she is and what she might be capable of, she finally may find the way forward.
HarperVia | 9780063393462
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