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Bookreporter.com Newsletter |
February 22, 2013 |
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Kansas City, Here I Come...
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I am Kansas City-bound today for the American Booksellers Association’s Winter Institute Conference. It’s a great opportunity to catch up with bookseller friends and hear about the books that they are reading and what is happening in their stores --- and to meet authors publishing spring/summer books. The conference moves around the country, giving attendees a chance to see new cities. Besides the conference, I am looking forward to meeting up with Ann Bruns on Sunday. She was a Bookreporter chat host years ago and later went on to work with us in various capacities on the sites. Sunday she is going to spend most of the day showing me Kansas City. I am sure there will be lots of book conversation among the sightseeing. I will have much more on the authors I meet and the news that I hear there next week. I am lucky that my schedule this week was so busy at the office that I did not leave yesterday the way I originally planned. The snow that piled up on KC would have made getting there an adventure and probably a frustrating time of endless delays. I can see this is going to be a “boots on the ground” kind of a trip…literally. Snow gear alert!
Speaking of snow gear, last weekend I took advantage of the extra day off to prowl around the depths of my closet to find my ski gear in anticipation of our March trip. I came across the wild pants you see above that I used to wear for spring skiing. Those t-shirt and running pants days with the skies so blue that they are purple are the ones I long for when I think about skiing. I hear everyone wears helmets now, and shopping for ski pants has been an experience like I am going to the moon. What happened to slimming stretch pants? Everyone seems to be skiing as some version of the Michelin Man! And wait, no baseball caps on sunny days? Hmmmmm…back when I was young…and I am not even touching the topic of snowboarding. By the way, those pants still fit!
Like many of you, I follow my favorite authors. Thus, when I saw that Ellen Sussman’s new book, THE PARADISE GUEST HOUSE, was coming out on March 26th, I was eager to read an advance copy (I loved her 2011 title, FRENCH LESSONS). Here, Ellen sets her story in Bali. Jamie, who is an adventure guide, returns to Bali years after she was injured in the 2002 nightclub bombings. She longs to reconnect with Gabe, who rescued her that evening. I confess that while I remember these bombings, I had forgotten the details. The intertwining of the history with the story that has been crafted has made this a wonderful book thus far. It’s heading towards being yet another Bets On selection for Ellen, and I look forward to sharing more about it with you in the weeks to come.
Speaking of sharing. I wanted to remind you that on each of our review and feature pages, we have links for you to share the reviews that you love on Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites via the "Share" buttons located near each feature. See something you like? Then click and share. We love gathering new readers, and we have found that this is a terrific way to make that happen. So click away. Also, a reminder that during the week we add items of interest to our Facebook and Twitter feeds, so if you are not following us, think about “Liking” us (which is a really amusing way of putting things). We post contest reminders and fun book-inspired news that we find during the week.
On Facebook, to try to see more of our posts in your News Feed, go to the Bookreporter.com Facebook page here, hover your mouse over the Like button, and be sure that “Show in News Feed” is checked off. Also, at the bottom of the cover photo, you will see a little “gear” button with an arrow. Click on this and see the Add to Interests list. This puts Bookreporter.com in a Pages feed on the left-hand side of your homepage that you can scroll through to see updates from all your favorite pages. Any other tips to be sure you see what we share, let me know!
On Sunday night, the 85th Annual Academy Awards will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the James Bond films with various special tributes. On Bookreporter.com, we’re marking the occasion the best way we know how --- with a bookshelf featuring both fiction and nonfiction titles dedicated to all things 007! Alina Berganovsky and my son, Greg, pulled this together, and while we cannot capture everything Bond, we hit highlights that we think you will want to note. Greg gave me a copy of Ian Fleming’s CASINO ROYALE for Christmas (which you can see above) --- a perfect gift as I loved the movie. Yes, Daniel Craig is MY favorite Bond. By the way, I have an author dinner on the evening of the Oscars. I am sure I will have my BlackBerry on my lap and will be tapping it to see the winners. Let’s see, I drop my napkin on the floor along with my BlackBerry, and as I retrieve it, I check the results. A plan is in place!
While we’re in a cinematic frame of mind, we’d like to remind you of our current poll question. Which of the Oscar-nominated films have you seen or are you planning to see? And which of the Oscar-nominated films based on books were your favorites? Click here and let us know!
Our Debut Suspense/Thriller Author Spotlight is back, and we’re featuring Becky Masterman, whose first thriller, RAGE AGAINST THE DYING, releases on March 12th. I read this in manuscript back in November and always like an opportunity to see writers at the start of their careers. There are so many who I have found this way. I found myself enjoying (crazy word, but the right one) pulling together all the clues, and the multiple suspects made it endlessly intriguing. Masterman is a great storyteller, and the first-person narrative is just perfect here. Brigid Quinn's experiences in hunting sexual predators for the FBI have left her with memories she wishes she didn’t have and lethal skills she hopes never to need again. Having been pushed into early retirement by events she thinks she's put firmly behind her, Brigid keeps telling herself she is settling down nicely in Tucson with a wonderful new husband and their dogs. But the past intervenes when a man named Floyd Lynch confesses to the worst unsolved case of Brigid’s career --- the disappearance and presumed murder of her young protégée, Jessica.
We have 50 copies of RAGE AGAINST THE DYING to give away to readers who would like to read the book and comment on it. To enter, please fill out this form by Thursday, March 7th at noon ET. You can read more about this heart-stopping debut here.
We’re featuring 15 new reviews this week (with Tom Donadio as our Editorial Director, you never would know it was a short work week), and here’s a peek at three of them.
Karen Russell, whose bestseller SWAMPLANDIA! was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, returns with a new collection of stories. A dejected teenager discovers that the universe is communicating with him through talismanic objects left behind in a seagull’s nest. A massage therapist discovers she has the power to heal by manipulating the tattoos on a war veteran’s lower torso. Two vampires in a sun-drenched lemon grove try helplessly to slake their thirst for blood. And this only scratches the surface of what appears in VAMPIRES IN THE LEMON GROVE. Harvey Freedenberg has our review and says that Russell’s stories “vibrate with originality and life, and most have the imaginative reach and moral weight of works of much greater length. As long as she keeps producing work of this quality, the future of the short story, digital or otherwise, is bright.”
Jess Walter, whose previous bestsellers include THE ZERO, CITIZEN VINCE and BEAUTIFUL RUINS, has produced his first collection of short stories with WE LIVE IN WATER. The pieces here range from comic tales of love to social satire and suspenseful crime fiction. Among them are "We Live in Water," in which a lawyer returns to a corrupt North Idaho town to find the father who disappeared 30 years earlier, and the collection's final story, which transforms slyly from a portrait of Walter's hometown into a moving contemplation of our times. According to reviewer Norah Piehl, “Walter…displays the same kind of fearless, unflinching prose in these short stories [as he does in his novels]… Walter may not have the capability to single-handedly change the places about which he writes, but he can and does help readers see and begin to understand them.”
Also reviewed this week is FUSE, the second book in Julianna Baggott’s post-apocalyptic trilogy. I raved about the first in the series, PURE, when it released last February, so I was delighted to learn that the sequel is now available. FUSE rejoins Partridge, along with his half-sister Pressia and all their comrades who are trying not only to survive in the post-apocalyptic world, but to radically change it for the better and perhaps even save millions of lives. Sarah Rachel Egelman has this to say in her review: “FUSE is a genre-bending page-turner: part apocalyptic, part coming-of-age story, with plenty of adventure and romance thrown in for good measure. Baggott successfully pulls off multiple points of view and a bizarre and far-fetched premise, yet never makes this middle book feel like merely a bridge in the trilogy.” By the way, I had the pleasure of meeting Julianna at the ABA Winter Institute last year, and thus it’s fun to see her second book in the trilogy releasing with this timing.
We’ve also updated our Young Adult Books You Want to Read feature. I read --- and can give a shout-out to --- two of the books that we are including here: OUT OF THE EASY by Ruta Sepetys and CRASH AND BURN by Michael Hassan. You may remember Ruta’s BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY, which I selected a couple of years ago as a Bookreporter.com Bets On selection. With her sophomore book, Ruta has proven she is truly a stellar writer. OUT OF THE EASY is set in the French Quarter of New Orleans in the 1950s. Josie Moraine, the daughter of a local brothel prostitute, wants out of her life there, but gets caught up in a web of lies and secrets. I have made two trips to New Orleans, and as I was reading, I was picturing life there in the ’50s. She’s such a wonderful writer.
CRASH AND BURN is one of the most intense novels that I have read. “Crash” and “Burn” have grown up together. As the book opens, we know that Crash has averted a terrible tragedy at his school that Burn had orchestrated. The story is told in flashbacks going back to their childhoods, and there is one “oh whoa” moment after the next. It gets readers into the headset of the “popular crowd” in high school today, and oh what a ride it is. Liz Kossnar, our Teenreads.com Content Coordinator, did a terrific two-part interview with Michael that shows how passionate he was about writing it. Read the first part here and the second part here. I have not read THE DIFFERENT GIRL by Gordon Dahlquist, but I am relying on Liz’s excellent feedback to know why it belongs here.
This week we launched our Spring Preview Feature, which gives us an opportunity to spotlight a number of hot new books releasing in the spring that you will want to consider adding to your reading list. We’re hosting a series of 24-hour contests for these books, so you’ll have to check the site each day to see which title is being given away --- or you can sign up for our Spring Preview newsletter to be notified when contests go live. We kicked it all off with BROKEN HARBOR by Tana French and CINNAMON AND GUNPOWDER by Eli Brown. You can see the winners of these two contests here. Next week’s prize books will be THE CONDITIONS OF LOVE by Dale M. Kushner and GRAVE CONSEQUENCES: The Grand Tour Series, Book 2 by Lisa T. Bergren.
I wanted to bring to your attention two ads that we currently have running on Bookreporter.com. Open Road Media has compiled eight of their most popular political and legal thriller eBooks, and they all will be ON SALE through February 26th, costing $3.99 or less. Among these titles are DANCING WITH THE DEAD by John Lutz, THE EIGHTH TRUMPET by Jon Land and PERFECT JUSTICE by William Bernhardt. Click here for more info and a complete list of their offerings.
We’re also featuring S.E.C.R.E.T. by L. Marie Adeline, the first book in a series of erotica, but with a new twist: this time, women control their fantasies and men will do anything to satisfy them. Click here to read more about this much-talked-about book that fans of FIFTY SHADES OF GREY undoubtedly will want to check out.
In our Word of Mouth contest, we’re continuing our giveaway for the aforementioned FUSE by Julianna Baggott, along with THE SILENCE OF BONAVENTURE ARROW by Rita Leganski and THE STORYTELLER by Jodi Picoult, both of which we’ll be reviewing next week. Let us know what you’re reading by Friday, March 1st at noon ET for your chance to win these three books.
In awards news, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize announced finalists in 10 categories, with the winners to be awarded at a ceremony on Friday, April 19th. Among the nominees are THE MIDDLESTEINS by Jami Attenberg for Fiction, MR. PENUMBRA'S 24-HOUR BOOKSTORE for First Fiction, and THE PASSAGE OF POWER: The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert Caro for Nonfiction. Click here for all the nominees. The Audie Awards also announced finalists in a number of categories recognizing the best in audiobook and spoken-word albums. The winners will be revealed at a gala in New York City on May 30th. Click here to see the nominees.
While I am in Kansas City, Cory is off to Model UN in Philly, thus it is just Tom and Greg minding the home front. Tom will get to watch golf without any grumbling from me, and he also will be happy that I am finished with all 13 episodes of "House of Cards" on Netflix, which I was obsessed with last weekend. I now am off to speed read a couple of books in anticipation of meeting the authors Sunday night. Here’s to a great week ahead…though I am cautioning that Mercury goes retrograde on the 23rd! I do not think Mercury affects reading…so read on!
Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)
PS. When you use the links below to purchase books, you also support Bookreporter.com as we have affiliate arrangements with each of them. Please consider this when shopping for books online!
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Bookreporter.com’s Latest Bookshelf: Celebrating 50 Years of Bond…James Bond
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It's been 50 years since the world was introduced to the legendary 007, first in literature and then in film. This year, the Academy Awards will be doing a special tribute to James Bond, but we thought we would pay our own respects to the fictional British Secret Service agent with one of our signature bookshelves. We've included plenty of books from the original author, Ian Fleming, and a few penned by others. Now we just have one more question for you: How do you like your James Bond...shaken or stirred...or rather, in books or on screen?
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Click here to see our bookshelf celebrating 50 years of James Bond. |
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New Featured Debut Suspense/Thriller Author: Becky Masterman, Author of RAGE AGAINST THE DYING
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We have 50 copies of RAGE AGAINST THE DYING by Becky Masterman, which will be in stores March 12th, to give away to readers who would like to read the book and comment on it. To enter, please fill out this form by Thursday, March 7th at noon ET.
RAGE AGAINST THE DYING by Becky Masterman (Thriller)
Brigid Quinn's experiences in hunting sexual predators for the FBI have left her with memories she wishes she didn’t have and lethal skills she hopes never to need again. Having been pushed into early retirement by events she thinks she's put firmly behind her, Brigid keeps telling herself she is settling down nicely in Tucson with a wonderful new husband, Carlo, and their dogs.
But the past intervenes when a man named Floyd Lynch confesses to the worst unsolved case of Brigid’s career --- the disappearance and presumed murder of her young protégée, Jessica. Floyd knows things about that terrible night that were never made public, and offers to lead the cops to Jessica's body in return for a plea bargain.
It should finally be the end of a dark chapter in Brigid’s life. But it's not.
-Click here to read more about the book.
-Click here to read an excerpt.
-Click here to read critical praise.
-Click here to read Becky Masterman’s bio.
-Click here to connect with Becky Masterman on Facebook.
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Click here to read more in our Debut Suspense/Thriller Author Spotlight and enter the contest. |
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Now in Stores: ALEX CROSS, RUN by James Patterson
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ALEX CROSS, RUN by James Patterson (Thriller)
Top plastic surgeon Elijah Creem is renowned for his skills in the operating room, as well as for his wild "industry parties." After Detective Alex Cross busts one of Creem's lavish soirees, three beautiful women are brutally murdered. While Alex is feeling the pressure to solve these cases, someone else is investigating him --- someone so obsessed and so twisted that they'll do anything to get the vengeance they require. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
-Click here to read more about the book.
-Click here to read an excerpt.
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Click here to read a review. |
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Now in Stores: VAMPIRES IN THE LEMON GROVE by Karen Russell
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VAMPIRES IN THE LEMON GROVE: Stories by Karen Russell (Fiction/Short Stories)
A dejected teenager discovers that the universe is communicating with him through talismanic objects left behind in a seagull’s nest. A massage therapist discovers she has the power to heal by manipulating the tattoos on a war veteran’s lower torso. Two vampires in a sun-drenched lemon grove try helplessly to slake their thirst for blood. And this only scratches the surface of what appears in Karen Russell’s new collection of stories. Reviewed by Harvey Freedenberg.
-Click here to read more about the book.
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Click here to read a review. |
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Now in Stores: WE LIVE IN WATER by Jess Walter
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WE LIVE IN WATER: Stories by Jess Walter (Fiction/Short Stories)
In this first collection of short stories from bestselling author Jess Walter, the pieces range from comic tales of love to social satire and suspenseful crime fiction. Among them are "We Live in Water," in which a lawyer returns to a corrupt North Idaho town to find the father who disappeared 30 years earlier, and the collection's final story, which transforms slyly from a portrait of Walter's hometown into a moving contemplation of our times. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.
-Click here to read more about the book.
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Click here to read a review. |
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Now in Stores: FUSE by Julianna Baggott
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FUSE by Julianna Baggott (Post-Apocalyptic Horror)
To be a Pure is to be perfect, untouched by Detonations that scarred the earth and sheltered inside the paradise that is the Dome. But Partridge escaped to the outside world, where Wretches struggle to survive. Now, at the command of Partridge's father, the Dome is unleashing nightmare after nightmare upon the Wretches in an effort to get him back. To save millions of innocent lives, Partridge must risk his own by returning to the Dome and facing his most terrifying challenge. Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman.
-Click here to read more about the book.
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Click here to read a review. |
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Bookreporter.com's Spring Preview Contests and Feature
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Spring is in the air (or will be very soon)! We’ve already caught the fever --- and it’s being fueled by a list of great upcoming books! Here are some picks that we know people will be talking about over the next few months. We will be hosting a number of 24-hour contests for these titles on select days through March 19th. You will need to check the site to see the featured book and enter to win. We also will be sending a special newsletter to announce each title, which you can sign up for here.
Our next prize book will be announced on Tuesday, February 26th at noon ET.
This year's featured titles include:
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Click here to see our Spring Preview feature and sign up for our special newsletter. |
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Paperback Spotlight: A GOOD AMERICAN by Alex George
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A GOOD AMERICAN by Alex George (Historical Fiction)
This is the story of the Meisenheimer family, told by James, a third-generation American living in Beatrice, Missouri. It’s where his German grandparents --- Frederick and Jette --- found themselves after journeying across the turbulent Atlantic, fording the flood-swollen Mississippi, and being brought to a sudden halt by the broken water of the pregnant Jette. A GOOD AMERICAN tells of Jette’s dogged determination to feed a town sauerkraut and soul food; the loves and losses of her children, Joseph and Rosa; and the precocious voices of James and his brothers, sometimes raised in discord…sometimes in perfect harmony.
A GOOD AMERICAN, which released in hardcover last year and was a Bookreporter.com Bets On selection, is now available in paperback.
-Click here to read more about the book.
-Click here to read a review.
-Click here to read an excerpt.
-Click here for the reading group guide.
-Click here to see why we're betting you'll love this book.
-Click here to read Alex George’s bio.
-Click here to read an interview with Alex George.
-Click here to visit Alex George’s official website.
-Click here to connect with Alex George on Facebook.
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Click here to read more in our Paperback Spotlight. |
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Paperback Spotlight: AGENT 6 by Tom Rob Smith
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AGENT 6 by Tom Rob Smith (Historical Thriller)
Tom Rob Smith's debut, CHILD 44, was an immediate publishing sensation and marked the arrival of a major new talent in contemporary fiction. Named one of top 100 thrillers of all time by NPR, it hit bestseller lists around the world, won the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award and the ITW Thriller Award for Best First Novel, and was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize.
In this spellbinding new novel, Tom Rob Smith probes the tenuous border between love and obsession as Leo Demidov struggles to untangle the threads of a devastating conspiracy that shatters everything he holds dear. Deftly capturing the claustrophobic intensity of the Cold War-era Soviet Union, it's at once a heart-pounding thriller and a richly atmospheric novel of extraordinary depth.
AGENT 6, which released in hardcover last year, is now available in paperback.
-Click here to read more about the book.
-Click here to read a review.
-Click here to read an excerpt.
-Click here to read critical praise.
-Click here to watch the book trailer.
-Click here to visit the publisher’s book page.
-Click here to read Tom Rob Smith’s bio.
-Click here to visit Tom Rob Smith’s official website.
-Connect with Tom Rob Smith on Facebook and Twitter.
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Click here to read more in our Paperback Spotlight. |
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Paperback Spotlight: FIREFLY LANE by Kristin Hannah --- Read it Now Before the Follow-up, FLY AWAY, Releases on April 23rd
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Typically in our Paperback Spotlights, we feature either paperback originals or paperback reprints of hardcovers that recently released. FIREFLY LANE by Kristin Hannah doesn't fall into either category as it was published in paperback in 2009. But we wanted to bring this book to your attention in anticipation of the April 23rd release of its follow-up, FLY AWAY, where readers will have a chance to revisit the characters from FIREFLY LANE --- or meet them for the first time. The backstory is so well-told that FLY AWAY can easily work as a stand-alone, but if you haven't read FIREFLY LANE yet, we suggest you do so before the new novel's publication. And you will understand why those who read it five years ago are so eager to see what happened to these characters.
FIREFLY LANE by Kristin Hannah (Fiction)
In the turbulent summer of 1974, Kate Mularkey has accepted her place at the bottom of the eighth-grade social food chain. Then, to her amazement, the “coolest girl in the world” moves in across the street and wants to be her friend. Tully Hart seems to have it all --- beauty, brains, ambition. On the surface they are as opposite as two people can be: Kate, doomed to be forever uncool, with a loving family who mortifies her at every turn. Tully, steeped in glamour and mystery, but with a secret that is destroying her. They make a pact to be best friends forever; by summer’s end they’ve become TullyandKate. Inseparable.
So begins Kristin Hannah’s magnificent novel. Spanning more than three decades and playing out across the ever-changing face of the Pacific Northwest, FIREFLY LANE is the poignant, powerful story of two women and the friendship that becomes the bulkhead of their lives.
-Click here to read more about the book.
-Click here to read a review.
-Click here to read an excerpt.
-Click here for the reading group guide.
-Click here to read critical praise.
-Click here to read Kristin Hannah’s bio.
-Visit Kristin Hannah’s official website and blog.
-Click here to connect with Kristin Hannah on Facebook.
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Click here to read more in our Paperback Spotlight. |
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This Week’s Reviews
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THE POWER TRIP by Jackie Collins (Fiction)
A luxurious yacht in the Sea of Cortez, a birthday cruise for one of the world’s most beautiful women, and an invitation no one can refuse. From mega-seller Jackie Collins comes her new novel, set on a state-of-the-art luxury yacht off the coast of Cabo San Lucas. A tropical getaway with a cast of global power-hungry elites turns sour when they find out maybe they don't control as much of the world as they thought. Reviewed by Hillary Wagy.
THE NIGHT RANGER by Alex Berenson (Thriller)
Four friends, recent college graduates, travel to Kenya to work at a giant refugee camp for Somalis. But after 12 weeks, they’re ready for a break and pile into a Land Cruiser for an adventure. They get more than they bargained for, though, when bandits hijack them. John Wells is asked to try to find them; when he arrives, he finds that the truth behind the kidnappings is far more complex than he imagined. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
THE SOUND OF BROKEN GLASS by Deborah Crombie (Mystery)
A well-respected barrister is found dead at a seedy hotel. Is it an unsavory accident or murder? In either case, he was not alone. Detective Inspector Gemma James and her team must find his companion --- a search that takes them into unexpected corners and forces them to contemplate unsettling truths about the weaknesses and passions that lead to murder. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
DEADLY STAKES by J. A. Jance (Mystery)
Police academy-trained former reporter Ali Reynolds is contacted to investigate the grisly murder of a gold-digging divorcee on behalf of Lynn Martinson, who is accused of the crime. Ali is simultaneously drawn to the case of A.J. Sanders, a frightened teen with secrets of his own. When the body of an ex-con is discovered near the first crime scene, Ali struggles to determine if A.J. and Lynn’s cases are related. Reviewed by Judy Gigstad.
FAREWELL, DOROTHY PARKER by Ellen Meister (Fiction)
Movie critic Violet Epps has learned to channel her literary hero, Dorothy Parker. If only she could summon that kind of courage in her personal life. Determined to defeat her social anxiety, Violet visits the Algonquin Hotel, where Parker and other famous writers of the 1920s traded barbs. But she gets more than she bargained for when Parker's feisty spirit rematerializes from an ancient guestbook and hitches a ride onto her life. Reviewed by Jane Krebs.
SEDUCTION OF THE INNOCENT by Max Allan Collins (Hardboiled Historical Mystery)
Jack Starr is the vice president of a New York City comic book publisher at the very time in the 1950s when comics are under siege from all directions, including Congress, as being dangerous to children. When a prominent expert against the industry is killed, Jack has to find out who did it in this hardboiled novel inspired by real historical events. Reviewed by Tom Callahan.
THE RIPTIDE ULTRA-GLIDE by Tim Dorsey (Thriller/Humor)
When newly unemployed Midwestern couple Patrick and Barbara McDougal decide that a vacation in Florida is just what they need, awful accommodations, a robbery, and a not-so-helpful police department make them rethink their decision to drown their troubles in paradise. Luckily, charismatic (and crazy!) tour guide Serge Storms and his sidekick, Coleman, are up for another action-packed adventure. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
SNOW WHITE MUST DIE by Nele Neuhaus (Mystery)
When a woman falls from a pedestrian bridge onto a car driving underneath, detectives Pia Kirchoff and Oliver von Bodenstein are summoned to the scene. The investigation leads them to the home of the victim, Rita Cramer. Eleven years earlier, two girls vanished from the village without a trace. Rita's son was sentenced to 10 years in prison but is now back in his hometown. Pia and Oliver wonder if the attack on his mother had to do with his return. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
THE START OF EVERYTHING by Emily Winslow (Psychological Thriller)
Just outside Cambridge, a body is discovered floating. The police have little to go on until they find an identity. At the same time, an odd young woman is trying to deliver an unclaimed letter. If she and the police are looking for the same person, how did she get into the water? Reviewed by Kate Ayers.
THE BURNING AIR by Erin Kelly (Psychological Thriller)
The MacBrides lead a cozy life of upper class privilege, including tuition-free education at the prestigious private school where Rowan is headmaster, an altruistic righteousness inherited from magistrate Lydia. But when Rowan and his three children gather for the first time since Lydia’s passing at the family’s weekend home, years of secrets surface, and they discover in their midst a stranger who is convinced that Lydia was a murderer. Reviewed by L. Dean Murphy.
ELSEWHENS by Melanie Rawn (Fantasy)
Touchstone, the magical theater troupe, continues to build audiences. But Cayden is increasingly troubled by his “elsewhens,” the uncontrolled moments when he is plunged into visions of the possible futures. He fears that his Fae gift will forever taint his friendships, while his friends fear that his increasing distance will destroy him. Reviewed by Stephen Hubbard.
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Young Adult Books You Want to Read
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Our company, The Book Report Network, has a number of websites about books and authors in addition to Bookreporter.com. Throughout the year, Bookreporter.com features adult books on Teenreads.com, our site for young adult readers, that we think will have definite appeal to a teen audience. In the spirit of sharing, we are now spotlighting a selection of titles each month from Teenreads.com that we believe are great reads that you might enjoy.
Here are our latest featured titles:
OUT OF THE EASY by Ruta Sepetys (Historical Fiction)
It's 1950, and the French Quarter of New Orleans simmers with secrets. Known among locals as the daughter of a brothel prostitute, 17-year-old Josie Moraine wants more out of life than the Big Easy has to offer. She devises a plan get out, but a mysterious death in the Quarter leaves Josie tangled in an investigation that will challenge her allegiance to her mother, her conscience, and Willie Woodley, the brusque madam on Conti Street.
CRASH AND BURN by Michael Hassan (Fiction)
On April 21, 2008, Steven "Crash" Crashinsky saved more than a thousand people when he stopped his classmate David Burnett from taking their high school hostage armed with assault weapons and high-powered explosives. More than that, this is a story of two teens whose lives have been inextricably linked since grade school, who were destined, some say, to meet that day in the teachers' lounge of Meadows High.
THE DIFFERENT GIRL by Gordon Dahlquist (Science Fiction)
Veronika. Caroline. Isobel. Eleanor. One blond, one brunette, one redhead, one with hair black as tar. Four otherwise identical girls who spend their days in sync, tasked to learn. But when May, a very different kind of girl --- the lone survivor of a recent shipwreck --- suddenly and mysteriously arrives on the island, an unsettling mirror is about to be held up to the life the girls have never before questioned.
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Click here to see all the young adult books we recommend you read. |
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Contests Running on Other Sites in TheBookReportNetwork.com
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We have a number of contests currently running on our other sites in TheBookReportNetwork.com. Please take a look at them below, and enter for your chance to win some fabulous books!
ReadingGroupGuides.com
SWEET SALT AIR by Barbara Delinsky
We currently are offering a very special opportunity to our readers. 250 book clubs have the chance to win up to 12 advance copies each of SWEET SALT AIR by Barbara Delinsky --- which releases on June 18th --- provided that members of the winning groups agree to discuss the book at their April, May or June meeting; email friends and tell them about the book; and post comments or feedback about the book and/or their discussion on Barbara Delinsky’s Facebook page, their personal Facebook pages, Twitter accounts or blogs. The deadline for entries is Tuesday, March 5th at noon ET.
THE GOOD DAUGHTER by Jane Porter
We are celebrating the release of THE GOOD DAUGHTER, the second installment in Jane Porter’s Brennan Sisters trilogy (following THE GOOD WOMAN), with a contest that we have never done before. Here, Jane will fly to meet with one book group and take them to dinner to discuss THE GOOD DAUGHTER. You’ll select a mutually acceptable date in May, June or July, and Jane will host an evening with you at a restaurant local to your group. Also, each member of the group will be awarded a copy of the book, which will be shipped in early March once the contest ends. Three other groups will win 12 copies of the book, along with an opportunity to chat with Jane via phone or Skype at a mutually convenient time. The deadline for entries is Tuesday, March 5th at noon ET.
“What Are You Reading?” Monthly Contest Feature
Let us know what your group is reading in February, and you will be entered in a giveaway to win multiple copies of a book for your group! Our latest prize book is THE PROMISE OF STARDUST by Priscille Sibley, an emotionally resonant and thought-provoking novel that raises profound questions about life, death, faith and medicine, and gracefully illuminates the power of love to hurt and to heal. We have 12 copies of the book, which is now in stores, to give away to three groups. The deadline for entries is Monday, March 4th at noon ET.
20SomethingReads.com
The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer
In anticipation of the February 5th release of SCARLET --- the second book in Marissa Meyer's Lunar Chronicles series, which retells the story of Little Red Riding Hood --- we’re giving five readers the opportunity to win a copy of both CINDER and SCARLET. The deadline for entries is Thursday, March 28th at noon ET.
Teenreads.com
The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer
In anticipation of the February 5th release of SCARLET --- the second book in Marissa Meyer's Lunar Chronicles series, which retells the story of Little Red Riding Hood --- we’re giving five readers the opportunity to win a copy of both CINDER and SCARLET. The deadline for entries is Thursday, March 28th at noon ET.
Word of Mouth
Send us your current reading recommendations with your comments and a rating of 1 to 5 stars. This contest period, one teen reader will be randomly chosen to win a copy of CRASH AND BURN by Michael Hassan and OUT OF THE EASY by Ruta Sepetys. The deadline for entries is Friday, March 1st at noon ET.
Kidsreads.com
HOKEY POKEY by Jerry Spinelli
To celebrate the release of HOKEY POKEY, Jerry Spinelli's fable of leaving childhood behind and entering the new adventures of adolescence, Kidsreads.com is giving 10 readers the chance to win a copy of the book. The deadline for entries is Friday, March 15th at noon ET.
FaithfulReader.com
HOME RUN by Travis Thrasher
We are celebrating the March 1st release of HOME RUN by Travis Thrasher with a special contest that will give 25 readers the opportunity to win a copy of the book, which is based on the major motion picture starring Vivica A. Fox and Scott Elrod. In addition, one of these winners will be awarded a Fandango gift card so he or she can take four friends to see the film when it opens on April 19th. The deadline for entries is Friday, March 8th at noon ET.
FaithfulReader.com’s Monthly Contest
In our latest monthly contest, 25 readers will be awarded the first two books in Sigmund Brouwer's fantasy/adventure series, Merlin's Immortals: THE ORPHAN KING and FORTRESS OF MIST. The deadline for entries is Tuesday, March 12th at noon ET.
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This Week’s Poll and Word of Mouth Contest
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Poll:
Which of the Oscar nominees for "Best Picture" have you seen or do you plan to see? (Please select as many as apply.)
Amour
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Misérables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty
None of the above
Which of the following Oscar-nominated "Books on Screen" movies were your favorites? (Please select as many as apply.)
Anna Karenina
Argo
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Les Misérables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Mirror Mirror
The Sessions
Silver Linings Playbook
Skyfall
Snow White and the Huntsman
I didn't like any of these movies.
I haven't seen any of these movies.
-Click here to answer the poll.
Word of Mouth:
Tell us your current reading recommendations with your comments and a rating of 1 to 5 stars. During the contest period from February 15th to March 1st, FIVE lucky readers each will be randomly chosen to win a copy of FUSE by Julianna Baggott, THE SILENCE OF BONAVENTURE ARROW by Rita Leganski and THE STORYTELLER by Jodi Picoult.
To make sure other readers will be able to find the books you write about, please include the full title and correct author names (your entry must include these to be eligible to win). For complete rules and guidelines, click here.
-Click here to enter the contest.
-To see reader comments from previous contest periods, click here.
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As always, here are a few housekeeping notes. If you are seeing this newsletter in a text version, and would prefer to see the graphics, you can either read it online or change your preferences below.
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