April 25, 2014

I love the colors of spring, thus I have been enjoying the floral arrangement above that I pulled together for Easter. The hydrangeas were problematic with serious drooping issues, so I added new ones just before our dinner. My friend Beverley brought me the cleverest Easter candy with the adorable chocolate shoes above, which were packaged in a little pink case. Unlike bunny ears, I think the shoes will not be eaten!

When we left off, I was moving into this century with a new smartphone. Let’s just say this has been challenging. Oh, I can check the weather, surf the Internet, post on Facebook and take photos quite easily, but making a phone call is like rocket science --- and for me, it’s the REAL reason I want a PHONE. It seems I need to rejigger all my contacts to work with the voice commands, my headset is not working with the new system (and my foray to the Verizon store today led to info that it will not work until the first server upgrade, even if I use a Bluetooth, which I despise), and for the first few days when people called, I had no idea how to answer. On the Samsung Galaxy S5 website, they have lots of news about the tech features, but little about how it WORKS! The folks at the Verizon store told me I can take classes on how to use it. I personally want a tutor 24/7 or a manual I can read!

Speaking of reading, I am 300 pages into Kevin O’Brien’s thriller, TELL ME YOU’RE SORRY, which will be in stores on Tuesday, and I am thoroughly enjoying it. Kevin knows how to pace a thriller and up the stakes, making it a page-turner. It also means I am a lot more bleary-eyed from late-night reading! Today I was in the city for a rare Friday for a luncheon with four authors --- Jodi Picoult (LEAVING TIME – October 14th), Amy Bloom (LUCKY US – July 29th), Lorenzo Carcaterra (THE WOLF - July 29th) and debut author Lauren Owen (THE QUICK – June 17th), and I read about 100 pages of each book to prep for meeting them. This reminds me of being back in school cramming for finals, but it’s a lot more fun! Each gave me more reasons to keep reading.

Lorenzo, who shared that he is a regular Bookreporter.com newsletter reader, is pictured with me above; THE WOLF has a brilliant opening that totally grabbed me and has it on the top of my weekend reading. And I am not just saying that thinking he will read this!

Lauren Francis-Sharma is the newest author in our Women’s Fiction Author Spotlight. Her debut novel, ’TIL THE WELL RUNS DRY, is now in stores. I loved the lyrical voice of the protagonist, Marcia Garcia, who lives in Trinidad. At the start of the book, she is a 16-year-old seamstress raising two small boys on her own and guarding a family secret. But then she meets an ambitious young policeman named Farouk Karam, and the book follows them from their passionate courtship through personal and historical events that threaten Marcia’s secret, entangle the couple and their children in a scandal, and endanger the future for all of them.

We have 25 copies 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, May 8th at noon ET. It will be a Bookreporter.com Bets On selection next week, and it made me particularly smile as I thought back on Greg’s first nanny, Jillian, who was from Trinidad, and her friends from there who moved to the States for a better life. They told great stories of “home.”

Jana Siciliano has our review and says, "I’m a sucker for any story that incorporates the place as a character, as an important cog in the wheel of the narrative. ’TIL THE WELL RUNS DRY does just that, and Trinidad appears to us, bold and forthright, on every page." It’s a great book for book group discussion, and we have a discussion guide for it on ReadingGroupGuides.com.

Our new Suspense/Thriller Author Spotlight features THE HIDDEN CHILD by Camilla Läckberg, a psychological thriller that I loved so much (a complete page-turner) that it too will be a Bets On selection. Crime writer Erica Falck is shocked to discover a Nazi medal among her late mother’s possessions. To uncover her family's past, Erica must read her mother’s wartime diaries. Could what little knowledge she has be enough to endanger her husband and newborn baby? The dark past is coming to light, and no one will escape the truth of how they came to be. We have 35 copies of the book, which releases on May 15th, 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, May 8th at noon ET. Camilla is a brilliant writer who has achieved bestseller status overseas. When I mentioned THE HIDDEN CHILD in this newsletter earlier in the year, I heard from one of our readers, Kate, a huge fan of hers who was excited to hear about this new book. She heartily recommends Camilla as a brilliant crime writer to those who love Stieg Larsson.

In our continuing plan to cover more nonfiction on the site, we announce our brand-new Nonfiction Author Spotlight feature. Here, we'll look at the upcoming work of critically acclaimed authors working within the nonfiction genre, while also introducing you to new and noteworthy talent. Many of these books are written in a narrative nonfiction style that has them reading like novels!

We kick off this feature with ENDURING COURAGE: Ace Pilot Eddie Rickenbacker and the Dawn of the Age of Speed, John F. Ross’s biography of Eddie Rickenbacker, an innovator on the racetrack, a skilled aerial dualist and squadron commander, and founder of Eastern Air Lines. He showed a war-weary nation what it took to survive against nearly insurmountable odds when he and seven others endured a harrowing three-week ordeal adrift without food or water in the Pacific during World War II. We have 25 copies to give away to readers who would like to read the book, which releases on May 13th, and comment on it. To enter, please fill out this form by Thursday, May 8th at noon ET. Greg, the history buff, has been enjoying ENDURING COURAGE and says, "With its story of daredevil --- and deadly --- pioneering feats in the pursuit of speed, ENDURING COURAGE had me flipping pages and pondering the pace of technology in the early 20th century."

Releasing this week is BRIDGE TO HAVEN by Francine Rivers, which we’ve been featuring in our Women’s Fiction Author Spotlight. In 1950s Hollywood, Lena Scott is the hottest rising star to hit the silver screen since Marilyn Monroe. Few know her real name is Abra, and even fewer know the price she’s paid to finally feel like she’s somebody. According to reviewer Michele Howe, “Rivers’s work is always dramatic and holds an underlying thread of redemption throughout. BRIDGE TO HAVEN is replete with this theme of unconditional love meets temptation, trial and failure. The story speaks volumes about the difficulties of life and how faith, hope and love can indeed win out.” Michele also interviewed Francine, and you can read their conversation here.

Our new Paperback Spotlight title is THE APPLE ORCHARD, which will be available in paperback on April 29th. With this first installment of the Bella Vista Chronicles, Susan Wiggs brings readers to the lush abundance of Sonoma County in this novel of sisters, friendship, and how memories are woven like a spell around us. Click here to read more about the book. The second in the series, THE BEEKEEPER’S BALL, will release on June 24th. Please note that beginning June 12th, we’ll be giving 35 readers the chance to win a copy of this follow-up to THE APPLE ORCHARD and give us their feedback on it.

We’re continuing to give 25 readers the opportunity to win an advance copy of LITTLE MERCIES by Heather Gudenkauf, which releases on June 24th, and share their comments about it. Ellen Moore is a veteran social worker and a fiercely dedicated children's advocate, but a simple moment of distraction will have repercussions that she never could have imagined, threatening to shatter everything she holds dear. Heather’s characters and the situation they find themselves in will give you pause. To enter, please fill out this form by Thursday, May 1st at noon ET.

Also still up is our Women's Fiction Author Spotlight of Nadia Hashimi, whose debut novel THE PEARL THAT BROKE ITS SHELL made for a riveting reading experience when I read it a few weeks ago. Crisscrossing in time, it interweaves the tales of two women separated by a century who share similar destinies. I kept thinking of the works of Khaled Hosseini as I read it. Thirty-five readers will have the chance to read the book, which releases on May 6th, and comment on it. To enter, please fill out this form by Thursday, May 1st at noon ET.

The late Maeve Binchy’s final book, CHESTNUT STREET, released this week, and we have our review for you. Across town from St. Jarlath’s Crescent is Chestnut Street, where neighbors come and go. Behind their closed doors, we encounter very different people with different life circumstances, occupations and sensibilities. Reviewer Kate Ayers says, “[L]ife’s problems, blessings, landmarks and tragedies all happen in many and varied ways. And thankfully, Maeve Binchy’s touch is apparent in each and every story. She will be sorely missed in the world of storytelling.”

David Baldacci returns with the third book in his thriller series starring CIA assassin Will Robie. In THE TARGET, the President is hoping to take down a global menace once and for all. If the mission fails, he would face certain impeachment, and the threats against the nation would multiply. So he turns to the one team that can pull off the impossible: Will Robie and his partner, Jessica Reel. Ray Palen has our review and says, “David Baldacci deftly plots THE TARGET so that readers can never get a firm grasp on what is going to happen next. This unsettling theme makes for an interesting thriller that is quite different from the straightforward, shoot-em-up action that I expected.”

We have a treat for you as Jesse Kornbluth, who founded Bookreporter.com with me and went on to create and run HeadButler.com, interviews Amanda Vaill about her new book, HOTEL FLORIDA: Truth, Love, and Death in the Spanish Civil War, which he also reviews. It’s always great when he stops back in to write for us!

Don’t forget to enter our Ninth Annual Mother's Day Contest, where we’re featuring 20 books that are perfect gifts for the special lady in your life. From now through Friday, May 9th at noon ET, readers will have the chance to win one of our 10 Bookreporter.com Mother's Day prize packages. Each package includes a selection of 10 books, along with Tazo Tea, a Divine dark chocolate bar, and a Crabtree & Evelyn bar of soap and bath sponge shaped like a flower. Please fill out this form for your chance to win big!

The folks at Minotaur Books are hosting a fun online event encouraging readers to re-read Louise Penny’s Chief Inspector Gamache series. If you, like me, have not yet explored Louise’s work (and yes, I feel like I missed something big here), jump on board along with me with book one, STILL LIFE, which is being discussed now. Or you can jump on any time these next few months to pick up the discussion. You can read more about this later in the newsletter or here.

We’ve updated our Young Adult Books You Want to Read feature, reviews we’ve posted recently on our Teenreads.com site that we think you’ll enjoy. This month’s selections are DREAMS OF GODS AND MONSTERS by Laini Taylor and NOGGIN by John Corey Whaley.

What percentage of your friends are avid readers? Take our latest poll and let us know! Our previous poll asked if you like the smell of a printed book. Almost three-quarters of you said yes, while 5% (like me) have never smelled a book and 13% have never even thought about this.

Let us know by Friday, May 8th at noon ET the books that you’ve finished reading, and you’ll have the opportunity to win these three titles in our Word of Mouth contest: the aforementioned CHESTNUT STREET, along with THE GIRL WHO SAVED THE KING OF SWEDEN by Jonas Jonasson and NATCHEZ BURNING by Greg Iles.

World Book Night (WBN) was Wednesday night, and we hope all you book givers had a fun evening! If you’d like to tell us about your WBN experiences, please email us at info@bookreporter.com. We’d love to hear from you! In anticipation of the big night, the first-ever original World Book Night eBook became available this week. According to the WBN website, the eBook is “an original collection of ten short stories and essays by booksellers, librarians, and authors who are WBN participants. The WBN2014 ebook will be posted online for two weeks beginning April 22, 2014 at no charge, accessible for download to any device with a web browser as well as downloadable as a PDF to print.” For more about the eBook, please click here.

When I heard news of the heartbreaking avalanche on Mount Everest, I immediately thought of Jon Krakauer’s book, INTO THIN AIR, and wondered what his thoughts were on the tragedy. Thus, when I found this piece by him in The New Yorker where he did just that, I wanted to share it with you.

Tickets are still available for "Open House at Random House," taking place on Friday, May 2nd in New York City, which I will be attending with Nicole Sherman from our staff and a few of my friends. Here, you'll have the opportunity to meet a number of authors, explore Random House's New York headquarters, and connect with other book lovers. Join Jenny McCarthy, Gary Shteyngart, Ruth Reichl, Chris Pavone, Maggie Shipstead and many more for lunch and snacks, and delicious cocktails. As if that's not enough, all guests will receive a limited edition Random House Open House tote bag filled with great swag and some of this summer's blockbuster reads. We know some of our readers have gone in the past, and we would love to see you back there...along with any first-timers, of course! Click here for all the details and to purchase tickets.

On Saturday night, we are celebrating my mom’s birthday a week in advance as Greg is headed to the UK on Monday for a whirlwind eight-day trip, and we wanted to be all together to fete her. Also next week, Cory will be gearing up for finals as what seems like the fastest freshman year ticks down. This weekend is the New Jersey Wool Walk, a chance to visit yarn shops all over New Jersey and enter to win prizes. I stopped by one shop last night to pick up some yarn for a project, but I do not plan to do the entire tour. My husband says that we could be a stop on the tour with all the yarn I have. I admit it; I have a weakness for yarn and paper fiber!

Here’s to a great week…read on!

Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)

Francine Rivers has been a bestselling author of Christian fiction since the mid-'90s, when her highly acclaimed statement of faith, REDEEMING LOVE, was re-released by Multnomah Publishers. Her latest novel, BRIDGE TO HAVEN, is about a young woman named Abra, whose early childhood trauma has left her angry and confused. Seduced by the glamour of Hollywood life, Abra burns every bridge to get what she thinks she wants --- only to find the price of fame too high, and the attention not enough to heal her broken heart. In this interview conducted by reviewer Michele Howe, Rivers talks about the biblical story that inspired BRIDGE TO HAVEN and how her personal struggles are present in all her writing. She also discusses the sometimes-paradox of heartache, the difference between what the world calls “love” and love that is real, and the transformative power of accepting God into our hearts.

BRIDGE TO HAVEN by Francine Rivers (Historical Fiction)
To those who matter in 1950s Hollywood, Lena Scott is the hottest rising star to hit the silver screen since Marilyn Monroe. Few know her real name is Abra. Even fewer know the price she’s paid to finally feel like she’s somebody. Hollywood feels like a million miles from Haven, and naive Abra quickly learns what’s expected of an ambitious girl with stars in her eyes. But fame comes at an awful price. She has burned every bridge to get exactly what she thought she wanted. Reviewed by Michele Howe.

-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 Francine Rivers's bio.
-Click here to visit Francine Rivers's official website.
-Click here to connect with Francine Rivers on Facebook.
-Click here to see the 25 winners selected to read and comment on the book.
-Click here to read more in our Women's Fiction Author Spotlight.

Mother’s Day is a time to recognize the woman who raised and nurtured us. To celebrate, we're giving you the opportunity to win some books and goodies for you or the special lady in your life in our ninth annual "Books Mom Will Love" contest. From now through Friday, May 9th at noon ET, readers will have the chance to win one of our 10 prize packages. Each package is filled with a selection of 10 of the varied and wonderful books featured below, along with a marvelous array of gifts to treat yourself or Mom: Tazo Tea, a Divine dark chocolate bar, and a Crabtree & Evelyn bar of soap and bath sponge shaped like a flower.

To enter, please fill out this form by Friday, May 9th at noon ET.

This year's featured Mother's Day titles are:

• APART AT THE SEAMS: A Cobbled Courts Quilt Novel by Marie Bostwick
• THE APPLE ORCHARD by Susan Wiggs
• BRIDGE TO HAVEN by Francine Rivers
• DARK WITCH: Book One of The Cousins O'Dwyer Trilogy by Nora Roberts
• DRIVING LESSONS by Zoe Fishman
• FOUR FRIENDS by Robyn Carr
• GOODNIGHT JUNE by Sarah Jio
• THE IDEA OF HIM by Holly Peterson
• THE LAST ORIGINAL WIFE by Dorothea Benton Frank
• A LONG TIME GONE by Karen White
• MARRY SMART: Advice for Finding THE ONE by Susan Patton
• MRS. POE by Lynn Cullen
• THE MUSEUM OF EXTRAORDINARY THINGS by Alice Hoffman
• THE ONE & ONLY by Emily Giffin
• ONE HUNDRED NAMES by Cecelia Ahern
• THE QUAKER CAFÉ by Brenda Bevan Remmes
• THE ROAD TO TESTAMENT by Eva Marie Everson
• THE SAME SWEET GIRL'S GUIDE TO LIFE: Advice from a Failed Southern Belle by Cassandra King
• SHADOW SPELL: Book Two of The Cousins O'Dwyer Trilogy by Nora Roberts
• TEST OF FAITH by Christa Allan

THE TARGET by David Baldacci (Thriller)
The President knows it's a perilous, high-risk assignment. If he gives the order, he has the opportunity to take down a global menace, once and for all. If the mission fails, he would face certain impeachment, and the threats against the nation would multiply. So the president turns to the one team that can pull off the impossible: Will Robie and his partner, Jessica Reel. Reviewed by Ray Palen.

EVERYBODY'S GOT SOMETHING: A Memoir by Robin Roberts with Veronica Chambers (Memoir)
With grace, heart and humor, Robin Roberts writes about overcoming breast cancer only to learn five years later that she will need a bone marrow transplant to combat a rare blood disorder; the grief and heartbreak she suffered when her mother passed away; her triumphant return to “Good Morning America” after her medical leave; and the tremendous support and love of her family and friends that saw her through her difficult times. Reviewed Christine M. Irvin.

THE SERPENT OF VENICE by Christopher Moore (Mystery/Humor)
Three prominent Venetians await their most loathsome and foul dinner guest, the erstwhile envoy from the Queen of Britain: the rascal Fool Pocket. This trio of cunning plotters have lured Pocket to a dark dungeon, promising an evening of sprits and debauchery. But this Fool is no fool…and he has more than a few tricks (and hand gestures) up his sleeve. Reviewed by Robert Doyle.

ASTONISH ME by Maggie Shipstead (Fiction)
Joan Joyce is a young ballerina whose claim to fame is her role in helping a Nureyev-like dancer defect from the Soviet Union. Ultimately she chooses family over fouettés, but, in a bittersweet, Turning Point-style twist, sees her son accede to the stellar career she never had. Reviewed by Kathy Weissman.

EVERYTHING TO LOSE by Andrew Gross (Thriller)
When Hilary Blum stops to help a car that slammed into a tree, she discovers the driver dead --- and a satchel stuffed with a half a million dollars. That money could prevent her family's ruin and keep her special needs son in school. In an instant, this honest, achieving woman who has always done the responsible thing makes a decision that puts her in the center of a maelstrom of dark consequences and life-threatening recriminations. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

LOVE, NINA: A Nanny Writes Home by Nina Stibbe (Memoir)
Twenty-year-old Nina Stibbe moves to a posh section of London to become a nanny to two young boys, the sons of well-known editor Mary-Kay Wilmers. Nina has no experience as a nanny but jumps right in and soon becomes a valued member of the quirky household. LOVE, NINA is comprised of Nina's letters home to her sister, Victoria. Though the correspondence is one-sided, the reader becomes well acquainted with this family through Nina's frank and often amusing letters. Reviewed by Carole Turner.

ASTORIA: John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson's Lost Pacific Empire: A Story of Wealth, Ambition, and Survival by Peter Stark (History)
ASTORIA is the true-adventure tale of the 1810 Astor Expedition, an epic, now forgotten, three-year journey to forge an American empire on the Pacific Coast. Peter Stark offers a harrowing saga in which a band of explorers battled nature, starvation and madness to establish the first American settlement in the Pacific Northwest and opened up what would become the Oregon trail, permanently altering the nation's landscape and its global standing. Reviewed by Jana Siciliano.

HOTEL FLORIDA: Truth, Love, and Death in the Spanish Civil War by Amanda Vaill (Biography/History)
HOTEL FLORIDA traces the tangled wartime destinies of three couples against the backdrop of a critical moment in history. From the raw material of unpublished letters and diaries, official documents, and recovered reels of film, Amanda Vaill has created a narrative of love and reinvention that is, finally, a story about truth: finding it out, telling it and living it --- whatever the cost. Reviewed by Jesse Kornbluth, founder of HeadButler.com.

-Click here to read Jesse Kornbluth's interview with Amanda Vaill.

MY ACCIDENTAL JIHAD: A Love Story by Krista Bremer (Memoir)
Fifteen years ago, Krista Bremer would not have been able to imagine her life today: married to a Libyan-born Muslim, raising two children with Arabic names in the American South. Nor could she have imagined the prejudice she would encounter or the profound ways her marriage would change her perception of the world. MY ACCIDENTAL JIHAD explores what it means to open our hearts to another culture and to embrace our own. Reviewed by Pauline Finch.

AMERICAN ROMANTIC by Ward Just (Historical Fiction)
Harry Sanders is a young foreign service officer in 1960s Indochina when a dangerous and clandestine meeting with insurgents --- and a brief but passionate encounter with Sieglinde, a young German woman --- alters the course of his life. He marries the captivating May, who is fleeing her own family disappointments. On the surface, they are a handsome, successful couple --- but the memory of Sieglinde persists in Harry’s thoughts, and May has her own secrets. Reviewed by Harvey Freedenberg.

RUIN FALLS by Jenny Milchman (Psychological Thriller)
When Liz Daniels discovers that her husband, Paul, has kidnapped their two children, she throws herself into the search for them. Her investigation uncovers a disturbing incident from Paul's past, and she begins receiving ominous threats, warning her to stay away. Liz digs deeper into his secrets --- only to discover that his plans are far more extreme than she ever could have imagined. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

ON THE ROCKS by Erin Duffy (Fiction)
Six months ago, Abby's longtime boyfriend-turned-fiancé, Ben, dumped her on Facebook while she was trying on dresses for the big day. Her best friend, Grace, devises a plan to get Abby back on her game. But no matter where they go, Abby and Grace discover that in this era of social media --- when seemingly everyone is preserving every last detail of their lives online --- there is no real escape. Reviewed by Rebecca Kilberg.

THE QUAKER CAFE by Brenda Bevan Remmes (Fiction)
When Liz Hoole, a free-spirited liberal, marries into a conservative Quaker family, she knew it would be a delicate task to negotiate the raising of her four boys in compliance with Quaker values…but as much as she tries, she always seems to fall short of expectations. When Judge Corbett Kendall, the politically powerful father of her best friend, dies, Liz stumbles upon secrets from the past that threaten to unravel the delicate fabric of racial harmony in an easily divided town. Reviewed by Michele Howe.

-Click here to read an excerpt.
-Click here for the reading group guide.

Due to a glitch in our database server, we were unable to include last week’s reviews in the April 18th newsletter. So here they are, in case you missed them this week on the homepage!

THE COLLECTOR by Nora Roberts (Romantic Suspense)
When professional house-sitter Lila Emerson witnesses a murder/suicide from her current apartment-sitting job, life as she knows it takes a dramatic turn. Artist Ashton Archer knows his brother isn’t capable of violence, so he recruits Lila, the only eyewitness, to help him uncover what happened. Their investigation draws them into a rarified circle where what you desire becomes a deadly obsession. Reviewed by Amie Taylor.

CARNAL CURIOSITY: A Stone Barrington Novel by Stuart Woods (Thriller/Adventure)
When Manhattan’s elite are beset by a series of clever crimes --- and Stone Barrington is a material witness --- he and his former partner, Dino Bacchetti, find themselves drawn into the world of high-end security and fraud. As Stone and Dino delve deeper into their investigation, they learn that the mastermind behind the incidents may have some intimate ties to Stone…and that the biggest heist is still to come. Reviewed by Judy Gigstad.

LOVE AND TREASURE by Ayelet Waldman (Fiction)
In 1945, victorious American soldiers capture a train filled with unspeakable riches. Jack Wiseman is the lieutenant charged with guarding this treasure --- a responsibility that grows more complicated when he meets Ilona, who has lost everything in the ravages of the Holocaust. Seventy years later, Jack gives a necklace to his granddaughter, Natalie Stein, and charges her with searching for an unknown woman --- a woman whose portrait and fate come to haunt Natalie. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.

THE OTHER STORY by Tatiana de Rosnay (Fiction)
The hurricane that is the famous author Nicolas Kolt is down to its last battering winds. While he’s hiding on a Tuscan island from publishers, family, friends, and life in general, a whole host of indiscretions and minor misunderstandings come to light. Once more, Nicolas is forced to deal with his past --- a past full of family secrets that he cannot comprehend. Reviewed by Amy Gwiazdowski.

A BROKEN HALLELUJAH: Rock and Roll, Redemption, and the Life of Leonard Cohen by Liel Leibovitz (Music)
Why is it that Leonard Cohen receives the sort of reverence we reserve for a precious few living artists? Why are his songs, three or four decades after their original release, suddenly gracing the charts, blockbuster movie sound tracks, and television singing competitions? These are two of the questions at the heart of A BROKEN HALLELUJAH, a meditation on the singer, his music, and the ideas and beliefs at its core. Reviewed by Frederick Lloyd.

HIGH CRIME AREA: Tales of Darkness and Dread by Joyce Carol Oates (Suspense/Short Stories)
Joyce Carol Oates is an unparalleled investigator of human flaws. In these eight stories, she deftly tests the bonds between damaged individuals --- a brother and sister, a teacher and student, two strangers on a subway --- in the fearless prose for which she’s become so celebrated. She confronts, one by one, the demons within us. Sometimes it’s the human who wins, and sometimes it’s the demon. Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman.

NORTHANGER ABBEY by Val McDermid (Fiction)
When Cat Morland is asked to join family friends on a trip to Edinburgh, she can’t wait to escape her home in Dorset. She meets new friends, finds love, experiences heartbreak, and faces a mystery or two that can’t compete with her dark and macabre imagination. It’s that creativity that gets her in trouble and could possibly ruin the life she was finally starting to imagine for herself. Reviewed by Amy Gwiazdowski.

THE PLOVER by Brian Doyle (Fiction/Adventure)
Declan O Donnell has sailed out of Oregon and deep into the vast, wild ocean, finally having had enough of other people and their problems. But the galaxy soon presents him with a string of odd, entertaining and dangerous passengers, who become companions of every sort and stripe. THE PLOVER is the story of their adventures and misadventures in the immense blue country one of their company calls Pacifica. Reviewed by Roz Shea.

THE LONG SHADOW by Liza Marklund (Mystery/Thriller)
An intruder brutally murders an entire family, and newspaper reporter Annika Bengtzon must fly there to report on the case. Upon arrival, she discovers that a fifth family member is unaccounted for. Soon, the killers are found, but they too have met their demise. Amid a culture weighed down by drug smuggling and money laundering, Annika must try to find the missing girl before it’s too late. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

UNDER A SILENT MOON by Elizabeth Haynes (Mystery/Thriller)
In the crisp, early hours of an autumn morning, the police are called to investigate two deaths. The first is a suspected murder at a farm on the outskirts of a small village. The second is a reported suicide at a nearby quarry. As Detective Chief Inspector Louisa Smith and her team gather evidence, they discover a shocking link between the two cases and the two deaths --- a bond that sealed their terrible fates one cold night, under a silent moon. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

KNOW THE NIGHT: A Memoir of Survival in the Small Hours by Maria Mutch (Memoir)
Maria Mutch explores the miraculous power that care and communication have in the face of the deep, personal isolation that often comes with disability. A chronicle of the witching hours between midnight and 6am, this meditative book takes place during the two-year period in which Mutch’s son Gabriel, who is autistic and also has Down syndrome, rarely slept through the night. We see both Gabriel’s difficult childhood and Maria’s introduction to the world of multiple disability parenting. Reviewed by Barbara Bamberger Scott.

THE DUKE, THE LONGHORNS, AND CHAIRMAN MAO: John Wayne's Political Odyssey by Steven Travers (Biography/History)
THE DUKE, THE LONGHORNS, AND CHAIRMAN MAO is a fly-on-the-wall exploration of a wild weekend and an immersion into the John Wayne mythology: his politics, his inspirations, the plots to assassinate him, his connections to Stalin, Khrushchev and Chairman Mao, and the death of the Western. Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman.