September 9, 2016

We’re back and raring to go after a wonderful week off! As my life is typically way overscheduled, I decided that last week I would roll with no plans for the week. On Tuesday we spent a lovely day at the shore (that is the New Jersey word for beach) with my parents, who have a home there. It was nice to sit on the beach and meet my dad’s friends. Cory was able to meet up with us, and he and dad hit the waves. I loved that; it made a nice memory.

For the rest of the week I tried to relax, something I rarely do. There was swimming, floating, gardening (sooooo many weeds were pulled) and lots of great dinners --- all on no schedule. I made a terrific recipe with mini eggplants that you can see here. Instead of pulling together a stack of books and assigning myself to get through them, I was a lot more laid back. At the end of the week, I noticed I had started nine books and finished seven, with two still on my nightstand. Here are three I wanted to note: Coming on February 21st is A PIECE OF THE WORLD by Christina Baker Kline; you know her as the author of ORPHAN TRAIN. How many of you know the painting "Christina's World" by Andrew Wyeth? Here, Kline gives readers a look into the background of that painting, bringing the story of the woman who inspired it, as well as insight into Wyeth. I just loved it; it will be a Bookreporter.com Bets On selection.

I am interviewing Peter Swanson at the Morristown Book Festival on October 1st, and thus was happy to read his current novel, THE KIND WORTH KILLING. The best way to describe it is as the story of what happens when the wrong person gets crossed and lives with a vendetta to make things right. It’s very twisty; I read it in a sitting, and now I cannot wait to read his next one, HER EVERY FEAR, which will be in stores on January 10th. And I cannot wait to interview him. Also on that panel will be Wendy Walker (ALL IS NOT FORGOTTEN) and Sharon Guskin (THE FORGETTING TIME), both of whom I am a fan of.

Besides the events in Morristown, I will be doing a book group program in Hillsborough, NJ for the Somerset Library System on October 15th and a program for the Ocean County Library System on October 22nd. More details on all to come. And I just confirmed a program at the Miami Book Fair for book groups as well. Much more to come.

Lastly, I finally got to HOMEGOING by Yaa Gyasi, and I see why it’s received such wonderful accolades. I am about halfway through and look forward to reading more. Thanks to Joan DeMayo for reminding me about it; I had read our reviewer Maya Gittelman’s review and should have gotten to it sooner.

So lots of great reading, some more of which you will hear about later in this newsletter and in the weeks to come. And now to this week’s update, which has 19 reviews! Thanks to Tom Donadio for some super-fast editing in a short week.

William Kent Krueger's highly anticipated new Cork O’Connor mystery, MANITOU CANYON, is now in stores, and we’re happy to be featuring it in our New Release Spotlight. When a man camping in Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness goes missing, Cork is asked to stay on the case, even as the official search wraps us. Although his daughter’s wedding is fast approaching and the weather looks ominous, he accepts and returns to the wilderness on his own. When Cork’s family realizes that their father is missing, they try to uncover the mystery behind both disappearances. Little do they know that not only is Cork’s life on the line, but so are the lives of hundreds of others.

Joe Hartlaub has this to say in his review: “The characters, story and plot will haunt you long after you’ve read the last page, but it's Krueger’s strong and sure descriptive prose that lingers the longest.” Congratulations to Cathy from Oconto, WI, who is the Grand Prize winner of signed copies of all 15 titles in the Cork O’Connor series. Click here to see the winners of the 15 copies of IRON LAKE, the first book in the series and the perfect way to kick off a binge read of them all.

Amor Towles established himself as a master of sophisticated, immersive historical fiction with his debut, RULES OF CIVILITY, in 2011. Five years later, he brings us the enchantment of A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW. In a glittering evocation of 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal. He is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. In surprising and even funny ways, these circumstances open the door to a bevy of emotional discovery.

According to reviewer Susan Miura, “Eloquent writing delivers a host of delightful characters, wonderfully flawed and sincere, who further enrich this story of self-discovery, passion and relationships in their many complex forms.” You can learn much more about the book in this interview with Amor. I love how much the Count was able to experience within the hotel; life was anything but dull for him, showing that even the most limited of situations can be enjoyed!

Our Debut Suspense/Thriller Author Spotlight of Meg Little Reilly's WE ARE UNPREPARED, which is now in stores, enters its final week. Upon the forecast of a devastating superstorm, a once-idyllic Vermont town divides into paranoid preppers, religious fanatics and government tools, each at odds about the best course of action. Meanwhile, ex-Brooklynites Ash and Pia struggle to keep their marriage afloat. It’s an emotional journey, a terrifying glimpse into the human costs of our changing earth, and, ultimately, a cautionary tale of survival and the human spirit.

Megan Elliott has our review and says, “For the characters in WE ARE UNPREPARED, there’s no chance of going back to undo the damage done to the planet and prevent disaster. But for readers, the book is a vivid warning that if we want to save the things we love the most, the time to act is now.” Megan also had the opportunity to chat with Meg, and you can read their conversation here. I read this over the break, and the power of nature was very much on my mind as I read it. All weekend there were dire predictions of surf flooding, which never manifested.

We’ve posted two more interviews this week: Susan Elizabeth Phillips, who continues her Chicago Stars series with her latest release, FIRST STAR I SEE TONIGHT, and the mother-son writing team known as Charles Todd, whose new Bess Crawford mystery is THE SHATTERED TREE.

We have two new Women’s Fiction Author Spotlights and contests to tell you about. The first is for THE LIFE SHE WANTS, a poignant novel by Robyn Carr that will leave you both laughing and crying. In the aftermath of her well-to-do husband’s suicide, Emma Shay Compton’s dream life is shattered. Her lifelong friend encourages her to come back home to Sonoma County, but starting over isn’t easy and there are certain people like Riley Kerrigan she doesn’t want to face. Now, trying to stand on her own, Emma can’t escape her husband’s reputation and is forced to turn to the last person she thought she’d ever ask for help. THE LIFE SHE WANTS doesn’t release until September 27th, but we have 10 copies to give away to those who would like to read and comment on the book. To enter, please fill out this form by Thursday, September 22nd at noon ET.

Our second featured Women’s Fiction Author Spotlight title is MENDING FENCES, a 2007 novel by Sherryl Woods that is being re-released on September 27th. Emily Dobbs and Marcie Carter have been the closest of friends for the last decade. But when Marcie's son, now a college freshman sports star, is arrested for date rape, the bond between the families could be shattered forever. As the Carters try to deal with the unthinkable, Emily discovers that her daughter has been hiding a terrible secret…a secret that threatens the futures of both families. Would you like to be one of 15 readers who will receive a copy of the book and share their comments on it? Then all you have to do is fill out this form by Thursday, September 22nd at noon ET.

We’re also featuring LIAR’S KEY, Carla Neggers' latest Sharpe & Donovan adventure, as a New Release Spotlight title. Emma Sharpe is suspicious when retired Special Agent Gordon Wheelock, a legend in FBI art crimes, drops by her Boston office for a visit. Gordy says he's heard rumors about stolen ancient mosaics. Emma, an art crimes specialist herself, won't discuss the rumors. Especially since they involve Oliver York, an unrepentant English art thief. Gordy and Emma's grandfather, a renowned private art detective, chased Oliver for a decade. Gordy knows Wendell Sharpe didn't give him everything he had on the thief. When a shocking death occurs, Emma is drawn into the investigation. The evidence points to a deadly conspiracy between Wendell and Oliver, and Emma's fiancé, deep cover agent Colin Donovan, knows he can't stay out of this one.

Our Fall Preview feature is back for a sixth year! On select days in September and October, we will spotlight a different title and offer a 24-hour contest to win five copies of the book. We also will be sending a special newsletter to announce each day's title. If you have not already done so, you can sign up here to receive the Fall Preview newsletter. We kick off this year’s contests by giving away the aforementioned MANITOU CANYON by William Kent Krueger and A LADY UNRIVALED, the finale to Roseanna M. White's Ladies of the Manor series. The first contest will go live on Tuesday, September 13th at noon ET.

We’ve updated our New in Paperback feature for September. Highlights include THE LAST MILE by David Baldacci; THE 14th COLONY by Steve Berry; YEAR OF YES: How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun and Be Your Own Person, by Shonda Rhimes (I selected the audiobook as a Bets On title last year); CAN'T WE TALK ABOUT SOMETHING MORE PLEASANT? by Roz Chast; and BLACK MAN IN A WHITE COAT: A Doctor's Reflections on Race and Medicine, by Damon Tweedy, M.D. (who I interviewed last year at BookExpo America).

We’ve also updated our Books on Screen feature. September’s theatrical releases include The Light Between Oceans, Sully, Bridget Jones’s Baby and Snowden, and premiering on the small screen are "Queen Sugar," "Quarry" and "The Exorcist.”

Jeffrey Siger is known for his mysteries set in Greece featuring Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis, and the latest installment in the series, SANTORINI CAESARS, is now available. When a young demonstrator is publicly singled out and assassinated by highly trained killers in the heart of protest-charged Athens, Kaldis is convinced that the killing was meant not to take out a target, but as a message. A message from whom? To whom? And why? To celebrate the release of book eight in the series, Jeffrey has written a piece for us on his love for the island of Santorini, including some choice history, science and trivia that explores why it’s such a ripe setting for a mystery.

Do you read the epigraphs in books? Click here to let us know in our latest poll. For those of you who may not know, an epigraph is a short quotation that appears at the beginning of a book or chapter, and is intended to suggest the theme of that book or chapter.

Our previous poll asked if you read the dedication page in books. 59% of you always do so, before you start the book, while 38% do it most or some of the time and 1% never do. Click here for all the results.

We have a new Word of Mouth contest to tell you about. Let us know by Friday, September 23rd at noon ET what books you’ve finished reading, and you’ll be in the running to win HOME by Harlan Coben and THE KEPT WOMAN by Karin Slaughter.

We’ve also posted our Sounding Off on Audio contest for this month. By letting us know what audiobooks you’ve listened to, you’ll have a chance to win the audio versions of Sophie Hannah's CLOSED CASKET: The New Hercule Poirot Mystery, performed by Julian Rhind-Tutt, and Ann Patchett's COMMONWEALTH, performed by Hope Davis. The deadline for your submissions is Monday, October 3rd at noon ET.

It was announced earlier this week that LOVE WARRIOR is the next Oprah’s Book Club pick. This highly anticipated new memoir by Glennon Doyle Melton tells the story of her journey of self-discovery after the implosion of her marriage.

We also found out this week that Brad Meltzer and the team from his “Lost History” TV show have officially found the missing 9/11 flag that the firefighters raised at Ground Zero. Brad will be telling the full story as he hosts a one-hour History Channel special (“America's 9/11 Flag: Rise from the Ashes”) this Sunday, the 15th anniversary of 9/11, at 10:30pm ET. And to read about how it happened, here's the story just put out by the New York Times. Brad also posted early pictures on his official website.

In honor of the anniversary, I highly recommend reading these two books, which are now in stores: THE RED BANDANNA by Tom Rinaldi, which tells the story of Welles Crowther, whose actions on that tragic day offer a lasting lesson on character, calling and courage, and TOWERS FALLING, a middle-grade novel from Jewell Parker Rhodes about a group of fifth graders who begin to realize just how much the 9/11 attacks impact their lives each and every day. I heard Tom speak about THE RED BANDANNA and had a huge lump in my throat as I heard this beautiful story. Our review will be coming next week. I also heard Jewell speak about her book, and it, too, was moving. Cory was six on 9/11 and Greg was 11; Cory’s class of first graders were among the youngest who remember the day as it unfolded, and I often have thought about that, which makes a book like Jewell’s so powerful.

And now to some happy news: This September marks what would have been the 100th birthday of Roald Dahl. In celebration of this beloved author, we'll be posting some gloriumptious blog pieces on our Kidsreads.com site every Tuesday of the month. In the first post, we're sharing some fun facts about Dahl and his most popular books. Be sure to check back on Kidsreads next week for another Dahl-ightful post. In the meantime, click here to head over to his official website, where you can learn about upcoming celebrations and events across the country. We're so excited to invite you all into the frothbuggling, whoopsy wiffling and jumpsquiffling world of Roald Dahl!

I wanted to be sure you were all aware of Random House’s 10th Open House, which will take place on Thursday, December 15th at Hunter College’s Kaye Playhouse in Manhattan. You can expect stellar programming, free books, great food, fun giveaways, and --- as per their press release --- their biggest gift bag yet. They have moved the event to the new location to ensure that more can attend. Mark your calendars to grab yourself tickets for the event as early as Friday, September 23rd at 9am. Featured authors include Diana Gabaldon, Jodi Picoult, George Saunders and many more. I’m a loyal Open House attendee, and they never disappoint!

News and Pop Culture:

Reader Mail: Most of the reader mail was congratulatory notes about the 20th anniversary of Bookreporter.com. Here’s a sampling of some of the notes that we received. Thank you to our readers who wrote and shared comments on our Bookreporter Facebook page as well. We all appreciated reading your kind words.

Elaine wrote, “Carol, thanks for all the efforts that are put into Bookreporter. Been reading for more years than I realized. Enjoy your vacation...you deserve the time to enjoy all the ‘fun’ things!”

Patricia noted, “Thanks for a fantastic book site. Best one ever. I believe I have followed this site for at least 18 of those years. I love all your information about books.”

Linda shared, “Congratulations, Carol, on 20 years. I'm not sure how long I've been a part of the readership, but I quickly began to look forward to Fridays and the arrival of the latest Bookreporter [newsletter]. Thanks for all the great suggestions.

Rosalie said, “Happy 20th anniversary to you and all your staff! I so look forward to Fridays so I can add to my list of books to read --- and I can't die for the next 20 years just so I can read all that I have listed. I wish you many more years of success!”

Ann Patchett: An interview with Ann, whose book, the aforementioned COMMONWEALTH, releases on Tuesday.

Bruce Springsteen: His autobiography is coming out on September 27th. Here’s an interview, which is the cover story of Vanity Fair.

"The Night Of": Great eight-part series on HBO, which I am happy to say wrapped so satisfyingly. Definitely binge-worthy. Once you finish episode eight, replay episode one; it’s chilling how everyone’s lives have changed.

"Stranger Things": Watched this on Netflix. Great 1980s kitsch throughout. Definitely scary to me; anytime anything comes out of the wall, I am jumping. Watched in bits, not a total binge.

"Rizzoli & Isles": The season finale ran this week; I have not watched yet. Had enjoyed it as pure escape TV.

Greg is in New London, Connecticut, this weekend with the New England Lighthouse Lovers (NELL) for a trip; I believe this weekend he also is being installed as President of the organization. Cory is back at school, and he also has a part-time job. He’s stopping home tomorrow night for dinner, and I look forward to hearing more about all. In his texts he is a man of few words. Tom will play golf, and then we plan to plant flowers on the wall that I finally stripped of weeds (for the third time) last week; I want to get flowers in before the weeds come back! I am sure they are plotting against me as I speak. I have three knitting projects in various stages of knitting and unknitting. My fave right now is this. I managed to get eight stitches in some spots, not 10, so last night there was unknitting.

Glad we are back! Read on, and have a great week.

Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)

P.S. For those of you who are doing online shopping, if you use the store links below, Bookreporter.com gets a small affiliate fee on your purchases. We would appreciate your considering this!

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound

Amor Towles’ 2011 debut, RULES OF CIVILITY, was a runaway hit with critics and readers alike. Five years later, he returns with his highly anticipated follow-up, A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW, the transporting story of a man who is ordered to spend the rest of his life inside a luxury hotel in Moscow. In this interview, Towles discusses in charming detail the reason this particular project was so appealing to him after the success of RULES, the unique way he structured A GENTLEMAN like “a diamond on its side,” and why setting his novels in the 20th century has allowed him to explore the space between the “unbelievably actual and the convincingly imagined.”

A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW by Amor Towles (Historical Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Nicholas Guy Smith
When, in 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, the count is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his life, and must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel’s doors. Unexpectedly, his reduced circumstances provide him a doorway into a much larger world of emotional discovery. Reviewed by Susan Miura.

-Click here to read more about the book.
-Click here to read a review.
-Click here to read an excerpt.

Cli-fi --- fiction that deals with themes of climate change --- is a rapidly emerging new genre, and Meg Little Reilly is one of its uniquely qualified contributors. Her impressive list of credentials includes former treasury spokesperson under President Obama, deputy communications director for the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), communicator for the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), and now debut novelist. Her first book, WE ARE UNPREPARED --- about a superstorm that threatens to destroy a marriage, a town and the entire Eastern seaboard --- has taken the book world by storm. In this interview with Bookreporter.com's Megan Elliott, Reilly discusses why she doesn’t think fiction about climate change belongs in its own genre, why she is only minimally prepared for the event of a superstorm, and the reason she remains optimistic that future generations will work to appropriately address our changing climate.

WE ARE UNPREPARED by Meg Little Reilly (Thriller)
Audiobook available, performed by Zach Villa
Ash and Pia move from hipster Brooklyn to rustic Vermont in search of a more authentic life. But just months after settling in, the forecast of a superstorm disrupts their dream. Fear of an impending disaster splits their tight-knit community and exposes the cracks in their marriage. Where Isole was once a place of old farm families, rednecks and transplants, it now divides into paranoid preppers, religious fanatics and government tools, each at odds about what course to take. Reviewed by Megan Elliott.

-Click here to read more about the book.
-Click here to read a review.
-Click here to read an excerpt.
-Click here to read Meg Little Reilly's bio.
-Click here to visit Meg Little Reilly's official website.
-Connect with Meg Little Reilly on Facebook and Twitter.
-Click here to see the 25 winners selected to read and comment on the book.
-Click here to read more in our Debut Suspense/Thriller Author Spotlight.

• CROSSING THE HORIZON by Laurie Notaro
• THE FAMILY PLOT by Cherie Priest
• FRIDAY ON MY MIND: A Frieda Klein Mystery by Nicci French
• A LADY UNRIVALED: Ladies of the Manor, Book 3 by Roseanna M. White
• MANITOU CANYON by William Kent Krueger
• THE SECRET CHORD by Geraldine Brooks
• VICTORIA: The Queen: An Intimate Biography of the Woman Who Ruled an Empire by Julia Baird

• If you loved Blue Valentine but wished there was a stolen baby subplot (à la Gone Baby Gone): The Light Between Oceans, Derek Cianfrance's adaptation of the M. L. Stedman bestseller, was basically made for you.
   
• If you like Renée Zellweger's face very much, just as it is: Hugh Grant may have sat this one out, but everyone's favorite hot mess is back in Bridget Jones's Baby, and this time she has a perfectly good reason to be eating for two.
   
• If you're my dad: The Clint Eastwood-helmed Sully, based on the memoir of real-life American hero Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger who miraculously executed an emergency water landing of a disabled airliner, is sure to have spirits soaring.
   
• If you're a tech bro, a hacker bro, or just can't get enough of Joseph Gordon-Levitt doing a wacky voice job: Oliver Stone may not be known for his subtlety, but a heavy hand can still deliver thrills. I’m, of course, referring to Snowden, his biopic of the controversial former NSA computer specialist.
   
• If you know what's good: Catch "Queen Sugar," a lush new series on OWN that follows three siblings as they come together to claim their complicated inheritance after the death of their father: an 800-acre sugarcane farm in the heart of Louisiana.

• Always
• Most of the time
• Some of the time
• No, but I will look for these in the future.
• Never