October 14, 2016

A sudden cool snap hit the New York area earlier this week, prompting me to do some hasty herb replanting so we could bring them inside. Also, I decided to grab the geraniums and other hearty-looking flowers to shelter them from a possible freeze, which my local nursery, Malanga’s, noted is different from a frost, but could be harmful as well to the plants and just covering them would not be enough. Reading was on my agenda for Monday, not plant rescue, but I quickly rallied for this mission, the results of which you can see above.

As I was paddling around the pool in my wetsuit, including the gloves and socks, on Monday (the water temp was down to 58), I realized I have just a weekend or two left to enjoy the pool before I fear it will need to be closed. The latest I ever swam was Halloween in 2010 (we went trick or treating that night); that was the same year that we got a gas bill that was $500 higher than usual, which squelched that little extravagance for the future. During my staycation this summer, I read SWIMMING IN THE SINK by the long-distance, cold water swimmer Lynne Cox. You may remember her as the author of SWIMMING TO ANTARCTICA. In this latest book, she talks about losing her parents and then her diagnosis with atrial fibrillation (AFib). It’s a memoir about her journey back to health and to the sport she loves. As I contemplate closing the pool, I think I need to think about getting a deep sink. Read it, and you will see why!

This short week was a swirl of publisher previews (where we get a look at upcoming books) and author visits. On Tuesday, I went to a luncheon where Lisa See shared background on her upcoming book, THE TEA GIRL OF HUMMINGBIRD LANE, which is set to release on March 17th. I am about 90 pages in --- and am loving it. It opens in rural China in 1988 where a young woman lives with her family. They grow and harvest tea, living in a world that is so primitively shocking that there were moments when I had to check the date, as it did not feel like these customs could have taken place less than 30 years ago. It felt like this was a culture from 1888. The story will continue until just about the present day exploring the issue of Chinese adoption through the lens of a mother and daughter. I look forward to getting back to it to read more. There is something that happens during a birth at the start of this book, which will have readers just as shocked as they were with the foot binding in SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN.

That evening, Lisa and I had dinner at a tea shop, which was just two blocks from our office. She handled the ordering, and the selections of tea and Chinese foods were wonderful. How I have not been to this place in the 20+ years that we have been in our offices astounds me! Three hours later, I raced to the airport to pick up Greg, who came back from Switzerland bearing a wonderful tin of handmade chocolates for me. I am allowing myself just one a day!

That same evening, our staffer, Rebecca Munro, attended an event to kick off the publication of Jodi Picoult’s latest novel, SMALL GREAT THINGS, which is one of my favorite books of the year. You can read Rebecca’s commentary about the evening here. In SMALL GREAT THINGS, Ruth Jefferson is an African-American labor and delivery nurse. During her shift, she begins a routine checkup on a newborn, only to be told minutes later to step away: the baby’s parents don’t want her anywhere near their child, as they are white supremacists. The hospital complies with their request, but the next day, the baby goes into cardiac distress while Ruth is alone in the nursery. What happens next will have potentially life-changing repercussions for Ruth as she is arrested and charged with a serious crime.

Katherine B. Weissman has this to say in her review: “The title of this novel…is fitting, for it is not always in the grand drama of the trial that Picoult’s characters see racism in action (and, potentially, make room for change), but in everyday gestures and encounters.... SMALL GREAT THINGS makes it clear that inclusiveness requires a commitment from us all. Nothing could be more important.” This book has been getting a swell of great buzz, especially with book groups (click here for the discussion guide we recently posted on ReadingGroupGuides.com). We have a blog post from longtime reader Denise Neary, who read the book with her group and comments on it. We also have a video from the recent Random House Open House, where early readers gathered to share their thoughts and feedback, and here is a website where you can see more about the book and find some social media assets to share. I will have my Bookreporter.com Bets On commentary about it next week.

Maria Semple was celebrated for her sensitive, hilarious novel, WHERE’D YOU GO, BERNADETTE. Now, she delivers equally witty and heartfelt work with TODAY WILL BE DIFFERENT, which explores a day in the life of Eleanor Flood, who resolves to tackle the little things. But before she can put her modest plan into action, life happens. Her son, Timby, has decided to play hooky so he can be closer to her. Meanwhile, her husband, Joe, has failed to tell her he’s on vacation. Just when it seems like things can't go more awry, an encounter with a former colleague ensures that they indeed do.

Jana Siciliano has our rave review. Here's a preview: "It is with utter adoration and also jealousy that I recommend TODAY WILL BE DIFFERENT to my fellow readers and friends, the same way that I recommended WHERE’D YOU GO, BERNADETTE to everyone who would listen, reading and rereading it at a pace I had only ever reserved for FRANNY AND ZOOEY, MADAME BOVARY and BELOVED."

Other books we’re reviewing this week include ORDER TO KILL, a new Mitch Rapp thriller from Kyle Mills, who has taken over this popular series from the late Vince Flynn; MY OWN WORDS, the first book from Ruth Bader Ginsburg since becoming a Supreme Court Justice in 1993; A LIFE IN PARTS, Bryan Cranston's memoir (I've been listening to the audiobook, read by Cranston himself, and the opening scene is incredible; it draws you in, recalling a scene from "Breaking Bad"); and two titles that were Buzz books at this year’s BookExpo America --- THE MOTHERS by Brit Bennett, a debut novel, and ANOTHER DAY IN THE DEATH OF AMERICA: A Chronicle of Ten Short Lives by Gary Younge, a book that still haunts me.

Paul Simon turned 75 yesterday, and Joe Hartlaub reviews HOMEWARD BOUND, a biography of Paul by Peter Ames Carlin, which is interesting reading for casual and devoted fans. In late September, the Grammy Museum presented an intimate evening with Paul. Here’s a terrific interview with him and another here, and you can see a career-spanning set from him here.

We received a rave review of CRUEL BEAUTIFUL WORLD by Caroline Leavitt last week, and this week I’m proud to be making it my next Bets On pick. Click here to see why I’m betting you’ll love this book as much as I do.

Also reviewed last week was Paulette Jiles’ NEWS OF THE WORLD, a National Book Award finalist. We follow up our review and discussion guide with a Q&A from Jiles, in which she reveals what draws her to write about the Civil War era, the research she conducted for her latest novel, and her love of the Texas landscape.

Our Sneak Peek contest for I FOUND YOU continues. Lisa Jewell’s forthcoming novel centers on a young bride, a lonely single mother and an amnesiac man of dubious origin. The book doesn’t release until April, but we’re awarding an advance copy to 25 readers who can commit to reading and sharing their feedback on it by Friday, December 9th. To enter, please fill out this form by Thursday, October 20th at noon ET. I read an early manuscript of I FOUND YOU and immediately started reading Lisa’s backlist. You are going to be hearing a lot about her in the months to come, so you want to read this now!

Also continuing this week is the very special contest on ReadingGroupGuides.com that we told you about in last week’s newsletter. We’re giving away audiobooks to nine book groups: three groups will win Imbolo Mbue's BEHOLD THE DREAMERS, read by Prentice Onayemi; three will win the aforementioned SMALL GREAT THINGS, read by Audra McDonald (with Cassandra Campbell and Ari Fliakos); and three will win Colson Whitehead's THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD, read by Bahni Turpin. To enter, all you have to do is fill out this form by Wednesday, November 2nd at noon ET. In order to qualify as a winning group, your group must be able to commit to listening to and discussing your audiobook and sharing your feedback with us by Friday, January 27th.

You’ll have another chance to win the SMALL GREAT THINGS audiobook in this month’s Sounding Off on Audio contest, along with the aforementioned THE MOTHERS, read by Adenrele Ojo. Let us know by Tuesday, November 1st at noon ET what audiobooks you’ve finished listening to, and you could be the winner of both audio titles.

We’re looking for feedback from you! A major publisher would like to learn more about the newsletters that you read that focus on book-related information, advice and commentary. Thus they have asked us to share with you a survey that focuses on your book newsletter reading preferences and habits. Once you complete it (which should take no more than three minutes; we know because we gave it a whirl), you may then enter for a chance to win one of three $50 Visa gift cards. Click here to take the survey. Many thanks in advance for your participation!

Our final Fall Preview contest will be up and running this Monday, October 17th at noon ET. At that time, we’ll be giving away VICTORIA: The Queen: An Intimate Biography of the Woman Who Ruled an Empire by Julia Baird, which will be on sale November 22nd. I got to meet Julia a few months ago, and she spoke about her detailed research for the book.

Tasha Alexander is the bestselling author of the beloved Lady Emily series. The latest installment, A TERRIBLE BEAUTY, is now in stores and takes Lady Emily and her husband to the intriguing landscape of Greece. There, mysteries mount, and the past --- both ancient and not-so-ancient, in the form of Lady Emily’s first husband Lord Ashton --- rises to haunt them. To celebrate its release, Tasha was kind enough to share this piece with us, where she discusses her inspiration, her desire to write about context and social change, and Lady Emily’s future. You can also read our review of A TERRIBLE BEAUTY here.

Let us know by Friday, October 21st at noon ET what books you’ve read, and you’ll be in the running to win THE GIRL FROM VENICE by Martin Cruz Smith and THE OTHER EINSTEIN by Marie Benedict (a future Bets On pick), courtesy of our Word of Mouth contest.

Our poll continues to ask which fiction titles releasing this month you are planning to read. Click here to get voting!

News and Pop Culture:

Reader Mail:

Betty wrote, “Anxiously awaiting Tuesday when sometime that day Jodi Picoult's new novel will be delivered to my door. Seems I have had it on pre-order for ages. Also recently read BEHIND CLOSED DOORS by B.A. Paris and FOLLOW YOU HOME by Mark Edwards. Both were very suspenseful. Loved them. I saw The Girl on the Train today and loved it! It follows the book pretty closely.” Betty, be sure to post about those books on Word of Mouth!

Speaking of Word of Mouth, Patricia wrote, “Please keep the Word of Mouth entries so others may read. I check that out to find new books I will enjoy. I love your reviews of the new books as well!” Trust us, Patricia, Word of Mouth is here to stay!

Sue wrote to share, "I wish to thank Bookreporter for the wonderful book IRON LAKE by William Kent Krueger. It was a nice surprise to find it in my mailbox and realize I had been a winner in the contest. I am enjoying it...the literary style, the characters and the mystery of the book. I will add Cork O'Conner to my list of favorite characters and purchase the rest in the series. I have only read ORDINARY GRACE by Krueger in the past and loved it. Many thanks for the book and your weekly newsletters.” So glad to see how much Sue enjoyed this book!

Linda wrote, “I always love getting the Bookreporter newsletter, but it certainly seems that Fridays are getting closer together. That's good, because there's another newsletter, and bad --- another list of books to add to my TBR!”

The Nobel Prize in Literature: This year's recipient is Bob Dylan, who was awarded the Prize "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition." Originally scheduled for November 8th, Simon & Schuster will release an annotated and updated version of THE LYRICS: 1961-2012 a week earlier on November 1st. First published in 2014, it's a comprehensive volume of Dylan’s lyrics, from the beginning of his career through the present day, along with his edits to dozens of songs.

THE GERMAN GIRL: We have a trailer for you for THE GERMAN GIRL, which is coming out on Tuesday. This debut novel is from Armando Lucas Correa, the publisher of People Espanol, and centers on the untold stories of those who were on the SS St. Louis --- including the lucky few who made it safely to Cuba. I look forward to reading this.

"Amanda Knox": The Netflix documentary about her is worth checking out; it’s very well done.

"This Is Us": Three episodes in, and it is some of the best television writing I have seen in years. This could be a book. Watch and see the pacing, and you will see what I mean. Picture reading it!

"Divorce" on HBO: Wanted to like it more than I did. Felt the first episode was wildly uneven. Will give it another episode this week.

While it was nice to have the house to myself last weekend, it’s great to have Tom and Greg both home. While I am a good cook, when home alone I am wont to eat things like Campbell’s chicken noodle soup, with extra rice and pizza on English muffins. Last weekend, as I hunkered down here at the house when the rain came through, I did not have English muffins on hand, so I resorted to pizza on naan and on leftover garlic bread. Both were excellent, confirming to me that the canned pizza sauce and fresh mozzarella were more key than the dough base.

I got through about 1/10 of my plan for sorting papers/reading/knitting for the weekend. Tom jokes that I have no sense of how long things actually take; I will explain what I want to do in a weekend, and he will roll his eyes and say, "That is enough for a month." And shockingly he is right, most of the time.

Tomorrow I am headed to the Hillsborough Library in New Jersey for the first-ever Somerset County Book Lover's Tea, which I am thrilled to share is sold out, with a waiting list. I am going to present 30 books in 30 minutes. I am looking forward to this, and I have my tea cup all ready to go!

The rest of the weekend is about finding some mums for the front porch, decorating for Halloween and repotting more plants to bring inside! And reading...lots and lots of reading.

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!

• 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

Below are some notable titles releasing on October 18th that we would like to make you aware of. We will have more on many of these books in the weeks to come. For a list of additional hardcovers and paperbacks releasing the week of October 17th, see our “On Sale This Week” newsletter here.

THE BOY IS BACK by Meg Cabot (Romance)
A scandal brings Reed Stewart back home to the small town, crazy family, and first love he left behind. Now Reed and Becky Flowers can’t avoid one another --- or the memories of that one fateful night.

THE CHRISTMAS TOWN by Donna VanLiere (Fiction)
Lauren Gabriel spent many years of her childhood in foster homes, wishing her mother would come back for her. Now 20 years old, she still longs for a place that she can truly call home. One night, she is suddenly pulled into the small town of Grandon. Could this town and its people be the home she has always longed for?

CRIME PLUS MUSIC: Twenty Stories of Music-Themed Noir edited by Jim Fusilli (Mystery/Noir Anthology)
CRIME PLUS MUSIC collects 20 darkly intense, music-related noir stories by world-renowned mystery authors. Edited by novelist and Wall Street Journal rock and pop music critic Jim Fusilli, the book exposes the nasty side of the world of popular music, revealing it to be the perfect setting for noir.

ESCAPE CLAUSE: A Virgil Flowers Novel by John Sandford (Thriller)
The first storm comes from, of all places, the Minnesota zoo. Two large, and very rare, Amur tigers have vanished from their cage, and authorities are worried sick that they’ve been stolen for their body parts. Then there’s the homefront. Virgil Flowers’ relationship with his girlfriend Frankie has been getting kind of serious, but the situation will get a lot more complicated.

A GAMBLER'S ANATOMY by Jonathan Lethem (Fiction)
Alexander Bruno travels the world winning large sums of money from amateur “whales” who think they can challenge his peerless acumen at backgammon. But after a troubling run of bad luck in Singapore and Berlin, he is given a depressing diagnosis. His only hope is to return to Berkeley and undergo experimental surgery paid for by the scheming Keith Stolarsky.

THE GIRL FROM VENICE by Martin Cruz Smith (Historical Thriller)
Venice, 1945. The war may be waning, but the city is still occupied and the people of Italy fear the power of the Third Reich. A fisherman named Cenzo chooses to protect Giulia, on the run due to her Jewish heritage, rather than hand her over to the Nazis.

IQ by Joe Ide (Mystery)
Someone in East Long Beach has taken it upon himself to help solve the cases the LAPD can't or won't touch. They call him IQ. This time, it's a rap mogul whose life is in danger. As Isaiah investigates, he encounters a vengeful ex-wife, a crew of notorious cutthroats, a monstrous attack dog, and a hit man who even other hit men say is a lunatic.

MISTER MONKEY by Francine Prose (Fiction)
“Mister Monkey” is a screwball children’s musical about a playfully larcenous pet chimpanzee. Margot knows the production is dreadful and bemoans the failure of her acting career. She’s settled into the drudgery of playing a humiliating part until the day she receives a letter from an anonymous admirer and later has a shocking encounter with Adam, the 12-year-old who plays the title role.

THE NEXT by Stephanie Gangi (Fiction)
Is there a right way to die? If so, Joanna DeAngelis has it all wrong. She’s consumed by betrayal, spending her numbered days obsessing over Ned McGowan, her much younger ex. Joanna falls from her life into an otherworldly landscape, a bleak infinity she can’t escape until she rises up and returns and sets it right --- makes Ned pay --- so she can truly move on.

THE OBSIDIAN CHAMBER by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (Thriller)
After a harrowing, otherworldly confrontation, Special Agent A.X.L. Pendergast is missing, presumed dead. Sick with grief, Pendergast's ward, Constance, retreats to her chambers beneath the family mansion at 891 Riverside Drive --- only to be taken captive by a shadowy figure from the past. Proctor, Pendergast's longtime bodyguard, springs to action.

THE OTHER EINSTEIN by Marie Benedict (Historical Fiction)
In 1896, Mileva “Mitza” Maric is the only woman studying physics at an elite school in Zürich. For her, math seems like an easier path than marriage, until she falls in love with fellow student Albert Einstein. Albert promises to treat her as an equal in both love and science. But as Albert’s fame grows, is there room for more than one genius in a marriage?

PARIS FOR ONE AND OTHER STORIES by Jojo Moyes (Fiction/Short Stories)
Nell is 26 and has never been to Paris. She’s never even been on a romantic weekend away before. But when Nell’s boyfriend fails to show up for their romantic mini-vacation, she has the opportunity to prove everyone --- including herself --- wrong. Alone and in Paris, Nell uncovers a version of herself she never knew existed: independent and intrepid.

THE TWELVE DOGS OF CHRISTMAS: An Andy Carpenter Mystery by David Rosenfelt (Mystery)
Andy Carpenter’s long-time friend, Martha “Pups” Boyer, takes in stray puppies, raises them until they’re old enough to adopt, and then finds good homes for them. When one of Pups’ neighbors reports Pups to the city, Andy happily takes Pups’ case. But things get more complicated when the neighbor turns up dead.

• BRIDGET JONES'S BABY: The Diaries, by Helen Fielding
• THE CHRISTMAS TOWN by Donna VanLiere
• CRUEL BEAUTIFUL WORLD by Caroline Leavitt
• ESCAPE CLAUSE: A Virgil Flowers Novel, by John Sandford
• THE GIRL FROM VENICE by Martin Cruz Smith
• HAG-SEED by Margaret Atwood
• NEWS OF THE WORLD by Paulette Jiles
• THE OBSIDIAN CHAMBER by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
• ORDER TO KILL: A Mitch Rapp Novel, by Vince Flynn and Kyle Mills
• PRECIOUS AND GRACE: No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (17) by Alexander McCall Smith
• SMALL GREAT THINGS by Jodi Picoult
• THE TERRANAUTS by T.C. Boyle
• TODAY WILL BE DIFFERENT by Maria Semple
• THE TRESPASSER by Tana French
• TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS: A Christmas Novel, by Debbie Macomber
• TWO BY TWO by Nicholas Sparks
• THE WANGS VS. THE WORLD by Jade Chang
• THE WHISTLER by John Grisham
• WINTER STORMS by Elin Hilderbrand
• None of the above