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November 23, 2016

Bookreporter.com Newsletter November 23, 2016
Happy Thanksgiving! We are Grateful for Our Readers!

Whew! It’s been a whirlwind last few days. The Miami Book Fair was just fabulous; from 10:00am to 5:00pm on both Saturday and Sunday, I moved from one terrific author event to the next. My sister-in-law, Kate, and her daughter Kelley joined me on Saturday, and it was their first time at a book fair. I loved sharing the experience with them and wish we had snagged a photo of the three of us.

This was the first time that we put together a program specifically for book groups at the Miami Book Fair, and I was so pleased to see 60(!) people in the audience at 10am on Saturday morning. I chatted about more than 30 books from fall --- and sneaked in a couple coming in early 2017 that should be noted as well. I also talked about our Book Group Checkup feature, which many in the audience thought would be great for their groups! As the fair had more than 600 authors in attendance, I went through the schedule and created a list of the sessions that I thought would be of interest to book groups. I heard from a number of readers throughout the weekend that they were following my schedule --- and loving the author talks that they heard and contemplating those books for their group discussions.

I also was lucky enough to have Gayle Forman as my author guest at this event, and we had a wonderful chat about her book, LEAVE ME. Gayle and I had had dinner together back in January at Winter Institute when she was first talking to booksellers about LEAVE ME, and it was lovely to catch up with her at the end of her tour and hear about the reactions from readers who related to her story. Ann Hood, author of THE BOOK THAT MATTERS MOST, came to the presentation, and she worked on a knitting project in between taking notes on books that she wants to read.

After that program, I raced upstairs to a talk that Armando Lucas Correa was giving about THE GERMAN GIRL, which I had selected as a Bookreporter.com Bets On selection last week. He had a wonderful slide presentation and video, which brought the story even more alive for me. From there I wandered out to see Adam Haslett discuss IMAGINE ME GONE and Margot Livesey share thoughts about MERCURY.

I circled back to see Gayle again where she was on a panel with Maria Semple, who chatted about TODAY WILL BE DIFFERENT (she read the terrific opener to that one), and Emily Giffin got readers on the page about her bookish history, including her latest, FIRST COMES LOVE. Since Kate and Kelley live in Florida, I thought they needed a dose of the humor from Dave Barry, and yes, he got them laughing as he shared stories that were quintessentially Floridian. I got a chance to say hi to one of our longtime readers, Miriam, and we did a very quick catchup. Then Art Spiegelman was interviewed about his latest work, SI LEWEN’S PARADE: An Artist’s Odyssey, by his editor, Charles Kochman. The presentation of the story behind the art in the book and why they remastered this 1957 work was just brilliant. I felt like I was at a very smart art lecture instead of a book talk!

On Sunday, I met up with Cristina Vasquez, another of our longtime readers (you can see her with me above), and in between panels, we caught up about our lives. It's been five years since I was at the Fair! I zipped over to a panel where Calvin Reid from Publishers Weekly was interviewing Gene Luen Yang, who is the current National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature (you can see the two of them above). Gene is passionate about his Reading Without Walls initiative, which encourages young readers to read outside their comfort zones in three ways: 1) Read a book about a character who doesn’t look like you or live like you; 2) read a book about a topic you don’t know much about; and 3) read a book in a format that you don’t normally read for fun. That might be a chapter book, a graphic novel, a book in verse, a picture book or a hybrid book. These ideas also will work for adults.

I then slipped into the end of a panel that featured Amor Towles (A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW), Affinity Konar (MISCHLING) and Nathan Hill (THE NIX). Having read SWEETBITTER by Stephanie Danler, it was fun to hear her talk about her tales behind the writing and how she wanted to tell this coming-of-age tale realistically. Tim Murphy was passionate about sharing passages from CHRISTODORA, and Jacqueline Woodson brilliantly spoke about the Brooklyn in which she grew up, contrasting it with what she knows today. Second chances and change were explored by the next three authors with Jennifer Haigh, who brilliantly read from HEAT AND LIGHT; Jane Hamilton, who was wickedly funny talking about THE EXCELLENT LOMBARDS; and Joyce Maynard, who talked about one of my Bets On titles, UNDER THE INFLUENCE. When Joyce read the opening chapter, it reminded me why I loved it so much.

After that, I channeled my fashion background as I listened to Tommy Hilfiger talk about his latest book, AMERICAN DREAMER. He spoke about managing his brand --- and what works and does not for it. It was very interesting to hear the philosophy that he has applied through the years. By the way, his collection will never have black in it. Susan Faludi spoke about her complicated relationship with her dad, who in his 70s decided to have gender reassignment surgery, as he/she recognized the conflicts that were making him feel unfulfilled as a man. Her book about this is called IN THE DARKROOM.

I wrapped the day listening to Colson Whitehead sharing the genesis of THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD, a book that he conceptualized years ago but waited to explore the story until he felt he was ready to tackle it artistically. From there, I jumped into a cab with Jane Hamilton and chatted with her on the drive to the airport like we were old friends. After a slightly delayed flight and an equally bumpy landing, I was back home relishing the memories of the weekend. I also harbored regrets about all the programming that I did not get to see and the photos that I failed to take, but such is the way of book festivals!

Onward to this week’s update….

As we’ve mentioned in previous newsletters, this week marks the release of two books --- one fiction, the other nonfiction --- about Queen Victoria. The fiction title is Daisy Goodwin’s latest novel, VICTORIA, which we’re currently featuring in our New Release Spotlight. Daisy is the creator and writer of the Masterpiece presentation “Victoria,” a PBS miniseries that will premiere on January 15th. The nonfiction work is VICTORIA: THE QUEEN: An Intimate Biography of the Woman Who Ruled an Empire by Julia Baird, which we gave away copies of in this year’s Fall Preview contests.

Reviewer Katherine B. Weissman calls VICTORIA “an absolute dream of a read --- charming, shrewd and well-paced... The novel is strongest when the queen’s nascent feminism is allowed to emerge.” Amy Gwiazdowski had this to say in her review of VICTORIA: THE QUEEN: “Julia Baird does an excellent job of introducing us not just to Queen Victoria, but to Victoria herself, with all her faults and feats.”

We are giving you the chance to win Daisy Goodwin’s novel, along with THE PRINCESS DIARIST by Carrie Fisher, in our current Word of Mouth contest. All you have to do is submit your comments about the books you’ve read by Friday, December 2nd at noon ET. I am looking forward to listening to THE PRINCESS DIARIST on audio --- part of my ongoing trend of listening to memoirs on audio.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon returns with his latest novel, MOONGLOW. In 1989, Chabon traveled to visit his terminally ill grandfather. Tongue loosened by painkillers, memory stirred by the onset of old age, his grandfather told stories that the younger man had never heard before, uncovering fragments of a history long buried and forgotten. That dreamlike week of revelations forms the basis for MOONGLOW, which unfolds as the deathbed confession of a man the narrator refers to only as “my grandfather.”

Norah Piehl has our review and says, “In the end, no one but Chabon will ever really know where history and memory end and fiction and metaphor begin in these pages. But at some point it ceases to matter, as those questions are outweighed by the value of these stories, which are so beautifully told.”

Bestselling author Wally Lamb introduced baby boomer Felix Funicello in WISHIN' AND HOPIN'. His new novel, I'LL TAKE YOU THERE, delves into Felix’s life, as he runs a Monday night movie club in what was once a vaudeville theater. One evening, while setting up a film in the projectionist booth, he’s confronted by the ghost of Lois Weber, a trailblazing motion picture director from Hollywood’s silent film era. Lois invites Felix to revisit --- and in some cases relive --- scenes from his past as they are projected onto the cinema’s big screen. In these magical movies, the medium of film becomes the lens for Felix to reflect on the women who profoundly impacted his life.

Reviewer Jane Krebs says, “The prologue for I’LL TAKE YOU THERE, Wally Lamb’s sixth novel, invites readers to an easy trip along the Geezerdom parkway. The central character, Felix Funicello, was introduced in Lamb’s previous book, WISHIN’ AND HOPIN’, but he seamlessly brings us up to date.”

You can win the audio versions of MOONGLOW and I’LL TAKE YOU THERE in this month’s Sounding Off on Audio contest. Let us know by Thursday, December 1st at noon ET what audiobooks you’ve finished listening to, and you’ll have a chance to win both audio titles.

In BORN A CRIME, Trevor Noah writes about his unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of "The Daily Show," which began with a criminal act: his birth. Trevor was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison. Living proof of his parents’ indiscretion, Trevor was kept mostly indoors for the earliest years of his life. Finally liberated by the end of South Africa’s tyrannical white rule, Trevor and his mother set forth on a grand adventure, living openly and freely and embracing the opportunities won by a centuries-long struggle.

According to reviewer Barbara Bamberger Scott, “Noah makes the craziness, danger, deprivation and racial stratification of his younger days seem funny. Except when it wasn’t…. Noah’s book, more personal than polemic, shows him drawing his own personal power from his remarkably strong, nervy single mom.”

Other books we’re reviewing this week include CROSS THE LINE, James Patterson’s new Alex Cross thriller; BELLEVUE, David Oshinsky’s history of New York's iconic public hospital that also charts the turbulent rise of American medicine; and I LOVED HER IN THE MOVIES, film and television actor Robert Wagner’s memoir of the great female movie stars he has known.

The holidays are here, and that means friends, family, and more time to curl up with a good book --- and eat! We’re excited to bring you our Fall/Winter Cookbook bookshelf, curated by our very own Nicole Sherman. We have a wide variety of cookbook selections here, from the biggest names in the industry to the coziest recipes, food histories and everything in between. So whether you’re a pastry pro, a Noel novice, a kitchen klutz, or the most experienced holiday host, ’tis the season for cookbooks!

And speaking of the holidays, please keep in mind our Holiday Cheer series of 24-hour contests. This week, we gave away SNOWFALL ON HAVEN POINT by RaeAnne Thayne and THE QUEEN OF THE NIGHT by Alexander Chee. Next week’s prizes will be THE ANGEL OF FOREST HILL: An Amish Christmas Romance by Cindy Woodsmall, THE EXPATRIATES by Janice Y. K. Lee, MARRY ME AT CHRISTMAS: A Fool's Gold Romance by Susan Mallery, and THE SWANS OF FIFTH AVENUE by Melanie Benjamin. The first contest of the week will be up at noon ET on Monday, November 28th.

We’re still interested in hearing about your paperback preferences. Do you typically read trade paperbacks (the large-sized paperback books) or mass market paperbacks (which are smaller-sized and less expensive). Let us know by voting in our poll here!

News & Pop Culture:

Short holiday week and a weekend of travel mean that this section is shorter than usual.

Perhaps sensing the brevity theme going on, Sue wrote a short and sweet note: “Love these reports. Keep them coming.”

"This Is Us": It was terrific this week; love the "This Is Us" frames that you can adapt on Facebook to show off your own family.

Terrific diffuser: Picked up this lovely diffuser for a very reasonable price. This is the "to me/from me" shopping season, right?

I am off to create Thanksgiving dinner. As of now, the only thing readied is a cornbread for the stuffing that my husband baked on Monday in order to allow it enough time to dry out. Yes, I have a few hours of chopping and dicing ahead of me! My parents are joining us, along with Tom’s mom, and our neighbor, Diana. It promises to be one very fun day of food and football. Cory is headed home tonight; dinner will be takeout pizza. The weekend will have lots of chillaxing. I am looking forward to finishing watching "The Crown."

Our sincere wishes for a happy Thanksgiving to all of you! We are endlessly grateful to have you as readers, so we can do what we love so much.

On Saturday, I encourage you to “shop small” and think about shopping for the holidays at indie stores for your book presents. Many indie stores will be participating in “Indies First” programs this weekend; you can see a map of them here.

Read on, and have a great week --- and a half!

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!

Featured Review: MOONGLOW by Michael Chabon
MOONGLOW by Michael Chabon (Fiction)
Audiobook available, performed by George Newbern
MOONGLOW unfolds as the deathbed confession of a man the narrator refers to only as “my grandfather.” It is a tale of madness, of war and adventure, of sex and marriage and desire, of existential doubt and model rocketry, of the shining aspirations and demonic underpinnings of American technological accomplishment at midcentury, and, above all, of the destructive impact --- and the creative power --- of keeping secrets and telling lies. It is a portrait of the difficult but passionate love between the narrator’s grandfather and his grandmother, an enigmatic woman broken by her experience growing up in war-torn France. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.

-Click here to read more about the book.
 
Click here to read the review.
Featured Review: I'LL TAKE YOU THERE by Wally Lamb
I'LL TAKE YOU THERE by Wally Lamb (Fiction)
Audiobook available, performed by George Guidall
Felix is a film scholar who runs a Monday night movie club in what was once a vaudeville theater. One evening, while setting up a film in the projectionist booth, he’s confronted by the ghost of Lois Weber, a trailblazing motion picture director from Hollywood’s silent film era. Lois invites Felix to revisit --- and, in some cases, relive --- scenes from his past as they are projected onto the cinema’s big screen. In these magical movies, the medium of film becomes the lens for Felix to reflect on the women who profoundly impacted his life. At first unnerved by these ethereal apparitions, Felix comes to look forward to his encounters with Lois, who is later joined by the spirits of other celluloid muses. Reviewed by Jane Krebs.

-Click here to read more about the book.
 
Click here to read the review.
Featured Review: BORN A CRIME by Trevor Noah
BORN A CRIME: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah (Memoir/Essays)
Audiobook available, read by Trevor Noah
Trevor Noah’s unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of “The Daily Show” began with a criminal act: his birth. Trevor was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison. Living proof of his parents’ indiscretion, Trevor was kept mostly indoors for the earliest years of his life, bound by the extreme and often absurd measures his mother took to hide him from a government that could, at any moment, steal him away. Finally liberated by the end of South Africa’s tyrannical white rule, Trevor and his mother set forth on a grand adventure, living openly and freely and embracing the opportunities won by a centuries-long struggle. Reviewed by Barbara Bamberger Scott.

-Click here to read more about the book.
-Click here to read an excerpt.
 
Click here to read the review.
Featured Review: VICTORIA by Daisy Goodwin --- Our Latest New Release Spotlight Title

VICTORIA by Daisy Goodwin (Historical Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Anna Wilson-Jones
Early one morning, 18-year-old Alexandrina Victoria is roused from bed with the news that her uncle William IV has died and she is now Queen of England. The men who run the country have doubts about whether this sheltered young woman can rule the greatest nation in the world. But Victoria has very definite ideas about the kind of queen she wants to be. Everyone keeps saying she is destined to marry her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, but she found him dull and priggish when they met three years ago. She is quite happy being queen with the help of her prime minister, Lord Melbourne, who may be old enough to be her father but is the first person to take her seriously. Reviewed by Katherine B. Weissman.

Read the book, then watch "Victoria," a new drama series airing on PBS beginning January 15th. Click here for more information about this Masterpiece Presentation, which Daisy Goodwin created and wrote.

-Click here to read more about the book.
-Click here to read an excerpt.
-Click here to read more in our New Release Spotlight.

Click here to read the review.
Featured Review: CROSS THE LINE by James Patterson
CROSS THE LINE by James Patterson (Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Ryan Vincent Anderson and Pete Bradbury
Shots ring out in the early morning hours in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. When the smoke clears, a prominent police official lies dead, leaving the city's police force scrambling for answers. Under pressure from the mayor, Alex Cross steps into the leadership vacuum to crack the case. But before Cross can make any headway, a brutal crime wave sweeps across the region. The deadly scenes share only one common thread --- the victims are all criminals. As Cross pursues an adversary who has appointed himself judge, jury and executioner, he must take the law back into his own hands before the city he's sworn to protect descends into utter chaos. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

-Click here to read more about the book.
 
Click here to read the review.
Featured Review: BELLEVUE by David Oshinsky
BELLEVUE: Three Centuries of Medicine and Mayhem at America's Most Storied Hospital by David Oshinsky (Medicine/History)
Audiobook available, read by Fred Sanders
Bellevue Hospital, on New York City's East Side, occupies a colorful and horrifying place in the public imagination: a den of mangled crime victims, vicious psychopaths, assorted derelicts, lunatics and exotic-disease sufferers. In its two and a half centuries of service, there was hardly an epidemic or social catastrophe --- or groundbreaking scientific advance --- that did not touch Bellevue. David Oshinsky chronicles the history of America's oldest hospital and, in so doing, also charts the rise of New York to the nation's preeminent city, the path of American medicine from butchery and quackery to a professional and scientific endeavor, and the growth of a civic institution. Reviewed by Barbara Bamberger Scott.

-Click here to read more about the book.

Click here to read the review.
Bookreporter.com's Latest Bookshelf: Fall/Winter Cookbooks 2016
For many, this time of year is the best time of year. It means more gatherings with family and friends. It means you have mouths to feed with your homemade digestible delights. Ultimately, it means more excuses to eat, eat, eat, and...never stop eating. With weeks-ahead and down-to-the-minute menu planning in full swing, it's only natural to turn to the newest books in search of the perfect canapé, a crowd-pleasing side dish or the most decadent, drool-worthy desserts. We know the timer is ticking, so we've put together a bookshelf displaying this season's most noteworthy culinary compendiums.
 
Click here to see our Fall/Winter Cookbooks 2016 bookshelf.
Bookreporter.com's Holiday Cheer Contests and Feature
At Bookreporter.com, we kick off the holiday season in style with our Holiday Cheer Contests and Feature. As our gift to you, on select days in November and December, we are spotlighting a book and giving five lucky readers the chance to win it. You have to visit the site each day to see the featured prize book and enter the 24-hour contest. As always, we are sending our special Holiday Cheer newsletter on the days when there are contests. Click here to sign up for these email alerts.

Our next prize book will be announced on Monday, November 28th at noon ET.


This year's featured titles include:

Click here to read all the contest details and see our featured titles.
What's New This Month on ReadingGroupGuides.com
We currently are giving away the following book on ReadingGroupGuides.com:

  • THE BOOK THAT MATTERS MOST by Ann Hood
    Each month in our "What's Your Book Group Reading This Month?" contest on ReadingGroupGuides.com, we ask book groups to share the titles they are reading that month and rate them. From all entries, three winners are selected, and each wins 12 copies of that month’s prize book for their group. Our latest prize book is THE BOOK THAT MATTERS MOST by Ann Hood, an enthralling novel about love, loss, secrets, friendship and the healing power of literature --- not to mention the story of how joining a book group forever changes one woman’s life. Enter here by Wednesday, January 4th at noon ET.

The following guides are now available:

Click here to visit ReadingGroupGuides.com.
More Reviews This Week
SCRAPPY LITTLE NOBODY by Anna Kendrick (Humor/Essays)
Audiobook available, read by Anna Kendrick
Even before she made a name for herself on the silver screen starring in films like Pitch Perfect, Up in the Air, Twilight and Into the Woods, Anna Kendrick was unusually small, weird and “10 percent defiant.” At the ripe age of 13, she had already resolved to “keep the crazy inside my head where it belonged. Forever. But here’s the thing about crazy: It. Wants. Out.” In SCRAPPY LITTLE NOBODY, she invites readers inside her brain, sharing extraordinary and charmingly ordinary stories with candor and winningly wry observations. Reviewed by Sarah Jackman.

THE MISTLETOE SECRET by Richard Paul Evans (Romance)
Audiobook available, read by Richard Paul Evans and Madeleine Maby
Thinking no one is reading, a blogger who calls herself LBH writes about her most personal feelings, especially her overwhelming loneliness. She goes from day to day showing a brave face to the world while inside she longs to know how it would feel if one person cared about her. Alex Bartlett cares. He’s reading her posts in Daytona Beach, Florida. Nursing his own broken heart and trust issues, he finds himself falling for this sensitive, vulnerable woman whose feelings mirror his own. He ultimately tracks down LBH, a woman who is as beautiful and kind as he imagined she would be. How can he tell her that he knows her secret? What’s holding him back? Reviewed by Carole Turner.

I LOVED HER IN THE MOVIES: Memories of Hollywood's Legendary Actresses by Robert J. Wagner with Scott Eyman (Memoir)
Audiobook available, read by Robert J. Wagner
In a career that has spanned more than 60 years, Robert Wagner has witnessed the twilight of the Golden Age of Hollywood and the rise of television, becoming a beloved star in both media. During that time he became acquainted, both professionally and socially, with the remarkable women who were the greatest screen personalities of their day. I LOVED HER IN THE MOVIES is his intimate and revealing account of the charisma of these women on film, why they became stars, and how their specific emotional and dramatic chemistries affected the choices they made as actresses as well as the choices they made as women. Reviewed by Amie Taylor.

VICTORIA: THE QUEEN: An Intimate Biography of the Woman Who Ruled an Empire by Julia Baird (Biography)
Audiobook available, read by Lucy Rayner
Drawing on sources that include revelations about Queen Victoria’s relationship with her servant, John Brown, Julia Baird brings vividly to life the fascinating story of a woman who struggled with so many of the things we do today: balancing work and family, raising children, navigating marital strife, losing parents, combating anxiety and self-doubt, finding an identity, searching for meaning. VICTORIA: THE QUEEN gives us the real woman behind the myth: a bold, glamorous, unbreakable queen --- a Victoria for our times, a Victoria who endured. Reviewed by Amy Gwiazdowski.

-Click here to read an excerpt.

ANATOMY OF A SONG: The Oral History of 45 Iconic Hits That Changed Rock, R&B and Pop by Marc Myers (Music/History)
Audiobook available, read by Jonathan Yen
Every great song has a fascinating backstory. In ANATOMY OF A SONG, based on the ongoing Wall Street Journal column, writer and music historian Marc Myers brings to life five decades of music through oral histories of 45 transformative songs woven from interviews with the artists who created them. Bringing readers inside the making of a hit, the book includes the Isley Brothers' memorable song "Shout," Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love," Janis Joplin's "Mercedes Benz" and R.E.M's "Losing My Religion." Mick Jagger, Jimmy Page, Rod Stewart, Stevie Wonder, Keith Richards, Cyndi Lauper and many other leading artists reveal the emotions, inspirations and techniques behind their influential works. Reviewed by Jana Siciliano.

CONCLAVE by Robert Harris (Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Roy McMillan
The pope is dead. Behind the locked doors of the Sistine Chapel, 118 cardinals from all over the globe will cast their votes in the world's most secretive election. They are holy men. But they have ambition. And they have rivals. Over the next 72 hours, one of them will become the most powerful spiritual figure on Earth. Reviewed by Ray Palen.

JUDAS written by Amos Oz, translated by Nicholas de Lange (Historical Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Jonathan Davis
Jerusalem, 1959. Shmuel Ash, a biblical scholar, is adrift in his young life when he finds work as a caregiver for a brilliant but cantankerous old man named Gershom Wald. There is, however, a third, mysterious presence in his new home. Atalia Abarbanel, the daughter of a deceased Zionist leader, a beautiful woman in her 40s, entrances young Shmuel even as she keeps him at a distance. Piece by piece, the old Jerusalem stone house, haunted by tragic history and now home to the three misfits and their intricate relationship, reveals its secrets. Reviewed by Harvey Freedenberg.

RULER OF THE NIGHT by David Morrell (Historical Mystery)
Audiobook available, read by Neil Dickson
In 1855, England's first train murder occurs, paralyzing London with the unthinkable when a gentleman is stabbed to death in a safely locked first-class passenger compartment. In the next compartment, the brilliant opium-eater Thomas De Quincey and his quick-witted daughter, Emily, discover the homicide in a most gruesome manner. They join forces with their allies in Scotland Yard, Detective Ryan and his partner-in-training, Becker, to pursue the killer back into the fogbound streets of London, where other baffling murders occur. Ultimately, De Quincey must confront two ruthless adversaries: this terrifying enemy, and his own opium addiction that endangers his life and his tormented soul. Reviewed by Kate Ayers.

THE INFINITE by Nicholas Mainieri (Fiction)
Jonah McBee has deep roots in New Orleans, but with hardly any family left, he half-heartedly is planning to enlist in the army after high school. Luz Hidalgo, an undocumented Latina and budding track star, followed her father there after Hurricane Katrina. When Jonah and Luz fall in love, it is intense, addictive and real. But everything changes when Luz discovers that she’s pregnant. In a moment of panic, her father sends Luz back to Mexico so her grandmother can help raise the baby. Devastated, Jonah decides to take a road trip with his best friend when he doesn’t hear from her. Little does Jonah know, Luz is fighting for her life. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

THE HANGING CLUB by Tony Parsons (Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Colin Mace
A band of vigilante executioners roam the hot summer nights, abducting evil men who they judge unworthy of living and hanging them by the neck until dead. But do these rogue hangmen crave true justice --- or just blood? As the bodies pile up and violence explodes all over the sweltering city, DC Max Wolfe embarks on his most dangerous investigation yet, hunting a righteous gang of vigilante killers who many believe to be heroes. But before The Hanging Club is confronted, Max must learn some painful truths about the fragile line between good and evil, innocence and guilt, justice and retribution. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
Next Week's Notables: Noteworthy Books Releasing on November 29th

Below are some notable titles releasing on November 29th 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 November 28th, see our “On Sale This Week” newsletter here.

THE AMERICAN MIRACLE: Divine Providence in the Rise of the Republic by Michael Medved (History)
In THE AMERICAN MIRACLE, Michael Medved reveals a record of improbabilities and amazements that demonstrate what the Founders always believed: that events unfolded according to a master plan, with destiny playing an unmistakable role in lifting the nation to greatness.

THE FATE OF THE TEARLING by Erika Johansen (Fantasy/Adventure)
As the suspenseful endgame begins in this thrilling conclusion to Erika Johansen's Tearling trilogy, the fate of Queen Kelsea --- and the Tearling itself --- will finally be revealed.

THE FLAME BEARER by Bernard Cornwell (Historical Fiction/Adventure)
Britain is in a state of uneasy peace. England’s greatest warrior, Uhtred of Bebbanburg, at last has the chance to take back the home his traitorous uncle stole from him so many years ago. Uhtred is determined that nothing, neither the new enemies nor the old foes who combine against him, will keep him from his birthright.

PRINCE LESTAT AND THE REALMS OF ATLANTIS: The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice (Paranormal Mystery/Thriller)
At the novel's center is the vampire Lestat de Lioncourt: hero, leader, inspirer, irresistible force, irrepressible spirit, battling (and ultimately reconciling with) a strange otherworldly form that has somehow taken possession of Lestat's undead body and soul.

THE WHOLE TOWN'S TALKING by Fannie Flagg (Fiction)
Elmwood Springs, Missouri, is a small town like any other, but something strange is happening at the cemetery. Still Meadows, as it’s called, is anything but still. Odd things begin to happen, and it starts the whole town talking.

WHEN ALL THE GIRLS HAVE GONE by Jayne Ann Krentz (Romantic Suspense)
When Charlotte Sawyer is unable to contact her stepsister, Jocelyn, to tell her that one of her closest friends was found dead, she discovers that Jocelyn has vanished. In a desperate effort to find her, Charlotte joins forces with Max Cutler. When her uneasy alliance with Max turns into a full-blown affair, Charlotte has no choice but to trust him with her life.

Click here to see the latest "On Sale This Week" newsletter.
Our Latest Poll: Your Paperback Preferences
Do you typically read trade paperbacks (the large-sized paperback books) or mass market paperbacks (which are smaller-sized and less expensive)?

  • I read only trade paperbacks.
  • I read only mass market paperbacks.
  • I read both trade paperbacks and mass market paperbacks.
  • I read neither trade paperbacks nor mass market paperbacks.
  • Instead of reading paperbacks, I am now reading eBooks.
Click here to vote in the poll.
Word of Mouth Contest: Tell Us What You're Reading --- and You Can Win Two Books!
Tell us about the books you’ve finished reading with your comments and a rating of 1 to 5 stars. During the contest period from November 18th to December 2nd at noon ET, three lucky readers each will be randomly chosen to win a copy of THE PRINCESS DIARIST by Carrie Fisher and VICTORIA by Daisy Goodwin.


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 rules and guidelines, click here.

-To see reader comments from previous contest periods, click here.
 

Click here to enter the contest.
Sounding Off on Audio Contest: Tell Us What You're Listening to --- and You Can Win Two Audiobooks!

Tell us about the audiobooks you’ve finished listening to with your comments and a rating of 1 to 5 stars for both the performance and the content. During the contest period from November 1st to December 1st at noon ET, two lucky readers each will be randomly chosen to win the audio versions of Wally Lamb's I'LL TAKE YOU THERE, performed by George Guidall, and Michael Chabon's MOONGLOW, performed by George Newbern.

To make sure other readers will be able to find the audiobook, 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.

-To see reader comments from previous contest periods, click here.
 

Click here to enter the contest.

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