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I see my smartphone as a huge distraction. There is always mail to check, news updates, Facebook and Instagram feeds to follow, and topics to look up that randomly pops into your head. Last weekend on Saturday, I left my phone upstairs and even ran errands without it. I did the same thing on Sunday. It was marvelously freeing, and I emerged from the weekend much more relaxed. On Saturday, I got a ton done around the house, including prep for dinner company. On Sunday, I read for hours. Reducing my Pavlovian urge to click was easier than I thought. Of course, I missed texts from the boys, but it was nothing urgent, and they could have called the house. I am going to do this more often. Urging you to try it as well!
One more note on this. The other night, I went to read a print book and left my iPad, laptop, Kindle Fire, swim headphones and smartphone ALL charging. Life was much simpler when there was not this much to manage.
Oh, what was I reading? First up, I finished LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE by Celeste Ng, which will be a Bookreporter.com Bets On selection when it releases on September 12th. I just loved it. Then, as I am interviewing Riley Sager at the Morristown Festival of Books, I read FINAL GIRLS, a thriller about three girls who survived three separate serial killings. For some reason, serial murderers intrigue me!
This weekend, my lineup will include THE DIRTY BOOK CLUB by Lisi Harrison, which is coming on October 10th. It’s a novel about four modern-day strangers who inherit a dirty book club that was started in the 1960s; they only read erotic books. I started it and can see it is going to be brisk and fun. I also am juggling a short novel called A SHORT HISTORY OF THE GIRL NEXT DOOR by Jared Reck, coming on September 26th, a YA novel that Rebecca, our Teenreads.com coordinator, is crazy about. Jared was at a dinner that she attended last night, and I am looking forward to hearing more about her conversation with him. Also, on my radar for the weekend is LOVE AND OTHER CONSOLATION PRIZES by Jamie Ford, which releases on September 12th. Here’s the short description: 1909, Seattle. At the World's Fair a half-Chinese boy called Ernest Young is raffled off as a prize. Intriguing, right?
Last night, I spent a really fun evening with the Morristown Festival of Books team as we toasted their Program Director, Heather Alexander, who is headed to the left coast as her husband is relocating. She’s been brilliant at bringing in talent for the Festival; luckily she can continue doing this virtually! She is so tempting me to head west for the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books next year, by showing me photos of her new home. The Morristown Festival is on October 13th and 14th; I hope to see some of our tri-state area readers there.
Yesterday, we had a lovely visit with Joe Hartlaub’s daughter, Annalisa, who was in from Ohio visiting friends. She is graduating college in December at the age of 19 ½ with a degree in neuroscience; yes, she is a real brainiac! She perused our shelves at the office and found WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE A DOG: And Other Adventures in Animal Neuroscience by Gregory Berns, a book that piqued her interest. I love that we had that! Greg gave her some photography tips. Joe has been writing for us for so long that I remember when she was born!
Now to this week’s update...
Shari Lapena follows up her bestselling debut novel, THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR (a Bets On pick), with her second psychological thriller, A STRANGER IN THE HOUSE, which will be another Bets On selection. Picture it: You’re home making dinner for your husband when the phone rings --- it’s a call every wife dreads. You jump in your car and race to a neighborhood you thought you’d never visit. You brace yourself for the worst --- but then you remember nothing else. They inform your husband that you’ve been in an accident; you lost control of your car as you sped through the worst side of town. The police suspect you were up to no good. Your husband refuses to believe it, but your best friend is not so sure. And even you don’t know what to believe.
Kate Ayers has our review and calls A STRANGER IN THE HOUSE “a first-class thriller with perfect pacing” and goes on to say, “Not much is as it appears here, which is just the way lovers of suspense want it.” You’ll see my Bets On commentary next week.
I KNOW A SECRET is Tess Gerritsen’s new thriller starring Boston PD detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles. Two separate homicides occur at different locations, but both bodies bear startling wounds and the cause of death is unknown. Along with these professional challenges, Jane and Maura have lots going on in their personal lives. As Jane struggles to save her mother from a deteriorating marriage, Maura tries to deal with the imminent death of her own mother --- infamous serial killer Amalthea Lank. While Jane tends to her mother, there’s nothing Maura can do for Amalthea, except endure one final battle of wills with the woman whose shadow has haunted her all her life.
We have a rave review from Ray Palen, who says, “Let me just say that twist after unexpected twist will find even the most astute mystery/thriller reader reeling, as I was, and the final sentence will haunt you long after you close the cover on this superior work.”
Philippa Gregory returns with the latest installment in her Plantagenet and Tudor series of novels, THE LAST TUDOR. Seventeen-year-old Jane Grey was queen of England for nine days. Her father and his allies crowned her instead of the dead king’s half-sister Mary Tudor, who quickly mustered an army, claimed her throne, and locked Jane in the Tower of London. When Jane refused to betray her Protestant faith, Mary sent her to the executioner’s block, where Jane transformed her father’s greedy power-grab into tragic martyrdom. Meanwhile, Jane’s sister, Katherine, faces imprisonment in the Tower when her pregnancy betrays her secret marriage. What will happen when the youngest Grey sister, Mary --- the last Tudor --- defies her ruthless and unforgiving cousin Queen Elizabeth?
According to reviewer Amy Gwiazdowski, “True to her style, Philippa Gregory weaves a story that draws readers in and tugs at the heart, featuring characters who defy everyone’s expectations. She clearly loves the Tudor court; every detail is pristine, and the drama is spot on.” We also have a Q&A with the author, which you can see here.
Other books we’re reviewing this week include THE STORE by James Patterson and Richard DiLallo, which finds a married couple writing a book (a forbidden, dangerous one) that will expose their place of employment --- the mega-successful, ultra-secretive Store; SLEEPING IN THE GROUND, a new Inspector Alan Banks mystery from Peter Robinson (the publisher promises “an opening scene you'll never forget, and a finale you won't see coming”); and SEE WHAT I HAVE DONE, Sarah Schmidt’s much-talked-about debut novel that reimagines the gruesome murders committed (or not committed) by Lizzie Borden.
EMMA IN THE NIGHT by Wendy Walker, which we reviewed last week, is my latest Bets On pick. Click here to see why I’m betting you’ll love this book.
We’re continuing to award the audio version of EMMA IN THE NIGHT (read by Therese Plummer and Julia Whelan) and Louise Penny's GLASS HOUSES (read by Robert Bathurst) in this month’s Sounding Off on Audio contest. Let us know by Wednesday, September 6th at noon ET what audiobooks you’ve listened to, and you’ll be in the running to win both audio titles.
Our Women’s Fiction Author Spotlight & Contest for SOMETHING LIKE HAPPY continues. London-based author Eva Woods makes her North American debut with this unforgettable tale of celebrating triumphs great and small, seizing the day, and always remembering to live in the moment. If you’d like to be one of the 35 readers who will win a copy of the book (which will be in stores on September 5th) and share their comments on it, all you have to do is fill out this form by Thursday, August 24th at noon ET.
In this week’s Summer Reading contests, we gave away EXPOSED by Lisa Scottoline, GONE TO DUST by Matt Goldman (which we review this week), THE NEXT by Stephanie Gangi, and WILD RIDE COWBOY: A Copper Ridge Novel by Maisey Yates. Next week will be this year’s final four Summer Reading giveaways. The prizes will be HOLIDAY IN THE HAMPTONS by Sarah Morgan, SWING TIME by Zadie Smith, SULFUR SPRINGS by William Kent Krueger, and UNRAVELING OLIVER by Liz Nugent (the latter two of which we’ll review next week, and UNRAVELING OLIVER will be a Bets On selection). The first contest of the week will go live on Monday, August 21st at noon ET.
You’ll also have a chance to win SULFUR SPRINGS in our current Word of Mouth contest, along with STAY WITH ME by Ayobami Adebayo (shortlisted for the 2017 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction, a BEA Buzz book and a future Bets On selection) and Y IS FOR YESTERDAY by Sue Grafton (that’s right, the next-to-last installment in the Alphabet series, which began 35 years ago!).
Do you pre-order books online or at bookstores, or reserve books at libraries? That’s our latest poll question; let us know what you typically do by clicking here.
Our previous poll asked which of 22 fiction titles releasing in August you are planning to read. Here are your top five: SULFUR SPRINGS by William Kent Krueger (39%), GLASS HOUSES by Louise Penny (33%), THE ADDRESS by Fiona Davis (32%), THE GOOD DAUGHTER by Karin Slaughter (29%), and Y IS FOR YESTERDAY by Sue Grafton (29%). Click here for all the results.
News & Pop Culture:
Reader Mail:
Jeanie has a question, and I am sharing it with you as we ponder an answer: “I always look forward to your newsletter and would love to pick your brain to see if you have any suggestions for my book club for the month of December. I'm the leader for our book club. We meet monthly in a restaurant and call ourselves 'Dinner With Books.' We've been meeting for six years and meet for a combined November/December meeting each year, since life gets so busy over the holidays. I'm always on the lookout for a good Christmas story for that meeting. We've done Fannie Flagg's A REDBIRD CHRISTMAS, which was tough to follow, and we've read Dottie Frank's THE CHRISTMAS PEARL, as well as Les Standiford's book, THE MAN WHO INVENTED CHRISTMAS, and A CHRISTMAS CAROL. Now I'm stumped for the upcoming holiday season. My group as a whole does not like 'romance'-type stories, and it seems as though so many Christmas-themed books fall into that category. Is there any way you'd consider featuring some Christmas (or holiday) book club suggestions in one of your upcoming newsletters?” We will think of titles for a feature.
Nancy wrote, “How timely that you're offering SOMETHING LIKE HAPPY right after I finished THE BRIGHT HOUR, the memoir recommended by one of your contacts for my memoir class. THE BRIGHT HOUR is an amazing story of life and love and loss. It's one of the few books I slowed my reading of toward the end, not wanting the story to end or her to die, even though I knew she was going to, just from the subtitle, 'A Memoir of Living and Dying.' She didn't actually look for things to make her 'something like happy,' but she did find reasons to carry on and amazingly kept her sense of humor throughout. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in memoirs. Change that. I highly recommend it to ANYONE. It sounds like the two books might be a good fit to read consecutively. Which begs a question: Do any of your book club readers read two books that have some kind of connection or relationship and discuss them together in a single meeting?” I, too, loved THE BRIGHT HOUR and still think about it; it was a Bets On pick! As for your book group question, I will ask book clubs about it.
Another Nancy wrote, “I saw a book review in a magazine while in NC called A TANGLED TREE, a memoir by Aiyanna Sezak-Blatt. I am always on the lookout for books for our book group, so I ordered it. I was about a quarter of the way through a book that is really good (BEHOLD THE DREAMERS) when this arrived in the mail on Friday. That evening I was browsing through it and realized it is 400 pages and maybe too long for our book club. I started reading the first chapter and stayed up late as I was so engaged. Part of the book is about the family's flee from Poland two weeks before the German invasion and their subsequent journey to Ukraine and the Soviet Union and then Israel. That really informs the father’s journey. There is so much more to the book, however: Academia, Jewish mysticism, Jewish intellectualism, the Grateful Dead, LSD, The Rainbow People, Jewish Diaspora, Shamanism, six siblings from five mothers --- and that is not anywhere near the full list. Thanks so much for sharing all the amazing books that are written with us. I thought I would do the same for you." I love when readers share like this, and I hope Nancy posted on Word of Mouth!
Abbey wrote, “Many thanks for including the info re. 'Click for Babies'. I've passed it along to some other yarn-crazy folks!"
Eclipse Reading: AMERICAN ECLIPSE: A Nation’s Epic Race to Catch the Shadow of the Moon and Win the Glory of the World by David Baron, who has chased eclipses for years in many far-flung places. As we all know by now, the path of totality extends from Oregon to South Carolina. Baron will be watching from Jackson, Wyoming.
More Eclipse Trivia: “In a perfect marriage of pop and science, Bonnie Tyler will perform her 1983 hit ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart during the August 2017 solar eclipse onboard Royal Caribbean's Total Eclipse Cruise. The Oasis of the Seas ship will be positioned in the path of totality for the performance, just as the moon moves across the sun, Time reports." Now I wonder if Carly will be belting out, "You flew your Learjet up to Nova Scotia to see a total eclipse of the sun."
"Broadchurch": The British series ended its third and final season this week. I truly want to visit the beach there; the closing shots were really perfect.
"Game of Thrones": I guessed that Jaime was still alive! My husband doubted me. Mark that down as the first time I was right about something on "Game of Thrones." And yes, now I want to pet a dragon.
Greg is headed to Atlanta tomorrow to meet up with my sister and drive to her house in Cashiers, North Carolina, to experience the eclipse in totality. I have not decided where I am going to watch in the city, which has 74% totality. My friend Gene is trying to track down a rooftop place to watch. Of course, “no one” will have thought about this already, right? I do not have official solar glasses, but I am snagging welding glasses from my husband!
I bought a new swim headset, and getting it loaded with MP3 files of music is proving to be challenging. The music originally was on my iPod, and that is not syncing with the new desktop version of iTunes. I actually grabbed my old laptop, which has iTunes on it and ripped a CD of the songs. Then, to convert them to MP3, I found software online. I was very proud that this was now accomplished. Until I listened. Every song has a woman with a sultry British accent saying “AVS demo” every 10 seconds or so. It ends up that the MP3 conversion software needs an annual license fee to not hear her sultry voice. I now am looking for the original CDs to rip. Given that we have about 1,000 of those, this is taking far longer than I want. Back to the way I started this newsletter…we really are slaves to technology!
We have friends coming to dinner tomorrow night. I am plotting that meal! Beyond that, it will be "read, float and repeat." Hoping the weather warms up!
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!
Featured Review:
A STRANGER IN THE HOUSE by Shari Lapena
A Bookreporter.com Bets On Title
A STRANGER IN THE HOUSE by Shari Lapena (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Tavia Gilbert
You’re home making dinner for your husband. You expect him any second. The phone rings --- it’s the call you hoped you’d never get. You jump in your car and race to a neighborhood you thought you’d never visit. You peer into the dark, deserted building. You brace yourself for the worst. And then, you remember nothing else. They tell your husband you’ve been in an accident. You lost control of your car as you sped through the worst side of town. The police suspect you were up to no good. But your husband refuses to believe it. Your best friend is not so sure. And even you don’t know what to believe. Reviewed by Kate Ayers.
A STRANGER IN THE HOUSE will be a Bookreporter.com Bets On pick. You can see Carol's commentary in next week's newsletter.
- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to read an excerpt.
Click here to read the review.
Featured Review: I KNOW A SECRET by Tess Gerritsen
I KNOW A SECRET: A Rizzoli & Isles Novel by Tess Gerritsen (Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Tanya Eby
Two separate homicides, at different locations, with unrelated victims, have more in common than just being investigated by Boston PD detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles. In both cases, the bodies bear startling wounds, yet the actual cause of death is unknown. It’s a doubly challenging case for the cop and the coroner to be taking on. As Jane struggles to save her mother from the crumbling marriage that threatens to bury her, Maura grapples with the imminent death of her own mother --- infamous serial killer Amalthea Lank. While Jane tends to her mother, there’s nothing Maura can do for Amalthea, except endure one final battle of wills with the woman whose shadow has haunted her all her life. Reviewed by Ray Palen.
- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to read an excerpt.
Click here to read the review.
An Interview with Philippa Gregory,
Author of THE LAST TUDOR
Philippa Gregory’s latest novel, THE LAST TUDOR, features one of the most famous girls in history, Lady Jane Grey, and her two sisters, each of whom dared to defy her queen. In this interview, Gregory talks about the book’s origin, explaining why she was interested in telling the story of all three Grey sisters and with three different narrators. She also discusses what surprised her in the course of writing it, the film that introduced her to the Tudors when she was just a teenager, and her involvement in a project called Gardens for The Gambia, which was established in 1993 to provide water for wells in the gardens of rural schools in The Gambia, one of the poorest countries in Africa.
THE LAST TUDOR by Philippa Gregory (Historical Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Bianca Amato
Seventeen-year-old Jane Grey was queen of England for nine days. Her father and his allies crowned her instead of the dead king’s half-sister Mary Tudor, who quickly mustered an army, claimed her throne, and locked Jane in the Tower of London. When Jane refused to betray her Protestant faith, Mary sent her to the executioner’s block, where Jane transformed her father’s greedy power-grab into tragic martyrdom. Meanwhile, Jane’s sister, Katherine, faces imprisonment in the Tower when her pregnancy betrays her secret marriage. What will happen when the youngest Grey sister, Mary --- the last Tudor --- defies her ruthless and unforgiving cousin Queen Elizabeth? Reviewed by Amy Gwiazdowski.
- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to read a review.
- Click here for the discussion guide.
Click here to read the interview.
Bookreporter.com Bets On: EMMA IN THE NIGHT
by Wendy Walker
EMMA IN THE NIGHT by Wendy Walker (Psychological Thriller)
In EMMA IN THE NIGHT by Wendy Walker, the two Tanner sisters, who were 15 and 17, disappeared three years ago leaving almost no clues behind. Now the younger one, Cass, has returned. But where is Emma, her older sister? Cass, who shares a story of her escape from captors, has many of the clues. Or does she?
Here we have the kind of protagonist we all have come to embrace --- the unreliable one. (What does it say about readers today that we gravitate towards these unreliable storytellers?) The story zigs and zags, and along the way we get to know and loathe the girls’ mother, who we come to realize has a narcissistic personality. (There is one section about her that is particularly brutal; you will know what I mean when you read it.) On the case to unwind the story is a forensic psychologist, Dr. Abby Winter, who knows from personal experience about how a self-absorbed parent may wend her clout.
When I read an early copy of the book, I was up late reading. After four hours of sleep, I got up and finished it! Factoid on how Wendy nails the narcissistic personality so well: She was a practicing attorney, and when she was in law school they studied various personality types to better understand them, especially how they would present themselves in family court.
- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to read a review.
- Click here to read an excerpt.
- Click here to visit Wendy Walker’s website.
Click here for more books we're betting you'll love.
Women’s Fiction Author Spotlight & Contest:
SOMETHING LIKE HAPPY by Eva Woods
We have 35 copies of SOMETHING LIKE HAPPY by Eva Woods --- an unforgettable tale of celebrating triumphs great and small, seizing the day, and always remembering to live in the moment --- to give away to readers who would like to read the book, which releases on September 5th, and share their comments on it. To enter, please fill out this form by Thursday, August 24th at noon ET.
SOMETHING LIKE HAPPY by Eva Woods (Fiction)
Annie Hebden is stuck. Stuck in her boring job, with her irritating roommate, in a life no 35-year-old would want. But deep down, Annie is still mourning the terrible loss that tore a hole through the perfect existence she'd once taken for granted --- and hiding away is safer than remembering what used to be. Until she meets the eccentric Polly Leonard.
Bright, bubbly, intrusive Polly is everything Annie doesn't want in a friend. But Polly is determined to finally wake Annie up to life. Because if recent events have taught Polly anything, it's that your time is too short to waste a single day --- which is why she wants Annie to join her on a mission.
One hundred days. One hundred new ways to be happy. Annie is convinced it's impossible, but so is saying no to Polly. And on an unforgettable journey that will force her to open herself to new experiences --- and perhaps even new love with the unlikeliest of men --- Annie will slowly begin to realize that maybe, just maybe, there's still joy to be found in the world. But then it becomes clear that Polly is about to need her new friend more than ever…and Annie will have to decide once and for all whether letting others in is a risk worth taking.
- Click here to read an excerpt.
- Click here to read Eva Woods’ bio.
- Visit Eva Woods’ website and Instagram.
- Connect with Eva Woods on Facebook and Twitter.
Click here to read more in our Women's Fiction Author Spotlight
and enter the contest.
Featured Review: THE STORE
by James Patterson and Richard DiLallo
THE STORE by James Patterson and Richard DiLallo (Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Graham Halstead
Jacob and Megan Brandeis have gotten jobs with the mega-successful, ultra-secretive Store. Seems perfect. Seems safe. But their lives are about to become anything but perfect, anything but safe. Especially since Jacob and Megan have a dark secret of their own. They're writing a book that will expose the Store --- a forbidden book, a dangerous book. And if the Store finds out, there's only one thing Jacob, Megan and their kids can do --- run for their bloody lives. Which is probably impossible, because the Store is always watching. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
- Click here to read more about the book.
Click here to read the review.
Featured Review: SEE WHAT I HAVE DONE
by Sarah Schmidt
SEE WHAT I HAVE DONE by Sarah Schmidt (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available; read by Jennifer Woodward, Erin Hunter and Garrick Hagon
The brutal ax-murder of Andrew and Abby Borden leaves little evidence and many unanswered questions. While neighbors struggle to understand why anyone would want to harm the respected Bordens, those close to the family have a different tale to tell --- of a father with an explosive temper; a spiteful stepmother; and two spinster sisters, with a bond even stronger than blood, desperate for their independence. As the police search for clues, Emma comforts an increasingly distraught Lizzie, whose memories of that morning flash in scattered fragments. Shifting among the perspectives of the unreliable Lizzie, her older sister Emma, the housemaid Bridget, and the enigmatic stranger Benjamin, the events of that fateful day are slowly revealed. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.
- Click here to read more about the book.
Click here to read the review.
Bookreporter.com's Summer Reading
Contests and Feature
Summer is here! At Bookreporter.com, this means it's time for us to share some great summer book picks with our Summer Reading Contests and Feature. We are hosting a series of 24-hour contests for these titles on select days through August 24th, so you will have to check the site each day to see the featured prize book and enter to win. We also are sending a special newsletter to announce the day's title, which you can sign up for here.
Our next prize book will be announced on Monday, August 21st at noon ET.
This year's featured titles are:
See the prize books that were awarded in May, June and July
and that will be awarded in August.
Click here to read all the contest details.
What’s New This Month on ReadingGroupGuides.com
We currently have one contest running on ReadingGroupGuides.com:
"What's Your Book Group Reading This Month?": Win 12 Copies of THE ADDRESS by Fiona Davis for Your Group
Each month in our "What's Your Book Group Reading This Month" contest, we ask book groups to share the titles they are reading that month and rate them. From all entries, three winners will be selected, and each will win 12 copies of that month’s prize book for their group. Our current prize book is THE ADDRESS by Fiona Davis, a compelling novel about the thin lines between love and loss, success and ruin, passion and madness, all hidden behind the walls of The Dakota --- New York City’s most famous residence. Enter here by Tuesday, September 12th at noon ET.
The following guides are now available:
Please note that these titles, for which we already had the guides when they appeared in hardcover, are now available in paperback:
Click here to visit ReadingGroupGuides.com.
SLEEPING IN THE GROUND: An Inspector Banks Novel by Peter Robinson (Mystery/Thriller)
Audiobook available, performed by James Langton
At the doors of a charming country church, an unspeakable act destroys a wedding party. A huge manhunt ensues. The culprit is captured. The story is over. Except it isn't. For Alan Banks, still struggling with a tragic loss of his own, there's something wrong about this case --- something unresolved. Reteaming with profiler Jenny Fuller, the relentless detective dives deeper into the crime...deep enough to unearth long-buried secrets that reshape everything Banks thought he knew about the events outside that chapel. And when at last the shocking truth becomes clear, it's almost too late. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
THE COTTINGLEY SECRET by Hazel Gaynor (Fiction)
Audiobook available, performed by Karen Cass and Billie Fullford-Brown
1917. Two young cousins, Frances Griffiths and Elsie Wright, claim to have photographed fairies at the bottom of the garden. When Sir Arthur Conan Doyle becomes convinced of the photographs’ authenticity, the girls become a national sensation. Frances and Elsie will hide their secret for many decades, but Frances longs for the truth to be told. One hundred years later. When Olivia Kavanagh finds an old manuscript in her late grandfather’s bookshop, she becomes fascinated by the story it tells of two young girls who mystified the world. But it is the discovery of an old photograph that leads her to realize how the fairy girls’ lives intertwine with hers, blurring her understanding of what is real and what is imagined. Reviewed by Sarah Jackman.
POETRY WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE: A Memoir by Jill Bialosky (Memoir)
For Jill Bialosky, certain poems stand out like signposts at pivotal moments in a life: the death of a father, adolescence, first love, leaving home, the suicide of a sister, marriage, the birth of a child, the day in New York City the Twin Towers fell. As Bialosky narrates these moments, she illuminates the ways in which particular poems offered insight, compassion and connection, and shows how poetry can be a blueprint for living. In POETRY WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE, Bialosky recalls when she encountered each formative poem, and how its importance and meaning evolved over time, allowing new insights and perceptions to emerge. Reviewed by Gabriella Mayer.
ARE YOU SLEEPING by Kathleen Barber (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Rebekkah Ross
Josie Buhrman has spent the last 10 years trying to escape her family’s reputation and with good reason. After her father's murder 13 years prior, her mother ran away to join a cult, and her twin sister Lanie, once Josie’s closest friend and confidant, betrayed her in an unimaginable way. Now, Josie has finally put down roots in New York, settling into domestic life with her partner Caleb, and that’s where she intends to stay. The only problem is that she has lied to Caleb about every detail of her past --- starting with her last name. When investigative reporter Poppy Parnell sets off a media firestorm with a mega-hit podcast that reopens the long-closed case of Josie’s father’s murder, Josie’s world begins to unravel. Reviewed by Leah DeCesare.
GONE TO DUST by Matt Goldman (Mystery)
Audiobook available, read by MacLeod Andrews
Suburban divorcee Maggie Somerville was found murdered in her bedroom, her body covered with the dust from hundreds of emptied vacuum cleaner bags, all potential DNA evidence obscured by the calculating killer. Digging into Maggie’s cell phone records, private detective Nils Shapiro finds that the most frequently called number belongs to a mysterious young woman whose true identity could shatter the Somerville family. But could she be guilty of murder? After the FBI demands that Nils drop the case, Nils and neighboring Edina Police Detective Anders Ellegaard are forced to take their investigation underground. Is this a strange case of domestic violence or something with far-reaching, sinister implications? Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
- Click here to read an excerpt.
THE MOUNTAIN: Stories by Paul Yoon (Fiction/Short Stories)
Audiobook available, read by Timothy John Campbell
Six thematically linked stories take place across several continents and time periods, populated with characters who are connected by their traumatic pasts, newly vagrant lives, and quests for solace in their futures. Though they exist in their own distinct worlds, they are united by the struggle to reconcile their traumatic pasts in the wake of violence. A morphine-addicted nurse wanders through the decimated French countryside in search of purpose; a dissatisfied wife sporadically takes a train across Spain with a much younger man in the wake of a building explosion; a lost young woman emigrates from Korea to Shanghai, where she aimlessly works in a camera sweat shop, trying fruitlessly to outrun the ghosts of her past. Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman.
THE DOLL FUNERAL by Kate Hamer (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Shaun Grindell and Emma Powell
On Ruby’s 13th birthday, a wish she didn’t even know she had suddenly comes true: the couple who raised her aren’t her parents at all. Her real mother and father are out there somewhere, and Ruby becomes determined to find them. Venturing into the forest with nothing but a suitcase and the company of her only true friend --- the imaginary Shadow Boy --- Ruby discovers a group of siblings who live alone in the woods. The children take her in, and while they offer the closest Ruby’s ever had to a family, Ruby begins to suspect that they might need her even more than she needs them. And it’s not always clear what’s real and what’s not --- or who’s trying to help her and who might be a threat. Reviewed by Megan Elliott.
HOW TO BEHAVE IN A CROWD by Camille Bordas (Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Adam Alexi-Malle
Isidore Mazal is 11 years old, the youngest of six siblings living in a small French town. He doesn't quite fit in. Berenice, Aurore and Leonard are on track to have doctorates by age 24. Jeremie performs with a symphony, and Simone, older than Isidore by 18 months, expects a great career as a novelist --- she's already put Isidore to work on her biography. Isidore has never skipped a grade or written a dissertation. But he notices things the others don't and asks questions they fear to ask. So when tragedy strikes the Mazal family, Isidore is the only one to recognize how everyone is struggling with their grief, and perhaps the only one who can help them --- if he doesn't run away from home first. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.
A PROMISE TO KILL: A Clyde Barr Novel by Erik Storey (Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Pete Simonelli
Clyde Barr, the drifter with lethal skills, is alone again, wandering the highways of the American West in search of something to believe in. But when he runs across an elderly sick man --- a Ute Indian from a nearby reservation --- Clyde’s dream of solitude is quickly dashed. On the reservation, Clyde finds the old man’s daughter, Lawana, and grandson, Taylor, as well as a group of menacing bikers called Reapers running wild in the economically depressed, half-abandoned village. As tensions rise between the locals and the Reapers, Clyde’s efforts to protect the reservation become a fight for his, Lawana’s and Taylor’s lives. And then the stakes ratchet up even more. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
SAND by Hugh Howey (Science Fiction/Post-Apocalyptic Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Karen Chilton
The old world is buried. A new one has been forged atop the shifting dunes. Here in this land of howling wind and infernal sand, four siblings find themselves scattered and lost. Their father was a sand diver, one of the elite few who could travel deep beneath the desert floor and bring up the relics and scraps that keep their people alive. But their father is gone. And the world he left behind might be next. Welcome to the world of SAND, an exploration of lawlessness, the tale of a land ignored. Here is a people left to fend for themselves. Reviewed by Ray Palen.
DAYS OF NIGHT by Jonathan Stone (Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Christopher Lane
When retired police detective Joe Heller is called in to investigate what might be Antarctica’s first murder, he quickly discovers that winter at McMurdo Station comes with a unique set of challenges. But a difficult investigation turns much tougher when all communication with the outside world is suddenly cut off. While Heller works diligently to reconstruct the scene of the crime, evidence mounts that a pathogenic event could be ravaging the rest of the planet. As night descends, fear mounts and confusion reigns, the killer strikes again. If this is a global cataclysm, is someone now picking off the human race’s few remaining survivors? Is this the end of the world --- or just the end of Joe Heller’s? Reviewed by Christine M. Irvin.
Next Week’s Notables:
Noteworthy Books Releasing on August 22nd
Below are some notable titles releasing on August 22nd 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 August 21st, see our “On Sale This Week” newsletter here.
A DARK AND BROKEN HEART by R. J. Ellory (Thriller)
Detective Vincent Madigan is up to his neck in debt to Sandia, a notorious East Harlem drug lord. When Madigan devises a scheme to eliminate his debt by robbing Sandia and then repaying him with his own money, he thinks his heist is foolproof. But things go horribly wrong when Madigan is forced to kill his co-conspirators and a child is shot in the crossfire.
THE HEART'S INVISIBLE FURIES by John Boyne (Fiction)
Cyril Avery is not a real Avery --- or at least, that's what his adoptive parents tell him. And he never will be. But if he isn't a real Avery, then who is he? At the mercy of fortune and coincidence, Cyril will spend a lifetime coming to know himself and where he came from --- and over his many years will struggle to discover an identity, a home, a country and much more.
MAP OF THE HEART by Susan Wiggs (Fiction)
Widowed by an unspeakable tragedy, Camille Palmer has made her peace with the past and settled into the quiet safety of life with her teenage daughter, Julie, in a sleepy coastal town. Then the arrival of a mysterious package breaks open the door to her family’s secret past. In uncovering a hidden history, Camille has no idea that she’s embarking on an adventure that will utterly transform her.
THE MASSACRE OF MANKIND: The Sequel to War of the Worlds by Stephen Baxter (Science Fiction/Adventure)
It has been 14 years since the Martians invaded England. The world has moved on, content that we know how to defeat the Martian menace. However, Walter Jenkins, the narrator of THE WAR OF THE WORLDS, is sure that the Martians have learned, adapted and understood their defeat. Thrust into the chaos of a new invasion, a journalist --- Jenkins' sister-in-law --- must survive, escape and report on the war.
THE ROOM OF WHITE FIRE by T. Jefferson Parker (Thriller)
Roland Ford is good at finding people. But when he’s asked to locate Air Force veteran Clay Hickman, he realizes he’s been drawn into something deep and dark. What he doesn’t know is why a shroud of secrecy hangs over Hickman’s disappearance --- and why he’s getting a different story from everyone involved.
THE SABOTEUR by Andrew Gross (Historical Thriller)
Kurt Nordstrum, an engineer in Oslo, puts his life aside to take up arms against the Germans as part of the Norwegian resistance. He and his team attempt the most daring raid of the war, targeting the heavily guarded factory built on a shelf of rock thought to be impregnable. Months later, Nordstrum is called upon again to do the impossible, opposed by both elite Nazi soldiers and a long-standing enemy who is now a local collaborator.
STAY WITH ME by Ayobami Adebayo (Fiction)
Yejide and Akin have been married since they met and fell in love at university. Four years into their marriage, Yejide is still not pregnant. She assumes she still has time --- until her family arrives on her doorstep with a young woman they introduce as Akin's second wife. Yejide knows the only way to save her marriage is to get pregnant. Which, finally, she does --- but at a cost far greater than she could have dared to imagine.
SULFUR SPRINGS by William Kent Krueger (Mystery)
Cork O’Connor and his new bride, Rainy Bisonette, listen to a desperate voicemail left by Rainy's son, Peter, who confesses to the murder of someone named Rodriguez. Peter is nowhere to be found, but they learn of Rodriguez’s identity: Carlos Rodriguez is the head of a cartel that controls everything illegal crossing the border from Mexico into Coronado County in southern Arizona.
UNRAVELING OLIVER by Liz Nugent (Psychological Thriller)
Oliver Ryan has long been married to his devoted wife, Alice. One evening, though, Oliver delivers a blow to Alice that renders her unconscious, and subsequently beats her into a coma. In the aftermath of such an unthinkable event, as Alice hovers between life and death, the couple’s friends, neighbors and acquaintances try to understand what could have driven Oliver to commit such a horrific act.
Y IS FOR YESTERDAY by Sue Grafton (Mystery)
In 1979, four teenage boys sexually assault a 14-year-old classmate and film the attack. The tape goes missing, and the suspected thief is murdered. The ringleader escapes without a trace. It’s now 1989, and one of the perpetrators, Fritz McCabe, has been released from prison. He is a virtual prisoner of his ever-watchful parents --- until a copy of the missing tape arrives with a ransom demand. That’s when the McCabes call Kinsey Millhone for help.
YOUNG JANE YOUNG by Gabrielle Zevin (Fiction)
Aviva Grossman, an ambitious congressional intern in Florida, makes the mistake of having an affair with her boss --- and blogging about it. When the affair comes to light, Aviva sees no way out but to change her name and move to a remote town in Maine. But when she decides to run for public office herself, that long-ago mistake trails her via the Internet and catches up.
Click here to see the latest "On Sale This Week" newsletter.
Our Latest Poll: Pre-ordering and Reserving Books
Do you pre-order books online or at bookstores, or reserve books at libraries? Please check all that apply.
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I pre-order books online all the time.
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I sometimes pre-order books online, depending on how much I am anticipating them.
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I never pre-order books online.
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I pre-order books from my local bookstore all the time.
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I sometimes pre-order books from my local bookstore, depending on how much I am anticipating them.
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I never pre-order books from my local bookstore.
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I reserve books from the library all the time.
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I sometimes reserve books from the library, depending on how excited I am to read them.
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I never reserve books from the library.
Click here to vote in the poll by Friday, September 8th at noon ET.
Word of Mouth Contest: Tell Us What You're
Reading --- and You Can Win Three 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 August 18th to September 8th at noon ET, three lucky readers each will be randomly chosen to win a copy of STAY WITH ME by Ayobami Adebayo, SULFUR SPRINGS by William Kent Krueger, and Y IS FOR YESTERDAY by Sue Grafton.
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.
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 August 1st to September 6th at noon ET, two lucky readers each will be randomly chosen to win the audio versions of Wendy Walker's EMMA IN THE NIGHT, read by Therese Plummer, and Louise Penny's GLASS HOUSES, read by Robert Bathurst.
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.
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