It’s All About Authors This Weekend!
As many of you know, I love to cook. Many of my go-to cookbooks are written by Yotam Ottolenghi. His recipes are innovative, flavorful, surprising --- and, yes, they often challenge me, but the results are worth it. Last night, Nicole and I went to the 92nd Street Y for an event where he and his co-author, Helen Goh, talked about their collaboration, SWEET, which is a dessert cookbook. They were interviewed by Ruth Reichl. One of my favorite questions from the audience was what common kitchen utensil they each consider essential. For Yotam, it is a juicer and a microplane zester; he loves lemon, as do I. I probably would pick those two and a santoku knife that we have that I use for cutting everything, which makes my husband crazy, as he uses the right knife for each thing. For Helen, it was an offset spatula; she carries one with her all the time.
His big takeaway advice for me --- read the entire recipe through first. I am known for proceeding without reading and then getting in the weeds about halfway through (same with knitting patterns). Well, I never read the last page of a book first, so I treat recipes and patterns the same way. He shared that British and American ingredients vary. He has a recipe tester in Wales (what a fun job that would be) who tests all his recipes, and for this book he also had an American tester. Some ingredients like cream cheese and flour have a different texture between the US and the UK; I did not know this. He also recommended a scale instead of measuring cups. It is more accurate. I am thinking I will try this.
You can see Yotam talking about SWEET on "CBS This Morning" here, and making rugelach and showing a stunning striped cake on "Today" here. And here is a link to a piece where he and Helen show how to make a rolled pavlova, a meringue roulade dessert. The most popular cake in the book? A lemon poppy seed cake that we found the recipe for here.
From there, I went crosstown to a small screening theater where the film Wonderstruck, based on the book by Brian Selznick, had been shown. Sadly I missed that as it overlapped with the other event (another reason to clone), but I was able to catch Brian's Q&A and enjoy the reception afterwards. Rebecca saw the film and loved it. I remember Brian presenting this book prior to its publication at a library convention in New Orleans, and I was amazed by his talent of both storytelling and art/design. I made it a Bookreporter.com Bets On selection. I had a chance to catch up with Brian, who is one of the best-dressed men in publishing, and you can see a photo of me with him above. He adapted the book into the screenplay; the film has among its stars Julianne Moore. It will be in limited release beginning on the 20th of this month and then goes wider in mid-November. You can see a trailer here. It’s been fun following the progression of this book from book preview to film.
Tonight Tom and I are going to see Ron Chernow, who is the keynote presenter at the Morristown Festival of Books event. He will be talking about GRANT, his latest book. My husband loves books about history, and he is looking forward to this one. I will have a report for you next week. Oh, and in case you missed it, Chernow wrote HAMILTON, the book that the play that you just might have heard about is based on.
Tomorrow I will be moderating two panels at the Festival. The first, at 10am, is called "Edge-of-Your-Seat Suspense," with thriller authors Megan Miranda and Riley Sager. The second, at 12:20pm, is called ”Following the Heart in Faraway Lands," with Min Jin Lee, Chinelo Okparanta and Katie Kitamura. Click here for the Festival schedule. This promises to be a really fun day for readers. I am looking forward to seeing David Grann speak, as well as Ronald H. Balson, Pam Jenoff, Laura Dave, Georgia Hunter and Lucy Sykes. Rebecca will be moderating a YA panel. If you are there, please introduce yourself!
Also, I have news about the Miami Book Fair (November 12-19): On Saturday, November 18th at 10am in Room 3313 in Building 3, I will be doing a similar presentation to what I did last year with great book club reads for fall and winter. In addition, I will be interviewing author Ann Hood about her novel, THE BOOK THAT MATTERS MOST, and her memoir, MORNINGSTAR: Growing Up with Books, as well as her experiences talking to book groups. If you are headed to Miami, let me know!
Now to this week’s update...
As promised last week, we have our review of ORIGIN to share with you this week. In Dan Brown’s latest thriller to feature Robert Langdon, the Harvard professor of symbology arrives at the ultramodern Guggenheim Museum Bilbao to attend the unveiling of a discovery that “will change the face of science forever.” Edmond Kirsch is about to reveal an incredible breakthrough that will answer two of the fundamental questions of human existence. But the evening suddenly erupts into chaos, and Kirsch’s precious discovery teeters on the brink of being lost forever. Langdon and the museum director, Ambra Vidal, flee to Barcelona on a perilous quest to locate a cryptic password that will unlock Kirsch’s secret.
Ray Palen has our review and says, “ORIGIN opens with the disclaimer that all the art, architecture and religious organizations included within are real. It is Brown’s amazingly fertile imagination that fills in the gaps to fashion a story so remarkable it will have readers shaking in their boots while they are deeply absorbed in the text.”
We’re giving away the audio version of ORIGIN (read by Paul Michael) in this month’s Sounding Off on Audio contest, along with John Grisham's THE ROOSTER BAR, read by Ari Fliakos. Submit your comments about the audiobooks you’ve listened to, and you’ll be in the running to win both audio titles.
Alice Hoffman’s new novel is THE RULES OF MAGIC, which is a prequel to her 1995 bestseller, PRACTICAL MAGIC. For the Owens family, love is a curse that began in 1620, when Maria Owens was charged with witchery for loving the wrong man. Hundreds of years later, in New York City at the cusp of the ’60s, Susanna Owens knows that her three children are dangerously unique. She sets down rules for them, the most important of which is to never fall in love. But when her children visit their Aunt Isabelle, in the small Massachusetts town where the Owens family has been blamed for everything that has ever gone wrong, they uncover family secrets and begin to understand the truth of who they are. Back in New York City, each begins a risky journey as they try to escape the family curse.
According to reviewer Bianca Ambrosio, “THE RULES OF MAGIC is written with words that are as elegant and enigmatic as the story’s atmosphere. Throughout the novel, we’re introduced to wild and captivating cousins, children wise beyond their years, magical animals, unlikely friendships, and a town and city that are both mystical and uptight.” We also have a Q&A with Alice Hoffman that you can read here. Alice will be presenting at the Morristown Festival of Books tomorrow.
THE RULES OF MAGIC is one of our current Word of Mouth prizes, along with UNCOMMON TYPE: Some Stories by Tom Hanks. Let us know by Friday, October 20th at noon ET what books you’ve read, and you’ll have a chance to win both titles.
Other books we’re reviewing this week include WE WERE EIGHT YEARS IN POWER by Ta-Nehisi Coates, which collects eight essays --- one for each year of the Obama presidency --- while offering personal and historical context; FROM HERE TO ETERNITY, in which mortician Caitlin Doughty --- fascinated by our pervasive fear of dead bodies --- sets out to discover how other cultures care for the dead; DUNBAR, Edward St. Aubyn’s reimagining of Shakespeare’s “King Lear”; and DEATH IN ST. PETERSBURG, the latest installment in Tasha Alexander’s Lady Emily mystery series (Tasha wrote a blog piece for us about the inspiration behind the book, which you can read here).
Our latest New Release Spotlight title is THE DIRTY BOOK CLUB, a new novel for adults from Lisi Harrison, who is best known to YA audiences as the author of the Clique series. M.J. Stark is battling a debilitating sense of loneliness despite her professional and personal successes. So when her boss betrays her and her boyfriend offers her a completely new life in California, she decides to give it a try. Once there, M.J. is left to fend for herself in a small beach town, with her elderly neighbor, Gloria, as her only company. But when Gloria abruptly moves to Paris, M.J. discovers she left behind a mysterious invitation to a secret club that only reads erotic books. M.J. accepts the invite and meets the three other hand-selected club members. As these four strangers bond over naughty bestsellers and the shocking letters they inherited from the original club members, they start to divulge the intimate details of their own lives.
At first you think there’s just one story here, but later you see what Lisi has done so well with her characters. It’s both smart and fun. THE DIRTY BOOK CLUB will be a Bets On pick; you can read my commentary in next week’s newsletter. In the meantime, please check out the discussion guide on ReadingGroupGuides.com here.
In this week’s Fall Preview contests, we gave away GARDEN OF THE LOST AND ABANDONED: The Extraordinary Story of One Ordinary Woman and the Children She Saves by Jessica Yu, NEVER COMING BACK by Alison McGhee, and SUGAR PINE TRAIL: A Haven Point Novel by RaeAnne Thayne. These contests wrap up next week with our final three prizes: COME HOME by Patricia Gussin, EDUCATED: A Memoir by Tara Westover, and THE FIRST DAY by Phil Harrison. The next giveaway will be live on Monday, October 16th at noon ET.
Our poll question continues to ask which of 20 fiction titles releasing this month that we’ve listed are you planning to read. Click here to cast your votes!
News & Pop Culture
Reader Mail:
Nancy wrote, ”Here's a question I pose to my memoir-writing class that might make an interesting poll question: If you had to evacuate for a natural disaster with the possibility that your house would be destroyed, which three books would you take with you? (The Bible doesn't count.)” Very interesting question. Our poll is close-ended, but will figure out a way to ask this.
Miriam wrote, “Just finished LOVE AND OTHER CONSOLATION PRIZES. Wow, what a gorgeous book. What beautiful writing; what a beautiful story. Please let Jamie Ford know that I am enthralled with this book and his writing.” I did tell Jamie, and I agree. It was a Bets On selection.
Lory asked, “Would love to hear if you continue to enjoy the audiobook version of SING, UNBURIED, SING. That book has caught my eye and is on my to-read list. I like to vary 'listening' and reading, but having a narrator that makes the book pop is a must.” There are three narrators, and they all are terrific. I highly recommend the audio.
Susan asked, “Curious about which Garmin you have and how well it seems to work in the water. I am one of your fortunate readers who lives in Florida and has a pool. It's a salt water pool, and I love to make use of it year round. It is solar heated, which helps with the utility bill, as we never seem to have to use the pool heater.” I LOVE my Garmin. This is the one I have: the Vivofit 3 Activity Tracker.
Happy Word of Mouth Winner: Sheila wrote this after winning DON'T LET GO by Harlan Coben and MANHATTAN BEACH by Jennifer Egan in our recent Word of Mouth contest: “Yippee! Thank you...and thanks for all you do for the reading/writing community. Love Bookreporter!” We love notes like this.
Sad news from the area hit by wildfires in CA: Charles Schulz’s home was burned to the ground where many pieces from his personal collection were kept. Luckily most of his work is in his museum, but so sad to see that pieces that meant a lot to his wife are gone.
No More AOL Instant Messenger: For those of you who, like me, were on AOL when Bookreporter.com started, I am sharing that AIM is shutting down on December 15th.
From the beginning, I thought this was the product that they should have charged for! It made connecting so easy back in the early days. I was CKCF. Time marches on…to Facebook Messenger.
Steven Spielberg: Looking forward to watching the Susan Lacy documentary about him on HBO.
Friday the 13th: It’s today. It’s also Paul Simon’s 76th birthday. Lots of candles for Paul!
The Bouchercon Mystery Convention is in Toronto this weekend. Again I could not clone to attend. I will try to get a report from some of the authors I know who are attending.
This weekend is all about books and authors, as well as a dinner party at our friend Cathy’s tomorrow night. Her stepson and his wife are in from Charleston, and he is on for making the dinner, which should be brilliant fun. Next Saturday, I am planning to head to the New York State Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck, New York, along with some friends. I never have been there and am looking forward to this. If any of you are going, let me know!
The pool water was still in the 70s on Monday, but today I was back into my wetsuit. Ah well, I pluck the leaves from the water trying to make this last as long as it can. Go Yankees, and it looks like the Giants are playing for the #1 draft pick! What an abysmal season they are having! Off to print the questions for my interviews tomorrow....
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: ORIGIN by Dan Brown
ORIGIN by Dan Brown (Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Paul Michael
Robert Langdon, Harvard professor of symbology and religious iconology, arrives at the ultramodern Guggenheim Museum Bilbao to attend the unveiling of a discovery that “will change the face of science forever.” The evening’s host is Edmond Kirsch, who is about to reveal an astonishing breakthrough that will answer two of the fundamental questions of human existence. But the meticulously orchestrated evening suddenly erupts into chaos, and Kirsch’s precious discovery teeters on the brink of being lost forever. Langdon is forced into a desperate bid to escape Bilbao, accompanied by Ambra Vidal, the elegant museum director. Together they flee to Barcelona on a perilous quest to locate a cryptic password that will unlock Kirsch’s secret. Reviewed by Ray Palen.
- Click here to read more about the book.
Click here to read the review.
Featured Review: WE WERE EIGHT YEARS IN POWER by Ta-Nehisi Coates
WE WERE EIGHT YEARS IN POWER: An American Tragedy by Ta-Nehisi Coates (Politics/Essays)
Audiobook available, read by Beresford Bennett
“We were eight years in power” was the lament of Reconstruction-era black politicians as the American experiment in multiracial democracy ended with the return of white supremacist rule in the South. In this sweeping collection of new and selected essays, Ta-Nehisi Coates explores the tragic echoes of that history in our own time: the unprecedented election of a black president followed by a vicious backlash that fueled the election of the man Coates argues is America’s “first white president.” The book also examines the new voices, ideas and movements for justice that emerged over this period --- and the effects of the persistent, haunting shadow of our nation’s old and unreconciled history. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.
- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to read an excerpt.
Click here to read the review.
An Interview with Alice Hoffman,
Author of THE RULES OF MAGIC
Alice Hoffman is the prolific author of more than 30 works of fiction, including THE MARRIAGE OF OPPOSITES, THE MUSEUM OF EXTRAORDINARY THINGS and THE DOVEKEEPERS. Her latest novel, THE RULES OF MAGIC, is a prequel to her 1995 bestseller, PRACTICAL MAGIC, which takes us inside the lives of Frances and Jet Owens before their nieces, Sally and Gillian, came along. In this interview, Hoffman explains what inspired her to return to the Owens family after 22 years, the appearance of a male character in a lineage that has always been composed of female witches, how she chose the book’s setting, and the most important lesson she hopes will resonate with readers long after they’ve turned the last page.
THE RULES OF MAGIC by Alice Hoffman (Historical Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Marin Ireland
For the Owens family, love is a curse that began in 1620, when Maria Owens was charged with witchery for loving the wrong man. Hundreds of years later, in New York City at the cusp of the ’60s, when the whole world is about to change, Susanna Owens knows that her three children are dangerously unique. From the start, she sets down rules for them, the most important of which is to never, ever, fall in love. But when her children visit their Aunt Isabelle, in the small Massachusetts town where the Owens family has been blamed for everything that has ever gone wrong, they uncover family secrets and begin to understand the truth of who they are. Back in New York City, each begins a risky journey as they try to escape the family curse. Reviewed by Bianca Ambrosio.
- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to read a review.
Click here to read the interview.
New Release Spotlight:
THE DIRTY BOOK CLUB by Lisi Harrison
A Bookreporter.com Bets On Title
THE DIRTY BOOK CLUB by Lisi Harrison (Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Joy Osmanski
M.J. Stark’s life is picture-perfect --- she has her dream job as a magazine editor, a sexy doctor boyfriend and a glamorous life in New York City. But behind her success, there is a debilitating sense of loneliness. So when her boss betrays her and her boyfriend offers her a completely new life in California, she trades her cashmere for caftans and gives it a try. Once there, M.J. is left to fend for herself in a small beach town, with only the company of her elderly neighbor, Gloria, and an ocean that won’t shut up.
One afternoon, M.J. discovers that Gloria has suddenly moved to Paris with her friends to honor a 50-year-old pact. And in lieu of a goodbye, she’s left a mysterious invitation to a secret club --- one that only reads erotic books. Curious, M.J. accepts and meets the three other hand-selected club members. As they bond over naughty bestsellers and the shocking letters they inherited from the original club members, the four strangers start to divulge the intimate details of their own lives…and as they open up, they learn that friendship might just be the key to rewriting their own stories: all they needed was to find each other first.
THE DIRTY BOOK CLUB will be a Bookreporter.com Bets On pick. You can read Carol’s commentary in next week’s newsletter.
- Click here to read an excerpt.
- Click here for the discussion guide.
- Click here to read Lisi Harrison’s bio.
- Visit Lisi Harrison’s website and Instagram.
- Click here to connect with Lisi Harrison on Facebook.
Click here to read more in our New Release Spotlight.
Featured Review: FROM HERE TO ETERNITY
by Caitlin Doughty
FROM HERE TO ETERNITY: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death by Caitlin Doughty (Sociology/Memoir)
Audiobook available, read by Caitlin Doughty
Fascinated by our pervasive fear of dead bodies, mortician Caitlin Doughty set out to discover how other cultures care for the dead. FROM HERE TO ETERNITY is an immersive global journey that introduces compelling, powerful rituals almost entirely unknown in America. With boundless curiosity and gallows humor, Doughty vividly describes decomposed bodies and investigates the world’s funerary history. She contends that the American funeral industry sells a particular --- and, upon close inspection, peculiar --- set of “respectful” rites. She argues that our expensive, impersonal system fosters a corrosive fear of death that hinders our ability to cope and mourn. Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman.
- Click here to read more about the book.
Click here to read the review.
Featured Review: DUNBAR by Edward St. Aubyn
DUNBAR by Edward St. Aubyn (Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Henry Goodman
Henry Dunbar, the once all-powerful head of a global media corporation, is not having a good day. In his dotage he hands over care of the corporation to his two eldest daughters, Abby and Megan, but as relations sour he starts to doubt the wisdom of past decisions. Now imprisoned in Meadowmeade, an upscale sanatorium in rural England, with only a demented alcoholic comedian as company, Dunbar starts planning his escape. As he flees into the hills, his family is hot on his heels. But who will find him first --- his beloved youngest daughter, Florence, or the tigresses Abby and Megan, so keen to divest him of his estate? Reviewed by Jane Krebs.
- Click here to read more about the book.
Click here to read the review.
Featured Review: DEATH IN ST. PETERSBURG
by Tasha Alexander
DEATH IN ST. PETERSBURG: A Lady Emily Mystery by Tasha Alexander (Historical Mystery)
Audiobook available, read by Bianca Amato
After the final curtain of “Swan Lake,” an animated crowd exits the Mariinsky theatre brimming with excitement from the night’s performance. But outside the scene is somber. A ballerina’s body lies face down in the snow, blood splattered like rose petals over the costume of the Swan Queen. Amongst the theatergoers is Lady Emily, accompanying her dashing husband Colin in Russia on assignment from the Crown. But it soon becomes clear that Colin isn’t the only one with work to do. When the dead ballerina’s aristocratic lover comes begging for justice, Emily must apply her own set of skills to discover the rising star’s murderer. Reviewed by Kate Ayers.
- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to read a blog post from Tasha Alexander about the inspiration behind the book.
Click here to read the review.
Bookreporter.com Blog Post:
"The Real-Life Story Behind the Sam Blackman
Mystery Series" by Mark de Castrique
Mark de Castrique is the author of a mystery series featuring Asheville, NC, private eyes Sam Blackman and Nakayla Robertson, an interracial couple and co-owners of the Blackman and Robertson Detective Agency. In this piece, de Castrique explains how a story told to him by a 90-year-old man served as inspiration for BLACKMAN’S COFFIN, the opening novel in the series, and the significance of the William Faulkner quote “The Past is never dead. It’s not even past” in relation to the sixth and latest installment, HIDDEN SCARS, which sees Sam and Nakayla enmeshed in the history of the revolutionary Black Mountain College, which was founded in 1933 and attracted world-renowned educators fleeing Nazi Germany.
HIDDEN SCARS: A Sam Blackman Mystery by Mark de Castrique (Mystery)
When Asheville, NC, private eyes Sam Blackman and Nakayla Robertson are asked by an 80-year-old client to investigate the suspicious death of her brother, they warn her there is little chance of success. Paul Weaver died nearly 70 years earlier. The only documentation she has is the sole surviving copy of a coroner's report stating his death was caused by an accidental fall while hiking. There's a red flag: local son Weaver knew every inch of the mountain trails. The returning World War II veteran had enrolled at Black Mountain College, which is currently being portrayed in a film being shot on the site of its former location. The plot is based on a book by a local author. The research behind both may provide a lead in the Weaver case.
- Click here to read more about the book.
Click here to read Mark de Castrique’s blog post
about the Sam Blackman mystery series.
Bookreporter.com's Fall Preview Contests and Feature
Fall is known as the biggest season of the year for books. The titles that release during this latter part of the year often become holiday gifts, and many are blockbusters. To celebrate the arrival of fall, we are spotlighting a number of outstanding books that we know people will be talking about in the days and months to come.
We are hosting a series of 24-hour contests for these titles on select days in September and October, 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, October 16th at noon ET.
This year's featured titles are:
Click here to read all the contest details
and learn more about our featured titles.
KILLING ENGLAND: The Brutal Struggle for American Independence by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard (History)
Audiobook available, read by Robert Petkoff
Told through the eyes of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and Great Britain’s King George III, KILLING ENGLAND --- which transports readers to the Revolutionary War --- chronicles the path to independence, taking the reader from the battlefields of America to the royal courts of Europe. What started as protest and unrest in the colonies soon escalated to a world war with devastating casualties. Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard recreate the war’s landmark battles, including Bunker Hill, Long Island, Saratoga and Yorktown, revealing the savagery of hand-to-hand combat and the often brutal conditions under which these brave American soldiers lived and fought. Reviewed by Judy Gigstad.
CHILDREN OF THE FLEET by Orson Scott Card (Science Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Stefan Rudnicki and a full cast
Ender Wiggin won the Third Formic war, ending the alien threat to Earth. Afterwards, all the terraformed Formic worlds were open to settlement by humans, and the International Fleet became the arm of the Ministry of Colonization, run by Hirum Graff. MinCol now runs Fleet School on the old Battle School station, and still recruits very smart kids to train as leaders of colony ships, and colonies. Dabeet Ochoa is a very smart kid. Top of his class in every school. But he doesn’t think he has a chance at Fleet School, because he has no connections to the Fleet. That he knows of. At least until the day that Colonel Graff arrives at his school for an interview. Reviewed by Stephen Hubbard.
THE YEAR OF THE PITCHER: Bob Gibson, Denny McLain, and the End of Baseball's Golden Age by Sridhar Pappu (Sports/History)
In 1968, two remarkable pitchers would dominate the game as well as the broadsheets. One was black, the other white. Bob Gibson, together with the St. Louis Cardinals, embodied an entire generation's hope for integration at a heated moment in American history. Denny McLain, his adversary, was a crass self-promoter who eschewed the team charter and his Detroit Tigers teammates to zip cross-country in his own plane. For one season, the nation watched as these two men and their teams swept their respective league championships to meet at the World Series. Reviewed by Ron Kaplan.
QUARRY’S CLIMAX by Max Allan Collins (Hard-boiled Mystery)
Memphis, 1975. “Raunchy” doesn’t begin to describe Max Climer’s magazine, Climax, or his all-hours strip club, or his planned video empire. And evangelists, feminists and local watchdog groups all want him out of business. But someone wants more than that, and has hired a killer to end Max’s career permanently. Only another hit man --- the ruthless professional known as Quarry, star of the acclaimed series on Cinemax --- can keep Climer from becoming a casualty in the Sexual Revolution. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
WHAT WE RECKON by Eryk Pruitt (Hard-boiled Mystery/Humor)
Jack Jordan is a smooth-talking con artist with a penchant for the fast life. He has snuck into Lufkin, Texas, in the dead of night with little more than a beat-up Honda, a hollowed-out King James Bible full of cocaine, and enough emotional baggage to sink a steam ship. Summer Ashton is his partner-in-crime, but lately her mind has begun to slip. They’ve told their fair share of lies, and she’s having a devil of a time remembering what’s the truth. And recently, she’s been hearing voices. Unfortunately for both of them, she’s the brains of the operation. Furthermore, they have begun to tire of one another. For these two career grifters, the sleepy East Texas countryside is but another pit stop on their rampage across the American South. Will it be their last? Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
FEAR by Dirk Kurbjuweit (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available, performed by John Glouchevitch
Randolph Tiefenthaler insists he had a normal childhood, though he grew up with a father who kept 30 loaded guns in the house. A modestly successful architect with a wonderful family and a beautiful home, he soon finds his life compromised when his father, a man Randolph loves yet has always feared, is imprisoned for murder. FEAR is the story of the twisted events leading up to his father’s incarceration. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
AN ALCHEMY OF MASQUES AND MIRRORS by Curtis Craddock (Historical Fantasy)
Audiobook available, read by Erin Bennett
In a world of soaring continents and bottomless skies, where a burgeoning new science lifts skyships into the cloud-strewn heights, and ancient blood-borne sorceries cling to a fading glory, Princess Isabelle des Zephyrs is about to be married to a man she has barely heard of, the second son of a dying king in an empire collapsing into civil war. Born without the sorcery that is her birthright but with a perspicacious intellect, Isabelle believes her marriage will stave off disastrous conflict and bring her opportunity and influence. But the last two women betrothed to this prince were murdered, and a sorcerer-assassin is bent on making Isabelle the third. Reviewed by Carly Silver.
Next Week’s Notables:
Noteworthy Books Releasing on October 17th
Below are some notable titles releasing on October 17th 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 16th, see our “On Sale This Week” newsletter here.
DEEP FREEZE: A Virgil Flowers Novel by John Sandford (Mystery/Thriller)
A few years ago, Virgil Flowers investigated Trippton, Minnesota’s corrupt local school board, and now the town is back in view with more alarming news: A woman has been found dead, frozen in a block of ice. There’s a possibility that it might be connected to a high school class of 20 years ago that has a mid-winter reunion coming up, so Virgil begins to dig into 20 years’ worth of traumas, feuds and bad blood.
ENDURANCE: A Year in Space, a Lifetime of Discovery by Scott Kelly (Memoir)
The veteran of four spaceflights and the American record holder for consecutive days spent in space, Scott Kelly has experienced things very few have. Now, he takes us inside a sphere utterly hostile to human life. He describes navigating the extreme challenge of long-term spaceflight: the devastating effects on the body; the isolation from everyone he loves and the comforts of Earth; the catastrophic risks of colliding with space junk; and the still more haunting threat of being unable to help should tragedy strike at home.
IT DEVOURS!: A Welcome to Night Vale Novel by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor (Mystery)
Nilanjana Sikdar is an outsider to the town of Night Vale. Working for Carlos, the town’s top scientist, she relies on fact and logic as her guiding principles. But all of that is put into question when Carlos gives her a special assignment investigating a mysterious rumbling in the desert wasteland outside of town. This investigation leads her to the Joyous Congregation of the Smiling God, and to Darryl, one of its most committed members.
KILLING SEASON by Faye Kellerman (Mystery/Thriller)
Four years ago, 15-year-old Ellen Vicksburg went missing. Her younger brother, Ben, could imagine nothing worse than never knowing what happened to her until, on the first anniversary of her death, he found her body in a shallow grave by the river’s edge. Ben, now 16, is committed to finding the monster who abducted and strangled Ellen.
THE LAST MRS. PARRISH by Liv Constantine (Psychological Thriller)
Amber Patterson is tired of being a nobody. She deserves more --- a life of money and power like the one blond-haired, blue-eyed goddess Daphne Parrish takes for granted. To everyone in the exclusive town of Bishops Harbor, Connecticut, Daphne and her real-estate mogul husband, Jackson, are a couple straight out of a fairy tale. Amber uses Daphne’s compassion and caring to insinuate herself into the family’s life --- the first step in a meticulous scheme to undermine her.
LEONARDO DA VINCI by Walter Isaacson (Biography)
Based on thousands of pages from Leonardo da Vinci’s astonishing notebooks and new discoveries about his life and work, Walter Isaacson weaves a narrative that connects his art to his science. He shows how Leonardo’s genius was based on skills we can improve in ourselves, such as passionate curiosity, careful observation, and an imagination so playful that it flirted with fantasy.
SMILE by Roddy Doyle (Fiction)
While at Donnelly’s for his usual pint, Victor Forde is approached by a man who seems to remember him from secondary school. Victor dislikes him on sight, and also dislikes the memories that Fitzpatrick stirs up of five years being taught by the Christian Brothers. It’s these memories, and of one particular brother, that Victor cannot control and that eventually threaten to destroy his sanity.
UNCOMMON TYPE: Some Stories by Tom Hanks (Fiction/Short Stories)
A gentle Eastern European immigrant arrives in New York City after his family and his life have been torn apart by his country's civil war. A man who loves to bowl rolls a perfect game --- and then another and then another and then many more in a row until he winds up ESPN's newest celebrity, and he must decide if the combination of perfection and celebrity has ruined the thing he loves. These are just some of the tales that Tom Hanks tells in this first collection of his short stories.
WHERE THE PAST BEGINS: A Writer's Memoir by Amy Tan (Memoir)
By delving into vivid memories of her traumatic childhood, confessions of self-doubt in her journals, and heartbreaking letters to and from her mother, Amy Tan gives evidence to all that made it both unlikely and inevitable that she would become a writer. She explores shocking truths uncovered by family memorabilia, and, for the first time publicly, writes about her complex relationship with her father, who died when she was 15.
Click here to see the latest "On Sale This Week" newsletter.
Our Latest Poll: October Fiction Releases to Anticipate
Which fiction titles releasing in October are you planning to read? Please check all that apply.
-
THE DEAL OF A LIFETIME by Fredrik Backman
-
DEEP FREEZE: A Virgil Flowers Novel, by John Sandford
-
EVEN IF IT KILLS HER: A Bailey Weggins Mystery, by Kate White
-
HIDDENSEE: A Tale of the Once and Future Nutcracker, by Gregory Maguire
-
IN THE MIDST OF WINTER by Isabel Allende
-
KILLING SEASON by Faye Kellerman
-
THE LAST MRS. PARRISH by Liv Constantine
-
MANHATTAN BEACH by Jennifer Egan
-
MERRY AND BRIGHT by Debbie Macomber
-
MIND GAME by Iris Johansen
-
ORIGIN by Dan Brown
-
PARTING SHOT by Linwood Barclay
-
QUICK & DIRTY: A Stone Barrington Novel, by Stuart Woods
-
THE RELIVE BOX AND OTHER STORIES by T.C. Boyle
-
THE ROOSTER BAR by John Grisham
-
THE RULES OF MAGIC by Alice Hoffman
-
STRANGE WEATHER: Four Short Novels, by Joe Hill
-
TWO KINDS OF TRUTH: A Bosch Novel, by Michael Connelly
-
UNCOMMON TYPE: Some Stories, by Tom Hanks
-
WINTER SOLSTICE by Elin Hilderbrand
-
None of the above
Click here to vote in the poll by Friday, October 20th at noon ET.
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 October 6th to October 20th at noon ET, three lucky readers each will be randomly chosen to win a copy of THE RULES OF MAGIC by Alice Hoffman and UNCOMMON TYPE: Some Stories by Tom Hanks.
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 October 2nd to November 1st at noon ET, two lucky readers each will be randomly chosen to win the audio versions of Dan Brown's ORIGIN, read by Paul Michael, and John Grisham's THE ROOSTER BAR, read by Ari Fliakos.
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.
|
