October 12, 2018
 October 12, 2018Quick Links to Features on Bookreporter.com Reviews | Features | Bookreporter.com Bets On | Upcoming Bets On     Book Events and a Cookbook That I Read Like a NovelWhen we left off last weekend, Greg and I were headed to Lisa Scottoline’s Big Book Club Party at her farm in Pennsylvania. This is the 13th year that she and her daughter, Francesca Serritella, have run this event. Wow, what a day! So much happened there that I wrote a blog about it, which you can read here. I tell you, it was one of the most fun days that I have had in the 22 years since I started the company. You can see a photo of Greg and me with Lisa and Francesca above. While there, I was so happy to meet Jean Herbranson (pictured with me above), who is one of our readers. She saw me mention in the newsletter last week that I was going and found me. Wearing turquoise and being with Greg, who was one of the few men at the party, were some very big clues. Jean is in a book group that meets every Sunday at her church. They typically read and discuss 100-125 pages every week. During the summer, they meet once a month and read complete books. Right now, they are reading THE LAKE HOUSE by Kate Morton at this measured pace, and A COLUMN OF FIRE by Ken Follett is coming up. What a great way to discuss a book. 100-125 pages does not feel like a lot of pressure! I am so glad we got to meet. Besides Lisa throwing one amazing party to thank book clubs, it was a great day for just enjoying conversations with readers. I got my hands on the latest cookbook from Yotam Ottolenghi this week, SIMPLE, which will be in stores on Tuesday. I am a huge fan of his style of cooking. I think I make something from one of his cookbooks every week. I often wish that the recipes were a tad simpler, and this book makes the grade. SIMPLE stands for the following: S = short on time; I = 10 ingredients or less; M = make ahead; P = pantry; L = lazy; and E = easier than you think. It has 130 recipes in a more simple manner than those found in his other cookbooks, but they still are infused with his special cooking style. This weekend, I already have earmarked a number of recipes to try on Saturday and Sunday. I was up past midnight on Tuesday night reading this book like a novel. Last weekend, I found this recipe online for a Burrata with Char-Grilled Grapes from SIMPLE. Everyone loved it. This weekend, I definitely am making the Roasted Tomatoes and Greek Yogurt dish that you see on the cover, as well as a Fig and Thyme Clafoutis. Oh, and I already picked up some delicata squash, which is in season in the fall, to make this dish from one of his other books. The Morristown Festival of Books kicks off tonight with the keynote presenter, John Kerry, who is being interviewed by Ann Curry. I am excited about the entire lineup tomorrow. In addition to my interviews with the aforementioned Kate Morton and Diane Chamberlain, as well as Fiona Davis and Kate Quinn, I am looking forward to seeing William Kent Krueger, A. J. Finn and Megan Abbott, plus many others. One author asked me to join her for lunch, but there are so many panels that I want to attend that I think lunch will have to happen in New York. I am so happy that we have a terrific book festival so close to home, and thrilled that they have asked me to be a part of it. Also this weekend are the Boston Book Festival and the Brattleboro Literary Festival. What a great weekend for readers! Two hours of commuting each way yesterday (which, yes, was such a drag) = four hours of listening to Markus Zusak's BRIDGE OF CLAY, which is also narrated by him. It is such a treat to have Markus read this story aloud with his Australian accent as I sat in stop-and-go traffic. The storytelling is very unusual in this book; I am enjoying it told with his measured cadence. It is 14 ½ hours long; with traffic like this, I should know how it ends by midweek next week! I started reading the print version (which we review this week), but I find myself much more interested listening to the audio. You can tell he is passionate about this story, so the audio narrated by him is all the more special. Click here to listen to an excerpt from the audiobook, and you'll see what I mean. I finished listening to DRY by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman earlier this week; it is very well done. It made me give a lot of thought to both water shortages and the anarchy that could happen when people are deprived of basics like water, which they expect to run freely. We have had so much rain in the Northeast, while Lisa See wrote the other day that in Southern California, where she lives, they have had 4½ inches all year. I think we had that Saturday night! People joke that in the New York metro area, we feel like we are living in either London or Seattle. Now to this week’s update, where we have THREE New Release Spotlights to share with you. First up is NOVEMBER ROAD by Lou Berney (the Edgar Award-winning author of THE LONG AND FARAWAY GONE), which I raved about in a previous newsletter and will be a Bets On pick. Frank Guidry is a loyal street lieutenant to New Orleans’ mob boss, Carlos Marcello, and knows too much about the JFK assassination. Within hours of the murder, everyone with ties to Marcello is turning up dead, and Guidry suspects he’s next. With few good options, he hits the road to Las Vegas, to see an old associate --- a dangerous man who hates Marcello enough to help Guidry vanish. When Guidry sees a beautiful housewife on the side of the road with a broken-down car, two little daughters and a dog in the back seat, he sees the perfect disguise to cover his tracks from the hit men on his tail. Joe Hartlaub has our review and says, “I predict that you will not forget NOVEMBER ROAD any time soon. Informed in part by Berney’s own background, it is presented as fiction but is truer than many books you will read this year. Beautifully written with unrelenting toughness and possessing a pitch-perfect plot, the novel is part Elmore Leonard and part Charles Dickens, but all Lou Berney.” Don’t miss my Bets On commentary in next week’s newsletter. Our next New Release Spotlight title is Kate Morton's latest novel, THE CLOCKMAKER’S DAUGHTER. In the summer of 1862, a group of young artists visits Birchwood Manor in rural Oxfordshire. By the time their stay is over, one woman has been shot dead while another has disappeared; a priceless heirloom is missing; and Edward Radcliffe's life is in ruins. Over 150 years later, Elodie Winslow, a young archivist in London, uncovers a leather satchel with two seemingly unrelated items in it: a photograph of a woman in Victorian clothing, and an artist's sketchbook containing the drawing of a twin-gabled house on the bend of a river. Why does Birchwood Manor feel so familiar to Elodie? And who is the beautiful woman in the photograph? We look forward to sharing our review of THE CLOCKMAKER’S DAUGHTER with you in two weeks. In the meantime, we added a discussion guide for the book on ReadingGroupGuides.com, which you can check out here. Next week, I will share what Kate and I talked about in Morristown this weekend. We also are featuring KICK-ASS KINDA GIRL on ReadingGroupGuides.com. Click here for the guide; it is sure to generate some lively and interesting discussions among book groups. We gave away THE CLOCKMAKER’S DAUGHTER and KICK-ASS KINDA GIRL in this week’s Fall Preview contests. This year’s giveaways wrap up next week with our final four prize books: THE DREAMERS by Karen Thompson Walker, THE KINSHIP OF SECRETS by Eugenia Kim, KITCHEN YARNS: Notes on Life, Love, and Food by Ann Hood, and SHE LIES IN WAIT by Gytha Lodge. The first contest of the week will be up on Monday, October 15th at noon ET. Please keep in mind that there’s still time to enter our latest Sneak Peek contest, which we announced in last week’s newsletter. We’re giving away early copies of THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM by Marie Benedict, which releases on January 15th. While Marie’s previous novels focused on Albert Einstein’s wife (THE OTHER EINSTEIN) and Andrew Carnegie’s housemaid (CARNEGIE’S MAID), this time, Marie turns her attention to screen star Hedy Lamarr, who you may not know was also a scientist whose groundbreaking invention revolutionized modern communication. We have 35 advance copies of THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM to give away to readers who can commit to previewing the book and giving us their feedback on it by Wednesday, December 12th. To enter, please fill out this form by Thursday, October 18th at noon ET. BECOMING MRS. LEWIS by Patti Callahan and THE DREAM DAUGHTER by Diane Chamberlain, both of which we reviewed last week, are my latest Bets On picks. Click on each of the titles to see why I’m betting you’ll love these books. Our latest poll continues to ask how long it takes you to start reading a book that you’ve gotten for free in a contest, giveaway or other program (not from a library). Click here to let us know what you typically do. We’re awarding the audio versions of the aforementioned THE NEXT PERSON YOU MEET IN HEAVEN (read by Mitch Albom himself), along with UNSHELTERED, written and read by Barbara Kingsolver, in this month’s Sounding Off on Audio contest. Submit your comments about the audiobooks you’ve listened to, and you’ll be in the running to win both these audio titles. Please do so by Thursday, November 1st at noon ET. EVERY BREATH by Nicholas Sparks and the aforementioned WINTER IN PARADISE by Elin Hilderbrand are our current Word of Mouth prize titles. Let us know by Friday, October 19th at noon ET what books you’ve read, and you’ll have a chance to win both these novels. Speaking of which, Laurie Frankel’s novel, THIS IS HOW IT ALWAYS IS, is Reese Witherspoon’s latest book club pick. Here’s what Reese had to say about it: “Every once in a while, I read a book that opens my eyes in a way I never expected. This is why I’m so excited to share my October pick: THIS IS HOW IT ALWAYS IS by Laurie Frankel. It’s a book about family: childhood, parenthood, and the sometimes-heartbreaking decisions that come with it. As a mother, this story absolutely tore at my heartstrings. I can’t wait for you to read it!” Click here for our review and here for the discussion guide. A couple of weeks ago, we asked you for book recommendations for a book club of men…and wow, you certainly responded! Here’s a blog with your suggestions. Many thanks to all of you who shared your ideas. I will be passing these along to the publishing colleague who asked for recommendations for her dad. Next up, we are looking for suggestions for people starting a new book group. What would you recommend that they read first? Write me at Carol@bookreporter.com with the subject line ”New Book Group.” The shortlists for the 2018 National Book Awards have been announced in the categories of Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Translated Literature, and Young People’s Literature. The winners will be announced on November 14th. I was especially happy to see that HEARTLAND by Sarah Smarsh made the cut; we featured our review here and the discussion guide on ReadingGroupGuides.com, and I made the audiobook a Bets On pick. News & Pop Culture Reader Mail: Linda in Conway, SC, wrote, “A note of thanks for sending me a prize book: THE STOLEN MARRIAGE by Diane Chamberlain. Living in Conway, SC, I was housebound for a week due to Florence because of flooded roads. This book was a much-needed source of entertainment. This historical novel combines the story of a young woman who makes a big mistake and how she overcomes it with the true history of the heroic polio hospital built in 1944 in Hickory, NC. Bookreporter is a big source for recommended books that I wouldn't otherwise read.” John Green: Terrific piece about him on "60 Minutes" on Sunday night. Paul Simon: Turns 77 Saturday and is celebrating by being the musical guest on "Saturday Night Live." Musicians rarely sound good on SNL, but I am holding good thoughts for this show. "Making a Murderer": Part Two kicks off on Netflix on the 19th. Here’s a trailer. "Ozark" on Netflix: I finished Season Two, which is somewhere between terrific and completely creepy. Just heard it was renewed for season three, so hold on for that. "Young Sheldon" and "The Good Doctor": Enjoying their new seasons. While the temps did not drop all week, I see night temps of the 40s and 30s on the horizon. Alas, it’s time to close the pool. I did pool floating/reading last Sunday to snag one more day. This morning, I was outside at 7:00 bringing in the house plants that had been summering on the patio before they get smacked with cool air. Usually I have to water them thoroughly before I bring them in. This year, that has been taken care of! I am lobbying for a hot tub! Beyond the book festival for me, no one else around here has any big plans. My parents are meeting me there; I love that they come to my events! There are still a few tickets remaining for Book Club Girls' Night Out, which will take place on Wednesday, October 17th at 6:30pm at the HarperCollins offices in New York City. I will be interviewing Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig and Karen White (known as Team W) about their latest collaborative novel, THE GLASS OCEAN, which was a recent Bets On pick. If you’d like to attend, click here for all the details and to reserve your seats. Do so now before it’s too late. If you are there that night, please introduce yourself to me! To those of you who have been in the path of Hurricane Michael, we are holding good thoughts for you. The news stories about the destruction are chilling and widespread. My friend Jamie, who owns Downtown Books in Manteo, NC, shared photos this morning of unexpected flooding there. She is diligent about prepping for storms and has a whole plan in place, but this time she was caught off guard as the predictions were not right. It is so upsetting to see this, since she has been so diligent about prep through the years. I will be back next week with photos from Morristown! 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: THE NEXT PERSON  THE NEXT PERSON YOU MEET IN HEAVEN by Mitch Albom (Fiction) Click here to read the review. Featured Review: THE WITCH ELM by Tana French  THE WITCH ELM by Tana French (Thriller) - Click here to read more about the book. Click here to read the review. Featured Review: WINTER IN PARADISE  WINTER IN PARADISE by Elin Hilderbrand (Fiction) Click here to read the review.  New Release Spotlight:  THE CLOCKMAKER'S DAUGHTER by Kate Morton (Historical Fiction) Over 150 years later, Elodie Winslow, a young archivist in London, uncovers a leather satchel containing two seemingly unrelated items: a sepia photograph of an arresting-looking woman in Victorian clothing, and an artist’s sketchbook containing the drawing of a twin-gabled house on the bend of a river. Why does Birchwood Manor feel so familiar to Elodie? And who is the beautiful woman in the photograph? Will she ever give up her secrets? - Click here to read an excerpt. Click here to read more in our New Release Spotlight.  New Release Spotlight: NOVEMBER ROAD by Lou Berney  NOVEMBER ROAD by Lou Berney (Historical Thriller) Frank Guidry’s luck has finally run out. A loyal street lieutenant to New Orleans’ mob boss Carlos Marcello, Guidry has learned that everybody is expendable. But now it’s his turn --- he knows too much about the crime of the century: the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Within hours of JFK’s murder, everyone with ties to Marcello is turning up dead, and Guidry suspects he’s next: he was in Dallas on an errand for the boss less than two weeks before the president was shot. With few good options, Guidry hits the road to Las Vegas, to see an old associate --- a dangerous man who hates Marcello enough to help Guidry vanish. Guidry knows that the first rule of running is "don’t stop," but when he sees a beautiful housewife on the side of the road with a broken-down car, two little daughters and a dog in the back seat, he sees the perfect disguise to cover his tracks from the hit men on his tail. Posing as an insurance man, Guidry offers to help Charlotte reach her destination: California. If she accompanies him to Vegas, he can help her get a new car. For her, it’s more than a car --- it’s an escape. She’s on the run too, from a stifling existence in small-town Oklahoma and a kindly husband who’s a hopeless drunk. It’s an American story: two strangers meet to share the open road west, a dream, a hope --- and find each other on the way. Charlotte sees that he’s strong and kind; Guidry discovers that she’s smart and funny. He learns that’s she determined to give herself and her kids a new life; she can’t know that he’s desperate to leave his old one behind. Another rule --- fugitives shouldn’t fall in love, especially with each other. A road isn’t just a road, it’s a trail, and Guidry’s ruthless and relentless hunters are closing in on him. But now Guidry doesn’t want to just survive, he wants to really live, maybe for the first time. Everyone’s expendable, or they should be, but now Guidry just can’t throw away the woman he’s come to love. And it might get them both killed. - Click here to read a review. Click here to read more in our New Release Spotlight. NOVEMBER ROAD will be a Bookreporter.com Bets On pick.  New Release Spotlight:  KICK-ASS KINDA GIRL: A Memoir of Life, Love, and Caregiving by Kathi Koll (Memoir) From childhood, Kathi's life might have seemed idyllic: play dates with Lucie Arnaz, real dates with a future TV idol, and a big brother engaged to film star Dolores Hart. But behind the scenes, her role as a caregiver began early with a mother dying of cancer, a father battling alcoholism, and both of her older brothers fighting debilitating diseases. But then Kathi found Don Koll --- her "knight." Like living a movie script, together Don and Kathi built a life of adventure traveling to far off lands at the behest of royalty, surviving a carjacking, and cracking jokes with the president. Their joie de vivre made everything feel possible until Don woke up "locked in" after his catastrophic stroke. With unflinching honesty and humor, Kathi shares the realities of a life in uncharted territory as a full-time caregiver, from the challenges of turning her home into a mobile hospital to the complications of intimacy. Her ability to share sorrows while laughing at herself helped her find a "New Normal" where she and Don could live each day to its fullest. This is a powerfully moving look at what it takes to carry oneself through the worst of circumstances and an uplifting tale of resilience that will help others facing the challenges of caring for their loved ones to never lose hope for tomorrow. - Click here to read an excerpt. Click here to read more in our New Release Spotlight.  Sneak Peek Contest: Enter to Win an Advance Copy of THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM by Marie Benedict  Our latest Sneak Peek Feature spotlights THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM by Marie Benedict, a powerful novel based on the incredible true story of Hedy Lamarr, the glamour icon and scientist whose groundbreaking invention revolutionized modern communication. The book doesn’t release until January 15th, but we have 35 advance copies to give away to readers who can commit to previewing it and sharing their comments on it by Wednesday, December 12th. To enter, please fill out this form by Thursday, October 18th at noon ET. For our Sneak Peek program, your commitment to participate is critical, so please only enter this contest if you truly will have time to read THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM and give us your feedback by the December 12th deadline. THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM by Marie Benedict (Historical Fiction) She lands in Hollywood, where she becomes Hedy Lamarr, screen star. But Hedy is keeping a secret even more shocking than her Jewish heritage: she is a scientist. She has an idea that might help the country and that might ease her guilt for escaping alone --- if anyone will listen to her. A powerful novel based on the incredible true story of the glamour icon and scientist whose groundbreaking invention revolutionized modern communication, THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM is a masterpiece. - Click here to read an excerpt. Click here to enter the contest.  Bookreporter.com Bets On:   BECOMING MRS. LEWIS by Patti Callahan (Historical Fiction) When we first meet Joy, she is a wife, a mother and a writer. She struggles with the burden of an uncaring husband who is an alcoholic and whose moods are often dark. He, too, is a writer, but he struggles with his work. The boys are active, and Joy is pulled in many directions. She begins a correspondence with Lewis, questioning her faith and her life. In frail health, she takes a break from her domestic world and travels abroad to, among other things, meet Lewis for the first time. Their conversations are friendly yet professional; he keeps his distance, but clearly there is a connection between them with their writing and their spirited discussions. She loves his mind; he embraces her spirit of life and her questioning of it. - Click here to read more about the book. Click here for more of Carol's commentary on BECOMING MRS. LEWIS.
It opens in 1970. Carly Sears is a young pregnant widow who is living with her sister and brother-in-law on the Outer Banks of North Carolina in Nags Head. Her husband was in Vietnam. At a routine doctor's appointment, Carly learns that she is carrying a daughter with a heart problem. Her brother-in-law, a brilliant physicist, is familiar with technology that can help her baby receive the in vitro surgery that she needs to survive. He actually has lived life in the future. What happens and what intervenes along the way will give readers a lot to think about. - Click here to read more about the book. Click here for more of Carol's commentary on THE DREAM DAUGHTER.  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 15th at noon ET. This year's featured titles are:
Click here to read all the contest details    More Reviews This WeekAMBUSH: A Detective Michael Bennett Thriller by James Patterson and James O. Born (Thriller) BRIDGE OF CLAY by Markus Zusak (Fiction) - Click here to listen to an excerpt from the audiobook. INVISIBLE: The Forgotten Story of the Black Woman Lawyer Who Took Down America's Most Powerful Mobster by Stephen L. Carter (Biography) ALL YOU CAN EVER KNOW: A Memoir by Nicole Chung (Memoir) DRACUL by Dacre Stoker and J. D. Barker (Supernatural Thriller/Gothic Horror) WHITE DANCING ELEPHANTS: Stories by Chaya Bhuvaneswar (Fiction/Short Stories) - Click here to read an excerpt. THE DIARY OF A BOOKSELLER by Shaun Bythell (Memoir) BRIGHT RUIN by Vic James (Dystopian Fantasy) MOVING TARGETS: A Cal Claxton Oregon Mystery by Warren C. Easley (Mystery)   
Next Week's Notables:
|
