December 7, 2018
 December 7, 2018Quick Links to Features on Bookreporter.com Reviews | Features | Bookreporter.com Bets On | Upcoming Bets On    Looking Ahead: Three Upcoming Bets On Selections  This pay phone in New York City allows you to make a four-minute call to anywhere in the world for $1. Today I Hang Another One on the Line!Yep, today is my birthday --- and as I hang another one on the line, I’m still having a good time. Friday birthdays mean a three-day weekend of celebrating, though I also am very good with a seven-day celebration! We are planning dinner out tonight. There will be holiday events for the weekend, including the luminary event in our neighborhood where we all light up candles in front of our homes, which makes for a festive look to the area, and then we are on to a fun party. Every year when we put holiday decorations away, I strive to put them where I will easily find them. Strive is a big word in that sentence; for me, all too often the opposite happens, which is fail. Every year the candles for the windows become a production. First, we manage never to put them in the right place, probably because I insist on keeping them up until February, thus they are not with other Christmas ornaments. Then, when we go to put them in the windows, bulbs always seem to be burned out. There is also the issue of extension cords and timers; they somehow get displaced during the other 11 months. I delegated this to Tom and Cory, so I am not sure if we have this task done yet! Each year I buy amaryllis bulbs in late October, and in early December I plant them to give as gifts. I had the bulbs in a box in the kitchen, and over Thanksgiving I put them in a place where I knew I would find them. Or so I thought. Tom and I searched all over the house for them on Sunday; I texted the cleaning lady to see if she had thrown them out by accident, but she had not. I had bought a large portion of the store’s inventory, and five weeks later there would not be enough for me to give. On Sunday afternoon, we headed to bring a neighbor some birthday flowers, and as we walked past my car, I said, “I know where they are. The trunk of my car.” My thought was that we would go grocery shopping after Thanksgiving, and when I put the groceries in the trunk, I would see the bulbs. It would have worked if we had bought enough food to have to use the trunk. I clearly need to make better notes. I still am not back on the mat as my injury continues to have me out for the count, which means there is no way I will finish the yoga challenge, but I am happy to report that reading has not been impacted. In fact, I have been reading up a storm. Drum roll please... As always, I am THRILLED to announce the start of our End-of-the-Year Contest, which we’ve brought back for an eighth time! One very lucky Grand Prize winner will be awarded all 45 of my Bets On picks from this year, while nine other winners will receive a selection of five of these titles. (Note: Nicole was very happy that my reading totaled something easy to divide into nine prizes; I never even count up until December!) Among the books you can win are THE GREAT ALONE by Kristin Hannah, NOVEMBER ROAD by Lou Berney, THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW by A. J. Finn, and EVERY NOTE PLAYED by Lisa Genova. To enter, please fill out this form by Monday, January 7th at noon ET. My final two Bets On picks of the year (which you will have a chance to win in the contest) are THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE OF SAM HELL by Robert Dugoni and the audio version of THE LIBRARY BOOK, which is written and narrated by Susan Orlean. Click on each of the titles for my commentary. Our Mystery Mayhem Author Spotlight wraps up this week with our review of ONCE UPON A RIVER and our interview with its author, Diane Setterfield. On a dark midwinter’s night in an ancient inn on the river Thames, an extraordinary event takes place. While the regulars tell stories to pass the time away, a seriously wounded stranger bursts through the door. In his arms is the lifeless body of a small child. Hours later, the girl stirs, takes a breath and returns to life. Is it a miracle? Is it magic? Or can science provide an explanation? These questions have many answers, some of which are quite dark. Those who dwell on the river bank apply all their ingenuity to solving the puzzle of the girl who died and lived again, but the mystery only deepens as the days pass by. Our own Rebecca Munro has some wonderful things to say about ONCE UPON A RIVER in her review. Here’s a preview: "Genre-bending, mysterious and lusciously written, ONCE UPON A RIVER is that rare sort of story that feels immediately familiar yet is full of secrets waiting to be revealed. Setterfield combines folklore, fairy tales and her own peculiar brand of mystery to create something entirely new --- a book that defies labels while still possessing all of the elements that immediately invite readers in and make them feel at home." Rebecca also had the opportunity to ask Diane some questions about the book; click here for their conversation. And don’t miss the discussion guide for the book, which we posted this week on ReadingGroupGuides.com. The audio editions of ONCE UPON A RIVER (read by Juliet Stevenson) and WATCHING YOU (read by Gabrielle Glaister) are this month’s Sounding Off on Audio prize books. Submit your comments about the audiobooks you’ve listened to by Wednesday, January 2nd at noon ET for your chance to win both these audio titles. Other books we’re reviewing this week include KITCHEN YARNS, a collection of 27 heartfelt essays from Ann Hood, who tracks her lifelong journey in the kitchen; CHURCHILL, Andrew Roberts’ landmark biography of Winston Churchill, which is based on extensive new material (including transcripts of War Cabinet meetings, diaries, letters and unpublished memoirs from Churchill's contemporaries); and HAZARDS OF TIME TRAVEL by Joyce Carol Oates, a dystopian novel of one young woman’s resistance against the constraints of an oppressive society. I am so happy to share that our Holiday Author Blogs are back for an 11th year! Once again we’re excited to hear from a number of authors about their favorite bookish holiday memories. We launch this year’s series with Fiona Davis, who explains why setting is so important in her books and where the inspiration for her work originates. Her latest novel, THE MASTERPIECE, which released in August and is one of the books you can win in our Bets On contest, revolves around the little-known art school that was housed in New York City’s Grand Central Terminal from 1923 to 1944. Click here to read Fiona's wonderful essay. In this week’s Holiday Cheer contests, we gave away two books by Debbie Macomber --- ALASKAN HOLIDAY and COTTAGE BY THE SEA --- along with IN PIECES by Sally Field. Next week’s prizes will be BECOMING by Michelle Obama (which we reviewed last week) and IMAGINE HEAVEN DEVOTIONAL: 100 Reflections to Bring Heaven to Your Life Today by John Burke and Kathy Burke. The first contest of the week will go live on Monday, December 10th at noon ET. Our New in Paperback roundups are now available for December. We're featuring paperback reprints from such bestselling authors as Steve Berry (THE BISHOP’S PAWN), Robert Crais (THE WANTED: An Elvis Cole and Joe Pike Novel), and Danielle Steel (ACCIDENTAL HEROES); nonfiction titles, including THE NINE OF US: Growing Up Kennedy by Jean Kennedy Smith and WALLIS IN LOVE: The Untold Life of the Duchess of Windsor, the Woman Who Changed the Monarchy by Andrew Morton; and paperback originals like FINAL SHADOWS: A Bishop Files Novel by Kay Hooper, HUNTING ANNABELLE by Wendy Heard, and REVOLUTION SUNDAY by Wendy Guerra, the latter of which we’re reviewing this week. We’ve also updated our Books on Screen feature for this month. December's roundup includes the feature films If Beale Street Could Talk, Bird Box (which will stream on Netflix), Mary Poppins Returns and Back Roads; the conclusion of season one of "My Brilliant Friend" on HBO (it was announced this week that there will be a second season), along with the debut of the series "The Innocent Man"; and the DVD releases of Unbroken: Path to Redemption, Little Women and A Simple Favor. Let us know by Friday, December 14th at noon ET what books you’ve read, and you’ll be in the running to win our current Word of Mouth prize books: A CHRISTMAS REVELATION by Anne Perry (which we reviewed last week) and YOU DON'T OWN ME by Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke (which we’ll review next week). Our poll continues to ask if you use Goodreads and, if so, all the ways you interact with the site. Click here to let us know. We have a reason for asking! Speaking of Goodreads, this week they announced the winners of the 10th Annual Goodreads Choice Awards, the only major awards decided by readers. Click here to see the winners (and the nominees) in 21 different categories, including Mystery & Thriller, Historical Fiction, Memoir & Autobiography, History & Biography, and Food & Cookbooks. Have you been seeing Best Of Lists pop up everywhere? Next week we will have a roundup of them, perfectly timed for you to layer in some reading over the holidays. News & Pop Culture Reader Mail: I got this note from Sue: “I am so happy you're going to read Robert Dugoni's wonderful book, THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE OF SAM HELL. This is a different book for him, and he tells a beautiful story. He is also a writer who keeps in contact with his readers.” I loved seeing this note as I have known Bob since his first book was published. Sherri from Georgia wrote this about winning Diane Setterfield’s ONCE UPON A RIVER: “Awesome...I'm looking forward to receiving the book and reading it! Thanks!” "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel": It’s back for a second season. Last year, I baked cookies as I watched it. This year, I think I am going to watch much sooner. Like tonight after dinner. "Game of Thrones" Fans: This one is for you --- the new trailer. Note that much fanfare has been made about this trailer. The way I see it, we learn that fire meets ice, but please judge for yourselves. Maybe I missed something! Factoid about Me: I do not like chicken on the bone; I do like chicken cutlets. So last Sunday, I happily adapted this recipe from OTTOLENGHI SIMPLE to work for cutlets. I also had a craving to try something with preserved lemons. It met with raves, and I can see it in our winter rotation. Phone Booth: There are moments in the city when things just surprise me --- like the photo of the phone booth above that is in the subway station at 53rd and 7th. I never spotted it before, but learned that I can call anywhere in the world for four minutes for just $1. I can run there with Purell and call Greg the next time he is out of the country. Note the very short phone cord. Cory is off to Aruba on Sunday for a week with Son 2A, Son 2B and Sam. I love the way it works that my sons travel all the time, while Tom and I are here holding down the fort! We go to the airport a lot and yet never get on a plane! That will change shortly as I am starting to line up my 2019 events. I am happy to share that I will be at the Tucson Festival of Books moderating three panels on March 2nd and 3rd. For years, authors and readers have told me that I should experience this festival as it is so well done. If any of you plan to be there, please let me know. In late January, I will be in Albuquerque for the American Booksellers Association's Winter Institute. Any of you who live in Albuquerque, let me know and I will try to schedule time to meet up. For both of these events, there are connecting flights; I am thinking Houston for these, not Chicago, because it is winter. Read on, and have a great week. 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, perhaps as you do your holiday shopping!     Our Interview with Diane Setterfield  Diane Setterfield is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of THE THIRTEENTH TALE and BELLMAN & BLACK. Her third novel, ONCE UPON A RIVER, is about the wrenching disappearance of three little girls and the wide-reaching effect it has on their small town. In this interview, conducted by The Book Report Network’s Rebecca Munro, Setterfield explains her inspiration for this richly imagined storyline; the role that the river Thames plays as a plot driver, the effects of which are felt by each and every character; and the research she conducted that allowed her to immerse herself in the time period in which the book is set (towards the end of the 19th century) and what she learned during the process that surprised her. ONCE UPON A RIVER by Diane Setterfield (Historical Mystery) - Click here to read more about the book. Featured Review: KITCHEN YARNS by Ann Hood  KITCHEN YARNS: Notes on Life, Love, and Food by Ann Hood (Essays) - Click here to read more about the book. Click here to read the review.  New Special Contest: Enter to Win Our End-of-the-Year Celebration, Featuring All 45 "Bets On" Titles from 2018 We are thrilled to announce a very special contest featuring Carol Fitzgerald’s Bookreporter.com Bets On picks from 2018. One Grand Prize winner will be awarded all 45 books, while nine other winners will receive a selection of five of these titles. To enter, please fill out this form by Monday, January 7th at noon ET. Here are this year's Bookreporter.com Bets On titles:
Click here to enter the contest.  Bookreporter.com Bets On: THE LIBRARY BOOK Audiobook by Susan Orlean and THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE OF SAM HELL by Robert Dugoni   THE LIBRARY BOOK (Audiobook) written and read by Susan Orlean (Social History) - Click here to read more about the audiobook. Click here to read more of Carol’s commentary on THE LIBRARY BOOK.
- Click here to read more about the book. Click here to read more of Carol’s commentary on Bookreporter.com's Holiday Author Blogs: Authors Write About Their Favorite Holiday Memories  This week marks the return of our Holiday Author Blogs, which we’ve brought back for an 11th consecutive year. Over the next two weeks, we will feature a new blog post from an author each weekday talking about the books that he or she has given and/or received during the holidays. We kick off this year’s series with Fiona Davis, the nationally bestselling author of THE DOLLHOUSE and THE ADDRESS. In her latest novel, THE MASTERPIECE, she takes readers into the glamorous lost art school within Grand Central Terminal, where two very different women, 50 years apart, strive to make their mark on a world set against them. Setting plays a key role in Fiona’s books; before determining the plot or developing her characters, she chooses a location (specifically, an iconic New York building) and lets her research guide the story. In this first blog post of the holiday season, Fiona explains how THE SECRET GARDEN (which she received as a Christmas present one year) and The Rookeries (her grandmother’s house in England) have served as inspiration for her work. Still to come are contributions from T. Greenwood, Bonnie Kistler, John Lescroart, Lynda Cohen Loigman, Alex Michaelides, James Rollins, Whitney Scharer and Lisa Wingate. Click here to read Bookreporter.com's 2018 Holiday Author Blogs.  Bookreporter.com's Holiday Cheer Contests and Feature At Bookreporter.com, we are celebrating the holiday season in style with our Holiday Cheer Contests and Feature. As our gift to you, on select days through December 20th, we are spotlighting a book and giving five lucky readers the chance to win it. You have to visit the site each day to see the featured prize book and enter the 24-hour contest. As always, we are sending our special Holiday Cheer newsletter on the days when there are contests. Click here to sign up for these email alerts. Our next prize book will be announced on Monday, December 10th at noon ET. This year's featured titles are:
Click here to read all the contest details    December’s New in Paperback Roundups December's roundup of New in Paperback fiction titles includes THE BISHOP'S PAWN by Steve Berry, in which a young Cotton Malone happens upon an explosive secret about what really took place in Memphis the day that Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated; Robert Crais’ THE WANTED, which finds investigator Elvis Cole and his partner, Joe Pike, taking on the deadliest case of their lives; ACCIDENTAL HEROES, a heart-stopping thriller from Danielle Steel that engages ordinary men and women in the fight of their lives during a flight from New York to San Francisco; and ONE STATION AWAY, Olaf Olafsson's intimate yet sweeping story of a New York neurologist and the three women who change his life. Among our nonfiction highlights are THE NINE OF US by Jean Kennedy Smith, in which the last surviving child of Joe and Rose Kennedy offers an intimate and illuminating look at a time long ago when she and her siblings, guided by their parents, laughed and learned a great deal under one roof; WALLIS IN LOVE, Andrew Morton's captivating biography of Wallis Simpson, the notorious woman for whom Edward VIII gave up the throne; and Sam Wasson's IMPROV NATION, a richly reported, scene-driven narrative that charts the meteoric rise of improv from its unlikely beginnings in McCarthy-era Chicago. Find out what's New in Paperback for the weeks of    December’s Books on Screen Feature Here is a preview of this month's movies, TV shows and DVDs that are based on books. For a complete list of December’s offerings, please click here.
Back Roads If Beale Street Could Talk Mary Poppins Returns
"Nightflyers" (10-episode series) "The Innocent Man" Bird Box
Unbroken: Path to Redemption Little Women A Simple Favor An Interview with Jane Tesh,  Jane Tesh is the author of the Madeline Maclin mysteries, starring ex-beauty queen turned detective Madeline Maclin and her con man husband, Jerry Fairweather, and the Grace Street mysteries, featuring PI David Randall, his psychic friend Camden, and the many colorful Southern characters who live at 302 Grace Street. The sixth installment of the latter series, DEATH BY DRAGONFLY, is now available. In this interview, Tesh talks about her inspiration for creating the Randall/Camden pairing, the importance of alternating between two different series, and why she has set all 11 of her mystery novels in North Carolina, where she has lived all her life. DEATH BY DRAGONFLY: A Grace Street Mystery by Jane Tesh (Paranormal Mystery) - Click here to read more about the book. Click here to read the interview.    More Reviews This WeekCHURCHILL: Walking with Destiny by Andrew Roberts (Biography) THE THREE SECRET CITIES by Matthew Reilly (Thriller/Adventure) HAZARDS OF TIME TRAVEL by Joyce Carol Oates (Dystopian/Science Fiction) VENDETTA by Iris Johansen (Thriller) THE DAKOTA WINTERS by Tom Barbash (Fiction) WINTER LOON by Susan Bernhard (Fiction) THE WARNER BOYS: Our Family’s Story of Autism and Hope by Ana and Curt Warner, with Dave Boling (Memoir) THE MANSION by Ezekiel Boone (Horror/Thriller) MELMOTH by Sarah Perry (Gothic Thriller) REVOLUTION SUNDAY written by Wendy Guerra, translated by Achy Obejas (Fiction) THOSE WHO GO BY NIGHT by Andrew Gaddes (Historical Mystery)   
Next Week's Notables:
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