March 29, 2019

March 29, 2019

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Latest Update on Our GoFundMe Campaign
to Expand The Book Report Network:
Big News --- We Are HALFWAY There!

Thank you to those of you who already have donated to our GoFundMe campaign. So far we have raised $25,500 of our $50,000 goal, with online donations and checks!

In addition to your contributions, we are loving the comments that have been shared with donations about how you enjoy this newsletter and Bookreporter.com. Here are a few from this week:

Michelle: "Reading is up there with breathing for me, and I so look forward to the Bookreporter newsletter every week. The newsletter and Carol are partly responsible for my ever-changing, ever-growing 'to get' book list. Glad I can help!"

Adrianne: “I so look forward to any and all info that you share. Often I smile and always feel better informed and just better."

Terry: "I am a self-proclaimed Book Nerd who might just read more ABOUT books than actually read the books. I value what you do and hope you continue for many years."

If you have not donated yet, may we ask that you consider it? Any level of donation that you would be comfortable with is sincerely appreciated. You can read more about our plans and donate here. If you would rather donate via check, our address is:

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Thank you again for your consideration and your donation. And I owe lots of thank-you notes! 

Carol read THE WHISPER MAN by Alex North,
which releases on August 20th and will be a Bets On pick.

She is now reading THE CHELSEA GIRLS by Fiona Davis, which goes on sale July 30th.

Carol is listening to the audio version of SAVE ME THE PLUMS, which is written and read
by Ruth Reichl. It releases on April 2nd and will be a Bets On pick.

The graphic novel adaptation of Margaret Atwood's THE HANDMAID'S TALE is now in stores.

Whoosh…There Goes March!

May spring please get sprung? While the birds were chirping on mornings this week, I still was wearing my down coat! March is coming to a close; um, that means we are one-quarter through the year. Whoosh!

My weekends of great reading continued this past weekend. I devoured an advance copy of THE WHISPER MAN by Alex North, which is coming out on August 20th. I literally read it in a day! It is a completely addicting thriller with odes of Stephen King rippling throughout. Following the death of his wife, Tom Kennedy is struggling with life with his young son. He decides to leave painful memories behind and move to a new house in a new town, called Featherbank. Two decades ago, a serial killer kidnapped and murdered five children in Featherbank. And now another child has gone missing. Pete Willis, the detective who originally worked on the case, is called back up to re-interview the original killer, as the police grapple with tragedy revisiting their town. This book twists and turns, and you will want to be alert on every page, which is not hard to do. It will be a Bookreporter.com Bets On selection.

I just started reading THE CHELSEA GIRLS by Fiona Davis, which will be in stores on July 30th. Longtime readers know that I have loved all of Fiona’s books. This one opens with a USO show during World War II, and I love the way it is setting up. The story is going to look at the iconic Chelsea Hotel in New York, where actors, singers, artists and musicians lived. The place has a personality of its own. I will have more about this next week! By the way, I see the hotel closed in 2011 for renovations, but is scheduled to reopen this year. 

I am listening to SAVE ME THE PLUMS by Ruth Reichl, which will be in stores on Tuesday. Ruth was the last editor-in-chief of Gourmet, where she ran the magazine for a decade. It opens with James Truman, the Creative Director of Condé Nast, and S.I. Newhouse, its owner, both trying to cajole Ruth to take the job. It’s a great inside look into the world of magazines when they were in their heyday, as well as the world of food. Ruth narrates, and it’s such fun. It will be a Bets On selection. And it includes recipes, which she dictates on the audio. Grab a pen!

One of our longtime readers, Nancy Sharko, attended the Montclair Literary Festival in Montclair, NJ, last weekend and was kind enough to write this report for us about the three sessions she attended there. We love hearing from our readers about the events that they attend. Next week, we will have a report on the Virginia Festival of the Book.

Linda Fairstein has written the 20th novel in her series starring Assistant DA Alexandra Cooper of the Manhattan Sex Crimes Unit. This time, she explores the depths of Manhattan's secretive Rockefeller University in BLOOD OATH, a timely thriller about the deep --- and often deadly --- reverberations of past sins. Roz Shea has our review and has this to say: “Whenever we revisit Alex, Mike and NYPD detective Mercer Wallace, Alex’s protector and friend, it is always enlightening and fun, abounding with information as they solve crimes…. It is positively an Alfred Hitchcock, white-knuckled ending awaiting the reader.”

Other books we’re reviewing this week include THE AMERICAN AGENT, the 15th installment in Jacqueline Winspear’s series starring Maisie Dobbs, who investigates the mysterious murder of an American war correspondent in London during the Blitz; GINGERBREAD, the latest novel from Helen Oyeyemi, the prize-winning author of BOY, SNOW, BIRD and WHAT IS NOT YOURS IS NOT YOURS, who was influenced by the mysterious place gingerbread holds in classic children's stories to write this tale of a surprising family legacy, in which the inheritance is a recipe; and MY LOVELY WIFE by Samantha Downing, a debut thriller about a couple whose 15-year marriage has finally gotten too interesting.

A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW, Amor Towles’ mega-bestseller from three years ago, is now available in paperback and is our latest Paperback Spotlight title. In a glittering evocation of 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal. He is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. In surprising and even funny ways, these circumstances open the door to a bevy of emotional discovery. We reviewed the book when it initially released in 2016 and posted an interview with Amor, whose 2011 debut, RULES OF CIVILITY, was a runaway hit with critics and readers alike. Click here for the review and here for the Q&A. Also, be sure to check out the discussion guide, which we posted not too long ago on ReadingGroupGuides.com. Book groups love discussing this book. So many people have shared that A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW is their favorite book; my husband barely looked up as he was reading it! Now that it is in paperback, it will be read by a larger audience, which makes me very happy.

In this week’s New Release Spotlight, we’re featuring RaeAnne Thayne’s latest novel, THE CLIFF HOUSE. After the death of their mother, sisters Daisy and Beatriz Davenport found a home with their aunt Stella in the beautiful town of Cape Sanctuary. Now, with Daisy and Bea grown, it’s time for Stella to reveal the secret she’s been keeping from them that will change their family forever. Just as Bea is beginning to pursue a new love with an old friend, her ex-husband resurfaces and turns her life completely upside down. Meanwhile, Daisy, who has never taken a risk, meets a man who makes her question everything she thought she knew about life, love and the power of taking chances.

In this week’s Spring Preview contests, we gave away DAISY JONES & THE SIX by Taylor Jenkins Reid (a Bets On selection) and NANAVILLE: Adventures in Grandparenting by Anna Quindlen. Next week’s prizes will be THE GIRL HE USED TO KNOW by Tracey Garvis Graves and MAYBE YOU SHOULD TALK TO SOMEONE: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb. The first contest of the week will go live on Tuesday, April 2nd at noon ET.

This is your last newsletter reminder to enter our ReadingGroupGuides.com contest for the audiobook version of THE MOMENT OF LIFT: How Empowering Women Changes the World, written and read by Melinda Gates. Ten book groups will win six digital copies of the audiobook, while 40 other listeners will be awarded a physical copy of the audiobook. To enter, please fill out this form by Wednesday, April 3rd at noon ET. I have been listening to an advance copy, and I love how Melinda outlines her ideas so succinctly --- and shows how they work. Very empowering reading. 

We have a new Word of Mouth contest to tell you about. Let us know by Friday, April 12th at noon ET what books you’ve read, and you’ll be in the running to win SOMEONE KNOWS by Lisa Scottoline and the aforementioned SAVE ME THE PLUMS: My Gourmet Memoir by Ruth Reichl.

This month’s Sounding Off on Audio contest ends this Monday, April 1st at noon ET. Be sure to submit your comments about the audiobooks you’ve listened to, and you’ll have a chance to win the audio versions of Greg Iles’ CEMETERY ROAD, read by Scott Brick, and James Rollins’ CRUCIBLE, read by Christian Baskous.

For our latest poll, we’ve listed 20 titles releasing in April and we’re asking you which, if any, you’re planning to read. Click here to let us know.

We asked a similar question in our previous poll, which focused on March fiction titles. Here are the top five books you said you were planning to read: THE ISLAND OF SEA WOMEN by Lisa See (49%), RUN AWAY by Harlan Coben (36%), the aforementioned CEMETERY ROAD by Greg Iles (33%), the aforementioned DAISY JONES & THE SIX by Taylor Jenkins Reid (29%), and THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR by Susan Meissner (25%). You can see all the results here.

News & Pop Culture

Reader Mail

Emily wrote this about winning DAISY JONES & THE SIX in our Spring Preview contest: “I'm so excited! I haven't looked forward more to a giveaway win. Thank you!”

Kathryn, one of our readers from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, wrote me last week with some insight that she has gathered for more reading about the subject of Susan Meissner’s aforementioned novel, THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR. It was so interesting that I asked if we could share it with you as a blog. She graciously said yes, and you can read it here.

Jesse Kornbluth, the co-founder and first editor of this site, went on to several other identities: AOL executive, novelist, cultural curator (HeadButler.com) and now playwright. An item he spotted on the web — Henri Matisse, a lifelong atheist, created his masterpiece, a Catholic chapel, in honor of his former nurse, who had become a nun — seemed like an idea for a powerful play. No one had written it, so he plunged in. An accomplished director snapped his play up. A Tony-nominated actor signed on. And from April 4-28, “The Color of Light” will be staged at the Schoolhouse Theater in Westchester, a chip shot from New York City. Click here for the backstory and ticket information.

Harlan Coben: Meant to share this last week --- Harlan on "CBS This Morning," and I found another very humorous clip of him on “GMA Strahan and Sara.”

THE HANDMAID’S TALE: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL is just out this week with art and adaptation by Renée Nault: The 1985 book has now been told in a graphic novel format. And Nicole figured out this week that season three of the television adaptation will release on June 5th.

"The Chi" on Showtime: Really enjoyed previewing the first five episodes of season two. I enjoyed the first season. Debuts on April 7th.

ANTHONY BOURDAIN REMEMBERED: There will be a book commemorating his life coming out on May 28th. It was originally intended to be a CNN-created gift for his daughter, Ariane. So nice that his estate is allowing it to be published for a larger audience.

A Tour of Steve Berry’s House: Enjoyed seeing the way memorabilia from his books has found its way into his home.

"To Kill a Mockingbird," the Play: It’s going on the road next year for a national tour. Read more about it here.

The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley: Well-done documentary on HBO. What a crazy story about Elizabeth Holmes and her company, Theranos.

Mitch Kaplan: The Man Who Put Literary Miami on the Map: A good piece about Mitch here; his Books & Books stores are among my favorite bookstores, especially the Coral Gables location.

Tom and I are celebrating our 34th wedding anniversary on Saturday, which is also our 37th year of being together. We met on a ski slope in Crested Butte, Colorado, which was pretty crazy for two people who lived in New Jersey, but geographically had more of a chance to meet on a ski slope than back in NJ. We both have been slamming busy, so we have made no solid plans. We will figure something out tomorrow; it is such fun when an anniversary is on a Saturday, as it can be a weekend of celebrating.

I am knitting a new skirt and using 100% cotton yarn, which I may regret when it stretches, but I love the color. You can guess what it is. There will be basketball watching this weekend; bring on the cringeworthy but oh-so-fun Charles Barkley puns.

On Sunday, Fiona Davis is going to be at the Bernardsvillle Public Library. I am hoping that my calendar stays clear enough for me to be there! And Wednesday night, I am going to see Harlan Coben at the new [words] Bookstore in Livingston, NJ, in the LifeTown mall; it is a 53,000 square-foot space that has been created for individuals with special needs: “LifeTown’s focal point is ‘Life Village,’ a simulated Main Street that will help prepare participants with special needs for independent living. Offering real-world scenarios in a safe and controlled environment, Life Village will empower them to reach their individual potential." I am looking forward to seeing it, as well as catching up with Harlan.

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: BLOOD OATH by Linda Fairstein

BLOOD OATH by Linda Fairstein (Mystery/Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Barbara Rosenblat
Following a leave of absence, Assistant DA Alexandra Cooper meets Lucy, a young woman who testified years earlier at a landmark federal trial and now reveals that she was sexually assaulted by a prominent official during that time. Yet Lucy's isn't the only secret Alex must uncover, with rumors swirling about one colleague's abusive conduct behind closed doors and another's violent, mysterious collapse. As the seemingly disparate cases of her client, adversary and friend start to intertwine, Alex, along with NYPD detectives Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace, finds herself in uncharted territory within Manhattan's Rockefeller University, a premier research institute, hospital and cornerstone of higher learning. Reviewed by Roz Shea.

- Click here to read more about the book.

Click here to read the review.

Featured Review: THE AMERICAN AGENT
by Jacqueline Winspear

THE AMERICAN AGENT: A Maisie Dobbs Novel by Jacqueline Winspear (Historical Mystery)
Audiobook available, read by Orlagh Cassidy
When Catherine Saxon, an American correspondent reporting on the war in Europe, is found murdered in her London digs, news of her death is concealed by British authorities. Serving as a linchpin between Scotland Yard and the Secret Service, Robert MacFarlane pays a visit to Maisie Dobbs. He is accompanied by Mark Scott, an agent from the US Department of Justice who helped Maisie escape Hitler’s Munich in 1938. MacFarlane asks Maisie to work with Scott to uncover the truth about Saxon’s death. As the Germans unleash the full terror of their blitzkrieg upon the British Isles, Maisie must balance the demands of solving this dangerous case with her need to protect Anna, the young evacuee she has grown to love and wants to adopt. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.

- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here for the discussion guide.

Click here to read the review.

Featured Review: GINGERBREAD by Helen Oyeyemi

GINGERBREAD by Helen Oyeyemi (Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Helen Oyeyemi
Perdita Lee and her mother, Harriet, might not be as normal as you think. For one thing, they share a gold-painted, seventh-floor walk-up apartment with some surprisingly verbal vegetation. And then there's the gingerbread they make. Londoners may find themselves able to take or leave it, but it's very popular in Druhástrana, the far-away (or, according to many sources, non-existent) land of Harriet Lee's early youth. The world's truest lover of the Lee family gingerbread, however, is Harriet's charismatic childhood friend, Gretel Kercheval --- a figure who seems to have had a hand in everything (good or bad) that has happened to Harriet since they met. Decades later, when teenage Perdita sets out to find her mother's long-lost friend, it prompts a new telling of Harriet's story. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.

- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to read an excerpt.

Click here to read the review.

New Paperback Spotlight:
A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW by Amor Towles

A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW by Amor Towles (Historical Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Nicholas Guy Smith
From the New York Times bestselling author of RULES OF CIVILITY comes a transporting novel about a man who is ordered to spend the rest of his life inside a luxury hotel.

In 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, and is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his life, and must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel’s doors. Unexpectedly, his reduced circumstances provide him entry into a much larger world of emotional discovery.

Brimming with humor, a glittering cast of characters, and one beautifully rendered scene after another, this singular novel casts a spell as it relates the count’s endeavor to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a man of purpose.

- Click here to read a review.
- Click here to read an excerpt.
- Click here for the discussion guide.
- Click here to read Amor Towles' bio.
- Click here to visit Amor Towles'  website.
- Connect with Amor Towles on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Click here to read more in our Paperback Spotlight.

New Release Spotlight:
THE CLIFF HOUSE by RaeAnne Thayne

THE CLIFF HOUSE by RaeAnne Thayne (Romance)
Audiobook available, read by Jorjeana Marie
After the death of their mother, sisters Daisy and Beatriz Davenport found a home with their aunt Stella in the beautiful and welcoming town of Cape Sanctuary. They never knew all the dreams that Stella sacrificed to ensure they had everything they’d ever need. Now, with Daisy and Bea grown, it’s time for Stella to reveal the secret she’s been keeping from them --- a secret that will change their family forever.

Bea thought she’d sown all her wild oats when she got pregnant far too young. The marriage that followed was rocky and not destined to last, but it gave Bea her wonderful, mature, now 11-year-old daughter, Marisol. But just as she’s beginning to pursue a new love with an old friend, Bea’s ex-husband resurfaces and turns their lives completely upside down.

Then there’s Daisy --- sensible, rational, financially prudent Daisy. She’s never taken a risk in her life --- until she meets a man who makes her question everything she thought she knew about life, love and the power of taking chances.

In this heartwarming story, Stella, Bea and Daisy will discover that the path to true happiness is filled with twists and turns, but love always leads them back home.

- Click here to read an excerpt.
- Click here to visit the book's website.
- Click here to read RaeAnne Thayne's bio.
- Click here to visit RaeAnne Thayne's website.
- Connect with RaeAnne Thayne on Facebook and Twitter.

Click here to read more in our New Release Spotlight.

Bookreporter.com's Eighth Annual
Spring Preview Contests and Feature

Spring is in the air! We’ve caught the fever --- and it’s being fueled by some wonderful new and upcoming releases. Our eighth annual Spring Preview Contests and Feature spotlights many of these picks, which we know people will be talking about over the next few months. We are hosting a series of 24-hour contests for these titles on select days through April 26th. You will need to check the site to see the featured book and enter to win. We also are sending a special newsletter to announce each title, which you can sign up for here.

Our next prize book will be announced on Tuesday, April 2nd at noon ET.

This year's featured titles include:

• THE AGE OF LIGHT by Whitney Scharer
• ALL WE EVER WANTED by Emily Giffin
• DAISY JONES & THE SIX by Taylor Jenkins Reid
• THE FARM by Joanne Ramos
• THE GIRL HE USED TO KNOW by Tracey Garvis Graves
• I KNOW WHO YOU ARE by Alice Feeney
• LAWN BOY by Jonathan Evison
• MAYBE YOU SHOULD TALK TO SOMEONE: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb
• THE MOTHER-IN-LAW by Sally Hepworth
• NANAVILLE: Adventures in Grandparenting by Anna Quindlen
• A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF HEAVEN by Mathangi Subramanian
• ROAR by Cecelia Ahern
• THE SUMMER COTTAGE by Viola Shipman

Click here to read all the contest details
and learn more about our featured titles.

Featured Review: MY LOVELY WIFE
by Samantha Downing

MY LOVELY WIFE by Samantha Downing (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by David Pittu
Our love story is simple. I met a gorgeous woman. We fell in love. We had kids. We moved to the suburbs. We told each other our biggest dreams and our darkest secrets. And then we got bored. We look like a normal couple. We're your neighbors, the parents of your kid's friend, the acquaintances you keep meaning to get dinner with. We all have our secrets to keeping a marriage alive. Ours just happens to be getting away with murder. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to read an excerpt.

Click here to read the review.

Featured Review: kaddish.com by Nathan Englander

kaddish.com by Nathan Englander (Fiction/Humor)
Audiobook available, read by Rob Shapiro
Larry is the secular son in a family of Orthodox Brooklyn Jews. When his father dies, it’s his responsibility to recite the Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead, every day for 11 months. To the horror and dismay of his sister, Larry refuses --- imperiling the fate of his father’s soul. To appease her, Larry hatches an ingenious if cynical plan, hiring a stranger through a website called kaddish.com to recite the prayer and shepherd his father’s soul safely to rest. Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman.

- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to read an excerpt.

Click here to read the review.

Featured Review: THE STRANGER DIARIES
by Elly Griffiths

THE STRANGER DIARIES by Elly Griffiths (Gothic Mystery/Thriller)
Audiobook available; read by Andrew Wincott, Esther Wane, Sarah Feathers and Anjana Vasan
Clare Cassidy is no stranger to murder. A high school English teacher specializing in the Gothic writer R. M. Holland, she teaches a course on it every year. But when one of Clare’s colleagues and closest friends is found dead, with a line from Holland’s most famous story, “The Stranger,” left by her body, Clare is horrified to see her life collide with the storylines of her favorite literature. To make matters worse, the police suspect the killer is someone Clare knows. Unsure whom to trust, she turns to her closest confidant: her diary. Then one day she notices writing that isn't hers, left on the page of an old diary: Hallo Clare. You don’t know me. “The Stranger” has come to terrifying life. But can the ending be rewritten in time? Reviewed by Kate Ayers.

- Click here to read more about the book.

Click here to read the review.

More Reviews This Week

SING TO IT: New Stories by Amy Hempel (Fiction/Short Stories)
Audiobook available, read by Amy Hempel
These 15 exquisitely honed stories reveal Amy Hempel at her most compassionate and spirited, as she introduces characters, lonely and adrift, searching for connection. In “A Full-Service Shelter,” a volunteer at a dog shelter tirelessly, devotedly cares for dogs on a list to be euthanized. In “Greed,” a spurned wife examines her husband’s affair with a glamorous, older married woman. And in “Cloudland,” the longest story in the collection, a woman reckons with the choice she made as a teenager to give up her newborn infant. Quietly dazzling, these stories are replete with moments of revelation and transcendence and with Hempel’s singular, startling, inimitable sentences. Reviewed by Harvey Freedenberg.

INSPECTION by Josh Malerman (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Michael Crouch and Brittany Pressley
J is a student at a school deep in a forest far away from the rest of the world. He is one of only 26 students, all of whom think of the school’s enigmatic founder as their father. The students are being trained to be prodigies of art, science and athletics, and their life at the school is all they know --- and all they are allowed to know. But J is beginning to ask questions. What is the real purpose of this place? Why can the students never leave? And what secrets is their father hiding from them? Meanwhile, on the other side of the forest, in a school very much like J’s, a girl named K is asking the same questions. As K and J work to investigate the secrets of their two strange schools, they come to discover something even more mysterious: each other. Reviewed by Ray Palen.

GOOD TALK: A Memoir in Conversations by Mira Jacob (Graphic Memoir)
Audiobook available, read by Mira Jacob and a full cast
Like many six-year-olds, Mira Jacob’s half-Jewish, half-Indian son, Z, has questions about everything. At first they are innocuous enough, but as tensions from the 2016 election spread from the media into his own family, they become much, much more complicated. Trying to answer him honestly, Mira has to think back to where she’s gotten her own answers: her most formative conversations about race, color, sexuality and, of course, love. Reviewed by Maya Gittelman.

THE LIBRARY OF LOST AND FOUND by Phaedra Patrick (Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Imogen Church
Librarian Martha Storm has always found it easier to connect with books than people --- though not for lack of trying. She keeps careful lists of how to help others in her superhero-themed notebook. And yet, sometimes it feels like she’s invisible. All of that changes when a book of fairy tales arrives on her doorstep. Inside, Martha finds a dedication written to her by her best friend --- her grandmother Zelda --- who died under mysterious circumstances years earlier. When Martha discovers a clue within the book that her grandmother may still be alive, she becomes determined to discover the truth. As she delves deeper into Zelda’s past, she unwittingly reveals a family secret that will change her life forever. Reviewed by Julianne Holmquist.

THE GOOD DETECTIVE by John McMahon (Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Jon Lindstrom
Ever since his wife and young son died in an accident, Detective P.T. Marsh has lost the ability to see the line between smart moves and disastrous decisions. Such as when he agrees to help out a woman by confronting her abusive boyfriend. When the next morning he gets called to the scene of his newest murder case, he is stunned to arrive at the house of the very man he beat up the night before. And when the dead body of a black teenager is found in a burned-out field, P.T. realizes he might have killed the number-one suspect of this horrific crime. Amid rising racial tension and media scrutiny, P.T. uncovers something sinister at the heart of the boy's murder --- a conspiracy leading all the way back to the time of the Civil War. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

BLACK AND BLUE: A Doug Brock Thriller by David Rosenfelt (Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Fred Berman
Doug Brock hasn't had it easy since getting shot in the line of duty as a New Jersey state police officer. Between the amnesia and having to solve two murder cases, it hasn't been the most restful recovery. But now an old case of his has resurfaced, and it’s up to him to retrace his steps --- steps he can’t remember --- to solve it. Eighteen months ago, Walter Brookings was shot through the heart. With no clear motive and no similar murders, the investigation stalled and became a cold case. When another man is murdered in the same fashion and the ballistics come back as a match, Doug begins to reinvestigate and starts to question his own actions from the previous investigation. Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman.

THE NIGHT VISITORS by Carol Goodman (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Jane Oppenheimer
Alice gets off a bus in the middle of a snowstorm in Delphi, NY. She is fleeing an abusive relationship and desperate to protect 10-year-old Oren, a major Star Wars fan who is wise beyond his years. Though Alice is wary, Oren bonds nearly instantly with Mattie, a social worker who brings them home for the night. She has plenty of room, she says. What she doesn't say is that Oren reminds her of her little brother, who died 30 years ago at the age of 10. But Mattie isn't the only one withholding elements of the truth. Alice is keeping her own secrets. And as the snowstorm worsens around them, each woman's past will prove itself unburied, stirring up threats both within and without. Reviewed by Ray Palen.

PROFESSOR CHANDRA FOLLOWS HIS BLISS by Rajeev Balasubramanyam (Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Ramon Tikaram
Professor Chandra is an internationally renowned economist, divorced father of three children, and recent victim of a bicycle hit-and-run. In the moments after the accident, Professor Chandra doesn’t see his life flash before his eyes but his life’s work. He’s just narrowly missed the Nobel Prize (again), and even though he knows he should get straight back to his pie charts, his doctor has other ideas. All this work, all this success, all this stress is killing him. He needs to take a break and start enjoying himself. In short, says his doctor, he should follow his bliss. Professor Chandra doesn’t know it yet, but he’s about to embark on the journey of a lifetime. Reviewed by Amie Taylor.

CHEER UP, MR. WIDDICOMBE by Evan James (Fiction/Humor)
Audiobook available, read by Jonathan Davis
The inimitable --- some might say incorrigible --- Frank Widdicombe is suffering from a deep depression. Or so his wife, Carol, believes. But Carol is convinced that their new island home --- Willowbrook Manor on the Puget Sound --- is just the thing to cheer her husband up. And so begins a whirlwind summer as their house becomes the epicenter of multiple social dramas involving the family, their friends and a host of new acquaintances. When this alternately bumbling and clever cast of characters comes together, Willowbrook transforms into a circus of uncovered secrets, preposterous misunderstandings and irrepressible passions. Reviewed by Eileen Zimmerman Nicol.

Next Week’s Notables:
Noteworthy Books Releasing on April 1st and 2nd

Below are some notable titles releasing on April 1st and 2nd 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 available the week of April 1st, see our “On Sale This Week” newsletter here.

April 1st

GIRL MOST LIKELY by Max Allan Collins (Mystery/Thriller)
In a small Midwest town, 28-year-old Krista Larson has made her mark as the youngest female police chief in the country. As her 10-year high school reunion begins, so does a triple murder investigation. Krista and her father, a decorated former detective, never imagined what would be revealed: the secrets and scandals of Krista’s own past.

April 2nd

THE A LIST: An Ali Reynolds Mystery by J.A. Jance (Mystery/Thriller)
In THE A LIST, Ali Reynolds learns that no good deed goes unpunished, as she and her team race against the clock to stop a ruthless killer --- before her own name is crossed out for good.

THE EDITOR by Steven Rowley (Fiction)
From the bestselling author of LILY AND THE OCTOPUS comes a funny, poignant and highly original novel about an author whose relationship with his very famous book editor will change him forever --- both as a writer and a son.

THE GIRL HE USED TO KNOW by Tracey Garvis Graves (Romance)
Tracey Garvis Graves, the New York Times bestselling author of ON THE ISLAND, presents a compelling, hopelessly romantic novel of unconditional love.

GREEK TO ME: Adventures of the Comma Queen by Mary Norris (Travel Memoir/Writing)
GREEK TO ME is a charming account of Mary Norris’ lifelong love affair with words and her solo adventures in the land of olive trees and ouzo. Along the way, Norris explains how the alphabet originated in Greece and reveals the surprising ways Greek helped form English.

THE MATRIARCH: Barbara Bush and the Making of an American Dynasty by Susan Page (Biography)
Barbara Pierce Bush was one of the country's most popular and powerful figures, yet her full story has never been told. THE MATRIARCH tells the riveting tale of a woman who helped define two American presidencies and an entire political era.

SAVE ME THE PLUMS: My Gourmet Memoir by Ruth Reichl (Memoir)
Trailblazing food writer and beloved restaurant critic Ruth Reichl took the risk (and the job) of a lifetime when she entered the glamorous, high-stakes world of magazine publishing. Now, for the first time, she chronicles her groundbreaking tenure as editor in chief of Gourmet, during which she spearheaded a revolution in the way we think about food.

THE WAR WITHIN: The Great God's War by Stephen R. Donaldson (Fantasy)
Stephen R. Donaldson, the New York Times bestselling author of The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, returns to the world of his Great God’s War fantasy epic as two kingdoms --- united by force --- prepare to be challenged by a merciless enemy.

WOMEN TALKING by Miriam Toews (Fiction)
For the past two years, eight Mennonite women have been repeatedly violated in the night by demons coming to punish them for their sins. Now that they have learned they were in fact drugged and attacked by a group of men from their own community, they are determined to protect themselves and their daughters from future harm.

A WONDERFUL STROKE OF LUCK by Ann Beattie (Fiction)
Ann Beattie’s 21st book is a razor-sharp, deeply felt novel about the complicated relationship between a charismatic teacher and his students, and the secrets we keep from those we love.

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