April 19, 2019
 April 19, 2019Quick Links to Features on Bookreporter.com Reviews | Features | Bookreporter.com Bets On | Upcoming Bets On  Latest Update on Our GoFundMe Campaign Thank you to those of you who already have donated to our GoFundMe campaign. So far we have raised $26,542 of our $50,000 goal, with online donations and checks! Ruth: "I get a lot of good book recommendations from this newsletter!" Nicole: “I love the website!" 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: The Book Report, Inc. Thank you again for your consideration and your donation. And I still owe lots of thank-you notes via snail mail. They are going out on Monday!   Carol recently read THE LAST HOUSE GUEST by Megan Miranda, Carol's preview videos, where she gives readers a sneak peek of each week's newsletter,  These socks, inspired by organ donor Taylor Storch to remind people of the importance of organ donation, have been made available on OutliveYourself.org during National Donate Life Month.   Carol created a forsythia/pansy arrangement for her front porch For Many, a Holiday Weekend!This was one crazy busy week. I drove home late last night with the sunroof open and the radio blasting, with me singing very off key. I had come from a very moving evening as we celebrated the life of Murray Bruce, who was one of my original partners in The Book Report Network, on what would have been his 77th birthday. More than 200 people gathered at Ramscale, the loft event space that he and his wife, Gail, founded. It’s set on the West Side Highway, and at one point during the evening, the sun was setting through the window on one side of the loft while the moon was rising on the other. At the centerpiece of the celebration of his life was a 40-minute tribute film that brought waves of memories washing over me. It reminded me of what an amazing person Murray was. I am not sure if I know anyone who drew people together quite like him. Thank you for all the kind words about the newsletter preview video that I shared last week. I want to make this a regular thing. For the moment, we are planning to get them uploaded by Wednesday each week. You can see them on our Bookreporter Facebook page, as well as on our YouTube channel and our new Instagram page, thebookreportnetwork, which just launched this week. I am keeping these short and sweet just to tease what will be in the newsletter on a given Friday; also, we learned that Instagram limits videos to 60 seconds. I am noodling some ideas for other video and visual content. If there is something that you would like to see, drop me a note at Carol@bookreporter.com. Huge thanks to Nicole, our Advertising/Promotions Manager, for filming these and giving me great feedback on the presentation. By the way, Nicole is the person in the office who ensures that every contest goes live when it is supposed to and every promotion that we bring you has every detail covered. She never misses a beat! She is on vacation next week; her birthday is on Wednesday. If you would like to drop her some birthday wishes, her email is Nicole@bookreporter.com. I am definitely ready for spring to get sprung. The back seat of my car has every weight of coat and jacket, most in shades of teal, and I pluck what to wear according to the weather. I am so ready for anything with down to go back to the closet! I realized last weekend that the greens, magnolias, pine cones and cotton bolls on the front porch arrangement needed to be retired, so I did some floral shopping and created the forsythia/pansy arrangement that you see above. No live flowers were involved in this display, but it still works for me. Last weekend, I plucked Megan Miranda’s THE LAST HOUSE GUEST from my book pile and found myself again marveling at what a strong writer Megan is. The plot, you ask? Avery Greer is the townie in a Maine beach town who befriends Sadie Loman, one of the wealthy girls who summers on the island. On the night of an end-of-the season party, Sadie is found dead on the beach, and all signs point to a suicide. But that does not make sense to Avery, who commits herself to figuring out what went awry. Megan is brilliant at plotting and turning the story in many different directions. There is an ”aha” of a twist at the end that I dare you to see coming. And this will be a Bookreporter.com Bets On selection when it releases on June 18th! Sarah Blake, whose New York Times bestseller THE POSTMISTRESS was a Bets On pick when it released in 2010, makes a triumphant return with THE GUEST BOOK, which is our latest Fiction Author Spotlight title and will be a Bets On pick. While Kitty Milton and her husband, Ogden, summer on their island in Maine, anchored as they are to the way things have always been, the winds of change are beginning to stir. In 1959 New York City, two strangers enter the Miltons’ circle. One captures the attention of Kitty’s daughter, while the other makes each of them question what the family stands for. This new generation insists the times are changing. And in one night, everything does. So much so that in the present day, the third generation of Miltons doesn’t have enough money to keep the island in Maine. THE GUEST BOOK doesn’t release until May 7th, but we’re giving 35 readers the opportunity to win an advance copy and share their comments on it. To enter, please fill out this form by Thursday, May 2nd at noon ET. This is going to be one of the most talked-about books this summer. I read it, and once I closed it, I could not wait to talk about it with people. This is a novel that looks at class, culture and race in America framed against the purview of the Milton family. Don’t miss our review of the book and interview with Sarah in the May 10th newsletter, and my Bets On commentary the following week. Our Women’s Fiction Author Spotlight shines this week on THE BOOK WOMAN OF TROUBLESOME CREEK by Kim Michele Richardson, which also releases on May 7th. Thanks to Roosevelt’s Kentucky Pack Horse Library Project, Troublesome Creek has its very own traveling librarian, Cussy Mary Carter. Far from being just a book woman, Cussy is also the last of her kind, her skin a shade of blue unlike most anyone else. Not everyone is keen on Cussy’s family or the Library Project, and a Blue is often blamed for any spot of trouble. If Cussy wants to bring the joy of books to the hill folks, she’s going to have to confront prejudice as old as the Appalachias and suspicion as deep as the holler. We’re awarding 50 copies of THE BOOK WOMAN OF TROUBLESOME CREEK to those who would like to read it and give us their feedback on it. To enter, please fill out this form by Thursday, May 2nd at noon ET. We’ll feature our review of the book and interview with Kim Michele in the May 10th newsletter. Our latest New Release Spotlight title is BLUFF, which marks Jane Stanton Hitchcock’s return to the world of crime fiction following a nine-year hiatus. One-time socialite Maud Warner bluffs her way into a signature New York restaurant. When she exits, a man will have been shot. Maud has grown accustomed to being underestimated and invisible, and she uses her ability to fly under the radar as she pursues celebrity accountant Burt Sklar, the man she believes stole her mother's fortune and left her family in ruins. Her fervent passion for poker has taught Maud that she can turn weakness into strength to take advantage of people who think they are taking advantage of her, and now she has dealt the first card in her high-stakes plan for revenge. We featured an interview with Jane a couple of weeks ago where she talked about her inspiration for the book and her own passion for poker. Click here to take a look at it. I picked up BLUFF this week, and it’s what I call snappy sharp. We have 16 reviews to share with you this week. Among them are REDEMPTION, David Baldacci’s latest Memory Man thriller, in which Detective Amos Decker discovers that a mistake he made as a rookie detective may have led to deadly consequences; THE BETTER SISTER, a new psychological thriller from Alafair Burke, who warns her readers: Keep your enemies close and your sister closer (I picked this up during the week and am reading it now. I am reminded again what a sharp writer Alafair is); BEFORE SHE WAS FOUND by Heather Gudenkauf, a timely thriller about three young girlfriends, a dark obsession and a chilling crime that shakes up a quiet Iowa town (I read this a couple of weeks ago, and like Lisa Scottoline’s SOMEONE KNOWS, it had me thinking about the danger of secrets in the wrong hands); and SAVE ME THE PLUMS, Ruth Reichl’s memoir that chronicles her groundbreaking tenure as editor in chief of Gourmet (I recently made the audiobook a Bets On selection). REDEMPTION and THE BETTER SISTER are our current Word of Mouth prizes. Let us know by Friday, April 26th at noon ET what books you’ve read for your chance to win both these thrillers. My two latest Bets On picks are LOST ROSES by Martha Hall Kelly (which we featured in last week’s newsletter) and THE GIRL HE USED TO KNOW by Tracey Garvis Graves (which we reviewed two weeks ago). Click on each of the titles for my Bets On commentary. In this week’s Spring Preview contests, we gave away ALL WE EVER WANTED by Emily Giffin (which releases in paperback on Tuesday) and ROAR by Cecelia Ahern (which we review this week). This year’s giveaways wrap up next week with our final three prizes: I KNOW WHO YOU ARE by Alice Feeney (I have this on my "to be read" pile), THE MOTHER-IN-LAW by Sally Hepworth, and THE SUMMER COTTAGE by Viola Shipman, the latter two of which will be Bets On picks. The first contest of the week will go live on Monday, April 22nd at noon ET. You can win the audio version of THE MOTHER-IN-LAW (read by Barrie Kreinik), along with D.J. Palmer's SAVING MEGHAN (read by Mary Stuart Masterson and Rebecca Soler), in this month’s Sounding Off on Audio contest. Submit your comments about the audiobooks you’ve listened to by Wednesday, May 1st at noon ET, and you’ll be in the running to win both these audio titles. Don’t forget about our Mother’s Day contest! For the 14th year in a row, you can win an outstanding assortment of fiction and nonfiction titles for yourself or your mom. Five readers will be the proud recipients of all 11 of our prize books, which include BLESSING IN DISGUISE by Danielle Steel, THE MATRIARCH: Barbara Bush and the Making of an American Dynasty by Susan Page, and WHY DON'T YOU WRITE MY EULOGY NOW SO I CAN CORRECT IT?: A Mother's Suggestions by Patricia Marx and Roz Chast. To enter, please fill out this form by Wednesday, May 8th at noon ET. Our poll continues to ask which of 15 paperbacks releasing in April you have read or are planning to read. Let us know by clicking here. This week saw the announcement of the 103rd annual Pulitzer Prizes in Journalism, Letters, Drama and Music. Among the winners were THE OVERSTORY by Richard Powers (Fiction), AMITY AND PROSPERITY: One Family and the Fracturing of America by Eliza Griswold (General Nonfiction), and FREDERICK DOUGLASS: Prophet of Freedom, by David W. Blight (History). Click here for the complete list of winners and nominees in the Journalism, Letters, Drama and Music categories. The 39th annual Los Angeles Times Book Prizes were awarded last Friday night. The winners included THE GREAT BELIEVERS by Rebecca Makkai (Fiction), MY SISTER, THE SERIAL KILLER by Oyinkan Braithwaite (Mystery/Thriller), and THE LINE BECOMES A RIVER: Dispatches from the Border by Francisco Cantú (Current Interest). Click here for all the winners and nominees. News & Pop Culture Reader Mail: Cheryl wrote, "I enjoyed reading your last newsletter where you mentioned the PBS series 'Mrs. Wilson.' It really was good! It is a true story adapted from the nonfiction book THE SECRET LIVES OF A SECRET AGENT by Tim Crook (seriously, that’s really the author’s name). After watching the series, I’m now planning to read the book! Didn’t know if you had read it before seeing the TV series. I really enjoy reading Bookreporter! Have a nice weekend!” I did not know this; thanks for the tip, Cheryl. Some of our best ideas come from our readers. Tania wrote, "I enjoy reading the Favorite Monthly Lists & Picks column. I am only able to see the lists and picks for 2019. Is there a way that I can see columns from previous years? I conduct a monthly book club and like to browse these lists in order to help me select books for my ladies in book club. Also, I am trying to piece together a historical list of Target Book Club Picks.” This is a great idea, and this week we added these lists and picks going back to April 2014, when we started this feature. You can find the links to previous years on this page. Many thanks to Tom, our Editorial Director, for keeping these copious notes through the years! Outlive Yourself Socks: Longtime readers may know that I am on the advisory board of a nonprofit called Outlive Yourself. The socks that you see above were inspired by organ donor Taylor Storch (she would have been 23 today) to remind people of the importance of organ donation. It’s fitting that this item, which was developed in partnership with Nike, has been made available during National Donate Life Month. Woven into each and every sock are the threads of blue representing Taylor’s favorite color and blue eyes. Five rings on the socks signify the individual lives she saved. Proceeds from purchases of the Outlive Yourself Sock from www.OutliveYourself.org will benefit the Outlive Yourself Foundation and Donate Life America. Jeff Kinney: Author and Bookstore Owner: Here’s a terrific interview with Jeff Kinney, whose Diary of a Wimpy Kid series is a smashing success. Just out last week is a spinoff from this series, DIARY OF AN AWESOME FRIENDLY KID. Last weekend, I was at Costco and spied two children who were seated on a patio furniture display happily reading their copies of the book. Loved seeing this! "Game of Thrones" Observation: Season eight’s premiere kicked off with my taking a refresher course in all things Stark and Targaryen (by the way, there is spell-check for the latter). I asked lots of questions, but felt less lost than usual. I must note that when Daenerys (also spell-checked) and Jon Snow were flying on dragons, it felt like a Disney movie to me. All I could picture was him falling off and her swooping down to catch him. Waiting til she figures out he is her nephew; he already got the clue pill on this! "Bosch" is Back: The new season, its fifth, is now available on Amazon Prime Video. "Billions": Last Sunday night’s episode was so sharp. It was Axe at his most competitive. Brilliant writing. Tiger Woods: We ate pimento cheese as we watched Tiger’s amazing win. It was an ode to ”never give up.” I mean the game, not the pimento cheese; the latter was quite tasty. I still am surprised that CBS preempted their entire Sunday morning lineup for this round, but as my husband said, this IS the Masters. My parents, my niece Kelley, and Sam will be at dinner on Sunday. I am looking forward to cooking with Cory and Sam on Saturday afternoon. I have black jelly beans on hand for me and other colors for everyone else; no one else eats the black ones. Also, I found some egg-shaped Oreos with purple cream filling and some other decadent dark chocolates since most here only eat dark chocolate. After all, there has to be candy for Easter. I toyed with the idea of dying eggs, but the last time I did that, I managed to get dye on the chairs, the table and the floor. I am not a neat crafter and do not feel like doing a major cleanup! I got some bunny plates from Williams Sonoma to enhance the table setting. There are supposed to be four of each pattern in each box. Somehow I ended up with two of the same bunny in one box, which simply would not do! This is one hot item. I called the store near me to try to make an exchange, and they told me to come on over and they could make the exchange. When I got there, I learned that there are “bunny plates” and there are “floral meadow plates,” and alas, what I was looking to replace were the latter, which they were out of. An amazing saleswoman in the store managed to track down a box of them in Pittsburgh with four different “floral meadow” bunnies, and handled the entire transaction for me as the store was closing. I love moments like this! You can see the “floral meadow” bunny plates above. To those who are celebrating Easter or Passover, we wish you Happy Holidays. 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!    Featured Review: REDEMPTION by David Baldacci  REDEMPTION by David Baldacci (Thriller) - Click here to read more about the book. Click here to read the review.  New Fiction Author Spotlight & Contest:  Moving through three generations and back and forth in time, THE GUEST BOOK is Sarah Blake's triumphant new novel that tells the story of a family and a country that buries its past in quiet, until the present calls forth a reckoning. We have 35 advance copies to give away to those who would like to read the book, which releases on May 7th, and share their comments on it. To enter, please fill out this form by Thursday, May 2nd at noon ET. THE GUEST BOOK by Sarah Blake (Fiction) In 1959 New York City, two strangers enter the Miltons’ circle. One captures the attention of Kitty’s daughter, while the other makes each of them question what the family stands for. This new generation insists the times are changing. And in one night, everything does. So much so that in the present day, the third generation of Miltons doesn’t have enough money to keep the island in Maine. Evie Milton’s mother has just died, and as Evie digs into her mother’s and grandparents’ history, what she finds is a story as unsettling as it is inescapable, the story that threatens the foundation of the Milton family myth. Click here to read more in our Fiction Author Spotlight and enter the contest.  New Women’s Fiction Author Spotlight & Contest:  A young outcast braves the hardships of Kentucky’s Great Depression and brings truly magical objects to her people --- books --- in THE BOOK WOMAN OF TROUBLESOME CREEK, Kim Michele Richardson's new novel inspired by the brave women of the Pack Horse Library Project. We have 50 copies to give away to those who would like to read the book, which releases on May 7th, and share their comments on it. To enter, please fill out this form by Thursday, May 2nd at noon ET. THE BOOK WOMAN OF TROUBLESOME CREEK by Kim Michele Richardson (Historical Fiction) Cussy's not only a book woman, however; she’s also the last of her kind, her skin a shade of blue unlike most anyone else. Not everyone is keen on Cussy’s family or the Library Project, and a Blue is often blamed for any whiff of trouble. If Cussy wants to bring the joy of books to the hill folks, she’s going to have to confront prejudice as old as the Appalachias and suspicion as deep as the holler. Click here to read more in our Women's Fiction Author Spotlight Featured Review: THE BETTER SISTER by Alafair Burke  THE BETTER SISTER by Alafair Burke (Psychological Thriller) - Click here to read more about the book. Click here to read the review. Featured Review: BEFORE SHE WAS FOUND  BEFORE SHE WAS FOUND by Heather Gudenkauf (Psychological Thriller) - Click here to read more about the book. Click here to read the review.  New Release Spotlight: BLUFF by Jane Stanton Hitchcock  BLUFF by Jane Stanton Hitchcock (Thriller) Maud has grown accustomed to being underestimated and invisible, and she uses her ability to fly under the radar as she pursues celebrity accountant Burt Sklar, the man she believes stole her mother's fortune and left her family in ruins. Her fervent passion for poker has taught Maud that she can turn weakness into strength to take advantage of people who think they are taking advantage of her, and now she has dealt the first card in her high-stakes plan for revenge. One unexpected twist after another follows as Maud plays the most important poker hand of her life. The stakes? To take down her enemies and get justice for their victims. Her success depends on her continuing ability to bluff --- and on who will fold. - Click here to read an excerpt. Click here to read more in our New Release Spotlight.  Bookreporter.com Bets On: LOST ROSES   LOST ROSES by Martha Hall Kelly (Historical Fiction) Once again, the story is told through the voices of three female characters, this time set during World War I. The book opens in the United States in 1914 before moving to Russia and then to Paris. Caroline makes a few brief cameos, but this story is Eliza’s to share. Besides Eliza, her friend Sofya Streshnayva, who is a cousin of the Romanovs, and Varinka, who is a kitchen worker, are the characters, each lending a perspective that moves the story forward. Click here to read more of Carol's commentary on LOST ROSES.
They meet at college playing chess back in 1991 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. While readers may recognize it now, Annika is somewhere on the autism spectrum, which few were talking about back then. She is very set in her ways. Labels bother her. Tight clothes are an issue. So are loud noises. But when she focuses, she is laser clear, which is what she is when she plays chess. Jonathan finds her to be a worthy opponent and encourages her to attend a chess tournament, which is way outside her comfort zone. He and her roommate Janice are champions of Annika’s loving, quiet nature and gentle ways. Both help her navigate the things in life that many of us just roll with. Click here to read more of Carol's commentary on  Bookreporter.com's 14th Annual Mother’s Day is a time to recognize the woman who raised and nurtured us. To celebrate, we're giving you the opportunity to win books for yourself or the special lady in your life in our 14th annual "Books Mom Will Love" contest. From now through Wednesday, May 8th at noon ET, readers can enter to win one of our five prize packages, which includes 11 great fiction and nonfiction titles we think moms will love. This year's featured titles are:
Click here to enter the contest.  Bookreporter.com's Eighth Annual 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 Monday, April 22nd at noon ET. This year's featured titles are:
Click here to read all the contest details    More Reviews This WeekSAVE ME THE PLUMS: My Gourmet Memoir by Ruth Reichl (Memoir) - Click here to read an excerpt. NORMAL PEOPLE by Sally Rooney (Fiction) FIFTY THINGS THAT AREN'T MY FAULT: Essays from the Grown-up Years by Cathy Guisewite (Humor/Essays) THE 13-MINUTE MURDER by James Patterson (Thriller) TRIPLE JEOPARDY: A Daniel Pitt Novel by Anne Perry (Historical Mystery) THIS CHAIR ROCKS: A Manifesto Against Ageism by Ashton Applewhite (Sociology) HENRY, HIMSELF by Stewart O'Nan (Fiction) ROAR by Cecelia Ahern (Fiction/Short Stories) THEY ALL FALL DOWN by Rachel Howzell Hall (Mystery/Thriller) STAY UP WITH HUGO BEST by Erin Somers (Fiction/Humor) A BLOODY BUSINESS: The Rise of Organized Crime in America written by Dylan Struzan, illustrated by Drew Struzan (True Crime/History) THE LAST by Hanna Jameson (Dystopian Psychological Thriller) THE DAMASCUS ROAD: A Novel of Saint Paul by Jay Parini (Historical Fiction)   
Next Week’s Notables:
|
