June 7, 2019
 June 7, 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 $27,650 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 couple of snail mail messages: Cheryle: "I have been reading and participating in your network for several years. I look forward to the Bookreporter newsletter every Saturday morning while I sip my coffee. Your many newsletter and website recommendations have kept my TBR list filled with fantastic titles so that I will have to live to 100 to read them all." Augusta: "I’m a devoted fan of your website. I love to read your news and updates, and truly appreciate your sense of humor and passion for books and reading." 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:   On the last day of Book Expo, Carol ran into Jean Kwok (left), author of SEARCHING FOR SYLVIE LEE, Wendy Walker (right), whose latest book is THE NIGHT BEFORE, participated in the Bryant Park Reading Room event, where great beach reads was the topic of discussion.  The other panelists at the Reading Room event were (from left to right) Jamie Brenner (DRAWING HOME), Holly Peterson (IT'S HOT IN THE HAMPTONS) and Susannah Marren (A PALM BEACH WIFE).   Last weekend, Carol read THE LAST BOOK PARTY by Karen Dukess, On the right is Carol's latest Summer Reading video, where she previews next week's contests.   Carol talks about this week's update (left) and our Father's Day contest (right), June Already? Need to Slow This Year Down!I feel like I still am playing catch-up from being out of the office at Book Expo last week. If I owe you an email reply or a thank you note, it will be coming in the next week. I promise! Last Saturday, I plunked myself into a chair by the patio and read THE LAST BOOK PARTY by Karen Dukess, which will be on sale July 9th; it is one of our Summer Reading titles and will be a Bookreporter.com Bets On selection. It was the perfect book to enjoy after the busyness of the convention. It’s set on Cape Cod in 1987. Eve Rosen is 25 years old and an aspiring writer. She’s working as an assistant to Henry Grey, who is a New Yorker writer, along with his wife, a poet named Tillie. They both host a famed end-of-the-summer party where all guests dress as literary characters. But the party uncovers a number of secrets that had been hidden to Eve until then. A brisk summer read, it’s both a coming-of-age story and a fun, fictitious look into the world of publishing. When I left off last week, I was headed back to the Javits Center for the last day of Book Expo. On my way into the convention center, I ran into Jean Kwok, who you can see with me above. For the record, I felt as tired as I looked in that photo. I had met Jean at a lunch hosted by her publisher a few months ago, and seeing her reminded me that I wanted to read SEARCHING FOR SYLVIE LEE, which just came out this week. I did that last weekend. I loved it, and just as I was sharing that it will be a Bets On selection, it was announced that it is this month’s #ReadWithJenna “Today Show” Book Club Pick. The novel untangles the complicated ties binding three women --- two sisters and their mother --- in one Chinese immigrant family, and explores what happens when the eldest daughter disappears and a series of family secrets emerge. It’s so well done. We have our review this week, and my Bets On commentary will run next week. Now I want to read GIRL IN TRANSLATION, which I confess I never read. Next week, we will share links to PDFs of the PowerPoint presentations from last week's 8th Annual Book Group Speed Dating event, which featured 23 publishers and 250 attendees. It was so well-attended; some of the readers have been at this event for all eight years that we have been hosting it. HUGE thanks to our show volunteers, who once again I failed to snag a photo with! On Wednesday, I went to the Bryant Park Reading Room, which is set up in Bryant Park near the New York Public Library. Throughout the summer, they are running a series of author programming. This particular event featured Jamie Brenner, Holly Peterson, Susannah Marren and Wendy Walker talking about beach books. Wendy had just come from my office, where we filmed an interview with her for an upcoming "Bookreporter Talks To" video, in which we discussed her latest novel, THE NIGHT BEFORE. We will be bringing that to you soon! It was a great afternoon with some gorgeous weather, and my friend Beverley joined me there. For those of you who like reading ahead, I’d like to bring to your attention Publishers Lunch Buzz Books, which gives you 45 chances to find your next great reads. Download pre-publication samples of new work from such bestselling authors as Jojo Moyes, Tracy Chevalier and Jeff Lindsay, along with debut novels, including SUCH A FUN AGE by Kiley Reid (one of this year’s Book Expo Buzz books). Scroll further down the newsletter for all the details. This week, we kicked off a special contest for Gina LaManna’s upcoming thriller, PRETTY GUILTY WOMEN. A man has been found dead at the Banks wedding. Four different women rush to offer confessions, each insisting that they acted alone in committing the crime. Why would they confess to the same murder? Only they know --- and they’re not telling. The book doesn’t release until September 3rd, but we’re giving 75 readers an opportunity to win an advance copy and give us their feedback on it. To enter, please fill out this form by Thursday, June 20th at noon ET. We have 14 reviews to share with you this week. Among them are THE FRIENDS WE KEEP, in which Jane Green traces a long friendship among three individuals who grow apart and then surprisingly find one another again (click here for the discussion guide on ReadingGroupGuides.com); BEYOND ALL REASONABLE DOUBT by QUICKSAND author Malin Persson Giolito, a gripping legal thriller that follows one woman's conflicted efforts to overturn what may be a wrongful conviction; and THE PLAZA, journalist Julie Satow's definitive history of how one illustrious hotel has defined our understanding of money and glamour. The aforementioned SEARCHING FOR SYLVIE LEE is one of our current Word of Mouth prize books; the other is THE LAST HOUSE GUEST by Megan Miranda, which we plan to review in two weeks and will be a Bets On pick. Let us know by Friday, June 21st at noon ET what books you’ve read, and you’ll have a chance to win both these titles. ASK AGAIN, YES by Mary Beth Keane, which we reviewed last week, is my latest Bets On selection. Click here for my commentary. May I say again that I love this book? In this week’s Summer Reading contests, we gave away BEFORE AND AGAIN by Barbara Delinsky and three of my Bets On picks: THE DREAM DAUGHTER by Diane Chamberlain, THE ISLAND OF SEA WOMEN by Lisa See, and THE SUMMER WIVES by Beatriz Williams. Next week’s prizes will be KICK-ASS KINDA GIRL: A Memoir of Life, Love, and Caregiving by Kathi Koll, SHE WAS THE QUIET ONE by Michele Campbell, THE SUMMER OF SUNSHINE AND MARGOT by Susan Mallery, and TIME AFTER TIME by Lisa Grunwald. The first contest of the week will go live on Monday, June 10th at noon ET. This is your last newsletter reminder to enter our Father’s Day contest as the deadline is Wednesday, June 12th at noon ET. Click here to fill out the form for your chance to win five terrific fiction and nonfiction titles for yourself or the dad in your life. Our New in Paperback roundups are now available for June. We're featuring paperback reprints from such bestselling authors as John Grisham (THE RECKONING), Louise Penny (KINGDOM OF THE BLIND), Debbie Macomber (COTTAGE BY THE SEA), Sophie Kinsella (I OWE YOU ONE), and Gary Shteyngart (LAKE SUCCESS), nonfiction titles, including THE SUN DOES SHINE: How I Found Life, Freedom, and Justice by Anthony Ray Hinton with Lara Love Hardin (Oprah’s Book Club 2018 Selection), CALYPSO by David Sedaris, and SMALL FRY: A Memoir by Lisa Brennan-Jobs; and paperback originals like THE FAVORITE DAUGHTER by Patti Callahan Henry and THE VAN APFEL GIRLS ARE GONE by Felicity McLean. We’ve also updated our Books on Screen feature for this month, which includes the feature films X-Men: Dark Phoenix, Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am and Shaft, along with the DVD releases of Dumbo, The Aftermath, Transit and Five Feet Apart. I talk about the television portion of June's Books on Screen in the News & Pop Culture section below. This month’s Sounding Off on Audio contest is now live. Submit your comments about the audiobooks you’ve listened to, and you’ll be in the running to win the audio versions of Jennifer Weiner's MRS. EVERYTHING, read by Ari Graynor and Beth Malone (we review the print edition next week), and Mary Alice Monroe's THE SUMMER GUESTS, read by Cassandra Campbell. Be sure to enter by Monday, July 1st at noon ET. For our latest poll, we’ve listed 20 fiction titles releasing in June and we’re asking you which, if any, you’re planning to read. Click here to let us know. Our previous poll asked if you ever give your book collection at home a "spring cleaning." 53% of you give away some of your books to friends or family, 51% donate some to libraries, 28% donate some to thrift stores, and 26% reorganize your books according to whether or not you have read them. Click here for all the results. There are lots of good ideas here. A reminder that Barnes & Noble will be hosting a free Book Club Night in stores across the country for Sarah Blake’s THE GUEST BOOK this Tuesday, June 11th at 7pm local time. If you’d like to attend, all you have to do is sign up here. We will share their next selection in next week's newsletter. THE CACTUS by Sarah Haywood is June’s Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick. Here’s what Reese has to say about her first pick of the summer: “This title is a perfect metaphor for Susan who is a single, regimented woman faced with an unexpected pregnancy just as she navigates a difficult family inheritance issue at the same time. I found myself laughing out loud at Susan’s prickly character as she finds herself in a love triangle, navigating family ties and dealing with 9 months of pregnancy at the age of 45. Hope y’all love Susan as much as I do!” Check out our rave review of the book here. Meanwhile, this month’s pick for the PBS NewsHour-New York Times “Now Read This” book club is THE FIFTH SEASON, the first book in N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy. Click here to find out why it was selected. News & Pop Culture: "Big Little Lies," Season 2: The new season kicks off Sunday night at 9pm ET/PT on HBO. It is based on a short piece that Liane Moriarty wrote to give them a framework from which to work. I'm looking forward to it; the theme song is playing in my head. "Chernobyl": I watched four episodes of this series on HBO. It is so well done, and I highly recommend it, but do not quiz me on the science. I took an Energy class in college, and the nuclear reactor totally stumped me. I remember my friend Michael Leahey drawing me endless photos of nuclear reactors and trying to explain them to me. One more episode to watch. "Today" had a segment with Best Books to Read This Summer: Four New York Times bestselling authors shared their selections here. "Billions" on Showtime: The season four finale is on Sunday night. This show is brisk and tough. I really like it. "The Chi": I read this week that the actor who plays Brandon has been let go from the show for inappropriate behavior. It is going to be interesting to see how they handle his character as he is part of so many storylines. Rolling Stones in Cuba on Netflix: There is a terrific documentary about the planning of the Stones’ historic tour stop in Cuba for a free concert, as well as their shows in South America. Seeing all the details was really interesting. The Heartbreaking Story Behind the Iconic Book, LOVE YOU FOREVER: I found this piece this week and wanted to share it. I confess that I get a lump in my throat even thinking about this book. Many find it insufferable, but it gets me every time. On Friday night, I wrapped up Book Expo by going to dinner with Wendy Sheanin from Simon & Schuster, as well as bookselling friends Sarah Bagby from Watermark Books & Café in Wichita, Kansas, Luisa Smith from Book Passage, and a new member of our merry group, Nick Petrulakis from Brookline Booksmith. We had the kind of evening where you can delve into great book and life conversations at a terrific restaurant called Rosemary's in the Village. I had rosemary lemonade; I am a real lightweight. The food was wonderful, including a pasta dish with fresh mint and peas that we recreated this week. Start with this as a base recipe. Add a bit more pasta water to make it creamier, more mint to make it have a bit more bite, and we added very tiny fresh early peas. By the way, I do not like peas. As a child the one year we had a dog, I was more than happy to share my peas with him! I have found that baby early peas are something I do like. By the way, I like pea soup. I know, this is crazy! D-Day: There were so many beautiful and meaningful ceremonies to commemorate the anniversary of D-Day. Greg had been in Normandy five years ago and pronounced it one of the most meaningful experiences of his life. Friends of his are part of a group that restored one of the original planes and was part of the squadron that was dropping paratroopers from the sky. This was their route as the planes did not have huge fuel capacity: Oxford, CT; Presque Isle, ME; Goose Bay, Labrador; Greenland; Reykjavik, Iceland; Glasgow, Scotland; and the Duxford, England base, where they then flew to France. It’s been such an experience just following their travels and hearing the stories that they shared about the restoration and planning via Greg. Quiet weekend on tap; I have not even had time to check if Greg and Cory will be around. I have yet another area that I want to mulch and some more seeds to plant. I like to plant some on the later side so they come up later. I have to plan to stay out of the poison ivy, as I still am recovering from a bout of that from two weeks ago. I have three live events over the next two weeks that I need to prep for. You can see my schedule here. One of them is the Book Club Girl "Night Out" event on Wednesday, June 19th at 6:30pm at the HarperCollins offices in New York City, where I will be interviewing Joshilyn Jackson, author of NEVER HAVE I EVER (on sale July 30th), and Meg Mitchell Moore, author of THE ISLANDERS (on sale Tuesday). Click here for more info and to purchase tickets. I have a wonderful selection of books to read; I am not quite sure where to start. Check back next week, and I will share what I selected. I also am prepping for some author interviews. If all goes as planned, we will shoot two more author interviews for our "Bookreporter Talks To" series next week. I am having such fun with these, and I hope that you are enjoying them too! 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:  SEARCHING FOR SYLVIE LEE by Jean Kwok (Fiction) - Click here to read more about the book. Click here to read the review. SEARCHING FOR SYLVIE LEE will be a Bookreporter.com Bets On pick. Featured Review: THE FRIENDS WE KEEP by Jane Green  THE FRIENDS WE KEEP by Jane Green (Fiction) - Click here to read more about the book. Click here to read the review. Featured Review: BEYOND ALL REASONABLE DOUBT  BEYOND ALL REASONABLE DOUBT written by Malin Persson Giolito, translated by Rachel Willson-Broyles (Legal Thriller) - Click here to read more about the book. Click here to read the review.  New Special Contest: Enter to Win an Advance Copy of PRETTY GUILTY WOMEN by Gina LaManna  A man is dead at the Banks wedding, and four different women rush to offer confessions, each insisting that they committed the crime alone. Why would they confess to the same murder? Only they know --- and they’re not telling. We have 75 advance copies of PRETTY GUILTY WOMEN by Gina LaManna to give away to those who would like to preview the book, which releases on September 3rd, and share their comments on it. To enter, please fill out this form by Thursday, June 20th at noon ET. PRETTY GUILTY WOMEN by Gina LaManna (Mystery/Thriller) Ginger is holding her family together by a thread, and this wedding weekend is not the fabulous getaway she anticipated. Kate has enough money to buy her way out of anything. Well, almost anything. Emily can’t shake her reputation or her memories, and she’s planning to drown this whole vacation in a bottle. Lulu has ex-husbands to spare, and another on the way --- as soon as she figures out what the devil the current husband is up to behind her back. Why would they confess to the same murder? Only they know --- and they’re not telling. This page-turning novel explores the depths of friendship and the truths we love to ignore. - Click here to read an excerpt. Click here to enter the contest.  Bookreporter.com Bets On:  ASK AGAIN, YES by Mary Beth Keane (Fiction) The book works on so many levels. It’s a family story, a love story and a story about life’s turns. When I see young couples, I often think that things have not gotten messy yet. Life creeps in, and suddenly dreams are shattered, life zigs instead of zags, and the best plans get reworked. I was thinking about that a lot as I was reading ASK AGAIN, YES. - Click here to read more about the book. Click here to read more of Carol's commentary.  Bookreporter.com's 14th Annual Father’s Day is a time to celebrate the men in our lives who have raised and loved us. Why not show him your appreciation by inspiring him with a great book? In our 14th annual "Best Books for Dad" contest, we have a selection of books that are perfect gift-giving suggestions for Dad, keeping him busy through the rest of the year. Five readers will be awarded a copy of each of our featured titles. To enter, please fill out this form by Wednesday, June 12th at noon ET. This year's featured titles are:
Click here to enter the contest.  Bookreporter.com's Summer Reading Summer will be here before you know it! At Bookreporter.com, this means it's time for us to share some great summer book picks with our Summer Reading Contests and Feature. We are hosting a series of 24-hour contests for these titles on select days through August 23rd, 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, June 10th at noon ET. This year’s prize books include:
Click here to read all the contest details. Publishers Lunch Buzz Books:  Buzz Books gives you 45 chances to find your next great reads, providing exclusive early looks at new work from favorite authors and hot discoveries. Enjoy the first pre-publication samples of new work from bestselling authors Tracy Chevalier, Jojo Moyes, Kevin Wilson, Jeanette Winterson and Eoin Colfer, known for his Artemis Fowl YA series. Readers addicted to thrillers will be glad this edition is packed with them: J.T. Ellison, Jeff Lindsay (introducing the first in a new series), Olaf Olafsson, and especially IMAGINARY FRIEND, the long-awaited second book by Stephen Chbosky, author of THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER. This Buzz Books includes 12 debut novels, including the highly touted SUCH A FUN AGE by Kiley Reid and the thriller SAINT X by Alexis Schaitkin, along with first novels of distinction by Elizabeth Ames, April Davila, Eliza Nellums, E.R. Ramzipoor and more. Memoir dominates our large nonfiction list of 11 titles. From Adrienne Brodeur’s account of her mother’s affair to former United States Ambassador to the United Nations and Pulitzer Prize winner Samantha Power’s THE EDUCATION OF AN IDEALIST, these stories make for fascinating reading. Visit buzz.publishersmarketplace.com for free downloads.    June’s New in Paperback Roundups June’s roundup of New in Paperback fiction titles includes THE PRESIDENT IS MISSING, Bill Clinton and James Patterson's thriller that confronts a threat so huge that it jeopardizes not just Pennsylvania Avenue and Wall Street, but all of America; THE RECKONING by John Grisham, in which a decorated World War II hero and a faithful member of the Methodist church commits a shocking crime and is willing to take his motive to the grave; KINGDOM OF THE BLIND, the 14th installment in Louise Penny's mystery series featuring Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, a novel about everyday life and ever-curious death in the village of Three Pines; and THE SUMMER WIVES by Beatriz Williams, an electrifying postwar fable of love, class, power and redemption set among the inhabitants of an island off the New England coast. Among our nonfiction highlights are Anthony Ray Hinton's THE SUN DOES SHINE (Oprah’s Book Club 2018 Selection), a powerful, revealing story of hope, love, justice and the power of reading by a man who spent 30 years on death row for a crime he didn't commit; CALYPSO, David Sedaris' most deeply personal and darkly hilarious book, in which he sets his formidable powers of observation toward middle age and mortality; and SMALL FRY, a poignant coming-of-age story from Steve Jobs' daughter, Lisa Brennan-Jobs --- which is part portrait of a complex family, part love letter to California in the '70s and '80s. Find out what's New in Paperback for the weeks of    June’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 June's offerings, please click here.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix Shaft Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am
"The Handmaid's Tale" (Season Three) "Tales of the City" (Season One) Very Valentine "Big Little Lies" On DVD Five Feet Apart The Aftermath Transit    More Reviews This WeekON EARTH WE’RE BRIEFLY GORGEOUS by Ocean Vuong (Fiction) THE PLAZA: The Secret Life of America's Most Famous Hotel by Julie Satow (History) UNSOLVED by James Patterson and David Ellis (Thriller) MY LIFE AS A RAT by Joyce Carol Oates (Fiction) MY DAD, YOGI: A Memoir of Family and Baseball by Dale Berra with Mark Ribowsky (Sports/Memoir) DARK SITE: A Sam Dryden Novel by Patrick Lee (Thriller) THEIR LITTLE SECRET: A Tom Thorne Novel by Mark Billingham (Mystery/Thriller) WOMEN RISE UP: Sacred Stories of Resistance for Today’s Revolution by Katey Zeh (Gender Studies/Social Issues) OUR SYMPHONY WITH ANIMALS: On Health, Empathy, and Our Shared Destinies by Aysha Akhtar, M.D. (Social History/Medicine) RAG AND BONE: A Jay Porter Novel by Joe Clifford (Mystery/Thriller)   
Next Week’s Notables:
|
