April 24, 2020
 April 24, 2020Quick Links to Features on Bookreporter.com Reviews | Features | Bookreporter.com Bets On | Upcoming Bets On    Carol will be interviewing four authors for upcoming "Bookreporter Talks To" segments:   On April 29th at 7pm ET, Stephen King and John Grisham will catch up and discuss DEFENDING JACOB by William Landay has been adapted into a series on Apple TV+.  Carol's Corona scarf is done, as you can see above. At 140 inches, it was much longer than she planned! Pandemonium from the Pandemic Produces New Habits The days fly by at Bookreporter when life is normal. During a pandemic, the hours seem to fly by even faster. I am usually awake by 6:30 or 7:00, reading newsletters and news online for an hour. This week, I then jumped on my recumbent exercise bike, riding and reading a book for another hour. Until this week, the bike seat was a very convenient place to stack papers and magazines that I wanted to read. Now, instead of commuting by car, I am pedaling and going nowhere a few feet from my desk. Once the day starts, I try to take a walk midday, but since the weather was pretty uncooperative this week, I was content just biking to nowhere. My home office has a big window that overlooks the street. Typically a few people would walk by in the street; we do not have sidewalks. These days, many people are walking, all properly social-distanced. But I find myself wondering, Who are these people I have never seen before? Greg and I took a walk on Sunday and passed at least a half dozen people we had never seen before. After six weeks of being home, people are forming all kinds of new patterns. So what have I been reading? Books for author interviews. Between yesterday and Tuesday, we are recording four "Bookreporter Talks To" interviews, which will be shared with you over the next two weeks. I already had read ALL ADULTS HERE by Emma Straub and GHOSTS OF HARVARD by Francesca Serritella, so I biked and read the folded-down pages for ideas for interview questions. Over the weekend, I read THE HEIRLOOM GARDEN by Viola Shipman. Amusingly at 8:30 on Saturday, I was inspired to engage in Facebook chatting with my local garden center asking if they were open (they were) and getting questions on when to plant annuals answered (not until the first week of May). THE HEIRLOOM GARDEN has two female protagonists. One is a woman who lost her husband in World War II; the other’s husband came home from Iraq with PTSD and lots of hidden battle scars. Their friendship slowly forms; as it does, walls between them literally come down and beautiful gardens flourish. I learned a lot about flowers and gardening as I read it. As I was reading one chapter, I remembered that I wanted to plant dahlias this year. Then I researched Japanese beetles and realized they love dahlias, so I nixed that idea! I am now reading HELLO, SUMMER by Mary Kay Andrews, which could not be better timed. Seriously, I am ready for summer right now. In this book, a young woman is all set to leave her Atlanta job to head to Washington, DC, to work at a hot investigative reporting website when suddenly the company there folds. She is forced to head back to her small hometown in Florida and work for the local paper that her family owns. It has a terrific mystery layered into it and a blossoming romance. Good reading! I am looking forward to sharing interviews with all four of these authors with you in the next two weeks. The week of May 4th is a huge publication week. There is no promo video this week. We shot one, but I confess I was distracted while we were shooting it as so much is going on, and I just do not love it. I will see if we can get one up next week! With so many libraries closed these days, I have been getting requests from librarians to use our “Bookreporter Talks To” interviews on their websites. If you are a librarian interested in this, just let me know! We like to keep track of where they are being used. The Baldwin Public Library on Long Island has booked me to do a virtual event in August. If there is interest in this for either Summer Reading or Fall Preview presentations at libraries, drop me a note. I have been getting notes from readers who are walking and biking listening to our "Bookreporter Talks To" podcasts. Our listenership was up 25% last month. If you can share our interviews on video and/or podcast with your friends, I would be so grateful. On Wednesday night, we had dinner with Erik Larson and Christina Baker Kline; they were on the table, literally. Random House hosted a Zoom event with Christina interviewing Erik, and it went on at 7pm just as we were sitting down to dinner. So we put my laptop at the end of the table and dined with them. Amusingly, my friend Beverley did the same with her family. For those of you who dined without them, you can see the interview here. Next Wednesday night, we are having dinner with Stephen King and John Grisham, and you can too. Sign up here for their YouTube chat on April 29th at 7pm ET. Beverley already booked her family! Our new all-remote world brings you authors reading to you as well. Here we have Stephen King reading from his book, IF IT BLEEDS, which we review later in this newsletter, and John Grisham reads the opening chapter of CAMINO WINDS, which is in stores on Tuesday and we will review in next week's newsletter, here. IF IT BLEEDS and CAMINO WINDS happen to be our current Word of Mouth prizes. Let us know by Friday, May 1st at noon ET what books you’ve read, and you’ll be in the running to win both these highly anticipated thrillers. Our reviewer Joe Hartlaub raves about Stephen King's new collection, which contains four new novellas: “Be assured that IF IT BLEEDS is not a placeholder for King until he publishes some epic novel in the future. Each of these pieces contains some of his shiniest wordcraft. You will want to linger over it, but you will be compelled to read as quickly as possible --- and, as always, with the lights on.” David Baldacci continues his Memory Man series with WALK THE WIRE, which finds Amos Decker --- the FBI consultant with a perfect memory --- and his colleague, Alex Jamison, returning to solve a gruesome murder in a booming North Dakota oil town. According to our reviewer Ray Palen, "Decker and Jamison are in way over their heads and completely losing control of the situation. Readers will feel the frustration leaping out of every successive page, and this feeling does not stop until the dynamic climax, which eventually ties up most of these loose ends. Just take that ride with them down the rabbit hole and be ready for anything." THE BOOK OF LONGINGS is Sue Monk Kidd’s much-talked-about fourth work of fiction (following THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES, THE MERMAID CHAIR and THE INVENTION OF WINGS). Here, she imagines the story of a young woman named Ana, who is expected to marry an older widower, a prospect that horrifies her. An encounter with 18-year-old Jesus changes everything. Megan Elliott has our review and says, “Ana’s journey from a spirited and pampered young woman to the wife of a peasant is rendered in rich detail…. What she wants most of all is a voice, to be recognized for who she is and to be heard by those around her. Kidd gives her that voice in this emotionally resonant tale.” Other books we’re reviewing this week include Jenna Bush Hager’s “Read with Jenna” Today Show Book Club pick for April, VALENTINE, Elizabeth Wetmore’s debut novel that explores the lingering effects of a brutal crime on the women of one small Texas oil town in the 1970s; HID FROM OUR EYES, the ninth installment in Julia Spencer-Fleming’s mystery series featuring Reverend Clare Fergusson and Millers Kill Police Chief Russ van Alstyne, who return following a nearly seven-year hiatus (the last book they appeared in was 2013’s THROUGH THE EVIL DAYS); and CHEATER’S GAME, the 14th entry in Paul Levine’s series starring attorney Jake Lassiter, who must fight for his nephew Kip’s freedom when he is implicated in a shady scheme to help rich, spoiled kids gain admission to elite universities. We’re awarding the audio version of HID FROM OUR EYES (read by Suzanne Toren), along with D.J. Palmer’s THE NEW HUSBAND (read by January LaVoy and Rebecca Soler), in this month’s Sounding Off on Audio contest. Submit your comments about the audiobooks you’ve listened to, and you’ll have a chance to win both these audio titles. Please do so by Friday, May 1st at noon ET. There’s still plenty of time to enter our 15th annual Mother’s Day contest. We’re giving five readers the opportunity to win seven fabulous fiction and nonfiction titles for themselves or their mom. Among them are DAUGHTERS OF SMOKE AND FIRE by Ava Homa and a fully revised and updated edition of JOY OF COOKING. To enter, please fill out this form by Monday, May 11th at noon ET. Click here to take a look at all of this year’s Mother’s Day prize books. Our Spring Preview contests wrapped up this week with our final four giveaways: FEELS LIKE FALLING by Kristy Woodson Harvey, the aforementioned THE HEIRLOOM GARDEN by Viola Shipman, MEMBERS ONLY by Sameer Pandya, and THE NIGHT BEFORE by Wendy Walker (a Bets On pick that releases in paperback on Tuesday). Congratulations to the winners of our 17 contests, and many thanks to all who entered! Our next series of 24-hour giveaways will be our Summer Reading contests, and they kick off the week of May 11th. If you would like to receive a newsletter announcing each day’s Summer Reading title, click here to sign up. As we’re all hunkered down at home, our poll continues to ask what activities you enjoy doing while you’re indoors. Do you like to binge-watch series? Listen to podcasts? Play board games? Have Zoom visits with family and friends? Click here to let us know how you’ve been occupying your time during quarantine. Ron Kaplan, our resident baseball aficionado, has been busy doing Zoom interviews with authors who have written books about our national pastime. So far he has talked to Jason Turbow, who started the Pandemic Baseball Book Club, which is designed for authors who are missing out on book tours, and Anika Orrock, who has written THE INCREDIBLE WOMEN OF THE ALL-AMERICAN GIRLS PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL LEAGUE and is a member of the Pandemic Baseball Book Club. Next up for Ron will be Keith Law, whose new book, THE INSIDE GAME: Bad Calls, Strange Moves, and What Baseball Behavior Teaches Us About Ourselves, released this week. Ron plans to add more interviews to his blog in the weeks to come, so please be on the lookout for those. His latest review for us is BUZZ SAW: The Improbable Story of How the Washington Nationals Won the World Series by Jesse Dougherty. News & Pop Culture Reader Mail: Shirley wrote about winning THE BOOK OF LOST FRIENDS in our Spring Preview contest: "Carol, I’m so excited to win a copy of this book! During this time of being so secluded from family and friends, reading has been my salvation. I eagerly await your Friday email to discover new books, and your interviews with authors are a highlight. Thank you for turning a dismal day into one of happy anticipation!” Diane wrote this about winning another Spring Preview contest: “Thank you so much. I just won a copy of THE DAUGHTERS OF ERIETOWN and can’t wait to get it.” I got lots of notes from readers who are doing puzzles. Lucy wrote, “With your wealth of books-to-read information and puzzles, the isolation hasn't been so bad! I've managed to read many more books than I normally do and completed 18 puzzles. It's hard to pick one that's my favorite, so I will tell you about two! One is of the Bay Head Yacht Club (in NJ), which was a limited-edition wooden puzzled created by Liberty Puzzles. Many puzzle pieces have unique characters (mermaids, birds, people, etc.), which makes it challenging but fun to assemble.The other is Inspirational Women by Ridley's Jigsaw Puzzles (Wild + Wolf). The bonus with this puzzle was that the circular pattern allowed my husband to easily participate since it's accessible from every direction. Thank you for all you do to make life more interesting! I LOVE your podcasts and listen everyday as I go for my walks." Lory wrote, "We have gone puzzle-crazy, completing eight since this quarantine started (my youngest just started a new one this morning). My favorite has to be the MC Escher one that was missing a piece at the end. I have renamed my middle child the Puzzlemaster, as she definitely has a knack for these and will complete a 1,500-piece puzzle in less than 24 hours. We’re definitely enjoying ourselves and now looking to trade with friends and neighbors to increase and share our supply. Quarantine for us = puzzle-making craze Kate wrote, “Charles Wysocki puzzles are the best!” Carole wrote, "My son (22 years old!) and I did a 500-piece puzzle in two sittings. It was a picture of the Mandalorian and Baby Yoda. Such fun! Deb wrote, "Here’s one of my favorite puzzles of Swedish artist Carl Larsson’s painting Crayfishing. "My daughter (age 23) and I are working on puzzles daily. Our favorites are Ravensburger and Liberty wooden puzzles. We’ve put together 18-20 mostly 1,000-piece puzzles since the first of March. I have also shared puzzles with family and friends as they have with us. It's a great pastime. In a typical year, I’ll do three 1,000-piece puzzles during the winter months. Sheila wrote, "I do love puzzles! My nephews brought a Cliffs of Moher puzzle back with them from Ireland. It's made by Gosling Gifts and Games. I usually get my puzzles secondhand --- yard sales and book sales are a good source. Once things get back to 'normal,' there should be a great selection available! Roe wrote, "Besides reading, my husband and I have been doing some puzzles. It is becoming addictive, and we find ourselves gravitating back to the table just to try to locate one more piece. It’s better than gravitating back to the table for more to eat, which is also becoming an addiction. Stay safe and healthy. Looking forward to the day we can all celebrate the end of this trying time." And from me: I saw this article about an impossible clear puzzle that is being called “The Ultimate Coronavirus Lockdown Challenge.” I think most of you like puzzles with art on them (as do I), but this looks so challenging. Aspen Words Literary Prize: This year's winner is THE BEEKEEPER OF ALEPPO by Christy Lefteri. I loved this book; it was a Bets On selection. "Bosch": I've been enjoying this season on Amazon Prime. "Little Fires Everywhere": I enjoyed it, though it diverted from the book, and I liked the book better. The ending makes me feel like they are begging for a second season. I hope that does not happen; it could be like season two of "Big Little Lies." Some things are meant to end. Hollywood is the land of the never-ending sequels. "The Plot Against America": The series wrapped up this week. It was chilling and thought-provoking. "Defending Jacob": I loved the book DEFENDING JACOB, and now it's a series on Apple TV+. The first three episodes premiered today, and subsequent episodes will be available every Friday. I will break down and get Apple TV+ this weekend. Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind: Coming to HBO on May 5th. Here is the trailer. And remember that Natasha Gregson Wagner's book about her mother, MORE THAN LOVE, is one of the titles being given away in our Mother’s Day contest. #SaveIndieBookstores: We mentioned this in last week's newsletter, but we wanted to make sure it was on your radar as it is such an important initiative. The American Booksellers Association has partnered with the Book Industry Charitable (Binc) Foundation to promote the #SaveIndieBookstores campaign. James Patterson has generously donated $500,000 to launch #SaveIndieBookstores. With the support of Reese’s Book Club, their goal is to raise as much money as possible by April 30th. We all know what independent bookstores mean to our families and communities. Donate what you can at SaveIndieBookstores.com. There is a group in my town that has organized a really terrific initiative to feed those on the front lines in hospitals in our area. People are donating money, and the funds are being used to buy meals from local restaurants that are then delivered to front-line workers at hospitals in the area. One day, 764 meals were made by two of the restaurants! It’s a great program that supports local businesses, as well as providing meals for those who are too busy to leave the hospital buildings to eat. There is something there that can be modeled in other towns. Speaking of food, FAMILY MEAL: Recipes from Our Community is a new digital-only cookbook from Penguin Random House, coming out on May 5th, that has 100% of the proceeds benefiting America’s restaurants through Restaurant Workers’ COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund, which supports on-the-ground efforts in the restaurant community during this challenging time. The contributors include Ina Garten, Bobby Flay, Ruth Reichl, Samin Nosrat, Christina Tosi, Dan Barber, Kwame Onwuachi and many more. You can pre-order it here. I ordered my copy last night. The world has changed, but some things remain the same: flowers still bloom, bees still buzz, and we still need to care for our mental health. Whether you are staying home alone, raising kids in quarantine, or working on the front lines, we all need a little calm in the chaos --- and that’s where coloring comes in. Johanna Basford, the queen of adult coloring, has created a free 12-page mini book to help us get through this. FLOURISH: A Mini Inky Adventure can be downloaded here, straight from Johanna’s website, starting today. My sister, who likes to bead Johanna's illustrations, already downloaded it and printed out two pages to bead. FLOURISH takes inspiration from the best-loved pages of her coloring book collection, as well as some sneak peeks at new work. Amongst the pages are intricate patterns to get lost in, floral garlands, and underwater worlds to explore, as well as small motifs that can be completed in just a few minutes. And you can download as many copies as you like! So many of us feel like we are living in a very different world. A friend shared this brilliant piece on Medium about what we should be trying to do right now --- where our focus should be and how to change your metrics for what success is right now. I find myself reflecting on it a lot. You just want the plane to land! We are staying home this weekend...but then again, how is this different from every other day now? The Corona scarf is done; you can see it above. It is so much longer than I planned. It’s 140 inches! I am now onto my next project, which is being knit with mohair yarn. I forgot how mohair yarn can be sticky on needles, so I ordered a new pair from my local yarn shop so I can enjoy this project. Lots of organizing is on the agenda. I have so much lined up for shredding once the recycling place reopens! Read on, and have a great week. Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)    Featured Review: IF IT BLEEDS by Stephen King  IF IT BLEEDS by Stephen King (Supernatural Thriller/Horror) - Click here to read more about the book. Click here to read our review. Featured Review: WALK THE WIRE by David Baldacci  WALK THE WIRE by David Baldacci (Thriller) - Click here to read more about the book. Click here to read our review. Featured Review: THE BOOK OF LONGINGS  THE BOOK OF LONGINGS by Sue Monk Kidd (Fiction) - Click here to read more about the book. Click here to read our review. Featured Review: VALENTINE by Elizabeth Wetmore  VALENTINE by Elizabeth Wetmore (Fiction) - Click here to read more about the book. Click here to read our review.  Bookreporter.com's 15th 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 15th annual "Books Mom Will Love" contest. From now through Monday, May 11th at noon ET, readers can enter to win one of our five prize packages, which includes seven great fiction and nonfiction titles we think moms will love. This year's featured titles are:
Click here to enter the contest. Featured Review: HID FROM OUR EYES  HID FROM OUR EYES: A Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne Mystery by Julia Spencer-Fleming (Mystery) - Click here to read more about the book. Click here to read our review. Featured Review: CHEATER’S GAME by Paul Levine  CHEATER’S GAME: A Jake Lassiter Thriller by Paul Levine (Legal Thriller) Click here to read our review.    Favorite Monthly Lists & Picks for April Each month, we share top book picks from Indie Next and LibraryReads, as well as the Target Book Club title and Pennie's Pick for Costco. We also feature a number of other prominent picks, including Oprah’s Book Club, the Barnes & Noble Book Club, the Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club, Jenna Bush Hager's "Read with Jenna" Today Show Book Club, the "Good Morning America" Book Club, the PBS NewsHour-New York Times “Now Read This” Book Club, and Simon & Schuster’s Book Club Favorites. Below is a preview of April's "Favorite Monthly Lists & Picks." For the complete Indie Next and LibraryReads lists, as well as additional links pertaining to this month's selections, please click here. Indie Next LibraryReads Target Book Club Pennie's Pick (Costco) Oprah's Book Club Barnes & Noble Book Club Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club Jenna Bush Hager's "Read with Jenna" Today Show Book Club "Good Morning America" Book Club Simon & Schuster's Book Club Favorites   "Bookreporter Talks To" Videos & Podcasts In late August 2019, we launched “Bookreporter Talks To,” a video and podcast series where we deliver a long-form, in-depth author interview every week. For years, I have moderated book festivals and author events around the country. But we know that readers often do not live where they can attend an author event. Our goal --- to bring these author interviews to readers, wherever they may be. Watch on video, or listen as a podcast. (The podcasts include audio excerpts.) You can find a list of all of them here. By the way, this follows a long history of The Book Report Network delivering compelling programming to readers. Back in 1997, the company hosted the first online interview with John Grisham, which started a tradition of ongoing interviews with authors. Here is our latest interview: Other authors we've interviewed include:
Upcoming interviews include:
Watch our "Bookreporter Talks To" interviews and listen to our podcasts.    More Reviews This WeekTHE MOMENT OF TENDERNESS by Madeleine L'Engle (Fiction/Short Stories) THE BIG FINISH by Brooke Fossey (Fiction) LINCOLN ON THE VERGE: Thirteen Days to Washington by Ted Widmer (History) BUZZ SAW: The Improbable Story of How the Washington Nationals Won the World Series by Jesse Dougherty (Sports) RECOLLECTIONS OF MY NONEXISTENCE: A Memoir by Rebecca Solnit (Memoir) MISS AUSTEN by Gill Hornby (Historical Fiction) RACE THE SANDS by Sarah Beth Durst (Fantasy) CROSS HER HEART by Melinda Leigh (Mystery/Thriller)   
Next Week’s Notables:
|
