October 9, 2020
 October 9, 2020Quick 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 have donated to our GoFundMe campaign. So far, with online and snail mail donations, we have raised $36,085 of our $50,000 goal. You can read about our plans and donate here. If you would prefer donating via check, please send to: Thank you again for your consideration and your donation.  Carol's latest "Bookreporter Talks To" interview is with Lisa Unger,   Last weekend, Carol read and loved INVISIBLE GIRL by Lisa Jewell (on sale October 13th;   Carol is looking forward to cooking from Ina Garten's new cookbook, MODERN COMFORT FOOD.  Carol and her son, Cory, went to the farmer's market last weekend and got eucalyptus. Ready for a Three-Day Weekend In last week’s newsletter, I noted that small businesses need our support by doing holiday shopping early --- and supporting local businesses. Here’s a terrific piece from the Los Angeles Times written by Allison Hill. Until February 2020, Allison was the CEO of Vroman’s in Pasadena and Book Soup in L.A. She is now the Executive Director of the American Booksellers Association, a job she assumed on March 1st. She knows bookstores and book selling. So heed her comments on shopping at the places you want to be there for you. Last weekend, I went to the farmer’s market with my son, Cory, to get eucalyptus. This is an October tradition for me. I buy large bunches of it and arrange it around the house. I love the smell of it. My husband thinks it makes the house smell like Michaels, the craft store. I roll my eyes. Despite his negativity on my creativity with this, I cut him sprigs for his shower, which he likes! This season it seems even healthier than usual. I also bought mums and cabbage plants for the front porch, and I did break down and buy a red celosia plant as well. I found the last one in the store, so of course it was screaming my name. It was a two-book weekend. I started with INVISIBLE GIRL by Lisa Jewell, which is terrific and will be a Bookreporter.com Bets On pick. It’s set in London in a neighborhood where a number of sexual assaults have occurred. Just what is going on with these crimes, as well as the people who live in that neighborhood? Fingers are pointed more than once, but not always in the right direction. I then prepped for a "Bookreporter Talks To" interview with her that we shot this week to run next week. Lisa lives in the UK, and it was wonderful to connect with her again. You will see something funny about my last interview with her when you watch it! Then I read DEAR CHILD by Romy Hausmann. Whoa, this is one really twisted thriller about a young woman who escapes from her captor. She is known as Lena, and during captivity she took care of two children. Lena has been missing for 13 years, so her family cannot wait to be reunited with her. But suddenly she does not appear to be the woman they searched for all these years. What’s going on? This is your last weekly newsletter reminder to sign up for our fifth "Bookaccino Live: A Lively Talk About Books” event, which will take place via Zoom on Wednesday, October 14th at 2pm ET. This time, I will talk about titles releasing from October 13th to November 3rd, along with five from December, that I would like to get on your radar. Click here to register. Our room holds up to 500 attendees, so feel free to invite friends! If you already signed up for this session, please do not sign up again. This will help us keep an accurate audience count. My latest “Bookreporter Talks To” interview is with Lisa Unger, whose new psychological thriller is CONFESSIONS ON THE 7:45. In this upcoming Bets On pick, readers are introduced to Selena Murphy, whose usual train commute is interrupted and stalled. She begins a deep conversation with her seat neighbor and reveals a few too many secrets from her personal life. Selena assumes they'll never meet again when the train arrives at the station, and they part ways. However, she soon finds out that this stranger on the train will have a bigger impact on her life than she ever could have realized. Lisa and I talked about how easy it is to confess dark secrets to people we don’t know, how intense connections can be formed in short periods of time, and the reasons that people might lie to themselves and others. Click here to watch the video and here to listen to the podcast. Ray Palen has our review and says, "There is so much about CONFESSIONS ON THE 7:45 that cannot be revealed in a review lest the story is ruined for the reader. But what I can say is that Lisa Unger once again has taken the map of the psychological thriller and utilized it to its fullest here. I was rocked by not one but two major twists in the last act of this tale that really had my head spinning." Don’t miss my Bets On commentary in next week’s newsletter. Tana French is back with her highly anticipated new stand-alone novel, THE SEARCHER, which finds retired Chicago detective Cal Hooper escaping to a bucolic Irish village looking for some peace and quiet. But when a local kid whose brother has gone missing arm-twists him into investigating, Cal starts to realize that even small towns shelter dangerous secrets. According to our reviewer Joe Hartlaub, “While there are a few surprises (including one major stunner), the primary emphasis here is on the ways in which people interact (or do not) as opposed to what occurs in a standard thriller. One would be tempted to call this a coming-of-age novel for adults, given that Cal finds a way to adjust to his new life, but THE SEARCHER is ultimately a situational examination of a man approaching the twilight of his life and not going gently into it.” One of the biggest releases of the fall is LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND, Rumaan Alam’s third novel, which is about two families --- strangers to each other --- who are forced together on a long weekend gone terribly wrong. Shortlisted for this year’s National Book Awards, it is this month’s Barnes & Noble Book Club selection and a “Read with Jenna” Today Show Book Club pick. Rebecca Munro has our review and calls the book "positively engrossing in its tone, pacing and atmosphere. Alam fills his scenes with tension and then backs away just enough that the space between his characters’ actions and his own hand can be filled by his readers’ minds, preconceived notions and familiarity with different genres." On Tuesday, October 27th at 7pm ET, join Rumaan Alam on B&N’s Facebook page as he discusses the book. LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND is one of our current Word of Mouth prize books; the other is John Grisham’s new legal thriller, A TIME FOR MERCY, which we will review next week. Let us know by Friday, October 23rd at noon ET what books you’ve read, and you’ll have a chance to win both novels. Along with LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND, the recently announced National Book Awards shortlist includes A CHILDREN'S BIBLE by Lydia Millet (Fiction), THE DEAD ARE ARISING: The Life of Malcolm X, by Les Payne and Tamara Payne (Nonfiction), and TOKYO UENO STATION by Yu Miri, translated from the Japanese by Morgan Giles (Translated Literature). Click here for all the finalists. The winners will be announced on November 18th at a ceremony held exclusively online. Among this week’s other reviews are TROUBLES IN PARADISE, the conclusion to Elin Hilderbrand’s Paradise trilogy, in which the secrets and lies that brought Irene Steele and her sons to St. John --- and the truth that transformed them all --- finally will be revealed; ELSEWHERE by Dean Koontz, which finds the fate of the world in the hands of a father and daughter; IS THIS ANYTHING?, the first book in 25 years from Jerry Seinfeld, which features his best work across five decades in comedy; and NEXT TO LAST STAND, the latest installment in Craig Johnson’s mystery series featuring Sheriff Walt Longmire, who is sent on the trail of a dangerous art heist. In this week’s Fall Preview contests, we gave away the aforementioned DEAR CHILD by Romy Hausmann, along with THE DEVIL AND THE DARK WATER by Stuart Turton and THE WRONG KIND OF WOMAN by Sarah McCraw Crow (which we review this week). Next week’s prize will be the aforementioned INVISIBLE GIRL by Lisa Jewell, which releases on Tuesday. The 24-hour giveaway will go live on that day at noon ET. Our New in Paperback roundups for October are now available. We're featuring paperback reprints from such bestselling authors as David Baldacci (WALK THE WIRE), Harlan Coben (THE BOY FROM THE WOODS), Debbie Macomber (A MRS. MIRACLE CHRISTMAS), Zadie Smith (GRAND UNION), and Jeff Lindsay (JUST WATCH ME); nonfiction titles, including ME by Elton John, HOME WORK: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years by Julie Andrews with Emma Walton Hamilton, and MAKE IT SCREAM, MAKE IT BURN: Essays by Leslie Jamison; and paperback originals like HOUSE OF CORRECTION by Nicci French, WHEN WE WERE YOUNG & BRAVE by Hazel Gaynor, and A BEND IN THE RIVER by Libby Fischer Hellmann (which we review this week). For our latest poll, we are listing a number of notable nonfiction titles releasing in September and October, and we want to know which ones, if any, you have read or are planning to read. Click here to cast your votes. Our previous poll asked if you shelve your books by spine color, as we have been seeing many photos of people color-coordinating their bookshelves like that. A whopping 97% of you have never done this (of that percentage, only 7% think it’s a good idea), and just 3% do this. While we're on the subject, one of our readers, Margy, sent us this great piece on how to shelve by color from the Netflix show "Get Organized with The Home Edit." This year's Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to Louise Glück “for her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal." Glück made her debut in 1968 with FIRSTBORN and was soon acclaimed as one of the most prominent poets in American contemporary literature. News & Pop Culture Reader Mail: Ann wrote, “I enjoyed your visit with Robert Dugoni. I read a Tracy Crosswhite book, the first in the series, and was hooked. I am up to date on that series and hoping there are more to come. I loved THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE OF SAM HELL and am now reading the Charles Jenkins series. Robert Dugoni is a favorite!” Nancy wrote, “I am thrilled to have a finished copy of HOMELAND ELEGIES. It’s such a revealing novel. Thank you.” Carol wrote, “Thank you so much for sending me a copy of THE END OF THE DAY. I just moved to WA, and the book was waiting for me in my new house. So exciting --- it was like receiving a housewarming gift. Thanks for all you do to connect readers with great books!” Robert wrote, “I must comment on your note about your husband's taste in books. All the authors you listed are also ones I follow. You may want to consider giving him a section to report on books for his taste monthly. I find I am much more into series now that I am reading more in retirement.” "Emily in Paris" on Netflix: While this show has sparked a lot of controversy about what Parisians think of us and us of them, I found it to be a fun escape. I watched seven episodes as I was answering email the other night and finished the next three the following night. It’s what I call “good background TV,” since I do not have to pay rapt attention except when they speak French and I read subtitles! "Schitt’s Creek" on Netflix: I am only on season three. What a fun show with wickedly clever writing! Who knew? I Love Yarn Day is tomorrow. Amusing; I can just take pictures of the yarn so neatly arranged in the chicken coops in my office! The office is closed on Monday for Columbus Day. When we started the company, I thought the staff needed a break between Labor Day and Thanksgiving, and my sons always had the holiday and I liked spending it with them. Though they are long out of school, it’s a tradition we have kept up. Back in 1984, I spent Columbus Day in the city with my mom shopping for a wedding gown. The Columbus Day parade led by Sophia Loren was on Fifth Avenue. She was the first woman to lead the parade in its then-39-year history. In case you were wondering, the parade is going to be virtual this year. Because everything is virtual in 2020! I am looking forward to cooking from Ina Garten’s MODERN COMFORT FOOD cookbook. I will share what I make in next week's newsletter! Last weekend, I tweaked a Stuffed Poblanos recipe that I made up. I have been making them with cottage cheese, rice, red onion and jalapeno stuffing topped with Mexican cheese for years. But this time I decided to add black beans and corn. And instead of precooking the poblanos and peeling them, I just baked them with the stuffing in them. I will make a few tweaks for next time. I think I will cook them for a few minutes before stuffing them since the chilis needed a bit more time after the cheese was browned. I am hoping to get a lot more sorting done this weekend, and I am going to be on a quest at the farmer’s market for pumpkins on a stick, which I got last year and loved, as well as more squash blossoms. I found the latter last week, but when I went to cook them, they were pretty mushy! I should have just figured out what to do with them on Sunday. I have a book lined up and a manuscript that I am working on editing. Bring on the weekend. Oh, and Mercury will be retrograde from October 14th until November 3rd. Do not say I did not warn you! Also, here’s a heads up: the squirrels are rushing around storing up nuts for the winter. At the garden center, they said this is a sign that winter is going to be rough in the northeast. Take note from the squirrels. Read on, and have a great week. Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)    Featured Review: THE SEARCHER by Tana French  THE SEARCHER by Tana French (Mystery/Thriller) Click here to read our review. Featured Review: TROUBLES IN PARADISE  TROUBLES IN PARADISE by Elin Hilderbrand (Fiction) - Click here to read more about the book. Click here to read our review. Featured Review:  Jenna.jpg) LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND by Rumaan Alam (Fiction) Click here to read our review. Featured Review: ELSEWHERE by Dean Koontz  ELSEWHERE by Dean Koontz (Technothriller) Click here to read our review. Featured Review:  CONFESSIONS ON THE 7:45 by Lisa Unger (Psychological Thriller) - Click here to read more about the book. Click here to read our review. CONFESSIONS ON THE 7:45 will be a Bookreporter.com Bets On pick. Featured Review: IS THIS ANYTHING? by Jerry Seinfeld  IS THIS ANYTHING? by Jerry Seinfeld (Entertainment/Humor) - Click here to read more about the book. Click here to read our review. Bookreporter.com's 10th Annual  Fall is known as the biggest season of the year for books. The titles that release during this latter part of the year often become holiday gifts, and many are blockbusters. To celebrate the arrival of fall, we are spotlighting a number of outstanding books that we know people will be talking about in the days and months to come. We are hosting a series of 24-hour contests for these titles on select days in September and October, 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 Tuesday, October 13th at noon ET. This year's featured titles are:
Click here to read all the contest details    October’s New in Paperback Roundups October's roundup of New in Paperback fiction titles includes WALK THE WIRE, the sixth entry in David Baldacci's Memory Man series, which finds Amos Decker --- the FBI consultant with a perfect memory --- trying to solve a gruesome murder in a booming North Dakota oil town; Harlan Coben's THE BOY FROM THE WOODS, a shocking thriller about a man with a mysterious past who must find a missing teenage girl; A MRS. MIRACLE CHRISTMAS, an uplifting holiday tale from Debbie Macomber, whose beloved protagonist, Mrs. Miracle, shows an ordinary family that they are blessed beyond belief; and Jeff Lindsay's JUST WATCH ME, which introduces readers to Riley Wolfe --- a master thief and an expert at disguise who is not averse to violence when it’s needed --- as he plots an impossible crime: stealing the Iranian Crown Jewels. Among our nonfiction highlights are ME, the first and only official autobiography of music icon Elton John, who reveals the truth about his extraordinary life --- from his rollercoaster lifestyle as shown in the film Rocketman, to becoming a living legend; HOME WORK, a follow-up to Julie Andrews' critically acclaimed memoir, HOME, in which she reflects on her astonishing career, including such classics as Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music and Victor/Victoria; MAKE IT SCREAM, MAKE IT BURN, an essay collection from Leslie Jamison that explores the oceanic depths of longing and the reverberations of obsession; and Susan Ronald's CONDÉ NAST: The Man and His Empire, the first biography in over 30 years of Condé Nast, the pioneering publisher of Vogue and Vanity Fair and main rival to media magnate William Randolph Hearst. Find out what's New in Paperback for the weeks of    From left to right: Rumaan Alam, Lisa Jewell, John Grisham Upcoming Virtual Book and Author Events As so many book and author events are happening online these days, we are highlighting a number of them that you may be interested in attending. Click on the links below for more info and to register. October 5-25: Boston Book Festival
Saturday, October 10th at 7pm ET: Book Passage Virtual Event: Rumaan Alam will be in conversation with Edan Lepucki, the bestselling author of CALIFORNIA and WOMAN NO. 17, about his latest novel, the National Book Award-nominated LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND. Monday, October 12th at 3pm ET: The Poisoned Pen Bookstore Virtual Event: Poisoned Pen presents Lisa Jewell in conversation with Clare Mackintosh. Jewell will discuss her latest novel, INVISIBLE GIRL. Monday, October 12th at 10:30pm ET: Seattle Arts & Lectures Virtual Event: Tana French will be in conversation with fellow crime-fiction writer Ruth Ware about her latest thriller, THE SEARCHER. Tuesday, October 13th at 12pm ET: Malaprop's Virtual Event: Malaprop's Bookstore/Café and UNC Asheville are thrilled to host a release-day virtual event for A TIME FOR MERCY with John Grisham, in conversation with UNCA's Writer-in-Residence, Wiley Cash. Tuesday, October 13th at 6pm ET: Malaprop's Virtual Event: Malaprop's is delighted to host a virtual event with Elin Hilderbrand for her newest book, TROUBLES IN PARADISE. Wednesday, October 14th at 2pm ET: Bookaccino Live: A Lively Talk About Books: Carol Fitzgerald will present titles releasing from October 13th to November 3rd, along with five from December, that she would like to get on your radar. Wednesday, October 14th at 2pm ET: Boswell Book Company Virtual Event: A TIME FOR MERCY author John Grisham joins Boswell for a virtual Thrillwaukee event, in conversation with Nick Petrie, author of THE DRIFTER and THE WILD ONE. Wednesday, October 14th at 5pm ET: Murder By The Book Virtual Event: Join Murder By The Book for an online event featuring Tana French, whose latest book is THE SEARCHER, and Megan Abbott, whose upcoming novel, THE TURNOUT, will be out next summer. Wednesday, October 14th at 7pm ET: "Friends and Fiction": Every Wednesday, Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel, Kristy Woodson Harvey, Patti Callahan Henry and Mary Alice Monroe talk books and writing on their "Friends and Fiction" Facebook group page. Their special guest will be Charlaine Harris, whose most recent novel is A LONGER FALL. Wednesday, October 14th at 7pm ET: Warwick's Virtual Event: Warwick’s will host Alice Hoffman, in conversation with Jodi Picoult, as she discusses her new book, MAGIC LESSONS: The Prequel to Practical Magic. Wednesday, October 14th at 8pm ET: Politics & Prose Virtual Event: LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND author Rumaan Alam will be in conversation with Matthew Klam, author of the acclaimed short story collection SAM THE CAT and, most recently, WHO IS RICH? Thursday, October 15th at 2pm ET: Murder By The Book Virtual Event: Join Murder By The Book for an online event featuring Lisa Jewell, whose new psychological thriller is INVISIBLE GIRL, and Ruth Ware, whose latest mystery is ONE BY ONE. Thursday, October 15th at 7pm ET: Watermark Books & Café Virtual Event: Join Watermark Books & Café as they virtually welcome back Sarah Smarsh, the New York Times bestselling author of HEARTLAND, for a Q&A and discussion of her newest book, SHE COME BY IT NATURAL.   "Bookreporter Talks To" Videos & Podcasts “Bookreporter Talks To” is a video and podcast series that delivers a long-form, in-depth author interview every week. For years, Carol has 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 is to bring these author interviews to readers, wherever they may be. Watch on video, or listen as a podcast. (The podcasts include audio excerpts.) Here is our latest interview: Other authors we've interviewed include:
Upcoming interviews include:
Click here for a complete list of our    More Reviews This WeekNEXT TO LAST STAND: A Longmire Mystery by Craig Johnson (Mystery) WHAT ARE YOU GOING THROUGH by Sigrid Nunez (Fiction) EARTHLINGS written by Sayaka Murata, translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori (Fiction) THE WRONG KIND OF WOMAN by Sarah McCraw Crow (Fiction) - Click here to read an excerpt. THE NIGHTWORKERS by Brian Selfon (Thriller) NEVER TURN BACK by Christopher Swann (Mystery/Thriller) TOM SEAVER AND ME by Pat Jordan (Sports/Memoir) A BEND IN THE RIVER by Libby Fischer Hellmann (Historical Fiction) PEOPLE DIE IN SUNSHINE: A Novel of Miami by Gloria Nagy (Mystery/Thriller)   
Next Week's Notables:
|
