February 19, 2021

February 19, 2021

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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 $39,348 of our $50,000 goal.

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Thank you again for your consideration and your donation.

  Carol's latest "Bookreporter Talks To" interview is with Jane Harper, whose new novel,
THE SURVIVORS, debuted at #2 on the New York Times bestseller list and will be a Bets On pick.
Click on the image above for the video and here for the podcast.

THE QUEEN'S FORTUNE, a Bets On title, released in paperback this week, so we thought now would be the perfect time to revisit Carol's "Bookreporter Talks To" interview with Allison Pataki from last year.
Click on the photo above for the video and here for the podcast.

Last weekend, Carol read and enjoyed THE OTHER BLACK GIRL by Zakiya Dalila Harris. Releasing on June 1st, it is one of this year's most anticipated releases and is being described as "THE DEVIL
WEARS PRADA meets Get Out." Carol believes the publisher hit the nail on the head with that tagline.

Carol's home office serves as the recording studio for our videos and podcasts. She figured out a way to effectively soundproof the room while also making it look visually appealing, as you can see above.
Read on below to find out how this all came together!

Rest Before the Whirlwind!

I think we need more three-day weekends. Just saying. I got so much done --- and had free time. Imagine that combo, which is rarely seen.

Since the recording studio for our podcasts and videos is in my home office, we needed soundproofing in there. For a while this has been really piecemeal, literally with foam arranged around me. Recently, we got an idea on how to create something to work for this, which also was visually terrific. We inherited this triptych when our friend, Cathy, was moving. On one side I matted and framed a stunning series of cards with flowers that were made by another friend, Cathy Gerardi; she had given them to me for my birthday through the years. And then we added the soundproofing materials to the other side. Since I feel like I live in this office these days, the way it looks matters…a lot. You can see what we did above!

Then I sat in front of the fire (I know, finally) and read THE OTHER BLACK GIRL by Zakiya Dalila Harris, which will be in stores on June 1st. It’s one of the most anticipated books of the year. The promo line is "THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA meets Get Out" --- and it’s dead-on right. In it, Nella Rogers is a 26-year-old editorial assistant who is tired of being the only Black employee on the staff of Wagner Books. She’s thrilled when another Black girl, Hazel, joins the team and has a desk next to hers. But soon after Hazel’s arrival, a note appears on Nella’s desk that reads, "LEAVE WAGNER. NOW." Suddenly, instead of thinking about taking the next step to become a junior editor, Nella is wondering what this message means. And quickly her self-confidence gets dismantled. Zakiya worked in publishing, and for those who want an inside glimpse into a typical day in the world of publishing (including cover discussions and other editorial meetings), THE OTHER BLACK GIRL will bring you the same kind of insight that you saw about magazine publishing in THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA.

Yesterday and today, I attended the American Booksellers Association’s Winter Institute, with more events on tap for tomorrow. This is one of my favorite events of the year. And while I wish it could be live, I treasure seeing my bookseller friends virtually. It feels like a lifetime ago that I attended this conference live in Baltimore last January. One thing I did on that trip was a tour of the Penguin Random House warehouse in Westminster, Maryland. I have reflected on the huge operation there many times as we talked about the book supply chain all year.

The program opened with a video montage of all that happened with bookselling and booksellers over the past year, and I confess to getting teary-eyed reliving it on screen. It reminded me of the seemingly daily decisions that were made over the past year as we, like our friends who are booksellers, navigated how to rework bringing you books and authors.

It is hard to believe that our monthly “Bookaccino Live” events, our “Bookaccino Live” Book Group programs, and two virtual Book Group Speed Dating events, as well as our weekly "Bookreporter Talks To" video series, all were invented in the past year. This weekend, we are producing four author events for the Morristown Festival of Books, where I am interviewing Kristin Hannah and Nadia Owusu. 

One of the opening events featured Brian David Johnson, the author of THE FUTURE YOU: Break Through the Fear and Build the Life You Want, talking to us about goals for future planning. Last February, no one could have foreseen the past year --- and what’s ahead is just as unknown. I anticipate looking ahead with great positivity and planning with our brilliant team.

And for today and tomorrow, I look forward to spending more time with my bookseller friends, catching up in breakout rooms and hearing about books and authors. Even virtually it has been uplifting! I will be juggling that and the Morristown Festival of Books events this weekend.

On Tuesday night, our Editorial Director, Tom Donadio, and I attended “The 2021 Riverhead Variety Show,” a fabulous virtual event hosted by Riverhead Books. As you can gather from the title, the format was a variety show where host Traci Thomas from “The Stacks” podcast talked to five Riverhead authors who have books releasing this spring and summer. Her special guests were Chang-rae Lee (MY YEAR ABROAD, on sale now); JoAnne Tompkins (WHAT COMES AFTER, on sale April 13th); Kristen Arnett (WITH TEETH, on sale June 1st); Brandon Taylor (FILTHY ANIMALS, on sale June 22nd); and Katie Kitamura (INTIMACIES, on sale July 20th). Traci chatted with each author individually about his or her new release, and then all five joined her “on stage” to participate in a few trivia games. There was even a trio of singers, “The English Minors,” who entertained us with a clever tune about each title’s plot. Tom and I thought this was such a fun and creative way of introducing readers to these books and authors, and we Slack-chatted during it. The whole hour was a blast! You can watch the event in its entirety here.

We are featuring our review of MY YEAR ABROAD this week courtesy of Harvey Freedenberg, who teases, “Gastronomy, karaoke, yoga, life-enhancing elixirs, financial chicanery, and the delicate relationship between mentor and student are only a few of the subjects Lee tackles with verve, seriousness and considerable wit in his sixth novel.” He goes on to say, “The novel feels both grounded in something resembling reality and entirely fanciful. If MY YEAR ABROAD was a theme park attraction, it would be one that we would emerge from feeling a bit dizzy and disoriented, but happy to have hopped on for the ride.”

My latest “Bookreporter Talks To” interview is with Jane Harper, who joined us from Australia to talk about her new thriller, THE SURVIVORS, which is an upcoming Bookreporter.com Bets On pick. Setting has a strong influence on Jane's work, and she talked about exploring Tasmania as part of her research process. Humorously, the setting had me looking at maps as I confessed to having no idea where Tasmania sat in reference to Australia and New Zealand. We also discussed how she develops her plot and characters. And yes, I asked about the survivor statues that figure in the book. This is Jane's fourth novel --- and the first that I have read; I know I have some catching up to do  --- and right after we talked, we learned that THE SURVIVORS hit #2 on the New York Times bestseller list! Also, for fans of THE DRY, we touched on the movie adaptation, which was recently released in Australia. Click here to watch the video and here to listen to the podcast. I will share my Bets On commentary in next week’s newsletter.

Award-winning author Walter Mosley is back with his 15th Easy Rawlins mystery, BLOOD GROVE, in which the iconic detective's loyalties are tested on the sun-soaked streets of Southern California. “Compartmentalization is one of the indispensable bulwarks of the detective game,” explains Easy midway through the book. With this in mind, our reviewer Jane Krebs says, “No compartment is large enough for the discrimination and prejudice against Black men that Easy encounters. He knows what is happening each time he is subjected to a racial slur, a deliberate, unnecessary search, or the look between white men that confirms their distrust and superiority…. Once again, Walter Mosley shows readers that Easy is not only a good detective, he is also a good man.”

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. --- an award-winning filmmaker, literary scholar, journalist and cultural critic --- follows up his 2019 bestseller STONY THE ROAD with THE BLACK CHURCH, a powerful new history of the Black church as a foundation of Black life and a driving force in the larger freedom struggle in America. According to our reviewer Barbara Bamberger Scott, “Gates fairly and objectively shows how Black churches have incorporated both African tradition and highly advanced, almost visionary concepts of tolerance and freedom in the face of overt and subtle racism.” Accompanying the book’s publication is a four-hour, two-part series of the same name that aired Tuesday and Wednesday on PBS and is hosted by Gates himself. Click here to watch both episodes.

Other books we’re reviewing this week include three highly anticipated debut novels: Sarah Pearse’s THE SANATORIUM, this month’s Reese’s Book Club pick, which is set in the eerie and isolated Swiss Alps at Le Sommet, a luxurious, five-star resort built on the site of an abandoned tuberculous sanatorium; this month’s “Good Morning America” Book Club pick, HOW THE ONE-ARMED SISTER SWEEPS HER HOUSE by Cherie Jones, in which a thwarted burglary sets off a chain of events with terrible consequences; and Emily Layden’s ALL GIRLS, which follows nine young women as they navigate their ambitions and fears at a prestigious New England prep school, all pitched against the backdrop of a scandal that the administration wants silenced.

THE BLACK CHURCH and HOW THE ONE-ARMED SISTER SWEEPS HER HOUSE are just two of the 67 books that Bookshop has included in their feature celebrating Black History Month. There are a number of wonderful titles on their list that you may want to consider checking out this month (and beyond) as we honor the generations of Black Americans who struggled with adversity to achieve full citizenship in American society.

Continuing this week is our special contest for Kelly Mustian’s first novel, THE GIRLS IN THE STILT HOUSE, which is set in 1920s Mississippi and revolves around two teenage girls who become unlikely partners as they are drawn deeper into a dangerous world of bootleggers and moral corruption. Karen Dionne, author of THE MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER, calls the book “a triumph, a heartbreaking and ultimately uplifting debut that's as rich and lush as the Natchez Trace where the story takes place. Mustian's lyrical prose combined with her deep insight into the resiliency of the human spirit make this novel shine. You know a book is good when you wish you'd written it!" We are giving 25 readers the opportunity to win an advance copy of the book, which releases on April 6th. To enter, please fill out this form by Thursday, February 25th at noon ET.

Our Winter Reading contests wrapped up on Wednesday with our final prize book, DARK HORSES by Susan Mihalic, which we also review this week. Congratulations to the winners of our 12 contests, and many thanks to all who entered! Our next series of 24-hour giveaways will be our Spring Preview contests, which kick off on Tuesday, March 2nd (the feature will go live next Friday). If you would like to receive a special newsletter announcing each day’s Spring Preview title, all you have to do is sign up here.

We have a new Word of Mouth contest to tell you about. Let us know by Friday, March 5th at noon ET what books you’ve read, and you’ll have a chance to win BAND OF SISTERS by Lauren Willig and INFINITE COUNTRY by Patricia Engel, both of which release on March 2nd. I presented these much-talked-about novels during this month’s “Bookaccino Live” event, and we look forward to bringing you reviews of both in the weeks to come.

A reminder that on Monday, March 1st at 8pm ET, I will be moderating a panel featuring Lauren Willig, along with Marie Benedict, Kristin Harmel and Vanessa Riley, in celebration of Women’s History Month and the publication of BAND OF SISTERS. You can find ticket information and more details about the event here.

Do you read or listen to more than one book at a time? That’s our latest poll question; let us know by clicking here.

Our previous poll asked which of 25 books releasing in February you are planning to read. Kristin Hannah’s #1 New York Times bestseller, THE FOUR WINDS, was the runaway top pick with 73% of the vote. This was followed by THE PARIS LIBRARY by Janet Skeslien Charles (53%), the aforementioned THE SURVIVORS by Jane Harper (45%), THE NATURE OF FRAGILE THINGS by Susan Meissner (23%), and WHEN HARRY MET MINNIE: A True Story of Love and Friendship by Martha Teichner (22%). Click here for all the results. We plan to feature our reviews of the latter two books in next week’s newsletter.

THE QUEEN’S FORTUNE, a 2020 Bets On selection, released in paperback this week, so we thought it would be fun to revisit my interview with Allison Pataki that I did last February. You can watch it here and listen to the podcast here.

News & Pop Culture

Reader Mail:

Veronica wrote, “I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed your interview with Sadeqa Johnson.  I am reading the book now and so glad you didn't give anything away. I am going to recommend it to my book club. They will have to read it on their own as we only purchase paperbacks for Bifocal Bookies. But we have a copy here, and we are ordering it in large print. Your author interviews are amazing.”  

Diana shared this about the latest “Bookaccino Live” video: “Thank you so much for sending this. I missed it on my calendar. I look forward to your suggestions.”

“Yellowstone” on Peacock: I love this series. We have two episodes left in season three. If we go to Montana when we can travel again, this show will be the reason!

“Your Honor” on Showtime: This is a good series starring Bryan Cranston with a satisfying ending. But there should not be a second season, as episode and streaming programming is wont to do.

“Allen v. Farrow” on HBO: This documentary about Woody Allen and Mia Farrow premieres on Sunday night.

Kristin Hannah will be on "The Today Show” this Wednesday, February 24th, talking about the aforementioned THE FOUR WINDS, which is a "Read with Jenna" pick for this month.

Last week, we made stir fry for the first time in years --- and then we made it a second time...because, why not. And after that, Tom bought a small wok at Costco. I know that somewhere in the house we have at least one full-sized wok, probably two. And the new one is adorable, but it is not big enough for both the chicken and the vegetables. So we had to pull out a big skillet to toss it all together. But I guess it's the thought that counts!

We are celebrating my mother-in-law’s 93rd birthday this weekend; I still am playing around with what to make for that. And, as I previously mentioned, I have the Morristown Festival of Books events on Saturday and Sunday.

To our readers around the country who are coping with record snow and cold, and the lack of power and other utilities that have been wrought, you are in our thoughts. With an audience across the country, we know many of you are in this path. Here it's just been snow, but snow all day and all night. 

I am headed back to watch some more Winter Institute programming. So many great books are coming up!

Oh, and Mercury heads out of retrograde on Sunday. Whew!

Read on, and have a great week.

Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)

P.S. For those of you who are doing online shopping, if you use the store links below, Bookreporter.com gets a small affiliate fee on your purchases. We would appreciate your considering this!

Featured Review: BLOOD GROVE by Walter Mosley

BLOOD GROVE: An Easy Rawlins Mystery by Walter Mosley (Mystery)
Audiobook available, read by Michael Boatman
Easy Rawlins, the Black private detective whose small agency finally has its own office, gets a visit from a white Vietnam veteran. He and his lover were attacked in a citrus grove at the city’s outskirts. He may have killed a man, and the woman and his dog are now missing. Inclined to turn down what sounds like nothing but trouble, Easy takes the case when he realizes how damaged the young vet is from his war experiences. Meanwhile, Easy’s adopted daughter Feather’s white uncle shows up uninvited, raising questions and unsettling the life Easy has long forged for the now young woman. Where Feather sees a family reunion, Easy suspects something else, something that will break his heart. Reviewed by Jane Krebs.

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

Click here to read our review.

Featured Review: THE BLACK CHURCH
by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

THE BLACK CHURCH: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (History)
Audiobook available, read by Dominic Hoffman
For the young Henry Louis Gates, Jr., growing up in a small, segregated West Virginia town, the church was his family and his community's true center of gravity. Within those walls, voices were lifted up in song to call forth the best in each other, and to comfort each other when times were at their worst. In this book, Gates takes us from his own experience onto a journey across more than 400 years and spanning the entire country. At road's end, we emerge with a new understanding of the centrality of the Black church to the American story --- as a cultural and political force, as the center of resistance to slavery and white supremacy, as an unparalleled incubator of talent, and as a crucible for working through the community's most important issues, down to today. Reviewed by Barbara Bamberger Scott.

- Click here to read more about the book.

Click here to read our review.

Special Contest:
Enter to Win an Advance Copy of
THE GIRLS IN THE STILT HOUSE by Kelly Mustian, Releasing on April 6th

Set in 1920s Mississippi, THE GIRLS IN THE STILT HOUSE weaves a beautiful and harrowing story of two teenage girls cast in an unlikely partnership through murder. We have 25 advance copies of Kelly Mustian's debut novel to give away to those who would like to read the book, which releases on April 6th. To enter, please fill out this form by Thursday, February 25th at noon ET.

THE GIRLS IN THE STILT HOUSE by Kelly Mustian (Historical Fiction)
Ada promised herself she would never go back to the Trace, to her hard life on the swamp and her harsh father. But now, after running away to Baton Rouge and briefly knowing a different kind of life, she finds herself with nowhere to go but back home. And she knows there will be a price to pay with her father.

Matilda, daughter of a sharecropper, is from the other side of the Trace. Doing what she can to protect her family from the whims and demands of some particularly callous locals is an ongoing struggle. She forms a plan to go north, to pack up the secrets she's holding about her life in the South and hang them on the line for all to see in Ohio.

As the two girls are drawn deeper into a dangerous world of bootleggers and moral corruption, they must come to terms with the complexities of their tenuous bond and a hidden past that links them in ways that could cost them their lives.

- Click here to read an excerpt.
- Click here to read Kelly Mustian's bio.
- Click here to visit Kelly Mustian's website.
- Connect with Kelly Mustian on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Click here to enter the contest.

Featured Review: THE SANATORIUM by Sarah Pearse
Reese’s Book Club Pick for February

THE SANATORIUM by Sarah Pearse (Psychological Thriller/Mystery)
Audiobook available, read by Elizabeth Knowelden
Half-hidden by forest and overshadowed by threatening peaks, Le Sommet has always been a sinister place. Long plagued by troubling rumors, the former abandoned sanatorium has since been renovated into a five-star minimalist hotel. Elin Warner has taken time off from her job as a detective, so when her estranged brother, Isaac, and his fiancée, Laure, invite her to celebrate their engagement at the hotel, Elin really has no reason not to accept. Arriving in the midst of a threatening storm, Elin immediately feels on edge --- there's something about the hotel that makes her nervous. And when they wake the following morning to discover Laure is missing, Elin must trust her instincts if they hope to find her. Reviewed by Kate Ayers.

- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to read an excerpt.
- Click here for the discussion guide.
- Click here to visit the Reese's Book Club website.

Click here to read our review.

Featured Review: HOW THE ONE-ARMED SISTER SWEEPS HER HOUSE by Cherie Jones
February’s “Good Morning America” Book Club Pick

HOW THE ONE-ARMED SISTER SWEEPS HER HOUSE by Cherie Jones (Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Danielle Vitalis
In Baxter’s Beach, Barbados, Lala’s grandmother Wilma tells the story of the one-armed sister. It’s a cautionary tale, about what happens to girls who disobey their mothers and go into the Baxter’s Tunnels. When she’s grown, Lala lives on the beach with her husband, Adan, a petty criminal with endless charisma whose thwarted burglary of one of the beach mansions sets off a chain of events with terrible consequences. A gunshot no one was meant to witness. A new mother whose baby is found lifeless on the beach. A woman torn between two worlds and incapacitated by grief. And two men driven into the Tunnels by desperation and greed who attempt a crime that will risk their freedom --- and their lives. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.

- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here for the discussion guide.
- Click here to see why the book is February's "GMA" Book Club pick.

Click here to read our review.

Featured Review: MY YEAR ABROAD by Chang-rae Lee

MY YEAR ABROAD by Chang-rae Lee (Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Lawrence Kao
Tiller is an average American college student with a good heart but minimal aspirations. Pong Lou is a larger-than-life, wildly creative Chinese American entrepreneur who sees something intriguing in Tiller beyond his bored exterior and takes him under his wing. When Pong brings him along on a boisterous trip across Asia, Tiller is catapulted from ordinary young man to talented protégé, and pulled into a series of ever more extreme and eye-opening experiences that transform his view of the world, of Pong and of himself. The narrative alternates between Tiller’s outlandish, mind-boggling year with Pong and the strange, riveting, emotionally complex domestic life that follows it, as Tiller processes what happened to him abroad and what it means for his future. Reviewed by Harvey Freedenberg.

- Click here to read more about the book.

Click here to read our review.

Featured Review: ALL GIRLS by Emily Layden

ALL GIRLS by Emily Layden (Mystery)
Audiobook available; read by Ali Ahn, Caitlin Davies, Carlotta Brentan, Cheryl Smith Franco, Chloe Cannon, Dylan Moore, Emily Shaffer, Imani Jade Powers, Jesse Vilinsky, Kristen DiMercurio and Natalie Naudus
ALL GIRLS follows nine young women as they navigate their ambitions and fears at a prestigious New England prep school, all pitched against the backdrop of a scandal the administration wants silenced. But as the months unfold, and the school's efforts to control the ensuing crisis fall short, these extraordinary girls are forced to discover their voices, and their power. Reviewed by Katherine B. Weissman.

- Click here to read more about the book.

Click here to read our review.

What’s New This Month on ReadingGroupGuides.com

We currently have one contest running on ReadingGroupGuides.com:

"What's Your Book Group Reading This Month?" Contest: Win 12 Copies of THE LAST GARDEN IN ENGLAND by Julia Kelly for Your Group
Each month in our "What's Your Book Group Reading This Month" contest, we ask book groups to share the titles they are reading that month and rate them. From all entries, three winners will be selected, and each will win 12 copies of that month’s prize book for their group. Our latest prize book is THE LAST GARDEN IN ENGLAND by Julia Kelly, a poignant and unforgettable tale of five women living across three different times whose lives are all connected by one very special garden. Enter here by Wednesday, March 3rd at noon ET.

Here are our latest featured guides:

• CASTE: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
• EIGHT PERFECT MURDERS by Peter Swanson
• THE FOUR WINDS by Kristin Hannah
• GOOD NEIGHBORS by Sarah Langan
• HOW THE ONE-ARMED SISTER SWEEPS HER HOUSE by Cherie Jones
• THE LAST GARDEN IN ENGLAND by Julia Kelly
• THE PARIS LIBRARY by Janet Skeslien Charles
• THE SANATORIUM by Sarah Pearse
• SEND FOR ME by Lauren Fox
• THE SURVIVORS by Jane Harper
• UNCOMFORTABLE CONVERSATIONS WITH A BLACK MAN by Emmanuel Acho  
• YELLOW WIFE by Sadeqa Johnson

Please note that these titles, for which we already had the guides when they appeared in hardcover, are now available in paperback:

• DEACON KING KONG by James McBride
• THE GLASS HOTEL by Emily St. John Mandel
• MY DARK VANESSA by Kate Elizabeth Russell
• OONA OUT OF ORDER by Margarita Montimore
• THE QUEEN'S FORTUNE by Allison Pataki
• THE WIFE STALKER by Liv Constantine
• WRITERS & LOVERS by Lily King

Click here to visit ReadingGroupGuides.com.

From left to right: Steve Berry, Michelle Duster, Ethan Hawke

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.

Tuesdays at 7:30pm ET: "Talking ETERNAL with Lisa Scottoline": Join Lisa Scottoline every Tuesday night at 7:30pm ET on Facebook as she premieres a new episode from her video series, "Behind the Book: Talking ETERNAL," which reveals behind-the-scenes looks at the inspirations of her upcoming historical fiction book, ETERNAL, releasing on March 23rd. And stay tuned because immediately following each video premiere, Lisa hosts a Facebook Live to talk about the video.

Saturday, February 20th and Sunday, February 21st:
Morristown Festival of Books @Home Virtual Author Event Series
Here are four author panels that you may want to attend. Click on the author's name to register for each event:

• Saturday, February 20th at 2pm ET: Kristin Hannah (THE FOUR WINDS) with moderator Carol Fitzgerald.
   
• Saturday, February 20th at 3:30pm ET: Nadia Owusu (AFTERSHOCKS) with moderator Carol Fitzgerald.
   
• Sunday, February 21st at 2pm ET: David Michaelis (ELEANOR) with moderator Bill Goldstein, who reviews books and interviews authors for NBC's “Weekend Today."
   
• Sunday, February 21st at 3:30pm ET: V.E. Schwab (THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE La RUE) with moderator Dhonielle Clayton, the New York Times bestselling author of The Belles series and the co-author of the Tiny Pretty Things duology.

Saturday, February 20th at 7pm ET: Books & Books Virtual Event: Acclaimed actor, writer and director Ethan Hawke will be in conversation with Kiley Reid (SUCH A FUN AGE) about his first novel in nearly 20 years, A BRIGHT RAY OF DARKNESS.

Tuesday, February 23rd at 2:30pm ET: The National Press Club Virtual Event: The National Press Club presents a virtual event with author and great-granddaughter of crusading journalist Ida B. Wells, Michelle Duster, who will discuss her new book, IDA B. THE QUEEN.

Tuesday, February 23rd at 7pm ET: Gramercy Books Virtual Event: Award-winning author Janet Skeslien Charles will join Gramercy Book Club participants after the discussion of her latest novel, THE PARIS LIBRARY. Pat Losinski, the CEO of Columbus Metropolitan Library, will moderate the group discussion and interview with Janet.

Tuesday, February 23rd at 8pm ET: The Poisoned Pen Bookstore Virtual Event: New York Times bestselling author Steve Berry will talk about THE KAISER'S WEB, his latest Cotton Malone adventure.

Wednesday, February 24th at 7pm ET: "Friends and Fiction": The "Friends and Fiction" authors --- Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel, Kristy Woodson Harvey, Patti Callahan Henry and Mary Alice Monroe --- will talk to Kristin Hannah, whose latest novel is THE FOUR WINDS.

Wednesday, February 24th at 8pm ET: Murder By The Book Virtual Event: Steve Berry will discuss his new Cotton Malone thriller, THE KAISER'S WEB.

Thursday, February 25th at 3pm ET: Simon & Schuster's Book Club Favorites Online Event: Sadeqa Johnson will join members of the Simon & Schuster team for a Facebook Live Book Club chat about YELLOW WIFE, which is February's pick for S&S's Book Club Favorites.

Thursday, February 25th at 8pm ET: The Novel Neighbor Virtual Event: Join the Novel Neighbor for a special book club meeting and conversation with authors Sarah Langan and Paul Tremblay. They will be discussing Langan’s new book, GOOD NEIGHBORS, which is this month's Barnes & Noble Book Club pick.

 "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:

• Jane Harper (THE SURVIVORS) Video | Podcast

Other authors we've interviewed include:

• Ashley Audrain (THE PUSH) Video | Podcast
• Melanie Benjamin (THE CHILDREN'S BLIZZARD) Video | Podcast
• Elizabeth Berg (I'LL BE SEEING YOU: A Memoir) Video | Podcast
• Rose Carlyle (THE GIRL IN THE MIRROR) Video | Podcast
• Janet Skeslien Charles (THE PARIS LIBRARY) Video | Podcast
• Lisa Gardner (BEFORE SHE DISAPPEARED) Video | Podcast
• Lisa Jewell (INVISIBLE GIRL) Video | Podcast
• Sadeqa Johnson (YELLOW WIFE) Video | Podcast
• Sue Miller (MONOGAMY) Video | Podcast
• Aimee Molloy (GOODNIGHT BEAUTIFUL) Video | Podcast
• Liese O'Halloran Schwarz (WHAT COULD BE SAVED) Video | Podcast
• Lisa Unger (CONFESSIONS ON THE 7:45) Video | Podcast
• Sharon Virts (MASQUE OF HONOR: A Historical Novel of the American South)
  Video | Podcast
• Jacqueline Winspear (THIS TIME NEXT YEAR WE'LL BE LAUGHING: A Memoir) Video | Podcast
• Susie Yang (WHITE IVY) Video | Podcast

Upcoming interviews include:

• Alex Berenson (THE POWER COUPLE)

Click here for a complete list of our
"Bookreporter Talks To" videos and podcasts.

More Reviews This Week

NEVER FAR AWAY by Michael Koryta (Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Robert Petkoff
Nina Morgan’s bloodstained car was found a decade ago on a lonely Florida road. Forensic evidence suggested she’d been murdered, although her body was never found. Her disappearance left her infant children to the care of their father. A witness to a gruesome crime, Nina had to flee her old life to save her family. She reinvented herself as Leah Trenton, a guide in the Allagash Wilderness in northern Maine. She never expected to see her children again, but now tragedy has returned them to her --- only they have no idea that she’s their mother --- and delivered all of them back into danger. “Aunt Leah” will need some help, and an old ally has a suggestion: an enigmatic young hitman named Dax Blackwell. Reviewed by Ray Palen.

AN EXTRAVAGANT DEATH: A Charles Lenox Mystery by Charles Finch (Historical Mystery)
Audiobook available, read by James Langton
London, 1878. With faith in Scotland Yard shattered after a damning corruption investigation, Charles Lenox's detective agency is rapidly expanding. The gentleman sleuth has all the work he can handle, two children and an intriguing new murder case. But when Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli offers him the opportunity to undertake a diplomatic mission for the Queen, Lenox welcomes the chance to satisfy an unfulfilled yearning: to travel to America. Arriving in New York, he begins to receive introductions into both its old Knickerbocker society and its new robber baron splendor. Then a shock: the death of the season's most beautiful debutante, who appears to have thrown herself from a cliff. Or was it a suicide? Reviewed by Roz Shea.

DARK HORSES by Susan Mihalic (Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Alex Allwine
Fifteen-year-old equestrian prodigy Roan Montgomery has only ever known two worlds: inside the riding arena, and outside of it. Both, for as long as she can remember, have been ruled by her father, who demands strict obedience in all areas of her life. The warped power dynamic of coach and rider extends far beyond the stables, and Roan's relationship with her father has long been inappropriate. She has been able to compartmentalize that dark aspect of her life, ruthlessly focusing on her ambitions as a rider heading for the Olympics, just as her father had done. However, her developing relationship with Will Howard, a boy her own age, broadens the scope of her vision. Reviewed by Rebecca Munro.

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THE REMOVED by Brandon Hobson (Fiction)
Audiobook available; read by Gary Farmer, Shaun Taylor-Corbett, DeLanna Studi, Katie Rich and Christopher Salazar
In the 15 years since their teenage son, Ray-Ray, was killed in a police shooting, the Echota family has been suspended in private grief. The mother, Maria, increasingly struggles to manage the onset of Alzheimer’s in her husband, Ernest. Their adult daughter, Sonja, leads a life of solitude, punctuated only by spells of dizzying romantic obsession. And their son, Edgar, fled home long ago, turning to drugs to mute his feelings of alienation. With the family’s annual bonfire approaching, Maria attempts to call the family together from their physical and emotional distances once more. But as the bonfire draws near, each of them feels a strange blurring of the boundary between normal life and the spirit world. Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman.

MARGARET TRUMAN'S MURDER ON THE METRO: A Capital Crimes Novel by Jon Land (Political Thriller/Mystery)
Audiobook available, read by Christine Kiphart
Israel: A drone-based terrorist attack kills dozens on a sun-splashed beach in Caesarea. Washington: America awakens to the shattering news that Vice President Stephanie Davenport has died of an apparent heart attack. That same morning, a chance encounter on the Washington Metro results in international private investigator Robert Brixton thwarting an attempted terrorist bombing. Brixton has no reason to suspect that the three incidents have anything in common, until he’s contacted by Kendra Rendine, the Secret Service agent who headed up the vice president’s security detail. Rendine is convinced the vice president was murdered and needs Brixton’s investigative expertise to find out why. Reviewed by Ray Palen.

WINTER'S ORBIT by Everina Maxwell (Science Fiction/Space Opera)
Audiobook available, read by Raphael Corkhill
A famously disappointing minor royal and the Emperor's least favorite grandchild, Prince Kiem is summoned before the Emperor and commanded to renew the empire's bonds with its newest vassal planet. The prince must marry Count Jainan, the recent widower of another royal prince of the empire. But Jainan suspects his late husband’s death was no accident. And Prince Kiem discovers Jainan is a suspect himself. But broken bonds between the Empire and its vassal planets leave the entire empire vulnerable, so together they must prove that their union is strong while uncovering a possible conspiracy. Their successful marriage will align conflicting worlds. Their failure will be the end of the empire. Reviewed by Maya Gittelman.

BLACK WIDOWS by Cate Quinn (Mystery/Thriller)
Polygamist Blake Nelson built a homestead on a hidden stretch of land --- a raw paradise in the wilds of Utah --- where he lived with his three wives: Rachel, the first wife, obedient and doting to a fault, with a past she'd prefer to keep quiet; Tina, the rebel wife, everything Rachel isn't, straight from rehab and the Vegas strip; and Emily, the young wife, naïve and scared, estranged from her Catholic family. The only thing that they had in common was Blake. Until all three are accused of his murder. When Blake is found dead under the desert sun, all three wives become suspect --- not only to the police, but to each other. As the investigation draws them closer, each wife must decide who can be trusted. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

LOLA ON FIRE by Rio Youers (Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Jim Meskimen
Brody Ellis doesn’t have enough money to buy the medication his sister Molly needs, so he robs a convenience store. But he bumps into a young woman on his way out and loses his wallet. Just when he expects the cops to arrive, the phone rings. It's Blair Mayo, the woman he bumped into. Brody will get his billfold back, but only if he does her a favor: steal her late mother's diamonds from her wicked stepmom. When he gets to the house, he finds a gruesome crime scene --- and a security camera. Brody knows he's been framed. Hitting the road to save their lives, Brody and Molly realize that they've become pawns in a mysterious game --- one that involves a notorious enforcer named Lola Bear. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

HOW TO ORDER THE UNIVERSE written by María José Ferrada, translated by Elizabeth Bryer (Fiction/Magical Realism)
For seven-year-old M, the world is guided by a firm set of principles, based on her father D’s life as a traveling salesman. Enchanted by her father’s trade, M convinces him to take her along on his routes, selling hardware supplies against the backdrop of Pinochet-era Chile. As father and daughter trek from town to town in their old Renault, M’s memories and thoughts become tied to a language of rural commerce, philosophy, the cosmos, hardware products and ghosts. M, in her innocence, barely notices the rising tensions and precarious nature of their work until she and her father connect with an enigmatic photographer, E, whose presence threatens to upend the unusual life they’ve created. Reviewed by Kayla Provencher.

Next Week's Notables:
Noteworthy Books Releasing on February 23rd

Below are some notable titles releasing on February 23rd that we would like to make you aware of. We will have more on many of these books in the weeks to come. For a list of additional hardcovers and paperbacks available the week of February 22nd, see our “On Sale This Week” newsletter here.

CRIMSON PHOENIX: A Victoria Emerson Thriller by John Gilstrap (Political Thriller)
From the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author John Gilstrap comes the first in a new series featuring Victoria Emerson, a West Virginia congresswoman and single mother who becomes the last hope of a nation brought to the brink of destruction in the wake of nuclear war.

FLOWERS OF DARKNESS by Tatiana de Rosnay (Mystery/Thriller)
From the internationally bestselling author of SARAH'S KEY comes Tatiana de Rosnay's FLOWERS OF DARKNESS, a riveting and emotionally intense novel, set in a near-future Paris, where a woman confronts past betrayal and present mystery.

THE KAISER'S WEB by Steve Berry (Thriller)
In New York Times bestseller Steve Berry’s latest Cotton Malone adventure, a secret dossier from a World War II-era Soviet spy comes to light containing information that, if proven true, would not only rewrite history --- it could impact Germany's upcoming national elections and forever alter the political landscape of Europe.

THE KITCHEN FRONT by Jennifer Ryan (Historical Fiction)
From the bestselling author of THE CHILBURY LADIES’ CHOIR comes an unforgettable novel of a BBC-sponsored wartime cooking competition and the four women who enter for a chance to better their lives.

MASTER OF THE REVELS: A Return to Neal Stephenson's D.O.D.O. by Nicole Galland (Science Fiction/Thriller)
In this brilliant sequel to THE RISE AND FALL OF D.O.D.O. --- an enthralling, history-bending adventure traversing time and space, fact and fiction, magic and science, co-written with #1 New York Times bestselling author Neal Stephenson --- a daring young time traveler must return to Jacobean England to save the modern world.

QUEENS OF THE CRUSADES: England's Medieval Queens Book Two by Alison Weir (History)
Packed with incredible true stories and legendary medieval intrigue, this epic narrative history chronicles the first five queens from the powerful royal family that ruled England and France for over 300 years.

THE RUSSIAN CAGE by Charlaine Harris (Dark Fantasy/Thriller)
#1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Charlaine Harris is at her best in this third installment of the Gunnie Rose series --- an alternate history of the United States where magic is an acknowledged but despised power.

SMOKE: An IQ Novel by Joe Ide (Mystery)
Isaiah Quintabe --- an unlicensed detective for all seasons --- and his best friend and masterful sidekick, Juanell Dodson, are at a crossroads in this latest installment of the "aggressively entertaining" IQ series (New York Times). This time, their lives may never be the same.

TOM STOPPARD: A Life by Hermione Lee (Biography)
One of our most brilliant biographers takes on one of our greatest living playwrights, drawing on a wealth of new materials and on many conversations with him.

TRIPLE CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE MURDER: A Hannah Swensen Mystery with Recipes! by Joanne Fluke (Mystery)
In the newest installment of the New York Times bestselling Hannah Swensen Mystery series by Joanne Fluke, spring has sprung in Lake Eden, Minnesota, but Hannah doesn't have time to stop and smell the roses --- not with hot cross buns to make, treats to bake and a sister to exonerate!

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