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Giving Thanks...and Ideas for Sharing
Before I head to the kitchen to create (not cook, create) Thanksgiving dinner, I wanted to thank all of you for being a part of Bookreporter. Your reading our newsletters and reviews, sharing thoughts on Word of Mouth, entering our contests, following our virtual programs, watching our videos and writing us emails are so appreciated. To our reviewers, we are grateful to you as members of the extended Bookreporter team. Your writing and sharing of your work has made us the site that people turn to for informed review coverage without bias. We would love it if you could share what we do with your friends, family and colleagues as you embrace celebrating this holiday season.
I saw two really lovely ideas that I wanted to share with you during this time of thanks and giving.
Casey McIntyre, who was the publisher at Razorbill, a division of Penguin Random House, passed away from ovarian cancer at the age of 38. She was the mother of a young daughter. Posthumously, she still gave in a story that has gone viral. She had stellar coverage at Memorial Sloan Kettering but knew that many people have accumulated massive amounts of health care debt. Her husband posted a message on her behalf, asking people to participate in a “debt jubilee” that pays off the medical bills of others.
The response has been overwhelming: “As of Sunday, the nonprofit RIP Medical Debt has received more than $300,000 in donations through McIntyre’s campaign. The organization relieves $10,000 of medical debt for every $100 donated, which translates to more than $30 million in unpaid medical bills being abolished.” You can read more about it here. It's just a brilliant story, and while I did not know Casey, people have said that this shows the kind of person she was.
The other idea I saw somewhere online. A restaurant set up a way that people could prepay for a meal. Let’s say they select an entrée and a dessert, and they prepay for it and post that recipe on a board. Any person who is hungry can just go up to the board, pick one of the meals that they want, take it to a server, and it's prepaid. It's a different way to feed the hungry with their making their own selections.
We have a big lineup in spite of this very short week --- a week where we got a lot of out-of-office messages as we sent emails. Thank you to our brilliant Editorial Director, Tom Donadio, who once again knocked it out of the park, doing five days of work in two-and-a-half. Most of you have not “met” Tom, except at our “aftershow” on “Bookaccino Live”. I am not sure if I ever have teamed up with someone who was so keen on what needs to be done, as well as being efficient, composed --- and very patient when I fly past every one of my deadlines as something more pressing comes my way. He navigates it all brilliantly.
Lisa Hickman has the title of Contest Coordinator, but she is sooooo much more. She hears an idea and helps me blow it up. She works social media and makes sure you are alerted as to what we are up to there. She takes the lost books that contest winners have not received very seriously! Recently she has been working with me on the “other side” of our business where we build websites for authors. I so appreciate her “can do” attitude and love our Zoom sessions where she tackles programming issues with me.
Both Tom and Lisa are quick to say yes, or no, when I ask them, “Is this a good idea?” They help us to embrace the good ones and skip the more fleeting ones.
We are so excited to announce our “Bookaccino Live” Best of 2023 event that is scheduled for Wednesday, December 6th at 8pm ET. Join us as some of our reviewers will be talking about their favorite books of the year. If you would like to attend and see some of the faces behind the reviews, you can sign up by clicking here. We are looking forward to what promises to be a really fun evening!
This is your last Weekly Update newsletter reminder to sign up for this month’s “Bookaccino Live” Book Group event, which will take place next Thursday, November 30th at 8pm ET.
Our guest will be Dani Shapiro, and she will be talking about her book, SIGNAL FIRES. Now available in paperback, this Bookreporter.com Bets On selection is a gripping novel about two families bound together across generations by an unspeakable tragedy.
You can register for the event by clicking here. If you would like to ask Dani a question about the book on camera during the event and chat with her in our virtual green room before the event, please email me with your question using the subject line “Dani” by Thursday the 30th at noon ET. Be sure to include your name, city and state, as well as your question. If you do not want to appear on camera but still would like to ask a question, please note that you want to be off camera, and share your question --- adding your name, city and state.
Mitch Albom is back with his first novel set during the Holocaust. The newly released THE LITTLE LIAR moves from a coastal Greek city during the Holocaust, to America, where the intertwined lives of three survivors are forever changed by the perils of deception and the grace of redemption.
Jane T. Krebs has this to say in her review: “Although told in a non-sensational, almost-conversational manner, THE LITTLE LIAR is a brutal commentary on the loss of Truth during WWII. It also serves as a hard realization about the loss of Truth in our contemporary world. Mitch Albom asks us to reevaluate our own relationship with Truth --- what it means to us and what choices we will make as a result. It is up to us to decide whether or not to embrace Truth.”
INHERITANCE is the opening installment in Nora Roberts’ Lost Bride Trilogy. In this tale of tragedies, loves found and lost, and a family haunted for generations, a woman realizes that she has inherited far more than just a house. She has inherited a centuries-old curse, and a puzzle to be solved if there is any hope of breaking it.
According to our reviewer Jennifer McCord, “Nora Roberts has crafted another story with a practical-minded female protagonist who is strong enough to grapple with the good and evil in the Poole family legacy. Her novels are well known for these quintessential battles, and this one has it all --- a haunted house, a curse, secrets to uncover and a cast of characters who are sure to charm. This reviewer can’t wait to read the next book in the series.”
Other books we’re reviewing this week include:
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ALEX CROSS MUST DIE: In James Patterson’s latest thriller, detectives Alex Cross and John Sampson are in the sights of the Dead Hours Killer, a serial murderer on a ruthless mission. Meanwhile, an airport killer targeting pilots is expanding his scope.
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SO LATE IN THE DAY: Celebrated for her short fiction, Claire Keegan now gifts us three stories, each of which probes the dynamics that corrupt what could be between women and men: a lack of generosity, the weight of expectation, the looming threat of violence.
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A CHRISTMAS VANISHING: Charlotte Pitt’s clever grandmother investigates the sudden disappearance of her dear friend in Anne Perry’s final holiday whodunit. Our reviewer Ray Palen says, “Longtime readers like myself will be immensely satisfied at the opportunity to spend one more holiday season with the writer who reminded me so much of Dame Agatha Christie.”
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BREAKING TWITTER: Ben Mezrich’s new book takes readers inside the darkly comic battle between one of the most intriguing, polarizing, influential men of our time --- Elon Musk --- and the company that represents our culture’s dearest hope for a shared global conversation.
Please keep in mind that you have until Friday, December 1st (a week from THIS Friday) at noon ET to enter our contest for Kristin Hannah's THE WOMEN and be one of 25 winners who will read the book, share their comments on it and submit a question for Kristin.
Releasing on February 6th and set during the Vietnam War, THE WOMEN is at once an intimate portrait of a woman coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided by war and broken by politics, of a generation both fueled by dreams and lost on the battlefield.
Delia Owens, author of WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING, says that the book “reveals the powerful contributions and horrific sacrifices of the American military nurses who served in a war whose agencies refused to acknowledge that they were even there. Perhaps no words can bring closure to a nation still ashamed of booing our returning heroes, but the heroine, Frances McGrath, stirs a deep, overdue compassion and tears for every single soldier --- and especially the forgotten women who sacrificed so much. Never has a novel of war metamorphosed so profoundly into a story of the human heart.”
Winners must be committed to sending us both their feedback and their question for Kristin by Monday, January 8th. I will be chatting with Kristin during a LIVE “Bookreporter Talks To” interview that will take place in the evening a month or so after the book releases and asking some of these questions. As an added bonus, winners will be given the option of asking Kristin their question on camera!
Holiday Cheer Update
Last week, we gave away THE JOLLIEST BUNCH: Unhinged Holiday Stories by Danny Pellegrino in our first Holiday Cheer contest of the year. Our next 24-hour giveaway will be up on Thursday, November 30th at noon ET. Five readers will have the chance to win a copy of MOTHER-DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT by Nina Simon, which was a Reese’s Book Club pick for September and also is one of the books we’re featuring in our “What to Give, What to Get” Holiday Gift Guide.
This week we added a third book to our Holiday Cheer feature: THE BERRY PICKERS by Amanda Peters. This much-talked-about debut novel won the Barnes & Noble Discover Prize, is Amazon's #2 Best Book of the Year, and is one of three finalists for the Carnegie Medal for Fiction. It also was the top pick from this month’s “Bookaccino Live” book preview event --- the book that our attendees most wanted to read from the 44 titles I presented. The contest will go live on Tuesday, December 12th at noon ET.
Word of Mouth Reminder
Submit your comments about the books you’ve read, and you’ll have a chance to win THE MYSTERY GUEST: A Maid Novel by Nita Prose (an upcoming Bets On pick) and A VERY INCONVENIENT SCANDAL by Jacquelyn Mitchard in our Word of Mouth contest. The deadline for your entries is Friday, December 1st at noon ET. On that day, we will feature our review of THE MYSTERY GUEST, and my Bets On commentary will appear the following week. I look forward to interviewing Nita in December!
Remember to Vote in Our Poll
Our poll continues to ask which of 25 books releasing in paperback in November and December you have read or are planning to read. Click here to let us know by Friday, December 1st at noon ET.
We have a lot going on this month on ReadingGroupGuides.com, including our special End-of-the-Year Contest, where we’re giving readers the opportunity to share their favorite book that they read with their book group and their favorite book that they read outside their group this year.
One Grand Prize winner will receive SIX outstanding books releasing in early 2024 that we think book groups will want to discuss: FINDING MARGARET FULLER by Allison Pataki, FIRST LIE WINS by Ashley Elston, SLOW NOODLES: A Cambodian Memoir of Love, Loss, and Family Recipes by Chantha Nguon with Kim Green, THE STORM WE MADE by Vanessa Chan, WHAT HAPPENED TO NINA? by Dervla McTiernan, and the aforementioned THE WOMEN by Kristin Hannah. To enter, please fill out this form by Wednesday, January 10th at noon ET.
We will share our reader-compiled "Best Of" list with you shortly after the contest ends.
A reminder that this Saturday, November 25th is Indies First, a national campaign of activities and events in support of independent bookstores. It’s held every year in conjunction with Small Business Saturday, the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
The American Booksellers Association chose Amanda Gorman to be their Indie Bookstore Ambassador for 2023-2024. The youngest presidential inaugural poet in US history, Gorman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of THE HILL WE CLIMB and CALL US WHAT WE CARRY. She says, “Independent bookstores are vital parts of our communities and bastions of literature. We must work together to support local booksellers everywhere so that they can continue to thrive and champion books on a local level with the personal touch and human connection that we all need, now more than ever.”
News & Pop Culture
Reader Mail: Maria wrote, “A long overdue thank you, Carol! Recently, my sister and I began our latest adventure: touring independent bookstores. We live in Massachusetts, which means we are very, very fortunate to have a wealth of them to visit! At each stop, we buy several books based on your well-researched reviews. Thank you, and your staff, for providing such a wealth of information. I have long been a fan of the Bookreporter newsletter. I am new to the 'Bookaccino Live' Zoom gatherings but attended your last one with reviews of upcoming releases. I am not a fan of Zoom gatherings, but yours was so personal and well-done, I felt like I was in the room with a group of friends! I am looking forward to becoming a regular. So thank you for shining a very bright light in an increasingly dark world.” I love all of this, especially the embrace of independent bookstores.
One of our longtime readers, Deborah, shared this piece from Esquire about historical fiction going mainstream.
“The Crown” on Netflix: We are two episodes in and have two more to watch, until more episodes arrive on December 14th.
Our friend, Angela, from the UK has been visiting since Monday; Tom’s niece, Glynnis, arrives this evening; and my dad will be here for Thanksgiving on Thursday. We are planning a weekend of activities, including golf for Tom and Glynnis if the weather holds up, checking out the poinsettias at Great Swamp Greenhouse, going to see a movie (most likely Napoleon, but it could be Priscilla), decorating for Christmas, and creating the above table decoration out of LEGO, which I thought would be a fun activity for the group. Yes, I still will have flowers on the table, which I need to hop out and buy.
Thanks to the readers who shared recipes for root vegetables. So many great ideas! We made a list of what we needed on an Excel document so we could plan where we would get each ingredient. Five stops later we have everything. Or so we think until we start cooking! For the record, only Whole Foods had endive.
To all of you who have empty chairs at your table this holiday, may you share wonderful memories of those who are missing to ease the hurt.
We wish you luck shopping on Black Friday, Indies First, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday. Yes, we know your inboxes will be filled with email offers, so we're glad that we're getting to you early.
Read on, and have a great nine days!
Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)
P.S. For those of you who shop online, if you use the store links that appear on our site for shopping, Bookreporter.com gets a small affiliate fee on your purchases from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and IndieBound. As you read our reviews and features, we would appreciate your considering this as you buy!
Featured Review: THE LITTLE LIAR by Mitch Albom
THE LITTLE LIAR by Mitch Albom (Historical Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Mitch Albom
Eleven-year-old Nico Krispis never told a lie. When the Nazis invade his home in Salonika, Greece, the trustworthy boy is discovered by a German officer, who offers him a chance to save his family. All Nico has to do is convince his fellow Jewish residents to board trains heading to “new homes” where they are promised jobs and safety. Unaware that this is all a cruel ruse, the innocent boy goes to the station platform every day and reassures the passengers that the journey is safe. But when the final train is at the station, Nico sees his family being loaded into a large boxcar crowded with other neighbors. Only after it is too late does Nico discover that he helped send the people he loved --- and all the others --- to their doom at Auschwitz. Nico never tells the truth again. Reviewed by Jane T. Krebs.
- Click here to read more about the book.
Click here to read our review.
Featured Review: INHERITANCE by Nora Roberts
INHERITANCE: The Lost Bride Trilogy, Book 1 by Nora Roberts (Paranormal Fantasy/Romance)
Audiobook available, read by Brittany Pressley
Graphic designer Sonya MacTavish is stunned to learn that her late father had a twin he never knew about --- and that her newly discovered uncle, Collin Poole, has left her almost everything he owned, including a majestic Victorian house on the Maine coast, which the will stipulates she must live in it for at least three years. Trey, the young lawyer who greets her at the sprawling clifftop manor, acknowledges that the place is haunted…but just a little. Sonya sees a painting by her father inexplicably hanging in her deceased uncle’s office, and a portrait of a woman named Astrid, whom the lawyer refers to as “the first lost bride.” It’s becoming clear that Sonya has inherited far more than a house. She has inherited a centuries-old curse and a puzzle to be solved if there is any hope of breaking it. Reviewed by Jennifer McCord.
- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to read an excerpt.
Click here to read our review.
Featured Review: ALEX CROSS MUST DIE
by James Patterson
ALEX CROSS MUST DIE by James Patterson (Thriller)
Audiobook available; read by William Christopher Stephens, Kiff VandenHeuvel, Jim Meskimen, Inger Tudor, Zeno Robinson, Peter Giles and Wayne Carr
“Drop whatever you’re doing, Detective Cross, and head to Reagan Airport,” DC Metro Police dispatch says. “A jet just crashed and exploded on the runway. The chief and the FBI want you and John Sampson there pronto.” Cross and Sampson race to the crash site. The plane didn’t fail --- it was shot down by a stolen Vietnam War–era machine gun. The list of experts who can operate the weapon is short. And time before another lethal strike runs even shorter. Especially for Alex Cross. Reviewed by Ray Palen.
- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to read an excerpt.
Click here to read our review.
Special Contest: Enter to Win One of
25 Advance Copies of THE WOMEN by Kristin Hannah
Share Your Feedback on the Book
and Ask Kristin a Question!
From master storyteller Kristin Hannah, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of THE NIGHTINGALE, THE GREAT ALONE and THE FOUR WINDS, comes the story of a turbulent, transformative era in America: the 1960s.
We are giving 25 readers the chance to win an advance copy of THE WOMEN. All winners must be prepared to provide feedback on the book and share a question for Kristin by Monday, January 8th. Carol will ask Kristin some of these questions during a live "Bookreporter Talks To" interview after the book's February 6th release. The winners also will be given the option of appearing on camera to share their question with Kristin.
To enter, please fill out this form by Friday, December 1st at noon ET.
THE WOMEN by Kristin Hannah (Historical Fiction)
“Women can be heroes, too.”
When 20-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these unexpected words, it is a revelation. Raised on idyllic Coronado Island and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing and being a good girl. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly imagines a different choice for her life. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she impulsively joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.
As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is overwhelmed by the chaos and destruction of war, as well as the unexpected trauma of coming home to a changed and politically divided America.
THE WOMEN is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on the story of all women who put themselves in harm’s way to help others. Women whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has all too often been forgotten. A novel of searing insight and lyric beauty, THE WOMEN is a profoundly emotional, richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose extraordinary idealism and courage under fire define a generation.
- Click here to read Kristin Hannah's bio.
- Click here to visit Kristin Hannah's website.
- Connect with Kristin Hannah on Facebook and Instagram.
Click here to enter the contest.
Featured Review: SO LATE IN THE DAY by Claire Keegan
SO LATE IN THE DAY: Stories of Women and Men by Claire Keegan (Fiction/Short Stories)
Claire Keegan gifts us three exquisite stories that together forms a brilliant examination of gender dynamics. In "So Late in the Day," Cathal faces a long weekend as his mind agitates over a woman with whom he could have spent his life, had he acted differently; in "The Long and Painful Death," a writer's arrival at the seaside home of Heinrich Bèoll for a two-week writing residency is disrupted by an academic who imposes his criticisms and opinions; and in "Antarctica," a married woman travels out of town to see what it's like to sleep with another man and ends up in the grip of a possessive stranger. Each story probes the dynamics that corrupt what could be between women and men: a lack of generosity, the weight of expectation, the looming threat of violence. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.
- Click here to read more about the book.
Click here to read our review.
Featured Review:
A CHRISTMAS VANISHING by Anne Perry
A CHRISTMAS VANISHING by Anne Perry (Historical Mystery)
Audiobook available, read by Susan Lyons
Mariah Ellison, Charlotte Pitt’s grandmother, accepts her longtime friend Sadie’s gracious invitation to spend Christmas with her and her husband, Barton, in their picturesque village. But upon arrival, Mariah discovers that Sadie has vanished without a trace, and Barton rudely rescinds the invitation. Once Mariah finds another acquaintance to stay with during the holiday season, she begins investigating Sadie’s disappearance. Mariah’s uncanny knack for solving mysteries serves her well during her search, which is driven by gossip as icy as the December weather. Did Sadie run off with another man? Was she kidnapped? Has someone harmed her? Frustratingly, Mariah’s questions reveal more about the villagers themselves than about her friend’s whereabouts. Reviewed by Ray Palen.
- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to read an excerpt.
Click here to read our review.
Featured Review: BREAKING TWITTER by Ben Mezrich
BREAKING TWITTER: Elon Musk and the Most Controversial Corporate Takeover in History by Ben Mezrich (Business & Economics)
Audiobook available, read by Will Collyer
BREAKING TWITTER takes readers inside the darkly comic battle between one of the most intriguing, polarizing, influential men of our time --- Elon Musk --- and the company that represents our culture’s dearest hope for a shared global conversation. From employee accounts within Twitter headquarters to the mission-driven team Musk surrounded himself with, this is the full story from all sides. Can Musk miraculously succeed, or will he spectacularly fail? What will that mean to the global town hall that is Twitter? What, really, is his end goal? Reviewed by Lorraine W. Shanley.
- Click here to read more about the book.
Click here to read our review.
Bookreporter.com's Holiday Cheer Contests and Feature
This year, we kick off the holiday season in style with three Holiday Cheer contests. Our prize books are THE BERRY PICKERS by Amanda Peters, THE JOLLIEST BUNCH: Unhinged Holiday Stories by Danny Pellegrino, and MOTHER-DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT by Nina Simon.
Our 24-hour contest for MOTHER-DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT will go live on Thursday, November 30th at noon ET. Five readers will win a copy of the book. If you would like to receive a special Holiday Cheer newsletter alerting you to this giveaway, you can sign up for it here.
The contest for THE BERRY PICKERS will be up on Tuesday, December 12th at noon ET. You can see the five winners of THE JOLLIEST BUNCH here.
THE BERRY PICKERS by Amanda Peters (Fiction)
A four-year-old Mi’kmaq girl goes missing from the blueberry fields of Maine, sparking a mystery that will haunt the survivors, unravel a family and remain unsolved for nearly 50 years.
THE JOLLIEST BUNCH: Unhinged Holiday Stories by Danny Pellegrino (Humor/Essays)
From the New York Times bestselling author of HOW DO I UN-REMEMBER THIS? and host of the hit podcast "Everything Iconic with Danny Pellegrino" comes a collection of tragically hilarious holiday mishaps.
MOTHER-DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT by Nina Simon (Mystery)
Nothing brings a family together like a murder next door. MOTHER-DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT is a lighthearted whodunnit about a grandmother-mother-daughter trio of amateur sleuths. Think "Gilmore Girls" but with murder.
Click here to read all the contest details
and learn more about our featured titles.
Bookreporter.com’s “What to Give, What to Get” Guide:
“Reader Perfect” Suggestions
for Holiday Giving and Getting
We at Bookreporter.com know that readers crave ideas for gift-giving --- and getting --- at the holidays. With this in mind, we're offering a "What to Give, What to Get" Guide with "Reader Perfect" suggestions. We have book ideas for everyone on your holiday list. And while you're looking for gifts for others, may we suggest you jot down notes for books YOU want? Let the shopping begin!
Our featured titles are:
Click here to see our "What to Give, What to Get" Guide.
What’s New This Month on ReadingGroupGuides.com
We currently have the following contest running on ReadingGroupGuides.com:
Special Contest: Share Your Favorite Books of 2023 --- and Enter to Win SIX Great Book Group Titles Coming Out in 2024!
This is the time of year when we start seeing “Best Books of the Year” lists. We would like you and your book group to help us compile ours! Click here to share both your favorite book that you read with your group and your favorite book that you read outside your group this year by Wednesday, January 10th at noon ET.
One Grand Prize winner will be awarded SIX great book group titles releasing in early 2024: FINDING MARGARET FULLER by Allison Pataki, FIRST LIE WINS by Ashley Elston, SLOW NOODLES: A Cambodian Memoir of Love, Loss, and Family Recipes by Chantha Nguon with Kim Green, THE STORM WE MADE by Vanessa Chan, WHAT HAPPENED TO NINA? by Dervla McTiernan, and THE WOMEN by Kristin Hannah.
Here are our latest featured guides:
Please note that these titles, for which we already had the guides when they appeared in hardcover, are now available in paperback:
Click here to visit ReadingGroupGuides.com.
AGAIN AND AGAIN by Jonathan Evison (Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Robert Fass
Eugene “Geno” Miles is living out his final days in a nursing home and struggling to connect with his new nursing assistant, Angel, who is understandably skeptical of Geno’s insistence on having lived not just one life but many --- all the way back to medieval Spain, where, as a petty thief, he first lucked upon true love only to lose it, and spend the next thousand years trying to recapture it. Who is Geno? A lonely old man clinging to his delusions and rehearsing his fantasies, or a legitimate anomaly, a thousand-year-old man who continues to search for the love he lost so long ago? As Angel comes to learn the truth about Geno, so, too, does the reader. As his miraculous story comes to a head, so does the biggest truth of all: that love --- timeless, often elusive --- is sometimes right in front of us. Reviewed by Eileen Zimmerman Nicol.
GOOD GIRLS DON’T DIE by Christina Henry (Dark Fantasy/Thriller & Horror)
Audiobook available, read by Lisa Flanagan
Celia wakes up in a house that’s supposed to be hers. There’s a little girl who claims to be her daughter and a man who claims to be her husband, but Celia knows this family --- and this life --- is not hers. Allie is supposed to be on a fun weekend trip --- but then her friend’s boyfriend unexpectedly invites the group to a remote cabin in the woods. No one else believes Allie, but she is sure that something about this trip is very, very wrong. Maggie just wants to be home with her daughter, but she’s in a dangerous situation and she doesn’t know who put her there or why. She’ll have to fight with everything she has to survive. Three women. Three stories. Only one way out. Reviewed by Ray Palen.
BETRAYAL: A Robin Lockwood Novel by Phillip Margolin (Legal Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Thérèse Plummer
Robin Lockwood is now a prominent defense attorney in Portland, Oregon, but a decade ago, she was a ranked and rising MMA fighter. Her career came to a quick end when she was knocked out and concussed in the first round by Mandy Kerrigan. Now the situation couldn't be more different, with Kerrigan arrested for the quadruple murder of the entire Finch family...and Kerrigan's only possible friend is the attorney she beat so many years ago. For Robin, it's no simple case: Margaret Finch was a lawyer working for vicious Russian mobsters, and was in the crosshairs of both the mobsters and the widower of a woman a client killed. To complicate matters further, the DA who Robin is facing is the man she's just started dating, the first person she's begun seeing seriously after her husband was killed. Reviewed by Kate Ayers.
IN THE PINES: A Lynching, A Lie, A Reckoning by Grace Elizabeth Hale (True Crime/History)
Audiobook available, read by Nicole Swanson and Matt Godfrey
Grace Hale was home from college when she first heard the family legend. In 1947, while her beloved grandfather had been serving as a sheriff, he prevented a lynch mob from killing a Black man who was in jail on suspicion of raping a white woman --- only for the suspect to die the next day during an escape attempt. Years later, Hale revisited this story. The more she learned about what had happened that day, the less sense she could make of her family's version of events. With the support of a Carnegie fellowship, she immersed herself in the investigation. What she discovered would upend everything she thought she knew about her family, the tragedy and this haunted strip of the South --- because
Johnson's death was actually a lynching. But guilt did not lie with a faceless mob. Reviewed by Megan Elliott.
THE HAPPY COUPLE by Naoise Dolan (Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Ayoola Smart and Bert Seymour
Meet Celine and Luke. For all intents and purposes, the happy couple. Luke (a serial cheater) and Celine (more interested in piano than domestic life) plan to marry in a year. Archie (the best man) should be moving on from his love for Luke and up the corporate ladder, but he finds himself utterly stuck. Phoebe (the bridesmaid and Celine’s sister) just wants to get to the bottom of Luke’s frequent unexplained disappearances. And Vivian (a wedding guest) is the only one with any emotional distance and observes her friends like ants in a colony. As the wedding approaches and their five lives intersect, these characters will each look for a path to the happily ever after. But does it lie at the end of an aisle? Reviewed by Norah Piehl.
THE WINTHROP AGREEMENT by Alice Sherman Simpson (Historical Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Dina Pearlman
When Rivkah Milmanovitch arrives at Ellis Island, her husband is not waiting for her as promised. Alone and pregnant, she makes her way to the Lower East Side tenement of an old friend. Lottie Aarons, whose husband went out for a newspaper and never returned, takes Rivkah in, and they work side-by-side in dispiriting sweatshops. Rivkah gives birth to a daughter, Mimi, determined that her child will have a better life in America. Frederick Winthrop, a slum landlord, lives in one of Fifth Avenue‘s sumptuous mansions --- and preys on young girls. When he serendipitously meets 15-year-old Mimi, she is easily seduced, and her life takes an unexpected turn. But as she rises to international fame, she must struggle with the secrets of her past and protect those she loves. Reviewed by Pamela Kramer.
Next Week’s Notables:
Noteworthy Books Releasing on November 28th
Below are some notable titles releasing on November 28th 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 November 27th, see our “On Sale This Week” newsletter here.
THE FICTION WRITER by Jillian Cantor (Gothic Mystery)
Jillian Cantor's THE FICTION WRITER follows a writer hired by a handsome billionaire to write about his family history with Daphne du Maurier and finds herself drawn into a tangled web of obsession, marital secrets and stolen manuscripts.
THE MYSTERY GUEST: A Maid Novel by Nita Prose (Mystery)
A new mess. A new mystery. It’s up to Molly the maid to uncover the truth, no matter how dirty, in this stand-alone novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of THE MAID, a "Good Morning America" Book Club pick.
THE PATH TO PARADISE: A Francis Ford Coppola Story by Sam Wasson (Biography/Performing Arts)
The New York Times bestselling author of FIFTH AVENUE, FIVE A.M. and THE BIG GOODBYE returns with the definitive account of Academy Award-winning director Francis Ford Coppola’s decades-long dream to reinvent American filmmaking, if not the entire world, through his production company American Zoetrope.
ROBERT B. PARKER'S BROKEN TRUST: A Spenser Novel by Mike Lupica (Mystery)
Spenser investigates the past secrets of an elusive tech billionaire in this latest installment of Robert B. Parker’s beloved series and the first written by celebrated writer Mike Lupica.
UNNATURAL DEATH: A Scarpetta Novel by Patricia Cornwell (Mystery/Thriller)
In this thrilling new installment of Patricia Cornwell’s #1 bestselling Scarpetta series, chief medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta finds herself in a Northern Virginia wilderness examining the remains of two campers wanted by federal law enforcement.
THE WATCHMAKER'S HAND: A Lincoln Rhyme Novel by Jeffery Deaver (Thriller)
Jeffery Deaver returns in this twisty new thriller, as forensic criminalist Lincoln Rhyme and detective Amelia Sachs track a criminal with a bizarre and catastrophic m.o. --- toppling the construction cranes in New York City.
WE MUST NOT THINK OF OURSELVES by Lauren Grodstein (Historical Fiction)
Inspired by the testimony-gathering project with the code name Oneg Shabbat, New York Times bestselling author Lauren Grodstein draws readers into the lives of people living on the edge.
Click here to see the latest "On Sale This Week" newsletter.
From left to right: Stephanie Land, Mike Lupica, Dani Shapiro
Upcoming Virtual Book and Author Events
Here are four upcoming virtual book and author events that you may be interested in attending. Click on the links for more info and to register.
Monday, November 27th at 8pm ET: The Poisoned Pen Bookstore: Mike Lupica talks about the latest installment in Robert B. Parker’s Spenser series, and the first to be written by him, ROBERT B. PARKER'S BROKEN TRUST. This time, Spenser investigates the past secrets of an elusive tech billionaire.
Tuesday, November 28th at 8:30pm ET: Book Passage: Stephanie Land will be in conversation with May-lee Chai about her new book, CLASS, a gripping memoir about college, motherhood, poverty and life after her bestseller, MAID, which inspired the hit Netflix series.
Wednesday, November 29th at 7pm ET: "Friends and Fiction": The "Friends and Fiction" authors --- Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel, Kristy Woodson Harvey and Patti Callahan Henry --- will talk to Ariel Lawhon about her new novel, THE FROZEN RIVER, a gripping historical mystery inspired by the life and diary of Martha Ballard, a renowned 18th-century midwife who defied the legal system and wrote herself into American history.
Thursday, November 30th at 8pm ET: "Bookaccino Live" Book Group: Carol Fitzgerald will talk to Dani Shapiro about her novel, SIGNAL FIRES, a Bookreporter.com Bets On pick that is now available in paperback. Dani also will answer questions from guests who will be "on stage," as well as from other members of the audience. If you would like to be one of our featured audience guests and ask Dani a question on camera, please send Carol an email with the subject line “Dani” by November 30th at noon ET.
"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:
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Douglas Brunt (THE MYSTERIOUS CASE OF RUDOLF DIESEL: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I)
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Gilly Macmillan (THE MANOR HOUSE)
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Nita Prose (THE MYSTERY GUEST: A Maid Novel)
Click here for a complete list of our
"Bookreporter Talks To" videos and podcasts.
Our Latest Poll: November and December
Paperback Releases to Anticipate
Which of the following titles releasing in paperback in November and December have you read or do you plan to read? Please check all that apply.
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ALL THE BROKEN PLACES by John Boyne
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ALL GOOD PEOPLE HERE by Ashley Flowers
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THE COUPLE AT THE TABLE by Sophie Hannah
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A DANGEROUS BUSINESS by Jane Smiley
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THE DELUGE by Stephen Markley
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DIAMONDS AND DEADLINES: A Tale of Greed, Deceit, and a Female Tycoon in New York City’s Gilded Age, by Betsy Prioleau
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THE GIFTS by Liz Hyder
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THE HOUSE IN THE PINES by Ana Reyes
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THE HOUSE OF WOLVES by James Patterson and Mike Lupica
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HUNTING TIME: A Colter Shaw Novel, by Jeffery Deaver
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MOONRISE OVER NEW JESSUP by Jamila Minnicks
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MURDER AT HAVEN’S ROCK by Kelley Armstrong
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THE NIGHT TRAVELER by Armando Lucas Correa
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NO ONE LEFT TO COME LOOKING FOR YOU by Sam Lipsyte
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NOVELIST AS A VOCATION written by Haruki Murakami, translated by Philip Gabriel and Ted Goossen
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PAYBACK IN DEATH by J. D. Robb
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QUEENS OF THE AGE OF CHIVALRY: England's Medieval Queens, Volume Three by Alison Weir
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SAM by Allegra Goodman
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SHOWSTOPPER: A Peter Diamond Investigation, by Peter Lovesey
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THE SNOW HARE by Paula Lichtarowicz
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THE TWIST OF A KNIFE by Anthony Horowitz
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UNNATURAL HISTORY: An Alex Delaware Novel, by Jonathan Kellerman
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THE VILLA by Rachel Hawkins
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WHERE ARE THE CHILDREN NOW? by Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke
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WOLF TRAP by Connor Sullivan
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None of the above
Click here to vote in the poll by Friday, December 1st at noon ET.
Word of Mouth Contest: Tell Us What
You're Reading --- and You Can Win Two Books!
Tell us about the books you’ve read with your comments and a rating of 1 to 5 stars. During the contest period from November 17th to December 1st at noon ET, three lucky readers each will be randomly chosen to win a copy of THE MYSTERY GUEST: A Maid Novel by Nita Prose and A VERY INCONVENIENT SCANDAL by Jacquelyn Mitchard.
To make sure other readers will be able to find the books you write about, please include the full title and correct author names (your entry must include these to be eligible to win). For rules and guidelines, click here.
- To see reader comments from previous contest periods, click here.
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