December 20, 2024

December 20, 2024

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Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Wow, where did this year go? As this is our last Weekly Update newsletter of 2024, it’s time for this year’s version of our Bookreporter family card.

We hosted 14 “Bookaccino Live” book preview events and eight “Bookaccino Live” Book Group programs, and I conducted 27 “Bookreporter Talks To” interviews. We have more than 743,000 video views and podcast listens and 5,480 subscribers to our YouTube channel. We reviewed 657 books, and I have 40 Bookreporter.com Bets On selections, which you can watch or hear me talk about.

Thank you to our reviewers who made sure that we were able to bring you those 657 reviews. We are so very lucky to have them with us. I love to read their perspectives on books that I have read, as well as those I would love to read but that I know I will not have time to get to. They are as passionate about books and writing as we are. Many of them have been with us for more than two decades.

This week, Tom, Francesca, Victoria and I celebrated with a holiday lunch, and then we went back to my house for dessert and to recap the year. We had lots and lots of great stories. Once again, we wish that Melanie, our Word of Mouth editor, could have been with us, but alas she lives in Florida. Melanie is the one who catches typos in the titles, authors and comments for Word of Mouth. We so appreciate her! She has been with us for more than a decade.

We have plenty of exciting year-end features to share with you in this newsletter.

Our BIG Year-End Giveaway
First up is our 14th Annual End-of-the-Year contest, where one Grand Prize winner will be awarded all 40(!) of my Bets On picks from 2024, while 10 other winners will receive four of these titles.

Some of the books you may win include THE BLUE HOUR by Paula Hawkins (which we also are featuring in our “What to Give, What to Get” Guide), END OF STORY by A. J. Finn, DID I EVER TELL YOU? by Genevieve Kingston, THE FROZEN RIVER by Ariel Lawhon, HERE ONE MOMENT by Liane Moriarty, THE NIGHT WE LOST HIM by Laura Dave, SUMMERS AT THE SAINT by Mary Kay Andrews, and THE WOMEN by Kristin Hannah. To enter, please fill out this form by Friday, January 10th at noon ET.

Our Reviewers Choose Their Favorite Books of the Year
Next up are our Reviewer Picks for 2024. See which of their fiction and nonfiction selections you agree or disagree with --- and which titles you may want to add to your 2025 reading list. We always love seeing which books resonated the most with our reviewers!

As many of you know, seven of these reviewers --- Kate Ayers, Harvey Freedenberg, Pamela Kramer, Bronwyn Miller, Rebecca Munro, Ray Palen and Stuart Shiffman --- appeared on Zoom last week to talk about two of their favorite books of the year. Sarah Rachel Egelman, Megan Elliott, Eileen Zimmerman Nicol and Norah Piehl weren’t able to join us this year, so we presented their picks in a slideshow towards the end of the program.

In case you missed this special “Bookaccino Live” event, you can watch or listen to it. A list of all the books that were presented, along with their covers, can be found here.

“Best Of” 2024 Lists
For more highlights from 2024, click here for a number of “Best Of” lists that we’ve compiled from around the web --- including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Time, Vanity Fair, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, NPR and Oprah Daily.

Remember to Vote in Our Poll
We’re curious to know how many print books and e-books you’ve read in 2024, as well as how many audiobooks you’ve listened to. Click here to cast your votes by Friday, January 3rd at noon ET.

Please keep in mind our End-of-the-Year contest on ReadingGroupGuides.com. 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 in 2024.

One Grand Prize winner will be awarded seven books releasing in 2025 that we think will make for terrific book group discussions: THE FLOAT TEST by Lynn Steger Strong, A FORTY YEAR KISS by Nickolas Butler, GOOD DIRT by Charmaine Wilkerson, MORE OR LESS MADDY by Lisa Genova, PRESUMED GUILTY by Scott Turow, THE QUEENS OF CRIME by Marie Benedict, and THE STOLEN QUEEN by Fiona Davis.

To enter, please fill out this form by Monday, January 13th at noon ET. We will share our reader-compiled "Best Of" list with you in the ReadingGroupGuides newsletter scheduled to go out later that week.

Word of Mouth Contest Reminder
You also will have a chance to win THE STOLEN QUEEN in our current Word of Mouth contest, along with THE NOTE by Alafair Burke. Both books release on January 7th and will be Bets On picks --- my first two of 2025! Submit your comments about what you’ve read by Friday, January 3rd at noon ET, and you’ll be in the running to receive both these titles. 

Authors Blog About Their Favorite Bookish Holiday Memories
Our 17th Annual Holiday Author Blog series came to a close this week. Many thanks to this year’s participants for sharing with us their memories of giving or receiving books during the holidays: Kay Chronister (THE BOG WIFE), Jeff Hobbs (SEEKING SHELTER), Michelle Horton (DEAR SISTER), Carolyn McBride (SANTA OVERBOARD), Amanda Peters (WAITING FOR THE LONG NIGHT MOON), and Lisa Unger (CLOSE YOUR EYES AND COUNT TO 10). These pieces are funny, heartwarming, emotional, relatable and so very special.

We wrap up 2024 with our final six reviews of the year:

• PRIVATE RITES: Julia Armfield’s speculative reimagining of King Lear centers on three sisters who are navigating queer love and loss in a drowning world.
   
• THE REST IS MEMORY: Lily Tuck’s new novel is the heartbreaking story of a young Catholic girl transported to Auschwitz.
   
• BELLEVUE: In Robin Cook’s latest thriller, the life-shattering visions of a first-year resident reveal the truth behind some of the greatest medical advances in the history of medicine.
   
• THE LAST KILO: True-crime legend T. J. English tells the epic, behind-the-scenes saga of Los Muchachos, one of the most successful cocaine trafficking organizations in American history.
   
• GIANT LOVE: Julie Gilbert’s latest book explores the great American novelist and playwright Edna Ferber, one of the most widely read writers in the first half of the 20th century.
   
• WHAT IT’S LIKE IN WORDS: Eliza Moss’ debut novel is a dark and intense account of what happens when a young woman falls in love with the wrong kind of man.

Join us for a special “Bookaccino Live” Winter Preview evening program on Wednesday, January 22nd at 8pm ET. I will be talking about a number of books releasing this winter that we think you will enjoy reading over the next few months. Included will be fiction; historical fiction; thrillers and mysteries; and memoirs, biographies and other nonfiction. You can sign up for the event by clicking here.

News & Pop Culture

Reader Mail:

Mary wrote, “I have answered your poll at this time of year for several years with 'I read more than 100' checked. I think I’ll reach 200 this week (and I know you read at least that many!). Could you include a larger category? It would be interesting to see how many were in a larger category. Thanks, Carol, for all you and your staff do. It’s great to get ideas for new books from you. I already see a couple I want to read in this newsletter.” We will talk about raising the threshold for next year's poll.

Lorraine wrote, “I enjoyed hearing about the two books that some of your reviewers loved. I now have five more books on my towering TBR list! I wanted to thank you for all that you do and send warm wishes over the holiday season.”

Kathy wrote, “I just want to wish you and your staff a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and a Happy New Year. My husband and I love your newsletter and look forward to receiving it every Friday. Books are such an important part of our lives, as well as all of your other readers. Enjoy the holidays with your family! I look forward to all the new books coming up in 2025.”

Betsy wrote and asked, “Perhaps you have already featured responses to this question or would be willing to solicit reader responses. My book group wants some 'lighter,' maybe laugh-out-loud funny novels that are good writing for 2025. We feel the need for this kind of uplift among the often serious, dramatic things we tend to read.” Thoughts are welcome. Please send them to me.

Another Betsy wrote, “I live in Blacksburg, VA, where Nikki Giovanni lived. She was the kindest, most gracious person! I would run into her and her little Yorkie occasionally in Blacksburg and on the Virginia Tech campus. She always remembered my name and took the time to chat a moment. I have linked the speech that she gave at the memorial service in memory of the lives lost on our campus in April 2007. What a gem she was. All of Hokie Nation loved her dearly.” Thanks for sharing this, Betsy. Really lovely.

“Yellowstone” on Paramount Network: The finale was well done. I am not sure how there would be a sequel with the way it ended.

“The Day of the Jackal” on Peacock: We watched the final episodes, and it was really great. We are looking forward to season two; Eddie Redmayne will be back in the titular role.

“Virgin River” on Netflix: Yes, it is back, and I already have watched...um…a lot of episodes. It’s soapy and fun.

Tomorrow is the shortest day of the year and also the start of the winter solstice. From here, we will be building in minutes of daylight every day, which is something nice to keep in mind.

Here at the house we have MANY cookies after last Saturday's really fun 8 ½ hour cookie baking session with Cory and Kaltrina. Kaltrina named the baking marathon “Christmas Bake Shop 2024.” Cory has us organized (he clearly was running this operation like he was running an engineering team). There were funny moments, like when we made Lemon Curls instead of the planned Lemon Turmeric Cookies. I have made Cardamom Black Tea Cookies in the past, but somehow this time I forgot something and they just did not work out. I think I was short one stick of butter. We laughed...a lot. Everyone worked on cleanup as well as baking. Making memories --- that is what the holiday really is about.

Bookreporter Reviewers Choose
Their Favorite Books of 2024

We've asked our reviewers to provide us with a list of their favorite books from 2024. Included is a mix of fiction and nonfiction titles, all published for the first time this year.

"Best Of" 2024 Lists from Around the Web

Special Contest:
Enter to Win Our End-of-the-Year Celebration,
Featuring All 40 "Bets On" Titles from 2024

Our Year-End Video and Podcast!

In this video and podcast, Carol talks about all 40 of this year's Bets On selections and
why these books resonated with her so much.

Click here to enter the contest.

Bookreporter.com's 17th Annual Holiday Author Blogs:
Authors Write About Their Favorite Holiday Memories
of Giving or Receiving Books

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 are offering a "What to Give, What to Get" Guide with four "Reader Perfect" suggestions.

THE BLUE HOUR by Paula Hawkins (Psychological Thriller)
This masterful novel, as page-turning as it is unsettling, recalls the sophisticated suspense of Shirley Jackson and Patricia Highsmith and cements Paula Hawkins’ place among the very best of our most nuanced and stylish storytellers.

EVERYONE THIS CHRISTMAS HAS A SECRET: A Festive Mystery by Benjamin Stevenson (Mystery)
Unwrap all the Christmas staples in Benjamin Stevenson's new Ernest Cunningham mystery: presents, family, an impossible murder or two, and a deadly Advent calendar of clues. If Knives Out and The Thursday Murder Club kissed under the mistletoe.

THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS AT DUNDER MIFFLIN written by Brian Baumgartner and Ben Silverman, illustrated by Maël Gourmelen (Fiction/Humor)
Spend “The Night Before Christmas” at Dunder Mifflin in this hilarious and timeless illustrated retelling of the beloved poem, featuring a visit from Michael Scott as Santa and narrated by Kevin Malone (author Brian Baumgartner).

SANTA OVERBOARD: A Potomac Shores Holiday by Carolyn McBride (Romantic Comedy)
Filled with heartwarming humor, time-honored tradition, the soul-stirring natural world, and even some yummy holiday recipes, the second book in Carolyn McBride’s Potomac Shores series is a delightful, feel-good escape to the enchanting banks of Virginia’s Potomac and Occoquan Rivers.

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:

Share Your Favorite Books of 2024 --- and Enter to Win SEVEN Great Book Group Titles Releasing in 2025!
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 Monday, January 13th at noon ET.

One Grand Prize winner will be awarded SEVEN great book group titles releasing next year: THE FLOAT TEST by Lynn Steger Strong, A FORTY YEAR KISS by Nickolas Butler, GOOD DIRT by Charmaine Wilkerson, MORE OR LESS MADDY by Lisa Genova, PRESUMED GUILTY by Scott Turow, THE QUEENS OF CRIME by Marie Benedict, and THE STOLEN QUEEN by Fiona Davis.

Here are our latest featured guides:

• THE ANXIOUS GENERATION: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt
• CITY OF NIGHT BIRDS by Juhea Kim
• PRIVATE RITES by Julia Armfield

Please note that this title, for which we already had the guide when it appeared in hardcover, is now available in paperback:

• THE INTERN by Michele Campbell

Click here to visit ReadingGroupGuides.com.

This Week's Reviews

PRIVATE RITES by Julia Armfield (Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Hannah van der Westhuysen
Sisters Isla, Irene and Agnes have not spoken in some time when their father, an architect as cruel as he was revered, dies. His death offers an opportunity for the sisters to come together in a new way. In the grand glass house they grew up in, their father’s most famous creation, the sisters sort through the secrets and memories he left behind, until their fragile bond is shattered by a revelation in his will. The sisters are more estranged than ever, and their lives spin out of control. But something even more sinister might be unfolding, something related to their mother’s long-ago disappearance and the strangers who have always seemed unusually interested in the sisters’ lives. Soon, it becomes clear that the sisters have been chosen for a very particular purpose, one with shattering implications for their family and their imperiled world. Reviewed by Jana Siciliano.

- Click here for the discussion guide on ReadingGroupGuides.com.

THE REST IS MEMORY by Lily Tuck (Historical Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Elisabeth Rodgers
First glimpsed riding on the back of a boy’s motorcycle, 14-year-old Czeslawa comes to life in this mesmerizing novel by Lily Tuck, who imagines her upbringing in a small Polish village before her world imploded in late 1942. Stripped of her modest belongings, shorn, and tattooed number 26947 on arriving at Auschwitz, Czeslawa is then photographed. Three months later, she is dead. How did this happen to an ordinary Polish citizen? This is the question that Tuck grapples with in THE REST IS MEMORY, which frames Czeslawa’s story within the epic tragedy of six million Poles who perished during the German occupation. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.

BELLEVUE by Robin Cook (Medical Thriller/Horror)
Audiobook available, read by John Pirhalla
Twenty-three-year-old Michael “Mitt” Fuller starts his surgical residency with great anticipation at the iconic Bellevue Hospital, following in the footsteps of four previous, celebrated Fuller generations. To his advantage he’s always had a secret sixth sense, a sensitivity to the nonphysical. But quickly one patient after another assigned to his care begin to die from mysterious causes. As he tries to juggle these inexplicable deaths with the demands of being a first-year resident, things rapidly spiral out of control. Visions begin to plague Mitt --- visions of a little girl in a bloodstained dress, bloodcurdling screams in the distance, and worse. As bodies mount, he finds himself drawn to the abandoned Bellevue Psychopathic Hospital building and discovers that he’s more closely tied to the sins of the past than he ever thought possible. Reviewed by Ray Palen.

THE LAST KILO: Willy Falcon and the Cocaine Empire That Seduced America by T.J. English (True Crime)
Audiobook available, read by Christian Barillas
Despite what Scarface might lead one to believe, violence was not the dominant characteristic of the cocaine business. It was corruption: the dirty cops, agents, lawyers, judges and politicians who made the drug world go round. And no one managed that carousel of dangerous players better than Willy Falcon. Los Muchachos, the syndicate founded by Falcon, thrived as a major cocaine distribution network in the US from the late 1970s into the early 1990s. At their height, Los Muchachos made more than a hundred million dollars a year. T. J. English has been granted unprecedented access to the inner workings of Los Muchachos, sitting down with Willy Falcon and his associates for many lengthy interviews, and revealing never-before-understood details about drug trafficking. Reviewed by Philip Zozzaro.

GIANT LOVE: Edna Ferber, Her Best-Selling Novel of Texas, and the Making of a Classic American Film by Julie Gilbert (Performing Arts/Biography)
Audiobook available, read by Maggi-Meg Reed
The stupendous publication of Edna Ferber's GIANT in 1952 set off a storm of protest over the novel's portrayal of Texas manners, money and mores, with oil-rich Texans threatening to shoot, lynch or ban Ferber from ever entering the state again. In GIANT LOVE, Julie Gilbert writes of the internationally bestselling Ferber, one of the most widely read writers in the first half of the 20th century --- her evolution from mid-west maverick girl-reporter to Pulitzer Prize-winning, beloved American novelist, from her want-to-be actress days to becoming Broadway's acclaimed prize-winning playwright whose collaborators were, along with Ferber herself, the most successful playwrights of their time. Here is the making of an American classic novel and the film that followed in its wake. Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman.

WHAT IT'S LIKE IN WORDS by Eliza Moss (Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Victoria Blunt
Enola is approaching 30 and feels adrift in a way she thought she would have beaten by now. She wants to be a writer but can't finish a first draft; she romanticizes her childhood but won’t speak to her mother; she has never been in a serious relationship but yearns to be one-half of a couple that DIYs together during the weekends. Enter: enigmatic writer. Enola falls in love and starts to dream about their perfect future, but the reality is far from perfect. He is distant, hangs out with his ex and has dark moods. Her best friend begs her to end it, but she can’t. Enola might feel like she’s going crazy at times, but she wants him. She needs him. She would die without him. Over the next 24 hours (and two years), everything that Enola thinks she knows is about to unravel. Reviewed by Lorraine W. Shanley.

Noteworthy Books Releasing on December 24th and 31st

Below are some notable titles releasing on December 24th and December 31st 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 weeks of December 23rd, December 30th and January 6th, see our “On Sale This Week” newsletter here.

December 24th

POSTMORTEM: What Survives the John Wayne Gacy Murders by Courtney Lund O'Neil (True Crime/Memoir)
This compelling work of true crime explores the aftershocks of "Killer Clown" John Wayne Gacy's crimes with a uniquely intimate slant, as the daughter of a key witness probes her mother's personal experiences and the legacy of murder within a family, a community and the American psyche.

December 31st

EDDIE WINSTON IS LOOKING FOR LOVE by Marianne Cronin (Fiction)
The author of the beloved international hit THE ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF LENNI AND MARGOT returns with a funny, uplifting story about the power of friendship and finding love in unexpected places.

THE PLAYERS by Minette Walters (Historical Fiction)
From the author of THE SWIFT AND THE HARRIER comes THE PLAYERS, a gripping historical tale of espionage, treason and surprising alliances set against the backdrop of the Bloody Assizes --- the trials that would determine the fate of over a thousand treasonous rebels.

SISTERS IN SCIENCE: How Four Women Physicists Escaped Nazi Germany and Made Scientific History by Olivia Campbell (History)
SISTERS IN SCIENCE is the extraordinary true story of four women pioneers in physics during World War II and their daring escape out of Nazi Germany.

WHERE THE CREEK BENDS by Linda Lael Miller (Romance)
From acclaimed #1 New York Times bestselling author Linda Lael Miller comes a beautifully rendered time slip novel about the family we create for ourselves.

Click here to see the latest "On Sale This Week" newsletter.

 "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 are our most recent interviews:

• Laura Dave (THE NIGHT WE LOST HIM) Video | Podcast
• Paula Hawkins (THE BLUE HOUR) Video | Podcast
• Jean Hanff Korelitz (THE SEQUEL) Video | Podcast
• Amy Neff (THE DAYS I LOVED YOU MOST) Video | Podcast
• T.J. Newman (WORST CASE SCENARIO) Video | Podcast
• Susan Rieger (LIKE MOTHER, LIKE MOTHER) Video | Podcast
• Dawn Tripp (JACKIE) Video | Podcast
• Sharon Virts (THE GRAYS OF TRUTH) Video | Podcast
• Chris Whitaker (ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK) Video | Podcast
• Beatriz Williams (HUSBANDS & LOVERS) Video | Podcast

Upcoming interviews include:

• Fiona Davis (THE STOLEN QUEEN)

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

Our Latest Poll: Looking Back on Your 2024 Reading

Click here to vote in the poll by Friday, January 3rd at noon ET.

Word of Mouth Contest: Tell Us What
You've Read --- and You Can Win Two Books!

Click here to enter the contest.

Quick Links to Features on Bookreporter.com

Reviews | Features | Bookreporter.com Bets On | Upcoming Bets On
Contests | Poll | Word of Mouth | Coming Soon
  On Sale This Week | New in Paperback | Books on Screen
"Bookreporter Talks To" Videos & Podcasts | "Bookaccino Live: A Lively Talk About Books"
  Favorite Monthly Lists & Picks | Book Festivals

Please visit the other websites in TheBookReportNetwork.com: ReadingGroupGuides.com and AuthorsOnTheWeb.com.

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