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October 31, 2026

Whenever I can, I like to hear authors talk about their work, which definitely enhances the reading experience for me. This year, I have been happy to see the number of programs that are being held in New Jersey close to where I live. When I cannot see them live, I enjoy watching and listening to videos and podcasts.

This week, we gave readers from across the country the opportunity to hear Kathryn Stockett talk about THE CALAMITY CLUB. In November, we are bringing you Sally Hepworth, who will be discussing MAD MABEL, which I loved.

Julia Kelly, author of The Queen of Roses

1960: Frustrated reporter Theresa Johnson receives a phone call from a Miss Pearce who claims her obituary about one of Pasadena’s last great hoteliers is wildly inaccurate. When Theresa arrives at mysterious Rosewood House, Miss Pearce proposes that Theresa help her settle old scores by writing her biography. 1903: When Adele Pearce arrives in California, she discovers why her mother has called her there: her father has squandered his fortune, and Adele must marry a wealthy American to save the family. Adele’s only comfort is Rosewood House and the beautiful garden she creates with the help of taciturn gardener Alexander Macalister. However, as Adele’s feelings for Alex flourish, a fire ignites in the San Gabriel Mountains above Rosewood House. Meanwhile, in 1960, Miss Pearce learns that history has a terrible habit of repeating itself.

Kyle MacLachlan, author of Fictional Selves: A Memoir

Kyle MacLachlan’s funny, moving and playfully self-aware memoir charts a career that could belong to no other. Plucked from obscurity to star in David Lynch’s Dune, the Hollywood blockbuster that never was, MacLachlan rebounded with a startling performance in Lynch’s provocative masterpiece, Blue Velvet, which would mark him as a master of the unusual and ultimately lead to his career-defining role as Agent Dale Cooper on the TV sensation “Twin Peaks.” FICTIONAL SELVES is a book of doppelgängers, with MacLachlan mirrored by his own prodding ego (“Other Kyle”), the iconic characters he inhabited, and the ones that eluded his grasp but gave him a profound and surprising lens onto himself as a person and a performer.

Stephen Graham Jones, author of Off the Reservation

Five years have passed since the massacre on the Blackfeet reservation in THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS. Nathan Yellow Tail, one of the survivors of the revenge murders, finds himself in the hospital after a terrible accident that should’ve killed him and that nearly killed his best friend, Sebby. Nate’s life is out of balance, so when he is given the chance to reset his life, and maybe save Sebby in the process, he steps up again. This time it’s into a camper van that is almost as run down as his broken body, filled with three older Blackfeet, to find the bones of the lone Blackfeet boy who died at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School --- where many Indigenous children were abused --- and repatriate this boy home. The problem is, when they get the bones, something terrible has escaped with them.

Kerry Kennedy, author of Ethel Kennedy: The Extraordinary Life and Bold Legacy

When her husband, Robert F. Kennedy, was killed in 1968, Ethel Skakel Kennedy --- then pregnant with their 11th child --- drew national attention for her grace, dignity and resolute commitment to furthering his work in human rights, even in her grief. But as her daughter, Kerry, witnessed, Ethel was so much more than a dutiful wife and keeper of Robert's legacy of service. She was courageous, curious, compassionate, boisterous and witty, always guided by faith and an instinct for speaking truth to power. In ETHEL KENNEDY, Kerry delves into her own memories, her family's recollections, and her mother's private papers.

James Patterson, author of The Girl in the Lake: A Holmes, Margaret & Poe Mystery

At a frozen lakeside crime scene, a corpse carries an accusatory note: “If anything happens to me, arrest Brendan Holmes.” Mysteries trail Brendan Holmes, Margaret Marple and Auguste Poe wherever they go. At a remote lodge in upstate New York, the embattled private investigators have taken refuge from the assailant who bombed their sleek city headquarters. When the discovery of a body in the lake puts the detectives back in the headlines and under suspicion, the elusive killer issues his despicable orders: stop solving crimes --- and start committing them.

Michael Connelly, author of The Hollow: A Bosch Novel

When Harry Bosch was 11 years old, his mother was murdered. He became a ward of the state, housed in MacLaren Children’s Center, a notorious facility where abuse was rampant. Decades after its closure, a lawsuit has resulted in a massive settlement for former residents. But when Bosch’s half-brother, defense attorney Mickey Haller, brings him word that he is entitled to part of it, Bosch says he doesn’t want the money. He wants justice. The news awakens Bosch’s memories of a place he had hoped never to revisit, and of a boy nicknamed Chops, a fellow ward who wound up dead. Bosch is certain that Chops was killed in a hidden space under the stairs --- the kids knew it as “the hollow” --- and his murder covered up. Now he is determined to reopen the investigation and learn the truth.

Editorial Content for Dive Bar at the End of the Road

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Rebecca Munro

In DIVE BAR AT THE END OF THE ROAD, New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong pairs the nail-biting tension of Final Destination with the apocalyptic terror of THE CABIN AT THE END OF THE WORLD. Read More

Teaser

Just before midnight, a car swerves to avoid something --- or someone --- mysteriously standing in the road, only to slam into a fallen tree instead. In the pitch black, four more cars follow in a pileup no one can seem to avoid. Stumbling out of the wreckage, five strangers find themselves in a backwoods dive bar, waiting for daybreak and hoping for cell service. But as tensions rise and a storm rages on outside, the occupants of the dive bar start to notice that not everything is as it seems. Time is moving differently, and they quickly learn that going outside --- whether to assist another accident victim or to hike for help --- is a very bad idea. There’s something in the woods, something that isn't natural. Could the figure in the road have been a warning? Or something more sinister?

Promo

Just before midnight, a car swerves to avoid something --- or someone --- mysteriously standing in the road, only to slam into a fallen tree instead. In the pitch black, four more cars follow in a pileup no one can seem to avoid. Stumbling out of the wreckage, five strangers find themselves in a backwoods dive bar, waiting for daybreak and hoping for cell service. But as tensions rise and a storm rages on outside, the occupants of the dive bar start to notice that not everything is as it seems. Time is moving differently, and they quickly learn that going outside --- whether to assist another accident victim or to hike for help --- is a very bad idea. There’s something in the woods, something that isn't natural. Could the figure in the road have been a warning? Or something more sinister?

About the Book

Final Destination meets THE CABIN AT THE END OF THE WORLD in this supernatural horror from New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong, in which a series of car accidents traps a group of strangers at a dive bar.

A forested road at night, slick from the pounding rain and eerily illuminated by flashes of lightning. Just before midnight, a car swerves to avoid something --- or someone --- mysteriously standing in the road, only to slam into a fallen tree instead. In the pitch black, four more cars follow in a pileup no one can seem to avoid.

Stumbling out of the wreckage, soaked from the rain and nursing various injuries, five strangers find themselves in a backwoods dive bar, waiting for daybreak and hoping for cell service. But as tensions rise and a storm rages on outside, the occupants of the dive bar start to notice that not everything is as it seems. Time is moving differently, and they quickly learn that going outside --- whether to assist another accident victim or to hike for help --- is a very bad idea.

There’s something in the woods, something that isn't natural. Could the figure in the road have been a warning? Or something more sinister? None of this is normal, and they'll need to work together to figure out what’s happening if they have any hope of surviving the night.

Audiobook available; read by Helen Laser, Sean Patrick Hopkins and Shane Ghostkeeper

Editorial Content for The Bishop of Durham Attempts to Surrender the City

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Jana Siciliano

In her prize-winning first novel, JONATHAN STRANGE & MR NORRELL, Susanna Clarke created a world in which two magicians appear to bring their strange and unusual talents to England during the Napoleonic Wars.  Read More

Teaser

During the conquest of Northern England, the fairy host sweeps across the countryside. The city of Durham finds itself surrounded. But the encircling forces are not fairies or even other humans, but trees that trap the city within an eerie wood. Ranulf, Bishop of Durham --- a consummate politician --- understands that the survival of the Northern English people depends on his finding a way to unite the two races, human and fairy. And he's not averse to improving his own position at the same time. With these aims in view, he sets off for the New Castle in search of the new King --- the leader of the fairy host, rumored to be a mysterious human boy, no more than 14 years old, who speaks no word of any human language.

Promo

During the conquest of Northern England, the fairy host sweeps across the countryside. The city of Durham finds itself surrounded. But the encircling forces are not fairies or even other humans, but trees that trap the city within an eerie wood. Ranulf, Bishop of Durham --- a consummate politician --- understands that the survival of the Northern English people depends on his finding a way to unite the two races, human and fairy. And he's not averse to improving his own position at the same time. With these aims in view, he sets off for the New Castle in search of the new King --- the leader of the fairy host, rumored to be a mysterious human boy, no more than 14 years old, who speaks no word of any human language.

About the Book

From the bestselling and prize-winning author of PIRANESI, an enchanting, beautifully illustrated short story set in the world of JONATHAN STRANGE & MR NORRELL.

"He had already served three kings. He did not see why he should not be useful to a fourth."

During the conquest of Northern England, the fairy host sweeps across the countryside. The city of Durham finds itself surrounded. But the encircling forces are not fairies or even other humans, but trees that trap the city within an eerie wood.

Ranulf, Bishop of Durham --- a consummate politician --- understands that the survival of the Northern English people depends on his finding a way to unite the two races, human and fairy. And he's not averse to improving his own position at the same time. With these aims in view, he sets off for the New Castle in search of the new King --- the leader of the fairy host, rumored to be a mysterious human boy, no more than 14 years old, who speaks no word of any human language.

Set 700 years before the events of JONATHAN STRANGE & MR NORRELL, THE BISHOP OF DURHAM ATTEMPTS TO SURRENDER THE CITY is a bewitching, must-have addition to any fantasy reader's shelf, featuring beautiful illustrations throughout.

Audiobook available, read by Richard Armitage 

Editorial Content for Look What the Cat Dragged In

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Ray Palen

For someone who loves cats and is on the precipice of adding two rescues to his posse, the title of Jason Rekulak’s novel had me hooked. LOOK WHAT THE CAT DRAGGED IN is a supernatural thriller of the highest magnitude that reads like ROSEMARY’S BABY with a cat. Read More

Teaser

Meet Penny Padgett, a 27-year-old cartoonist in Philadelphia who agrees to pet-sit a very peculiar cat named Godfrey in her home. At first, he’s a warm and affectionate companion who follows Penny all around the house and insists on sleeping by her side every night. But soon strange things are happening: Penny is haunted by disturbing and violent nightmares. There’s a terrible insect infestation in her basement. Her cute cartoon illustrations turn dark and surreal, as if influenced by some invisible hand. And her health starts failing, as if her mind and body are under attack by a sinister, malevolent force. Penny may be a cat person, but she’s starting to think Godfrey is no ordinary cat.

Promo

Meet Penny Padgett, a 27-year-old cartoonist in Philadelphia who agrees to pet-sit a very peculiar cat named Godfrey in her home. At first, he’s a warm and affectionate companion who follows Penny all around the house and insists on sleeping by her side every night. But soon strange things are happening: Penny is haunted by disturbing and violent nightmares. There’s a terrible insect infestation in her basement. Her cute cartoon illustrations turn dark and surreal, as if influenced by some invisible hand. And her health starts failing, as if her mind and body are under attack by a sinister, malevolent force. Penny may be a cat person, but she’s starting to think Godfrey is no ordinary cat.

About the Book

From the New York Times bestselling author of HIDDEN PICTURES and THE LAST ONE AT THE WEDDING comes a new supernatural thriller about a young woman pet-sitting a cat with a mysterious secret, featuring more than 80 pages of illustrations.

Meet Penny Padgett, a 27-year-old cartoonist in Philadelphia who agrees to pet-sit a very peculiar cat named Godfrey in her home. At first, he’s a warm and affectionate companion who follows Penny all around the house and insists on sleeping by her side every night. But soon strange things are happening: Penny is haunted by disturbing and violent nightmares. There’s a terrible insect infestation in her basement. Her cute cartoon illustrations turn dark and surreal, as if influenced by some invisible hand. And her health starts failing, as if her mind and body are under attack by a sinister, malevolent force.

Penny may be a cat person, but she’s starting to think Godfrey is no ordinary cat.

Fully illustrated with more than 80 pages of original artwork, Jason Rekulak’s new novel is intensely plotted, wonderfully frightening and wildly clever. He more than lives up to his reputation as having “a freakishly fertile imagination” (The New York Times).

Audiobook available, read by Stephanie Németh-Parker