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December 18, 2015 - January 8, 2016

Here are reading recommendations with your comments and a rating of 1 to 5 stars for the contest period of December 18 - January 8.

Natasha Solomons is a screenwriter and the author of the New York Times bestseller THE HOUSE AT TYNEFORD. Her upcoming book, THE SONG OF HARTGROVE HALL (which releases on December 29th), is a breathtaking tale of love and treachery, joy after grief, and the never-ending search for redemption --- all set against the backdrop of an English country estate. Natasha’s interest in historical old things extends beyond her fiction and into her real life. Here, she tells the story of an old book of poems, an even older house, and the first Christmas in a home all her own.

Natasha Solomons, author of The Song of Hartgrove Hall

New Year’s Eve, Dorset, England, 1946. Harry Fox-Talbot and his brothers have returned from World War II determined to save their once grand home from ruin. But the arrival of beautiful Jewish wartime singer Edie Rose tangles the threads of love and duty, and leads to a devastating betrayal. Fifty years later, now a celebrated composer, Fox reels from the death of his adored wife, Edie. Until his connection with his four-year old grandson --- a music prodigy --- propels him back into life, and ultimately to confront his past.

James Rollins, author of The Bone Labyrinth: A Sigma Force Novel

In the remote mountains of Croatia, an archaeologist makes a strange discovery: a subterranean Catholic chapel, hidden for centuries, holds the bones of a Neanderthal woman. In the same cavern system, elaborate primitive paintings tell the story of an immense battle between tribes of Neanderthals and monstrous shadowy figures. It isn’t long before the investigative team is attacked, while a bloody assault is made upon a primate research center outside of Atlanta. How are these events connected? Who is behind these attacks?

Carly Simon, author of Boys in the Trees: A Memoir

BOYS IN THE TREES reveals Carly Simon’s remarkable life, beginning with her storied childhood as the third daughter of Richard L. Simon, the co-founder of publishing giant Simon & Schuster. It was a childhood enriched by music and culture, but also one shrouded in secrets that eventually would tear her family apart. Simon captures moments of creative inspiration, the sparks of songs, and the stories behind writing "Anticipation" and "We Have No Secrets," among many others.

Editorial Content for Knitting Pearls: Writers Writing About Knitting

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Pauline Finch

Many of us have encountered that famous Shakespearean line in English lit class about “sleep, that knits up the raveled sleeve of care…” (Macbeth, Act II, sc. 2) Read More

Teaser

In KNITTING PEARLS, two dozen writers write about the transformative and healing powers of knitting. Lily King remembers the year her family lived in Italy, and a knitted hat that helped her daughter adjust to her new home. Laura Lippman explores how converting to Judaism changed not only Christmas but also her mother’s gift of a knitted stocking. Jodi Picoult remembers her grandmother and how, through knitting, she felt that everlasting love. These personal stories by award-winning writers celebrate the moments of loss and love intertwined in the rhythm, ritual and pleasure of knitting.

Promo

In KNITTING PEARLS, two dozen writers write about the transformative and healing powers of knitting. Lily King remembers the year her family lived in Italy, and a knitted hat that helped her daughter adjust to her new home. Laura Lippman explores how converting to Judaism changed not only Christmas but also her mother’s gift of a knitted stocking. Jodi Picoult remembers her grandmother and how, through knitting, she felt that everlasting love. These personal stories by award-winning writers celebrate the moments of loss and love intertwined in the rhythm, ritual and pleasure of knitting.

About the Book

The rhythm, ritual and pleasure of knitting are celebrated in this new collection for lovers of both knitting and literature.

In KNITTING PEARLS, two dozen writers write about the transformative and healing powers of knitting. Lily King remembers the year her family lived in Italy, and a knitted hat that helped her daughter adjust to her new home. Laura Lippman explores how converting to Judaism changed not only Christmas but also her mother’s gift of a knitted stocking. Jodi Picoult remembers her grandmother and how through knitting she felt that everlasting love. And Bill Roorbach remembers his freshman year in college when knitting soothed his broken heart and helped him fall in love again. Other contributors include Steve Almond, Ann Leary, Christina Baker Kline, Lee Woodruff, and knitting rock stars Jared Flood of Brooklyn Tweed and the Yarn Whisperer, Clara Parks.

With knitting patterns from renowned stores such as Purl Soho, Hill Country Weavers and Churchmouse Yarns, KNITTING PEARLS is by turns delightful and heartbreaking, joyous and wise. These personal stories by award-winning writers celebrate the moments of loss and love intertwined in the rhythm, ritual and pleasure of knitting.

Editorial Content for Bryant & May and the Burning Man: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Joe Hartlaub

I can think of just a few better ways to end the year than with another up-close-and-personal visit from the Peculiar Crimes Unit (PCU). Read More

Teaser

Enraged by a scandal involving a corrupt financier accused of insider trading, demonstrators are rioting outside the Findersbury Private Bank. But when someone hurls a Molotov cocktail at the bank’s front door, killing a homeless man on its steps, Bryant, May and the rest of the Peculiar Crimes Unit is called in. Is this an act of protest gone terribly wrong? Or a devious, premeditated murder? Their investigation heats up when a second victim is reported dead in similar fiery circumstances. May discovers the latest victim has ties to the troubled bank, and Bryant refuses to believe this is mere coincidence.

Promo

Enraged by a scandal involving a corrupt financier accused of insider trading, demonstrators are rioting outside the Findersbury Private Bank. But when someone hurls a Molotov cocktail at the bank’s front door, killing a homeless man on its steps, Bryant, May and the rest of the Peculiar Crimes Unit is called in. Is this an act of protest gone terribly wrong? Or a devious, premeditated murder? Their investigation heats up when a second victim is reported dead in similar fiery circumstances. May discovers the latest victim has ties to the troubled bank, and Bryant refuses to believe this is mere coincidence.

About the Book

No case is too curious for Arthur Bryant and John May, London’s most ingenious detectives. But with their beloved city engulfed in turmoil, they’ll have to work fast to hold a sinister killer’s feet to the fire.
 
In the week before Guy Fawkes Night, London’s peaceful streets break out in sudden unrest. Enraged by a scandal involving a corrupt financier accused of insider trading, demonstrators are rioting outside the Findersbury Private Bank, chanting, marching and growing violent. But when someone hurls a Molotov cocktail at the bank’s front door, killing a homeless man on its steps, Bryant, May and the rest of the Peculiar Crimes Unit is called in. Is this an act of protest gone terribly wrong? Or a devious, premeditated murder?
 
Their investigation heats up when a second victim is reported dead in similar fiery circumstances. May discovers the latest victim has ties to the troubled bank, and Bryant refuses to believe this is mere coincidence. As the riots grow more intense and the body count climbs, Bryant and May hunt for a killer who’s adopting incendiary methods of execution, on a snaking trail of clues with roots in London’s history of rebellion, anarchy, and harsh justice. Now, they’ll have to throw themselves in the line of fire before the entire investigation goes up in smoke.
 
Suspenseful, smart, and wickedly funny, BRYANT & MAY AND THE BURNING MAN is a brilliantly crafted mystery from the beloved Christopher Fowler.

Editorial Content for Operation Thunderbolt: Flight 139 and the Raid on Entebbe Airport, the Most Audacious Hostage Rescue Mission in History

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Melanie Reynolds

Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin are names many know today only for their leadership in the State of Israel. Each man served terms as Prime Minister, as well as in the Israeli military and various political positions. But in 1976, they faced a terrifying emergency: the hijacking of Air France Flight 139 by Arab and German terrorists, who demanded the release of imprisoned terrorists in exchange for the safe return of the plane’s passengers and crew.  Read More

Teaser

On June 27, 1976, an Air France flight from Tel Aviv to Paris was hijacked by a group of Arab and German terrorists who demanded the release of 53 terrorists. The plane was forced to divert to Entebbe in Uganda --- ruled by the murderous despot Idi Amin, who had no interest in intervening. Days later, Israeli commandos disguised as Ugandan soldiers assaulted the airport terminal, killed all the terrorists and rescued all the hostages. Three of the country's greatest leaders --- Ehud Barak, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin --- planned and pulled off one of the most astonishing military operations in history.

Promo

On June 27, 1976, an Air France flight from Tel Aviv to Paris was hijacked by a group of Arab and German terrorists who demanded the release of 53 terrorists. The plane was forced to divert to Entebbe in Uganda --- ruled by the murderous despot Idi Amin, who had no interest in intervening. Days later, Israeli commandos disguised as Ugandan soldiers assaulted the airport terminal, killed all the terrorists and rescued all the hostages. Three of the country's greatest leaders --- Ehud Barak, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin --- planned and pulled off one of the most astonishing military operations in history.

About the Book

The definitive account of one of the greatest Special Forces missions ever, the Raid of Entebbe, by acclaimed military historian Saul David.

On June 27, 1976, an Air France flight from Tel Aviv to Paris was hijacked by a group of Arab and German terrorists who demanded the release of 53 terrorists. The plane was forced to divert to Entebbe, in Uganda --- ruled by the murderous despot Idi Amin, who had no interest in intervening.

Days later, Israeli commandos disguised as Ugandan soldiers assaulted the airport terminal, killed all the terrorists, and rescued all the hostages but three who were killed in the crossfire. The assault force suffered just one fatality: its commander, Yoni Netanyahu (brother of Israel's current Prime Minister.) Three of the country's greatest leaders: Ehud Barak, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin planned and pulled off one of the most astonishing military operations in history.

Audiobook available, narrated by Peter Ganim

Editorial Content for The Werewolf of Bamberg: A Hangman's Daughter Tale

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Carly Silver

Oliver Pötzsch’s Hangman’s Daughter series, focusing on a crime-solving German executioner in the 17th century, could easily be horrifyingly morbid. But his gruff protagonist, Jakob Kuisl, has managed to be a good guy, family man, healer and intrepid sleuth, all at once. In the fifth installment, THE WEREWOLF OF BAMBERG, Pötzsch paints a somewhat new Jakob, delving into the hangman’s largely unexplored and tragic backstory to produce a solid, if occasionally overwrought and verbose, mystery. Read More

Teaser

In 1668, hangman Jakob Kuisl, his daughter Magdalena, and her husband Simon travel to the town of Bamberg. But what was planned as a family vacation soon becomes a nightmare: a murderer in Bamberg is leaving the severed limbs of victims in the trash outside the city. When rumors quickly spread that the deaths are the work of a werewolf, Jakob must prove the superstition wrong and embarks on a search for the “devil of Bamberg.”

Promo

In 1668, hangman Jakob Kuisl, his daughter Magdalena, and her husband Simon travel to the town of Bamberg. But what was planned as a family vacation soon becomes a nightmare: a murderer in Bamberg is leaving the severed limbs of victims in the trash outside the city. When rumors quickly spread that the deaths are the work of a werewolf, Jakob must prove the superstition wrong and embarks on a search for the “devil of Bamberg.”

About the Book

The thrilling fifth entry in Oliver Pötzsch’s bestselling Hangman’s Daughter series.

In 1668, hangman Jakob Kuisl, his daughter Magdalena, and her husband Simon travel to the town of Bamberg. But what was planned as a family vacation soon becomes a nightmare: a murderer in Bamberg is leaving the severed limbs of victims in the trash outside the city. When rumors quickly spread that the deaths are the work of a werewolf, Jakob must prove the superstition wrong and embarks on a search for the “devil of Bamberg.” This thrilling fifth entry in Oliver Pötzsch’s Hangman’s Daughter series follows the continuing adventures and mysteries that surround the Kuisl family.

Editorial Content for Eisenhower's Armies: The American-British Alliance During World War II

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Stuart Shiffman

EISENHOWER’S ARMIES, by English military historian Niall Barr, is not the first historical analysis of Dwight Eisenhower’s leadership of the greatest military alliance in world history, nor will it be the last. The coalition that triumphed in World War II was successful for countless reasons. Historians have available to them archival records, oral histories and a vast array of materials from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. They can still find previously undiscovered information that leads to new conclusions and theories regarding the Allied operations. Read More

Teaser

The Anglo-American relationship from 1941 to 1945 proved to be the most effective military alliance in history. Yet there were also constant disagreements that threatened to pull the alliance apart. EISENHOWER’S ARMIES highlights why the unprecedented level of cooperation between the very different American and British forces eventually led to victory but also emphasizes the tensions and controversies that inevitably arose.

Promo

The Anglo-American relationship from 1941 to 1945 proved to be the most effective military alliance in history. Yet there were also constant disagreements that threatened to pull the alliance apart. EISENHOWER’S ARMIES highlights why the unprecedented level of cooperation between the very different American and British forces eventually led to victory but also emphasizes the tensions and controversies that inevitably arose.

About the Book

An authoritative and dramatic behind-the-scenes history of 'the Atlantic Alliance' during World War II.

The Anglo-American relationship from 1941-1945 proved to be the most effective military alliance in history. Yet there were also constant tensions and disagreements that threatened to pull the alliance apart. This book not only highlights why the unprecedented level of cooperation between the very different American and British forces eventually led to victory, but also emphasizes the tensions and controversies which inevitably arose. Based on considerable archival research on both sides of the Atlantic, this work considers the breadth and depth of the relationship from high-level strategic decisions, the rivalries and personalities of the commanders to the ordinary British and American soldiers who fought alongside one another. The book also looks back and demonstrates how the legacy of previous experience shaped the decisions of the war.

EISENHOWER'S ARMIES is the story of two very different armies learning to live, work and fight together even in the face of serious strategic disagreements. The book is also a very human story about the efforts of many individuals --- famous or otherwise --- who worked and argued together to defeat Hitler’s Germany. In highlighting the cooperation, tensions and disagreements inherent in this military alliance, this work shows that Allied victory was far from pre-ordained and proves that the business of making this alliance work was vital for eventual success. Thus this dynamic new history provides a fresh perspective on many of the controversies and critical strategic decisions of World War II. As such, this book provides expert analysis of the Anglo-American military alliance as well as new insights into the ‘special relationship’ of the mid-20th century.

Audiobook available, narrated by Steven Crossley