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Editorial Content for Career of Evil: A Cormoran Strike Novel

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Kate Ayers

Business is booming at Cormoran Strike’s detective agency. Well, it was until his secretary Robin opened a package addressed to her and in it found a woman’s leg. Naturally, the press splashed it all over the news, and Strike has become about as popular as the plague. To make matters worse, he’s not exactly a favorite among London’s Metropolitan Police, after having outwitted them in two high-profile cases. He does have one friend inside, though --- Detective Inspector Wardle --- although their relationship could best be described as on the cool side of lukewarm. Read More

Teaser

When a mysterious package is delivered to Robin Ellacott, she is horrified to discover that it contains a woman's severed leg. Her boss, private detective Cormoran Strike, is less surprised but no less alarmed; there are four people from his past who he thinks could be responsible. With the police focusing on the one suspect Strike is increasingly sure is not the perpetrator, he and Robin take matters into their own hands, and delve into the dark and twisted worlds of the other three men. But as more horrendous acts occur, time is running out for the two of them.

Promo

When a mysterious package is delivered to Robin Ellacott, she is horrified to discover that it contains a woman's severed leg. Her boss, private detective Cormoran Strike, is less surprised but no less alarmed; there are four people from his past who he thinks could be responsible. With the police focusing on the one suspect Strike is increasingly sure is not the perpetrator, he and Robin take matters into their own hands, and delve into the dark and twisted worlds of the other three men. But as more horrendous acts occur, time is running out for the two of them.

About the Book

When a mysterious package is delivered to Robin Ellacott, she is horrified to discover that it contains a woman's severed leg.

Her boss, private detective Cormoran Strike, is less surprised but no less alarmed. There are four people from his past who he thinks could be responsible --- and Strike knows that any one of them is capable of sustained and unspeakable brutality.

With the police focusing on the one suspect Strike is increasingly sure is not the perpetrator, he and Robin take matters into their own hands, and delve into the dark and twisted worlds of the other three men. But as more horrendous acts occur, time is running out for the two of them...

CAREER OF EVIL is the third in the highly acclaimed series featuring private detective Cormoran Strike and his assistant Robin Ellacott. A fiendishly clever mystery with unexpected twists around every corner, it is also a gripping story of a man and a woman at a crossroads in their personal and professional lives.

Audiobook available, read by Robert Glenister

Editorial Content for Shopaholic to the Rescue

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Reviewer (text)

Hillary Wagy

Where in the world did Becky Bloomwood Brandon, our favorite Shopaholic, go? Sophie Kinsella’s brand of Shopaholic novels have been built upon a feisty Brit who finds every excuse to shop until she drops and her credit cards are maxed out. Her taste is haute couture and shiny shopping bags from designer row. She has attracted legions of Shopaholic fans built upon the reader’s ability to identify with a fellow shopaholic. Read More

Teaser

Becky’s father has vanished from Los Angeles on a mysterious quest with her best friend’s husband. Becky’s mum is hysterical; her best friend, Suze, is desperate. Worse, Becky must tolerate an enemy along for the ride, who she’s convinced is up to no good. Determined to get to the bottom of why her dad has disappeared, help Suze, contain Alicia, and reunite her fractured family, Becky knows she must marshal all her trademark ingenuity. But just when her family needs her more than ever, can Becky pull it off?

Promo

Becky’s father has vanished from Los Angeles on a mysterious quest with her best friend’s husband. Becky’s mum is hysterical; her best friend, Suze, is desperate. Worse, Becky must tolerate an enemy along for the ride, who she’s convinced is up to no good. Determined to get to the bottom of why her dad has disappeared, help Suze, contain Alicia, and reunite her fractured family, Becky knows she must marshal all her trademark ingenuity. But just when her family needs her more than ever, can Becky pull it off?

About the Book

#1 New York Times bestselling author Sophie Kinsella returns with another laugh-out-loud Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood) adventure: a hilarious road trip through the American West to Las Vegas.
 
Becky is on a major rescue mission! Her father has vanished from Los Angeles on a mysterious quest with her best friend’s husband. Becky’s mum is hysterical; her best friend, Suze, is desperate. Worse, Becky must tolerate an enemy along for the ride, who she’s convinced is up to no good.
 
Determined to get to the bottom of why her dad has disappeared, help Suze, contain Alicia and reunite her fractured family, Becky knows she must marshal all her trademark ingenuity. The result: her most outrageous and daring plan yet!
 
But just when her family needs her more than ever, can Becky pull it off?

Audiobook available, narrated by Clare Corbett

Editorial Content for Amazing Fantastic Incredible: A Marvelous Memoir

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Sarah Rachel Egelman

Are you a fan of superheroes? Have you ever been thrilled by the action in a comic book? Did you ever imagine yourself a hero with special powers and super strength? Have you ever heard of Spider-Man or The Incredible Hulk? If you answered “yes” to even one of these questions, then your life has been influenced by the work of comic book legend Stan Lee. Read More

Teaser

In this gorgeously illustrated, full-color graphic memoir, Stan Lee --- comic book legend and co-creator of Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Avengers, the Incredible Hulk, and a legion of other Marvel superheroes --- shares his iconic legacy and the story of how modern comics came to be. Moving from his impoverished childhood in Manhattan to his early days writing comics, through his military training films during World War II and the rise of the Marvel empire in the 1960s to the current resurgence in movies, AMAZING FANTASTIC INCREDIBLE documents the life of a man and the legacy of an industry and career.

Promo

In this gorgeously illustrated, full-color graphic memoir, Stan Lee --- comic book legend and co-creator of Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Avengers, the Incredible Hulk, and a legion of other Marvel superheroes --- shares his iconic legacy and the story of how modern comics came to be. Moving from his impoverished childhood in Manhattan to his early days writing comics, through his military training films during World War II and the rise of the Marvel empire in the 1960s to the current resurgence in movies, AMAZING FANTASTIC INCREDIBLE documents the life of a man and the legacy of an industry and career.

About the Book

In this gorgeously illustrated, full-color graphic memoir, Stan Lee --- comic book legend and cocreator of Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Avengers, the Incredible Hulk, and a legion of other Marvel superheroes --- shares his iconic legacy and the story of how modern comics came to be.

Stan Lee is a man who needs no introduction. The most legendary name in the history of comic books, he has been the leading creative force behind Marvel Comics, and has brought to life --- and into the mainstream --- some of the world’s best-known heroes and most infamous villains throughout his career. His stories --- filled with superheroes struggling with personal hang-ups and bad guys who possessed previously unseen psychological complexity --- added wit and subtlety to a field previously locked into flat portrayals of good vs. evil. Lee put the human in superhuman and in doing so, created a new mythology for the twentieth century.

In this beautifully illustrated graphic memoir --- illustrated by celebrated artist Colleen Doran --- Lee tells the story of his life with the same inimitable wit, energy, and offbeat spirit that he brought to the world of comics. Moving from his impoverished childhood in Manhattan to his early days writing comics, through his military training films during World War II and the rise of the Marvel empire in the 1960s to the current resurgence in movies, AMAZING FANTASTIC INCREDIBLE documents the life of a man and the legacy of an industry and career.

This funny, moving, and incredibly honest memoir is a must-have for collectors and fans of comic books and graphic novels of every age.

Audiobook available, narrated by Peter Riegert

Editorial Content for Christmas Bells

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Carole Turner

Cambridge, just across the Charles River from Boston, is the setting for this story that connects two different eras in American history. Read More

Teaser

Jennifer Chiaverini’s resonant and heartfelt novel chronicles the events of 1863, when the peace and contentment of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s family circle was suddenly, tragically broken, cutting even deeper than the privations of wartime. Through the pain of profound loss and hardship, Longfellow’s patriotism never failed, nor did the power of his language. “Christmas Bells,” the poem he wrote that holiday, lives on, spoken as verse and sung as a hymn.

Promo

Jennifer Chiaverini’s resonant and heartfelt novel chronicles the events of 1863, when the peace and contentment of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s family circle was suddenly, tragically broken, cutting even deeper than the privations of wartime. Through the pain of profound loss and hardship, Longfellow’s patriotism never failed, nor did the power of his language. “Christmas Bells,” the poem he wrote that holiday, lives on, spoken as verse and sung as a hymn.
 

About the Book

In 1860, the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow family celebrated Christmas at Craigie House, their home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The publication of Longfellow’s classic Revolutionary War poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride,” was less than a month hence, and the country’s grave political unrest weighed heavily on his mind. Yet with his beloved wife, Fanny, and their five adored children at his side, the delights of the season prevailed.

In present-day Boston, a dedicated teacher in the Watertown public school system is stunned by somber holiday tidings. Sophia’s music program has been sacrificed to budget cuts, and she worries not only about her impending unemployment but also about the consequences to her underprivileged students. At the church where she volunteers as music director, Sophia tries to forget her cares as she leads the children’s choir in rehearsal for a Christmas Eve concert. Inspired to honor a local artist, Sophia has chosen a carol set to a poem by Longfellow, moved by the glorious words he penned one Christmas Day long ago, even as he suffered great loss.

CHRISTMAS BELLS chronicles the events of 1863, when the peace and contentment of Longfellow’s family circle was suddenly, tragically broken, cutting even deeper than the privations of wartime. Through the pain of profound loss and hardship, Longfellow’s patriotism never failed, nor did the power of his language. “Christmas Bells,” the poem he wrote that holiday, lives on, spoken as verse and sung as a hymn. 

Jennifer Chiaverini’s resonant and heartfelt novel for the season reminds us why we must continue to hear glad tidings, even as we are tested by strife. Reading CHRISTMAS BELLS evokes the resplendent joy of a chorus of voices raised in reverent song.

Audiobook available, narrated by Christina Moore

Editorial Content for The Golem of Paris

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Joe Hartlaub

Arthur C. Clarke stated, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” That same conclusion might hold true to any science or discipline. I don’t know how one might define “magic” in the literary sense, but I can give you an example of it. It’s a novel titled THE GOLEM OF PARIS by Jonathan Kellerman and Jesse Kellerman, a sequel to 2014’s THE GOLEM OF HOLLYWOOD. Read More

Teaser

It’s been more than a year since LAPD detective Jacob Lev learned the remarkable truth about his family, and he’s not coping well. He’s back to drinking, he’s not talking to his father, the LAPD Special Projects Department continues to shadow him, and the memory of a woman named Mai haunts him day and night. While Jacob has tried to build a bridge to his mother, she remains a stranger to him, imprisoned inside her own tattered mind. Then he comes across the file for a gruesome unsolved murder that brings the two halves of his life into startling collision.

Promo

It’s been more than a year since LAPD detective Jacob Lev learned the remarkable truth about his family, and he’s not coping well. He’s back to drinking, he’s not talking to his father, the LAPD Special Projects Department continues to shadow him, and the memory of a woman named Mai haunts him day and night. While Jacob has tried to build a bridge to his mother, she remains a stranger to him, imprisoned inside her own tattered mind. Then he comes across the file for a gruesome unsolved murder that brings the two halves of his life into startling collision.

About the Book

From two #1 bestselling masters of crime fiction comes an extraordinary thriller about family, murder and the secrets that refuse to stay buried.
 
It’s been more than a year since LAPD detective Jacob Lev learned the remarkable truth about his family, and he’s not coping well. He’s back to drinking, he’s not talking to his father, the LAPD Special Projects Department continues to shadow him, and the memory of a woman named Mai haunts him day and night.

And while Jacob has tried to build a bridge to his mother, she remains a stranger to him, imprisoned inside her own tattered mind.

Then he comes across the file for a gruesome unsolved murder that brings the two halves of his life into startling collision. Finding the killer will take him halfway around the world, to Paris --- the city of romance, but also of gritty streets, behind the lights. It’s a dangerous search for truth that plunges him into the past.

And for Jacob Lev, there is no place more frightening.

Jonathan Kellerman has long been known for his mastery of criminal psychology and his ability to create thrilling novels of nuanced drama and suspense. But in THE GOLEM OF PARIS, he and Jesse Kellerman raise that suspense to a whole new level.

Audiobook available, narrated by John Rubinstein

Editorial Content for Tightrope

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Ray Palen

Enigmatic British heroine Marian Sutro is an ex-Special Operations agent who bravely served her country and the Allied forces during World War II. Her exploits were outlined in Simon Mawer's previous novel, TRAPEZE, and now the Man Booker Prize-nominated author continues her story in TIGHTROPE. Read More

Teaser

As Allied forces close in on Berlin in spring 1945, a solitary figure emerges from the wreckage that is Germany. It is Marian Sutro, whose existence was last known to her British controllers in autumn 1943 in Paris. Returned to an England she barely knows and a postwar world she doesn’t understand, Marian searches for something on which to ground the rest of her life. When the mysterious Major Fawley, the man who hijacked her wartime mission to Paris, draws her into the ambiguities and uncertainties of the Cold War, she sees a way to make amends for the past and to find the identity that has never been hers.

Promo

As Allied forces close in on Berlin in spring 1945, a solitary figure emerges from the wreckage that is Germany. It is Marian Sutro, whose existence was last known to her British controllers in autumn 1943 in Paris. Returned to an England she barely knows and a postwar world she doesn’t understand, Marian searches for something on which to ground the rest of her life. When the mysterious Major Fawley, the man who hijacked her wartime mission to Paris, draws her into the ambiguities and uncertainties of the Cold War, she sees a way to make amends for the past and to find the identity that has never been hers.

About the Book

From the author of the bestselling and Booker Prize-shortlisted THE GLASS ROOM and TRAPEZE.

An historical thriller that brings back Marian Sutro, ex-Special Operations agent, and traces her romantic and political exploits in post-World War II London, where the Cold War is about to reshape old loyalties.
 
As Allied forces close in on Berlin in spring 1945, a solitary figure emerges from the wreckage that is Germany. It is Marian Sutro, whose existence was last known to her British controllers in autumn 1943 in Paris. One of a handful of surviving agents of the Special Operations Executive, she has withstood arrest, interrogation, incarceration and the horrors of Ravensbrück concentration camp, but at what cost? Returned to an England she barely knows and a postwar world she doesn’t understand, Marian searches for something on which to ground the rest of her life. Family and friends surround her, but she is haunted by her experiences and by the guilt of knowing that her contribution to the war effort helped lead to the monstrosities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. When the mysterious Major Fawley, the man who hijacked her wartime mission to Paris, emerges from the shadows to draw her into the ambiguities and uncertainties of the Cold War, she sees a way to make amends for the past and at the same time to find the identity that has never been hers.
 
A novel of divided loyalties and mixed motives, TIGHTROPE is the complex and enigmatic story of a woman whose search for personal identity and fulfillment leads her to shocking choices.

Audiobook available, read by Kate Reading

Editorial Content for Allegiance

Book

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Stuart Shiffman

In 2005, law professor Kermit Roosevelt published his first work of fiction, IN THE SHADOW OF THE LAW, which won recognition as a Christian Science Monitor Best Book of the Year. It was a contemporary legal novel that took a somewhat jaundiced view of the world of large law firms. Following this success, Roosevelt ventured into other aspects of scholarly legal writing. Read More

Teaser

In this long-awaited follow-up to IN THE SHADOW OF THE LAW, Caswell “Cash” Harrison is given the opportunity to serve as a clerk to Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black. He and another clerk stumble onto a potentially huge conspiracy aimed at guiding the court’s interests, and the cases dealing with the constitutionality of the prison camps created to detain Japanese-Americans seem to play a key part. Then Cash’s colleague dies under mysterious circumstances, and the young, idealistic lawyer is determined to get at the truth.

Promo

In this long-awaited follow-up to IN THE SHADOW OF THE LAW, Caswell “Cash” Harrison is given the opportunity to serve as a clerk to Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black. He and another clerk stumble onto a potentially huge conspiracy aimed at guiding the court’s interests, and the cases dealing with the constitutionality of the prison camps created to detain Japanese-Americans seem to play a key part. Then Cash’s colleague dies under mysterious circumstances, and the young, idealistic lawyer is determined to get at the truth.

About the Book

A sophisticated legal thriller that plunges readers into the debate within the US government surrounding the imprisonment of thousands of Japanese-Americans during World War II.

When the news broke about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Caswell “Cash” Harrison was all set to drop out of law school and join the army…until he flunked the physical. Instead, he’s given the opportunity to serve as a clerk to Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black. He and another clerk stumble onto a potentially huge conspiracy aimed at guiding the court’s interests, and the cases dealing with the constitutionality of the prison camps created to detain Japanese-Americans seem to play a key part. Then Cash’s colleague dies under mysterious circumstances, and the young, idealistic lawyer is determined to get at the truth. His investigation will take him from the office of J. Edgar Hoover to an internment camp in California, where he directly confronts the consequences of America’s wartime policies.

Kermit Roosevelt combines the momentum of a top-notch legal thriller with a thoughtful examination of one of the worst civil rights violations in US history in this long-awaited follow-up to IN THE SHADOW OF THE LAW.

Editorial Content for Has#tag: A Crime Story

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Tom Callahan

One of the true pleasures of reading is discovering a new author who seems to come out of nowhere to surprise and delight you. Last summer, I heard a man from Durham, North Carolina, do a reading in Greenwich Village. I was intrigued enough that I immediately ordered his latest novel. I was not disappointed.

HAS#TAG came out in the late spring. Its author, Eryk Pruitt, is a short story writer, filmmaker and scriptwriter born, raised and educated in East Texas. His short movie, Foodie, won eight top awards in 16 film festivals. Read More

Teaser

Odie Shanks is the manager of a pizza parlor in Virginia, with dreams of Hollywood fame and stardom. When the establishment is robbed, he see cross-country crime as his ticket to the Big Time. Meanwhile, college student Melinda Kendall is on her own crime spree across the south, on the run from her drug-dealing, angry boyfriend. Eryk Pruitt’s second novel (following DIRTBAGS) is a wild ride across the American South.

Promo

Odie Shanks is the manager of a pizza parlor in Virginia, with dreams of Hollywood fame and stardom. When the establishment is robbed, he see cross-country crime as his ticket to the Big Time. Meanwhile, college student Melinda Kendall is on her own crime spree across the south, on the run from her drug-dealing, angry boyfriend. Eryk Pruitt’s second novel (following DIRTBAGS) is a wild ride across the American South.

About the Book

A twisted and sinister crime story with characters and a world you'll be clawing for more of from the author of DIRTBAGS.

The repercussions are felt across the American South when a pizza joint in sleepy Lake Castor, Virginia is robbed and the manager, Odie Shanks, is kidnapped. The kidnapping is the talk of the town, but it's what people don't know that threatens to rip asunder societal norms. Odie chases dreams of Hollywood stardom and an explosive social media presence while his partner in crime, Jake Armstrong, pursues his own vengeful agenda.

In the meantime, corrupt and lazy Deputy Roy Rains has a hard-luck time of covering up the crime in order to preserve his way of life.

And college student Melinda Kendall has hit the highway in a stolen ride with nothing but a .22 and limited options, on the run from her drug dealer boyfriend, the Mississippi State Police and the media, trying to escape some bad choices by making even more bad choices.

All three are on a collision course from hell in this crime story that reads like a blood-spattered road map of the American South.

November 6, 2015 - November 20, 2015

Here are reading recommendations with your comments and a rating of 1 to 5 stars for the contest period of November 6 - November 20.

Ron Alderson

Why is it so hard to find an exercise bike with a nice little basket where I can put my nachos?

Attribution

Ron Alderson