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Joanne Leedom-Ackerman

Joanne Leedom-Ackerman is a novelist, short story writer and journalist whose works of fiction include THE DARK PATH TO THE RIVER and NO MARBLE ANGELS. Her recent nonfiction book, PEN JOURNEYS: Memoir of Literature on the Line, drew inspiration from her job as a vice president of the worldwide writers and human rights organization PEN International. She is also on the boards of the American Writers Museum, the International Center for Journalists, Words Without Borders and Refugees International. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Texas Institute of Letters.

Special Preview: Bookreporter.com's Summer Reading 2023

This Bookreporter.com SPECIAL PREVIEW Newsletter brings you a sneak peek at the titles that are included in our Summer Reading feature

Each title below will be featured in a contest where you will have a 24-hour window of opportunity to enter for your chance to win a copy of the book being featured that day. You will need to act quickly! Learn more about the feature here.

We encourage you to scroll down and click on each image to read more about that book on our site.

If you know anyone who you think may be interested in these 24-hour contests, please forward this newsletter to them so they can sign up for it. 

Our first contest kicks off TOMORROW, Tuesday, May 9th at noon ET. Best of luck to you, and Happy Summer Reading!

Megan Abbott is the Edgar Award-winning author of such novels as THE TURNOUT, GIVE ME YOUR HAND, YOU WILL KNOW ME, THE FEVER, DARE ME and THE END OF EVERYTHING. Her latest, BEWARE THE WOMAN, releases on May 30th and dissects the ongoing conversations about ownership and womanhood. Megan’s mother, writer Patricia Abbott, introduced her to countless books as a child and was the biggest influence on her reading habits. Patti gave Megan her first “adult” novel to read, which began her love of mysteries and thrillers, helping to pave the way for her career as a bestselling crime fiction author.

Megan Abbott

Megan Abbott is the Edgar-winning author of the novels BEWARE THE WOMAN, THE TURNOUT, GIVE ME YOUR HAND, YOU WILL KNOW ME, THE FEVER, DARE ME, THE END OF EVERYTHING, BURY ME DEEP, QUEENPIN, THE SONG IS YOU and DIE A LITTLE.

Editorial Content for Clytemnestra

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Rebecca Munro

CLYTEMNESTRA, Costanza Casati's debut novel, is a feminist retelling of the story of Clytemnestra, a legendary queen of Greek mythology and the sister of the famed Helen of Troy. Always a side or supporting character in accounts of more famous mythological figures, this time the villain queen tells her own story from center stage. Read More

Teaser

You were born to a king, but you marry a tyrant. You stand by helplessly as he sacrifices your child to placate the gods. You watch him wage war on a foreign shore, and you comfort yourself with violent thoughts of your own. Because this was not the first offense against you. This was not the life you ever deserved. And this will not be your undoing. Slowly you plot. But when your husband returns in triumph, you become a woman with a choice. Acceptance or vengeance, infamy follows both. So you bide your time and force the gods' hands in the game of retribution. For you understood something long ago that the others never did. If power isn't given to you, you have to take it for yourself.

Promo

You were born to a king, but you marry a tyrant. You stand by helplessly as he sacrifices your child to placate the gods. You watch him wage war on a foreign shore, and you comfort yourself with violent thoughts of your own. Because this was not the first offense against you. This was not the life you ever deserved. And this will not be your undoing. Slowly you plot. But when your husband returns in triumph, you become a woman with a choice. Acceptance or vengeance, infamy follows both. So you bide your time and force the gods' hands in the game of retribution. For you understood something long ago that the others never did. If power isn't given to you, you have to take it for yourself.

About the Book

For fans of Madeline Miller's CIRCE, a stunning debut following Clytemnestra, the most notorious villainess of the ancient world, and the events that forged her into the legendary queen.

As for queens, they are either hated or forgotten. She already knows which option suits her best…

You were born to a king, but you marry a tyrant. You stand by helplessly as he sacrifices your child to placate the gods. You watch him wage war on a foreign shore, and you comfort yourself with violent thoughts of your own. Because this was not the first offense against you. This was not the life you ever deserved. And this will not be your undoing. Slowly you plot.

But when your husband returns in triumph, you become a woman with a choice.

Acceptance or vengeance, infamy follows both. So you bide your time and force the gods' hands in the game of retribution. For you understood something long ago that the others never did.

If power isn't given to you, you have to take it for yourself.

A blazing novel set in the world of Ancient Greece, this is a thrilling tale of power and prophecies, hatred and love, and an unforgettable Queen who fiercely dealt out death to those who wronged her.

Audiobook available, read by Olivia Vinall

Mary Beth Keane, author of The Half Moon

Malcolm Gephardt, the longtime bartender at the Half Moon, has always dreamed of owning a bar. When his boss finally retires, Malcolm stretches to buy the place. He sees unquantifiable magic and potential in the Half Moon and hopes to transform it into a bigger success but struggles to stay afloat. His smart and confident wife, Jess, has devoted herself to her law career. After years of trying for a baby, she is facing the idea that motherhood may not be in the cards for her. Like Malcolm, she feels her youth beginning to slip away and wonders how to reshape her future. THE HALF MOON takes place over the course of one week when Malcolm learns shocking news about Jess, a patron of the bar goes missing, and a blizzard hits the town of Gillam, trapping everyone in place.

Justin Cronin, author of The Ferryman

The archipelago of Prospera lies hidden from the horrors of a deteriorating outside world. Its lucky citizens enjoy long, fulfilling lives until the monitors embedded in their forearms fall below 10 percent. Then they retire themselves, embarking on a ferry ride to the island known as the Nursery, where their failing bodies are renewed, their memories are wiped clean, and they are readied to restart life afresh.  Proctor Bennett has a satisfying career as a ferryman, gently shepherding people through the retirement process. But then comes the day he is summoned to retire his own father, who gives him a disturbing and cryptic message before being wrestled onto the ferry. Soon Proctor finds himself questioning everything he once believed --- and on a desperate mission to uncover the truth.

Patti Callahan Henry, author of The Secret Book of Flora Lea

In the war-torn London of 1939, 14-year-old Hazel and five-year-old Flora are evacuated to a rural village to escape the horrors of the Second World War. Hazel distracts her young sister with a fairy tale about a magical land, a secret place they can escape to that is all their own. When Flora suddenly vanishes while playing near the banks of the river, Hazel blames herself, and she carries that guilt into adulthood. Twenty years later, Hazel lives in an elegantly timeworn Bloomsbury flat with her charming boyfriend. But her tidy life is turned upside down when she unwraps a package containing an illustrated book called Whisperwood and the River of Stars. Could this book hold the secrets to Flora’s disappearance? Could it be a sign that her beloved sister is still alive?

Editorial Content for In the Lives of Puppets

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Jana Siciliano

In the woods, there is a quiet little home built into the branches of a grove of trees where three robots live, hidden and safe. The android dad, Giovanni Lawson, co-exists with a small vacuum wanting for love and a nurse named Ratched (yes, just like the one in the Cuckoo’s nest, only her name stands for Nurse Registered Automaton to Care, Heal, Educate, and Drill). She is constantly threatening the vacuum, yet somehow they all get along. Read More

Teaser

In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees live three robots --- fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, and a small vacuum desperate for love and attention. Victor Lawson, a human, lives there too. The day Vic salvages and repairs an unfamiliar android labeled “HAP,” he learns of a shared dark past between Hap and Gio --- a past spent hunting humans. When Hap unwittingly alerts robots from Gio’s former life to their whereabouts, the family is no longer hidden and safe. Gio is captured and taken back to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams. So together, the rest of Vic’s assembled family must journey across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommission…or worse, reprogramming.

Promo

In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees live three robots --- fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, and a small vacuum desperate for love and attention. Victor Lawson, a human, lives there too. The day Vic salvages and repairs an unfamiliar android labeled “HAP,” he learns of a shared dark past between Hap and Gio --- a past spent hunting humans. When Hap unwittingly alerts robots from Gio’s former life to their whereabouts, the family is no longer hidden and safe. Gio is captured and taken back to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams. So together, the rest of Vic’s assembled family must journey across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommission…or worse, reprogramming.

About the Book

New York Times bestselling author TJ Klune invites you deep into the heart of a peculiar forest and on the extraordinary journey of a family assembled from spare parts.

In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees, live three robots --- fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, and a small vacuum desperate for love and attention. Victor Lawson, a human, lives there too. They’re a family, hidden and safe.

The day Vic salvages and repairs an unfamiliar android labelled “HAP,” he learns of a shared dark past between Hap and Gio --- a past spent hunting humans.

When Hap unwittingly alerts robots from Gio’s former life to their whereabouts, the family is no longer hidden and safe. Gio is captured and taken back to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams. So together, the rest of Vic’s assembled family must journey across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommission...or worse, reprogramming.

Along the way to save Gio, amid conflicted feelings of betrayal and affection for Hap, Vic must decide for himself: Can he accept love with strings attached?

Inspired by Carlo Collodi's THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO, and like Swiss Family Robinson meets Wall-E, IN THE LIVES OF PUPPETS is a masterful stand-alone fantasy adventure from the beloved author who brought you THE HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA and UNDER THE WHISPERING DOOR.

Audiobook available, read by Daniel Henning

Editorial Content for The Girl by the Bridge: A Detective Konrad Novel

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Ray Palen

If you would like to take a trip to Iceland but do not want to deal with the long travel time or cold weather, there is no better way to experience the country than with a book. You can’t go wrong with the crime fiction of two authors in particular, Ragnar Jónasson and Arnaldur Indridason. This review covers the latter writer and his new Detective Konrad novel, THE GIRL BY THE BRIDGE. Read More

Teaser

An elderly couple are worried about their granddaughter. They know she's been smuggling drugs, and now she's gone missing. Looking for help, they turn to Konrad, a former policeman whose reputation precedes him. Always absent-minded, he constantly ruminates on the fate of his father, who was stabbed to death decades ago. But digging into the past reveals much more than anyone set out to discover, and a little girl who drowned in the Reykjavik city pond unexpectedly captures everyone's attention.

Promo

An elderly couple are worried about their granddaughter. They know she's been smuggling drugs, and now she's gone missing. Looking for help, they turn to Konrad, a former policeman whose reputation precedes him. Always absent-minded, he constantly ruminates on the fate of his father, who was stabbed to death decades ago. But digging into the past reveals much more than anyone set out to discover, and a little girl who drowned in the Reykjavik city pond unexpectedly captures everyone's attention.

About the Book

A brilliant, chilling tale of broken dreams and children who have nowhere to turn.

An elderly couple are worried about their granddaughter. They know she's been smuggling drugs, and now she's gone missing. Looking for help, they turn to Konrad, a former policeman whose reputation precedes him.

Always absent-minded, he constantly ruminates on the fate of his father, who was stabbed to death decades ago. But digging into the past reveals much more than anyone set out to discover, and a little girl who drowned in the Reykjavik city pond unexpectedly captures everyone's attention.