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Which of this year’s Oscar-nominated films that are based on books have you seen or do you plan to see? Please check all that apply.

January 31, 2025, 633 voters

January 31, 2025 - February 14, 2025

Here are reading recommendations with your comments and a rating of 1 to 5 stars for the contest period of January 31 - February 14.

What Happened to the McCrays? by Tracey Lange

January 2025

Tracey Lange is known for writing about families. These working-class individuals deal with issues that people come across every day. The way Tracey handles her characters is what makes her books so special.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE McCRAYS? opens with Kyle McCray seated in a restaurant in Spokane, Washington, where he is pondering heading back home to Potsdam, New York. He has been gone for two-and-a-half years, moseying his way across the country and taking a variety of jobs. His dad has had a stroke and needs his help, which is the only reason he is considering a return to Potsdam.

January 31, 2025

At the beginning of each year, I have lots of ideas about what I want to take on personally and professionally. Now, 31 days later, I think of everything I have done. I got the Christmas ornaments back to the attic, redid my bedroom closet, and celebrated my two sons’ birthdays. We did three big “Bookaccino Live” events, I conducted five “Bookreporter Talks To” interviews, we hosted four Winter Reading contests and two Word of Mouth giveaways, we packed up 80 books for our year-end Bets On contest, we got two sets of “Bookaccino Live” prizes out, and we did five weekly updates.

Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction 2025

The American Library Association (ALA) has selected JAMES by Percival Everett as the winner of the 2025 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, and A WALK IN THE PARK: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon by Kevin Fedarko as the winner of the 2025 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction.

Lisa Wingate Event Signup

January 28, 2025

In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of January 27th and February 3rd that we think will be of interest to Bookreporter.com readers, along with Bonus News, where we call out a contest, feature or review that we want to let you know about so you have it on your radar.

This week, we are calling attention to our review of GOOD DIRT, which is now available and will be a Bookreporter.com Bets On selection. The daughter of an affluent Black family pieces together the connection between a childhood tragedy and a beloved heirloom in this moving novel from Charmaine Wilkerson, the New York Times bestselling author of BLACK CAKE, a “Read with Jenna” Book Club pick and a Bets On title.

January 28, 2025

This Bookreporter.com Special Newsletter spotlights a book that we know people will be talking about this winter. Read more about it, and enter our Winter Reading Contest by Wednesday, January 29th at noon ET for a chance to win one of five copies of PRESUMED GUILTY by Scott Turow, which is now available and will be a Bookreporter.com Bets On pick. Please note that each contest is only open for 24 hours, so you will need to act quickly!

Han Kang, author of We Do Not Part

One winter morning, Kyungha receives an urgent message from her friend, Inseon, to visit her at a hospital in Seoul. Inseon has injured herself in an accident, and she begs Kyungha to return to Jeju Island, where she lives, to save her beloved pet --- a white bird called Ama. A snowstorm hits the island when Kyungha arrives. She must reach Inseon’s house at all costs, but the icy wind and squalls slow her down as night begins to fall. She wonders if she will arrive in time to save the animal --- or even survive the terrible cold that envelops her with every step. Lost in a world of snow, she doesn’t yet suspect the vertiginous plunge into the darkness that awaits her at her friend’s house.

Jonathan Evison, author of The Heart of Winter

Abe Winter and Ruth Warneke were never meant to be together --- at least if you ask Ruth. Yet their catastrophic blind date in college evolved into a 70-year marriage and a life on a farm on Bainbridge Island with their hens and beloved Labrador, Megs. Through the years, the Winters have fallen in and out of lockstep, and from their haunting losses and guarded secrets, a dependable partnership has been forged. But when Ruth’s loose tooth turns out to be something much more malicious, the beautiful, reliable life they’ve created together comes to a crisis. As Ruth struggles with her crumbling independence, Abe must learn how to take care of her while their three living children question his ability to look after his wife. And once again, the couple has to reconfigure how to be there for each other.