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Editorial Content for The Fourth Daughter

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Pamela Kramer

Lyn Liao Butler's parents are from Taiwan, and often Taiwanese culture and food are featured in her novels. But in her latest book, THE FOURTH DAUGHTER, we are immersed in Taiwan --- in both its crowded, colorful present and its violent, politically fraught past. We meet two strong women: Liv Kuo, a chef in New York who is suffering from PTSD because of an extremely traumatic event in the restaurant she worked at, and her Ah-Ma (grandmother), Yi-ping Wang, who moved back to Taiwan after living in the US with Liv's family for many years, helping to raise her grandchildren. Read More

Teaser

Chef Liv Kuo’s star is on the rise…until a traumatic incident leaves her emotionally unable to venture outside her Manhattan apartment. But an unexpected reason to break free comes from Ah-Ma, Liv’s beloved grandmother in Taiwan. Ah-Ma needs Liv’s help in finding her fourth daughter, taken from her when the girl was an infant. After all these years, it seems impossible. It’s also a mystery: Ah-Ma’s fourth daughter is an aunt Liv never even knew existed. After landing in Taiwan, Liv hears the heartbreaking story of her grandmother’s plight in a country once under martial law, of choices made for her, and of the hopeful search for a lost girl that has endured for more than 60 years. Their journey for answers turns up both a precious old cookbook and a tale of fatal betrayal that shakes everything Liv believed about her family.

Promo

Chef Liv Kuo’s star is on the rise…until a traumatic incident leaves her emotionally unable to venture outside her Manhattan apartment. But an unexpected reason to break free comes from Ah-Ma, Liv’s beloved grandmother in Taiwan. Ah-Ma needs Liv’s help in finding her fourth daughter, taken from her when the girl was an infant. After all these years, it seems impossible. It’s also a mystery: Ah-Ma’s fourth daughter is an aunt Liv never even knew existed. After landing in Taiwan, Liv hears the heartbreaking story of her grandmother’s plight in a country once under martial law, of choices made for her, and of the hopeful search for a lost girl that has endured for more than 60 years. Their journey for answers turns up both a precious old cookbook and a tale of fatal betrayal that shakes everything Liv believed about her family.

About the Book

In Taiwan, the bond between grandmother and granddaughter opens up a healing world for them both in an inspiring family saga about the comfort of food, untold histories and indomitable mother love.

Chef Liv Kuo’s star is on the rise until a traumatic incident leaves her emotionally unable to venture outside her Manhattan apartment. But an unexpected reason to break free comes from Ah-Ma, Liv’s beloved grandmother in Taiwan. Ah-Ma needs Liv’s help in finding her fourth daughter, taken from her when the girl was an infant. After all these years, it seems impossible. It’s also a mystery: Ah-Ma’s fourth daughter is an aunt Liv never even knew existed.

After landing in Taiwan, Liv hears the heartbreaking story of her grandmother’s plight in a country once under martial law, of choices made for her, and of the hopeful search for a lost girl that has endured for more than 60 years. Like the enriching food and traditions that bind Liv and Ah-Ma, their journey for answers brings them together.

And it’s a quest that turns up both a precious old cookbook and a tale of fatal betrayal that shakes everything Liv believed about her family --- revelations that could also give her the courage to face the trauma she left behind.

Audiobook available; read by Elaine Kao, Christina Ho, Austin Ku, Nancy Wu and Dana Wing Lau

Editorial Content for The Knowing: How the Oppression of Indigenous Peoples Continues to Echo Today

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Pauline Finch

Getting a person’s name wrong is one of the most common social misdemeanors in existence. The error --- whether one of spelling, pronunciation or complete misidentification --- is usually put right in normal human interaction. In Canada, the correction is likely punctuated with multiple occurrences of “sorry.” But this was not Tanya Talaga’s experience, nor that of her Cree ancestors, nor that of virtually every other First Nations member alive today. Read More

Teaser

For generations, Indigenous People have known that their family members disappeared, many of them after being consigned to a coordinated system designed to destroy who the First Nations, Métis and Inuit people are. This is one of Canada’s greatest open secrets, an unhealed wound that until recently lay hidden by shame and abandonment. THE KNOWING is the unfolding of history unlike anything we have ever read before. Award-winning and bestselling Anishinaabe author Tanya Talaga retells the history of her country as only she can --- through an Indigenous lens, beginning with the life of her great-great grandmother, Annie Carpenter, and her family as they experienced decades of government- and Church-sanctioned enfranchisement and genocide.

Promo

For generations, Indigenous People have known that their family members disappeared, many of them after being consigned to a coordinated system designed to destroy who the First Nations, Métis and Inuit people are. This is one of Canada’s greatest open secrets, an unhealed wound that until recently lay hidden by shame and abandonment. THE KNOWING is the unfolding of history unlike anything we have ever read before. Award-winning and bestselling Anishinaabe author Tanya Talaga retells the history of her country as only she can --- through an Indigenous lens, beginning with the life of her great-great grandmother, Annie Carpenter, and her family as they experienced decades of government- and Church-sanctioned enfranchisement and genocide.

About the Book

From award-winning and bestselling Anishinaabe author Tanya Talaga comes a riveting exploration of the dark history of residential schools, “Indian hospitals” and asylums, for readers of KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON and THE REDISCOVERY OF AMERICA.

For generations, Indigenous People have known that their family members disappeared, many of them after being consigned to a coordinated system designed to destroy who the First Nations, Métis and Inuit people are. This is one of Canada’s greatest open secrets, an unhealed wound that until recently lay hidden by shame and abandonment.

THE KNOWING is the unfolding of history unlike anything we have ever read before. Award-winning and bestselling Anishinaabe author Tanya Talaga retells the history of her country as only she can --- through an Indigenous lens, beginning with the life of her great-great grandmother, Annie Carpenter, and her family as they experienced decades of government- and Church-sanctioned enfranchisement and genocide.

Deeply personal and meticulously researched, THE KNOWING is a seminal unravelling of the centuries-long oppression of Indigenous People that continues to reverberate in these communities today.

Audiobook available, read by Tanya Talaga

Editorial Content for Death and the Runaways: A Mary Shelley Mystery

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Ray Palen

Heather Redmond has now written three terrific historical mysteries featuring Mary Godwin --- the future author who will be known as Mary Shelley --- and other members of her family and circle of friends. Typically, a series like this might have been intended as a trilogy. I am hoping that is not the case here as the latest installment, DEATH AND THE RUNAWAYS, is set a mere two years prior to Mary conceiving the novel that will make her immortal: FRANKENSTEIN. Read More

Teaser

London, June 1814: On a day out in Hyde Park to celebrate the peace treaty with France, Mary Godwin and Jane “Claire” Clairmont are less than charmed by their brother Charles’ courtship with a girl from the local cheese shop. When Miss Winnet Davies is not swooning from the heat, she’s imploring Charles to buy her a pretty dress. But he hasn’t a tuppence --- nor have they, as their father, philosopher William Godwin, is facing the prospect of debtor’s prison. When a constable arrives at the Godwin home the following day, looking for Charles, Mary and Jane learn that the lifeless body of Miss Davies was found hanging from a tree branch and an examination revealed she was with child. Their stepbrother has gone missing. Mary assumes that he too is dead, but her stepmother admonishes her and insists the sisters find their brother.

Promo

London, June 1814: On a day out in Hyde Park to celebrate the peace treaty with France, Mary Godwin and Jane “Claire” Clairmont are less than charmed by their brother Charles’ courtship with a girl from the local cheese shop. When Miss Winnet Davies is not swooning from the heat, she’s imploring Charles to buy her a pretty dress. But he hasn’t a tuppence --- nor have they, as their father, philosopher William Godwin, is facing the prospect of debtor’s prison. When a constable arrives at the Godwin home the following day, looking for Charles, Mary and Jane learn that the lifeless body of Miss Davies was found hanging from a tree branch and an examination revealed she was with child. Their stepbrother has gone missing. Mary assumes that he too is dead, but her stepmother admonishes her and insists the sisters find their brother.

About the Book

Two years before she would conceive of Frankenstein, 16-year-old Mary Godwin becomes captivated by the grim murder of a pregnant shopgirl and the disappearance of her stepbrother, involving her stepsister Jane “Claire” Clairmont and the seductive poet Percy Bysshe Shelley to solve the crime.

London, June 1814: On a day out in Hyde Park to celebrate the peace treaty with France, Mary Godwin and Jane “Claire” Clairmont are less than charmed by their brother Charles’ courtship with a girl from the local cheese shop. When Miss Winnet Davies is not swooning from the heat, she’s imploring Charles to buy her a pretty dress. But he hasn’t a tuppence --- nor have they, as their father, philosopher William Godwin, is facing the prospect of debtor’s prison.

When a constable arrives at the Godwin home the following day, looking for Charles, Mary and Jane learn that the lifeless body of Miss Davies was found hanging from a tree branch and an examination revealed she was with child. Their stepbrother has gone missing.

Inclined toward morbidity, Mary assumes he too is dead, but her stepmother admonishes her and insists the sisters find their brother. Before they can search, a terrifying Bow Street Runner named Fisher calls and announces his intention to court Mary. Even if she wasn’t passionately infatuated with married poet and radical Percy Shelley, she is horrified by the massive Bow Street Runner’s plan.

Despite this, to find their brother and clear his name, Mary and Jane alternately enlist the help of the experienced and intimidating Fisher and Shelley himself, who is as enticed by the opportunity to be close to Mary as he is intrigued by the mystery. But the unfortunate shopgirl is only the first to die, and soon the sisters and Shelley face a merciless quarry who will do anything to silence them.

Audiobook available, read by Siobhan Waring 

Editorial Content for Bat Out of Hell: An Anthology of New Mystery Short Stories

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Ray Palen

1977 saw the release of one of the most iconic albums of that era. Bat Out of Hell lauded the emergence of an unforgettable creative team: Marvin Lee Aday, aka “Meat Loaf,” on vocals and Jim Steinman providing the lyrics. It remains one of my favorite albums ever. Read More

Teaser

Edited by Don Bruns, this fourth installment in the Music and Murder Mystery series is a nonstop thrill ride of engrossing mysteries from some of the best authors in the business. It includes a brand-new Jack Reacher story from Andrew Child and a never-before-seen Pignon Scorbion prequel from Rick Bleiweiss, as well as exciting new mysteries from Heather Graham, Don Bruns, John Gilstrap, Dave Bruns, C. J. Kudlacz and Charles Todd. Whether you are familiar with the series or encountering it for the first time, BAT OUT OF HELL has something for everyone.

Promo

Edited by Don Bruns, this fourth installment in the Music and Murder Mystery series is a nonstop thrill ride of engrossing mysteries from some of the best authors in the business. It includes a brand-new Jack Reacher story from Andrew Child and a never-before-seen Pignon Scorbion prequel from Rick Bleiweiss, as well as exciting new mysteries from Heather Graham, Don Bruns, John Gilstrap, Dave Bruns, C. J. Kudlacz and Charles Todd. Whether you are familiar with the series or encountering it for the first time, BAT OUT OF HELL has something for everyone.

About the Book

Inspired by the debut album from legendary rock star Meat Loaf, BAT OUT OF HELL is a stellar collection of mysteries from some of the best writers in the genre.

The fourth installment in the Music and Murder Mystery series, edited by Don Bruns, BAT OUT OF HELL is a nonstop thrill ride of engrossing mysteries from some of the best authors in the business. An anthology unlike any other, this collection includes a brand-new Jack Reacher story from Andrew Child and a never-before-seen Pignon Scorbion prequel from Rick Bleiweiss, as well as exciting new mysteries from Heather Graham, Don Bruns, John Gilstrap, Dave Bruns, C. J. Kudlacz and Charles Todd.

Whether you are familiar with the series or encountering it for the first time, BAT OUT OF HELL has something for everyone.

Audiobook available; read by Scott Brick, B. J. Harrison, Bradford Hastings, John Pirhalla, James Fouhey, Liam Gerrard and Roger Wayne

August 8, 2025

This last week has brought with it some stunning weather, though the beautiful summer skies were marred on Wednesday by smoke from the Canadian fires. Last night, an almost full sturgeon moon lit up the skies (the full moon will be in place on Saturday). I am working outside today, pounding away on my laptop, as I capitalize on a day without too much heat or humidity. And to complete my perfect summer vibe, Husband Tom picked up lobster rolls for lunch from the Cousins Maine Lobster truck. Perfect!

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August 8, 2025, 500 voters

August 8, 2025 - August 22, 2025

Here are reading recommendations with your comments and a rating of 1 to 5 stars for the contest period of August 8 - August 22.

Week of August 25, 2025

Paperback releases for the week of August 25th include FRAMED, John Grisham’s first work of nonfiction since THE INNOCENT MAN, in which he teams up with Jim McCloskey of Centurion Ministries to share 10 harrowing true stories of wrongful convictions; THE GREY WOLF, the 19th installment in Louise Penny's series starring Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, who must figure out who he can trust in a frantic hunt for clues in a terrifying case; OPEN SEASON, a riveting thriller featuring psychologist Alex Delaware and Homicide Detective Milo Sturgis, who race against time to track down a twisted killer; A GREAT MARRIAGE, a poignent novel from Frances Mayes that finds two people and their families reeling when a perfect wedding is called off just days before the big event; and the genre-defying QUESTION 7, a reckoning with Richard Flanagan's life and family, and the role of fiction in our times.

August 6, 2025

This Bookreporter.com Special Newsletter spotlights a book that we think is a great summer reading selection. Read more about it, and enter our Summer Reading Contest by Thursday, August 7th at noon ET for a chance to win one of five copies of FULL BLOOM by Francesca Serritella, which is now available. Please note that each contest is only open for 24 hours, so you will need to act quickly!

Week of August 18, 2025

Paperback releases for the week of August 18th include BY ANY OTHER NAME by Jodi Picoult, a remarkable novel about two women, centuries apart --- one of whom is the real author of Shakespeare’s plays --- who are both forced to hide behind another name; BUTCHER, an arresting novel from Joyce Carol Oates about a women’s asylum in the 19th century and a terrifying doctor who wants to change the world; PARADISE BRONX, Ian Frazier’s love song to New York City’s most heterogeneous and alive borough; Olesya Salnikova Gilmore's THE HAUNTING OF MOSCOW HOUSE, an elegant gothic horror tale set in post-revolutionary Russia, in which two formerly aristocratic sisters race to uncover their family’s long-buried secrets in a house haunted by a past that is dangerous --- and deadly --- to remember; and the paperback original FIVE FOUND DEAD by Sulari Gentill, a heart-pounding ride filled with intrigue, suspense and literary charm.