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May 10, 2024

My husband texted our younger son the other day to remind him that Mother’s Day is Sunday. He wrote back, “I will forget the Alamo then. I only have so much that I can remember.” This is classic Cory and so indicative of his wry humor.

For years, I shared Mother’s Day with my mother and my mother-in-law. Two years ago was the last time I celebrated with them both. I am much better at celebrating others than being celebrated. When asked what I want for dinner or what I would like to do for the day, I typically overthink it and come up with nothing. For the latter, I would love a day of reading in peace. The weather does not look like it will cooperate with reading on the deck or poolside. For the menu, I found a few recipes in the New York Times last weekend that look interesting. We shall see!

The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl

May 2024

I do love armchair travel, especially when it is delivered to me by someone who clearly has fabulous taste, a keen eye and a seasoned palate. Ruth Reichl is the perfect guide for this --- and she weaves a terrific story around it in THE PARIS NOVEL.

Stella has had a very tough childhood, with a mother who ignores her more than she favors her. Along the way, she is abused as a child and walks away from her childhood home as soon as she can to build her own life. She finds joy working with an editor at Vintage Books; she is very happy and comfortable at her job there. But when her mother passes away, she finds herself with a rather interesting inheritance --- a one-way plane ticket and a note reading “Go to Paris.” Stella is like a little church mouse with absolutely no idea what to do for an adventure. Her boss says, “Go!” And with that kick in the right direction, she is on a plane.

Did I Ever Tell You?: A Memoir by Genevieve Kingston

May 2024

DID I EVER TELL YOU? by Genevieve Kingston is the kind of book you read --- and never forget.

When Genevieve (who was nicknamed Gwen) lost her mother, she was just 11 years old. Kristina had been ill with cancer for eight years, and she knew she would not live to see her daughter and son grow into adulthood. Instead of mourning her fate, she would busy herself with wrapping paper, ribbon and cards, assembling a treasure trove of gifts for her children. Gwen would see her mother fluttering about clearly on a mission. You could feel she was almost seeing her children at each future stage that she was wrapping a special message for them, taking them up to age 30. These notes and gifts carefully were placed in a box for each of them.

We have listed 11 of Carol’s Bookreporter.com Bets On picks that are now or soon to be in paperback. Which of these books have you read or do you plan to read? Please check all that apply.

May 10, 2024, 649 voters

May 10, 2024 - May 24, 2024

Here are reading recommendations with your comments and a rating of 1 to 5 stars for the contest period of May 10 - May 24.

In Linwood Barclay’s new thriller, I WILL RUIN YOU, a teacher’s act of heroism inadvertently makes him the target of a dangerous blackmailer who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. The teacher, Richard Boyle, runs into trouble when he introduces his students to a novel that is not on the curriculum. This subplot inspired Linwood to share his thoughts on book banning and his experiences with it.
We wrap up this year’s Mother’s Day Author Blog series with Ann Hood, whose books include the novels THE BOOK THAT MATTERS MOST and THE KNITTING CIRCLE, and the memoir FLY GIRL. In her latest work of fiction, THE STOLEN CHILD (an upcoming Bookreporter.com Bets On pick), an unlikely duo ventures through France and Italy to solve the mystery of a child’s fate. Ann loved reading with her children, Sam and Grace, as they bonded over Babar, Madeline and every Roald Dahl book. But sadly, there was one story that they were never able to finish.

Ann Hood

Ann Hood is the author of a dozen books of memoir and fiction, including the bestselling novels THE BOOK THAT MATTERS MOST and THE KNITTING CIRCLE, and editor of the anthologies KNITTING YARNS and KNITTING PEARLS. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island, and New York.

Photo Credit: Beowulf Sheehan

Week of May 27, 2024

Paperback releases for the week of May 27th include RESURRECTION WALK, Michael Connelly's seventh Lincoln Lawyer thriller, which finds defense attorney Mickey Haller enlisting the help of his half-brother, retired LAPD Detective Harry Bosch, to prove the innocence of a woman convicted of killing her husband; HELLO STRANGER by Katherine Center, a hopelessly romantic novel about finding love, confronting a haunting past, and figuring out what --- and who --- really matters; DROWNING, T.J. Newman's adrenaline-fueled thriller about a commercial jetliner that crashes into the ocean and sinks to the bottom with passengers trapped inside --- and the extraordinary rescue operation to save them; Emma Donoghue's LEARNED BY HEART, a heartbreakingly gorgeous novel based on the true story of two girls who fall secretly, deeply and dangerously in love at boarding school in 19th-century York; and MAKING A SCENE, a powerful and poignant memoir-in-essays from actor Constance Wu, who gives readers an intimate portrait of the pressures and pleasures of existing in today’s world.

Interview: Jack Du Brul, author of Clive Cussler The Heist: An Isaac Bell Adventure

May 9, 2024

Detective Isaac Bell faces an attack on the Federal Reserve in THE HEIST, Jack Du Brul’s all-new adventure in the #1 New York Times bestselling series created by Clive Cussler. In this interview conducted by Michael Barson, Senior Publicity Executive at Melville House and Cussler’s primary publicist at G.P. Putnam’s Sons from 1999 to 2015, Du Brul explains how he first began collaborating with Cussler, what surprised him the most about Cussler as a writing partner, the importance of incorporating details into historical fiction, and what the future looks like for his protagonist.