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End-of-the-Year Contest 2023

Congratulations to the winners of our 2023 End-of-the-Year Contest! One reader received all 44 of Carol Fitzgerald's Bookreporter.com Bets On picks from 2023, while 11 others won four of these titles. You can see all the winners below, along with 2023's Bets On selections.

If you would like to know more about these books, be sure to check out this video and podcast where Carol talks about each of her 44 picks.

Megan Abbott, author of Beware the Woman

Newly married and with a baby on the way, Jacy and her husband, Jed, embark on their first road trip together to visit his father, Dr. Ash. The moment they arrive at the cottage, snug within the lush woods, Jacy feels bathed in love by the warm and hospitable Dr. Ash. But their Edenic first days take a turn when Jacy has a health scare. Swiftly, vacation activities are scrapped, and all eyes are on Jacy’s condition. Suddenly, whispers about Jed’s long-dead mother seem to eerily impinge upon the present, and Jacy begins to feel trapped in the cottage. But are her fears founded? Or is it paranoia, or cabin fever, or --- as is suggested to her --- a stubborn refusal to take necessary precautions? The dense woods surrounding the cottage are full of dangers, but are the greater ones inside?

Beware the Woman by Megan Abbott

June 2023

Megan Abbott is a very sunny person. I want to share this as she writes books that often have such dark personalities in them.

BEWARE THE WOMAN sees Jacy and her husband, Jed, on a trip to his father’s house in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, which sounds quite idyllic. Jed is not like the other men she has dated. Kind and caring, he’s a neon artist, and her description of his work has me longing to explore it more. Jed’s father is a retired doctor, and he clearly is not enamored with his art. At first, Jacy has been told that Jed’s mother passed away when Jed was young. But she learns another story as the trip goes on. Oh, and to this cast of characters, add Mrs. Brandt, the house manager who lives at the cottage year round.

Week of May 6, 2024

Paperback releases for the week of May 6th include THE BREAKAWAY by Jennifer Weiner, a warmhearted and empowering novel about love, family, friendship, secrets and a life-changing journey; THE GUEST, a stunning novel from Emma Cline in which a young woman pretends to be someone she isn’t; Megan Abbott's BEWARE THE WOMAN, a harrowing psychological thriller that offers a nightmarish glimpse at every pregnant woman’s fears about their vulnerabilities; LITTLE MONSTERS by Adrienne Brodeur, a riveting novel about Cape Cod, complicated families and long-buried secrets; Angie Kim's HAPPINESS FALLS, an indelible tale of a family who must go to remarkable lengths to truly understand one another; and CAMERA GIRL by Carl Sferrazza Anthony, an illuminating biography of the young Jackie Bouvier Kennedy that covers her formative adventures abroad in Paris; her life as a writer and photographer at a Washington, DC, newspaper; and her romance with a dashing, charismatic Massachusetts congressman who shared her intellectual passion.