In Cold War England, Professor Henry Lytten, having renounced a career in espionage, is writing a fantasy novel that dares to imagine a world less fraught than his own. He finds an unlikely confidante in Rosie, an inquisitive young neighbor who stumbles through a doorway in his cellar and into a stunning and unfamiliar bucolic landscape. There she meets a young boy named Jay, who is about to embark on a journey that will change both their lives. Elsewhere, in a distopian society where progress is controlled by a corrupt ruling elite, the brilliant scientist Angela Meerson has discovered the potential of a powerful new machine. When the authorities come knocking, she will make an important decision --- one that will reverberate through all these different lives and worlds.
On a post-college visit to Florence, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri fell in love with the Italian language. Twenty years later, seeking total immersion, she and her family relocated to Rome, where she began to read and write solely in her adopted tongue. A startling act of self-reflection, IN OTHER WORDS is Lahiri’s meditation on the process of learning to express herself in another language --- and the stunning journey of a writer seeking a new voice.
It is Illinois in the 1830s and 1840s. Abraham Lincoln is a circuit-riding lawyer, a member of the state legislature, a man of almost ungovernable ambition. To his friends he is also a beloved figure, by turns charmingly awkward and mesmerizingly self-possessed. Among his friends and political colleagues are Joshua Speed, William Herndon, Stephen Douglas and many others who have come to the exploding frontier town of Springfield to find their futures. It is through another friend, fictional poet Cage Weatherby, that we will come to know Lincoln in his 20s and 30s, as a series of formative, surprising incidents unfolds.
In 1938, 28-year-old Pauli Murray wrote a letter to the President and First Lady, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, protesting racial segregation in the South. Eleanor wrote back. So began a friendship that would last for a quarter of a century, as Pauli became a lawyer, principal strategist in the fight to protect Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and a co-founder of the National Organization of Women, and Eleanor became a diplomat and first chair of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.
Elsie has a tumultuous relationship with an abusive boyfriend, a dead-end job at a newspaper, and a sharp intelligence that’s constantly at odds with her many bad decisions. When her initial attempts to improve her life go awry, Elsie decides that a dramatic change is the only solution. So she travels to Paris and Sri Lanka, hoping to accumulate experiences, create connections, and discover a new way to live. Along the way, she meets men and women who challenge and provoke her towards the change she genuinely hopes to find. But in the end, she must still come face-to-face with herself.
Before the nightmares began, Yeong-hye and her husband lived an ordinary, controlled life. But the dreams --- invasive images of blood and brutality --- torture her, driving Yeong-hye to purge her mind and renounce eating meat altogether. It’s a small act of independence, but it interrupts her marriage and sets into motion an increasingly grotesque chain of events at home. As her husband, her brother-in-law and sister each fight to reassert their control, Yeong-hye obsessively defends the choice that’s become sacred to her.
Detective Zach Jordan and his partner, Kylie MacDonald, are brilliant and tireless investigators who will stop at nothing to catch a criminal. When a glitzy movie premiere is the scene of a shocking murder and high-stakes robbery, NYPD Red gets the call. Traversing the city's highs and lows, from celebrity penthouses to the depths of Manhattan's criminal underworld, Zach and Kylie have to find a cold-blooded killer before he strikes again.
Five years ago, Court Gentry was the CIA’s best covert asset. Then, without warning, the Agency put him at the top of its kill list. Court fled his country and became the enigmatic Gray Man. Now Court plans to find out what went wrong by getting his hands on the men who sent him on his last mission, Operation BACK BLAST. What he doesn’t realize is that questions from his time as an American assassin are still reverberating in the U.S. intelligence community, and he’s stumbled onto a secret that powerful people want kept under wraps. The result: everyone has Court in their crosshairs.
Zakia and Ali were from different tribes, but they grew up on neighboring farms in the hinterlands of Afghanistan. By the time they were young teenagers, Zakia and Ali had fallen in love. Defying their families, sectarian differences, cultural conventions, and Afghan civil and Islamic law, they ran away together only to live under constant threat from Zakia’s large and vengeful family, who have vowed to kill her to restore the family’s honor. They are still in hiding. Rod Nordland not only has chronicled their plight, but also has shepherded them from danger.
Teo Avelar is a loner who only feels honest human emotion in the presence of his medical school cadaver --- that is, until he meets Clarice. She's almost his exact opposite. An aspiring screenwriter, Clarice is working on a screenplay called Perfect Days about three friends who go on a road trip across Brazil in search of romance. An obsessed Teo begins to stalk Clarice and ultimately kidnaps her, at which point they embark upon their very own twisted odyssey across Brazil, tracing the same route outlined in her screenplay.
Tell us about the books you’ve finished reading with your comments and a rating of 1 to 5 stars. During the contest period from May 9th to May 23rd at noon ET, three lucky readers each will be randomly chosen to win a copy of THE DOORMAN by Chris Pavone and SPEAK TO ME OF HOME by Jeanine Cummins.
Our major goal for 2025 is to redesign Bookreporter and the rest of the sites in The Book Report Network. How can you help? We have launched a GoFundMe campaign and are asking for donations. Any level of donation that you would be comfortable with is sincerely appreciated. If you would prefer donating via check, please send to:
The Book Report, Inc.
16 Mt. Bethel Road, Suite 365
Warren, NJ 07059
Click here to read more about our plans and to donate.
Coming Soon
Curious about what books will be released in the months ahead so you can pre-order or reserve them? Then click on the months below.
May's Books on Screen roundup includes the series premieres of "The Better Sister" on Prime Video, "Dept. Q" and "Forever" on Netflix, and "Miss Austen" on PBS "Masterpiece"; the season premieres of Hulu's "Nine Perfect Strangers," Max's "And Just Like That..." and AMC's "The Walking Dead: Dead City"; the series finales of "The Handmaid's Tale" on Hulu and "The Last Anniversary" on Sundance Now and AMC+; the season finales of CBS's "Tracker" and "Watson," as well as ABC's "Will Trent"; the films Juliet & Romeo and Fear Street: Prom Queen; and the DVD/Blu-ray releases of Captain America: Brave New World, Mickey 17 and Being Maria.