When Helen Macdonald’s father died suddenly on a London street, she was devastated. An experienced falconer --- Helen had been captivated by hawks since childhood --- she’d never before been tempted to train one of the most vicious predators, the goshawk. But in her grief, she saw that the goshawk’s fierce and feral anger mirrored her own. Her resulting purchase and training of the bird quickly becomes a story of obsession, madness, memory and myth that is at once heartbreaking and hilarious.
For two months every year, from 1946 to his death 18 years later, Ian Fleming lived at Goldeneye, the house he built on a point of high land overlooking a small white sand beach on Jamaica’s stunning north coast. All the James Bond novels were written here. This book explores the huge influence of Jamaica on the creation of Fleming’s iconic post-war hero and traces his relationship with the land and the people of Jamaica.
Caitlin lives alone with her mother in subsidized housing next to an airport in Seattle. Each day, while waiting to be picked up after school, she visits the local aquarium to study the fish. Gazing at the creatures within the watery depths, she accesses a shimmering universe beyond her own. When she befriends an old man at the tanks one day, who seems as enamored of the fish as she, Caitlin cracks open a dark family secret and propels her once-blissful relationship with her mother toward a precipice of terrifying consequence.
In 1944, just days after the liberation of Paris, Charles Jackson sees something horrific: a man in a dark tunnel, apparently drinking the blood of a murdered woman. Terrified, he does nothing, telling himself afterward that worse tragedies happen during war. Seven years later, he returns to the city --- and sees the same man dining in the company of a fascinating, beautiful young woman. When they leave the restaurant, Charles decides to follow.
From before the dawn of the 20th century until the arrival of the New Deal, one of the most protracted and deadly labor struggles in American history was waged in West Virginia. The fight for unionization and civil rights sparked a political crisis verging on civil war that stretched from the creeks and hollows to the courts and the US Senate. In THE DEVIL IS HERE IN THESE HILLS, celebrated labor historian James Green tells the story of West Virginia and coal like never before.
Everyone in the quiet Jersey Shore town of Silver Bay knows the story: on a Sunday evening in September 1991, Ramsey Miller threw a blowout block party, then murdered his beautiful wife and three-year-old daughter. But everyone is wrong. The daughter got away, has lived 15 years in the Witness Protection Program, and is coming back to reconcile her past. In the quest to find her father before he finds her, Melanie’s story becomes one about love, faith and fear --- and how the most important things can become terribly distorted when we cling to them too fiercely.
Detective Sunderson's new neighbors are creating even more havoc than the Great Leader did. A family of outlaws, armed to the teeth, the Ameses have local law enforcement too intimidated to take them on. Then Sunderson’s cleaning lady is murdered, and black sheep brother Lemuel Ames seeks Sunderson’s advice on a crime novel he’s writing that may not be fiction. Sunderson must struggle with the evil within himself and the far greater, more expansive evil of his neighbor.
One morning, Jane Whitefield is met by an unusual sight: all eight clan mothers, the female leaders of the Seneca clans, parked in her driveway in two black cars. A childhood friend of Jane’s from the reservation, Jimmy, is wanted by the police for the murder of a local white man. But instead of turning himself in, he has fled, and no one knows where he is hiding out. At the clan mothers’ request, Jane retraces a walking trip she and Jimmy took together when they were 14 in hopes that he has gone the same way again.
Aspiring novelist Stacey Kim can't erase an iconic photo from her mind and soon becomes embroiled in a plot of great intrigue. Why did the "Woman with a Gun" kill her husband on their wedding night? Did she actually do it? And why does the one person with answers, photographer Kathy Moran, remain silent? Stacey must reconcile conflicting accounts and find a way to reach the reclusive Moran, or the truth may never see the light of day.
As Ted and Grace Chapman’s picture-perfect life begins to crumble, they are rescued by Beth, an assistant promising to calm Ted’s rages and lend Grace emotional support. But Grace harbors dark secrets in her past, and Beth’s persona might be too good to be true. It soon appears that this new interloper might be the biggest threat of all, one that could cost Grace her marriage, her reputation and even her sanity.
We have listed 12 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.
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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.
August's Books on Screen roundup includes the films The Thursday Murder Club, My Oxford Year and Night Always Comes on Netflix, the Providence Falls trilogy on Hallmark, The Map That Leads to You on Prime Video, and She Rides Shotgun in theaters; the conclusion of "And Just Like That..." on HBO Max and "The Institute" on MGM+; the series premieres of "Outlander: Blood of My Blood" on STARZ and "The Terminal List: Dark Wolf" on Prime Video; the season premieres of "The Marlow Murder Club" on PBS "Masterpiece" and "My Life with the Walter Boys" on Netflix; and the DVD/Blu-ray releases of The King of Kings and How to Train Your Dragon.