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On Friday, May 29th from 1:00pm to 2:50pm at BookExpo in New York,
ReadingGroupGuides.com is scheduled to host its 9th Annual Book Group Speed Dating Event.
Read on or click above for all the details.
We have two new "Bookreporter Talks To" interviews to share with you.
First up is Amanda Eyre Ward, whose latest novel, THE JETSETTERS,
is this month's Reese Witherspoon pick and an upcoming Bets On selection.
Click on the photo above for the video and here for the podcast.
Our second interview is with Marie Benedict, whose latest novel,
LADY CLEMENTINE, is a Bets On pick.
Click on the photo above for the video and here for the podcast.
On Tuesday, March 31st at 3pm ET, members of the Simon & Schuster team are scheduled to host a
Facebook Live Book Club chat to discuss THE WINEMAKER'S WIFE by Kristin Harmel,
March's pick for S&S's Book Club Favorites program.
The Power of Reading to Escape
Whew, with the coronavirus, things feel pretty unsettled these days. I have been escaping by reading books --- and I hope that many of you are doing the same. This is a good time to share that, in addition to this newsletter, we have two others that you may be interested in --- the Bookreporter Weekly newsletter (which comes out on Fridays) and the Bookreporter On Sale This Week newsletter (which comes out on Tuesdays). If you want more about books and authors that we think you will love, you can sign up for those newsletters here.
I was supposed to be in Tucson this weekend for the Tucson Festival of Books, but alas, that --- like a number of other book and author events --- has been canceled. I am disappointed as I was set to moderate five panels of authors ---- and meet many new ones. But there will be more time in the future to do that!
One of the big events that we do each year is our Book Group Speed Dating Event at BookExpo in New York. This year, the plan is for it to be held on Friday, May 29th from 1pm - 2:50pm. More than a dozen publishers will be on hand to talk about their fall/winter titles that are perfect for book groups to an audience of book group leaders, librarians and booksellers. A number of advance copies will be available to give away, and ideas for enhancing book group discussions will be shared. To register, all you have to do is fill out this form by Friday, May 15th at noon ET, but please note that you have to be registered for BookExpo in order to attend this event and have a badge. If you are not, click here to register.
Our latest “What’s Your Book Group Reading This Month?” contest title is THE ISLAND OF SEA WOMEN by Lisa See, a Bookreporter.com Bets On pick from last year that is now available in paperback. The novel revolves around best friends Mi-ja and Young-sook, who live on the Korean island of Jeju and come from very different backgrounds. When they are old enough, they begin working in the sea with their village’s all-female diving collective, led by Young-sook’s mother. As the girls take up their positions as baby divers, they know they are beginning a life of excitement and responsibility. But after surviving hundreds of dives, forces outside their control will push their friendship to the breaking point.
Three groups will win 12 copies of THE ISLAND OF SEA WOMEN; to enter, please fill out the form on this page by Wednesday, April 8th at noon ET. Also, be sure to check out the discussion guide, our review on Bookreporter and my Bets On commentary.
In our previous “What’s Your Book Group Reading This Month?” contest, it just so happens that THE ISLAND OF SEA WOMEN was the title mentioned most frequently that our book groups recently read. This was followed by THIS TENDER LAND by William Kent Krueger, THE DUTCH HOUSE by Ann Patchett, THE GIVER OF STARS by Jojo Moyes, and THE SILENT PATIENT by Alex Michaelides. Scroll further down the newsletter to see the Top 15.
We have a number of new guides to share with you this month. First up is Therese Anne Fowler’s new book, A GOOD NEIGHBORHOOD, which is this month’s Barnes & Noble Book Club pick and an upcoming Bets On selection. Professor of forestry and ecology Valerie Alston-Holt is raising her biracial son in Oak Knoll, a tight-knit North Carolina neighborhood. Xavier is headed to college in the fall, and after years of single parenting, Valerie is facing the prospect of an empty nest. All is well until the Whitmans move in next door --- an apparently traditional family with new money, ambition and a secretly troubled teenage daughter. With little in common except a property line, these two very different families quickly find themselves at odds: first, over an historic oak tree in Valerie's yard, and soon after, the blossoming romance between their two teenagers.
B&N will be selling a special Exclusive Book Club Edition of A GOOD NEIGHBORHOOD, along with hosting a free Book Club Night to discuss it, in stores across the country on Tuesday, April 7th at 7pm local time. Click here to sign up for the event. Don’t miss our review in this Friday’s Bookreporter newsletter and my Bets On commentary in the March 20th edition. In the meantime, click here for the discussion guide.
When an aging mother wins a cruise ship contest, she invites her children to join her on the vacation of their lives. Those 10 days are filled with conflicting family personalities and life-changing reveals. That’s the premise of Amanda Eyre Ward’s latest novel, THE JETSETTERS, which is this month’s Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club pick and an upcoming Bets On title. Here are Reese’s comments about the book: “I love the sense of adventure in this story --- it’s about a disconnected family that reunites on a cruise ship traveling through Europe. If you’re packing for Spring Break, be sure to include a copy of this fun read and follow along with Reese’s Book Club.” Click here for the guide and here for our Bookreporter review; you can read my Bets On commentary in this Friday’s Bookreporter newsletter.
I recently sat down with Amanda for a “Bookreporter Talks To” segment. I had a wonderful time chatting with her about THE JETSETTERS, along with subjects such as siblings, success and the baggage that families carry with them. You can watch the interview here and listen to the podcast here.
On the first anniversary of her “Read with Jenna” Today Show Book Club, Jenna Bush Hager has selected WRITERS & LOVERS as her March pick. This is Lily King’s first book since the breakout success of her award-winning novel, EUPHORIA, six years ago. In it, Casey Peabody has arrived in Massachusetts in the summer of 1997 on the heels of her mother’s sudden death and a recent love affair. A former child golf prodigy, she now waits tables in Harvard Square and rents a tiny, moldy room at the side of a garage where she works on the novel she’s been writing for six years. When she falls for two very different men at the same time, her world fractures even more. You can find the guide here and read our review on Bookreporter here.
According to Jenna, “I chose WRITERS & LOVERS because I don’t think I’ve chosen a book like this. Lily King really explores different themes that our book club hasn’t explored.” She goes on to say, “I just loved that there was this love triangle, but not in a cheesy, rom-com way. It was in a real way that she found herself attracted to these guys and wondered if they bring the best out in her.” Click here for more of Jenna’s thoughts on the book, along with the author's.
Rebecca Serle follows up her adult debut, THE DINNER LIST (a Bets On title), with IN FIVE YEARS, which is this month’s “Good Morning America” Book Club pick and an upcoming Bets On selection. Where do you see yourself in five years? When lawyer Dannie Cohan is asked this question at a job interview, she knows precisely how to answer it. She goes to sleep that night knowing she is on track to achieve her five-year plan. But when she wakes up, she’s suddenly in a different apartment and beside a very different man. The date is December 15, 2025, five years in the future. An hour later, Dannie wakes up again; this time, though, she is back in 2020. She is determined to ignore this odd experience, but four-and-a-half years later, she meets the very same man from her long-ago vision.
“GMA” calls IN FIVE YEARS a “feel-good book” that “will make you think, laugh and even shed a few tears.” It’s “about the real meaning of love and friendship and the bonds that tie us all together.” I agree with their assessment, which is why I had such fun chatting with Rebecca this week for a “Bookreporter Talks To” interview; it will go live next Wednesday as both a video and a podcast. In the meantime, you can check out the guide and our Bookreporter review --- and don’t miss my Bets On commentary in the March 20th Bookreporter newsletter.
Our final featured guide this month is for LET THE WILLOWS WEEP by debut novelist Sherry Parnell. Readers of Southern fiction, including books like BASTARD OUT OF CAROLINA and WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING, are sure to be drawn to this heart-wrenching portrait of hardscrabble, humble lives in rural America. A keenly observed and unflinching look at the life of Birddog Harlin as she grows up in her dysfunctional family, the novel explores the line between destruction and redemption. Click here for the guide. I read LET THE WILLOWS WEEP a few weeks ago, and Birddog is a character who has stayed with me.
Recently, I had the pleasure of talking to Marie Benedict for a "Bookreporter Talks To" interview. We had a great discussion about her latest novel, LADY CLEMENTINE, a Bets On pick that focuses on Clementine Churchill, the woman beside Winston Churchill whose actions had a direct impact on World War I and World War II. Click here to watch the interview and here to listen to the podcast. Also, be sure to check out these links: the guide, our Bookreporter review and my Bets On commentary.
INHERITANCE: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love by Dani Shapiro, which is now in paperback, is March’s pick for the PBS NewsHour-New York Times “Now Read This” book club. You may remember we featured the guide last month and reviewed the book last year when it released in hardcover. “We’re living in a time when family secrets are tumbling out at a stunning rate,” Shapiro says. “Easy, popular DNA testing along with the Internet makes it nearly inevitable that secrets involving family and identity won’t make it to the grave. And that’s a good thing, because no matter how high up on a shelf a secret is kept, it’s still there.”
This month’s pick for Simon & Schuster’s Book Club Favorites program is THE WINEMAKER’S WIFE by Kristin Harmel, which releases in paperback on March 17th. S&S is planning to host a Facebook Live Book Club chat about the book on Tuesday, March 31st at 3pm ET. We encourage you to join the conversation with your comments about the novel and interact with your fellow readers.
THE WINEMAKER’S WIFE is just one of the many books we are giving away in this year’s Spring Preview contests on Bookreporter. As we have done for the last eight years, we are spotlighting a number of new and upcoming releases that we think people will be talking about this spring --- and beyond. We are hosting a series of 24-hour contests for these books on select days this month and next; five readers will be awarded the book that we are giving away that day. You can sign up here for alerts so you will be notified as soon as these giveaways are up.
I just learned that The Nightingale, the movie adaptation of the bestselling book by Kristin Hannah, is scheduled to hit theaters on December 25th. Mark your calendars now!
Last Friday, the AMERICAN DIRT episode of “Oprah's Book Club” premiered as a two-part interview on Apple TV+. Oprah was joined by Jeanine Cummins, fellow authors Reyna Grande, Julissa Arce and Esther Cepeda, and other members of the Latinx community to talk about the book and real-life migrant experiences. I was not able to see the show as I do not have Apple TV+, but here's a detailed review of it from the Los Angeles Times. And if you missed the comments from 10 book groups who won copies of the book in our special contest from last year, click here to take a look at their wonderful feedback.
Also, for those who read AMERICAN DIRT and would like to watch a documentary about the Mexican drug cartels and the effects on migrants, I recommend season two of "The Trade", which is currently airing on Showtime. It is very well done and provides some context about what is going on in Mexico and why people are fleeing.
Given the recent virus outbreak, many bookstore events are being canceled. We are planning to continue our "Bookreporter Talks To" series, though we may have to do some of these conversations via audio only (no video).
We are planning to interview both Lisa See and Therese Anne Fowler for “Bookreporter Talks To” segments next week. If you have a question that you would like us to ask either of them, send me an email at [email protected] by Tuesday, March 17th at noon with the subject line “Question for Lisa” or “Question for Therese.”
Here’s to your group having a great discussion this month. Be well and stay safe!
Carol Fitzgerald ([email protected])
P.S. For those of you who are doing online shopping, if you use the store links below, ReadingGroupGuides.com gets a small affiliate fee on your purchases. We would appreciate your considering this!
“What’s Your Book Group Reading This Month?” Contest: Enter to Win 12 Copies of
THE ISLAND OF SEA WOMEN by Lisa See,
Now Available in Paperback, for Your Group
Each month, we ask book groups to share the titles they are reading that month and rate them. From all entries, three winners will be selected, and each will win 12 copies of that month’s prize book for their group. Note: To be eligible to win, let us know the title of the book that YOUR book group is CURRENTLY reading, NOT the title we are giving away.
Our latest prize book is THE ISLAND OF SEA WOMEN by Lisa See. This Bookreporter.com Bets On title, which is now available in paperback, is an evocative tale of two best friends whose bonds are both strengthened and tested over decades by forces beyond their control. To enter, please fill out the form on this page by Wednesday, April 8th at noon ET.
THE ISLAND OF SEA WOMEN by Lisa See (Historical Fiction)
Mi-ja and Young-sook, two girls living on the Korean island of Jeju, are best friends who come from very different backgrounds. When they are old enough, they begin working in the sea with their village’s all-female diving collective, led by Young-sook’s mother. As the girls take up their positions as baby divers, they know they are beginning a life of excitement and responsibility but also danger.
Despite their love for each other, Mi-ja and Young-sook’s differences are impossible to ignore. THE ISLAND OF SEA WOMEN is an epoch set over many decades, beginning during a period of Japanese colonialism in the 1930s and 1940s, followed by World War II, the Korean War and its aftermath, through the era of cell phones and wet suits for the women divers. Throughout this time, the residents of Jeju find themselves caught between warring empires. Mi-ja is the daughter of a Japanese collaborator, and she will forever be marked by this association. Young-sook was born into a long line of haenyeo and will inherit her mother’s position leading the divers in their village. Little do the two friends know that after surviving hundreds of dives and developing the closest of bonds, forces outside their control will push their friendship to the breaking point.
“This vivid…thoughtful and empathetic” novel (The New York Times Book Review) illuminates a world turned upside down, one where the women are in charge and the men take care of the children. “A wonderful ode to a truly singular group of women” (Publishers Weekly), THE ISLAND OF SEA WOMEN is a “beautiful story…about the endurance of friendship when it’s pushed to its limits, and you…will love it” (Cosmopolitan).
- Click here for the discussion guide.
- Click here to read our review on Bookreporter.com.
- Click here to read Carol's Bookreporter.com Bets On commentary.
Click here to enter the contest.
New Guide:
A GOOD NEIGHBORHOOD by Therese Anne Fowler March’s Barnes & Noble Book Club Selection
and an Upcoming Bookreporter.com Bets On Title
A GOOD NEIGHBORHOOD by Therese Anne Fowler (Fiction)
In Oak Knoll, a verdant, tight-knit North Carolina neighborhood, professor of forestry and ecology Valerie Alston-Holt is raising her bright and talented biracial son, Xavier, who’s headed to college in the fall. All is well until the Whitmans --- a family with new money and a secretly troubled teenage daughter --- raze the house and trees next door to build themselves a showplace.
With little in common except a property line, these two families quickly find themselves at odds: first, over an historic oak tree in Valerie's yard, and soon after, the blossoming romance between their two teenagers.
A GOOD NEIGHBORHOOD asks big questions about life in America today --- What does it mean to be a good neighbor? How do we live alongside each other when we don't see eye to eye? --- as it explores the effects of class, race and heartrending love in a story that’s as provocative as it is powerful.
A GOOD NEIGHBORHOOD will be a Bookreporter.com Bets On pick. Don't miss Carol's commentary in the March 20th Bookreporter.com Weekly Update newsletter.
- Visit the Barnes & Noble Book Club page and sign up for their free Book Club Night to discuss the book on Tuesday, April 7th at 7pm local time.
Click here for the discussion guide.
New Guide: THE JETSETTERS by Amanda Eyre Ward
March’s Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick and an Upcoming Bookreporter.com Bets On Title
THE JETSETTERS by Amanda Eyre Ward (Fiction)
When 70-year-old Charlotte Perkins submits a sexy essay to the “Become a Jetsetter” contest, she dreams of reuniting her estranged children: Lee, an almost-famous actress; Cord, a handsome Manhattan venture capitalist who can’t seem to find a partner; and Regan, a harried mother who took it all wrong when Charlotte bought her a Weight Watchers gift certificate for her birthday. Charlotte yearns for the years when her children were young, when she was a single mother who meant everything to them.
When she wins the contest, the family packs their baggage --- both literal and figurative --- and spends 10 days traveling from sun-drenched Athens through glorious Rome to tapas-laden Barcelona on an over-the-top cruise ship, the Splendido Marveloso. As lovers new and old join the adventure, long-buried secrets are revealed and old wounds are reopened, forcing the Perkins family to confront the forces that drove them apart and the defining choices of their lives.
Can four lost adults find the peace they’ve been seeking by reconciling their childhood aches and coming back together? In the vein of THE NEST and THE VACATIONERS, THE JETSETTERS is a delicious and intelligent novel about the courage it takes to reveal our true selves, the pleasures and perils of family, and how we navigate the seas of adulthood.
THE JETSETTERS will be a Bookreporter.com Bets On pick. Don't miss Carol's commentary in the March 13th Bookreporter.com Weekly Update newsletter.
- Click here to read our review on Bookreporter.com.
- Click here to watch Carol's "Bookreporter Talks To" interview with Amanda Eyre Ward.
- Click here to listen to a podcast of the interview.
- Click here to see why the book is this month's Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club pick.
Click here for the discussion guide.
New Guide: WRITERS & LOVERS by Lily King
Jenna Bush Hager's "Read with Jenna"
Today Show Book Club Pick for March
WRITERS & LOVERS by Lily King (Fiction)
Blindsided by her mother’s sudden death, and wrecked by a recent love affair, Casey Peabody has arrived in Massachusetts in the summer of 1997 without a plan. Her mail consists of wedding invitations and final notices from debt collectors. A former child golf prodigy, she now waits tables in Harvard Square and rents a tiny, moldy room at the side of a garage where she works on the novel she’s been writing for six years. At 31, Casey is still clutching onto something nearly all her old friends have let go of: the determination to live a creative life. When she falls for two very different men at the same time, her world fractures even more. Casey’s fight to fulfill her creative ambitions and balance the conflicting demands of art and life is challenged in ways that push her to the brink.
WRITERS & LOVERS follows Casey --- a smart and achingly vulnerable protagonist --- in the last days of a long youth, a time when every element of her life comes to a crisis. Written with King’s trademark humor, heart and intelligence, WRITERS & LOVERS is a transfixing novel that explores the terrifying and exhilarating leap between the end of one phase of life and the beginning of another.
- Click here to read our review on Bookreporter.com.
- Click here to see why the book is this month's "Read with Jenna" Today Show Book Club pick.
Click here for the discussion guide.
New Guide: IN FIVE YEARS by Rebecca Serle
March’s “Good Morning America” Book Club Pick
and an Upcoming Bookreporter.com Bets On Title
IN FIVE YEARS by Rebecca Serle (Fiction)
Where do you see yourself in five years?
When Type-A Manhattan lawyer Dannie Cohan is asked this question at the most important interview of her career, she has a meticulously crafted answer at the ready. Later, after nailing her interview and accepting her boyfriend’s marriage proposal, Dannie goes to sleep knowing she is right on track to achieve her five-year plan.
But when she wakes up, she’s suddenly in a different apartment, with a different ring on her finger and beside a very different man. The television news is on in the background, and she can just make out the scrolling date. It’s the same night --- December 15 --- but 2025, five years in the future.
After a very intense, shocking hour, Dannie wakes again, at the brink of midnight, back in 2020. She can’t shake what has happened. It certainly felt much more than merely a dream, but she isn’t the kind of person who believes in visions. That nonsense is only charming coming from free-spirited types, like her lifelong best friend, Bella. Determined to ignore the odd experience, she files it away in the back of her mind.
That is, until four-and-a-half years later, when by chance Dannie meets the very same man from her long-ago vision.
Brimming with joy and heartbreak, IN FIVE YEARS is an unforgettable love story that reminds us of the power of loyalty, friendship and the unpredictable nature of destiny.
IN FIVE YEARS will be a Bookreporter.com Bets On pick. Don't miss Carol's commentary in the March 20th Bookreporter.com Weekly Update newsletter.
- Click here to read our review on Bookreporter.com.
- Click here to see why the book is this month's "Good Morning America" Book Club pick.
Click here for the discussion guide.
New Guide: LET THE WILLOWS WEEP by Sherry Parnell
LET THE WILLOWS WEEP by Sherry Parnell (Fiction)
In the tradition of the best Southern fiction --- from BASTARD OUT OF CAROLINA to WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING --- Sherry Parnell’s LET THE WILLOWS WEEP is a heart-wrenching portrait of hardscrabble, humble lives in rural America. A keenly observed and unflinching look at the life of Birddog Harlin as she grows up in her dysfunctional family, this novel explores the line between destruction and redemption.
Click here for the discussion guide.
Favorite Monthly Lists & Picks for March
Each month, we share top book picks from Indie Next and LibraryReads, as well as the Target Book Club title and Pennie's Pick for Costco. We also feature a number of other prominent picks, including Oprah’s Book Club, the Barnes & Noble Book Club, the Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club, Jenna Bush Hager's "Read with Jenna" Today Show Book Club, the "Good Morning America" Book Club, the PBS NewsHour-New York Times “Now Read This” Book Club, and Simon & Schuster’s Book Club Favorites.
Below is a preview of March's "Favorite Monthly Lists & Picks." For the complete Indie Next and LibraryReads lists, as well as additional links pertaining to this month's selections, please click here.
Indie Next
#1 Pick: MY DARK VANESSA by Kate Elizabeth Russell
WRITERS & LOVERS by Lily King
A GOOD NEIGHBORHOOD by Therese Anne Fowler
SAINT X by Alexis Schaitkin
IN FIVE YEARS by Rebecca Serle
LibraryReads
LibraryReads Top Pick: MY DARK VANESSA by Kate Elizabeth Russell
DARLING ROSE GOLD by Stephanie Wrobel
THE GLASS HOTEL by Emily St. John Mandel
A GOOD NEIGHBORHOOD by Therese Anne Fowler
IF I NEVER MET YOU by Mhairi McFarlane
Target Book Club
THE HUNTING PARTY by Lucy Foley
Pennie's Pick (Costco)
LOST BOY FOUND by Kirsten Alexander
Barnes & Noble Book Club
A GOOD NEIGHBORHOOD by Therese Anne Fowler
Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club
THE JETSETTERS by Amanda Eyre Ward
Jenna Bush Hager's "Read with Jenna" Today Show Book Club
WRITERS & LOVERS by Lily King
"Good Morning America" Book Club
IN FIVE YEARS by Rebecca Serle
PBS NewsHour-New York Times “Now Read This” Book Club
INHERITANCE: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love by Dani Shapiro
Simon & Schuster's Book Club Favorites
THE WINEMAKER’S WIFE by Kristin Harmel
Our Most Popular Book Group Selections for February’s "What's Your Book Group Reading This Month?" Contest
Announcing Bookreporter.com’s Ninth Annual
Spring Preview Contests and Feature
Spring is in the air (or will be very soon)! We’ve already caught the fever --- and it’s being fueled by some wonderful new and upcoming releases. Our ninth annual Spring Preview Contests and Feature spotlights many of these picks, which we know people will be talking about over the next few months. We are hosting a series of 24-hour contests for these titles on select days through April 24th at noon ET. You will need to check the site to see the featured book and enter to win. We also are sending a special newsletter to announce each title, which you can sign up for here.
This year's featured titles are:
Click here to read all the contest details
and learn more about our featured titles.
Bookreporter.com Bets On:
LADY CLEMENTINE by Marie Benedict
LADY CLEMENTINE by Marie Benedict (Historical Fiction)
LADY CLEMENTINE by Marie Benedict takes readers into the life of Winston Churchill’s wife. As the book opens, Churchill is still climbing and positioning himself in government. While he is perceived as a leader, it is still early in his career. A decision during World War I places his path forward in jeopardy, but Clementine is by his side helping him navigate his way back into power.
At a time when few women are involved with government, she is right there with him in both formal meetings and informal discussions. Her avant-garde ways ensure that many on Churchill’s staff have to adjust themselves to her. They are not used to a spouse asserting herself. She has to win over Jock Colville, Churchill’s trusted private secretary, and others.
The book brings readers from one World War to another. The history of what was happening on the homefront is strong as Clementine works to ensure that those not on the battlefields are tended to.
She does realize that her life mirrors many other women who jump in with two feet and then later find that they are marginalized. During World War II, she meets Eleanor Roosevelt; it’s interesting to compare and contrast how they are part of their husbands’ lives.
- Click here for the discussion guide.
- Click here to read our review on Bookreporter.com.
- Click here to watch Carol's "Bookreporter Talks To" interview with Marie Benedict.
- Click here to listen to a podcast of the interview.
Click here to read more of Carol's commentary.
March’s New in Paperback Roundups
on Bookreporter.com
March's roundup of New in Paperback fiction titles on Bookreporter.com includes LOST ROSES, a sweeping prequel to Martha Hall Kelly's runaway bestseller, LILAC GIRLS, which is set a generation earlier and follows three equally indomitable women from St. Petersburg to Paris under the shadow of World War I; THE MOTHER-IN-LAW by Sally Hepworth, a twisty, compelling novel about one woman's complicated relationship with her mother-in-law that ends in death; BECOMING MRS. LEWIS by Patti Callahan, an exquisite novel of poet and writer Joy Davidman, the woman C. S. Lewis called “my whole world"; and WOMEN TALKING, in which Miriam Toews envisions a small community of women, scarred by trauma but tentatively daring to imagine a new kind of future.
Among our nonfiction highlights are THE UNWINDING OF THE MIRACLE, a powerful, honest and inspirational memoir from Julie Yip-Williams, a young mother who, at the age of 37, was diagnosed with terminal metastatic colon cancer; EVERYTHING IN ITS PLACE, a final volume of essays that showcase Oliver Sacks' broad range of interests --- from his passion for ferns, swimming and horsetails, to his final case histories exploring schizophrenia, dementia and Alzheimer's; and Cara Robertson's THE TRIAL OF LIZZIE BORDEN, which tells the true story of one of the most sensational murder trials in American history, and is based on 20 years of research and recently unearthed evidence.
Find out what's New in Paperback for the weeks of
March 2nd, March 9th, March 16th, March 23rd and March 30th.
"Bookreporter Talks To" Videos & Podcasts
In late August, we launched “Bookreporter Talks To,” a video and podcast series where we deliver a long-form, in-depth author interview every week. For years, I have moderated book festivals and author events around the country. But we know that readers often do not live where they can attend an author event. Our goal --- to bring these author interviews to readers, wherever they may be. Watch on video, or listen as a podcast. (The podcasts include audio excerpts.)
By the way, this follows a long history of The Book Report Network delivering compelling programming to readers. Back in 1997, the company hosted the first online interview with John Grisham, which started a tradition of ongoing interviews with authors.
Authors interviewed to date include:
Upcoming interviews include:
-
Therese Anne Fowler (A GOOD NEIGHBORHOOD)
-
Lisa See (THE ISLAND OF SEA WOMEN)
-
Rebecca Serle (IN FIVE YEARS)
Watch our "Bookreporter Talks To" interviews and listen to our podcasts.
Enter Our Ongoing Bookreporter.com Contests:
"Word of Mouth" and "Sounding Off on Audio"
We currently are featuring the following guides on ReadingGroupGuides.com:
A GOOD NEIGHBORHOOD by Therese Anne Fowler (Fiction)
A GOOD NEIGHBORHOOD asks big questions about life in America today as it explores the effects of class, race and heartrending love in a story that’s as provocative as it is powerful.
IN FIVE YEARS by Rebecca Serle (Fiction)
Perfect for fans of ME BEFORE YOU and ONE DAY, Rebecca Serle's unforgettable novel is a striking, powerful and moving love story following an ambitious lawyer who experiences an astonishing vision that could change her life forever.
THE JETSETTERS by Amanda Eyre Ward (Fiction)
In the vein of THE NEST and THE VACATIONERS, THE JETSETTERS is a delicious and intelligent novel about the courage it takes to reveal our true selves, the pleasures and perils of family, and how we navigate the seas of adulthood.
LET THE WILLOWS WEEP by Sherry Parnell (Fiction)
In the tradition of the best Southern fiction --- from BASTARD OUT OF CAROLINA to WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING --- Sherry Parnell’s LET THE WILLOWS WEEP is a heart-wrenching portrait of hardscrabble, humble lives in rural America.
NORMAL PEOPLE by Sally Rooney (Fiction)
NORMAL PEOPLE is the story of mutual fascination, friendship and love. It takes us from that first conversation to the years beyond, in the company of two people who try to stay apart but find that they can’t.
THE OTHER MRS. by Mary Kubica (Psychological Thriller)
Propulsive and addictive, and perfect for fans of “You,” THE OTHER MRS. is the twisty new psychological thriller from Mary Kubica, the New York Times bestselling author of THE GOOD GIRL.
SAINT X by Alexis Schaitkin (Psychological Thriller)
Hailed as a “marvel of a book” and “brilliant and unflinching,” Alexis Schaitkin’s stunning debut, SAINT X, is a haunting portrait of grief, obsession and the bond between two sisters never truly given the chance to know one another.
WINDOW ON THE BAY by Debbie Macomber (Fiction)
When a single mom becomes an empty nester, she spreads her wings to rediscover herself --- and her passions --- in this heartwarming novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber.
WRITERS & LOVERS by Lily King (Fiction)
Following the breakout success of her critically acclaimed and award-winning novel, EUPHORIA, Lily King returns with an unforgettable portrait of an artist as a young woman.
Please note that these titles, for which we already had the guides when they appeared in hardcover, are now available in paperback:
THE ISLAND OF SEA WOMEN by Lisa See (Historical Fiction)
Lisa See, the bestselling author of THE TEA GIRL OF HUMMINGBIRD LANE, has written a beautiful, thoughtful novel about female friendship and devastating family secrets on a small Korean island.
LOST ROSES by Martha Hall Kelly (Historical Fiction)
The million-copy bestseller LILAC GIRLS introduced the real-life heroine Caroline Ferriday. Now LOST ROSES, set a generation earlier and also inspired by true events, features Caroline’s mother, Eliza, and follows three equally indomitable women from St. Petersburg to Paris under the shadow of World War I.
THE MOTHER-IN-LAW by Sally Hepworth (Psychological Thriller/Mystery)
THE MOTHER-IN-LAW is a twisty, compelling novel about one woman's complicated relationship with her mother-in-law that ends in death.
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