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Latest Update on Our GoFundMe Campaign
Thank you to those of you who have donated to our GoFundMe campaign. So far, with online and snail mail donations, we have raised $39,128 of our $50,000 goal.
You can read about our plans and donate here. If you would prefer donating via check, please send to:
The Book Report, Inc.
16 Mt. Bethel Road, Suite 365
Warren, NJ 07059
Thank you again for your consideration and your donation.
Carol Fitzgerald ([email protected])
We have three new "Bookreporter Talks To" interviews to share with you.
First up is Janet Skeslien Charles, who talked to Carol about her latest novel,
THE PARIS LIBRARY, which is a #1 Indie Next pick and an upcoming Bets On selection.
Click on the image above for the video and here for the podcast.
Carol had a fascinating conversation with Sadeqa Johnson about
her new novel, YELLOW WIFE, which is a Bets On pick.
Click on the image above for the video and here for the podcast.
Last but certainly not least is Carol's interview with Sharon Virts, whose debut novel,
MASQUE OF HONOR, will be a Bets On selection.
Click on the image above for the video and here for the podcast.
LiveWriters curates an engaging, immersive, user-friendly experience where a diverse collection of the most important and compelling podcasts about books, authors and publishing can be shared and enjoyed. Click on the image above to learn more, and sign up for their newsletter here.
Carol is featured in their current newsletter, where she talks about our "Bookreporter Talks To" podcast.
On Thursday, February 25th at 3pm ET, members of the Simon & Schuster team will host a
Facebook Live Book Club chat featuring Sadeqa Johnson, whose new novel,
YELLOW WIFE, is February's pick for S&S's Book Club Favorites.
Click on the image above to RSVP for the event.
Books for Book Groups to Love!
Yes, love is in the air as we move into the long weekend. We’re talking book love here! It may be a short month, but it’s packed with lots of books to discuss --- and events to attend!
This month, we are featuring the discussion guide for Kristin Hannah’s highly anticipated new novel, THE FOUR WINDS. This #1 New York Times bestseller is February’s “Read with Jenna” Today Show Book Club pick, a LibraryReads Top Pick, an Indie Next pick and a Bookreporter.com Bets On selection. In 1934 Texas, millions are out of work, and a drought has broken the Great Plains. Farmers are fighting to keep their land and their livelihoods as the crops are failing, the water is drying up and dust threatens to bury them all. One of the darkest periods of the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl era, has arrived with a vengeance. In this uncertain and dangerous time, Elsa Martinelli --- like so many of her neighbors --- must make an agonizing choice: fight for the land she loves or go west, to California, in search of a better life. Along with the guide, be sure to take a look at our Bookreporter review and my Bets On commentary.
For the first time in her book club’s history, Jenna asked a group of club members to help her select a book --- and their choice was THE FOUR WINDS. Jenna loved 2015’s THE NIGHTINGALE and called Kristin “a beautiful writer.” Kristin told “Today,” "This is my 24th novel and [Elsa Martinelli] is really my favorite character of all time. This idea of a woman who was sort of told she was no good, had no self-esteem, did not believe in herself. To take this character and put her front and center through all of these difficult times and make her discover her voice along the way and sort of grow into her own power and ultimately to get to a place where she felt so strong and so confident that she could use her voice on behalf of people other than herself and her children." Click here for more of Kristin’s thoughts on THE FOUR WINDS.
The day after the book’s publication, Netflix released the first season of “Firefly Lane,” which is based on Kristin’s 2008 novel of the same name. It stars Katherine Heigl and Sarah Chalke as inseparable BFFs who support each other through good times and bad. It is Netflix’s number one show in the US and Canada, and viewers already are looking forward to a potential second season. I’ve watched all 10 episodes, and while it is very very different from the book, I saw what the director was doing weaving these women in and out of each other’s lives, which is what happens with a long friendship. In case you missed it, Heigl posted on her Instagram page this side-by-side image of herself and other cast members reading the book while the show that mirrored it unfolded on the screen beside her.
I will be interviewing Kristin for the Morristown Festival of Books @Home live virtual author event series on Saturday, February 20th at 2pm ET. Click here to purchase your tickets. Then at 3:30pm ET, I will be talking to Nadia Owusu about her debut memoir, AFTERSHOCKS; I have seen her speak before and am looking forward to this! You can find ticket information here. The program also will feature David Michaelis, the author of ELEANOR, being interviewed by Bill Goldstein, who reviews books and interviews authors for NBC’s “Weekend Today in New York," and was the founding editor of the New York Times books website. Click here to register. And V.E. Schwab, the author of THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LaRUE, will be interviewed by Dhonielle Clayton, the New York Times bestselling author of The Belles series and the co-author of the Tiny Pretty Things duology, which is now a Netflix original series. Sign up by clicking here.
In celebration of Black History Month, we are featuring the guide for UNCOMFORTABLE CONVERSATIONS WITH A BLACK MAN. The author of this instant New York Times bestseller is former NFL player Emmanuel Acho, who is now a FOX Sports analyst and the host and producer of “Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man,” a web series opening a dialogue about racism. Here, Acho takes on all the questions, large and small, insensitive and taboo, that many white Americans are afraid to ask --- yet which all Americans need the answers to, now more than ever. With the same open-hearted generosity that has made his video series a phenomenon, Acho explains the vital core of such fraught concepts as white privilege, cultural appropriation and “reverse racism.” In his own words, he provides a space of compassion and understanding in a discussion that can lack both. I have been reading a chapter a day, and I love his blunt and honest style.
Another powerful book that you will want to pay attention to, especially this month, is YELLOW WIFE. This debut historical novel from award-winning author Sadeqa Johnson is this month’s pick for Simon & Schuster’s Book Club Favorites and a Bets On selection.
Born on a plantation in Charles City, Virginia, Pheby Delores Brown has lived a relatively sheltered life. Shielded by her mother’s position as the estate’s medicine woman and cherished by the Master’s sister, she is set apart from the others on the plantation. She had been promised freedom on her 18th birthday, but instead of the idyllic life she imagined with her true love, Pheby is forced to leave the only home she has ever known. She unexpectedly finds herself thrust into the bowels of slavery at the infamous Devil’s Half Acre, a jail in Richmond, Virginia. To survive, Pheby will have to outwit her Jailer, and soon she faces the ultimate sacrifice.
We have a guide for YELLOW WIFE, along with our review and my Bets On commentary. Recently I had a wonderful conversation with Sadeqa for a “Bookreporter Talks To” interview, which you can watch here and listen to as a podcast here. There is so much here for book groups to discuss, and I highly recommend that you consider making it your next pick. Sadeqa will be joining members of the Simon & Schuster team for a Facebook Live Book Club chat about the book on Thursday, February 25th at 3pm ET. You can RSVP for the event by clicking here.
We also are happy to feature the guide for Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson’s #1 New York Times bestseller, CASTE: The Origins of Our Discontents, which was an Oprah’s Book Club pick last year. Beyond race, class or other factors, there is a powerful caste system that influences people’s lives and behavior and the nation’s fate. Linking the caste systems of America, India and Nazi Germany, Wilkerson explores eight pillars that underlie caste systems across civilizations, including divine will, bloodlines, stigma and more. Using riveting stories about people --- including Martin Luther King, Jr., baseball’s Satchel Paige, a single father and his toddler son, Wilkerson herself, and many others --- she shows the ways that the insidious undertow of caste is experienced every day.
Question for Our Readers: As we pay tribute this month to the generations of Black Americans who struggled with adversity to achieve full citizenship in American society, we want to know which books written by Black authors you have read with your group that inspired great discussions and why they were so impactful. Email me with the subject line “Black History Month,” and we will share your comments in our next newsletter, which will come your way the week of February 22nd.
OONA OUT OF ORDER by Margarita Montimore is this month’s Pennie’s Pick for Costco. Newly released in paperback, the book opens on New Year’s Eve 1982 and introduces readers to Oona Lockhart, who has her whole life before her. At the stroke of midnight she will turn 19, and the year ahead promises to be one of consequence. Should she go to London to study economics, or remain at home in Brooklyn to pursue her passion for music and be with her boyfriend? As the countdown to the New Year begins, Oona faints and awakens 32 years in the future in her 51-year-old body. Greeted by a friendly stranger in a beautiful house she’s told is her own, Oona learns that with each passing year she will leap to another age at random. Hopping through decades, pop culture fads and much-needed stock tips, Oona is still a young woman on the inside but ever changing on the outside. Click here for the guide and here for our review on Bookreporter.
Our current “What’s Your Book Group Reading This Month?” contest title is THE LAST GARDEN IN ENGLAND, the latest novel from Julia Kelly, a book club favorite who many of you know as the author of THE LIGHT OVER LONDON and THE WHISPERS OF WAR.
Here’s a brief overview of the plot: Present day: Emma Lovett has been tasked to restore the gardens of the famed Highbury House estate, designed in 1907 by her hero, Venetia Smith. 1907: When Venetia Smith is hired to design the gardens of Highbury House, she is determined to make them a triumph. 1944: When land girl Beth Pedley arrives at a farm on the outskirts of the village of Highbury, all she wants is to find a place she can call home. Cook Stella Adderton is desperate to leave Highbury House to pursue her own dreams. And widow Diana Symonds is anxiously trying to cling to her pre-war life. When war threatens Highbury House’s treasured gardens, these three very different women are drawn together by a secret that will last for decades.
Three groups will win 12 copies of THE LAST GARDEN IN ENGLAND. To enter, please fill out the form on this page by Wednesday, March 3rd at noon ET. This was one of the top five most anticipated books from readers who attended our “Bookaccino Live” event in January.
In our previous “What’s Your Book Group Reading This Month?” contest, here are the five books mentioned most frequently as titles that our book groups read: AMERICAN DIRT by Jeanine Cummins, THE VANISHING HALF by Brit Bennett, THE DUTCH HOUSE by Ann Patchett, THE BOOK WOMAN OF TROUBLESOME CREEK by Kim Michele Richardson, and THE HENNA ARTIST by Alka Joshi. Scroll further down the newsletter to see the Top 15.
While working as the programs manager at the American Library in Paris, Janet Skeslien Charles learned all about the history of the library, which celebrated its centennial last year. Included in its storied history are the heroic librarians who stood up to the Nazis during World War II and smuggled books to those the Nazis deemed undesirable. In THE PARIS LIBRARY, a #1 Indie Next pick and an upcoming Bets On title, this fascinating story is told in separate points of view over two time periods. In 1939 Paris, young and ambitious Odile Souchet stands to lose her library when Nazis invade the City of Light. Banding together, the librarians join the resistance, using books and knowledge to their advantage. In 1983 Montana, a lonely teenager named Lily becomes friends with her mysterious neighbor, a war bride from Paris, and what she discovers is both intense and revealing.
We have a guide for THE PARIS LIBRARY, along with our review. I had the pleasure of chatting with Janet last week for a “Bookreporter Talks To” interview that we just posted. We talked about the themes she explores in her book, including the relevance of the decades-long gap in the story. She also explained how her life in both Montana and Paris influenced the novel and offered some interesting tidbits about how she chose to conduct her research in order to keep it both true to real-life events and engaging as a story. Click here to watch the video and here to listen to the podcast.
Sarah Langan’s psychological thriller, GOOD NEIGHBORS, is this month’s Barnes & Noble Book Club pick. When the Wilde family moves to the suburbs of Long Island, they trigger their neighbors’ worst fears. Dad Arlo is a gruff has-been rock star with track marks. Mom Gertie has a thick Brooklyn accent, with high heels and tube tops to match. Their weird kids cuss like sailors. They don’t fit with the way Maple Street sees itself. Though Maple Street’s Queen Bee, Rhea Schroeder, welcomed Gertie and her family at first, relations went south during one spritzer-fueled summer evening, when the new best friends shared too much. The Wildes are now outcasts. As tensions mount, a sinkhole opens in a nearby park, and Rhea’s daughter Shelly falls inside. The search for Shelly brings a shocking accusation against the Wildes. Click here for the guide and here to read our review.
On Tuesday, March 2nd at 3pm ET, Sarah will be discussing the book live on B&N’s Facebook page. Last Tuesday, Julia Claiborne Johnson talked to author Julie Schumacher about her latest novel, BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME, which was January’s B&N selection. If you missed their conversation, you can watch it here.
Other guides we’ve added to the site this month include THE SURVIVORS, a thrilling mystery from Jane Harper, author of the #1 international bestseller THE DRY, in which coming home dredges up deeply buried secrets (it will be a Bets On pick, and my interview with Jane will be posted next week); Sarah Pearse’s debut novel, THE SANATORIUM, this month’s Reese’s Book Club pick, which is set in the eerie and isolated Swiss Alps at Le Sommet, a luxurious, five-star resort built on the site of an abandoned tuberculous sanatorium; SEND FOR ME, the second “Read with Jenna” pick for February, which marks the historical fiction debut of Lauren Fox, whose novel moves between Germany on the eve of World War II and present-day Wisconsin and is based on letters from her own family; and this month’s “Good Morning America” Book Club pick, HOW THE ONE-ARMED SISTER SWEEPS HER HOUSE by first-time novelist Cherie Jones, in which a thwarted burglary sets off a chain of events with terrible consequences. We will feature these guides and talk much more about these books in the late February newsletter.
For more February selections, including the Indie Next and LibraryReads lists, see our “Favorite Monthly Lists & Picks” feature here.
May I suggest that readers of historical fiction check out my interview with Sharon Virts? Her debut novel, MASQUE OF HONOR (an upcoming Bets On pick), is a coming-of-age tale set in early 19th-century America, in which two sons of the Virginia aristocracy risk it all to defend their dreams and determine their own destinies. Sharon discussed with me what anchors us in history, such as ancient houses and long-forgotten relics. Since this is her first book, she described her journey crafting the story and the editing that brought improvements to each draft. She also explained what she wants to share about women in her writing, which comes after years of running a company that had about 5,000 employees the day she sold it. Click here to watch the video and here to listen to the podcast. Sharon has started a Book & Wine Club, and we discuss that during the interview as well.
On Bookreporter, we are hosting a special contest for THE GIRLS IN THE STILT HOUSE by debut novelist Kelly Mustian. This harrowing story, set in 1920s Mississippi, is about two teenage girls who are cast in an unlikely partnership through murder. The book doesn’t release until April 6th, but we’re giving 25 readers the chance to win an advance copy. Read much more about the book and the contest details later in this newsletter.
A reminder that our third “Bookaccino Live” Book Group event will take place on Thursday, March 25th at 8pm ET. Our guest will be Kim Michele Richardson, who will talk about THE BOOK WOMAN OF TROUBLESOME CREEK. Click here to sign up. If you would like to be one of our featured audience guests and ask Kim Michele a question on camera, please send me an email with the subject line “Question for Kim Michele.”
Our next “Bookaccino Live” afternoon event will be held on Wednesday, March 10th at 2:00pm ET. We will discuss books coming out from March 9th to April 6th, along with a few from May. Sign up here to join us. We will be sharing a video of our February “Bookaccino Live” event later today. Check out the Bookreporter Weekly Update newsletter for more details on this. In the meantime, here is a list of all the titles I presented.
A while back, we asked people what book podcasts they listened to, and we received some great feedback. There is now a website, LiveWriters, that has a collection of the most important podcasts about books, authors and publishing. You can sign up for their newsletter here --- and while you are there, you can read the current newsletter where I am interviewed about our podcast series.
February is a short but very busy month! Enjoy your book group discussion.
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!
New Featured Guide: THE FOUR WINDS by Kristin Hannah February’s “Read with Jenna” Today Show Book Club Pick
and a Bookreporter.com Bets On Title
THE FOUR WINDS by Kristin Hannah (Historical Fiction)
Texas, 1921. A time of abundance. The Great War is over, the bounty of the land is plentiful, and America is on the brink of a new and optimistic era. But for Elsa Wolcott, deemed too old to marry in a time when marriage is a woman’s only option, the future seems bleak. Until the night she meets Rafe Martinelli and decides to change the direction of her life. With her reputation in ruin, there is only one respectable choice: marriage to a man she barely knows.
By 1934, the world has changed. Millions are out of work, and drought has devastated the Great Plains. Farmers are fighting to keep their land and their livelihoods as crops fail, water dries up and the earth cracks open. Dust storms roll relentlessly across the plains. Everything on the Martinelli farm is dying, including Elsa’s tenuous marriage; each day is a desperate battle against nature and a fight to keep her children alive.
In this uncertain and perilous time, Elsa --- like so many of her neighbors --- must make an agonizing choice: fight for the land she loves, or leave it behind and go west, to California, in search of a better life for her family.
THE FOUR WINDS is a rich, sweeping novel that stunningly brings to life the Great Depression and the people who lived through it --- the harsh realities that divided us as a nation and the enduring battle between the haves and the have-nots. A testament to hope, resilience and the strength of the human spirit to survive adversity, THE FOUR WINDS is an indelible portrait of America and the American dream, as seen through the eyes of one indomitable woman whose courage and sacrifice will come to define a generation.
- Click here to read our review on Bookreporter.com.
- Click here to read Carol's Bookreporter.com Bets On commentary.
- Click here to visit Kristin Hannah's website.
- Click here to see why the book is February's "Read with Jenna" pick.
Click here for the featured guide.
New Featured Guide:
UNCOMFORTABLE CONVERSATIONS
WITH A BLACK MAN by Emmanuel Acho
UNCOMFORTABLE CONVERSATIONS WITH A BLACK MAN by Emmanuel Acho (Social Issues/Ethnicity & Race)
“You cannot fix a problem you do not know you have.” So begins Emmanuel Acho in his essential guide to the truths Americans need to know to address the systemic racism that has recently electrified protests in all 50 states. “There is a fix,” Acho says. “But in order to access it, we’re going to have to have some uncomfortable conversations.”
In UNCOMFORTABLE CONVERSATIONS WITH A BLACK MAN, Acho takes on all the questions, large and small, insensitive and taboo, many white Americans are afraid to ask --- yet which all Americans need the answers to, now more than ever. With the same open-hearted generosity that has made his video series a phenomenon, Acho explains the vital core of such fraught concepts as white privilege, cultural appropriation and “reverse racism.” In his own words, he provides a space of compassion and understanding in a discussion that can lack both. He asks only for the reader’s curiosity --- but along the way, he will galvanize all of us to join the antiracist fight.
- Click here to read critical praise.
- Click here to visit Emmanuel Acho's website.
Click here for the featured guide.
New Featured Guide:
OONA OUT OF ORDER by Margarita Montimore
February’s Pennie’s Pick for Costco
Now Available in Paperback
OONA OUT OF ORDER by Margarita Montimore (Fiction)
It’s New Year’s Eve 1982, and Oona Lockhart has her whole life before her. At the stroke of midnight she will turn 19, and the year ahead promises to be one of consequence. Should she go to London to study economics, or remain at home in Brooklyn to pursue her passion for music and be with her boyfriend? As the countdown to the New Year begins, Oona faints and awakens 32 years in the future in her 51-year-old body. Greeted by a friendly stranger in a beautiful house she’s told is her own, Oona learns that with each passing year she will leap to another age at random. And so begins OONA OUT OF ORDER.
Hopping through decades, pop culture fads and much-needed stock tips, Oona is still a young woman on the inside but ever changing on the outside. Who will she be next year? Philanthropist? Club Kid? World traveler? Wife to a man she’s never met?
Surprising, magical and heart-wrenching, Margarita Montimore has crafted an unforgettable story about the burdens of time, the endurance of love and the power of family.
- Click here to read our review on Bookreporter.com.
- Click here to see why the book is February's Pennie's Pick for Costco.
Click here for the featured guide.
“What’s Your Book Group Reading This Month?” Contest: Enter to Win 12 Copies of
THE LAST GARDEN IN ENGLAND by Julia Kelly
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 LAST GARDEN IN ENGLAND by Julia Kelly, a poignant and unforgettable tale of five women living across three different times whose lives are all connected by one very special garden. To enter, please fill out the form on this page by Wednesday, March 3rd at noon ET.
THE LAST GARDEN IN ENGLAND by Julia Kelly (Historical Fiction)
Present day: Emma Lovett, who has dedicated her career to breathing new life into long-neglected gardens, has just been given the opportunity of a lifetime: to restore the gardens of the famed Highbury House estate, designed in 1907 by her hero, Venetia Smith. But as Emma dives deeper into the gardens’ past, she begins to uncover secrets that have long lain hidden.
1907: A talented artist with a growing reputation for her ambitious work, Venetia Smith has carved out a niche for herself as a garden designer to industrialists, solicitors and bankers looking to show off their wealth with sumptuous country houses. When she is hired to design the gardens of Highbury House, she is determined to make them a triumph, but the gardens --- and the people she meets --- promise to change her life forever.
1944: When land girl Beth Pedley arrives at a farm on the outskirts of the village of Highbury, all she wants is to find a place she can call home. Cook Stella Adderton, on the other hand, is desperate to leave Highbury House to pursue her own dreams. And widow Diana Symonds, the mistress of the grand house, is anxiously trying to cling to her pre-war life now that her home has been requisitioned and transformed into a convalescent hospital for wounded soldiers. But when war threatens Highbury House’s treasured gardens, these three very different women are drawn together by a secret that will last for decades.
In this sweeping novel reminiscent of Kate Morton’s THE LAKE HOUSE and Kristin Harmel’s THE ROOM ON RUE AMÉLIE, Julia Kelly explores the unexpected connections that cross time and the special places that bring people together forever.
- Click here for the discussion guide.
Click here to enter the contest.
New Guide:
THE PARIS LIBRARY by Janet Skeslien Charles
A #1 Indie Next Pick for February
and an Upcoming Bookreporter.com Bets On Title
THE PARIS LIBRARY by Janet Skeslien Charles (Historical Fiction)
Paris, 1939: Young and ambitious Odile Souchet has it all: her handsome police officer beau and a dream job at the American Library in Paris. When the Nazis march into Paris, Odile stands to lose everything she holds dear, including her beloved library. Together with her fellow librarians, Odile joins the Resistance with the best weapons she has: books. But when the war finally ends, instead of freedom, Odile tastes the bitter sting of unspeakable betrayal.
Montana, 1983: Lily is a lonely teenager looking for adventure in small-town Montana. Her interest is piqued by her solitary, elderly neighbor. As Lily uncovers more about her neighbor’s mysterious past, she finds that they share a love of language, the same longings and the same intense jealousy, never suspecting that a dark secret from the past connects them.
A powerful novel that explores the consequences of our choices and the relationships that make us who we are --- family, friends and favorite authors --- THE PARIS LIBRARY shows that extraordinary heroism can sometimes be found in the quietest of places.
- Click here to read our review on Bookreporter.com.
- Click here to watch Carol's "Bookreporter Talks To" interview with Janet Skeslien Charles.
- Click here to listen to a podcast of the interview.
Click here for the discussion guide.
THE PARIS LIBRARY will be a Bookreporter.com Bets On pick.
Don't miss Carol's commentary in the
February 19th Bookreporter Weekly Update newsletter.
New Guide: YELLOW WIFE by Sadeqa Johnson
A Bookreporter.com Bets On Title
YELLOW WIFE by Sadeqa Johnson (Historical Fiction)
Born on a plantation in Charles City, Virginia, Pheby Delores Brown has lived a relatively sheltered life. Shielded by her mother’s position as the estate’s medicine woman and cherished by the Master’s sister, she is set apart from the others on the plantation, belonging to neither world.
She’d been promised freedom on her 18th birthday, but instead of the idyllic life she imagined with her true love, Essex Henry, Pheby is forced to leave the only home she has ever known. She unexpectedly finds herself thrust into the bowels of slavery at the infamous Devil’s Half Acre, a jail in Richmond, Virginia, where the enslaved are broken, tortured and sold every day. There, Pheby is exposed not just to her Jailer’s cruelty but also to his contradictions. To survive, Pheby will have to outwit him, and she soon faces the ultimate sacrifice.
- Click here to read our review on Bookreporter.com.
- Click here to read Carol's Bookreporter.com Bets On commentary.
- Click here to watch Carol's "Bookreporter Talks To" interview with Sadeqa Johnson.
- Click here to listen to a podcast of the interview.
Click here for the discussion guide.
New Guide: CASTE by Isabel Wilkerson
A 2020 Oprah’s Book Club Pick
CASTE: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson (History/Sociology)
In this brilliant book, Isabel Wilkerson gives us a masterful portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched narrative and stories about real people, how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings.
Beyond race, class or other factors, there is a powerful caste system that influences people’s lives and behavior and the nation’s fate. Linking the caste systems of America, India and Nazi Germany, Wilkerson explores eight pillars that underlie caste systems across civilizations, including divine will, bloodlines, stigma and more.
Using riveting stories about people --- including Martin Luther King, Jr., baseball’s Satchel Paige, a single father and his toddler son, Wilkerson herself, and many others --- she shows the ways that the insidious undertow of caste is experienced every day. She documents how the Nazis studied the racial systems in America to plan their outcast of the Jews; she discusses why the cruel logic of caste requires that there be a bottom rung for those in the middle to measure themselves against; she writes about the surprising health costs of caste, in depression and life expectancy, and the effects of this hierarchy on our culture and politics. Finally, she points forward to ways America can move beyond the artificial and destructive separations of human divisions, toward hope in our common humanity.
Beautifully written, original and revealing, CASTE is an eye-opening story of people and history, and a reexamination of what lies under the surface of ordinary lives and of American life today.
- Click here to see why the book was an Oprah's Book Club pick last year.
Click here for the discussion guide.
New Guide: GOOD NEIGHBORS by Sarah Langan
February’s Barnes & Noble Book Club Pick
GOOD NEIGHBORS by Sarah Langan (Psychological Suspense/Mystery)
Welcome to Maple Street, a picture-perfect slice of suburban Long Island, its residents bound by their children, their work and their illusion of safety in a rapidly changing world.
But menace skulks beneath the surface of this exclusive enclave, making its residents prone to outrage. When the Wilde family moves in, they trigger their neighbors’ worst fears. Dad Arlo is a gruff has-been rock star with track marks. Mom Gertie has a thick Brooklyn accent, with high heels and tube tops to match. Their weird kids cuss like sailors. They don’t fit with the way Maple Street sees itself.
Though Maple Street’s Queen Bee, Rhea Schroeder --- a lonely college professor repressing a dark past --- welcomed Gertie and her family at first, relations went south during one spritzer-fueled summer evening, when the new best friends shared too much, too soon. By the time the story opens, the Wildes are outcasts.
As tensions mount, a sinkhole opens in a nearby park, and Rhea’s daughter Shelly falls inside. The search for Shelly brings a shocking accusation against the Wildes. Suddenly, it is one mom’s word against the other’s in a court of public opinion that can end only in blood.
A riveting and ruthless portrayal of American suburbia, GOOD NEIGHBORS excavates the perils and betrayals of motherhood and friendships and the dangerous clash between social hierarchy, childhood trauma and fear.
- Click here to read our review on Bookreporter.com.
- Click here for details on Barnes & Noble's virtual Book Club event on Tuesday, March 2nd at 3pm ET.
Click here for the discussion guide.
Favorite Monthly Lists & Picks for February
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, Reese's 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 February'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: THE PARIS LIBRARY by Janet Skeslien Charles
THE FOUR WINDS by Kristin Hannah
THE SURVIVORS by Jane Harper
MILK FED by Melissa Broder
MILK BLOOD HEAT: Stories by Dantiel W. Moniz
LibraryReads
Top Pick: THE FOUR WINDS by Kristin Hannah
THE ECHO WIFE by Sarah Gailey
FINLAY DONOVAN IS KILLING IT by Elle Cosimano
HONEY GIRL by Morgan Rogers
THE KINDEST LIE by Nancy Johnson
Target Book Club
WHEN THE APRICOTS BLOOM by Gina Wilkinson
Pennie's Pick for Costco
OONA OUT OF ORDER by Margarita Montimore
Barnes & Noble Book Club
GOOD NEIGHBORS by Sarah Langan
Reese's Book Club
THE SANATORIUM by Sarah Pearse
Jenna Bush Hager's "Read with Jenna" Today Show Book Club
THE FOUR WINDS by Kristin Hannah and SEND FOR ME by Lauren Fox
"Good Morning America" Book Club
HOW THE ONE-ARMED SISTER SWEEPS HER HOUSE by Cherie Jones
PBS NewsHour-New York Times “Now Read This” Book Club
INTERIOR CHINATOWN by Charles Yu
Simon & Schuster's Book Club Favorites
YELLOW WIFE by Sadeqa Johnson
Our Most Popular Book Group Selections for January’s
"What's Your Book Group Reading This Month?" Contest
February’s New in Paperback Roundups
on Bookreporter.com
February's roundup of New in Paperback fiction titles includes DEAR EDWARD, Ann Napolitano's novel about a 12-year-old boy who struggles with the worst kind of fame --- as the sole survivor of a notorious plane crash; MY DARK VANESSA, Kate Elizabeth Russell's debut work of fiction that explores the psychological dynamics of the relationship between a precocious yet naïve teenage girl and her magnetic and manipulative teacher; ALL THE WAYS WE SAID GOODBYE by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig and Karen White, a glorious historical adventure that moves from the dark days of two World Wars to the turbulent years of the 1960s, in which three women with bruised hearts find refuge at Paris’s legendary Ritz hotel; and THE GIRL WITH THE LOUDING VOICE by first-time novelist Abi Daré, the unforgettable, inspiring story of a teenage girl growing up in a rural Nigerian village who longs to get an education so that she can find her “louding voice” and speak up for herself.
Among our nonfiction highlights are Lisa Rogak's WHO IS ALEX TREBEK?, the first biography of the much-loved game show host that celebrates the man who created a remarkable legacy that will live on in popular culture for generations to come; FACEBOOK: The Inside Story, Steven Levy's definitive history --- packed with untold stories --- of one of America’s most controversial and powerful companies; AMERICAN SHERLOCK, Kate Winkler Dawson's gripping historical true crime narrative that recounts the story of the birth of modern criminal investigation; WASHINGTON'S END, the astonishing true story of George Washington’s forgotten last years, as told by popular historian and former White House speechwriter Jonathan Horn; and SCRATCHED, in which acclaimed author Elizabeth Tallent explores her ferocious desire for perfection that has shaped her writing life, as well as her rich, dramatic and constantly surprising personal life.
Find out what's New in Paperback for the weeks of
February 1st, February 8th, February 15th and February 22nd.
New Special Contest on Bookreporter.com:
Enter to Win an Advance Copy of
THE GIRLS IN THE STILT HOUSE by Kelly Mustian, Releasing April 6th
Set in 1920s Mississippi, THE GIRLS IN THE STILT HOUSE weaves a beautiful and harrowing story of two teenage girls cast in an unlikely partnership through murder. We have 25 advance copies of Kelly Mustian's debut novel to give away to those who would like to read the book, which releases on April 6th. To enter, please fill out this form by Thursday, February 25th at noon ET.
THE GIRLS IN THE STILT HOUSE by Kelly Mustian (Historical Fiction)
Ada promised herself she would never go back to the Trace, to her hard life on the swamp and her harsh father. But now, after running away to Baton Rouge and briefly knowing a different kind of life, she finds herself with nowhere to go but back home. And she knows there will be a price to pay with her father.
Matilda, daughter of a sharecropper, is from the other side of the Trace. Doing what she can to protect her family from the whims and demands of some particularly callous locals is an ongoing struggle. She forms a plan to go north, to pack up the secrets she's holding about her life in the South and hang them on the line for all to see in Ohio.
As the two girls are drawn deeper into a dangerous world of bootleggers and moral corruption, they must come to terms with the complexities of their tenuous bond and a hidden past that links them in ways that could cost them their lives.
Click here to enter the contest.
From left to right: Sarah Langan, Janet Skeslien Charles, Nancy Johnson
Upcoming Virtual Book and Author Events
As so many book and author events are happening online these days, we are highlighting a number of them that you may be interested in attending. Click on the links below for more info and to register.
Tuesdays at 7:30pm ET: "Talking ETERNAL with Lisa Scottoline": Join Lisa Scottoline every Tuesday night at 7:30pm ET on Facebook as she premieres a new episode from her video series, "Behind the Book: Talking ETERNAL," which reveals behind-the-scenes looks at the inspirations of her upcoming historical fiction book, ETERNAL, releasing on March 23rd. And stay tuned because immediately following each video premiere, Lisa hosts a Facebook Live to talk about the video.
Friday, February 12th at 7pm ET: Barrington Books Virtual Event: Join Barrington Books in partnership with the Cranston Public Library for a virtual book discussion with author Janet Skeslien Charles for her new book, THE PARIS LIBRARY. She will be in conversation with Librarian Zach from the Cranston Public Library.
Saturday, February 13th at 5pm ET: The Poisoned Pen Bookstore Virtual Event: Sarah Pearse will talk about her debut novel, THE SANATORIUM, with New York Times bestselling author Jayne Ann Krentz.
Tuesday, February 16th at 1pm ET: Lemuria Books Virtual Event: Kristin Hannah and Paula McLain will discuss Kristin's new book, THE FOUR WINDS.
Tuesday, February 16th at 7pm ET: Reads & Company Virtual Event: Reads & Company is thrilled to welcome Nancy Johnson for a virtual in-conversation event. THE KINDEST LIE is one of the buzziest books of 2021 and is sure to be one of the biggest debuts of the year.
Wednesday, February 17th at 7pm ET: "Friends and Fiction": The "Friends and Fiction" authors --- Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel, Kristy Woodson Harvey, Patti Callahan Henry and Mary Alice Monroe --- will talk to Susan Meissner (THE NATURE OF FRAGILE THINGS) and Greer Macallister (THE ARCTIC FURY).
Thursday, February 18th at 7pm ET: Warwick's Virtual Event: Join a virtual book club event with author Margarita Montimore for the paperback release of OONA OUT OF ORDER. Tune in to hear a discussion with fellow Macmillan author Natalie Jenner and participate in the live Q&A.
Saturday, February 20th and Sunday, February 21st:
Morristown Festival of Books @Home Virtual Author Event Series
Here are four author panels that you may want to attend. Click on the author's name to register for each event:
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Saturday, February 20th at 2pm ET: Kristin Hannah (THE FOUR WINDS) with moderator Carol Fitzgerald.
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Saturday, February 20th at 3:30pm ET: Nadia Owusu (AFTERSHOCKS) with moderator Carol Fitzgerald.
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Sunday, February 21st at 2pm ET: David Michaelis (ELEANOR) with moderator Bill Goldstein, who reviews books and interviews authors for NBC's “Weekend Today."
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Sunday, February 21st at 3:30pm ET: V.E. Schwab (THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE La RUE) with moderator Dhonielle Clayton, the New York Times bestselling author of The Belles series and the co-author of the Tiny Pretty Things duology.
Tuesday, February 23rd at 2:30pm ET: The National Press Club Virtual Event: The National Press Club presents a virtual event with author and great-granddaughter of crusading journalist Ida B. Wells, Michelle Duster, who will discuss her new book, IDA B. THE QUEEN.
Tuesday, February 23rd at 7pm ET: Gramercy Books Virtual Event: Award-winning author Janet Skeslien Charles will join Gramercy Book Club participants after the discussion of her latest novel, THE PARIS LIBRARY. Pat Losinski, the CEO of Columbus Metropolitan Library, will moderate the group discussion and interview with Janet.
Wednesday, February 24th at 7pm ET: "Friends and Fiction": The "Friends and Fiction" authors will talk to Kristin Hannah, whose latest novel is THE FOUR WINDS.
Thursday, February 25th at 3pm ET: Simon & Schuster's Book Club Favorites Online Event: Sadeqa Johnson will join members of the Simon & Schuster team for a Facebook Live Book Club chat about YELLOW WIFE, which is February's pick for S&S's Book Club Favorites.
Thursday, February 25th at 8pm ET: The Novel Neighbor Virtual Event: Join the Novel Neighbor for a special book club meeting and conversation with authors Sarah Langan and Paul Tremblay. They will be discussing Langan’s new book, GOOD NEIGHBORS, which is this month's Barnes & Noble Book Club pick.
"Bookreporter Talks To" Videos & Podcasts
“Bookreporter Talks To” is a video and podcast series that delivers a long-form, in-depth author interview every week. For years, Carol has 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 is to bring these author interviews to readers, wherever they may be. Watch on video, or listen as a podcast. (The podcasts include audio excerpts.)
Here are our latest interviews:
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Janet Skeslien Charles (THE PARIS LIBRARY) Video | Podcast
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Sadeqa Johnson (YELLOW WIFE) Video | Podcast
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Sharon Virts (MASQUE OF HONOR: A Historical Novel of the American South)
Video | Podcast
Other authors we've interviewed include:
Upcoming interviews include:
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Alex Berenson (THE POWER COUPLE)
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Jane Harper (THE SURVIVORS)
Click here for a complete list of our
"Bookreporter Talks To" videos and podcasts.
We currently are featuring the following guides on ReadingGroupGuides.com:
CASTE: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson (History/Sociology)
The Pulitzer Prize–winning, bestselling author of THE WARMTH OF OTHER SUNS examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped America and shows how our lives today are still defined by a hierarchy of human divisions.
EIGHT PERFECT MURDERS by Peter Swanson (Psychological Thriller)
From the hugely talented author of BEFORE SHE KNEW HIM comes a chilling tale of psychological suspense and a homage to the thriller genre tailor-made for fans: the story of a bookseller who finds himself at the center of an FBI investigation because a very clever killer has started using his list of fiction’s most ingenious murders.
THE FOUR WINDS by Kristin Hannah (Historical Fiction)
From the #1 bestselling author of THE NIGHTINGALE and THE GREAT ALONE comes a powerful American epic about love, heroism and hope, set during the Great Depression --- a time when the country was in crisis and at war with itself, millions were out of work, and even the land seemed to have turned against them.
GOOD NEIGHBORS by Sarah Langan (Psychological Suspense/Mystery)
Celeste Ng’s enthralling dissection of suburbia meets Shirley Jackson’s creeping dread in this propulsive literary noir, when a sudden tragedy exposes the depths of deception and damage in a Long Island suburb --- pitting neighbor against neighbor and putting one family in terrible danger.
HOW THE ONE-ARMED SISTER SWEEPS HER HOUSE by Cherie Jones (Fiction)
HOW THE ONE-ARMED SISTER SWEEPS HER HOUSE is an intimate and visceral portrayal of interconnected lives, across race and class, in a rapidly changing resort town, told by an astonishing new author of literary fiction.
THE LAST GARDEN IN ENGLAND by Julia Kelly (Historical Fiction)
From the author of the international bestseller THE LIGHT OVER LONDON and THE WHISPERS OF WAR comes a poignant and unforgettable tale of five women living across three different times whose lives are all connected by one very special garden.
THE PARIS LIBRARY by Janet Skeslien Charles (Historical Fiction)
Based on the true World War II story of the heroic librarians at the American Library in Paris, this is an unforgettable story of romance, friendship, family and the power of literature to bring us together, perfect for fans of LILAC GIRLS and THE PARIS WIFE.
THE SANATORIUM by Sarah Pearse (Psychological Thriller/Mystery)
Set in the eerie and isolated Swiss Alps at Le Sommet, a luxurious, five-star resort built on the site of an abandoned tuberculous sanatorium, Sarah Pearse's debut novel beautifully balances a heart-pounding plot with intriguing, three-dimensional characters. You won't want to leave...until you can't.
SEND FOR ME by Lauren Fox (Historical Fiction)
SEND FOR ME is an achingly beautiful work of historical fiction that moves between Germany on the eve of World War II and present-day Wisconsin, unspooling a thread of love, longing and the powerful bonds of family.
THE SURVIVORS by Jane Harper (Mystery/Thriller)
Coming home dredges up deeply buried secrets in THE SURVIVORS, a thrilling mystery by New York Times bestselling author Jane Harper.
UNCOMFORTABLE CONVERSATIONS WITH A BLACK MAN by Emmanuel Acho (Social Issues/Ethnicity & Race)
This New York Times bestseller is an urgent primer on race and racism, from the host of the viral hit video series “Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man.”
YELLOW WIFE by Sadeqa Johnson (Historical Fiction)
Called "wholly engrossing" by New York Times bestselling author Kathleen Grissom, this harrowing story follows an enslaved woman forced to barter love and freedom while living in the most infamous slave jail in Virginia.
Please note that these titles, for which we already had the guides when they appeared in hardcover, are now available in paperback:
MY DARK VANESSA by Kate Elizabeth Russell (Fiction)
Exploring the psychological dynamics of the relationship between a precocious yet naïve teenage girl and her magnetic and manipulative teacher, MY DARK VANESSA is a brilliant, all-consuming read that marks the explosive debut of an extraordinary new writer.
OONA OUT OF ORDER by Margarita Montimore (Fiction)
This remarkably inventive novel explores what it means to live a life fully in the moment, even if those moments are out of order.
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