January 14, 2023

January 14, 2023

Here’s to Book Group Reading in 2023!

We have added a number of new subscribers in the last few weeks, so I wanted to take a moment to welcome you to the ReadingGroupGuides newsletter!

This week, after our monthly “Bookaccino Live” preview event, readers who attended brought up the topic of online book groups. They shared the names of the groups in which they had participated both during this conversation and in email follow-up. We are planning to share a list of these groups once we have had time to give them a closer look. If you have participated in an online book group that you have enjoyed, let us know the name of the group, what you enjoy about it, and some of the books they have discussed. Send me an email with the subject line “Online Book Groups.”

Updates on Our Year-End Features
Over the last two months, we asked you to tell us your favorite book that you read with your book group and your favorite book that you read outside your group last year. The results are in, and we’re happy to share them with you here! LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY by Bonnie Garmus, a “Good Morning America” Book Club selection and a 2022 Bookreporter.com Bets On title, was the top pick in both categories. I’m thrilled with this news as I talked to Bonnie about the book last year. If you missed the interview, you can watch it here or listen to the podcast here.

A special congratulations to our contest winner, Mary Lou D. from Washingtonville, NY, who won six titles releasing this year that I think will be great for book group discussions: CODE NAME SAPPHIRE by Pam Jenoff, HELLO BEAUTIFUL by Ann Napolitano, THE HOUSE OF EVE by Sadeqa Johnson, LOYALTY by Lisa Scottoline, THE MITFORD AFFAIR by Marie Benedict, and MOONRISE OVER NEW JESSUP by Jamila Minnicks. To all those who contributed, thank you for sharing!

An ecstatic MaryLou sent me this note: “Thank you for that wonderful email telling me about all those fabulous books heading my way. As a lifelong book lover, this is like winning the lottery for me. Please know you have delighted me for days and days. I appreciate your terrific newsletter too. I never have to wonder what to read next! Thank you so very much! My book friends thank you too.”

Also, our Most Requested Guides of 2022 are now available. We pulled together the 30 guides that were accessed the most by you last year. Your top five picks are THE PERSONAL LIBRARIAN by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray, THE ISLAND OF MISSING TREES by Elif Shafak, THE MAID by Nita Prose, OH WILLIAM! by Elizabeth Strout, and ANXIOUS PEOPLE by Fredrik Backman. We always love seeing which guides appealed to you the most!

Note that I have interviewed Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray twice --- first for our “Bookreporter Talks To” series, then for a “Bookaccino Live” Book Group event --- along with Nita Prose.

Our Latest Monthly Contest is Live!
Our first “What’s Your Book Group Reading This Month?” contest title of the year is THE MAGNOLIA PALACE by Fiona Davis, an instant New York Times bestseller that will be available in paperback on Tuesday.

Eight months since losing her mother in the Spanish flu outbreak of 1919, Lillian Carter's life has completely fallen apart. So when she stumbles upon an employment opportunity at the Frick mansion, she jumps at the chance. But before she knows it, she is pulled into a tangled web of romantic trysts, stolen jewels and family drama. Nearly 50 years later, mod English model Veronica Weber has her own chance to make her career within the walls of the former Frick residence, now converted into an impressive museum. But then she chances upon a series of hidden messages in the museum --- messages that will lead her on a hunt that not only could solve Veronica's financial woes, but could finally reveal the truth behind a decades-old murder in the infamous Frick family.

Three groups will win up to 12 paperback copies of THE MAGNOLIA PALACE. To enter, please fill out the form on this page by Wednesday, February 8th at noon ET.

In our previous “What’s Your Book Group Reading This Month?” contest, here are the five books mentioned most frequently by book groups that they have read: HORSE by Geraldine Brooks, MAD HONEY by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan, LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY by Bonnie Garmus, THE PERSONAL LIBRARIAN by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray, and THE BOOK WOMAN'S DAUGHTER by Kim Michele Richardson. Scroll further down the newsletter to see the Top 15.

My first "Bookreporter Talks To" interview of 2023 is with Dani Shapiro. Her latest novel, SIGNAL FIRES, was named a best book of 2022 by Time magazine, the Washington Post and Amazon, and was a Bets On selection from last year. It was a wonderful author conversation to start the year!

Dani shares that she started this book 15 years ago, but shelved it to turn to other projects and came back to it in 2020. We talk about our favorite character (we both loved the same one) and what a terrible secret can do to a family who decides to keep it. Dani narrated the audio edition of SIGNAL FIRES, as well as some of her other work, and explains why she enjoys this experience. She also discusses her current project working on the screenplay for the book, as well as her podcast, “Family Secrets.” Click here to watch the interview or here to listen to it on our podcast.

What happens to a girl’s sense of joy and belonging --- to her belief in herself --- as she becomes a woman? That’s the question at the heart of Allegra Goodman’s new novel, SAM, which is January’s “Read with Jenna” Today Show Book Club pick.

Jenna says, “SAM is about as perfect of a coming-of-age story I have ever read…. I fell into this novel and read it in one sitting. SAM is the ideal book for all readers: those of you who read with us every month or those whose resolution it is to read more.” Click here for the discussion guide and here for our review on Bookreporter. I’ve scheduled an interview with Allegra on Tuesday, so we look forward to sharing it with you in our next newsletter.

Rachel Hawkins’ latest novel, THE VILLA, is a gothic thriller set at an Italian villa with a dark history. Inspired by Fleetwood Mac, the Manson murders, and the infamous summer that Percy and Mary Shelley spent with Lord Byron at a Lake Geneva castle --- the birthplace of FRANKENSTEIN --- this book is perfect for fans of Lucy Foley and Ruth Ware.

According to our Bookreporter reviewer Rebecca Munro, “THE VILLA is a perfect example of taking a commonly known story or famous history, and not just referencing it, but truly building on it to create something fresh, original and deliciously devious.... [This book is] proof that there is no gothic classic that Hawkins cannot modernize, refresh and completely make her own.” Read the full review here, and check out the guide here.

We also have added guides for these four books:

• THE HOUSE IN THE PINES: Ana Reyes’ debut novel is Reese’s Book Club pick for January. Reese says, “This is an absolute, can’t-put-it-down thriller that follows Maya, who’s trying to prove once and for all that her best friend was murdered years ago by her then boyfriend, Frank. As Maya digs further into Frank’s past and present, she finds a string of similar mysterious deaths. It’s truly a wild ride that had me flying through chapter after chapter --- which I think is the perfect way to kick off your year of reading. I can’t wait to discuss the big twist of this novel once you read it!”
   
• AGE OF VICE: Deepti Kapoor’s new novel is this month’s “Good Morning America” Book Club selection and the #1 Indie Next pick. Here’s how “GMA” describes the book, which is equal parts crime thriller and family saga: “The story transports readers into modern-day India, following the stories of three very different but intersecting lives: a gangster family's young chauffeur, a son who desperately wants to break from the chain of violence and a young female journalist.”
   
• THE BANDIT QUEENS: In this month’s Barnes & Noble Book Club pick, by debut novelist Parini Shroff, a young Indian woman finds the false rumors that she killed her husband surprisingly useful --- until other women in the village start asking for her help getting rid of their own husbands.
  
  On Tuesday, February 7th at 3pm ET, B&N will host a live virtual event with Parini to talk about the book. She will be joined in the discussion by Shannon DeVito, the Director of Category Management at B&N, and Miwa Messer, B&N’s Editorial Director. You can sign up by clicking here.
   
• THE BLACKHOUSE: In Carole Johnstone’s second novel, following MIRRORLAND, past and present collide when Maggie MacKay decides to go back to the Isle of Kilmeray, a place she hasn’t been since she was a child, to uncover the truth of what happened there 25 years ago. The villagers are not pleased to see that strange little Maggie has returned, all grown up and with even more questions than before about the death of Robert Reid.

THE BLACKHOUSE is this month’s pick for Simon & Schuster’s Book Club Favorites. On Wednesday, January 25th at 1pm ET, members of the S&S team will talk to Carole about the book. You can RSVP by clicking here.

For more January selections, including the Indie Next and LibraryReads lists, see our “Favorite Monthly Lists & Picks” feature here.

Announcing This Year’s Winter Reading Feature on Bookreporter
Bookreporter.com's Winter Reading feature is back for an eighth year! On select days in January and February, we will be hosting a series of 24-hour contests spotlighting a book releasing this winter and giving five lucky readers the chance to win it. We also will be sending a special newsletter to announce the day's title, which you can sign up for here. Our first contest will go live on Wednesday, January 18th at noon ET. On that day we will be giving away CLYTEMNESTRA by debut novelist Costanza Casati, which releases on March 7th.

I’m Betting You’ll Love…
One of our Winter Reading titles is Deborah Goodrich Royce’s new thriller, REEF ROAD, which is my first Bets On pick of 2023. When a severed hand washes ashore in the wealthy enclave of Palm Beach, Florida, the lives of two women collide as the world shutters in the pandemic lockdown of 2020. You can read my commentary here. We will feature my interview with Deborah, along with the discussion guide for the book, in the next newsletter.

January’s “Bookaccino Live” Preview Event
As I alluded to at the beginning of this newsletter, we hosted our first “Bookaccino Live” preview event of 2023 on Wednesday. I talked about 22 books releasing this month, along with 16 from February and March, that I wanted to get on your radar. We will share the link to the video in the late January newsletter. In the meantime, you can see a list of all the titles that I talked about here.

Next month’s “Bookaccino Live” preview event will take place on Wednesday, February 8th at 2pm ET. I will present titles releasing between February 7th and February 28th, in addition to a few from March and April, that I think will appeal to you. Click here to sign up. Those attending the live event will be asked to answer a survey about the books from the presentation that they are most interested in reading and will be eligible to win a prize.

On Wednesday, January 25th at 7pm ET, Publishers Lunch founder Michael Cader will host the Buzz Books Editors Panel, a virtual event sponsored by Publishers Lunch and the American Booksellers Association.

Six breakout authors will chat with their editors about their forthcoming titles: Hilary Leichter (TERRACE STORY), Fran Littlewood (AMAZING GRACE ADAMS), Cecilia Rabess (EVERYTHING’S FINE), Shelley Read (GO AS A RIVER), Tyriek White (WE ARE A HAUNTING), and Ore Agbaje-Williams (THE THREE OF US). Click here to sign up.

Also, be sure to download the entire Buzz Books 2023: Spring/Summer guide to read excerpts of these titles, as well as dozens more, before the event.

My book group is meeting on Tuesday night, and we will be discussing the aforementioned MAD HONEY by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan. I am looking forward to hearing what everyone has to say about it, and I am pondering which honey-themed treat to make. Deby shared a recipe for some Almond Triangles that look great. And Mary reminded me that there are recipes in the book as well.

Here’s to you having a great discussion with your group this month.

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 Up to 12 Paperback Copies of
THE MAGNOLIA PALACE by Fiona Davis for Your Group

Our Reader-Selected Best Books of 2022

Over the last two months, we asked you to share both your favorite book that you read with your book group and your favorite book that you read outside your group in 2022. The top 10 results in each category are in!

LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY by Bonnie Garmus, a "Good Morning America" Book Club pick and a Bookreporter.com Bets On selection, was the top pick in both categories. Among your other faves were MAD HONEY by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan, REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES by Shelby Van Pelt, and HORSE by Geraldine Brooks.

A special congratulations to our contest winner, Mary Lou D. from Washingtonville, NY, who won six fabulous book group titles releasing this year: CODE NAME SAPPHIRE by Pam Jenoff, HELLO BEAUTIFUL by Ann Napolitano, THE HOUSE OF EVE by Sadeqa Johnson, LOYALTY by Lisa Scottoline, THE MITFORD AFFAIR by Marie Benedict, and MOONRISE OVER NEW JESSUP by Jamila Minnicks.

Click here for our Reader-Selected Best Books of 2022.

Most Requested Guides of 2022

New Guide: SAM by Allegra Goodman
January’s “Read with Jenna” Today Show Book Club Pick

SAM by Allegra Goodman (Fiction)
Sam is seven years old and living in Beverley, Massachusetts. She adores her father, though he isn’t around much, and her mother struggles to make ends meet. Sam doesn’t fit in at school, where the other girls have the right shade of blue jeans and don’t question the rules. All she wants is to climb. Hanging from the highest limbs of the tallest trees, scaling the side of a building, Sam feels free. As a teenager, Sam begins to doubt herself. She yearns to be noticed, even as she wants to disappear. When her climbing coach takes an interest in her, his attention is more complicated than she anticipated. She resents her father’s erratic behavior, but she grieves after he’s gone. And she resists her mother’s attempts to plan for her future, even as that future draws closer.

- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to read our review on Bookreporter.com.
- Click here to see why the book is this month's "Read with Jenna" pick.

Click here for the discussion guide.

Don't miss Carol's "Bookreporter Talks To" interview
with Allegra Goodman in the late January newsletter.

New Guide: THE VILLA by Rachel Hawkins

THE VILLA by Rachel Hawkins (Gothic Thriller)
As kids, Emily and Chess were inseparable. But by their 30s, their bond has been strained by the demands of their adult lives. So when Chess suggests a girls trip to Italy, Emily jumps at the chance to reconnect with her best friend. Villa Aestas in Orvieto is a high-end holiday home now, but in 1974, it was known as Villa Rosato and rented for the summer by a notorious rock star, Noel Gordon. In an attempt to reignite his creative spark, Noel invites up-and-coming musician Pierce Sheldon to join him, as well as Pierce’s girlfriend, Mari, and her stepsister, Lara. But he also sets in motion a chain of events that leads to Mari writing one of the greatest horror novels of all time, Lara composing a platinum album --- and ends in Pierce’s brutal murder.

- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to read an excerpt.
- Click here to read our review on Bookreporter.com.

Click here for the discussion guide.

New Guide: THE HOUSE IN THE PINES by Ana Reyes
Reese’s Book Club Pick for January

THE HOUSE IN THE PINES by Ana Reyes (Psychological Thriller)
Maya was a high school senior when her best friend, Aubrey, mysteriously dropped dead in front of the enigmatic man named Frank. Seven years later, Maya’s past comes rushing back when she comes across a recent YouTube video in which a young woman suddenly keels over and dies in a diner while sitting across from none other than Frank. She heads to her Berkshires hometown to relive that fateful summer --- the influence Frank once had on her and the obsessive jealousy that nearly destroyed her friendship with Aubrey. At her mother’s house, she excavates fragments of her past and notices hidden messages in her deceased Guatemalan father’s book that didn’t stand out to her earlier. To save herself, she must understand a story written before she was born.

- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to read an excerpt.
- Click here to visit the Reese's Book Club website.

Click here for the discussion guide.

New Guide: AGE OF VICE by Deepti Kapoor
January’s “Good Morning America” Book Club Pick
and #1 Indie Next Selection

AGE OF VICE by Deepti Kapoor (Thriller)
New Delhi, 3 a.m. A speeding Mercedes jumps the curb, and in the blink of an eye five people are dead. It’s a rich man’s car, but when the dust settles there is no rich man at all --- just a shell-shocked servant who cannot explain the strange series of events that led to this crime. Nor can he foresee the dark drama that is about to unfold. Deftly shifting through time and perspective in contemporary India, AGE OF VICE is an epic, action-packed story propelled by the seductive wealth, startling corruption and bloodthirsty violence of the Wadia family --- loved by some, loathed by others, feared by all. In the shadow of lavish estates, extravagant parties, predatory business deals and calculated political influence, three lives become dangerously intertwined.

- Click here to read more about the book.
- 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: THE BANDIT QUEENS by Parini Shroff
January’s Barnes & Noble Book Club Pick

THE BANDIT QUEENS by Parini Shroff (Fiction)
Five years ago, Geeta’s no-good husband walked out on her, and she has no idea where he is. But in her remote village in India, rumor has it that Geeta killed him. It turns out that being known as a “self-made” widow comes with some perks. No one messes with her, harasses her or tries to control (ahem, marry) her. It’s even been good for business; no one dares to not buy her jewelry. And now other women are asking for her “expertise,” making her an unwitting consultant for husband disposal. With Geeta’s dangerous reputation becoming a double-edged sword, she has to find a way to protect the life she’s built. But what happens next sets in motion a chain of events that will change everything --- not just for Geeta, but for all the women in their village.

» THE BANDIT QUEENS is this month's Barnes & Noble Book Club pick. On Tuesday, February 7th at 3pm ET, B&N will welcome Parini Shroff for a live virtual event to discuss the book. Click here to sign up.

- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to read an excerpt.
- Click here to read our review on Bookreporter.com.

Click here for the discussion guide.

New Guide: THE BLACKHOUSE by Carole Johnstone
Simon & Schuster’s Book Club Favorites Pick for January

THE BLACKHOUSE by Carole Johnstone (Gothic Thriller)
Robert Reid moved his family to Scotland’s Outer Hebrides in the 1990s. But despite his best efforts to fit in, Robert is always seen as an outsider. And as the legendary and violent Hebridean storms rage around him, he begins to unravel. For her entire life, Maggie MacKay has sensed something was wrong with her. When Maggie was five years old, she announced that a man on Kilmeray had been murdered. Her unfounded claim drew media attention and turned the locals against each other, creating rifts that never mended. Nearly 20 years later, Maggie is determined to find out what really happened and what the islanders are hiding. But when she begins to receive ominous threats, Maggie is forced to consider how much she is willing to risk to discover the horrifying truth.

» THE BLACKHOUSE is this month’s pick for Simon & Schuster’s Book Club Favorites. On Wednesday, January 25th at 1pm ET, members of the S&S team will talk to Carole Johnstone about the book. Click here to sign up.

- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to read an excerpt.
- Click here to read our review on Bookreporter.com.

Click here for the discussion guide.

Favorite Monthly Lists & Picks for January

Each month, we share top book picks from Indie Next and LibraryReads, as well as the Target Book Club title and Costco's "Buyer's Pick." 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, and Simon & Schuster’s Book Club Favorites.

Below is a preview of January'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: AGE OF VICE by Deepti Kapoor
THE NEW LIFE by Tom Crewe
ALL THE DANGEROUS THINGS by Stacy Willingham
HELL BENT by Leigh Bardugo
SAM by Allegra Goodman

LibraryReads
Top Pick: GEORGIE, ALL ALONG by Kate Clayborn
ALL THE DANGEROUS THINGS by Stacy Willingham
BACK IN A SPELL: A Witches of Thistle Grove Novel by Lana Harper
BAD CREE by Jessica Johns
THE BANDIT QUEENS by Parini Shroff

Target Book Club
IN THE TIME OF OUR HISTORY by Susanne Pari

Costco's "Buyer's Pick"
THE MAID by Nita Prose

Barnes & Noble Book Club
THE BANDIT QUEENS by Parini Shroff

Reese's Book Club
THE HOUSE IN THE PINES by Ana Reyes

Jenna Bush Hager's "Read with Jenna" Today Show Book Club
SAM by Allegra Goodman

"Good Morning America" Book Club
AGE OF VICE by Deepti Kapoor

Simon & Schuster's Book Club Favorites
THE BLACKHOUSE by Carole Johnstone

Our Most Popular Book Group Selections for November/December's "What's Your Book Group
Reading This Month?" Contest

In November/December's “What’s Your Book Group Reading This Month?” contest, here are the 15 books mentioned most frequently by book groups that they have read:

• HORSE by Geraldine Brooks
• MAD HONEY by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan
• LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY by Bonnie Garmus
• THE PERSONAL LIBRARIAN by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
• THE BOOK WOMAN'S DAUGHTER by Kim Michele Richardson
• THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY by Amor Towles
• THE MAID by Nita Prose
• BLACK CAKE by Charmaine Wilkerson
• REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES by Shelby Van Pelt
• THE MAGNIFICENT LIVES OF MARJORIE POST by Allison Pataki
• THE READING LIST by Sara Nisha Adams
• THE SWEETNESS OF WATER by Nathan Harris
• THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB by Richard Osman
• OUR MISSING HEARTS by Celeste Ng
• ONCE UPON A WARDROBE by Patti Callahan

ReadingGroupGuides.com’s 11 ½ Annual Book Group
Speed Dating Event: Great Books for Book Groups

On November 18th, ReadingGroupGuides.com hosted its 11 ½ Annual Book Group Speed Dating event for booksellers, librarians, book club leaders and bloggers. Nine small, medium and large-sized publishers shared their November 2022 through May 2023 recommendations for book groups --- more than 50 books perfect for discussing!

You can watch the entire presentation here. The video is timestamped, so if you would like to jump ahead to a specific publisher, be sure to use the links below.

Hachette Book Group • Harlequin Trade Publishing • Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group • Random House Publishing Group • Simon & Schuster • Soho Press • Sourcebooks •
William Morrow • W. W. Norton

If you would like to know more about these titles, here is a link to a page with a PDF of the PowerPoint presentation, as well as an Excel spreadsheet that lists the books both by publisher and alphabetically by title, along with a sheet to take notes.

Click here to watch our 11 ½ Annual Book Group Speed Dating event.

Announcing Bookreporter.com's Eighth Annual
Winter Reading Contests and Feature

At Bookreporter.com, we are kicking off 2023 with our eighth annual Winter Reading Contests and Feature. On select days in January and February, we are hosting a series of 24-hour contests spotlighting a book releasing this winter and giving five lucky readers the chance to win it. We also are sending a special newsletter to announce the day's title, which you can sign up for here.

Our first prize book will be announced on Wednesday, January 18th at noon ET.

This year's contest titles include:

• CLYTEMNESTRA by Costanza Casati
• EXILES by Jane Harper
• IT'S ONE OF US by J.T. Ellison
• REEF ROAD by Deborah Goodrich Royce

Click here to read all the contest details
and learn more about our featured titles.

Bookreporter.com Bets On:
REEF ROAD by Deborah Goodrich Royce

REEF ROAD by Deborah Goodrich Royce (Psychological Thriller/Mystery)
REEF ROAD by Deborah Goodrich Royce is my first Bets On selection of 2023. Any book that is set in Palm Beach, Florida, and opens on a beach is going to catch my eye in January. But it starts with a less than serene scene as a hand is found by some boys who are surfing on a beach that has been marked as closed. It sets up the crime that will be revealed later on.

The book’s inspiration came from a horrific event from Deborah’s mother’s childhood. In December 1948, her mother’s childhood best friend was brutally murdered in Pittsburgh. The assailant was never found, and the crime haunted her mother for years. The story was one that stayed with Deborah. She has woven a fictitious scenario of that homicide into the events happening in the present.

- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to read an excerpt.

From left to right: Laura Zigman, Mary Kubica, Carole Johnstone

Upcoming Virtual Book and Author Events

As many book and author events are still 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.

Every Monday night at 7:30pm ET: “Lisa Live!”: Join Lisa Scottoline every Monday night as she hosts her weekly “Talking LOYALTY” video series and Facebook Live events leading up to the publication of her historical novel, LOYALTY, on March 28th. And be sure to enter the LOYALTY Pre-order Sweepstakes!

Monday, January 16th at 7pm ET: Murder By The Book: Mary Kubica will talk to Mystery & Thriller Maven’s Sara DiVello about her new book, JUST THE NICEST COUPLE, a twisty domestic thriller about a husband’s disappearance and its link to two couples.

Tuesday, January 17th at 3pm ET: Barnes & Noble: Join Barnes & Noble as they welcome New York Times bestselling author Grady Hendrix for a live, virtual performance of HOW TO SELL A HAUNTED HOUSE. For this B&N Midday Mystery Virtual Event, Hendrix will present his one-of-a-kind, one-man show, tap dancing through the haunted hallways of various houses as we try to figure out why we’re so obsessed with the world's worst roommates: ghosts.

Wednesday, January 18th at 7pm ET: "Friends and Fiction": The "Friends and Fiction" authors --- Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel, Kristy Woodson Harvey and Patti Callahan Henry --- will talk to Laura Zigman and Elle Cosimano about their latest novels: Zigman's SMALL WORLD and Cosimano's FINLAY DONOVAN JUMPS THE GUN.

Thursday, January 19th at 3pm ET: Palm Beach Historical Society: Listen in as authors Allison Pataki and Deborah Goodrich Royce, and attorney Bryant Sims, discuss the social life of the rich and famous when Marjorie Merriweather Post was in residence at Mar-a-Lago. Moderator Mary Weiss will guide the conversation about researching, writing and living among high society in mid-20th-century Palm Beach.

Thursday, January 19th at 7pm ET: Warwick's: Warwick's will host Laura Zigman as she discusses her new book, SMALL WORLD, with Mona Awad. This heartfelt novel is about two offbeat and newly divorced sisters who move in together as adults --- and finally reckon with their childhood.

Wednesday, January 25th at 1pm ET: Simon & Schuster's Book Club Favorites: Carole Johnstone will join members of the Simon & Schuster team to discuss her new novel, THE BLACKHOUSE, which is January's pick for S&S's Book Club Favorites.

Wednesday, January 25th at 7pm ET: American Booksellers Association/Publishers Lunch: Publishers Lunch founder Michael Cader will host the Buzz Books Editors Panel, a virtual event sponsored by Publishers Lunch and the American Booksellers Association. Six breakout authors will chat with their editors about their forthcoming titles.

Wednesday, January 25th at 7pm ET: "Friends and Fiction": The "Friends and Fiction" authors will talk to Marie Benedict about her new book, THE MITFORD AFFAIR, an explosive novel of history's most notorious sisters, one of whom will have to choose her country or her sisters.

Wednesday, January 25th at 8pm ET: "Bookaccino Live" Book Group: Carol Fitzgerald will talk to Nita Prose about her debut novel, THE MAID, which is now in paperback. Nita also will answer questions from guests who will be "on stage," as well as from other members of the audience. If you would like to be one of our featured audience guests and ask Nita a question on camera, please send Carol an email with the subject line “The Maid” by Wednesday the 25th at noon ET.

"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 is our latest interview:

• Dani Shapiro (SIGNAL FIRES) Video | Podcast

Other authors we've interviewed include:

• Julie Clark (THE LIES I TELL) Video | Podcast
• Alli Frank and Asha Youmans (NEVER MEANT TO MEET YOU) Video | Podcast
• Bonnie Garmus (LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY) Video | Podcast
• Jamie Fiore Higgins (BULLY MARKET: My Story of Money and Misogyny at Goldman Sachs) Video | Podcast
• Jennifer Hillier (THINGS WE DO IN THE DARK) Video | Podcast
• Sally Koslow (THE REAL MRS. TOBIAS) Video | Podcast
• Lynda Cohen Loigman (THE MATCHMAKER'S GIFT) Video | Podcast
• Clare Mackintosh (THE LAST PARTY) Video | Podcast
• Meg Mitchell Moore (VACATIONLAND) Video | Podcast
• Chris Pavone (TWO NIGHTS IN LISBON) Video | Podcast
• Tom Perrotta (TRACY FLICK CAN'T WIN) Video | Podcast
• Kim Michele Richardson (THE BOOK WOMAN'S DAUGHTER) Podcast
• Katie Runde (THE SHORE) Video | Podcast
• Casey Sherman (HELLTOWN: The Untold Story of a Serial Killer on Cape Cod)
  Video | Podcast
• Thrity Umrigar (HONOR) Video | Podcast

Upcoming interviews include:

• Allegra Goodman (SAM)
• Deborah Goodrich Royce (REEF ROAD)

Click here for a complete list of our
"Bookreporter Talks To" videos and podcasts.

Our Latest Guides

We currently are featuring the following guides on ReadingGroupGuides.com:

AGE OF VICE by Deepti Kapoor (Thriller)
Equal parts crime thriller and family saga, transporting readers from the dusty villages of Uttar Pradesh to the urban energy of New Delhi, AGE OF VICE is an intoxicating novel of gangsters and lovers, false friendships, forbidden romance and the consequences of corruption.

THE BANDIT QUEENS by Parini Shroff (Fiction)
A young Indian woman finds the false rumors that she killed her husband surprisingly useful --- until other women in the village start asking for her help getting rid of their own husbands --- in this razor-sharp debut.

THE BLACKHOUSE by Carole Johnstone (Gothic Thriller)
From the author of MIRRORLAND comes a richly atmospheric thriller set on an isolated Scottish island where nothing is as it seems and shocking twists lie around every corner.

DAWNLANDS by Philippa Gregory (Historical Fiction)
Philippa Gregory's Fairmile series continues as the fiercely independent Alinor and her family find themselves entangled in palace intrigue and political upheaval in 17th-century England.

FLIGHT by Lynn Steger Strong (Fiction)
With the urgency and artfulness that cemented her previous novel, WANT, as “a defining novel of our age” (Vulture), Lynn Steger Strong once again turns her attention to the structural and systemic failings that are haunting Americans, but also to the ways in which family, friends and strangers can support each other through the gaps.

THE HOUSE IN THE PINES by Ana Reyes (Psychological Thriller)
Armed with only hazy memories, a woman who long ago witnessed her friend’s sudden, mysterious death and has since spent her life trying to forget sets out to track down answers. What she uncovers, deep in the woods, is hardly to be believed.

THE LAST PARTY by Clare Mackintosh (Psychological Thriller)
THE LAST PARTY is a delicious blend of police procedural and psychological thriller about the homicide of a local celebrity in small-town Wales --- a man everyone in the village had good cause to murder.

THE LIGHT PIRATE by Lily Brooks-Dalton (Fiction)
THE LIGHT PIRATE is a hopeful, sweeping story of survival and resilience spanning one extraordinary woman’s lifetime as she navigates the uncertainty, brutality and arresting beauty of a rapidly changing world.

SAM by Allegra Goodman (Fiction)
What happens to a girl’s sense of joy and belonging --- to her belief in herself --- as she becomes a woman? This unforgettable portrait of coming-of-age offers subtle yet powerful reflections on class, parenthood, addiction, lust and the irrepressible power of dreams.

THE VILLA by Rachel Hawkins (Gothic Thriller)
From New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins comes a deliciously wicked gothic suspense, set at an Italian villa with a dark history, for fans of Lucy Foley and Ruth Ware.

Please note that these titles, for which we already had the guides when they appeared in hardcover, are now available in paperback:

THE CLUB by Ellery Lloyd (Mystery/Thriller)
From the author of PEOPLE LIKE HER comes a smart and sinister murder mystery set in the secretive world of exclusive celebrity clubs.

FIONA AND JANE by Jean Chen Ho (Fiction/Short Stories)
FIONA AND JANE is a witty, warm and irreverent book that traces the lives of two young Taiwanese American women as they navigate friendship, sexuality, identity and heartbreak over two decades.

THE MAGNOLIA PALACE by Fiona Davis (Historical Fiction)
Fiona Davis, the New York Times bestselling author of THE LIONS OF FIFTH AVENUE, returns with a tantalizing novel about the secrets, betrayal and murder within one of New York City's most impressive Gilded Age mansions.

THE MAID by Nita Prose (Mystery)
A charmingly eccentric hotel maid discovers a guest murdered in his bed. Solving the mystery will turn her once orderly world upside down in this utterly original debut.

VERY COLD PEOPLE by Sarah Manguso (Fiction)
In her eagerly anticipated debut novel, Sarah Manguso has written, with characteristic precision, a masterwork on growing up in --- and out of --- the suffocating constraints of a very old, and very cold, small town.

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