|
Never Miss a Contest or a Promotion!
Follow and Like Us on Social Media
This is the time of year when there are a flurry of book festivals across the country. I love these gatherings of book-minded people where “What are you reading?” is all the buzz. We have a list of book festivals here on Bookreporter, and our Editorial Director, Tom Donadio, works hard to keep it updated.
Next Saturday, October 7th, I am going to be moderating three panels at a festival that is local to me: the Morristown Festival of Books. They are celebrating their 10th year, and I love having a festival of this caliber so close to home! Take a look at the lineup here; you will see how many book club-friendly authors will be there. Below are the panels I will be moderating. I also will be attending a few others, along with Lisa Hickman from our team. If you are there, please come up and say hi!
-
11am - 11:50am: Adrienne Brodeur (LITTLE MONSTERS) and Andre Dubus III (SUCH KINDNESS) consider complicated characters in fiction.
-
12:10pm - 1pm: On the Edge of Your Seat: Megan Abbott (BEWARE THE WOMAN) and William Landay (ALL THAT IS MINE I CARRY WITH ME) talk psychological thrillers.
-
2:30pm - 3:20pm: Missing Family and Buried Secrets: This panel features Claire Jiménez (WHAT HAPPENED TO RUTHY RAMIREZ), Jean Kwok (THE LEFTOVER WOMAN), and Thrity Umrigar (THE MUSEUM OF FAILURES)
We hosted our first “Bookaccino Live” Book Group event of the fall on Wednesday night. Alice Elliott Dark joined us to discuss her novel, FELLOWSHIP POINT, a Bookreporter.com Bets On pick that released in paperback earlier this year.
Members of the audience asked questions both on and off camera about Alice’s character development and the setting of Maine, which many considered to be a character in itself. Alice talked about her writing routine and shared insight into the editing process, where 200 pages of the book were winnowed down --- as well as her focus on Agnes and Polly. The ending of the book came to her quite late; she did not write towards it, and readers felt it was very satisfying. There was continuous talk about the beauty of Alice’s writing, and how that made a long book feel just right as our attendees mentioned that they were so vested in the story and how it was told.
It was such a fun evening, and we so appreciate the notes that we received from our readers about how much they loved the event. For those who either weren’t able to attend or would like to revisit parts of the discussion, you can watch the video here or listen to the podcast here.
I am excited to share that Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan will be our next “Bookaccino Live” Book Group guests. The event will be held on Wednesday, October 25th at 8pm ET, and you can sign up here for it. We will be talking about their New York Times bestseller, MAD HONEY, a “Good Morning America” Book Club pick and a Bets On selection that recently released in paperback. It’s also our current “What’s Your Book Group Reading This Month?” prize book.
Just as we did on Wednesday night, there will be a two-part Q&A session after I talk to Jodi and Jennifer. For the first part, those who are asking a question “on camera” will be featured. This includes spending time with Jodi and Jennifer backstage in our virtual green room before the show starts. If you would like to ask your question "live on screen" this way, please email me with the subject line "Honey" by noon ET on October 25th. Be sure to include your name, city and state, as well as your question. If you do not want to appear on camera but still would like to ask a question, please note that you want to be off camera, and share your question --- adding your name, city and state.
In the meantime, for those who would like to win up to 12 paperback copies of MAD HONEY for your book group, be sure to fill out the form on this page by Wednesday, October 11th at noon ET.
We have two new “Bookreporter Talks To” interviews to share with you in this newsletter.
First up is John Sargent, who talked to me about his memoir, TURNING PAGES: The Adventures and Misadventures of a Publisher. John spent four decades in the world of publishing and concluded his career in 2020 at Macmillan when he was fired, which completely surprised people in the industry. For years he fought for what he believed was right for authors, readers and the “publishing ecosystem,” the latter of which is a phrase he used again and again.
But while TURNING PAGES is about his time in publishing, John touches on so much more. He explains how his boyhood in Wyoming influenced him as much as his time with bestselling authors. He also talks about the details in some of his essays, which include a lot of humor and self-deprecation. It’s an inside look at what really is a wonderful life.
Stay until the end to hear about the cover of the book and the image that was used there. It, like the book, is all about the details. Click here to watch the video or here to listen to the podcast.
I also had the pleasure of chatting with Ashley Audrain, whose new domestic thriller, THE WHISPERS, follows on the heels of her debut, THE PUSH. Both books are Bets On selections. Ashley sets her latest in a neighborhood that is being gentrified. Some homes are remodeled, while others are original to the neighborhood. We follow two moms of young children, Whitney and Blair, as well as Rebecca, an ER nurse who longs to be a mother, and Mara, an older woman who is watching these families grow up.
Ashley explains why she created these four characters, as well as her inspiration for the block that they live on. She talks about the book’s explosive opening and how it sets up the story. And oh, that ending. Ashley also shares her process on writing, revising and editing. Click here to watch the video or here to listen to the podcast. Also, be sure to check out the discussion guide and our Bookreporter review, which we featured back in June.
The latest Oprah's Book Club pick is WELLNESS, Nathan Hill’s long-awaited second novel (following 2016’s THE NIX). Oprah describes the book as being “a modern take on love, marriage, and society’s obsession on improving almost every aspect of our lives.”
Leaping from the ’90s Chicago grunge scene to the Flint Hills of Kansas to the detox-dieting suburbs, WELLNESS tells the story of Jack and Elizabeth, two college students who fall in love at first sight. Over the years, they see themselves and their world change in ways neither of them could have imagined.
Nathan Hill appeared with Oprah on “CBS Mornings” last week. He shared the inspiration for the novel and discussed some of the big questions it poses about life and love. Oprah explained what drew her to choose the book and what she learned from it about happiness. You can watch the interview here.
Join Oprah, Nathan and Oprah's Book Club readers for a special discussion of WELLNESS on OprahDaily.com, following the reading schedule on this page. You also can access the guide here and read our review on Bookreporter here.
Lauren Groff’s new novel, THE VASTER WILDS, is September’s #1 Indie Next pick. In it, a servant girl escapes from a colonial settlement in the wilderness. She carries nothing with her but her wits, a few possessions, and the spark of god that burns hot within her. What she finds in this terra incognita is beyond the limits of her imagination and will bend her belief in everything that her own civilization has taught her.
According to our Bookreporter reviewer Jana Siciliano, the book is “hard to put down. The language is exquisite, cautious, beautiful and hard-hitting. It picks you up in its current and pulls you along, giving you unexpected moments to rest. However, like the young girl’s journey, the tale sweeps back into gear, and you can do nothing but ride the current wherever the author twists it next.” Read the full review here and check out the guide here.
Thrity Umrigar follows up her 2022 novel, the Reese’s Book Club pick HONOR, with THE MUSEUM OF FAILURES, both of which are Bets On selections. I love how the publisher describes the book: “Surprising, devastating, and ultimately a story of redemption and healing still possible between a mother and son, THE MUSEUM OF FAILURES is a tour de force from one of our most elegant storytellers about the mixed bag of love and regret. It is also, above all, a much-needed reminder that forgiveness comes from empathy for others.”
I had a wonderful conversation with Thrity about the book a few days ago. Don’t miss the interview, along with my Bets On commentary, in the next newsletter. In the meantime, click here for the guide and here for our Bookreporter review. Our reviewer Katherine B. Weissman calls the book “instructive as well as moving…. As she captures the anguish of people torn between two worlds, Umrigar’s own writing takes on a cinematic brilliance, evoking the ‘imperfect earth’ of the city that Remy once loved and then left.”
We also have added guides for these three books:
-
THE LAST DEVIL TO DIE: It's rarely a quiet day for the Thursday Murder Club. In this fourth installment of Richard Osman’s popular series, shocking news reaches Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim. An old friend has been killed, and a dangerous package he was protecting has gone missing.
-
COLEMAN HILL: In 1916, during the early days of the Great Migration, Celia Coleman and Lucy Grimes flee the racism and poverty of their homes in the post–Civil War South for the “Promised Land” of Vauxhall, New Jersey. But the North possesses its own challenges and bigotries that will shape the fates of the women and their families over the next 70 years in Kim Coleman Foote’s much-talked-about debut novel.
-
THE SIX: Acclaimed journalist Loren Grush has penned the remarkable true story of America’s first female astronauts. These brilliant and courageous women endured claustrophobic --- and sometimes deeply sexist --- media attention, undergoing rigorous survival training, and preparing for years to take multi-million-dollar payloads into orbit. Together, the Six helped build the tools that made the space program run.
It was announced this week that THE FIRST LADIES is Target’s 2023 Book of the Year. Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray’s latest historical novel tells the story of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Black civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune, the daughter of formerly enslaved parents. If you missed our coverage of the book when it released in June, be sure to click here for the guide and here for our review on Bookreporter.
Bookreporter.com’s Mystery Mayhem Author Spotlight & Contest
On Bookreporter, we’re featuring VEIL OF DOUBT in our Mystery Mayhem Author Spotlight. It’s a historical mystery/thriller by Sharon Virts, whose debut, MASQUE OF HONOR, we talked about in the newsletter two years ago shortly after the book released. We’re giving 25 readers the chance to win a copy of the book, which releases on October 10th. The deadline for your entries is Friday, October 6th at noon ET. We look forward to featuring the guide for VEIL OF DOUBT in the late October newsletter.
I’m Betting You’ll Love…
My three latest Bets On picks are THE RIVER WE REMEMBER by William Kent Krueger, BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CHRISTMAS by Mary Kay Andrews, and HAPPINESS FALLS by Angie Kim. Click on each of the titles for my Bets On commentary. If you missed my recent “Bookreporter Talks To” interview with Angie, you can watch it here or listen to the podcast here.
Last Wednesday night, we hosted a special “Bookaccino Live” Fall Preview evening program. I presented 53 books that are either out now or soon to be released this fall that we think you will enjoy reading over the next few months, or to consider for gift-giving over the holidays. Included are fiction, historical fiction, thrillers/mysteries, and memoirs/nonfiction. Click here to watch the event and here to see a list of the titles that I talked about. We are planning to do a Winter Reading evening program in January!
This is your last ReadingGroupGuides newsletter reminder to sign up for our next “Bookaccino Live” book preview event, which will take place on Wednesday, October 11th at 2pm ET. The focus will be on titles releasing between October 10th and October 31st, in addition to a few from November and December, that we would like to tell you about. Click here to register. 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 Tuesday night, I am zipping down the shore, as we say in New Jersey, to attend Mary Kay Andrews’ event in Brielle, NJ for her latest book, the aforementioned BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CHRISTMAS. I am looking forward to that! Oh, and speaking of bookish events, I already have a ticket to see Kristin Hannah when she is on tour in New York in February for her book, THE WOMEN (releasing February 6th). Yes, tickets for her tour already are on sale. You can see them all here. It promises to be a terrific evening. If you attend a bookish event, we would love to hear about it.
Speaking of Kristin Hannah, we heard from one of the winners of our contest for Kristin's THE FOUR WINDS from earlier this year. Feef D. won 12 copies of the book for her group, the Bad Girls Book Club, pictured above. She wrote, "I wanted to thank you, ReadingGroupGuides and Kristin Hannah for the 12 copies of THE FOUR WINDS. Our book club truly enjoyed reading this novel, although many found it difficult because of the sadness and struggles involved. We had a lot of discussion about the Dust Bowl era, poverty and relationships. We all agreed that Kristin Hannah is an excellent writer and look forward to her next book. We had read THE NIGHTINGALE as one of our book club books a few years ago and enjoyed that one as well."
We also received a very nice note from Suzanne P., who won 12 copies of EVERGREEN by Naomi Hirahara for her group in our previous monthly contest. She said, "You cannot imagine my surprise and excitement when I received the package of EVERGREEN for my book club! Thank you, thank you, thank you! All of us look forward to enjoying this book."
Here’s to a great next meeting for your book group!
Carol Fitzgerald ([email protected])
P.S. For those of you who shop online, if you use the store links that appear on our site for shopping, ReadingGroupGuides.com gets a small affiliate fee on your purchases from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and IndieBound. As you check out the discussion guides and various features on our site, we would appreciate your considering this as you buy!
New Guide: WELLNESS by Nathan Hill
Oprah’s Latest Book Club Pick
WELLNESS by Nathan Hill (Fiction)
When Jack and Elizabeth meet as college students in the '90s, the two quickly join forces and hold on tight, each eager to claim a place in Chicago’s thriving underground art scene with an appreciative kindred spirit. Fast-forward 20 years to married life, and alongside the challenges of parenting, they encounter cults disguised as mindfulness support groups, polyamorous would-be suitors, Facebook wars, and something called Love Potion Number Nine. For the first time, Jack and Elizabeth struggle to recognize each other, and the no-longer-youthful dreamers are forced to face their demons. In the process, Jack and Elizabeth must undertake separate, personal excavations, or risk losing the best thing in their lives: each other.
- 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 to see why the book is Oprah's latest Book Club pick.
Click here for the discussion guide.
New Guide: THE VASTER WILDS by Lauren Groff
September's #1 Indie Next Pick
THE VASTER WILDS by Lauren Groff (Historical Fiction)
A servant girl escapes from a colonial settlement in the wilderness. She carries nothing with her but her wits, a few possessions, and the spark of god that burns hot within her. What she finds in this terra incognita is beyond the limits of her imagination and will bend her belief in everything that her own civilization has taught her. THE VASTER WILDS is a work of raw and prophetic power that tells the story of America in miniature, through one girl at a hinge point in history, to ask how --- and if --- we can adapt quickly enough to save ourselves.
- 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 MUSEUM OF FAILURES by Thrity Umrigar
An Upcoming Bookreporter.com Bets On Title
THE MUSEUM OF FAILURES by Thrity Umrigar (Fiction)
When Remy Wadia left India for the United States, he carried his resentment of his cold and inscrutable mother with him and has kept his distance from her. Years later, he returns to Bombay, planning to adopt a baby from a young pregnant girl --- and to see his elderly mother again before it is too late. She is in the hospital, has stopped talking, and seems to have given up on life. Struck with guilt for not realizing just how ill she had become, Remy devotes himself to helping her recover and return home. But one day in her apartment, he comes upon an old photograph that demands explanation. As shocking family secrets surface, Remy finds himself reevaluating his entire childhood and his relationship to his parents, just as he is on the cusp of becoming a parent himself.
- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to read our review on Bookreporter.com.
Click here for the discussion guide.
THE MUSEUM OF FAILURES will be a Bookreporter.com Bets On pick.
Don't miss Carol's commentary in the next newsletter,
along with her interview with Thrity Umrigar.
"What's Your Book Group Reading This Month?" Contest: Enter to Win 12 Copies of MAD HONEY by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan --- a Bookreporter.com Bets On Title Now Available in Paperback --- for Your Group
Each month in our "What's Your Book Group Reading This Month?" feature, 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.
MAD HONEY by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan (Fiction)
Olivia McAfee’s picture-perfect life was upended when her husband revealed a darker side. She never imagined that she would end up back in her sleepy New Hampshire hometown with her son, Asher. Meanwhile, Lily Campanello and her mom relocate to Adams, New Hampshire, for her final year of high school for what they hope will be a fresh start. For just a short while, these new beginnings are exactly what Olivia and Lily need. Their paths cross when Asher falls for the new girl in school, and Lily can’t help but fall for him, too. Then one day, Olivia receives a phone call: Lily is dead, and Asher is being questioned by the police. Olivia is adamant that her son is innocent. But as the case against him unfolds, she realizes he’s hidden more than he’s shared with her.
- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here for the discussion guide.
- Click here to read an excerpt.
- Click here to read our review on Bookreporter.com.
- Click here to read Carol's Bookreporter.com Bets On commentary.
- Click here to sign up for our "Bookaccino Live" Book Group event with Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan on Wednesday, October 25th at 8pm ET.
New Guide: THE LAST DEVIL TO DIE by Richard Osman
THE LAST DEVIL TO DIE: A Thursday Murder Club Mystery by Richard Osman (Mystery)
It's rarely a quiet day for the Thursday Murder Club. Shocking news reaches them --- an old friend has been killed, and a dangerous package he was protecting has gone missing. The gang's search leads them into the antiques business, where the tricks of the trade are as old as the objects themselves. As they encounter drug dealers, art forgers and online fraudsters --- as well as heartache close to home --- Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim have no idea whom to trust. With the body count rising, the clock ticking down, and trouble firmly on their tail, has their luck finally run out? And who will be the last devil to die?
- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to read our review on Bookreporter.com.
Click here for the discussion guide.
New Guide: COLEMAN HILL by Kim Coleman Foote
COLEMAN HILL by Kim Coleman Foote (Historical Fiction)
In 1916, during the early days of the Great Migration, Celia Coleman and Lucy Grimes flee the racism and poverty of their homes in the South for the “Promised Land” of Vauxhall, New Jersey. But the North possesses its own challenges and bigotries that will shape the fates of the women and their families over the next 70 years. Within 10 years of arriving in Vauxhall, both Celia and Lucy’s husbands are dead, and they turn to one another for support. Encouraged by their mothers’ friendship, their children’s lives become enmeshed as well. As the children grow into adolescence, two are caught in an impulsive act of impropriety, and Celia and Lucy find themselves at irreconcilable odds over who’s to blame. The ensuing fallout has dire consequences that reverberate through the next two generations of their families.
- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to read our review on Bookreporter.com.
Click here for the discussion guide.
New Guide: THE SIX by Loren Grush
THE SIX: The Untold Story of America's First Women Astronauts by Loren Grush (History)
When NASA sent astronauts to the moon in the 1960s and 1970s, the agency excluded women from the corps, arguing that only military test pilots --- a group then made up exclusively of men --- had the right stuff. Eventually, though, NASA recognized its blunder and opened the application process to a wider array of hopefuls, regardless of race or gender. From a candidate pool of 8,000, six elite women were selected in 1978: Sally Ride, Judy Resnik, Anna Fisher, Kathy Sullivan, Shannon Lucid and Rhea Seddon. In THE SIX, acclaimed journalist Loren Grush shows these brilliant and courageous women enduring claustrophobic --- and sometimes deeply sexist --- media attention, undergoing rigorous survival training, and preparing for years to take multi-million-dollar payloads into orbit.
- 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.
Target’s 2023 Book of the Year:
THE FIRST LADIES by Marie Benedict
and Victoria Christopher Murray
Target has chosen THE FIRST LADIES by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray --- a novel about the extraordinary partnership between First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune --- as its 2023 Book of the Year. Along with featuring an exclusive print edition prominently in stores and ads, Target will donate 400 copies of the book to Little Free Library locations across the country.
THE FIRST LADIES by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray (Historical Fiction)
The daughter of formerly enslaved parents, Mary McLeod Bethune refuses to back down as white supremacists attempt to thwart her work. She marches on as an activist and an educator, and as her reputation grows, she becomes a celebrity. Eleanor Roosevelt is eager to make Mary's acquaintance. Initially drawn together because of their shared belief in women’s rights and the power of education, Mary and Eleanor become fast friends. When Franklin Delano Roosevelt is elected president, the two women begin to collaborate more closely. Eleanor becomes a controversial First Lady for her outspokenness, particularly on civil rights. And when she receives threats because of her strong ties to Mary, it only fuels the women’s desire to fight together for justice and equality.
- Click here for the discussion guide.
- Click here to read an excerpt.
- Click here to read our review on Bookreporter.com.
Click here to read more about the book.
New September Releases of Interest to Book Groups
Here are a number of books that released in September for the first time (which we aren't currently featuring on the site or in the newsletter) that we think will be of interest to book groups.
BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CHRISTMAS by Mary Kay Andrews (Romance)
From Mary Kay Andrews, the New York Times bestselling author of THE HOMEWRECKERS and THE SANTA SUIT, comes a novella celebrating love and the warm, glittering charm of the holiday season.
BRIGHT YOUNG WOMEN by Jessica Knoll (Psychological Thriller)
Two women from opposite sides of the country are brought together by violent acts of the same man. They become allies and sisters in arms as they pursue the justice that otherwise would elude them.
CHENNEVILLE: A Novel of Murder, Loss, and Vengeance by Paulette Jiles (Historical Fiction)
Consumed with grief, driven by vengeance, a man undertakes an unrelenting odyssey across the lawless post–Civil War frontier seeking redemption.
DEVIL MAKES THREE by Ben Fountain (Fiction)
From the award-winning, bestselling author of BILLY LYNN'S LONG HALFTIME WALK comes a brilliant and propulsive new novel about greed, power and American complicity set in Haiti.
THE FRAUD by Zadie Smith (Historical Fiction)
From acclaimed and bestselling novelist Zadie Smith comes a kaleidoscopic work of historical fiction set against the legal trial that divided Victorian England, about who gets to tell their story --- and who gets to be believed.
THICKER THAN WATER: A Memoir by Kerry Washington (Memoir)
Award-winning actor, director, producer and activist Kerry Washington shares the "exquisitely moving” journey of her life so far (Isabel Wilkerson) and the bravely intimate story of discovering her truth.
WANDERING THROUGH LIFE: A Memoir by Donna Leon (Memoir)
The internationally bestselling author of the Guido Brunetti mysteries tells her own adventurous life story as she enters her 80s.
THE WREN, THE WREN by Anne Enright (Fiction)
This incandescent novel from one of our greatest living novelists (The Times) is about the inheritance of trauma, wonder and love across three generations of women.
New Mystery Mayhem Author Spotlight & Contest
on Bookreporter.com: VEIL OF DOUBT by Sharon Virts Enter to Win One of 25 Copies of the Book,
Releasing October 10th
When a mother is charged with murder in a town already convinced of her guilt, can defense attorney Powell Harrison find truth and justice in a legal system where innocence is not presumed? We have 25 copies of VEIL OF DOUBT by Sharon Virts to give away to those who would like to read the book, which releases on October 10th. To enter, please fill out this form by Friday, October 6th at noon ET.
VEIL OF DOUBT by Sharon Virts (Historical Mystery/Thriller)
Emily Lloyd, a young widow in Reconstruction-era Virginia, is accused of poisoning her three-year-old daughter, Maud. It isn’t the first death in her home --- her husband and three other children all died of mysterious illnesses --- so when Maud succumbs to an unexplained malady, the town suspects foul play. Soon Mrs. Lloyd is charged not only with poisoning the child but also with murdering her children, her husband and her aunt.
Enter Powell Harrison, a soft-spoken, brilliant attorney who recently returned to his Virginia hometown to help his brother manage their late father’s practice. Approached to assist in Mrs. Lloyd’s defense, Harrison initially declines, worried that an infanticide case might tarnish their family’s reputation. But as details about the widow’s erratic behavior and her reclusive neighbors emerge, Harrison begins to suspect that an even more sinister truth might lurk beneath the family’s horrible fate and finds himself irresistibly drawn to the case.
- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to read an excerpt.
Click here to read more in our Mystery Mayhem
Author Spotlight and enter the contest.
Bookreporter.com Bets On:
THE RIVER WE REMEMBER by William Kent Krueger,
BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CHRISTMAS by Mary Kay Andrews,
and HAPPINESS FALLS by Angie Kim
THE RIVER WE REMEMBER by William Kent Krueger (Historical Mystery)
THE RIVER WE REMEMBER is one of my three favorite books of the year and the best of William Kent Krueger’s three stand-alone titles. The setting in Kent’s books always becomes a character, and his latest is no exception. Here we start with a river, where the lifeless body of Jimmy Quinn --- a man with a lot of money and countless enemies --- has been found. He has been dead long enough for the catfish to have discovered him.
- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here for the discussion guide.
- Click here to read an excerpt.
- Click here to read our review on Bookreporter.com.
- Click here for readers' comments about the book.
- Click here to visit William Kent Krueger's website.
- Click here for William Kent Krueger's book tour schedule.
Click here to read more of Carol's commentary on
THE RIVER WE REMEMBER.
BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CHRISTMAS by Mary Kay Andrews (Romance)
Mary Kay Andrews is back with BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CHRISTMAS, and it’s my favorite of all her holiday titles. I do confess that reading such a book in September had me panicked that I was way behind on “making my list and checking it twice.” But putting that aside, this is just the kind of Christmas story set in New York City that you want to read.
- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to read an excerpt.
- Click here to visit Mary Kay Andrews' website.
Click here to read more of Carol's commentary on
BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CHRISTMAS.
HAPPINESS FALLS by Angie Kim (Mystery/Thriller)
HAPPINESS FALLS by Angie Kim is a beautiful, poignant family story with a mystery layered inside it. Fourteen-year-old Eugene has Angelman syndrome. While he smiles and laughs, he cannot verbalize, so his loved ones have been dealing with these challenges. His father, Adam, has assumed the role of house husband and his caretaker. As the book opens, Eugene and Adam have been out hiking in a suburban park and are late coming home. When only Eugene appears at the door, he is very disconcerted and has blood caked under his fingernails and on his clothing. He is agitated and takes to his room to jump and make the sounds that he uses to soothe himself in these circumstances.
- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here for the discussion guide.
- Click here to read an excerpt.
- Click here to read our review on Bookreporter.com.
- Click here to watch Carol's "Bookreporter Talks To" interview with Angie Kim.
- Click here to listen to a podcast of the interview.
Click here to read more of Carol's commentary on HAPPINESS FALLS.
From left to right: Angie Kim, Thrity Umrigar, Julia Kelly
Upcoming Virtual Book and Author Events
Here are six upcoming virtual book and author events that you may be interested in attending. Click on the links for more info and to register.
Monday, October 2nd at 3pm ET: The Poisoned Pen Bookstore: Donna Leon will talk about her new book, WANDERING THROUGH LIFE. In this highly anticipated memoir, the internationally bestselling author of the Guido Brunetti mysteries tells her own adventurous life story as she enters her 80s.
Tuesday, October 3rd at 3pm ET: Barnes & Noble Book Club: Join Barnes & Noble as they welcome Angie Kim for a live virtual event to discuss HAPPINESS FALLS, September's B&N Book Club pick. She will be in conversation with Shannon DeVito, the Sr. Director of Book Strategy and Customer Experience at B&N, and Miwa Messer, the host and Executive Producer of B&N's “Poured Over” podcast.
Wednesday, October 4th 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 Jessica Knoll about her new thriller, BRIGHT YOUNG WOMEN, which is Simon & Schuster's Book Club Favorites pick for October.
Saturday, October 7th at 1pm ET: Warwick's: Warwick's will host Julia Kelly as she discusses her new book, A TRAITOR IN WHITEHALL, the first entry in her mysterious and immersive Parisian Orphan series.
Wednesday, October 11th at 2pm ET: "Bookaccino Live: A Lively Talk About Books": Carol Fitzgerald will present titles releasing between October 10th and October 31st, along with a few from November and December, that she would like to get on your radar.
Wednesday, October 11th at 7pm ET: "Friends and Fiction": The "Friends and Fiction" authors will talk to Thrity Umrigar about her new novel, THE MUSEUM OF FAILURES, an immersive story about family secrets and the power of forgiveness.
"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:
-
Ashley Audrain (THE WHISPERS) Video | Podcast
-
John Sargent (TURNING PAGES: The Adventures and Misadventures of a Publisher)
Video | Podcast
Other authors we've interviewed include:
Upcoming interviews include:
-
Douglas Brunt (THE MYSTERIOUS CASE OF RUDOLF DIESEL: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I)
-
Tess Gerritsen (THE SPY COAST)
-
William Kent Krueger (THE RIVER WE REMEMBER)
-
Jean Kwok (THE LEFTOVER WOMAN)
-
Thrity Umrigar (THE MUSEUM OF FAILURES)
-
Sharon Virts (VEIL OF DOUBT)
Click here for a complete list of our
"Bookreporter Talks To" videos and podcasts.
We currently are featuring the following guides on ReadingGroupGuides.com:
AMAZING GRACE ADAMS by Fran Littlewood (Fiction)
Bernadette, Eleanor Oliphant, Rosie, Ove...meet AMAZING GRACE ADAMS, the funny, touching, unforgettable story of an invisible everywoman pushed to the brink --- who finally pushes back.
THE BREAKAWAY by Jennifer Weiner (Fiction)
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Weiner comes a warmhearted and empowering new novel about love, family, friendship, secrets and a life-changing journey.
COLEMAN HILL by Kim Coleman Foote (Historical Fiction)
COLEMAN HILL is the exhilarating story of two American families whose fates become intertwined in the wake of the Great Migration. Braiding fact and fiction, it is a remarkable, character-rich tour de force exploring the ties that bind three generations.
HAPPINESS FALLS by Angie Kim (Mystery/Thriller)
When a father goes missing, his family’s desperate search leads them to question everything they know about him and one another. HAPPINESS FALLS is both a riveting page-turner and a deeply moving portrait of a family in crisis from the award-winning author of MIRACLE CREEK.
THE LAST DEVIL TO DIE: A Thursday Murder Club Mystery by Richard Osman (Mystery)
It's rarely a quiet day for the Thursday Murder Club. In THE LAST DEVIL TO DIE, shocking news reaches them --- an old friend has been killed, and a dangerous package he was protecting has gone missing.
LEARNED BY HEART by Emma Donoghue (Historical Romance)
From the bestselling author of ROOM and THE WONDER comes a heartbreakingly gorgeous novel based on the true story of two girls who fall secretly, deeply and dangerously in love at boarding school in 19th-century York.
MOTHER-DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT by Nina Simon (Mystery)
Nothing brings a family together like a murder next door. MOTHER-DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT is a lighthearted whodunnit about a grandmother-mother-daughter trio of amateur sleuths. Think "Gilmore Girls" but with murder.
THE MUSEUM OF FAILURES by Thrity Umrigar (Fiction)
THE MUSEUM OF FAILURES is an immersive story about family secrets and the power of forgiveness from the bestselling author of HONOR, a Reese’s Book Club pick.
PLAYING THE WITCH CARD by KJ Dell'Antonia (Fiction)
Three generations of magic. Two rogue exes. One Tarot deck. The perfect recipe for chaos. "Gilmore Girls" meets Practical Magic in this latest novel from the New York Times bestselling author of THE CHICKEN SISTERS.
THE RIVER WE REMEMBER by William Kent Krueger (Historical Mystery)
In 1958, a small Minnesota town is rocked by the murder of its most powerful citizen, pouring fresh fuel on old grievances in this dazzling stand-alone novel from the New York Times bestselling author of THIS TENDER LAND.
THE SIX: The Untold Story of America's First Women Astronauts by Loren Grush (History)
In the bestselling tradition of HIDDEN FIGURES and CODE GIRLS, THE SIX is the remarkable true story of America’s first female astronauts --- six extraordinary women, each making history going to orbit aboard NASA’s Space Shuttle.
THE VASTER WILDS by Lauren Groff (Historical Fiction)
This taut and electrifying novel from celebrated bestselling author Lauren Groff is about a spirited girl alone in the wilderness who is trying to survive.
WELLNESS by Nathan Hill (Fiction)
The New York Times bestselling author of THE NIX is back with a poignant and witty novel about marriage, the often baffling pursuit of health and happiness, and the stories that bind us together.
Please note that this title, for which we already had the guide when it appeared in hardcover, is now available in paperback:
MAD HONEY by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan (Fiction)
MAD HONEY is a riveting novel of suspense, an unforgettable love story, and a moving and powerful exploration of the secrets we keep and the risks we take in order to become ourselves.
|
