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January 15, 2021

I am so excited about the 2021 books that I have been reading. Seriously, I feel like one is better than the other. And there are so many that are perfect for book group discussions. We have LOTS to share with you this month, so read on.

First, we’re very excited to announce a BIG contest for the audiobook edition of THE FOUR WINDS, Kristin Hannah’s upcoming historical novel, which releases on February 2nd. I read an advance copy a few months ago, and yes, it will be a Bookreporter.com Bets On pick.

Most Requested Guides of 2020

We took a look at all of the guides that you accessed in 2020, and from there we pulled together a list of the top 30 titles, which you can see below. We love finding out which books resonated the most with you and your group!

Top 30 Most Requested Guides

 

Editorial Content for Better Luck Next Time

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BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME is the eagerly anticipated second novel from the bestselling author of BE FRANK WITH ME, a charming story of endings, new beginnings, and the complexities and complications of friendship and love, set in late 1930s Reno.

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BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME is the eagerly anticipated second novel from the bestselling author of BE FRANK WITH ME, a charming story of endings, new beginnings, and the complexities and complications of friendship and love, set in late 1930s Reno.

About the Book

The eagerly anticipated second novel from the bestselling author of BE FRANK WITH ME, a charming story of endings, new beginnings, and the complexities and complications of friendship and love, set in late 1930s Reno.

It’s 1938, and women seeking a quick, no-questions split from their husbands head to the “divorce capital of the world,” Reno, Nevada. There’s one catch: they have to wait six weeks to become “residents.” Many of these wealthy, soon-to-be divorcees flock to the Flying Leap, a dude ranch that caters to their every need. 

Twenty-four-year-old Ward spent one year at Yale before his family lost everything in the Great Depression; now he’s earning an honest living as a ranch hand at the Flying Leap. Admired for his dashing good looks --- “Cary Grant in cowboy boots” --- Ward thinks he has the Flying Leap’s clients all figured out. But two new guests are about to upend everything he thinks he knows: Nina, a St. Louis heiress and amateur pilot back for her third divorce, and Emily, whose bravest moment in life was leaving her cheating husband back in San Francisco and driving herself to Reno.

A novel about divorce, marriage and everything that comes in between (money, class, ambition and opportunity), BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME is a hilarious yet poignant examination of the ways friendship can save us, love can destroy us, and the family we create can be stronger than the family we come from.

Editorial Content for Black Buck

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For fans of Sorry to Bother You and The Wolf of Wall Street comes a crackling, satirical debut novel about a young man given a shot at stardom as the lone Black salesman at a mysterious, cult-like and wildly successful startup where nothing is as it seems.

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For fans of Sorry to Bother You and The Wolf of Wall Street comes a crackling, satirical debut novel about a young man given a shot at stardom as the lone Black salesman at a mysterious, cult-like and wildly successful startup where nothing is as it seems.

About the Book

For fans of Sorry to Bother You and The Wolf of Wall Street --- a crackling, satirical debut novel about a young man given a shot at stardom as the lone Black salesman at a mysterious, cult-like and wildly successful startup where nothing is as it seems.

There’s nothing like a Black salesman on a mission.

An unambitious 22-year-old, Darren lives in a Bed-Stuy brownstone with his mother, who wants nothing more than to see him live up to his potential as the valedictorian of Bronx Science. But Darren is content working at Starbucks in the lobby of a midtown office building, hanging out with his girlfriend, Soraya, and eating his mother’s home-cooked meals. All that changes when a chance encounter with Rhett Daniels, the silver-tongued CEO of Sumwun, NYC’s hottest tech startup, results in an exclusive invitation for Darren to join an elite sales team on the 36th floor.

After enduring a “hell week” of training, Darren, the only Black person in the company, reimagines himself as “Buck,” a ruthless salesman unrecognizable to his friends and family. But when things turn tragic at home and Buck feels he’s hit rock bottom, he begins to hatch a plan to help young people of color infiltrate America’s sales force, setting off a chain of events that forever changes the game.

BLACK BUCK is a hilarious, razor-sharp skewering of America’s workforce. It is a propulsive, crackling debut that explores ambition and race, and makes way for a necessary new vision of the American dream.

Editorial Content for The Children's Blizzard

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From the New York Times bestselling author of THE AVIATOR’S WIFE comes a story of courage on the prairie, inspired by the devastating storm that struck the Great Plains in 1888, threatening the lives of hundreds of immigrant homesteaders, especially schoolchildren.

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From the New York Times bestselling author of THE AVIATOR’S WIFE comes a story of courage on the prairie, inspired by the devastating storm that struck the Great Plains in 1888, threatening the lives of hundreds of immigrant homesteaders, especially schoolchildren.

About the Book

From the New York Times bestselling author of THE AVIATOR’S WIFE comes a story of courage on the prairie, inspired by the devastating storm that struck the Great Plains in 1888, threatening the lives of hundreds of immigrant homesteaders, especially schoolchildren.

The morning of January 12, 1888, was unusually mild, following a punishing cold spell. It was warm enough for the homesteaders of the Dakota Territory to venture out again, and for their children to return to school without their heavy coats --- leaving them unprepared when disaster struck. At the hour when most prairie schools were letting out for the day, a terrifying, fast-moving blizzard blew in without warning. Schoolteachers as young as 16 were suddenly faced with life and death decisions: Keep the children inside, to risk freezing to death when fuel ran out, or send them home, praying they wouldn’t get lost in the storm.

Based on actual oral histories of survivors, this gripping novel follows the stories of Raina and Gerda Olsen, two sisters, both schoolteachers --- one becomes a hero of the storm and the other finds herself ostracized in the aftermath. It’s also the story of Anette Pedersen, a servant girl whose miraculous survival serves as a turning point in her life and touches the heart of Gavin Woodson, a newspaperman seeking redemption. It was Woodson and others like him who wrote the embellished news stories that lured northern European immigrants across the sea to settle a pitiless land. Boosters needed them to settle territories into states, and they didn’t care what lies they told these families to get them there --- or whose land it originally was.

At its heart, this is a story of courage, of children forced to grow up too soon, tied to the land because of their parents’ choices. It is a story of love taking root in the hard prairie ground, and of families being torn asunder by a ferocious storm that is little remembered today --- because so many of its victims were immigrants to this country.

Editorial Content for Dead to Her

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For fans of Liane Moriarty, Liv Constantine and Lisa Jewell, DEAD TO HER is a twisty psychological thriller about a savvy second wife who will do almost anything to come out on top.

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For fans of Liane Moriarty, Liv Constantine and Lisa Jewell, DEAD TO HER is a twisty psychological thriller about a savvy second wife who will do almost anything to come out on top.

About the Book

For fans of Liane Moriarty, Liv Constantine and Lisa Jewell, a twisty psychological thriller about a savvy second wife who will do almost anything to come out on top from the New York Times bestselling author of BEHIND HER EYES.

Marriage can be murder…

SOMETHING OLD
Marcie’s affair with Jason Maddox catapulted her into the world of the elite. Old money, old ties, old secrets. Marcie may have married into this world --- but she’ll never be part of it.

SOMETHING NEW
Then Jason’s boss brings back a new wife from his trip to London. Young, attractive, reckless --- nobody can take their eyes off Keisha. Including Marcie’s husband.

SOMETHING YOU CAN NEVER, EVER UNDO…
Some people would kill for the life Marcie has. What will she do to keep it?

Editorial Content for The Four Winds (Audiobook)

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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.

Promo

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.

About the Book

This audiobook includes a bonus conversation with author Kristin Hannah and narrator Julia Whelan.

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.

My land tells its story if you listen. The story of our family.”

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.

Editorial Content for The Lying Life of Adults

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THE LYING LIFE OF ADULTS is a powerful new novel set in a divided Naples by Elena Ferrante, the New York Times bestselling author of MY BRILLIANT FRIEND and THE LOST DAUGHTER.

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THE LYING LIFE OF ADULTS is a powerful new novel set in a divided Naples by Elena Ferrante, the New York Times bestselling author of MY BRILLIANT FRIEND and THE LOST DAUGHTER.

About the Book

A powerful new novel set in a divided Naples by Elena Ferrante, the New York Times bestselling author of MY BRILLIANT FRIEND and THE LOST DAUGHTER.

Giovanna’s pretty face is changing, turning ugly, at least so her father thinks. Giovanna, he says, looks more like her Aunt Vittoria every day. But can it be true? Is she really changing? Is she turning into her Aunt Vittoria, a woman she hardly knows but whom her mother and father clearly despise? Surely there is a mirror somewhere in which she can see herself as she truly is.

Giovanna is searching for her reflection in two kindred cities that fear and detest one another: Naples of the heights, which assumes a mask of refinement, and Naples of the depths, a place of excess and vulgarity. She moves from one to the other in search of the truth, but neither city seems to offer answers or escape.

Named one of 2016’s most influential people by TIME Magazine and frequently touted as a future Nobel Prize winner, Elena Ferrante has become one of the world’s most read and beloved writers. With this new novel about the transition from childhood to adolescence to adulthood, Ferrante proves once again that she deserves her many accolades. In THE LYING LIFE OF ADULTS, readers will discover another gripping, highly addictive and totally unforgettable Neapolitan story.

Editorial Content for The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

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The New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM returns with a thrilling reconstruction of one of the most notorious events in literary history: Agatha Christie's mysterious 11-day disappearance in 1926.

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The New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM returns with a thrilling reconstruction of one of the most notorious events in literary history: Agatha Christie's mysterious 11-day disappearance in 1926.

About the Book

The New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM returns with a thrilling reconstruction of one of the most notorious events in literary history: Agatha Christie's mysterious 11-day disappearance in 1926.

In December 1926, Agatha Christie goes missing. Investigators find her empty car on the edge of a deep, gloomy pond, the only clues some tire tracks nearby and a fur coat left in the car --- strange for a frigid night. Her World War I veteran husband and her daughter have no knowledge of her whereabouts, and England unleashes an unprecedented manhunt to find the up-and-coming mystery author. Eleven days later, she reappears, just as mysteriously as she disappeared, claiming amnesia and providing no explanations for her time away.

The puzzle of those missing 11 days has persisted. With her trademark historical fiction exploration into the shadows of the past, acclaimed author Marie Benedict brings us into the world of Agatha Christie, imagining why such a brilliant woman would find herself at the center of such murky historical mysteries.

What is real, and what is mystery? What role did her unfaithful husband play, and what was he not telling investigators?

Agatha Christie novels have withstood the test of time, due in no small part to Christie's masterful storytelling and clever mind that may never be matched, but Agatha Christie's untold history offers perhaps her greatest mystery of all.

Fans of THE SECRETS WE KEPT, THE LIONS OF FIFTH AVENUE and THE ALICE NETWORK will enjoy this riveting saga of literary history, suspense and love gone wrong.

Editorial Content for No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality

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In NO TIME LIKE THE FUTURE, actor and advocate Michael J. Fox shares personal stories and observations about illness and health, aging, the strength of family and friends, and how our perceptions about time affect the way we approach mortality.

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In NO TIME LIKE THE FUTURE, actor and advocate Michael J. Fox shares personal stories and observations about illness and health, aging, the strength of family and friends, and how our perceptions about time affect the way we approach mortality.

About the Book

A moving account of resilience, hope, fear and mortality, and how these things resonate in our lives, by actor and advocate Michael J. Fox.

The entire world knows Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly, the teenage sidekick of Doc Brown in Back to the Future; as Alex P. Keaton in “Family Ties”; as Mike Flaherty in “Spin City”; and through numerous other movie roles and guest appearances on shows such as “The Good Wife” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Diagnosed at age 29, Fox is equally engaged in Parkinson’s advocacy work, raising global awareness of the disease and helping find a cure through The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, the world’s leading non-profit funder of PD science. His two previous bestselling memoirs, LUCKY MAN and ALWAYS LOOKING UP, dealt with how he came to terms with the illness, all the while exhibiting his iconic optimism. His new memoir reassesses this outlook, as events in the past decade presented additional challenges.

In NO TIME LIKE THE FUTURE: An Optimist Considers Mortality, Michael shares personal stories and observations about illness and health, aging, the strength of family and friends, and how our perceptions about time affect the way we approach mortality. Thoughtful and moving, but with Fox’s trademark sense of humor, his book provides a vehicle for reflection about our lives, our loves and our losses.

Running through the narrative is the drama of the medical madness Fox recently experienced, which included his daily negotiations with the Parkinson’s disease he’s had since 1991 and a spinal cord issue that necessitated immediate surgery. His challenge to learn how to walk again, only to suffer a devastating fall, nearly caused him to ditch his trademark optimism and “get out of the lemonade business altogether.”

Does he make it all the way back? Read the book.