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Bookreporter.com Bets On...

With thousands of books published each year and much attention paid to the works of bestselling and well-known authors, it is inevitable that some titles worthy of praise and discussion may not get the attention we think they deserve. Thus throughout the year, we will continue this feature that we started in 2009, to spotlight books that immediately struck a chord with us and made us say “just read this.” We will alert our readers about these titles as soon as they’re released so you can discover them for yourselves and recommend them to your family and friends.

Below are all of our selections thus far. For future "Bets On" titles that we will announce shortly after their release dates, please visit this page.

Tiny Imperfections by Alli Frank and Asha Youmans

May 2020

I read TINY IMPERFECTIONS back in January after meeting the authors, Alli Frank and Asha Youmans, at the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting. Their presentation was so good that I could not wait to read it. In fact, Asha handed me her personal copy, which her mother had wrapped in a fabulous plastic cover.

Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner

May 2020

BIG SUMMER by Jennifer Weiner is a juicy beach read. Again, Jen tackles a theme for which readers turn to her --- the complicated and often fraught nature of female friendship. Here, we have Daphne, a woman who has learned to love her body for what it is, who strives not to cycle back to her high-school self when her friend Drue, the “it” girl, comes back on the scene with an unusual request --- for her to be the maid of honor at her wedding, which is taking place on Cape Cod.

Hello, Summer by Mary Kay Andrews

May 2020

HELLO, SUMMER by Mary Kay Andrews is a juicy summer read with a mystery woven between the pages. In it, Conley is a young reporter set to leave her Atlanta job to head to Washington, D.C., to work at a hot investigative reporting website when suddenly the company there folds. Without a job or an apartment, she is forced to head back to her small hometown in Florida and work for the local paper that her family owns.

All Adults Here by Emma Straub

May 2020

ALL ADULTS HERE by Emma Straub brings us a mother and her three adult children, all of whom are coming to terms with who they are in life today. Let’s just say they are not the versions of themselves that they once imagined, but they are still family --- and it’s challenging to share their lives now, but onward they stride. It’s a wonderful balance of being simultaneously heartfelt, witty and relatable.

Ghosts of Harvard by Francesca Serritella

May 2020

GHOSTS OF HARVARD by Francesca Serritella is set at Harvard University, where Cady has just started freshman year. Heading to Harvard was a big deal for her family. The spring before, her brother, Eric, who suffered from schizophrenia, died by suicide there. So naturally, while she's there, the impact of losing him is very fresh on her mind. Cady is trying to figure out why he made the choice to take his life; to do that, she’s tracking down his friends and others who knew him. There are many times when she questions her own sanity as she navigates his world. There are some voices she's hearing that make little sense to her, until she listens closely to what they have to say and later what their presence meant to her.

Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker

April 2020

Last fall, I heard Robert Kolker talk about HIDDEN VALLEY ROAD: Inside the Mind of an American Family, and I was completely caught up in its subject. This is the story of the Galvin family from Colorado Springs, Colorado. They have 12 children, 10 of them boys, and six of those boys have schizophrenia. I love narrative nonfiction when it is in the hands of a great storyteller, which is exactly what we have here. Kolker is skilled at giving us the opportunity to know not only the family, but also the science behind this mental illness.

A Good Neighborhood by Therese Anne Fowler

March 2020

Therese Anne Fowler’s A GOOD NEIGHBORHOOD is a novel that I have been thinking about since I read a very early advance copy a year ago. Yes, you read that right, a year ago. I reread it this week and again realized how powerful it is. It’s set in a quiet suburban town in North Carolina, where neighbors are neighborly and life is peaceful…until it’s not. On one of these quiet blocks, a house is razed, and in its place a larger-than-usual house is built, along with a swimming pool. Suddenly the balance of the neighborhood shifts as the new neighbor is someone who has a lofty view of his life compared to others.

In Five Years by Rebecca Serle

March 2020

Rebecca Serle’s IN FIVE YEARS is a tightly written novel about a twentysomething woman who has everything planned. Yes, Dannie’s five-year plan is locked and loaded. She will make partner at her law firm, marry her boyfriend and live in Gramercy Park. And nothing is going to get in her way.

The Jetsetters by Amanda Eyre Ward

March 2020

In THE JETSETTERS by Amanda Eyre Ward, Charlotte Perkins wins an essay contest to “Become a Jetsetter.” The prize winners include not only her, but also her three children, who are estranged. A 10-day cruise to Athens and Rome on an over-the-top cruise ship, the Splendido Marveloso (you have to love the name), sounds like the perfect way for them to reunite…with a fun vacation. Emphasis here on “sounds perfect.”

Big Lies in a Small Town (Audiobook) by Diane Chamberlain

March 2020

I listened to Diane Chamberlain's BIG LIES IN A SMALL TOWN, read by Susan Bennett --- and the auditory experience was terrific. It’s set in a small southern town in North Carolina in two different time frames: 1940 and 2018.

In 1940, a young woman named Anna Dale from Plainfield, New Jersey, is hired to paint a mural for the Edenton, NC post office. She is the winner in a national contest where murals are to be hung in local areas to showcase appreciation of the towns. Her life is lonely; her mom recently passed away, so she jumps at this opportunity. What she does not know is how the town she is going to be working in is harboring deep prejudices and animosity toward her as an outsider. The mural is neither finished nor hung, and is long forgotten by many.