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William Shakespeare

A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.

Attribution

William Shakespeare

April 22, 2016

The traffic driving home a couple of nights this week was a nightmare; one night it took two hours, which is a lot of time behind the wheel. The annoyance of it was overcome as I listened to THE RAINBOW COMES AND GOES, narrated by Anderson Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt. The “conversation” between them originated in a yearlong set of emails, and they covered many pivotal and inconsequential moments that have happened in their lives, which I found fascinating. From start to finish, they unraveled so much that had been hidden in their lives, as well as encouraging one another. They are so different and yet so alike. I highly recommend it.

Nathalia Holt, author of Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, from Missiles to the Moon to Mars

In the 1940s and ’50s, when the newly minted Jet Propulsion Laboratory needed quick-thinking mathematicians to calculate velocities and plot trajectories, they didn't turn to male graduates. Rather, they recruited an elite group of young women who, with only pencil, paper and mathematical prowess, transformed rocket design, helped bring about the first American satellites, and made the exploration of the solar system possible.

L. S. Hilton, author of Maestra

By day, Judith Rashleigh is a put-upon assistant at a prestigious London art house. By night, she’s a hostess at one of the capital’s notorious champagne bars, although her work there pales against her activities on nights off. Feeling reckless, she accompanies one of the champagne bar’s biggest clients to the French Riviera, only to find herself alone again after a fatal accident. Tired of striving and the slow crawl to the top, Judith has a realization: If you need to turn yourself into someone else, loneliness is a good place to start.

Mary Higgins Clark, author of As Time Goes By

Television journalist Delaney Wright is on the brink of stardom after she begins covering a sensational murder trial. She should be thrilled, yet her growing desire to locate her birth mother consumes her thoughts. When Delaney’s friends, Alvirah Meehan and her husband, Willy, offer to look into the mystery surrounding her birth, they uncover a shocking secret they do not want to reveal. On trial for murder is Betsy Grant, widow of a wealthy doctor who has been an Alzheimer’s victim for eight years.

Curtis Sittenfeld, author of Eligible

This version of the Bennet family --- and Mr. Darcy --- is one that you have and haven’t met before. Liz is a magazine writer in her late 30s who, like her yoga instructor older sister, Jane, lives in New York City. When their father has a health scare, they return to their childhood home in Cincinnati to help --- and discover that the sprawling Tudor they grew up in is crumbling and the family is in disarray.

David Baldacci, author of The Last Mile

Convicted murderer Melvin Mars is counting down the last hours before his execution --- for the violent killing of his parents 20 years earlier --- when he's granted an unexpected reprieve. Another man has confessed to the crime. Amos Decker, newly hired on an FBI special task force, takes an interest in Mars' case after discovering the striking similarities to his own life. Who wants Mars out of prison? And why now?

Editorial Content for The Murder of Mary Russell: A Novel of Suspense Featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Norah Piehl

Laurie R. King was riffing on Sherlock Holmes before it was cool to do so. These days, with the popularity of television shows like “Sherlock” and “Elementary,” it can be easy to forget that King was putting her own spin on the Holmes stories more than 20 years ago. Her Holmes is an aging detective, paired with his much younger wife, Mary Russell, who complements his talents with her own investigative skills. Read More

Teaser

Mary Russell is used to dark secrets --- her own, and those of her famous partner and husband, Sherlock Holmes. Trust is a thing slowly given, but over the course of a decade together, the two have forged an indissoluble bond. And what of the other person to whom Russell has opened her heart: the couple’s longtime housekeeper, Mrs. Hudson? Russell’s faith and affection are suddenly shattered when a man arrives on the doorstep claiming to be Mrs. Hudson’s son. What Samuel Hudson tells Russell cannot possibly be true, yet she believes him --- as surely as she believes the threat of the gun in his hand. In a devastating instant, everything changes.

Promo

Mary Russell is used to dark secrets --- her own, and those of her famous partner and husband, Sherlock Holmes. Trust is a thing slowly given, but over the course of a decade together, the two have forged an indissoluble bond. And what of the other person to whom Russell has opened her heart: the couple’s longtime housekeeper, Mrs. Hudson? Russell’s faith and affection are suddenly shattered when a man arrives on the doorstep claiming to be Mrs. Hudson’s son. What Samuel Hudson tells Russell cannot possibly be true, yet she believes him --- as surely as she believes the threat of the gun in his hand. In a devastating instant, everything changes.

About the Book

Laurie R. King’s bestselling Mary Russell-Sherlock Holmes series weaves rich historical detail and provocative themes with intriguing characters and enthralling suspense. Russell and Holmes have become one of modern literature’s most beloved teams. But does this adventure end it all?
 
Mary Russell is used to dark secrets --- her own, and those of her famous partner and husband, Sherlock Holmes. Trust is a thing slowly given, but over the course of a decade together, the two have forged an indissoluble bond.
 
And what of the other person to whom Mary Russell has opened her heart: the couple’s longtime housekeeper, Mrs. Hudson? Russell’s faith and affection are suddenly shattered when a man arrives on the doorstep claiming to be Mrs. Hudson’s son.
 
What Samuel Hudson tells Russell cannot possibly be true, yet she believes him --- as surely as she believes the threat of the gun in his hand. In a devastating instant, everything changes. And when the scene is discovered --- a pool of blood on the floor, the smell of gunpowder in the air --- the most shocking revelation of all is that the grim clues point directly to Clara Hudson.
 
Or rather to Clarissa, the woman she was before Baker Street.
 
The key to Russell’s sacrifice lies in Mrs. Hudson’s past. To uncover the truth, a frantic Sherlock Holmes must put aside his anguish and push deep into his housekeeper’s secrets --- to a time before her disguise was assumed, before her crimes were buried away.
 
There is death here, and murder, and trust betrayed.
 
And nothing will ever be the same.

Audiobook available, narrated by Jenny Sterlin and Susan Lyons

Editorial Content for Before We Visit the Goddess

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Jane Krebs

There is something exciting about watching the pieces of a puzzle fall into place, even if you are not making the actual moves. And there is something satisfying about seeing characters in a novel you have grown to love become more than you had hoped. In BEFORE WE VISIT THE GODDESS, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s 16th novel, four generations of one family pass on the losses and misjudgments of one mother to her daughter, to her daughter, to her daughter. Read More

Teaser

As the young daughter of a poor rural baker, Sabitri yearns to get an education, but schooling is impossible on the meager profits from her mother’s sweetshop. When a powerful local woman takes Sabitri under her wing, her generous offer soon proves dangerous after Sabitri makes a single, unforgivable misstep. Years later, Sabitri’s own daughter, Bela, haunted by her mother’s choices, flees to America with her political refugee lover --- but the world she finds is vastly different from her dreams. As the marriage crumbles and Bela decides to forge her own path, she unwittingly teaches her little girl, Tara, indelible lessons about freedom and loyalty that will take a lifetime to unravel.

Promo

As the young daughter of a poor rural baker, Sabitri yearns to get an education, but schooling is impossible on the meager profits from her mother’s sweetshop. When a powerful local woman takes Sabitri under her wing, her generous offer soon proves dangerous after Sabitri makes a single, unforgivable misstep. Years later, Sabitri’s own daughter, Bela, haunted by her mother’s choices, flees to America with her political refugee lover --- but the world she finds is vastly different from her dreams. As the marriage crumbles and Bela decides to forge her own path, she unwittingly teaches her little girl, Tara, indelible lessons about freedom and loyalty that will take a lifetime to unravel.

About the Book

The new bestseller from award-winning Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, now available in paperback in the US and India

The daughter of a poor sweet-maker in rural Bengal, India, Sabitri yearns to get an education. However, her family’s situation makes college an impossible dream. Then an influential woman from Kolkata takes Sabitri under her wing, but her generosity curdles after a single, unforgivable misstep. Years later, Sabitri’s daughter, Bela, haunted by her mother’s choices, flees to America with her political refugee lover, only to find the country --- and love --- vastly different from her imaginings. Forced to forge her own path, Bela unwittingly imprints her own child, Tara, with dangerous lessons about adulthood that will take a lifetime to unlearn.

In her latest novel, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni explores the relationships between mothers and daughters, and the different kinds of love that bind us across generations. BEFORE WE VISIT THE GODDESS captures the gorgeous complexity of these multi-generational and transcontinental bonds, sweeping across the 20th century from the countryside of Bengal, India, to the streets of Houston, Texas --- an extraordinary journey told through a sparkling symphony of male and female voices.

Editorial Content for Game 7, 1986: Failure and Triumph in the Biggest Game of My Life

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Ron Kaplan

Regrets, he’s had a few. Enough to write a book about.

Ron Darling, a member of that championship Mets team and the excellent broadcast team that covers the present-day squad, joins the bandwagon of books this year celebrating the 30th anniversary of the 1986 season and last year’s mostly satisfying success. Read More

Teaser

Every little kid who's ever taken the mound in Little League dreams of someday getting the ball for Game Seven of the World Series. Ron Darling got to live that dream --- only it didn't go exactly as planned. In GAME 7, 1986, the award-winning baseball analyst looks back at what might have been a signature moment in his career, and reflects on the ways professional athletes must sometimes shoulder a personal disappointment as their teams find a way to win.

Promo

Every little kid who's ever taken the mound in Little League dreams of someday getting the ball for Game Seven of the World Series. Ron Darling got to live that dream --- only it didn't go exactly as planned. In GAME 7, 1986, the award-winning baseball analyst looks back at what might have been a signature moment in his career, and reflects on the ways professional athletes must sometimes shoulder a personal disappointment as their teams find a way to win.

About the Book

Every little kid who's ever taken the mound in Little League dreams of someday getting the ball for Game Seven of the World Series. Ron Darling got to live that dream --- only it didn't go exactly as planned. In GAME 7, 1986, the award-winning baseball analyst looks back at what might have been a signature moment in his career, and reflects on the ways professional athletes must sometimes shoulder a personal disappointment as their teams find a way to win.

Published to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the 1986 New York Mets championship season, Darling's book will break down one of baseball's great "forgotten" games --- a game that stands as a thrilling, telling and tantalizing exclamation point to one of the best-remembered seasons in Major League Baseball history. Working once again with New York Times bestselling collaborator Daniel Paisner, who teamed with the former All-Star pitcher on his acclaimed 2009 memoir, THE COMPLETE GAME, Darling offers a book for the thinking baseball fan, a chance to reflect on what it means to compete at the game's highest level, with everything on the line.