Skip to main content

Editorial Content for In the Midst of Winter

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Jana Siciliano

Isabel Allende, like any prolific talented writer with a long career, has themes that are very meaningful to her, and she explores them in book after book. Politics, family, generational pride and history, human rights and, of course, passion and love are some of these pertinent topics. IN THE MIDST OF WINTER is another example of the beautiful prose of this remarkable strong woman, activist and writer whose every tome seems to only deepen our respect for her talent and wisdom. Read More

Teaser

During the biggest Brooklyn snowstorm in living memory, Richard Bowmaster, a lonely university professor in his 60s, hits the car of Evelyn Ortega, a young undocumented immigrant from Guatemala. What at first seems an inconvenience takes a more serious turn when Evelyn comes to his house, seeking help. At a loss, the professor asks his tenant, Lucia Maraz, a fellow academic from Chile, for her advice. As these three lives intertwine, each will discover truths about how they have been shaped by the tragedies they witnessed, and Richard and Lucia will find unexpected, long overdue love.

Promo

During the biggest Brooklyn snowstorm in living memory, Richard Bowmaster, a lonely university professor in his 60s, hits the car of Evelyn Ortega, a young undocumented immigrant from Guatemala. What at first seems an inconvenience takes a more serious turn when Evelyn comes to his house, seeking help. At a loss, the professor asks his tenant, Lucia Maraz, a fellow academic from Chile, for her advice. As these three lives intertwine, each will discover truths about how they have been shaped by the tragedies they witnessed, and Richard and Lucia will find unexpected, long overdue love.

About the Book

New York Times and worldwide bestselling author Isabel Allende returns with a sweeping novel that journeys from present-day Brooklyn to Guatemala in the recent past to 1970s Chile and Brazil.

An instant New York Times bestseller, IN THE MIDST OF WINTER is about three very different people who are brought together in a mesmerizing story that offers “a timely message about immigration and the meaning of home” (People).

During the biggest Brooklyn snowstorm in living memory, Richard Bowmaster, a lonely university professor in his 60s, hits the car of Evelyn Ortega, a young undocumented immigrant from Guatemala, and what at first seems an inconvenience takes a more serious turn when Evelyn comes to his house, seeking help. At a loss, the professor asks his tenant, Lucia Maraz, a fellow academic from Chile, for her advice.

As these three lives intertwine, each will discover truths about how they have been shaped by the tragedies they witnessed, and Richard and Lucia will find unexpected, long-overdue love. Allende returns here to themes that have propelled some of her finest work: political injustice, the art of survival, and the essential nature of --- and our need for --- love.

Audiobook available; read by Dennis Boutsikaris, Jasmine Cephas Jones and Alma Cuervo

Editorial Content for The Deal of a Lifetime

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Kate Ayers

Christmas Eve: It’s a special time, everyone would agree. And a father has a special story for his adult son. He hasn’t seen him in a while, and now it will be even longer until he sees him again. By Christmas morning, the father will be gone, for he has taken a life. The story he wants to tell his son he hopes will explain everything, but it seems unlikely. Read More

Teaser

It all begins with a father telling a story to his son on Christmas Eve. But this isn’t your typical Christmas story. The father admits to his son that he’s taken a life, but he won’t say whose --- not yet. One week earlier, in a hospital late at night, the man met a five-year-old girl with cancer. She’s smart enough to know that she won’t beat cancer by drawing with crayons all day, but it seems to make the adults happy, so she keeps doing it. The man is given the unexpected chance to do something selfless that could change the destiny of this little girl. But before he can make the deal of a lifetime, he needs to find out what his own life has actually been worth in the eyes of his son. And so he seeks him out and tells him this story.

Promo

It all begins with a father telling a story to his son on Christmas Eve. But this isn’t your typical Christmas story. The father admits to his son that he’s taken a life, but he won’t say whose --- not yet. One week earlier, in a hospital late at night, the man met a five-year-old girl with cancer. She’s smart enough to know that she won’t beat cancer by drawing with crayons all day, but it seems to make the adults happy, so she keeps doing it. The man is given the unexpected chance to do something selfless that could change the destiny of this little girl. But before he can make the deal of a lifetime, he needs to find out what his own life has actually been worth in the eyes of his son. And so he seeks him out and tells him this story.

About the Book

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of A MAN CALLED OVE and BEARTOWN delivers an insightful and poignant holiday novella about a man who sacrificed his family in the single-minded pursuit of success and the courageous little girl fighting for her life who crosses his path.

It all begins with a father telling a story to his son on Christmas Eve. But this isn’t your typical Christmas story. The father admits to his son that he’s taken a life, but he won’t say whose --- not yet.

One week earlier, in a hospital late at night, the man met a five-year-old girl with cancer. She’s a smart kid --- smart enough to know that she won’t beat cancer by drawing with crayons all day, but it seems to make the adults happy, so she keeps doing it.

As the man tells his son about this plucky little girl, he slowly reveals more about himself: while he may be a successful businessman, idolized by the media and his peers, he knows he failed as a parent. Overwhelmed by the responsibility of fatherhood, he took the easy way out and left his wife and little boy 20 years ago to pursue professional success. Now he is left wondering if it’s too late to forge a relationship with his son, who seems to be his opposite in every way --- prizing happiness over money, surrounded by loving friends in a cozy town where he feels right at home.

Face to face with the idea that something is missing, the man is given the unexpected chance to do something selfless that could change the destiny of the little girl in the hospital bed. But before he can make the deal of a lifetime, he needs to find out what his own life has actually been worth in the eyes of his son. And so, he seeks him out and tells him this story.

Written with Fredrik Backman’s signature humor, compassion, and “knack for weaving tales that are believable and fanciful” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch), THE DEAL OF A LIFETIME reminds us that life is a fleeting gift, and our only legacy is how we share that gift with those we love.

Audiobook available, read by Santino Fontana

Editorial Content for The First Major: The Inside Story of the 2016 Ryder Cup

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Stuart Shiffman

John Feinstein has achieved a well-deserved reputation as the author of classic sports histories. In addition to his sports commentary and a column in The Washington Post, his bestselling book career began with A SEASON ON THE BRINK, the story of one season of Indiana University basketball during the Bobby Knight era. Since then, he has written books with topics ranging from college basketball to professional football, and biographies of iconic sports figures. Read More

Teaser

The rivalry between the U.S. and European teams was at an all-time high even before the first swing of the 2016 Ryder Cup. The Americans had lost an astounding six out of the last seven matches. With the U.S. team out for revenge and the Europeans determined to keep the Cup out of American hands, the showdown took place in Hazeltine, Minnesota --- just days after the death of golf legend Arnold Palmer. It became one of the most raucous and heated face-offs in the Cup’s history. Award-winning author John Feinstein takes readers behind the scenes, providing an inside view of the dramatic stories as they unfolded.

Promo

The rivalry between the U.S. and European teams was at an all-time high even before the first swing of the 2016 Ryder Cup. The Americans had lost an astounding six out of the last seven matches. With the U.S. team out for revenge and the Europeans determined to keep the Cup out of American hands, the showdown took place in Hazeltine, Minnesota --- just days after the death of golf legend Arnold Palmer. It became one of the most raucous and heated face-offs in the Cup’s history. Award-winning author John Feinstein takes readers behind the scenes, providing an inside view of the dramatic stories as they unfolded.

About the Book

The rivalry between the U.S. and European teams was at an all-time high even before the first swing of the 2016 Ryder Cup. The Americans had lost an astounding six out of the last seven matches. With the U.S. team out for revenge and the Europeans determined to keep the Cup out of American hands, the showdown took place in Hazeltine, Minnesota --- just days after the death of golf legend Arnold Palmer. It became one of the most raucous and heated face-offs in the Cup’s history.
 
Award-winning author John Feinstein takes readers behind the scenes, providing an inside view of the dramatic stories as they unfolded, including the assembly of veteran Phil Mickelson’s superb team, the intense match between European superstar Rory McIlroy and American Patrick Reed that almost came to blows, and the return of Tiger Woods. Throughout, Feinstein vividly illustrates why the Ryder Cup has become golf’s most intense and emotional event.

Audiobook available, read by John Feinstein

Editorial Content for Hiddensee: A Tale of the Once and Future Nutcracker

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Norah Piehl

Gregory Maguire may have started his writing career as a novelist for young people, but he quickly parlayed that love of children’s tales into a wildly successful career turning children’s stories inside out and upside down in his novels for adults. The most famous example, of course, is WICKED and its sequels, based on the Oz books, but he also has written books that feature Cinderella, Snow White and Alice in Wonderland. Read More

Teaser

Having brought his legions of devoted readers to Oz in WICKED and to Wonderland in AFTER ALICE, Gregory Maguire now takes us to the realms of the Brothers Grimm and E. T. A. Hoffmann --- the enchanted Black Forest of Bavaria and the salons of Munich. HIDDENSEE imagines the backstory of the Nutcracker, revealing how this entrancing creature came to be carved and how he guided an ailing girl named Klara through a dreamy paradise on a Christmas Eve. At the heart of Hoffmann's mysterious tale hovers Godfather Drosselmeier --- the ominous, canny, one-eyed toy maker made immortal by Petipa and Tchaikovsky's fairy tale ballet --- who presents the once and future Nutcracker to Klara, his goddaughter.

Promo

Having brought his legions of devoted readers to Oz in WICKED and to Wonderland in AFTER ALICE, Gregory Maguire now takes us to the realms of the Brothers Grimm and E. T. A. Hoffmann --- the enchanted Black Forest of Bavaria and the salons of Munich. HIDDENSEE imagines the backstory of the Nutcracker, revealing how this entrancing creature came to be carved and how he guided an ailing girl named Klara through a dreamy paradise on a Christmas Eve. At the heart of Hoffmann's mysterious tale hovers Godfather Drosselmeier --- the ominous, canny, one-eyed toy maker made immortal by Petipa and Tchaikovsky's fairy tale ballet --- who presents the once and future Nutcracker to Klara, his goddaughter.

About the Book

From the author of the beloved #1 New York Times bestseller WICKED, the magical story of a toymaker, a nutcracker, and a legend remade

Gregory Maguire returns with an inventive novel inspired by a timeless holiday legend, intertwining the story of the famous Nutcracker with the life of the mysterious toy maker named Drosselmeier who carves him.

Hiddensee: An island of white sandy beaches, salt marshes, steep cliffs, and pine forests north of Berlin in the Baltic Sea, an island that is an enchanting bohemian retreat and home to a large artists' colony --- a wellspring of inspiration for the Romantic imagination...

Having brought his legions of devoted readers to Oz in WICKED and to Wonderland in AFTER ALICE, Maguire now takes us to the realms of the Brothers Grimm and E. T. A. Hoffmann --- the enchanted Black Forest of Bavaria and the salons of Munich. HIDDENSEE imagines the backstory of the Nutcracker, revealing how this entrancing creature came to be carved and how he guided an ailing girl named Klara through a dreamy paradise on a Christmas Eve. At the heart of Hoffmann's mysterious tale hovers Godfather Drosselmeier --- the ominous, canny, one-eyed toy maker made immortal by Petipa and Tchaikovsky's fairy tale ballet --- who presents the once and future Nutcracker to Klara, his goddaughter.

But HIDDENSEE is not just a retelling of a classic story. Maguire discovers in the flowering of German Romanticism ties to Hellenic mystery-cults --- a fascination with death and the afterlife --- and ponders a profound question: How can a person who is abused by life, shortchanged and challenged, nevertheless access secrets that benefit the disadvantaged and powerless? Ultimately, HIDDENSEE offers a message of hope. If the compromised Godfather Drosselmeier can bring an enchanted Nutcracker to a young girl in distress on a dark winter evening, perhaps everyone, however lonely or marginalized, has something precious to share.

Audiobook available, performed by Steven Crossley

Editorial Content for The Core: Book Five of The Demon Cycle

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Stephen Hubbard

It has been a long and incredible journey as Peter V. Brett has unfolded The Demon Cycle. With each book in this series, he has shown his ability to engage a reader in an epic tale with increasing skill, solidifying himself as one of the preeminent voices in modern fantasy. Now, with THE CORE, the grand finale, Brett takes us on a thrilling adventure that is, without question, his greatest achievement yet. Read More

Teaser

Arlen Bales became known as the Warded Man, tattooed head to toe with powerful magic symbols that enable him to fight demons in hand-to-hand combat. Jardir, armed with magically warded weapons, called himself the Deliverer, a figure prophesied to unite humanity and lead them to triumph in Sharak Ka --- the final war against demonkind. But in their efforts to bring the war to the demons, Arlen and Jardir have set something in motion that may prove the end of everything they hold dear --- a swarm. Now the war is at hand, and humanity cannot hope to win it unless Arlen and Jardir can bend a captured demon prince to their will and force the devious creature to lead them to the Core, where the Mother of Demons breeds an inexhaustible army.

Promo

Arlen Bales became known as the Warded Man, tattooed head to toe with powerful magic symbols that enable him to fight demons in hand-to-hand combat. Jardir, armed with magically warded weapons, called himself the Deliverer, a figure prophesied to unite humanity and lead them to triumph in Sharak Ka --- the final war against demonkind. But in their efforts to bring the war to the demons, Arlen and Jardir have set something in motion that may prove the end of everything they hold dear --- a swarm. Now the war is at hand, and humanity cannot hope to win it unless Arlen and Jardir can bend a captured demon prince to their will and force the devious creature to lead them to the Core, where the Mother of Demons breeds an inexhaustible army.

About the Book

New York Times bestselling author Peter V. Brett brings one of the most imaginative fantasy sagas of the 21st century to an epic close.

For time out of mind, bloodthirsty demons have stalked the night, culling the human race to scattered remnants dependent on half-forgotten magics to protect them. Then two heroes arose --- men as close as brothers, yet divided by bitter betrayal. Arlen Bales became known as the Warded Man, tattooed head to toe with powerful magic symbols that enable him to fight demons in hand-to-hand combat --- and emerge victorious. Jardir, armed with magically warded weapons, called himself the Deliverer, a figure prophesied to unite humanity and lead them to triumph in Sharak Ka --- the final war against demonkind. 

But in their efforts to bring the war to the demons, Arlen and Jardir have set something in motion that may prove the end of everything they hold dear --- a swarm. Now the war is at hand, and humanity cannot hope to win it unless Arlen and Jardir, with the help of Arlen’s wife, Renna, can bend a captured demon prince to their will and force the devious creature to lead them to the Core, where the Mother of Demons breeds an inexhaustible army.

Trusting their closest confidantes, Leesha, Inevera, Ragen and Elissa, to rally the fractious people of the Free Cities and lead them against the swarm, Arlen, Renna and Jardir set out on a desperate quest into the darkest depths of evil --- from which none of them expects to return alive.

Audiobook available, read by Pete Bradbury

Editorial Content for The King is Always Above the People: Stories

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Maya Gittelman

Daniel Alarcón’s writing glitters, both with the loveliness of his language and the sharpness of his wit. He has been well-recognized for his skill, having been named one of 37 under the age of 36, 39 under 39, and 20 under 40. His new story collection THE KING IS ALWAYS ABOVE THE PEOPLE, longlisted for the 2017 National Book Award for Fiction, suggests that he only gets better with time. Read More

Teaser

Migration. Betrayal. Family secrets. Doomed love. Uncertain futures. In Daniel Alarcón’s hands, these are transformed into deeply human stories with high stakes. In "The Thousands," people are on the move and forging new paths; hope and heartbreak abound. A man deals with the fallout of his blind relatives' mysterious deaths and his father's mental breakdown and incarceration in "The Bridge." A gang member discovers a way to forgiveness and redemption through the haze of violence and trauma in “The Ballad of Rocky Rontal.” And in "The Auroras," a man severs himself from his old life and seeks to make a new one in a new city, only to find himself seduced and controlled by a powerful woman.

Promo

Migration. Betrayal. Family secrets. Doomed love. Uncertain futures. In Daniel Alarcón’s hands, these are transformed into deeply human stories with high stakes. In "The Thousands," people are on the move and forging new paths; hope and heartbreak abound. A man deals with the fallout of his blind relatives' mysterious deaths and his father's mental breakdown and incarceration in "The Bridge." A gang member discovers a way to forgiveness and redemption through the haze of violence and trauma in “The Ballad of Rocky Rontal.” And in "The Auroras," a man severs himself from his old life and seeks to make a new one in a new city, only to find himself seduced and controlled by a powerful woman.

About the Book

An urgent, essential collection of stories about immigration, broken dreams, Los Angeles gang members, Latin American families, and other tales of high stakes journeys, from the award-winning author of WAR BY CANDLELIGHT and AT NIGHT WE WALK IN CIRCLES.

Migration. Betrayal. Family secrets. Doomed love. Uncertain futures. In Daniel Alarcón’s hands, these are transformed into deeply human stories with high stakes. In “The Thousands,” people are on the move and forging new paths; hope and heartbreak abound. A man deals with the fallout of his blind relatives’ mysterious deaths and his father’s mental breakdown and incarceration in “The Bridge.” A gang member discovers a way to forgiveness and redemption through the haze of violence and trauma in “The Ballad of Rocky Rontal.” And in the tour de force novella, “The Auroras”, a man severs himself from his old life and seeks to make a new one in a new city, only to find himself seduced and controlled by a powerful woman.

Richly drawn, full of unforgettable characters, THE KING IS ALWAYS ABOVE THE PEOPLE reveals experiences both unsettling and unknown, and yet eerily familiar in this new world.

Audiobook available, read by David DeSantos

Editorial Content for The Usual Santas: A Collection of Soho Crime Christmas Capers

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Joe Hartlaub

I don’t reflexively reach for holiday literature at any time of year, but I grabbed THE USUAL SANTAS with both hands. I am in awe of the concept, which was conceived by an unnamed individual at Soho Press. The idea was to approach one of the most reliable and talented collective of authors on the planet --- the authors who labor mightily under the Soho Crime imprint --- and solicit Christmas stories from them. I’m not engaging in hyperbole here. Read More

Teaser

Nine mall Santas must find the imposter among them. An elderly lady seeks peace from her murderously loud neighbors at Christmastime. A young woman receives a mysterious invitation to Christmas dinner with a stranger. Sherlock Holmes' one-time nemesis, Irene Adler, finds herself in an unexpected tangle in Paris while on a routine espionage assignment. Jane Austen searches for the Dowager Duchess of Wilborough’s stolen diamonds. These and other adventures in this collection of 18 holiday stories will whisk readers away to Christmases around the globe --- from a Korean War POW camp to a Copenhagen refugee squat, from a palatial hotel in 1920s Bombay to a crumbling mansion in Havana.

Promo

Nine mall Santas must find the imposter among them. An elderly lady seeks peace from her murderously loud neighbors at Christmastime. A young woman receives a mysterious invitation to Christmas dinner with a stranger. Sherlock Holmes' one-time nemesis, Irene Adler, finds herself in an unexpected tangle in Paris while on a routine espionage assignment. Jane Austen searches for the Dowager Duchess of Wilborough’s stolen diamonds. These and other adventures in this collection of 18 holiday stories will whisk readers away to Christmases around the globe --- from a Korean War POW camp to a Copenhagen refugee squat, from a palatial hotel in 1920s Bombay to a crumbling mansion in Havana.

About the Book

Finally: the perfect stocking stuffer for the crime fiction lover in your life! With a foreword by CWA Diamond Award-winner Peter Lovesey, these 18 delightful holiday stories by your favorite Soho Crime authors contain laughs, murders and plenty more.

This captivating collection, which features bestselling and award-winning authors, contains laughs aplenty, the most hardboiled of holiday noir and heartwarming  reminders of the spirit of the season.

Nine mall Santas must find the imposter among them. An elderly lady seeks peace from her murderously loud neighbors at Christmastime. A young woman receives a mysterious invitation to Christmas dinner with a stranger. Niccolò Machiavelli sets out to save an Italian city. Sherlock Holmes’ one-time nemesis, Irene Adler, finds herself in an unexpected tangle in Paris while on a routine espionage assignment. Jane Austen searches for the Dowager Duchess of Wilborough’s stolen diamonds. These and other adventures in this delectable volume will whisk readers away to Christmases around the globe --- from a Korean War POW camp to a Copenhagen refugee squat, from a palatial hotel in 1920s Bombay to a crumbling mansion in Havana.

Audiobook available; read by Jonathan Yen, John Keating, Barbara Caruso, Luis Moreno, Elizabeth Sastre, Carine Montbertrand, Ali Ahn and Brian Hutchison

Editorial Content for Never Coming Back

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Ray Palen

"My mother was disappearing and everything I should have resolved with her --- everything that I must have thought there would be time to resolve, decades hence --- was not resolved. Did I know my mother? Did she know me?" Read More

Teaser

When Clara Winter left her rural Adirondacks town for college, she never looked back. Her mother, Tamar, a loving but fiercely independent woman who raised Clara on her own, all but pushed her out the door, and so Clara built a new life for herself. Now more than a decade has passed, and Clara, a successful writer, has been summoned home. Tamar has become increasingly forgetful and can no longer live on her own. But just as her mother’s memory is declining, Clara’s questions are building. Why was Tamar so insistent that Clara leave all those years ago? Just what secrets was she hiding?

Promo

When Clara Winter left her rural Adirondacks town for college, she never looked back. Her mother, Tamar, a loving but fiercely independent woman who raised Clara on her own, all but pushed her out the door, and so Clara built a new life for herself. Now more than a decade has passed, and Clara, a successful writer, has been summoned home. Tamar has become increasingly forgetful and can no longer live on her own. But just as her mother’s memory is declining, Clara’s questions are building. Why was Tamar so insistent that Clara leave all those years ago? Just what secrets was she hiding?

About the Book

When Clara Winter left her rural Adirondacks town for college, she never looked back. Her mother, Tamar, a loving but fiercely independent woman who raised Clara on her own, all but pushed her out the door, and so Clara built a new life for herself, far from her roots and the world she had always known.

Now more than a decade has passed, and Clara, a successful writer, has been summoned home. Tamar has become increasingly forgetful and can no longer live on her own. But just as her mother’s memory is declining, Clara’s questions are building. Why was Tamar so insistent that Clara leave, all those years ago? Just what secrets was she hiding?

In NEVER COMING BACK, Alison McGhee tells the story of a young woman finding her way in life, determined to know her mother --- and by extension herself --- before it’s too late.

Audiobook available, read by Alison McGhee

The 2017 Kirkus Prize

At a special ceremony in the penthouse of the Four Seasons Residences in Austin, Texas, Kirkus Reviews, the nation’s leading journal of prepublication book reviews, announced the winners of the fourth annual Kirkus Prize in the categories of fiction, nonfiction and young readers’ literature.

November 3, 2017 - November 17, 2017

Here are reading recommendations with your comments and a rating of 1 to 5 stars for the contest period of November 3 - November 17.