Bookreporter.com's Holiday Cheer Contests and Feature
This year, we kick off the holiday season in style with three Holiday Cheer contests. Our prize books are THE BERRY PICKERS by Amanda Peters, THE JOLLIEST BUNCH: Unhinged Holiday Stories by Danny Pellegrino, and MOTHER-DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT by Nina Simon.
Our final 24-hour contest of the year will go live on Tuesday, December 12th at noon ET. Five readers will win a copy of THE BERRY PICKERS. If you would like to receive a special Holiday Cheer newsletter alerting you to this giveaway, you can sign up for it here.
» Click here to learn more about our featured titles.
Bookreporter.com’s “What to Give, What to Get” Guide: "Reader Perfect" Suggestions for Holiday Giving and Getting
We at Bookreporter.com know that readers crave ideas for gift-giving --- and getting --- at the holidays. With this in mind, we're offering a "What to Give, What to Get" Guide with "Reader Perfect" suggestions. We have book ideas for everyone on your holiday list. And while you're looking for gifts for others, may we suggest you jot down notes for books YOU want? Let the shopping begin!
» Click here to see our "What to Give, What to Get" feature.
Our Favorite Monthly Lists & Picks for December
Each month, we share top book picks from Indie Next and LibraryReads, as well as the Target Book Club title. We also feature a number of other prominent picks, including Oprah’s Book Club, the Barnes & Noble Book Club, Reese's Book Club, Jenna Bush Hager's "Read with Jenna" Today Show Book Club, the "Good Morning America" Book Club, and Simon & Schuster’s Book Club Favorites.
» Click here for December's Favorite Monthly Lists & Picks.
As part of our mission to expand The Book Report Network, we have been shooting video interviews with authors and posting them on our YouTube channel. We also have been making them available as podcasts. Carol loves interviewing authors, so this feels like a natural.
Douglas Brunt's latest book, THE MYSTERIOUS CASE OF RUDOLF DIESEL: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I, was an instant New York Times bestseller when it released in September. Doug talks about the origin of the story, which came about as he bought an older boat, and how his fascination with the character of Rudolf Diesel sprang from there. Many know about Diesel fuel, but few are aware that it was named for the man who invented it, along with the first Diesel engine. Doug explains why he chose to include a wider view of what was going on in the world at the time, as well as theories about Diesel’s fate. He goes on to present his thoughts on what really happened; to him, it was neither suicide nor murder. Watch the video or listen to the podcast.
THE SPY COAST kicks off Tess Gerritsen's new series, The Martini Club, and is a Bets On selection. In this fresh take on the spy thriller, a retired CIA operative in small-town Maine tackles the ghosts of her past. Tess shares where she got the idea for this book, which has a very interesting origin. She has visited the international locations where the action takes place, and she discusses how she was able to make those scenes feel so authentic. She did not plot the novel in advance, which is surprising when readers see how well it all came together. Carol thinks this is her best book yet. Watch the video or listen to the podcast.
Carol talks to Jessica Knoll about her new novel, BRIGHT YOUNG WOMEN, which is a Bets On title. This book is a fictional look at the victims of a serial killer, based on Ted Bundy, though he is never called by name here. Jessica talks about the structure of the novel, where the crimes that open the book are captured hour by hour and day by day. She explores the three characters in the book, as well as the research that she did to get the right tone and tenor for the story. Jessica realizes that if the victims had survived, they would be in their 50s and 60s today. She also touches on the television series adaptation that she has been tapped to write, as well as her experience with the film adaptation of LUCKIEST GIRL ALIVE. Watch the video or listen to the podcast.
» Click here for a complete list of our "Bookreporter Talks To" videos and podcasts, along with upcoming interviews.
When Martha Einkorn fled her father’s isolated compound in Oregon, she never expected to find herself working for a powerful social media mogul hell-bent on controlling everything. If the apocalyptic warnings in her father’s fox and rabbit sermon are starting to come true, how much future is actually left? Across the world, in a mall in Singapore, an internet-famous survivalist named Lai Zhen flees from an assassin. Suddenly, a remarkable piece of software appears on her phone telling her exactly how to escape. Who made it? What is it really for? And if those behind it can save her from danger, what do they want from her, and what else do they know about the future? Martha and Zhen’s worlds are about to collide. An explosive chain of events is set in motion.
The dreaded Dalton Gang consisted of three brothers and their rotating cast of colorful accomplices who saw themselves as descended from the legendary James brothers. They soon became legends themselves, beginning their career as common horse thieves before graduating to robbing banks and trains. On October 5, 1892, the Dalton Gang attempted their boldest and bloodiest raid yet: robbing two banks in broad daylight in Coffeyville, Kansas, simultaneously. For the first time ever, the full story of the Dalton Gang's life of crime, culminating in one of the Wild West’s most violent events, are chronicled in detail --- a last gruesome gasp of the age of gunfights.
In Boston, as the Golden Age of Piracy comes to a bloody close, Hannah Masury is ready to take her life into her own hands. When a man is hanged for piracy in the town square and whispers of a treasure in the Caribbean spread, Hannah is forced to flee for her life, disguising herself as a cabin boy in the pitiless crew of the notorious pirate Edward "Ned" Low. To earn the freedom to choose a path for herself, Hannah must hunt down the treasure and change the tides. Meanwhile, professor Marian Beresford pieces Hannah’s story together in 1930, seeing her own lack of freedom reflected back at her as she watches Hannah's transformation. At the center of Hannah’s account lies a centuries-old mystery that Marian is determined to solve, just as Hannah may have been determined to take it to her grave.
UHTRED’S FEAST offers rich background on the books of Bernard Cornwell’s Last Kingdom series, presenting a fascinating, detailed view of Anglo-Saxon life in all its splendor, danger and beauty. With his narrative flair, Cornwell explores every aspect of this historical period, from the clothes to weapons to food, offering beautifully crafted recipes of early Anglo-Saxon fare, created by renowned UK chef Suzanne Pollak. In addition, he has written three new stories exclusive to this book that reveal the man behind the shield --- Uhtred as a young boy, as Alfred’s advisor, and as prince.
Flourishing in just about every climate and culture around the world, onions have provided the essential basis not only for sautés, stews and sauces, but for medicines, metaphors and folklore. Now they're Mark Kurlansky's most flavorful infatuation yet as he sets out to explore how and why the crop reigns from Italy to India and everywhere in between. Featuring historical images and his own pen-and-ink drawings, Kurlansky begins with the science and history of the only sulfuric acid-spewing plant, then digs through its 20 varieties and the cultures built around them. Entering the kitchen, he celebrates the raw, roasted, creamed, marinated and pickled. THE CORE OF AN ONION also includes a recipe section featuring more than 100 dishes from around the world.
They met when they were teenagers. Now they’re adults, and time has been kind to some and unkind to others --- none more so than to Bea, the one they lost nine long years ago. They’ve gathered to reminisce at Bea’s family’s estate, a once-glorious mansion straight out of a gothic novel. Best friends, old flames, secret enemies and new lovers are all under one roof. But when the weather turns and they’re snowed in at the edge of eternity, there’s nowhere left to hide from their shared history. As the walls close in, the pretense of normality gives way to long-buried grief, bitterness and rage. Underneath it all, there’s the nagging feeling that Bea’s shocking death wasn’t what it was claimed to be. And before the weekend is through, the truth will be unleashed --- no matter the cost.
Jackie Stinson’s best friend is dead, and everyone knows who killed her. Jackie is an ex–emotional eater and mother of four who finally has lost the weight she long yearned to be free of. In her new, sharp-edged body, she goes by Jacqueline. But leaving her old self behind proves harder than she ever imagined. And while she believes she should be happier, misery still chases her, and motherhood threatens to subsume what little is left of her. Jacqueline’s only salve is her best friend Theresa, whose seemingly perfect life she desperately covets. Since they met in the maternity ward 15 years earlier, the two have survived the trials of motherhood side by side. Their bond is tight, but it is not enough to keep Jacqueline from stealing a bit of Theresa’s perfect life.
1995: In the wake of the Rwandan genocide, 24-year-old spy Lachlan Kite and his girlfriend, Martha Raine, are sent to Senegal on the trail of a hunted war criminal. The mission threatens to spiral out of control, forcing Kite to make choices that will have devastating consequences not only for his career at top-secret intelligence agency BOX 88, but also for his relationship with Martha. 2023: Eric Appiah, an old friend from Kite’s days at school and an off-the-record BOX 88 asset, makes contact with explosive information about what happened all those years ago in West Africa. When tragedy strikes, Kite must use all the resources at his disposal to protect Martha from a criminal network with links to international terror.
After losing her beloved fiancé in an accident three years earlier, Lady Petra Forsyth announces in front of London’s loosest lips that she will never marry. A woman of independent means, Petra sees no reason to cede her wealth and freedom to any man now that the love of her life is gone. Instead, she plans to continue enjoying the best of society without any expectations. But when ballroom gossip suggests that a longtime friend has died of a fit due to her “melancholia” while in the care of a questionable physician, Petra vows to use her status to dig deeper --- uncovering a private asylum where men pay to have their wives and daughters locked away, or worse. Just as Petra has reason to believe her friend is alive, a shocking murder proves that more danger is afoot than she thought.