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We are kicking off this year’s Holiday Author Blog series with New York Times bestselling author Laurie Frankel, whose fifth novel, FAMILY FAMILY, releases on January 23rd. While promoting her most recent movie, a film about adoption, India Allwood does something she knows you should never, ever do --- she tells a journalist the truth. When Laurie was in high school, she worked in a mall bookstore unboxing and shelving books. Although the job lasted only a few weeks, it exposed her to a variety of books and gave her the itch to write one of her own. Fortunately for her many fans, that itch has never gone away.

  On Wednesday, December 6th, we hosted a very special “Bookaccino Live” event where eight Bookreporter reviewers talked about their three favorite books of 2023. Our guests were Kate Ayers, Harvey Freedenberg, Pamela Kramer, Rebecca Munro, Eileen Zimmerman Nicol, Ray Palen, Norah Piehl and Stuart Shiffman. Their selections cover a wide variety of genres, and there may be a few titles here that you didn’t have on your radar that you will want to check out.

On October 13th, readers from all over New England descended upon Brattleboro, Vermont, for the 22nd annual Brattleboro Literary Festival. Nestled between the West and Connecticut rivers, Brattleboro was the perfect setting, boasting not just the festival itself but many delicious restaurants, plentiful shopping and tons of recreational activities.

On Tuesday, July 25th, Ann Napolitano appeared at the Ramsey Free Public Library in Ramsey, NJ to talk about her latest novel, HELLO BEAUTIFUL, a New York Times bestseller and Oprah's 100th book club pick. Nancy Sharko, a reader of ours who attended the event, reports on Napolitano’s appearance and some of the insights she shared with the audience.

Linwood Barclay’s newly released novel, THE LIE MAKER, is a Bookreporter.com Bets On pick. In this twisty, fast-paced thriller, a man desperately tries to track down his father --- who was taken into witness protection years ago --- before his enemies can get to him. As we approach Father’s Day, Linwood reflects on his own father, who helped fuel his love of reading at a young age and never turned him down whenever he asked for a book or any kind of reading material.

Ronald K. Fried is a veteran TV producer; the author of three novels, most recently FRANK COSTELLO; and a frequent contributor to The Daily Beast. In this piece, which originally ran on HeadButler.com, Fried pays tribute to Martin Amis, who passed away on May 19th at the age of 73 following a battle with esophageal cancer. Amis wrote 15 novels, including INSIDE STORY; the memoir EXPERIENCE; two collections of stories; and seven nonfiction books.

We wrap up this year’s Mother’s Day Author Blog series with Fiona Davis, whose six historical novels are set in iconic New York City buildings: THE MAGNOLIA PALACE, THE LIONS OF FIFTH AVENUE, THE CHELSEA GIRLS, THE MASTERPIECE, THE ADDRESS and THE DOLLHOUSE. Her latest work of fiction, THE SPECTACULAR, releases on June 13th and takes place amidst the glitz and glamour of Radio City Music Hall in its mid-century heyday. Fiona says, “I’ve learned that small moments are key, both in writing novels and appreciating life as it is, not as we wish it to be.” In our final Mother’s Day blog post of 2023, Fiona talks about one of those small moments, as she and her mother have become “a book club of two.”

In her debut novel, THERE ARE NO RULES FOR THIS (which releases on May 16th), JJ Elliott draws readers into a deeply affecting story of friendship, loss, guilt, healing and forgiveness. Told from the perspective of Ali, the story starts with her close friend Feeney’s suicide and progresses through its aftershocks, while continually flashing back to memorable incidents over the course of the women’s friendship. One reason JJ wanted to write this book is because she finds herself increasingly frustrated by the way suicide is treated in print and on-screen, as a mystery to be solved instead of a multilayered, complex condition that rarely can be boiled down to one specific “reason.” JJ’s blog post is a heartfelt tribute to her mother and an important reminder to those who are suffering that help is just a phone call away.

Brendan Slocumb is a musician, music educator, guest conductor, and the celebrated author of the book club favorite THE VIOLIN CONSPIRACY. His latest novel, SYMPHONY OF SECRETS, is another love letter to music wrapped around a compelling mystery that echoes through generations. In his blog post, Brendan recalls growing up immersed in a culture of reading, even though he didn’t realize it at the time. As he says, “Reading was never a punishment; it was just something we did. I had no clue that my mom was quietly giving us the incredible gift of how words could entertain and create new worlds.”

Joanne Leedom-Ackerman is a novelist and journalist whose fiction includes her recent thriller, BURNING DISTANCE, and the upcoming THE FAR SIDE OF THE DESERT. Her younger son is author Elliot Ackerman, whose latest novel is HALCYON. Her older son, Nate, is a mathematician. As a child, Joanne would get lost in the pages of books that her mother read to her or encouraged her to read. This allowed her to travel all over the world and experience the sights and sounds of each destination she visited, all from the comfort of her own home. Joanne followed in her mother’s footsteps by making sure that Elliot and Nate were exposed to the joys and wonders of reading books and creating stories at a young age.