June 19, 2014

We’re on the verge of something bright and beautiful. It begins on Saturday and we’ve been looking forward to it since it went away so many long, cold and dreary months ago. Did someone say summer solstice? That’s right. Summer officially begins this coming Saturday and that means so many things to so many different people. For us, it means these following things: BBQs, rooftop BBQs, popsicles, light beach reading, selfies, selfies while eating popsicles, selfies while doing light beach reading on the beach, and travel size deodorant (we’re all human here, right?).

Speaking of something bright and beautiful: This oncoming summer solstice and --- more precisely --- this beginning of June marks the one-year anniversary of our co-writership. This life-changing union has really brought out the best and the worst in each of us...so who needs marriage? Jkjk. Did someone say marriage (after all it IS June)? But in all seriousness, we’re so pleased to share our thoughts, feelings and some of the best reads out there with all of our followers. Thanks for putting up with our shenanigans, especially during the dark times, i.e. the end of “Breaking Bad” and Halloween costumes and holiday parties and other minor identity crises along the way.

We joke, but we have discovered some interesting things along the way (because newsletter-writing is the ultimate soul-defining odyssey, isn’t it?). Our partnership --- on and off the ice --- is one for the books (peep the photo of us above). We’ve said it once before and we’ll say it again, being in your 20s is the time to discover yourself and start surrounding yourself with good friends. A good friend (also a good publicist) is your equal, your therapist and your Jennifer Lawrence. The Louise to your Thelma. The Huck Finn to your Tom Sawyer. The Hart to your Cohle. The Jay Z to your Barack Obama. The Pippin to your Merry. The Hemingway to your Fitzgerald. The Michele to your Romy. Get the picture? Your BFF probably does, too.

But enough about us. The 2014 FIFA World Cup is happening and it’s bigger than US All. (See what we did there?) It’s nonstop entertainment if you care about that kind of thing...AND OF COURSE WE DO BECAUSE EVERYONE DOES. The games have been invading every bar/tv screen/tablet everywhere. People are taking suspiciously long lunch breaks, hiding their iPads underneath their desks and spending an unusual amount of time in the office bathroom. The cool thing is that even non-fans can get in on the action...which means drinking beers with attractive foreign men and speaking the universal language of love: sports. Basically, there’s something in it for everyone.

We also have plenty of books this month to keep us busy when the futbol games end at 8PM. We’re particularly excited about New York Times bestselling author Mary Kay Andrews' SAVE THE DATE. We know, we know, we wrote about this earlier, but it's now in stores and ready to be packed for all summer weekend trips. Wait, are we talking about marriage again here?

Also be sure to check out Lisa See’s CHINA DOLLS. It’s the story of Grace, Helen and Ruby, three young women from very different backgrounds, who meet by chance at the exclusive and glamorous Forbidden City nightclub in 1938 San Francisco. They become fast friends, but after the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor, paranoia and suspicion threaten to destroy their lives --- and a shocking act of betrayal changes everything. Lisa does an incredible amount of research for her books and in fact created an entire website with background on what you read about in the book. Consider it like bonus scenes on a DVD.

Courtney Maum’s brilliantly titled I AM HAVING SO MUCH FUN HERE WITHOUT YOU is also on the list. Artist Richard Haddon is in despair. He's supposedly "successful" in that his art is selling, but he despises the work he’s doing. Even worse, his mistress has dumped him, and his once-wonderful marriage has turned frosty and impersonal. Just when you might think his life cannot get any worse, it does, making his road to redemption rough indeed --- as well as a terrific read!

5 Things We’re Obsessed With at This Very Moment, in no particular order:

1) S U M M E R B L O C K B U S T E R S

2) Long summer nights, usually involving chips and salsa

3) The return of the final season of “True Blood”

4) Beyoncé’s Surfboardt (Are we six months too late?)

5) Channing Tatum in anything, but more specifically in this GQ video

Nicole Sherman ([email protected]) + Emily Hoenig ([email protected])

It's time to think about summer reading. We're talking about the kinds of books that you're glad you now have time to kick back with and enjoy. The way we see it, it wouldn't be summer without sun, surf and great reading. You supply the beach chair, and we'll provide the fantastic fiction in our Third Annual Beach Bag of Books Feature and Contest. From now through Friday, July 25th at noon ET, five lucky readers will win a selection of the featured books.

Our featured Beach Bag of Books titles include:

• BRUTAL YOUTH by Anthony Breznican
• CATCH A FALLING STAR by Kim Culbertson
• THE HERE AND NOW by Ann Brashares
• THE LOST by Sarah Beth Durst
• THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF NATHANIEL P. by Adelle Waldman
• ON THE FENCE by Kasie West
• SAY WHAT YOU WILL by Cammie McGovern
• SINNER (Companion book to the Shiver Trilogy series) by Maggie Stiefvater
• WE WERE LIARS by E. Lockhart

Click here to enter the contest.

Award-winning author Sarah Beth Durst has been praised for her captivating novels that merge the darkly imagined with very real themes of self-discovery and destiny. In THE LOST, we'll discover just what it means to lose one's way….

Against the backdrop of this desolate and mystical town, THE LOST is an arresting, fantastical novel of one woman's impossible journey…and her quest to find her fate.

- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to read the review.
- Click here for an excerpt.
- Click here to read an interview with the author.

Three freshmen must join forces to survive at a troubled, working-class Catholic high school with a student body full of bullies and zealots, and a faculty that's even worse in Anthony Breznican's BRUTAL YOUTH.

To even stand a chance at surviving their freshmen year, the trio must join forces as they navigate a bullying culture dominated by administrators like the once popular Ms. Bromine, their embittered guidance counselor, and Father Mercedes, the parish priest who plans to scapegoat the students as he makes off with church finances. A coming-of-age tale reversed, BRUTAL YOUTH follows these students as they discover that instead of growing older and wiser, going bad may be the only way to survive.

- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here for an excerpt.

From the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of the Bad Boys series and The Pretty series comes The Wild Ones series.

In The Wild Ones series, author M. Leighton's good girls always fall hard for the bad boys. From the darling daughter of a champion Thoroughbred breeder, Cami, in THE WILD ONES to the preacher's daughter, Laney, in SOME LIKE IT WILD, the ladies of The Wild Ones have a lot to hide, but so much to give. It is no different for Violet Wilson, a wallflower and the excruciatingly shy, diamond in the rough of THERE'S WILD, THEN THERE'S YOU. When she meets Jet, a typical rocker fighting for more than just his infatuation with Violet, can the dangerous duo overcome the obstacles getting in the way of their love?

Read more about ALL three in the series in our Special Series Feature and we guarantee you'll be satiated with these indulgent and irresistible love and lust stories.

- Click here to learn more about the series.

THERE'S WILD, THEN THERE'S YOU: A Wild Ones Novel, Book 3
- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here for an excerpt.

SOME LIKE IT WILD: A Wild Ones Novel, Book 2
- Click here to read more about the book.

THE WILD ONES: A Wild Ones Novel, Book 1
- Click here to read more about the book.

For our third "REAL TALK Publishing" feature, we talked to Barbara Marcus, the President and Publisher of Random House's Children's Division. As the head of the division, Barbara handles ALL things children's books, but she has a special place in her heart for marketing. In fact, she led the wizardry behind the marketing campaigns for the Harry Potter series --- and more recently R.J. Palacio's modern classic, WONDER!

In Part 1, Barbara talks about the start of her career, the part of her job that makes her "heart sing" and how she manages to keep track of all things Random House Children's. Part 2 is about her work on HARRY POTTER and WONDER. In Part 3, she discusses marketing, gives some overall career advice and shares the best adult books she's recently read.

→ PART 1

→ PART 2

→ PART 3

A Little Bit More About the REAL TALK Publishing Feature...

Over the next few months, we'll sit down with book editors, librarians, booksellers, children's literature professors, book cover designers, publicists, professional reviewers and more, giving you insight behind the books. Through interviews, guest posts and sometimes sneak peeks inside their offices, you'll get to learn more about the book industry and all the work that goes into creating some of the world's best written word.

We thought you might! So we're asking you to share your thoughts about the series for our Kidsreads.com readers.

We're excited to announce that we're having a super special Harry Potter feature on Kidsreads.com in July! Unlike you, a lot of our Kidsreads readers have NOT read the series (imagine: they never had a midnight party to celebrate these books), and we want to tell them why it is so special. Every day, we'll be sharing something about Harry to make them excited about reading the books --- a glossary of terms, some information on a character, a recipe for a classic Harry Potter treat and more.

If you would like to participate and contribute to our Harry Potter calendar, email us your Harry Potter ideas at [email protected] and [email protected]! These can be a blog post about your favorite part of the book, a breakdown of some cool spells, some cool fan art you drew or anything else funky that shows us your love. Also, you could share your favorite memories of waiting for these books to come out, as well as fun stories about reading them.

We need your thoughts, comments, etc. by Monday, June 30th --- we're excited to hear what you come up with!

(Compliments to l'artiste + TBRN staffer John Maher for accurately representing H.P.)

Each spring, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony rolls around (see what we did there?), and a new slew of performers and producers are inducted into the prestigious institution in the most appropriate way possible --- at a jam-packed arena filled with passionate fans and live music. This year’s ceremony was held in Brooklyn at the Barclays Center on April 10th, and the New York Times reported that the new arena boasted the highest attendance in the event’s history. Even with the obvious absence of a performance by inductees Kiss, that’s one big feather in Jay Z’s cap. (He’ll be eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2021.)

Talent from the past is honored at this super exclusive event where viewers are reminded (as if we could have ever forgotten!) of the wide ranging musical skills of eligible candidates and their fellow musicians. Highlights from this year’s ceremony include a rousing rendition of “The E Street Shuffle” from Bruce Springsteen and the newly-inducted E Street Band (joined by Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello), a Nirvana reunion with St. Vincent, Joan Jett, Lorde and Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon rotating on the mic, and a juicy Paul Simon snub from Art Garfunkel as he inducted Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens. The whole show aired on HBO on May 31st. Here is The Book Report Network's shelf filled with memoirs and biographies of some of the most legendary talents in the business.

Curated by The Book Report Network.

BREAKING FREE: True Stories of Girls Who Escaped Modern Slavery by Abby Sher (Young Adult, Nonfiction)
BREAKING FREE: True Stories of Girls Who Escaped Modern Slavery explores the global issue of human sex trafficking from a survivor's point of view. It recounts the harrowing stories of three courageous women --- Somaly Mam, Minh Dang, and Maria Suarez --- who were all forced into sexual slavery as children. After escaping their captors, these three women could easily have become voiceless victims, lost to the horrors of their own histories; instead, they have each become leading advocates and activists in the anti-trafficking movement. Reviewed by Sabrina Abballe.

RUIN AND RISING by Leigh Bardugo (Young Adult, Fantasy, Fiction)
The Darkling rules Ravka from his shadow throne. Now the nation's fate rests with a broken Sun Summoner, a disgraced tracker, and the shattered remnants of an army. Alina must submit to the dubious protection of those who worship her. But as she begins to unravel the Darkling's secrets, she reveals a past that will forever alter her understanding. Reviewed by Kate F., Teen Board Member.

SAY WHAT YOU WILL by Cammie McGovern (Young Adult, Contemporary Romance)
Born with cerebral palsy, Amy can't walk without a walker, talk without a voice box, or even fully control her facial expressions. Plagued by obsessive-compulsive disorder, Matthew is consumed with repeated thoughts, neurotic rituals and crippling fear. Both in desperate need of someone to help them reach out to the world, Amy and Matthew are more alike than either ever realized. Reviewed by Lucy P., Teen Board Member.

BIRD BOX by Josh Malerman (Horror/Thriller)
Something terrifying is out there that must not be seen. One glimpse and a person is driven to deadly violence. Five years after it began, a handful of scattered survivors remain, including Malorie and her two young children. Living in an abandoned house near the river, she has dreamed of fleeing to a place where they might be safe. Now that the boy and girl are four, it is time to go. But the journey ahead will be terrifying --- one wrong choice and they will die. And something is following them. Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman.

BITTERSWEET by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore (Psychological Suspense)
On scholarship at a prestigious East Coast college, ordinary Mabel Dagmar is surprised to befriend her roommate, Genevra Winslow. Ev invites Mabel to spend the summer at her Vermont cottage, Bittersweet, where her family has held court for more than a century. However, a terrible discovery leads to shocking violence and reveals what the Winslows may have done to keep their power intact. Mabel must choose to either expose the secret and be expelled from paradise, or make Ev's dark world her own. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.

THE BONES BENEATH: A Tom Thorne Novel by Mark Billingham (Mystery/Thriller)
When Stuart Nicklin announces that he wishes to reveal the whereabouts of one of his earliest victims and that he wants the cop who caught him to be there when he does it, it becomes clear that Tom Thorne’s life is about to become seriously unpleasant. Thorne is forced to accompany Nicklin to a remote island off the Welsh coast. As Thorne and his team search for bones that are somewhat more recent, it becomes clear that Nicklin’s motives are far from altruistic. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

THE BOOK OF UNKNOWN AMERICANS by Cristina Henríquez (Fiction)
Arturo and Alma Rivera have lived their whole lives in Mexico. One day, their 15-year-old daughter, Maribel, sustains a terrible injury. The Riveras come to America with a single dream: that in this country of great opportunity and resources, Maribel can get better. When Mayor Toro, whose family is from Panama, sees Maribel in a Dollar Tree store, it is love at first sight --- and the beginning of a friendship between the Rivera and Toro families. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.

BRED IN THE BONE: A Jasmine Sharp and Catherine McLeod Novel by Christopher Brookmyre (Mystery/Thriller)
Set in the disturbing underworld of Glasgow, BRED IN THE BONE is the third novel in Christopher Brookmyre’s series featuring private investigator Jasmine Sharp and Detective Superintendent Catherine McLeod. As one battles her demons and the other chases her ghosts, these two very different detectives will ultimately confront the secrets that have entangled both of their fates since before Jasmine was even born. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

BUT ENOUGH ABOUT YOU: Essays by Christopher Buckley (Essays)
This collection of short essays, Christopher Buckley’s first since WRY MARTINIS, contains 89 pieces written for publications such as Forbes, the New York Times and The Daily Beast. Some of the pieces are serious, most notably his tributes to deceased friends and a report on his visit to Auschwitz. But most of the essays contain the sardonic humor one expects from a writer who, while riding a train’s quiet car, appoints himself “Shush, Destroyer of Conversation.” Reviewed by Michael Magras.

BY ANY MEANS: An Ash Rashid Novel by Chris Culver (Thriller)
At the end of a particularly grueling summer day, Ash Rashid is heading home to his wife and kids when he discovers a pair of bodies, shot execution style, in the front seat of a crashed vehicle. As the first officer on the scene, Ash finds himself and his department 20 minutes behind a killer in a race where every second counts. With two victims down and a third unaccounted for, Ash must find the killer before he strikes again. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

THE CLOSER: My Story by Mariano Rivera with Wayne Coffey (Sports/Memoir)
Mariano Rivera, the man who intimidated thousands of batters merely by opening a bullpen door, began his incredible journey as the son of a poor Panamanian fisherman. The greatest relief pitcher of all time tells the story of the championships, the bosses (including The Boss), the rivalries, and the struggles of being a Latino baseball player in the United States and of maintaining Christian values in professional athletics. Reviewed by Ron Kaplan.

DELICIOUS! by Ruth Reichl (Fiction)
Soon after Billie Breslin takes a job at Delicious!, New York’s most iconic food magazine is abruptly shut down. Billie agrees to stay on in the empty office, maintaining the hotline for reader complaints in order to pay her bills. In a hidden room in the magazine’s library, Billie finds a cache of letters written during World War II. They provide her with a feeling of deep connection to the young writer whose courage in the face of hardship inspires her to come to terms with her fears. Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon.

THE DIRECTIVE by Matthew Quirk (Thriller)
In this highly anticipated sequel to THE 500, Mike Ford's brother is in over his head in a powerful conspiracy to steal a secret worth billions of dollars from the little-known but unbelievably influential trading desk at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. In an effort to help, Mike soon finds himself trapped by the dangerous men in charge --- and forced to call on all the skills of his criminal past in order to escape. Reviewed by Ray Palen.

FACEOFF edited by David Baldacci (Thriller/Anthology)
In an unprecedented collaboration, edited by David Baldacci, 23 of the world’s bestselling and critically acclaimed thriller writers have paired their series characters --- such as Harry Bosch, Jack Reacher and Lincoln Rhyme --- in an 11-story anthology curated by the International Thriller Writers. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

I AM PILGRIM by Terry Hayes (Espionage Thriller)
PILGRIM is the code name for a world class and legendary secret agent. At the novel’s opening, a woman lies face down in a pool of acid. The room has been sprayed down with DNA-eradicating antiseptic spray. All the techniques are pulled directly from Pilgrim's book, a cult classic of forensic science written under a pen name. In offering the NYPD some casual assistance with the case, Pilgrim gets pulled back into the intelligence underground. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

THE LINCOLN MYTH by Steve Berry (Thriller)
From the streets of Copenhagen to the catacombs of Salzburg to the rugged mountains of Utah, the grim specter of the Civil War looms as a dangerous conspiracy gathers power. Cotton Malone risks life, liberty and his greatest love in a race for the truth about Abraham Lincoln --- while the fate of the United States of America hangs in the balance. Reviewed by Ray Palen.

MR. MERCEDES by Stephen King (Thriller)
A retired cop named Bill Hodges is still haunted by the unsolved case of a lone driver who plowed through a crowd in a stolen Mercedes, running over the innocent, backing up and charging again. When he gets a crazed letter from someone who self-identifies as the “perk” and threatens an even more diabolical attack, Hodges wakes up from his depressed and vacant retirement, hell-bent on preventing another tragedy. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

THE NOBLE HUSTLE: Poker, Beef Jerky, and Death by Colson Whitehead (Humor/Memoir)
In 2011, Grantland magazine sent Colson Whitehead to brave the harrowing, seven-day gauntlet of the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. There was just one hitch: he'd never played in a casino tournament before. With just six weeks to train, Whitehead plunged into the gritty subculture of Texas Hold'em, writing what began as a series of articles and has been expanded into THE NOBLE HUSTLE. Reviewed by John Maher.

THE ONE & ONLY by Emily Giffin (Fiction)
Thirty-three-year-old Shea Rigsby has spent her entire life in Walker, Texas, too devoted to her hometown football team to leave. But when an unexpected tragedy strikes the tight-knit Walker community, Shea’s comfortable world is upended, and she begins to wonder if the life she has chosen is really enough for her. Shea discovers unsettling truths about the people and things she has always trusted most --- and is forced to confront her deepest desires, fears and secrets. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.

REMEMBER ME LIKE THIS by Bret Anthony Johnston (Fiction)
Since Justin Campbell's disappearance four years ago, his family has been stuck in the grooves of grief. They are unable to comfort themselves, let alone one another. Then the impossible happens: Justin has been found only miles away, completely okay. Though the reunion is a miracle, Justin’s homecoming exposes the deep rifts that have diminished his family, the wounds they all carry that may never fully heal. Reviewed by Harvey Freedenberg.

SAVE THE DATE by Mary Kay Andrews (Fiction)
A savannah florist is about to score the wedding of a lifetime --- one that will solidify her career as the go-to-girl for society nuptials. Ironically, Cara Kryzik doesn't believe in love, even though she creates beautiful flower arrangements to celebrate them. But when the bride goes missing and the wedding is in jeopardy, Cara must find the bride and figure out what she believes in. Maybe love really does exist outside of fairy tales after all. Reviewed by Jamie Layton.

SUSPICION by Joseph Finder (Thriller)
When single father Danny Goodman suddenly finds himself unable to afford his daughter’s private school, he has no one to turn to for financial support. Until Thomas Galvin, the father of his daughter’s new best friend, offers to lend him money. However, the moment the money is wired into Danny’s account, the DEA comes knocking on his door. Danny faces an impossible choice: an indictment for accepting drug money that he can’t afford to fight in court, or an unthinkably treacherous undercover assignment helping the government get close to his new family friend. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

THE THIRD PLATE: Field Notes on the Future of Food by Dan Barber (Food/Cooking)
After more than a decade spent investigating farming communities around the world in pursuit of singular flavor, Dan Barber finally concluded that --- for the sake of our food, our health, and the future of the land --- America’s cuisine required a radical transformation. The revelations Barber shares in THE THIRD PLATE took root in his restaurant’s kitchen. But his process of discovery took him far afield --- to alternative systems of food production and cooking that maximize sustainability, nutrition and flavor. Reviewed by Jesse Kornbluth, founder of HeadButler.com.

TO RISE AGAIN AT A DECENT HOUR by Joshua Ferris (Fiction)
Paul O'Rourke is a Manhattan dentist with a thriving practice. But he is a man made of contradictions, and his biggest fear is that he may never truly come to understand anybody, including himself. When someone begins impersonating Paul online, his quest to learn why his identity has been stolen forces him to confront his troubled past and his uncertain future in a life disturbingly split between the real and the virtual. Reviewed by Jane Krebs.

THE TRANSCRIPTIONIST by Amy Rowland (Fiction)
When Lena, the transcriptionist for the Record, a New York City newspaper, reads a shocking piece about a Jane Doe mauled to death by a lion, she is surprised to see that she recognizes the woman, having met her on the bus a few days before. Obsessed with understanding what caused the woman to deliberately climb into the lion's den, Lena begins a campaign for the truth that will destroy the Record's complacency and shake the venerable institution to its very foundation. Reviewed by Kate Ayers.

THE TRUTH ABOUT THE HARRY QUEBERT AFFAIR by Joël Dicker (Literary Thriller)
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE HARRY QUEBERT AFFAIR is the #1 internationally bestselling thriller, and ingenious book within a book, about the disappearance of a 15-year-old New Hampshire girl and, 33 years later, a young American writer’s determination to clear his mentor’s name --- and find the inspiration for his next bestseller. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

THE VACATIONERS by Emma Straub (Fiction)
For the Posts, a two-week trip to the Balearic island of Mallorca with their extended family and friends is a celebration: Franny and Jim are observing their 35th wedding anniversary, and their daughter, Sylvia, has graduated from high school. But all does not go according to plan. Over the course of the vacation, secrets come to light, old and new humiliations are experienced, childhood rivalries resurface, and ancient wounds are exacerbated. Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon.

VERTIGO 42: A Richard Jury Mystery by Martha Grimes (Mystery)
Richard Jury is meeting Tom Williamson at Vertigo 42, a bar on the 42nd floor of an office building in London’s financial district. Despite inconclusive evidence, Tom is convinced that his wife, Tess, was murdered 17 years ago. The inspector in charge of the case was sure Tess’s death was accidental --- a direct result of vertigo --- but the official police inquiry is still an open verdict, and Jury agrees to re-examine the case. Reviewed by Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum.

WHAT HAS BECOME OF YOU by Jan Elizabeth Watson (Psychological Thriller)
True crime aficionado Vera Lundy has just landed a job as a private school substitute teacher in a small Maine town, where she encounters close-to-home true-crime action, beginning with the recent murder of a local girl. The environment grows ever more ominous as Vera forges a connection with an odd but brilliant student. Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon.

WOLF: A Jack Caffery Thriller by Mo Hayder (Thriller)
WOLF kicks off when a vagrant --- the Walking Man --- finds a dog wandering alone with a scrap of paper with the words “HELP US” attached to its collar. He calls on Detective Inspector Jack Caffery to investigate. Caffery is reluctant to get involved --- until the Walking Man promises in exchange new information regarding the childhood disappearance of Caffery’s brother. Caffery has no idea who or what he is searching for, but one thing he is sure of: it’s a race against time. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.