Awards Season Has Arrived
Sunday’s Golden Globes was the official kickoff to the awards season. In between extended celebrations of the new year and the #bombcyclone caging in much of the Northeast, the awards was a refreshing break from all the various kinds of holiday binging, i.e. cookies, TV, cryptocurrency discussions, family arguments. The much-anticipated ceremony also initiated a new movement in Hollywood (and beyond) --- Time’s Up, which contributed to all of the woman-positive energy throughout the evening.
Donning black ensembles and bringing along female activists as their plus ones to support the movement, celebs like Meryl Streep, Emma Watson, Laura Dern and Michelle Williams, to name just a few, graced the red carpet to usher in a new era in the industry. Their mission? To provide safe working spaces/conditions and gender and pay equality for women in entertainment. Many of the men also dressed in all black and sported Time’s Up pins to show their solidarity. Needless to say, it was an exciting and important affair that brought to the foreground ongoing issues and honored impressive and well-deserving talent. Here are a few highlights and some standout recaps of the memorable night.
Sterling K. Brown broke history when he became the first black actor to win Best Actor in a drama TV series for “This Is Us.” Ever since “The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story,” he’s really been on the up and up...and thank god for that. It really seemed like it was head-to-head between Claire Foy for “The Crown” and Elisabeth Moss for “The Handmaid’s Tale” in the Best Actress in a drama TV series category. Moss took it home and not only thanked Margaret Atwood, but also read a brief note from her that warmed my tender little book heart. To no one’s surprise, the series also won Best TV series for a drama. Praise be. “Big Little Lies” won big between Nicole Kidman, A Skars., Laura Dern, and Best Limited TV Series. It’s no doubt the show’s return with season 2 will be glorious.
Allison Janney took home Best Supporting Actress for her role as Tonya’s mother, LaVona Golden, in I, Tonya --- and from a personal perspective, her performance was pure gold. More pure gold? Irish sweetheart Saoirse Ronan, who won Best Actress for a comedy for Lady Bird, which was probably my favorite film of the year (and so many others felt the same way) and kind of made me want to be a teenager again. Hard to say if that’s the real truth, but feelings were definitely felt. The film also won Best Picture in the comedy/musical category. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri received many accolades in the drama division --- Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Screenplay and Best Picture.
The actual giving out of the awards was not always the best thing happening that night. The Winona Ryder hair ad spurred a mix reaction. If you missed it, be sure to watch it here. While the metaphor was a little clunky and a little loose, I somehow managed to enjoy every single second of it. Maybe I was caught up in the moment and the emotion of the night that I may have even shed a tear at the end, but whatever. She’s back, baby.
On the flip side, Oprah’s speech for receiving the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement was straight fire and people were loving it. The feelings are still lingering from it, and we were all reminded that she’s an enthralling storyteller. Natalie Portman threw a very targeted yet casual jab at the all-male Best Director category and the internet was there for it. Other takeaways? Viola Davis and Millie Bobby Brown’s glam was goals. Both their hair, makeup, accessorizing and dress choices made me feel a type of way #ootd #inspo. All said and done, there was a lot of loving going around and a lot to love across the board.
Our latest Special Feature highlights ANATOMY OF A SCANDAL by Sarah Vaughan, which will be in stores on January 23rd. In this literary, suspense/thriller, Sophie’s husband James is a loving father, a handsome man, a charismatic and successful public figure. And yet he stands accused of a terrible crime. Sophie is convinced he is innocent and desperate to protect her precious family from the lies that threaten to rip them apart. Kate is the lawyer hired to prosecute the case: an experienced professional who knows that the law is all about winning the argument. And yet Kate seeks the truth at all times. She is certain James is guilty and is determined he will pay for his crimes. Who is right about James? Sophie or Kate? And is either of them informed by anything more than instinct and personal experience? Scroll down to read more about the book or click through here to see the feature.
We’re running a very special Sneak Peek contest over on Bookreporter.com for THE DEVIL’S REWARD by Emmanuelle de Villepin, a complex family story involving three generations of women that encompasses the First and Second World Wars and reveals unexpected lessons about marriage and fidelity. The book doesn’t release until May 1st, but we have 35 advance copies to give away to readers who can commit to previewing it and sharing their comments on it by Wednesday, March 14th. Enter now through Thursday, January 18th at noon ET for your chance to win an advance copy.
If you're looking for some reading material to kick off the new year, here are a few suggestions:
THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW by A. J. Finn is the story of Anna Fox, a recluse who lives alone in New York City and is unable to venture outside. She spends her day drinking wine (maybe too much), watching old movies, recalling happier times...and spying on her neighbors. Then the Russells move into the house across the way: a father, mother and their teenage son. The perfect family. But when Anna, gazing out her window one night, sees something she shouldn’t, her world begins to crumble --- and its shocking secrets are laid bare. What is real? What is imagined? Who is in danger? Who is in control? In THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW, no one --- and nothing --- is what it seems.
In IMPROV NATION: How We Made a Great American Art, Sam Wasson charts the meteoric rise of improv in this richly reported, scene-driven narrative that, like its subject, moves fast and digs deep. At the height of the McCarthy era, an experimental theater troupe set up shop in a bar near the University of Chicago. Via word of mouth, astonished crowds packed the ad-hoc venue to see its unscripted, interactive, consciousness-raising style. From this unlikely seed grew the Second City, the massively influential comedy theater troupe, and its offshoots --- the Groundlings, Upright Citizens Brigade, “SNL” and a slew of others.
THE RUNNING GIRL by Sara Blaedel begins with Detective Louise Rick receiving a call from her son, Jonas. It's every parent's worst nightmare: A school party has ended in terrifying chaos after a group of violent teenagers forced their way into the building in search of alcohol and valuables. Dashing to the scene, Louise discovers one of the students gravely injured --- struck by a car while attempting to run for help. Now the girl's distraught mother, pushed to her emotional breaking point, will do anything to make those who hurt her daughter pay. So when someone targets the gang members with a vicious attack, the girl's mother is the obvious suspect. But Louise can't shake the feeling that the case might not be as cut-and-dried as it first appears.
Happy reading!
5 Things To Obsess About This Very Moment, in no particular order:
1. The latest Black Panther trailer
2. Iceland closing the pay gap
3. Millie Bobby Brown will play Sherlock Holmes' younger sister Enola in an upcoming movie series
4. Helena Bonham Carter will play Princess Margaret in seasons three and four of "The Crown"
5. "Curb Your Enthusiasm" is renewed for a 10th season
--- Nicole Sherman
Special Feature: ANATOMY OF A SCANDAL by Sarah Vaughan
Sophie’s husband James is a loving father, a handsome man, a charismatic and successful public figure. And yet he stands accused of a terrible crime. Sophie is convinced he is innocent and desperate to protect her precious family from the lies that threaten to rip them apart.
Kate is the lawyer hired to prosecute the case: an experienced professional who knows that the law is all about winning the argument. And yet Kate seeks the truth at all times. She is certain James is guilty and is determined he will pay for his crimes.
Who is right about James? Sophie or Kate? And is either of them informed by anything more than instinct and personal experience? Despite her privileged upbringing, Sophie is well aware that her beautiful life is not inviolable. She has known it since she and James were first lovers, at Oxford, and she witnessed how easily pleasure could tip into tragedy.
Most people would prefer not to try to understand what passes between a man and a woman when they are alone: alone in bed, alone in an embrace, alone in an elevator… Or alone in the moonlit courtyard of an Oxford college, where a girl once stood before a boy, heart pounding with excitement, then fear. Sophie never understood why her tutorial partner Holly left Oxford so abruptly. What would she think, if she knew the truth?
A-LIST: A Jake Longly Thriller by D.P. Lyle (Mystery/Thriller)
PI Jake Longly and Nicole Jemison head to New Orleans at the behest of Nicole's uncle, movie producer Charles Balfour, when his megastar, A-list actor Kirk Ford, awakens in his hotel bed with the body of Kristi Guidry, a local college coed. Ford, in the Big Easy for a location shoot, remembers little of the evening and nothing of the murder. And, to make matters worse, Kristi is the niece of a local mafioso-type who will do whatever is necessary to avenge her death. Surrounded by glitzy Hollywood stars and intimidated by seedy underworld characters, Jake and Nicole encounter nothing but obstacles. The clock is ticking as they struggle to decipher who's lying, who's telling the truth, and exactly who schemed to murder Kristi. Reviewed by L. Dean Murphy.
THE BOMB MAKER by Thomas Perry (Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Joe Barrett
A threat is called into the LAPD Bomb Squad, and when tragedy ensues, the fragmented unit turns to Dick Stahl, a former Bomb Squad commander who now operates his own private security company. Just returned from a tough job in Mexico, Stahl is at first reluctant to accept the offer, but his sense of duty to the technicians he trained is too strong to turn it down. On his first day back at the head of the squad, Stahl’s three-person team is dispatched to a suspected car bomb. And it quickly becomes clear to him that they are dealing with an unusual mastermind --- one whose intended target seems to be the Bomb Squad itself. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
BRYANT & MAY: WILD CHAMBER: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery by Christopher Fowler (Mystery)
Audiobook available, narrated by Tim Goodman
Helen Forester takes her West Highland terrier for a walk in her street’s private garden. But minutes later she is dead, strangled yet peacefully laid out on the path, her dog nowhere to be found. The only other person in the locked space is the gardener, who finds the body and calls the police. He expects proper cops to arrive, but what he gets are Bryant, May and the wily members of the Peculiar Crimes Unit. Before the detectives can make any headway on the case, a second woman is discovered in a public park, murdered in nearly identical fashion. Bryant and May have to think and act fast to save innocent lives, the fate of the city’s parks, and the very existence of the PCU. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
THE GOOD SAMARITAN by John Marrs (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available; read by Elizabeth Knowelden, Charlotte Cole, Matthew Lloyd Davies andTim Campbell
The people who call End of the Line need hope. They need reassurance that life is worth living. But some are unlucky enough to get through to Laura. Laura doesn’t want them to hope. She wants them to die. Laura hasn’t had it easy: she’s survived sickness and a difficult marriage only to find herself heading for 40, unsettled and angry. She doesn’t love talking to people worse off than she is. She craves it. But now someone’s on to her --- Ryan, whose world falls apart when his pregnant wife ends her life, hand in hand with a stranger. Who was this man, and why did they choose to die together? The sinister truth is within Ryan’s grasp, but he has no idea of the desperate lengths to which Laura will go. Reviewed by Kate Ayers.
GREEN by Sam Graham-Felsen (Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Prentice Onayemi
David Greenfeld is one of the few white kids at the Martin Luther King, Jr., Middle School. Everybody clowns him, girls ignore him, and his hippie parents won’t even buy him a pair of Nikes, let alone transfer him to a private school. Nobody is more surprised than Dave when Marlon Wellings sticks up for him in the school cafeteria. Mar is a loner from the public housing project on the corner of Dave’s own gentrifying block, and he confounds Dave’s assumptions about black culture. But as Dave welcomes his new best friend into his world, he realizes how little he knows about Mar’s. Cracks gradually form in their relationship, and Dave starts to become aware of the breaks he’s been given --- and that Mar has not. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.
THE ICE HOUSE by Laura Lee Smith (Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Aaron Abano
Johnny MacKinnon might be on the verge of losing it all. The ice factory he married into, which he’s run for decades, is facing devastating OSHA fines following a mysterious accident and may have to close. The only hope for Johnny’s livelihood is that someone in the community saw something, but no one seems to be coming forward. He hasn’t spoken to his son Corran back in Scotland since Corran’s heroin addiction finally drove Johnny to the breaking point. And now, after a collapse on the factory floor, it appears Johnny may have a brain tumor. But this may be his last chance to bridge the gap with Corran --- and to have any sort of relationship with the baby granddaughter he’s never met. Reviewed by Dunja Bonacci Skenderović.
IMPROV NATION: How We Made a Great American Art by Sam Wasson (Entertainment/History)
Audiobook available, read by David de Vries
At the height of the McCarthy era, an experimental theater troupe set up shop in a bar near the University of Chicago. Via word of mouth, astonished crowds packed the ad-hoc venue to see its unscripted, interactive, consciousness-raising style. From this unlikely seed grew the Second City, the massively influential comedy theater troupe, and its offshoots --- the Groundlings, Upright Citizens Brigade, “SNL” and a slew of others. Sam Wasson charts the meteoric rise of improv in this richly reported, scene-driven narrative that, like its subject, moves fast and digs deep. Reviewed by John Bentlyewski.
INSIDIOUS INTENT by Val McDermid (Mystery/Thriller)
Audiobook available, narrated by Saul Reichlin
In the north of England, single women are beginning to disappear from weddings. A pattern soon becomes clear: Someone is crashing the festivities and luring the women away --- only to leave the victims’ bodies in their own burned-out cars in remote locations. Psychologist Tony Hill and former police detective Carol Jordan are called upon to investigate, but this may be the toughest case they’ve ever had to face. Meanwhile, Detective Sergeant Paula McIntyre and her partner Elinor must deal with a cruel cyber-blackmailer targeting their teenage ward, Torin. Reviewed by Katherine B. Weissman.
MY BROTHER’S KEEPER by Donna Malane (Psychological Thriller/Mystery)
Audiobook available, read by Saskia Maarleveld
Diane Rowe is a missing persons expert. Ex-con Karen needs Diane's help to track down her 14-year-old daughter, Sunny, with whom she's lost contact while she's been in prison. To Diane, this appears at first glance to be a simple case of a mother wanting to reunite with a beloved daughter. Tracking the girl down is easy. However, convincing her to meet her mother is no easy task. And at the back of Diane's mind is a nagging thought --- that guilt and innocence aren't straightforward and nothing is quite what it seems. Does Karen really want to fix the wrongs of the past, or is there something darker at play here that will take all of Diane's skills to uncover? Reviewed by Kate Ayers.
NIGHTBLIND by Ragnar Jonasson (Mystery/Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Will Damron
Ari Thor Arason is a local policeman who has an uneasy relationship with the villagers in an idyllically quiet fishing village in Northern Iceland --- where no one locks their doors. The peace of this close-knit community is shattered by a murder. One of Ari’s colleagues is gunned down at point-blank range in the dead of night in a deserted house. With a killer on the loose and the dark Arctic waters closing in, it falls to Ari Thor to piece together a puzzle that involves a new mayor and a psychiatric ward in Reykjavik. It becomes all too clear that tragic events from the past are weaving a sinister spell that may threaten them all. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
ONE OF US WILL BE DEAD BY MORNING by David Moody (Science Fiction/Horror)
Audiobook available, read by Gerard Doyle
Fourteen people are trapped on Skek, a barren island in the middle of the North Sea somewhere between the coasts of the UK and Denmark. Over the years this place has served many purposes, but one by one its inhabitants have abandoned its inhospitable shores. Today it’s home to Hazleton Adventure Experiences, an extreme sports company specializing in corporate team building events. A momentary lapse leads to a tragic accident, but when the body count quickly starts to rise, questions are inevitably asked. A horrific discovery changes everything, and a trickle of rumors becomes a tsunami of fear. Is this the beginning of the end of everything, or a situation constructed by the mass hysteria of a handful of desperate and terrified people? Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
ROBICHEAUX by James Lee Burke (Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Will Patton
Between his recurrent nightmares about Vietnam, his battle with alcoholism, and the sudden loss of his beloved wife, Molly, Dave Robicheaux’s thoughts drift from one irreconcilable memory to the next. Images of ghosts at Spanish Lake live on the edge of his vision. During a murder investigation, Robicheaux discovers he may have committed the homicide he’s investigating, one that involved the death of the man who took the life of Robicheaux’s beloved wife. As he works to clear his name and make sense of the murder, Robicheaux encounters a cast of characters and a resurgence of dark social forces that threaten to destroy all of those whom he loves. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
THE RUNNING GIRL by Sara Blaedel (Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Christine Lakin
Detective Louise Rick gets a call from her son, Jonas. It's every parent's worst nightmare: A school party has ended in terrifying chaos after a group of violent teenagers forced their way into the building in search of alcohol and valuables. Dashing to the scene, Louise discovers one of the students gravely injured --- struck by a car while attempting to run for help. Now the girl's distraught mother, pushed to her emotional breaking point, will do anything to make those who hurt her daughter pay. So when someone targets the gang members with a vicious attack, the girl's mother is the obvious suspect. But Louise can't shake the feeling that the case might not be as cut-and-dried as it first appears. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
SIGNAL LOSS: A Hal Challis Investigation by Garry Disher (Mystery)
Audiobook available, narrated by Colin McPhillamy
A pair of hit men working a job for a meth kingpin have a very bad day, and the resulting bushfire draws attention to a drug lab and two burned bodies in a Mercedes. Sergeant Ellen Destry --- newly minted head of her department’s sex crime unit --- and Inspector Hal Challis return in this seventh installment of Garry Disher’s Peninsula-based crimes series. With meth-related crime on the rise, interdepartmental tensions mount, and Challis soon finds himself fighting to keep control of his case. Meanwhile, Destry is hunting for a serial rapist who is extremely adept at not leaving clues. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
VINDICATION: A Matt Royal Mystery by H. Terrell Griffin (Mystery)
Matt Royal, the retired lawyer-turned-beach-bum, is called back into the courtroom to defend his girlfriend J.D. Duncan's Aunt Esther. A bestselling author has been murdered after a book signing, and Aunt Esther has been arrested. Matt reluctantly suits up for the courtroom, and J.D. takes a leave from the police department to go undercover. A bizarre specter from the past haunts their investigation every step of the way. As they delve further into the case, the pieces of the puzzle refuse to fall into any kind of coherent pattern. Jock Algren arrives with his special skill set to expose the real murderer and free Aunt Esther, but to no avail. Not until the case goes to trial and the evidence is revealed does the truth emerge --- and a strange kind of justice prevails. Reviewed by L. Dean Murphy.
THE WANTED: An Elvis Cole and Joe Pike Novel by Robert Crais (Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Luke Daniels
When single mother Devon Connor hires Elvis Cole, it’s because her troubled teenage son Tyson is flashing cash and she’s afraid he’s dealing drugs. But the truth is devastatingly different. With two others, he’s been responsible for a string of high-end burglaries, a crime spree that takes a deadly turn when one of them is murdered and Tyson and his girlfriend disappear. They stole the wrong thing from the wrong man, and, determined to get it back, he has hired two men who are smart and brutal and the best at what they do. To even the odds, Cole brings in his friend, Joe Pike, but even the two of them together may be overmatched. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW by A. J. Finn (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Ann Marie Lee
Anna Fox lives alone --- a recluse in her New York City home, unable to venture outside. She spends her day drinking wine (maybe too much), watching old movies, recalling happier times...and spying on her neighbors. Then the Russells move into the house across the way: a father, mother and their teenage son. The perfect family. But when Anna, gazing out her window one night, sees something she shouldn’t, her world begins to crumble --- and its shocking secrets are laid bare. What is real? What is imagined? Who is in danger? Who is in control? In THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW, no one --- and nothing --- is what it seems. Reviewed by Bronwyn Miller.
YOU CAN RUN by Steve Mosby (Psychological Thriller)
When a car crashes into a garage on an ordinary street, the attending officer is shocked to look inside the damaged building and discover a woman imprisoned within. As the remains of several other victims are found in the attached house, police believe they have finally identified the Red River Killer --- a man who has been abducting women for nearly 20 years and taunting the police with notes about his crimes. But now the main suspect, John Blythe, is on the run. As the manhunt for Blythe intensifies, Detective Inspector Will Turner finds himself fighting to stay involved in the investigation. The Red River killings hold a personal significance to him, and he must be the one to find the killer. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
BATMAN: Nightwalker by Marie Lu (Adventure, Fiction, Friendship, Superhero , Young Adult 14+)
Before he was Batman, he was Bruce Wayne. A reckless boy willing to break the rules for a girl who may be his worst enemy. The Nightwalkers are terrorizing Gotham City, and Bruce Wayne is next on their list. The city's elites are being taken out one by one as their mansions' security systems turn against them, trapping them like prey. Meanwhile, Bruce is about to become eighteen and inherit his family's fortune, not to mention the keys to Wayne Industries and all the tech gadgetry that he loves. Reviewed by Jeremy H., Teen Board Member
BEFORE I LET GO by Marieke Nijkamp (Fiction, Social Issues, Young Adult 13+)
Audiobook available, narrated by Jennifer O'Donnell and Sandy Rustin
Best friends Corey and Kyra were inseparable in their snow-covered town of Lost Creek, Alaska. When Corey moves away, she makes Kyra promise to stay strong during the long, dark winter, and wait for her return. Just days before Corey is to return home to visit, Kyra dies. Corey is devastated --- and confused. The entire Lost community speaks in hushed tones about the town's lost daughter, saying her death was meant to be. Corey knows something is wrong. With every hour, her suspicion grows. Lost is keeping secrets --- chilling secrets. But piecing together the truth about what happened to her best friend may prove as difficult as lighting the sky in an Alaskan winter.... Reviewed by Brynn S., Teen Board Member.
THE CRUEL PRINCE by Holly Black (Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult 13+)
Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King. To win a place at the Court, she must defy him --- and face the consequences. But as civil war threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself. Reviewed by Sabina Z., Teen Board member.
ROSEBLOOD by A. G. Howard (Fantasy/Paranormal Romance)
Audiobook available, narrated by Rebecca Gibel
Rune, who has an angelic voice, has a mysterious sickness that leaves her sick and drained at the end of every performance. Convinced creative direction will cure her, her mother ships her off to a French boarding school for the arts, rumored to have a haunted past. Shortly after arriving at RoseBlood conservatory, Rune starts to believe something otherworldly is indeed afoot. When Rune begins to develop a secret friendship with the elusive Thorn, she realizes that in his presence she feels cured. As their love continues to grow, Thorn is faced with an impossible choice: lead Rune to her destruction, or save her and face the wrath of the phantom, the only father he’s ever known. Reviewed by Jessica K., Teen Board Member.
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