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In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of October 8th and October 15th that we think will be of interest to Bookreporter.com readers, along with Bonus News, where we call out a contest, feature or review that we want to let you know about so you have it on your radar.
This week, we are calling attention to our Sneak Peek contest for THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM by Marie Benedict. Thirty-five readers will have the chance to win an advance copy of the book, which releases on January 15th, and share their comments on it. The deadline for your entries is Thursday, October 18th at noon ET.
We also encourage you to enter our Word of Mouth and Sounding Off on Audio contests for an opportunity to win some fabulous hardcovers and audiobooks. And please be sure to vote in our latest poll: If you get a book for free in a contest, giveaway or other program (not from a library), how long does it typically take you to start reading it?
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This Week's Bonus News:
Our Sneak Peek Contest for
THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM by Marie Benedict
Our latest Sneak Peek Feature spotlights THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM by Marie Benedict, a powerful novel based on the incredible true story of Hedy Lamarr, the glamour icon and scientist whose groundbreaking invention revolutionized modern communication. The book doesn’t release until January 15th, 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, December 12th. To enter, please fill out this form by Thursday, October 18th at noon ET.
For our Sneak Peek program, your commitment to participate is critical, so please only enter this contest if you truly will have time to read THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM and give us your feedback by the December 12th deadline.
THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM by Marie Benedict (Historical Fiction)
Hedy Kiesler is lucky. Her beauty leads to a starring role in a controversial film and marriage to a powerful Austrian arms dealer, allowing her to evade Nazi persecution despite her Jewish heritage. But Hedy is also intelligent. At lavish Vienna dinner parties, she overhears the Third Reich's plans. One night in 1937, desperate to escape her controlling husband and the rise of the Nazis, she disguises herself and flees her husband's castle.
She lands in Hollywood, where she becomes Hedy Lamarr, screen star. But Hedy is keeping a secret even more shocking than her Jewish heritage: she is a scientist. She has an idea that might help the country and that might ease her guilt for escaping alone --- if anyone will listen to her.
A powerful novel based on the incredible true story of the glamour icon and scientist whose groundbreaking invention revolutionized modern communication, THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM is a masterpiece.
- Click here to read an excerpt.
- Click here to read Marie Benedict’s bio.
- Click here to visit Marie Benedict’s website.
- Click here to connect with Marie Benedict on Facebook.
Click here to enter the contest.
On Sale the Week of October 8th in Hardcover
October 8th
AMBUSH: A Detective Michael Bennett Thriller by James Patterson and James O. Born (Thriller)
An anonymous tip about a crime in Upper Manhattan proves to be a setup. An officer is taken down --- and, despite the attackers' efforts, it's not Michael Bennett. New York's top cop is not the only one at risk. One of Bennett's children sustains a mysterious injury. And a series of murders follows, each with a distinct signature, alerting Bennett to the presence of a professional killer with a flair for disguise. Bennett taps his best investigators and sources, and they fan out across the five boroughs. But the leads they're chasing turn out to be phantoms. The assassin takes advantage of the chaos, enticing an officer into compromising Bennett, then luring another member of Bennett's family into even graver danger.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316273985
October 9th
BRIGHT RUIN by Vic James (Dystopian Fantasy)
The lower classes must give 10 years in service to Britain’s powerfully gifted rulers. With one uprising crushed by the glittering elite, commoners and aristocrats alike now take sides for a final confrontation. At the center of it all are Abi Hadley and her brother, Luke. Each has reason to hate the ruling Jardine family. Abi, who was once their servant, now seeks revenge for a terrible wrong. Luke was imprisoned on their whim --- but his only hope may be an alliance with the youngest and most powerful of the clan, the cold and inscrutable Silyen Jardine. Risking everything to end a bright and shining tyranny, Abi, Luke and Silyen find themselves bound by a single destiny. Their actions will change their fates --- and the world --- but at a cost almost too terrible to contemplate.
Del Rey | 9780425284186
THE CLOCKMAKER'S DAUGHTER by Kate Morton (Historical Fiction)
In the summer of 1862, a group of young artists descends upon Birchwood Manor in rural Oxfordshire. By the time their stay is over, one woman has been shot dead while another has disappeared; a priceless heirloom is missing; and Edward Radcliffe's life is in ruins. Over 150 years later, Elodie Winslow, a young archivist in London, uncovers a leather satchel with two seemingly unrelated items in it: a sepia photograph of an arresting-looking woman in Victorian clothing, and an artist's sketchbook containing the drawing of a twin-gabled house on the bend of a river. Why does Birchwood Manor feel so familiar to Elodie? And who is the beautiful woman in the photograph? Will she ever give up her secrets?
Atria Books | 9781451649390
CRISIS: A Dick Francis Novel by Felix Francis (Thriller)
Harrison Foster, a crisis manager for a London firm, is summoned to Newmarket after a fire in the Chadwick Stables kills six very valuable horses, including the short-priced favorite for the Derby. There is far more to the "simple" fire than initially meets the eye. For a start, human remains are found among the equestrian ones in the burnt-out shell. All the stable staff are accounted for, so who is the mystery victim? Harry represents the Middle Eastern owner of the Derby favorite, and as he delves deeper into the unanswered questions surrounding the horse's demise, he ignites a fuse that blows the volcano sky-high. Can Harry solve the riddle before he is bumped off by the fallout?
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780525536765
DOMINION: The History of England from the Battle of Waterloo to Victoria's Diamond Jubilee by Peter Ackroyd (History)
DOMINION, the fifth volume of Peter Ackroyd’s History of England, begins in 1815 as national glory following the Battle of Waterloo gives way to a post-war depression and ends with the death of Queen Victoria in January 1901. Spanning the end of the Regency, Ackroyd takes readers from the accession of the profligate George IV, whose government was steered by Lord Liverpool, whose face was set against reform, to the “Sailor King” William IV, whose reign saw the modernization of the political system and the abolition of slavery. But it was the accession of Queen Victoria, at only 18 years old, that sparked an era of enormous innovation.
Thomas Dunne Books | 9781250003652
THE FALLEN ARCHITECT by Charles Belfoure (Historical Thriller)
When the Britannia Theatre's balcony collapses, killing over a dozen people, the fingers point at the architect. He should have known better, should have made it safer, should have done something. Douglas Layton knows the flaw wasn't in his design, but he can't fight a guilty verdict. When he is finally released from prison, he has nothing: no job, no family, nowhere to go. He needs to assume a new identity and rebuild his life. But he soon finds himself digging up the past in a way he never anticipated. If the collapse was not an accident, who caused it? And why? And what if they find out who he used to be?
Sourcebooks Landmark | 9781492662716
THE GIRL FROM BERLIN by Ronald H. Balson (Historical Fiction)
An old friend calls Catherine Lockhart and Liam Taggart to his famous Italian restaurant to enlist their help. His aunt is being evicted from her home in the Tuscan hills by a powerful corporation claiming they own the deeds, even though she can produce her own set of deeds to her land. Catherine and Liam’s only clue is a bound handwritten manuscript, entirely in German, and hidden in its pages is a story long-forgotten. What became of Ada Baumgarten? How is she connected to the conflicting land deeds of a small Italian villa? As they dig through the layers of lies, corruption and human evil, Catherine and Liam uncover an unfinished story of heart, redemption and hope --- the ending of which is yet to be written.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250195241
HOLY GHOST: A Virgil Flowers Novel by John Sandford (Mystery/Thriller)
Pinion, Minnesota: a metropolis of all of 700 souls, for which the word "moribund" might have been invented. Nothing ever happened there and nothing ever would --- until the mayor of sorts (campaign slogan: "I'll Do What I Can") and a buddy come up with a scheme to put Pinion on the map. They'd heard of a place where a floating image of the Virgin Mary had turned the whole town into a shrine, attracting thousands of pilgrims. And all those pilgrims needed food, shelter, all kinds of crazy things, right? They'd all get rich! What could go wrong? When the dead body shows up, they find out, and that's only the beginning of their troubles --- and Virgil Flowers' --- as they are all about to discover all too soon.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780735217324
INVISIBLE: The Forgotten Story of the Black Woman Lawyer Who Took Down America's Most Powerful Mobster by Stephen L. Carter (Biography)
Eunice Hunton Carter, Stephen Carter’s grandmother, was raised in a world of stultifying expectations about race and gender, yet by the 1940s, her professional and political successes had made her one of the most famous black women in America. But her triumphs were shadowed by prejudice and tragedy. Greatly complicating her rise was her difficult relationship with her younger brother, Alphaeus, an avowed Communist who --- together with his friend Dashiell Hammett --- would go to prison during the McCarthy era. Yet she remained unbowed. INVISIBLE tells the true story of a woman who often found her path blocked by the social and political expectations of her time. But Eunice Carter never accepted defeat.
Henry Holt and Co. | 9781250121974
KILLING COMMENDATORE written by Haruki Murakami, translated by Philip Gabriel and Ted Goossen (Fiction)
A thirty-something portrait painter in Tokyo is abandoned by his wife and finds himself holed up in the mountain home of a famous artist, Tomohiko Amada. When he discovers a previously unseen painting in the attic, he unintentionally opens a circle of mysterious circumstances. To close it, he must complete a journey that involves a mysterious ringing bell, a two-foot-high physical manifestation of an Idea, a dapper businessman who lives across the valley, a precocious 13-year-old girl, a Nazi assassination attempt during World War II in Vienna, a pit in the woods behind the artist’s home, and an underworld haunted by Double Metaphors.
Knopf | 9780525520047
KILLING THE SS: The Hunt for the Worst War Criminals in History by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard (History)
As the true horrors of the Third Reich began to be exposed immediately after World War II, the Nazi war criminals who committed genocide went on the run. A few were swiftly caught, including the notorious SS leader Heinrich Himmler. Others, however, evaded capture through a sophisticated Nazi organization designed to hide them. KILLING THE SS is the epic saga of the espionage and daring waged by self-styled "Nazi hunters." Over decades, these men and women scoured the world, tracking down the SS fugitives and bringing them to justice, which often meant death.
Henry Holt and Co. | 9781250165541
LOVE IS BLIND by William Boyd (Fiction)
Brodie Moncur is a brilliant piano tuner, as brilliant in his own way as John Kilbarron, the pianist Brodie accompanies on all of his tours from Paris to Saint Petersburg. It is a luxurious life, and a level of success Brodie could hardly have dreamed of growing up in a remote Scottish village, in a household ruled by a tyrannical father. But Brodie would gladly give it all up for the love of the Russian soprano Lika Blum: beautiful, worldly, seductive --- and consort to Kilbarron. And though seemingly doomed from the start, Brodie's passion for her only grows as their lives become increasingly more intertwined, more secretive and, finally, more dangerous.
Knopf | 9780525655268
THE NEXT PERSON YOU MEET IN HEAVEN by Mitch Albom (Fiction)
The accident that killed Eddie in THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN left an indelible mark on Annie, the young girl whose life he saved. Injured, scarred and unable to remember why, Annie’s life is forever changed by a guilt-ravaged mother who whisks her away from the world she knew. When, as a young woman, she reconnects with Paulo, her childhood love, she believes she has finally found happiness. As the novel opens, Annie is marrying Paulo. But when her wedding night ends in an unimaginable accident, Annie finds herself on her own heavenly journey --- and an inevitable reunion with Eddie, one of the five people who will show her how her life mattered in ways she could not have fathomed.
Harper | 9780062294449
NOVEMBER ROAD by Lou Berney (Historical Thriller)
A loyal street lieutenant to New Orleans’ mob boss, Carlos Marcello, Frank Guidry knows too much about the crime of the century: the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Within hours of JFK’s murder, everyone with ties to Marcello is turning up dead, and Guidry suspects he’s next. With few good options, Guidry hits the road to Las Vegas, to see an old associate --- a dangerous man who hates Marcello enough to help Guidry vanish. When Guidry sees a beautiful housewife on the side of the road with a broken-down car, two little daughters and a dog in the back seat, he sees the perfect disguise to cover his tracks from the hit men on his tail.
William Morrow | 9780062663849
OPEN YOUR EYES by Paula Daly (Psychological Thriller)
Jane Campbell avoids confrontation at any costs. Given the choice, she’ll always let her husband, Leon --- a bestselling crime writer --- take the lead, while she focuses on her two children and her job as a creative writing teacher. After she receives another rejection for her novel, Leon urges Jane to put her hobby to rest. And why shouldn’t she, when they appear to have the perfect house and the perfect life? But then Leon is brutally attacked in their driveway, and suddenly their perfect life becomes the stuff of nightmares. Who would commit such a hateful offense? With her husband in a coma, Jane must open her eyes to the problems in her life, as well as the secrets that have been kept from her.
Grove Press | 9780802128454
PENNED: A Kate Turner, DVM, Mystery by Eileen Brady (Mystery)
Dr. Kate Turner, DVM, is seven months into her one-year contract to cover for a Hudson Valley vet taking a year-long world cruise. Gloria LaGuardia has been installed at an assisted living center by her niece. They bump into Kate at the Oak Falls annual Halloween street bash. While Gloria's conversation indicates some mental confusion, she's still sharp. She says, "Someone evil is here. I saw him." Saw who? Will this chance meeting draw Kate into the path of Carl Wolf, a notorious fugitive 21 years on the FBI's Most Wanted List? Is Wolf hiding in plain sight in or around Oak Falls? When Gloria, once an artist endowed with a sharp eye, is murdered, Kate doesn't know what to think.
Poisoned Pen Press | 9781464211096
PRESIDENTS OF WAR: The Epic Story, from 1807 to Modern Times by Michael Beschloss (History/Politics)
Ten years in the research and writing, PRESIDENTS OF WAR is a fresh, magisterial, intimate look at a procession of American leaders as they took the nation into conflict and mobilized their country for victory. It brings us into the room as they make the most difficult decisions that face any President, at times sending hundreds of thousands of American men and women to their deaths. From James Madison and the War of 1812 to recent times, we see them struggling with Congress, the courts, the press, their own advisors and antiwar protesters. We come to understand how these Presidents were able to withstand the pressures of war --- both physically and emotionally --- or were broken by them.
Crown | 9780307409607
SHELL by Kristina Olsson (Historical Fiction)
Newspaper reporter Pearl Keogh has put her job in jeopardy to become involved in the anti-war movement. She is desperate to locate her two runaway brothers before they’re called to serve in the Vietnam War. Newly arrived from Sweden, Axel Lindquist is set to work as a sculptor on the besieged Sydney Opera House. He seeks to reinvent himself in this utterly foreign landscape, and finds artistic inspiration --- and salvation --- in the monument to modernity that is being constructed on Sydney’s Harbor. But as the nation hurtles towards yet another war, Jørn Utzon, the Opera House’s controversial architect, is nowhere to be found --- and Axel fears that the past he has tried to outrun may be catching up with him.
Atria Books | 9781501193132
WHEN YOU FIND ME by P. J. Vernon (Psychological Thriller)
Visiting her family’s South Carolina estate, socialite Gray Godfrey wakes from a night out to an empty bed. Her husband Paul is gone, and a thrashing hangover has wiped her memory clean. At first, she’s relieved for the break from her tumultuous marriage. But when his car is found abandoned on the highway, Gray must face the truth: Paul is gone. When a stranger named Annie calls claiming to know Paul’s whereabouts, Gray reluctantly accepts her help. But this ally is not what she seems: soon Annie is sending frightening messages and revealing disturbing secrets only Gray could know. As Annie’s threats escalate and Gray’s grip on reality begins to slip, the life she thought she had and the dark truth she’s been living begin to merge.
Crooked Lane Books | 9781683317494
WINTER IN PARADISE by Elin Hilderbrand (Fiction)
Irene Steele's idyllic life is shattered when she is woken up by a late-night phone call. Her beloved husband has been found dead, but before Irene can process this tragic news, she must confront the perplexing details of his death. He was found on St. John island, a tropical paradise far removed from their suburban life. Leaving the cold winter behind, Irene flies down to the beautiful Caribbean beaches of St. John only to make another shocking discovery: her husband had a secret second family. As Irene investigates the mysterious circumstances of her husband's death, she is plunged into a web of intrigue and deceit belied by the pristine white sand beaches of St. John's.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316435512
THE WITCH ELM by Tana French (Thriller)
Toby is a happy-go-lucky charmer who has dodged a scrape at work and is celebrating with friends when the night takes a turn that will change his life --- he surprises two burglars who beat him and leave him for dead. Struggling to recover from his injuries, beginning to understand that he might never be the same man again, he takes refuge at his family's ancestral home to care for his dying uncle Hugo. Then a skull is found in the trunk of an elm tree in the garden --- and as detectives close in, Toby is forced to face the possibility that his past may not be what he has always believed.
Viking | 9780735224629
WRECKED: IQ Novel by Joe Ide (Mystery)
A series of high-profile wins in his hometown of East Long Beach have made Isaiah Quintabe (IQ for short) so notorious that he can hardly go to the corner store without being recognized. Dodson, once his sidekick, is now his full-fledged partner, hell-bent on giving IQ's PI business some real legitimacy. So when a young painter approaches IQ for help tracking down her missing mother, it's not just the case Isaiah's looking for, but the human connection. And when his new confidant turns out to be connected to a dangerous paramilitary operation, IQ falls victim to a threat even a genius can't see coming.
Mulholland Books | 9780316509510
On Sale the Week of October 8th in Paperback
October 9th
CRAZY LIKE A FOX by Rita Mae Brown (Mystery)
Sister Jane Arnold takes a scenic drive up the Blue Ridge Mountains for a board meeting at the Museum of Hounds and Hunting. Brimming with colorful stories and mementos from hunts of yore, the mansion is plunged into mystery when a venerable hunting horn is stolen right out of its case. The only clue, on a left-behind cell phone, is what seems to be a “selfie” video of the horn’s original owner, Wesley Carruthers --- deceased since 1954. Odder still, Wesley’s body was never found. When Sister makes a discovery that may explain his unsolved disappearance, it leads her back to the Jefferson Hunt at midcentury. But as the clues quickly mount, Sister is no longer sure if she’s pursuing a priceless artifact, a thief, Wesley’s killer…or a ghost.
Ballantine Books | 9780399178368
DARE NOT LINGER: The Presidential Years by Nelson Mandela and Mandla Langa (Memoir)
In 1994, Nelson Mandela became the first president of a democratic South Africa. During his presidency, he and his government ensured that all of South Africa’s citizens became equal before the law, and he laid the foundation for turning a country riven by centuries of colonialism and apartheid into a fully functioning democracy. DARE NOT LINGER is the story of Mandela’s presidential years, drawing heavily on the memoir he began to write as he prepared to leave office, but was unable to finish. Now the acclaimed South African writer Mandla Langa has completed the task, using Mandela’s unfinished draft, detailed notes that Mandela made as events were unfolding, and a wealth of unseen archival material.
Picador | 9781250192806
FROM HERE TO ETERNITY: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death by Caitlin Doughty (Sociology/Memoir)
Fascinated by our pervasive fear of dead bodies, mortician Caitlin Doughty embarks on a global expedition to discover how other cultures care for the dead. From Zoroastrian sky burials to wish-granting Bolivian skulls, she investigates the world’s funerary customs and expands our sense of what it means to treat the dead with dignity. Her account questions the rituals of the American funeral industry --- especially chemical embalming --- and suggests that the most effective traditions are those that allow mourners to personally attend to the body of the deceased.
W. W. Norton & Company | 9780393356281
GOOD ME BAD ME by Ali Land (Psychological Thriller)
Milly’s mother is a serial killer. Though Milly loves her mother, the only way to make her stop is to turn her in to the police. Milly is given a fresh start: a new identity, a home with an affluent foster family, and a spot at an exclusive private school. But Milly has secrets, and life at her new home becomes complicated. As her mother’s trial looms, with Milly as the star witness, Milly starts to wonder how much of her is nature, how much of her is nurture, and whether she is doomed to turn out like her mother after all. When tensions rise and Milly feels trapped by her shiny new life, she has to decide: Will she be good? Or is she bad? She is, after all, her mother's daughter.
Flatiron Books | 9781250087669
KICK-ASS KINDA GIRL: A Memoir of Life, Love, and Caregiving by Kathi Koll (Memoir)
Paperback Original
When her husband, Don, called on his way to the hospital, Kathi Koll had no idea how dramatically their lives would change --- or how her loving heart and indomitable spirit would fight it. With unflinching honesty and humor, Kathi shares the realities of a life in uncharted territory as a full-time caregiver, from turning her home into a mobile hospital to the complications of intimacy. Her ability to share sorrows while laughing at herself helped her find a New Normal where she and Don could live each day to its fullest. Her journey, steeped in the joy of living in the moment, teaches us what it means to never lose hope for tomorrow --- at the best of times and under the worst of circumstances.
Ward Publishing | 9781732364905
LENIN: The Man, the Dictator, and the Master of Terror by Victor Sebestyen (Biography)
Brought up in comfort and with a passion for hunting and fishing, chess and the English classics, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was radicalized after the execution of his brother in 1887. Victor Sebestyen traces the story from Lenin's early years to his long exile in Europe and return to Petrograd in 1917 to lead the first Communist revolution in history. Uniquely, Sebestyen has discovered that throughout Lenin's life his closest relationships were with his mother, his sisters, his wife and his mistress. The long-suppressed story told here of the love triangle that Lenin had with his wife and his beautiful, married mistress and comrade reveals a more complicated character than that of the coldly one-dimensional leader of the Bolshevik Revolution.
Vintage | 9781101974308
THE LIES WE TOLD by Camilla Way (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
Beth has always known there was something strange about her daughter, Hannah --- the lack of emotion, the disturbing behavior, the apparent delight in hurting others. Sometimes Beth is scared of her and what she could be capable of. Luke comes from the perfect family, with the perfect parents. But one day, he disappears without a trace, and his girlfriend, Clara, is desperate to discover what has happened to him. As Clara digs into the past, she realizes that no family is truly perfect, and uncovers a link between Luke's long-lost sister and a strange girl named Hannah. Now Luke's life is in danger because of the lies once told and the secrets once kept. Can Clara find him before it's too late?
Berkley | 9781101989524
THE LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER'S DAUGHTER by Hazel Gaynor (Historical Fiction)
Paperback Original
1838: Northumberland, England. Longstone Lighthouse has been Grace Darling’s home for all of her 22 years. When she and her father rescue shipwreck survivors in a furious storm, Grace becomes celebrated throughout England. But far more precious than her unsought fame is the friendship that develops between Grace and visiting artist George Emmerson. 1938: Newport, Rhode Island. A pregnant Matilda Emmerson has been sent away from Ireland in disgrace. She is to stay with Harriet, a reclusive relative and assistant lighthouse keeper, until her baby is born. A discarded, half-finished portrait opens a window into Matilda’s family history. As a deadly hurricane approaches, two women --- living a century apart --- will be linked forever by their instinctive acts of courage and love.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780062698629
MERRY AND BRIGHT by Debbie Macomber (Romance)
Merry Knight is taking care of her family, baking cookies, decorating for the holidays, and hoping to stay out of the crosshairs of her stressed and by-the-book boss at the consulting firm where she temps. Her own social life is the last thing she has in mind, much less a man. Without her knowledge, Merry’s well-meaning mom and brother create an online dating profile for her --- minus her photo --- and the matches start rolling in. Soon Merry finds herself chatting with a charming stranger, a man with similar interests and an unmistakably kind soul. But meeting face-to-face is altogether different, and her special friend is the last person Merry expects --- or desires.
Ballantine Books | 9780399181245
MRS. OSMOND by John Banville (Historical Fiction)
In MRS. OSMOND, John Banville continues the story of Isabel Archer, the young protagonist of Henry James’ beloved THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY. Eager but naïve, in James’ novel Isabel comes into a large, unforeseen inheritance and marries the charming, penniless, and --- as Isabel finds out too late --- cruel and deceitful Gilbert Osmond. Here Banville imagines Isabel’s second chapter, telling the story of a woman reawakened by grief and the knowledge that she has been grievously wronged, and determined to resume her quest for freedom and independence.
Vintage | 9781101972892
NEVER COMING BACK by Alison McGhee (Fiction)
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?
Mariner Books | 9781328502025
THE RIVER OF CONSCIOUSNESS by Oliver Sacks (Science)
Oliver Sacks is beloved by readers for the extraordinary neurological case histories in which he explored many now-familiar disorders. He was also a memoirist who wrote with honesty and humor about the remarkable experiences that shaped him. In the pieces that comprise THE RIVER OF CONSCIOUSNESS, Dr. Sacks takes on evolution, botany, chemistry, medicine, neuroscience and the arts, and calls upon his great scientific and creative heroes --- above all, Darwin, Freud and William James. The questions they explored --- the meaning of evolution, the roots of creativity, and the nature of consciousness --- lie at the heart of science and of this book.
Vintage | 9780804171007
SLEEP NO MORE: Six Murderous Tales by P. D. James (Mystery/Short Stories)
When it comes to crime, it’s not always a question of “whodunit?” Sometimes there’s more mystery in the why or the how. And what about the clever few who carry out what appears to be the perfect crime? Or whose most essential selves are changed by the crimes they commit? And what about those who know the identity of the murderer but keep the information to themselves? These are some of the questions that these six stories begin to unlock as they draw us into the inner workings --- the thoughts and emotional machinations, the recollections and rationalizations, the dreams and desires --- behind both murderous cause and effect.
Vintage | 9780525436652
TELL TALE: Stories by Jeffrey Archer (Fiction/Short Stories)
Nearly a decade after his last volume of short stories was published, Jeffrey Archer returns with TELL TALE, giving us fascinating insight into the people he has met, the stories he has come across, and the countries he has visited during the past 10 years. Find out what happens to the hapless young detective from Naples who travels to an Italian hillside town to find out "Who Killed the Mayor?" and the pretentious schoolboy in "A Road to Damascus," whose discovery of the origins of his father’s wealth changes his life in the most profound way. Revel in the stories of the 1930s woman who dares to challenge the men at her Ivy League University in "A Gentleman and a Scholar," while another young woman who thumbs a lift gets more than she bargained for in "A Wasted Hour."
St. Martin's Griffin | 9781250199584
THE TRUST by Ronald H. Balson (Historical Fiction)
When his uncle dies, Liam Taggart reluctantly returns to his childhood home in Northern Ireland for the funeral --- a home he left years ago after a bitter confrontation with his family. But when he arrives, Liam learns that not only was his uncle shot to death, but that he had anticipated his own murder. In an astonishing last will and testament, Uncle Fergus has left his entire estate to a secret trust, directing that no distributions be made to any person until the killer is found. As his investigation draws Liam farther and farther into the past he has abandoned, he realizes he is forced to reopen doors long ago shut and locked.
St. Martin's Griffin | 9781250127457
WHITE DANCING ELEPHANTS: Stories by Chaya Bhuvaneswar (Fiction/Short Stories)
Paperback Original
A woman grieves a miscarriage, haunted by the Buddha’s birth. An artist with schizophrenia tries to survive hatred and indifference in small-town India by turning to the beauty of sculpture and dance. Orphans in India get pulled into a strange “rescue” mission aimed at stripping their mysterious powers. A brief but intense affair between two women culminates in regret and betrayal. And fragments of history, from child brickmakers to slaves in Renaissance Portugal, are held up in brief fictions, burnished, made dazzling and unforgettable. In 16 remarkable stories, Chaya Bhuvaneswar spotlights diverse women of color facing sexual harassment and racial violence, and occasionally inflicting that violence on each other.
Dzanc Books | 9781945814617
On Sale the Week of October 15th in Hardcover
October 16th
ALMOST EVERYTHING: Notes on Hope by Anne Lamott (Personal Growth/Inspiration)
"I am stockpiling antibiotics for the Apocalypse, even as I await the blossoming of paperwhites on the windowsill in the kitchen," Anne Lamott admits at the beginning of ALMOST EVERYTHING. Despair and uncertainty surround us: in the news, in our families and in ourselves. But even when life is at its bleakest --- when we are "doomed, stunned, exhausted, and over-caffeinated" --- the seeds of rejuvenation are at hand. "All truth is paradox," Lamott writes, "and this turns out to be a reason for hope. If you arrive at a place in life that is miserable, it will change." That is the time when we must pledge not to give up but "to do what Wendell Berry wrote: 'Be joyful, though you have considered all the facts.'"
Riverhead Books | 9780525537441
AMERICAN DIALOGUE: The Founders and Us by Joseph J. Ellis (History)
The story of history is a ceaseless conversation between past and present, and in AMERICAN DIALOGUE Joseph J. Ellis focuses the conversation on the often-asked question "What would the Founding Fathers think?" He examines four of our most seminal historical figures through the prism of particular topics, using the perspective of the present to shed light on their views and, in turn, to make clear how their now centuries-old ideas illuminate the disturbing impasse of today's political conflicts. He discusses Jefferson and the issue of racism, Adams and the specter of economic inequality, Washington and American imperialism, Madison and the doctrine of original intent.
Knopf | 9780385353427
THE BIG FELLA: Babe Ruth and the World He Created by Jane Leavy (Sports/Biography)
After hitting his 60th home run in September 1927 --- a total that would not be exceeded until 1961, when Roger Maris did it with the aid of the extended modern season --- Babe Ruth embarked on the mother of all barnstorming tours, a three-week victory lap across America, accompanied by New York Yankees teammate Lou Gehrig. Business manager Christy Walsh called the tour a "Symphony of Swat." The Omaha World Herald called it "the biggest show since Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey, and seven other associated circuses offered their entire performance under one tent." Jane Leavy recreates that 21-day circus, and in so doing captures the romp and the pathos that defined Ruth’s life and times.
Harper | 9780062380227
THE BLUE KINGFISHER: A Kat Stone Novel by Erica Wright (Mystery)
On a desolate morning in Fort Washington Park, private investigator Kat Stone discovers the body of her building’s French expat maintenance man atop the Jeffrey’s Hook Lighthouse. The NYPD is quick to dismiss his death as suicide, another lost soul leaping from the bridge overhead. Kat is less than convinced, especially when she learns about his dangerous side hustle --- finding jobs for immigrant members of their community. Her investigation turns up unexpected connections to Manhattan’s tony art world, not to mention a host of dark superstitions. Will she find his killer before her past drags her under?
Polis Books | 9781947993266
THE CHRISTMAS STAR by Donna VanLiere (Fiction)
Thirty-two-year-old Amy Denison volunteers at Glory’s Place, an after school program where she meets seven-year-old Maddie, a precocious young girl who has spent her childhood in foster care. Unbeknownst to Amy, Maddie is a mini-matchmaker, with her eye on just the right man for Amy at Grandon Elementary School, where she is a student. Amy is hesitant --- she’s been hurt before, and she isn’t sure she’s ready to lose her heart again --- but an unexpected surprise makes her reconsider her lonely lifestyle. As Christmas nears, Maddie and the charming staff at Glory’s Place help Amy to see that romance can be more than heartache and broken promises.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250163905
THE COLLECTOR'S APPRENTICE by B. A. Shapiro (Historical Thriller)
Everyone in Belgium, including her own family, believes Paulien Mertens stole millions in a sophisticated con game perpetrated by her then-fiancé, George Everard. To protect herself from the law and the wrath of those who lost everything, she creates a new identity, a Frenchwoman named Vivienne Gregsby, and sets out to recover her father’s art collection and prove her innocence. When the eccentric and wealthy American art collector Edwin Bradley offers Vivienne the perfect job, she is soon caught up in the Parisian world of post-Impressionists and expatriates. Her life becomes even more complicated when George returns with unclear motives --- and then she is arrested for Bradley’s murder.
Algonquin Books | 9781616203580
THE CONSUMING FIRE by John Scalzi (Science Fiction)
The Interdependency, humanity’s interstellar empire, is on the verge of collapse. The extra-dimensional conduit that makes travel between the stars possible is disappearing, leaving entire systems and human civilizations stranded. Emperor Grayland II of the Interdependency is ready to take desperate measures to help ensure the survival of billions. But arrayed before her are those who believe the collapse of the Flow is a myth --- or at the very least an opportunity to an ascension to power. While Grayland prepares for disaster, others prepare for a civil war --- a war that will take place in the halls of power, the markets of business and the altars of worship as much as it will between spaceships and battlefields.
Tor Books | 9780765388971
THE CRAFTSMAN by Sharon Bolton (Thriller)
Florence Lovelady's career was made when she convicted coffin-maker Larry Grassbrook of a series of child murders 30 years ago in a small village in Lancashire. Like something out of a nightmare, the victims were buried alive. Florence was able to solve the mystery and get a confession out of Larry before more children were murdered, and he spent the rest of his life in prison. But now, decades later, he's dead, and events from the past start to repeat themselves. Is someone copying the original murders? Or did she get it wrong all those years ago? When her own son goes missing under similar circumstances, the case not only gets reopened...it gets personal.
Minotaur Books | 9781250300034
THE DARKNESS by Ragnar Jonasson (Mystery/Thriller)
The body of a young Russian woman washes up on an Icelandic shore. After a cursory investigation, the death is declared a suicide and the case is quietly closed. Over a year later, Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir of the Reykjavík police is forced into early retirement at 64. But before she leaves, she is given two weeks to solve a single cold case of her choice. She knows which one: the Russian woman whose hope for asylum ended on the dark, cold shore of an unfamiliar country. Soon Hulda discovers that another young woman vanished at the same time, and that no one is telling her the whole story. Even her colleagues in the police seem determined to put the brakes on her investigation.
Minotaur Books | 9781250171030
DECK THE HOUNDS: An Andy Carpenter Mystery by David Rosenfelt (Mystery)
Andy Carpenter doesn’t usually stop to help others, but seeing a dog next to a homeless man inspires him to give the pair some money. Soon after, man and dog are attacked on the street. The dog defends its new owner, and the erstwhile attacker is bitten but escapes. The dog is quarantined, and the man, Don Carrigan, is heartbroken. In a matter of days, Don and his dog Zoey are living above Andy’s garage. It turns out that Don is wanted for a murder that happened two years ago. Don not only claims he’s innocent, but that he had no idea he was wanted for a crime he has no knowledge of in the first place. It’s up to Andy to exonerate his new friend, if he doesn’t get pulled into the quagmire first.
Minotaur Books | 9781250198488
DESPERATE MEASURES: A Stone Barrington Novel by Stuart Woods (Thriller/Adventure)
Upon returning to the states from a European jaunt, Stone Barrington makes the acquaintance of a stunning woman who seems like she could be an ideal candidate to meet some of his professional --- and personal --- needs. Before long, though, Stone is put to the task of protecting his new hire when New York City is rocked by a series of disturbing crimes, and it looks as if she might be the next target. In the city that never sleeps, there's always a plot being hatched, and the only recourse is constant vigilance and a bit of luck. But if those defensive systems fail, Stone will have to go head-to-head against some of the most dastardly scum he's ever faced.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780735219229
EVERY BREATH by Nicholas Sparks (Romance)
Hope Anderson has been dating her boyfriend for six years. With no wedding plans in sight, and her father recently diagnosed with ALS, she decides to use a week at her family's cottage in Sunset Beach, North Carolina, to ready the house for sale and mull over some difficult decisions about her future. Tru Walls is summoned to Sunset Beach by a letter from a man claiming to be his father. He hopes to unravel some of the mysteries surrounding his mother's early life and recapture memories lost with her death. When the two strangers cross paths, their connection is as electric as it is unfathomable. But their feelings for each other will give way to choices that pit family duty against personal happiness in devastating ways.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538728529
HEAVY: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon (Memoir)
In HEAVY, Kiese Laymon writes about growing up a hard-headed black son to a complicated and brilliant black mother in Jackson, Mississippi. From his early experiences of sexual violence, to his suspension from college, to his trek to New York as a young college professor, Laymon charts his complex relationship with his mother, grandmother, anorexia, obesity, sex, writing and ultimately gambling. By attempting to name secrets and lies he and his mother spent a lifetime avoiding, Laymon asks himself, his mother, his nation and us to confront the terrifying possibility that few in this country actually know how to responsibly love, and even fewer want to live under the weight of actually becoming free.
Scribner | 9781501125652
IN THE HOUSE IN THE DARK OF THE WOODS by Laird Hunt (Historical Fiction/Horror)
In this horror story set in colonial New England, a law-abiding Puritan woman goes missing. Or perhaps she has fled or abandoned her family. Or perhaps she has been kidnapped, and set loose to wander in the dense woods of the north. Alone and possibly lost, she meets another woman in the forest. Then everything changes. On a journey that will take her through dark woods full of almost-human wolves, through a deep well wet with the screams of men, and on a living ship made of human bones, our heroine may find that the evil she flees has been inside her all along.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316411059
IN THE HURRICANE'S EYE: The Genius of George Washington and the Victory at Yorktown by Nathaniel Philbrick (History)
In the fall of 1780, after five frustrating years of war, George Washington had come to realize that the only way to defeat the British Empire was with the help of the French navy. But as he had learned after two years of trying, coordinating his army's movements with those of a fleet of warships based thousands of miles away was next to impossible. And then, on September 5, 1781, the impossible happened. Recognized today as one of the most important naval engagements in the history of the world, the Battle of the Chesapeake --- fought without a single American ship --- made the subsequent victory of the Americans at Yorktown a virtual inevitability.
Viking | 9780525426769
THE LIBRARY BOOK by Susan Orlean (Social History)
On the morning of April 29, 1986, a fire alarm sounded in the Los Angeles Public Library. As the moments passed, the patrons and staff who had been cleared out of the building realized this was not the usual false alarm. The fire was disastrous: It reached 2,000 degrees and burned for more than seven hours. By the time it was extinguished, it had consumed 400,000 books and damaged 700,000 more. Investigators descended on the scene, but over 30 years later, the mystery remains: Did someone purposefully set fire to the library --- and if so, who? Award-winning journalist Susan Orlean investigates this legendary fire to showcase the larger, crucial role that libraries play in our lives.
Simon & Schuster | 9781476740188
THE LITTLE SHOP OF FOUND THINGS by Paula Brackston (Historical Fiction)
Xanthe and her mother, Flora, take over an antique shop in the historic town of Marlborough. Xanthe has always had an affinity with some of the antiques she finds. When she touches them, she can sense something of the past they come from and the stories they hold. It is while she’s examining a beautiful silver chatelainem that she’s transported back to the 17th century and discovers there is an injustice in its history. The spirit that inhabits her new home charges her with saving her daughter’s life, threatening to take Flora’s if she fails. While Xanthe fights to save the girl, she meets architect Samuel Appleby. He may be the person who can help her succeed. He may also be the reason she can’t bring herself to leave.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250072436
MELMOTH by Sarah Perry (Gothic Thriller)
It has been years since Helen Franklin left England. In Prague, working as a translator, she has found a home of sorts --- or, at least, refuge. That changes when her friend Karel discovers a mysterious letter in the library, a strange confession and a curious warning that speaks of Melmoth the Witness, a dark legend found in obscure fairy tales and antique village lore. As such superstition has it, Melmoth travels through the ages, dooming those she persuades to join her to a damnation of timeless, itinerant solitude. To Helen, it all seems the stuff of unenlightened fantasy. But, unaware, as she wanders the cobblestone streets, Helen is being watched. And then Karel disappears.
Custom House | 9780062856395
A MIND UNRAVELED: A Memoir by Kurt Eichenwald (Memoir)
As a college freshman, Kurt Eichenwald awoke one night on the floor of his dorm room, confused and in pain. In the aftermath of that critical moment, his once-carefree life would be consumed by confrontations with medical incompetence, discrimination that almost cost him his education and employment, physical abuse, and dark moments when he contemplated suicide. This is the story of one man’s battle to pursue his dreams despite an often incapacitating brain disorder. From his early experiences of fear and denial to his exasperating search for treatment, Eichenwald provides a deeply candid account of his years facing this misunderstood and often stigmatized condition.
Ballantine Books | 9780399593628
MY LOVE STORY: A Memoir by Tina Turner (Memoir)
From her early years in Nutbush, Tennessee, to her rise to fame alongside Ike Turner to her phenomenal success in the 1980s and beyond, Tina Turner candidly examines her personal history, from her darkest hours to her happiest moments and everything in between. MY LOVE STORY is an explosive and inspiring story of a woman who dared to break any barriers put in her way. Emphatically showcasing Tina’s signature blend of strength, energy, heart and soul, this is a gorgeously wrought memoir as enthralling and moving as any of her greatest hits.
Atria Books | 9781501198243
NANTUCKET COUNTERFEIT: A Henry Kennis Mystery by Steven Axelrod (Mystery)
Horst Refn, the widely disliked and resented Artistic Director of the Nantucket Theater Lab, has been found stuffed into the meat freezer in his basement. Most of the actors, all the technical crew, and quite a few of the Theater Lab Board members, whom Refn was scamming and blackmailing, are suspects in his murder. The island's police chief, Henry Kennis, has to pick his way through a social minefield as he searches for the killer. At the same time, his daughter's new boyfriend, football star Hector Cruz, has been accused of sexting her. Carrie knows the offending pictures didn't come from him, so Henry probes into the family secrets of Hector's father, a firebrand agitprop playwright, who happens to be a prime suspect in Refn's murder.
Poisoned Pen Press | 9781464210396
NAPOLEON: A Life by Adam Zamoyski (Biography)
Born into a poor family, Napoleon was, by 26, an army general. Seduced by an older woman, his marriage transformed him into a galvanizing military commander. The Pope crowned him as Emperor of the French when he was only 35. Within a few years, he became the effective master of Europe, his power unparalleled in modern history. His downfall was no less dramatic. The story of Napoleon has been written many times. In some versions, he is a military genius, in others a war-obsessed tyrant. Here, historian Adam Zamoyski cuts through the mythology and explains Napoleon against the background of the European Enlightenment, and what he himself was seeking to achieve.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780465055937
RUTH BADER GINSBURG: A Life by Jane Sherron de Hart (Biography)
In this large, comprehensive, revelatory biography of the 107th Supreme Court Justice, Jane De Hart explores the central experiences that crucially shaped Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passion for justice, her advocacy for gender equality, her meticulous jurisprudence: her desire to make We the People more united and our union more perfect. At the heart of her story and abiding beliefs is her Jewish background. Tikkun olam, the Hebrew injunction to “repair the world,” had profound meaning for a young girl who grew up during the Holocaust and World War II.
Knopf | 9781400040483
SHELL GAME: A V.I. Warshawski Novel by Sara Paretsky (Mystery)
Legendary sleuth V.I. Warshawski returns to the Windy City to save an old friend’s nephew from a murder arrest. The case involves a stolen artifact that could implicate a shadowy network of international criminals. As V.I. investigates, the detective soon finds herself tangling with the Russian mob, ISIS backers, and a shady network of stock scams and stolen art that stretches from Chicago to the East Indies and the Middle East. In SHELL GAME, nothing and no one are what they seem, except for the detective herself, who loses sleep, money and blood, but remains indomitable in her quest for justice.
William Morrow | 9780062435866
TRINITY by Louisa Hall (Historical Fiction)
J. Robert Oppenheimer was a brilliant scientist, a champion of liberal causes, and a complex and often contradictory character. He loyally protected his Communist friends, only to later betray them under questioning. He repeatedly lied about love affairs. And he defended the use of the atomic bomb he helped create, before ultimately lobbying against nuclear proliferation. Through narratives that cross time and space, a set of characters bears witness to the life of Oppenheimer. As these men and women fall into the orbit of a brilliant but mercurial mind at work, all consider his complicated legacy while also uncovering deep and often unsettling truths about their own lives.
Ecco | 9780062851963
UNSHELTERED by Barbara Kingsolver (Fiction)
How could two hardworking people do everything right in life, a woman asks, and end up destitute? Willa Knox and her husband followed all the rules as responsible parents and professionals, and have nothing to show for it but debts and an inherited brick house that is falling apart. When the family’s one success story, an Ivy-educated son, is uprooted by tragedy, he seems likely to join them. In another time, a troubled husband and public servant asks, How can a man tell the truth, and be reviled for it? Science teacher Thatcher Greenwood’s employer forbids him to speak of the exciting work just published by Charles Darwin. His friendships with a female scientist and a renegade newspaper editor threaten to draw him into a vendetta with the town’s powerful men.
Harper | 9780062684561
VIETNAM: An Epic Tragedy, 1945-1975 by Max Hastings (History)
Vietnam became the Western world’s most divisive modern conflict, precipitating a battlefield humiliation for France in 1954, then a vastly greater one for the United States in 1975. Max Hastings has spent the past three years interviewing scores of participants on both sides, as well as researching a multitude of American and Vietnamese documents and memoirs. He portrays the set pieces of Dienbienphu, the 1968 Tet offensive, the air blitz of North Vietnam, and also much less familiar miniatures such as the bloodbath at Daido, where a US Marine battalion was almost wiped out, together with extraordinary recollections of Ho Chi Minh’s warriors. Here are the vivid realities of strife amid jungle and paddies that killed two million people.
Harper | 9780062405661
A WELL-BEHAVED WOMAN: A Novel of the Vanderbilts by Therese Anne Fowler (Historical Fiction)
Alva Smith, her southern family destitute after the Civil War, married into one of America’s great Gilded Age dynasties: the newly wealthy but socially shunned Vanderbilts. Ignored by New York’s old-money circles and determined to win respect, she designed and built nine mansions, hosted grand balls and arranged for her daughter to marry a duke. But Alva also defied convention for women of her time, asserting power within her marriage and becoming a leader in the women's suffrage movement.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250095473
THE WINTERS by Lisa Gabriele (Thriller)
After a whirlwind romance, a young woman returns to the opulent, secluded Long Island mansion of her new fiancé Max Winter, a wealthy politician and recent widower. The house is steeped in the memory of Max’s beautiful first wife Rebekah, who haunts the young woman’s imagination and feeds her uncertainties, while his very alive teenage daughter Dani makes her life a living hell. She soon realizes there is no clear place for her in this twisted little family. As the soon-to-be second Mrs. Winter grows more in love with Max, and more afraid of Dani, she is drawn deeper into the family’s dark secrets --- the kind of secrets that could kill her, too.
Viking | 9780525559702
On Sale the Week of October 15th in Paperback
October 15th
MENTAL STATE by M. Todd Henderson (Political Thriller/Mystery)
Paperback Original
When conservative law professor Alex Johnson is found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound at his house in Chicago, everyone thinks it is suicide. Everyone except his brother, Royce, an FBI agent. Without jurisdiction or leads, Agent Johnson leaves his cases and family to find out who killed his brother. There are many suspects: the ex-wife, an ambitious doctor with expensive tastes and reasons to hate her ex; academic rivals on a faculty divided along political lines; an African-American student who failed the professor’s course. As Agent Johnson peels back layers of mystery in his rogue investigation, the brother he never really knew emerges. Ultimately, he must face the question of how far he is willing to go to catch Alex's killer.
Down & Out Books | 9781948235334
October 16th
ASYMMETRY by Lisa Halliday (Fiction)
Told in three distinct sections, ASYMMETRY explores the imbalances that spark and sustain many of our most dramatic human relations: inequities in age, power, talent, wealth, fame, geography and justice. The first section, “Folly,” tells the story of Alice, a young American editor, and her relationship with the famous and much older writer Ezra Blazer. By contrast, “Madness” is narrated by Amar, an Iraqi-American man who, on his way to visit his brother in Kurdistan, is detained by immigration officers and spends the last weekend of 2008 in a holding room in Heathrow. These two seemingly disparate stories gain resonance as their perspectives interact and overlap, with yet new implications for their relationship revealed in an unexpected coda.
Simon & Schuster | 9781501166785
BIRDCAGE WALK by Helen Dunmore (Historical Thriller)
It is 1792, and Europe is seized by political turmoil and violence. Lizzie Fawkes has grown up in Radical circles where each step of the French Revolution is followed with eager idealism. But she has recently married John Diner Tredevant, a property developer who is heavily invested in Bristol’s housing boom, and he has everything to lose from social upheaval and the prospect of war. Soon his plans for a magnificent terrace built above the 200-foot drop of the Gorge come under threat. Tormented and striving Diner believes that Lizzie’s independent, questioning spirit must be coerced and subdued.
Grove Press | 9780802128584
BOBBY KENNEDY: A Raging Spirit by Chris Matthews (Biography)
Overlooked by his father and overshadowed by his war-hero brother, Bobby Kennedy was the perpetual underdog. When he had the chance to become a naval officer like Jack, Bobby turned it down, choosing instead to join the Navy as a common sailor. It was a life-changing experience that led him to connect with voters from all walks of life. They were the people who turned out for him in his 1968 campaign. RFK would prove himself to be the rarest of politicians --- both a pragmatist who knew how to get the job done and an unwavering idealist who could inspire millions. Drawing on extensive research and interviews, Chris Matthews pulls back the curtain on the public and private worlds of Robert Francis Kennedy.
Simon & Schuster | 9781501111877
THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST: A Molly Murphy Mystery by Rhys Bowen (Historical Mystery)
Semi-retired private detective Molly Murphy Sullivan is suffering from depression after a miscarriage following her adventure in San Francisco during the earthquake of 1906. She and her husband, Daniel, are invited for Christmas at a mansion on the Hudson, and they gratefully accept. Not long after they arrive, however, they learn that the host couple's young daughter wandered out into the snow 10 years ago and was never seen again. Molly can identify with the mother's pain at never knowing what happened to her child, but she slowly begins to suspect that the occupants of the house know more than they are letting on. Then, on Christmas Eve, there is a knock at the door and a young girl stands there. "I'm Charlotte," she says. "I've come home."
Minotaur Books | 9781250190673
HACKS: The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump in the White House by Donna Brazile (Politics)
In the fallout of the Russian hacking of the Democratic National Committee --- and as chaos threatened to consume the party's convention --- Democrats turned to a familiar figure to right the ship: Donna Brazile. What Brazile found at the DNC was unlike anything she had experienced before --- and much worse than is commonly known. The party was beset by infighting, scandal and hubris, while reeling from a brazen and wholly unprecedented attempt by a foreign power to influence the presidential election. Plus, its candidate, Hillary Clinton, faced an opponent who broke every rule in the political playbook. Packed with never-before-reported revelations about what went down in 2016, HACKS is equal parts campaign thriller, memoir and roadmap for the future.
Hachette Books | 9780316478502
LULLABY ROAD by James Anderson (Mystery/Thriller)
Local truck driver Ben Jones, still in mourning over a heartbreaking loss, is just trying to get through another season of treacherous roads and sudden snowfall without an accident. But then he finds a mute Hispanic child who has been abandoned at a seedy truck stop along his route, far from civilization and bearing a note that simply reads “Please Ben. Watch my son. His name is Juan.” And then at the bottom, a few more hastily scribbled words: “Bad Trouble. Tell no one.” Despite deep misgivings, and without any hint of who this child is or the grave danger he’s facing, Ben takes the child with him in his truck and sets out into an environment that is as dangerous as it is beautiful and silent. From that moment forward, nothing will ever be the same.
Broadway Books | 9781101906552
THE MITFORD MURDERS by Jessica Fellowes (Historical Mystery)
It's 1920, and Louisa Cannon dreams of escaping her life of poverty in London. Louisa's salvation is a position within the Mitford household at Asthall Manor, in the Oxfordshire countryside. There she will become nursemaid, chaperone and confidante to the Mitford sisters, especially 16-year-old Nancy, an acerbic, bright young woman in love with stories. But then a nurse --- Florence Nightingale Shore, goddaughter of her famous namesake --- is killed on a train in broad daylight, and Louisa and Nancy find themselves entangled in the crimes of a murderer who will do anything to hide their secret.
Minotaur Books | 9781250170798
ONE DAY IN DECEMBER by Josie Silver (Fiction)
Paperback Original
Laurie is pretty sure love at first sight doesn't exist anywhere but the movies. But then, through a misted-up bus window one snowy December day, she sees a man who she knows instantly is the one. Their eyes meet, there's a moment of pure magic...and then her bus drives away. Certain they're fated to find each other again, Laurie spends a year scanning every bus stop and cafe in London for him. But she doesn't find him, not when it matters anyway. Instead they "reunite" at a Christmas party, when her best friend Sarah giddily introduces her new boyfriend to Laurie. It's Jack, the man from the bus. What follows for Laurie, Sarah and Jack is 10 years of friendship, heartbreak, missed opportunities, roads not taken and destinies reconsidered.
Broadway Books | 9780525574682
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND MISTLETOE by Melissa de la Cruz (Fiction)
The beautiful and successful Darcy Fitzwilliam dates hedge funders and basketball stars. She has never fallen in love, never has time for anyone else’s drama, and never goes home for Christmas if she can help it. But when her mother falls ill, she comes home to Pemberley, Ohio, to spend the season with her family. Her parents throw their annual Christmas bash, where she meets Luke Bennet, the smart, sardonic slacker son of their neighbor. When Darcy and Luke fall into bed after too many eggnogs, Darcy thinks it’s just another one-night stand. But why can’t she stop thinking of Luke? Can she fall in love, or will her pride and his prejudice against big-city girls stand in their way?
St. Martin’s Griffin | 9781250189462
THE RELIVE BOX AND OTHER STORIES by T.C. Boyle (Fiction/Short Stories)
In THE RELIVE BOX, T.C. Boyle's sharp wit and rich imagination combine with a penetrating social consciousness to produce raucous, poignant and expansive short stories defined by an inimitable voice. From the collection's title story, featuring a Halcom X1520 Relive Box that allows users to experience anew almost any moment from their past, to "The Five-Pound Burrito," the tale of a man aiming to build the biggest burrito in town, the 12 stories in this collection speak to the humor, the pathos and the struggle that is part of being human while relishing the whimsy of wordplay and the power of a story well told.
Ecco | 9780062673459
A SECRET SISTERHOOD: The Literary Friendships of Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, George Eliot, and Virginia Woolf by Emily Midorikawa and Emma Claire Sweeney (Biography)
Male literary friendships are the stuff of legend, but what about the friendships of women writers? A SECRET SISTERHOOD brings to light a wealth of surprising female collaborations: the friendship between Jane Austen and one of the family servants, amateur playwright Anne Sharp; the daring feminist author Mary Taylor, who shaped the work of Charlotte Brontë; the transatlantic friendship of the seemingly aloof George Eliot and the ebullient Harriet Beecher Stowe; and Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield, most often portrayed as bitter foes, but who, in fact, enjoyed a complex friendship. They were sometimes scandalous and volatile, sometimes supportive and inspiring, but always --- until now --- tantalizingly consigned to the shadows.
Mariner Books | 9781328532381
SEVEN DAYS OF US by Francesca Hornak (Fiction)
It’s Christmas, and for the first time in years the entire Birch family will be under one roof. Even Emma and Andrew’s elder daughter will be joining them at Weyfield Hall, their aging country estate. Having just returned from treating an epidemic abroad, Olivia, a doctor, has been told she must stay in quarantine for a week…and so too should her family. For the next seven days, the Birches are locked down, cut off from the rest of humanity and forced into each other’s orbits. In close proximity, not much can stay hidden for long, and as revelations and long-held tensions come to light, nothing is more shocking than the unexpected guest who’s about to arrive.
Berkley | 9780451488763
SMILE by Roddy Doyle (Fiction)
While at Donnelly’s for his usual pint, Victor Forde is approached by a man in shorts and a pink shirt. He seems to know Victor’s name and to remember him from secondary school. His name is Fitzpatrick. Victor dislikes him on sight, and also dislikes the memories that Fitzpatrick stirs up of five years being taught by the Christian Brothers. He prompts other memories --- of Rachel, his beautiful wife who became a celebrity, and of Victor’s own small claim to fame, as the man who would say the unsayable on the radio. But it’s the memories of school, and of one particular brother, that Victor cannot control and that eventually threaten to destroy his sanity.
Penguin Books | 9780735224469
TOWNIES: And Other Stories of Southern Mischief by Eryk Pruitt (Crime Fiction/Short Stories)
Paperback Original
TOWNIES collects, for the first time, Eryk Pruitt's short fiction in a single volume. The title story, "Townies," details what really happened one night, after hours, in a once-popular East Texas sports bar, and the sinister revenge that would soon follow. "Let's Be Awful" tells the story of a cocktail waitress who decides that, after a horrid round of revenge porn, her days of playing the victim have past. In "A Lot Prettier (When You Smile)," we are introduced to a woman who can wrap any man around her finger and decides to put that powerful skill to use one last time.
Polis Books | 9781947993358
YOU WERE ALWAYS MINE by Nicole Baart (Fiction)
Paperback Original
When Jessica Chamberlain’s phone rings one quiet morning, her world is shattered. As she tries to pick up the pieces and make sense of what went wrong, Jess begins to realize that a tragic death is just the beginning. Soon she is caught in a web of lies and half-truths --- and is horrified to learn that everything leads back to her seven-year-old adopted son, Gabriel. Years ago, Gabe’s birth mother requested a closed adoption and Jessica was more than happy to comply. But when her house is broken into and she discovers a clue that suggests her estranged husband was in close contact with Gabe’s biological mother, she vows to uncover the truth at any cost.
Atria Books | 9781501133626
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