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In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of April 20th and April 27th 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 "What's Your Book Group Reading This Month?" contest on ReadingGroupGuides.com, where three book groups will win 12 copies of CIRCE by Madeline Miller, which is now available in paperback. The deadline for your entries is Wednesday, May 6th 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 books and audio titles. And please be sure to vote in our latest poll: During quarantine, besides reading, what activities do you enjoy doing indoors?
Supporting Indie Booksellers
#SaveIndieBookstores: The American Booksellers Association has partnered with the Book Industry Charitable (Binc) Foundation to promote the #SaveIndieBookstores campaign. James Patterson has generously donated $500,000 to launch #SaveIndieBookstores. With the support of Reese’s Book Club, their goal is to raise as much money as possible by April 30th. We all know what independent bookstores mean to our families and communities. Donate what you can at SaveIndieBookstores.com.
#SocksforBinc: Libro.fm has partnered with a group of illustrators, authors and designers to create 10 designs for pairs of socks that will be sold to book lovers, with profits going to the Book Industry Charitable Foundation that benefits bookstores. The minimum price for a pair of socks is $15, and buyers are encouraged to add donations to the basic price. Libro.fm's pitch to book lovers: "Pull on your socks, put on an audiobook, and stay safe at home while supporting booksellers across the nation."
For those of you who are doing online shopping, if you use the store links below, Bookreporter.com gets a small affiliate fee on your purchases. We would appreciate your considering this!
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound
This Week's Bonus News: April's
"What's Your Book Group Reading This Month?"
Contest on ReadingGroupGuides.com
Each month on ReadingGroupGuides.com, we ask book groups to share the titles they are reading that month and rate them. From all entries, three winners will be selected, and each will win 12 copies of that month’s prize book for their group. Note: To be eligible to win, let us know the title of the book that YOUR book group is CURRENTLY reading, NOT the title we are giving away.
Our latest prize book is CIRCE by Madeline Miller, which is now available in paperback. This #1 New York Times bestseller is an intoxicating epic of family rivalry, palace intrigue, love and loss, as well as a celebration of indomitable female strength in a man’s world. To enter, please fill out the form on this page by Wednesday, May 6th at noon ET.
CIRCE by Madeline Miller (Mythological Fantasy)
In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child --- not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power --- the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.
Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts, and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea and, of course, wily Odysseus.
But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love.
- Click here for the discussion guide.
- Click here to read our review.
Click here to enter the contest.
On Sale the Week of April 20th in Hardcover
April 21st
THE BOOK OF LONGINGS by Sue Monk Kidd (Fiction)
Raised in a wealthy family with ties to the ruler of Galilee, Ana is rebellious and ambitious, with a brilliant mind and a daring spirit. She is expected to marry an older widower, but an encounter with 18-year-old Jesus changes everything. Their marriage evolves with love and conflict, humor and pathos in Nazareth, where Ana makes a home with Jesus, his brothers, and their mother, Mary. Ana's pent-up longings intensify amid the turbulent resistance to Rome's occupation of Israel, partially led by her brother, Judas. She is sustained by her fearless aunt Yaltha, who harbors a compelling secret. When Ana commits a brazen act that puts her in peril, she flees to Alexandria, where startling revelations and greater dangers unfold, and she finds refuge in unexpected surroundings.
Viking | 9780525429760
THE BUSINESS OF LOVERS by Eric Jerome Dickey (Romance)
Unlike their younger brother, André, whose star as a comedian is rising, neither Dwayne nor Brick Duquesne is having luck with his career --- and they’re unluckier still in love. Former child star Dwayne has just been fired from his latest acting role and barely has enough money to get by after paying child support to his spiteful former lover. Brick struggles to return to his uninspiring white-collar job after suffering the dual blows of a health emergency and a nasty breakup with the woman he still loves. Neither brother is looking to get entangled with a woman anytime soon, but love --- and lust --- has a way of twisting the best-laid plans.
Dutton | 9781524745202
DEAD LAND: A V.I. Warshawski Novel by Sara Paretsky (Mystery)
Chicago may be the city of broad shoulders, but its political law is “Pay to Play.” Money changes hands in the middle of the night, and by morning, buildings and parks are replaced by billion-dollar projects. Chicago PI V.I. Warshawski gets pulled into one of these clandestine deals through her impetuous goddaughter, Bernie Fouchard. Bernie tries to rescue Lydia Zamir, a famed singer-songwriter now living on the streets; Zamir’s life fell apart when her lover was murdered next to her in a mass shooting at an outdoor concert. Not only does Bernie plunge her and V.I. headlong into the path of some ruthless developers, they lead to the murder of the young man Bernie is dating.
William Morrow | 9780062435927
DEADLY ANNIVERSARIES: A Collection of Stories from Crime Fiction's Top Authors edited by Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini (Mystery/Thriller Anthology)
An anniversary can honor many things: a birth, a wedding and sometimes even a death. In DEADLY ANNIVERSARIES, editors Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini present new stories from some of the best contemporary authors to honor the diamond jubilee of the Mystery Writers of America, an organization founded on the principle that “Crime Doesn’t Pay --- Enough.” Each author puts his or her own unique spin on what it means to recognize a certain day or event each year. These 19 stories travel across a wide range of historical and contemporary settings and remind readers of how broad the mystery writing tradition can be, encompassing detective tales, domestic intrigue, psychological suspense, black humor and thrilling action.
Hanover Square Press | 9781335044945
GOOD BOY: My Life in Seven Dogs by Jennifer Finney Boylan (Memoir)
In her New York Times opinion column, Jennifer Finney Boylan wrote about her relationship with her beloved dog Indigo, and her wise, funny, heartbreaking piece went viral. In GOOD BOY, Boylan explores what should be the simplest topic in the world, but never is: finding and giving love. This is a universal account of a remarkable story: showing how a young boy became a middle-aged woman --- accompanied at seven crucial moments of growth and transformation by seven memorable dogs. Their love enables us to pull off what seem like impossible feats: to find our way home when we are lost, to live our lives with humor and courage, and above all, to best become our true selves.
Celadon Books | 9781250261878
THE HOUSE OF DEEP WATER by Jeni McFarland (Fiction)
River Bend, Michigan, is the kind of small town most can't imagine leaving, but three women couldn't wait to escape. When each must return --- Linda Williams, never sure what she wants; her mother, Paula, always too sure; and Beth DeWitt, one of River Bend's only black daughters, now a mother of two who had planned to raise her own children anywhere else --- their paths collide under Beth's father's roof. As one town struggles to contain all of their love affairs and secrets, a local scandal forces Beth to confront her own devastating past.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780525542353
HOW TO PRONOUNCE KNIFE: Stories by Souvankham Thammavongsa (Fiction/Short Stories)
In the title story of Souvankham Thammavongsa's debut collection, a young girl brings a book home from school and asks her father to help her pronounce a tricky word, a simple exchange with unforgettable consequences. The stories that make up HOW TO PRONOUNCE KNIFE focus on characters struggling to find their bearings in unfamiliar territory, or shuttling between idioms, cultures and values. A failed boxer discovers what it truly means to be a champion when he starts painting nails at his sister's salon. A young woman tries to discern the invisible but immutable social hierarchies at a chicken processing plant. A mother coaches her daughter in the challenging art of worm harvesting.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316422130
IF I HAD YOUR FACE by Frances Cha (Fiction)
Kyuri is an achingly beautiful woman with a hard-won job at a Seoul “room salon,” an exclusive underground bar where she entertains businessmen while they drink, but an impulsive mistake threatens her livelihood. Kyrui’s roommate, Miho, is a talented artist who finds herself in a precarious relationship with the heir to one of Korea’s biggest conglomerates. Down the hall lives Ara, a hairstylist whose two preoccupations sustain her: an obsession with a boy-band pop star, and a best friend who is saving up for extreme plastic surgery. And Wonna, one floor below, is a newlywed trying to have a baby that she and her husband have no idea how they can afford to raise in Korea’s brutal economy.
Ballantine Books | 9780593129463
IF IT BLEEDS by Stephen King (Supernatural Thriller/Horror)
The novella is a form that Stephen King has returned to over and over again in the course of his amazing career, and many have been made into iconic films, including “The Body” (Stand By Me) and “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption” (Shawshank Redemption). Like FOUR PAST MIDNIGHT, DIFFERENT SEASONS and most recently FULL DARK, NO STARS, IF IT BLEEDS is a uniquely satisfying collection of longer short fiction by an incomparably gifted writer. Each of these novellas --- "Mr. Harrigan’s Phone," "The Life of Chuck," "Rat" and the title story "If It Bleeds" --- pulls you into intriguing and frightening places.
Scribner | 9781982137977
THE INSIDE GAME: Bad Calls, Strange Moves, and What Baseball Behavior Teaches Us About Ourselves by Keith Law (Sports)
Baseball is a sport of decisions. Some are so small and routine they become the building blocks of the game itself --- what pitch to throw or when to swing away. Others are so huge they dictate the future of franchises --- when to make a strategic trade for a chance to win now, or when to offer millions and a multi-year contract for a 28-year-old star. These decisions have long shaped the behavior of players, managers and entire franchises. But as those choices have become more complex and data-driven, knowing what’s behind them has become key to understanding the sport. THE INSIDE GAME explores as never before the essential question: What were they thinking?
William Morrow | 9780062942722
KEPT ANIMALS by Kate Milliken (Fiction)
It’s 1993, and Rory Ramos works as a ranch hand at the stable her stepfather manages in Topanga Canyon, California, a dry, dusty place reliant on horses and hierarchies. There she rides for the rich clientele, including twins June and Wade Fisk. While Rory draws the interest of out-and-proud June, she’s more intrigued by Vivian Price, the beautiful girl with the movie-star father who lives down the hill. Rory keeps largely separate from the likes of the Prices --- but, perched on her bedroom windowsill, she steals glimpses of Vivian swimming in her pool nearly every night. After Rory’s stepfather is involved in a tragic car accident, the lives of Rory, June and Vivian become inextricably bound together.
Scribner | 9781501188589
LITTLE SECRETS by Jennifer Hillier (Psychological Thriller)
Marin had the perfect life. Married to her college sweetheart, she owns a chain of upscale hair salons, and Derek runs his own company. They are admired in their community and are a loving family --- until their world falls apart the day their son Sebastian is taken. A year later, Marin is a shadow of herself. The FBI search has gone cold. The publicity has faded. She and her husband rarely speak. She hires a P.I. to pick up where the police left off, but instead of finding Sebastian, she learns that Derek is having an affair with a younger woman. This discovery sparks Marin back to life. She's lost her son; she's not about to lose her husband, too. Kenzie is an enemy with a face, which means this is a problem Marin can fix. Permanently.
Minotaur Books | 9781250154224
MASTER CLASS by Christina Dalcher (Dystopian Thriller)
Every child's potential is regularly determined by a standardized measurement: their quotient (Q). Score high enough, and attend a top-tier school with a golden future. Score too low, and it's off to a federal boarding school with limited prospects afterwards. Elena Fairchild is a teacher at one of the state's elite schools. When her nine-year-old daughter bombs a monthly test and her Q score drops to a disastrously low level, she is immediately forced to leave her top school for a federal institution hundreds of miles away. As a teacher, Elena thought she understood the tiered educational system, but as a mother whose child is now gone, her perspective is changed forever. She just wants her daughter back. And she will do the unthinkable to make it happen.
Berkley | 9780440000839
THE MOMENT OF TENDERNESS by Madeleine L'Engle (Fiction/Short Stories)
This powerful collection of short stories traces an emotional arc inspired by Madeleine L'Engle's early life and career, from her lonely childhood in New York to her life as a mother in small-town Connecticut. In a selection of 18 stories discovered by one of her granddaughters, we see how L'Engle's personal experiences and abiding faith informed the creation of her many cherished works. Some of these stories have never been published; others were refashioned into scenes for her novels and memoirs. Almost all were written in the 1940s and '50s, from L'Engle's college years until just before the publication of A WRINKLE IN TIME.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538717820
MY WIFE SAID YOU MAY WANT TO MARRY ME: A Memoir by Jason B. Rosenthal (Memoir)
On March 3, 2017, Amy Krouse Rosenthal penned an op-ed piece for the New York Times’ “Modern Love” column --- "You May Want to Marry My Husband.” It appeared 10 days before her death from ovarian cancer. A heartbreaking, wry, brutally honest and creative play on a personal ad --- in which a dying wife encouraged her husband to go on and find happiness after her demise --- the column quickly went viral, reaching more than five million people worldwide. In MY WIFE SAID YOU MAY WANT TO MARRY ME, Jason describes what came next: his commitment to respecting Amy’s wish, even as he struggled with her loss.
Harper | 9780062940599
PRETTY THINGS by Janelle Brown (Thriller)
Nina once bought into the idea that her fancy liberal arts degree would lead to a fulfilling career. When that dream crashed, she turned to stealing from rich kids in L.A. alongside her wily Irish boyfriend, Lachlan. Vanessa is a privileged young heiress who wanted to make her mark in the world. Instead she becomes an Instagram influencer. But behind the covetable façade is a life marked by tragedy. After a broken engagement, Vanessa retreats to her family’s sprawling mountain estate, Stonehaven: a mansion of dark secrets not just from Vanessa’s past, but from that of a lost and troubled girl named Nina. Nina’s, Vanessa’s and Lachlan’s paths collide here, on the cold shores of Lake Tahoe, where their intertwined lives give way to a winter of aspiration and desire, duplicity and revenge.
Random House | 9780525479123
A THOUSAND MOONS by Sebastian Barry (Historical Fiction)
Winona Cole, an orphaned child of the Lakota Indians, finds herself growing up in an unconventional household on a farm in west Tennessee. Raised by her adoptive parents, John Cole and Thomas McNulty, whose story Sebastian Barry told in his acclaimed previous novel, DAYS WITHOUT END, she forges a life for herself beyond the violence and dispossession of her past. Tennessee is a state still riven by the bitter legacy of the Civil War, and the fragile harmony of her family is soon threatened by a further traumatic event --- one that Winona struggles to confront, let alone understand.
Viking | 9780735223103
TOMBSTONE: The Earp Brothers, Doc Holliday, and the Vendetta Ride from Hell by Tom Clavin (History)
On October 26, 1881, nine men clashed in what would be known as the most famous shootout in American frontier history. Thirty bullets were exchanged in 30 seconds, killing three men and wounding three others. Cattle rustlers had been terrorizing the back country of Mexico and selling the livestock they stole to corrupt ranchers. The Mexican government built forts along the border to try to thwart American outlaws. That October, tensions boiled over with Ike and Billy Clanton, Tom and Frank McLaury, and Billy Claiborne confronting the Tombstone marshal, Virgil Earp, and the suddenly deputized Wyatt and Morgan Earp and shotgun-toting Doc Holliday. Tom Clavin peers behind decades of legend surrounding the story of Tombstone to reveal the true story of the drama and violence that made it famous.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250214584
WALK THE WIRE by David Baldacci (Thriller)
When Amos Decker and his FBI colleague Alex Jamison are called to London, North Dakota, they instantly sense that the thriving fracking town is ripe for trouble. They are ordered to investigate the death of a young woman named Irene Cramer, whose body was expertly autopsied and then dumped in the open --- which is only the beginning of the oddities surrounding the case. As Decker and Jamison dig into Irene's life, they are shocked to discover that the woman who walked the streets by night as a prostitute was a teacher for a local religious sect by day --- a sect operating on land once owned by a mysterious government facility that looms over the entire community.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538761465
On Sale the Week of April 20th in Paperback
April 20th
CHEATER’S GAME: A Jake Lassiter Thriller by Paul Levine (Legal Thriller)
Paperback Original
Kip Lassiter has been working with millionaire Max Ringle in a shady scheme to help rich, spoiled kids gain admission to elite universities. Ringle, the mastermind of the fraud, cops a plea and shifts the blame to Kip. Dr. Melissa Gold, Jake Lassiter's fiancée, tries to keep the ailing lawyer strong enough for a grueling trial, even as his symptoms of brain damage grow worse. As a fiery showdown with Ringle brings the courtroom to a fever pitch, Lassiter risks everything --- including his own life --- to fight for his nephew's freedom.
Herald Square Publishing | 9781734251005
April 21st
BAD TRUST: An Attorney Rachel Gold Mystery by Michael Kahn (Legal Thriller/Mystery)
Paperback Original
An ugly trust fund dispute among siblings turns deadly when Isaiah, CEO of the family firm he stole from their father, is murdered in his office. St. Louis attorney Rachel Gold, hired to bring suit against Isaiah on behalf of his sisters, must now defend one against the charge of fratricide. As Rachel and her team seek essential evidence, the widowed Rachel struggles with family issues of her own, including relationships with her young son Sam and her boyfriend Abe. The jury is still out on whether or not Rachel can create the work-life balance she is seeking.
Poisoned Pen Press | 9781464212567
THE BINDING by Bridget Collins (Historical Fantasy/Magical Realism)
Young Emmett Farmer is working in the fields when a strange letter arrives summoning him away from his family. He is to begin an apprenticeship as a Bookbinder --- a vocation that arouses fear, superstition and prejudice amongst their small community. Bookbinding is a sacred calling, Seredith informs her new apprentice, and he is a binder born. Under the old woman’s watchful eye, Emmett learns to hand-craft the elegant leather-bound volumes. Within each one, they will capture something unique and extraordinary: a memory. But just as Emmett begins to settle into his new circumstances, he makes an astonishing discovery: one of the books has his name on it. Soon, everything he thought he understood about his life will be dramatically rewritten.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780062838100
BROADWAY: A History of New York City in Thirteen Miles by Fran Leadon (History)
From Bowling Green all the way to Marble Hill, Fran Leadon takes us on a mile-by-mile journey up America’s most vibrant and complex thoroughfare, through the history at the heart of Manhattan. BROADWAY traces the physical and social transformation of an avenue that has been both the “Path of Progress” and a “street of broken dreams,” home to both parades and riots, startling wealth and appalling destitution. Glamorous, complex and sometimes troubling, the evolution of an oft-flooded dead end to a canyon of steel and glass is the story of American progress.
W. W. Norton & Company | 9780393357929
THE CLOSER YOU GET by Mary Torjussen (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
Coworkers Ruby and Harry are in love --- but they’re married to other people. They decide to tell their spouses that their marriages are over and to start a new life together. Ruby has wanted to leave her controlling husband for a while, so she tells him she’s leaving and waits at the hotel where she and Harry are to meet. But Harry never shows up. Suddenly, Ruby has lost everything. Harry won’t answer her calls, and she’s fired from her job. Just as Ruby thinks she’s hit rock bottom, strange and menacing things start to happen --- someone is sneaking into her apartment, and someone is following her home late at night --- and she is going to have to fight for her survival.
Berkley | 9781984804587
HOW WE DISAPPEARED by Jing-Jing Lee (Historical Fiction)
Singapore, 1942. As Japanese troops sweep down Malaysia and into Singapore, a village is ransacked, leaving only two survivors and one tiny child. In a neighboring village, 17-year-old Wang Di is strapped into the back of a troop carrier and shipped off to a Japanese military brothel where she is forced into sexual slavery as a “comfort woman.” After 60 years of silence, what she saw and experienced still haunts her. In the year 2000, 12-year-old Kevin is sitting beside his ailing grandmother when he overhears a mumbled confession. He sets out to discover the truth, wherever it might lead, setting in motion a chain of events he never could have foreseen.
Hanover Square Press | 9781335013941
I KNOW WHO YOU ARE by Alice Feeney (Psychological Thriller)
Meet Aimee Sinclair, the actress everyone thinks they know but can’t remember where from. Except one person. Someone knows Aimee very well. They know who she is and what she did. When Aimee comes home and discovers her husband is missing, she doesn’t seem to know what to do or how to act. The police think she’s hiding something, and they’re right, she is --- but perhaps not what they thought. Aimee has a secret she’s never shared, and yet she suspects that someone knows. As she struggles to keep her career and sanity intact, her past comes back to haunt her in ways more dangerous than she ever could have imagined.
Flatiron Books | 9781250147356
THE LAST HOUSE GUEST by Megan Miranda (Psychological Thriller/Mystery)
Littleport, Maine, has always felt like two separate towns: an ideal vacation enclave for the wealthy, whose summer homes line the coastline, and a simple harbor community for the year-round residents whose livelihoods rely on service to the visitors. Typically, fierce friendships never develop between a local and a summer girl, but that’s just what happens with visitor Sadie Loman and resident Avery Greer. Each summer for almost a decade, the girls are inseparable --- until Sadie is found dead. While the police rule the death a suicide, Avery can’t help but feel there are those in the community, including a local detective and Sadie’s brother, Parker, who blame her. Someone knows more than they’re saying, and Avery is intent on clearing her name, before the facts get twisted against her.
Simon & Schuster | 9781501165382
RACE THE SANDS by Sarah Beth Durst (Fantasy)
Paperback Original
In Becar, who you are in this life will determine your next life. Yet there is hope --- you can change your destiny with the choices you make. But for the darkest individuals, you come back as a kehok, a monster, and are doomed to be a kehok for the rest of time. Unless you can win the Races. After a celebrated career as an elite kehok rider, Tamra became a professional trainer. Then a tragic accident left her nearly broke. To prevent the local temple from taking her daughter away from her, once again she must find a winning kehok...and a rider willing to trust her. Raia is desperate to get away from her domineering family and cruel fiancé. As a kehok rider, she could earn enough to buy her freedom. But she needs a first-rate trainer. Tamra hires Raia and pairs her with a strange new kehok with the potential to win --- if he can be tamed.
Harper Voyager | 9780062888617
THE SISTERS OF SUMMIT AVENUE by Lynn Cullen (Historical Fiction)
1934. Ruth has been single-handedly raising four young daughters and running her family’s Indiana farm for eight long years, ever since her husband, John, was infected by the infamous “sleeping sickness” devastating families across the country. If only Ruth could trade places with her older sister, June, who is the envy of everyone she meets. But these gilded trappings hide sorrows: June has borne no children. And the man she loves more than anything belongs to Ruth. When the two sisters reluctantly reunite after a long estrangement, June’s bitterness about her sister’s betrayal sets into motion a confrontation that’s been years in the making. And their mother, Dorothy, has her own dark secrets, which might blow up the fragile peace she hopes to restore between her daughters.
Gallery Books | 9781982129859
THERE’S A WORD FOR THAT by Sloane Tanen (Fiction/Humor)
Introducing the Kesslers: Marty, a retired LA film producer whose self-worth has been eroded by age and a late-in-life passion for opioids; his daughter Janine, a former child star suffering the aftereffects of a life in the public eye; and granddaughter Hailey, the "less-than" twin sister, whose inferiority complex takes a most unexpected turn. Meanwhile, celebrated author Bunny Small, Marty's long-forgotten first wife, has her own problems: a "preposterous" case of writer's block, a monstrous drinking habit, and a son who has fled halfway around the world to escape her. When Marty's pill-popping gets out of hand and Bunny's boozing reaches crisis proportions, a perfect storm of dysfunction brings them all together at Directions, Malibu's most exclusive and absurd rehab center.
Back Bay Books | 9780316437172
WE CAME HERE TO FORGET by Andrea Dunlop (Fiction)
Katie Cleary wants to be the best skier in the world. As a teenager, she leaves her home to live and train full time with her two best friends, all-American brothers Luke and Blair. But as the upward trajectory of Katie’s elite skiing career nears its zenith, a terrifying truth about her sister becomes impossible to ignore --- one that will lay ruin not only to Katie’s career but to her family and her relationship with Luke and Blair. With her life shattered and nothing left to lose, Katie flees the snowy mountainsides of home for Buenos Aires. There, she reinvents herself as Liz Sullivan, and meets a colorful group of ex-pats and the alluring, charismatic Gianluca Fortunado, a tango teacher with secrets of his own.
Washington Square Press | 9781982103439
WHISKERS IN THE DARK: A Mrs. Murphy Mystery by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown (Mystery)
A massive nor’easter has hit northern Virginia, where Mary Minor “Harry” Harristeen joins groundskeeping efforts at the National Beagle Club at Aldie as the date for its springtime Hounds for Heroes veterans’ benefit approaches. Harry’s fellow volunteers, including her oldest friend, Susan Tucker, comprise a spirited group of hunting enthusiasts, some former service members themselves. But things take a sinister turn when, after a routine tree cleanup along the Club’s hunting trails, retired foreign services officer Jason Holzknect is found dead. Soon enough, another murder in their midst jolts the preparations, convincing Harry that the killer is familiar with the Club --- and must be close by, masked in plain sight.
Bantam | 9780399178313
On Sale the Week of April 27th in Hardcover
April 28th
CAMINO WINDS by John Grisham (Mystery/Thriller)
Just as Bruce Cable’s Bay Books is preparing for the return of bestselling author Mercer Mann, Hurricane Leo veers from its predicted course and heads straight for the island. Florida’s governor orders a mandatory evacuation, and most residents board up their houses and flee to the mainland, but Bruce decides to stay and ride out the storm. One of the apparent victims is Nelson Kerr, a friend of Bruce’s and an author of thrillers. But the nature of Nelson’s injuries suggests that the storm wasn’t the cause of his death: He has suffered several suspicious blows to the head. Who would want Nelson dead? As Bruce starts to investigate, what he discovers between the lines is more shocking than any of Nelson’s plot twists --- and far more dangerous.
Doubleday | 9780385545938
CRITICAL POINT: A Cas Russell Novel by S. L. Huang (Science Fiction/Thriller)
Math-genius mercenary Cas Russell has stopped a shadow organization from brainwashing the world, and discovered that her past was deliberately erased and her superhuman abilities deliberately created. And that's just the start. When a demolitions expert targets Cas and her friends, and the hidden conspiracy behind Cas' past starts to reappear, the past, present and future collide in a race to save one of her dearest friends.
Tor Books | 9781250180360
EMPIRE CITY by Matt Gallagher (Fiction)
Thirty years after its great triumph in Vietnam, the United States has again become mired in an endless foreign war overseas. Stories of super soldiers known as the Volunteers tuck in little American boys and girls every night. Yet domestic politics are aflame. Violent protests erupt throughout the nation. An ex-military watchdog group clashes with police, while radical terrorists threaten to expose government experiments within the veteran rehabilitation colonies. Halfway between war and peace, the Volunteers find themselves waiting for orders in the vast American city-state, Empire City. There they encounter a small group of civilians who know the truth about their powers. Through it all, a controversial retired general emerges as a frontrunner in the presidential campaign, promising to save the country from itself.
Atria Books | 9781501177798
THE END OF OCTOBER by Lawrence Wright (Medical Thriller)
At an internment camp in Indonesia, 47 people are pronounced dead with acute hemorrhagic fever. When microbiologist and epidemiologist Henry Parsons travels there on behalf of the World Health Organization to investigate, what he finds will soon have staggering repercussions across the globe: an infected man is on his way to join the millions of worshippers in the annual Hajj to Mecca. Now, Henry joins forces with a Saudi prince and doctor in an attempt to quarantine the entire host of pilgrims in the holy city. A Russian émigré, a woman who has risen to deputy director of U.S. Homeland Security, scrambles to mount a response to what may be an act of biowarfare. Already-fraying global relations begin to snap, one by one, in the face of a pandemic.
Knopf | 9780525658658
LITTLE FAMILY by Ishmael Beah (Fiction)
Hidden away from a harsh outside world, five young people have improvised a home in an abandoned airplane, a relic of their country’s tumultuous past. Elimane, the bookworm, is as street-smart as he is wise. Clever Khoudiemata maneuvers to keep the younger kids --- athletic, pragmatic Ndevui, thoughtful Kpindi, and especially their newest member, Namsa --- safe and fed. When Elimane makes himself of service to the shadowy William Handkerchief, it seems as if the little family may be able to keep the world at bay and their household intact. But when Khoudi comes under the spell of the “beautiful people” --- the fortunate sons and daughters of the elite --- the desire to resume an interrupted coming of age and follow her own destiny proves impossible to resist.
Riverhead Books | 9780735211773
SEA WIFE by Amity Gaige (Fiction)
Juliet is failing to juggle motherhood and her anemic dissertation when her husband, Michael, informs her that he wants to leave his job and buy a sailboat. The couple are novice sailors, but Michael persuades Juliet to say yes. With their two kids, Juliet and Michael set off for Panama, where their 44-foot sailboat awaits them --- a boat that Michael has christened the Juliet. The initial result is transformative: their marriage is given a gust of energy, and even the children are affected by the beauty and wonderful vertigo of travel. The sea challenges them all --- and, most of all, Juliet, who suffers from postpartum depression.
Knopf | 9780525656494
THE SECRETS OF LOVE STORY BRIDGE by Phaedra Patrick (Fiction)
Mitchell Fisher, who hates all things romance, relishes his job cutting off the padlocks that couples fasten to the famous “love story” bridge. Only his young daughter, Poppy, knows that behind his prickly veneer, Mitchell still grieves the loss of her mother. Then one hot day, everything changes when Mitchell courageously rescues a woman who falls from the bridge into the river. He’s surprised to feel an unexpected connection to her, but she disappears before he can ask her name. Desperate to find out her identity, Mitchell is shocked to learn she’s been missing for almost a year. He teams up with her spirited sister, Liza, on a quest to find her again. However, she’s left only one clue behind --- a message on the padlock she hung on the bridge.
Park Row | 9780778309789
THE SPLIT by Sharon Bolton (Thriller)
The remote Antarctic island of South Georgia is about to send off its last boat of the summer --- which signifies safety to resident glaciologist Felicity Lloyd. Felicity lives in fear --- fear that her ex-husband Freddie will find her, even out here. She took a job on this isolated island to hide from him, but now that he's out of prison, having served a term for murder, she knows he won’t give up until he finds her. But a doctor delving into the background of Felicity and Freddie's relationship, back in Cambridge, learns that Felicity has been on the edge for a long time. Heading to South Georgia himself to try and get to her first is the only way he can think of to help her.
Minotaur Books | 9781250300058
THE SWEENEY SISTERS by Lian Dolan (Fiction)
Maggie, Eliza and Tricia Sweeney grew up as a happy threesome in the idyllic seaside town of Southport, Connecticut. But their mother’s death from cancer 15 years ago tarnished their golden-hued memories, and the sisters drifted apart. Their one touchstone is their father, Bill Sweeney, an internationally famous literary lion and college professor. When Bill dies unexpectedly, his shell-shocked daughters return to their childhood home and throw an Irish wake like no other. As guests pay their respects and reminisce, one stranger crashes the party. When journalist Serena Tucker had her DNA tested, she learned that she had a 50% genetic match with her childhood neighbor, Maggie. It seems that Serena’s chilly WASP mother, Birdie, had a history with Bill --- one that has remained totally secret until now.
William Morrow | 9780062909046
TAKE ME APART by Sara Sligar (Psychological Thriller)
When the famed photographer Miranda Brand died mysteriously at the height of her career, it sent shock waves through Callinas, California. Decades later, old wounds are reopened when her son Theo hires the ex-journalist Kate Aitken to archive his mother’s work and personal effects. As Kate sorts through the vast maze of material and contends with the vicious rumors and shocking details of Miranda's private life, she pieces together a portrait of a vibrant artist buckling under the pressures of ambition, motherhood and marriage. But Kate has secrets of her own, including a growing attraction to the enigmatic Theo, and when she stumbles across Miranda's diary, her curiosity spirals into a dangerous obsession.
MCD | 9780374272616
THE TALENTED MR. VARG: A Detective Varg Novel by Alexander McCall Smith (Mystery/Humor)
The Department of Sensitive Crimes is always prepared to dive into an investigation, no matter how complex. So when the girlfriend of an infamous author who insists her bad-boy beau is being blackmailed approaches Ulf Varg, the department’s lead detective, Ulf is determined to help. The case requires his total concentration, but he finds himself distracted by his ongoing attraction to his co-worker, Anna, whose own fears about her husband’s fidelity are causing a strain on her marriage. When Ulf is also tasked with looking into a group of dealers exporting wolves that seem more canis familiaris than canis lupus, it will require all of his team’s investigative instincts and dogged persistence to put these matters to bed.
Pantheon | 9781524748968
WARHOL by Blake Gopnik (Biography)
To this day, mention the name “Andy Warhol” to almost anyone, and you’ll hear about his famous images of soup cans and Marilyn Monroe. But though Pop Art became synonymous with Warhol’s name, his life and work are infinitely more complex and multi-faceted than that. In WARHOL, esteemed art critic Blake Gopnik takes on Andy Warhol in all his depth and dimensions. “The meanings of his art depend on the way he lived and who he was,” as Gopnik writes. “That’s why the details of his biography matter more than for almost any cultural figure,” from his working-class Pittsburgh upbringing as the child of immigrants to his early career in commercial art to his total immersion in the “performance” of being an artist, accompanied by global fame and stardom --- and his attempted assassination.
Ecco | 9780062298393
THE WEDDING DRESS by Danielle Steel (Fiction)
The Parisian design houses in 1928, the crash of 1929, the losses of war, the drug culture of the 1960s --- history holds many surprises, and lives are changed forever. For richer or for poorer, in cramped apartments and grand mansions, the treasured wedding dress made in Paris in 1928 follows each generation into their new lives, and represents different hopes for each of them, as they marry very different men. From inherited fortunes at the outset to self-made men and women, the wedding dress remains a cherished constant for the women who wear it in each generation and forge a destiny of their own. It is a symbol of their remaining traditions and the bond of family they share in an ever-changing world.
Delacorte Press | 9780399179594
WHAT WE CARRY: A Memoir by Maya Shanbhag Lang (Memoir)
Maya Shanbhag Lang grew up idolizing her mother, an accomplished physician who immigrated to the United States from India and completed her residency, all while raising her children. Maya’s mother had always been a source of support --- until Maya became a mother herself. Then the parent who had once been so capable and attentive became suddenly and inexplicably unavailable. Struggling to understand this abrupt change, Maya searches for answers and soon learns that her mother is living with Alzheimer’s. Unable to remember or keep track of the stories she once told her daughter, Maya’s mother divulges secrets about her past that force Maya to reexamine their relationship. It becomes clear that Maya never really knew her mother, despite their close bond.
The Dial Press | 9780525512394
May 1st
BOUTON: The Life of a Baseball Original by Mitchell Nathanson (Sports/Biography)
Whether it was his frank talk about player salaries and mistreatment by management, his passionate advocacy of progressive politics, or his efforts to convince the United States to boycott the 1968 Olympics, Jim Bouton confronted the conservative sports world and compelled it to catch up with a rapidly changing American society. He defied tremendous odds to make the majors, won two games for the Yankees in the 1964 World Series, and staged an improbable comeback with the Braves as a 39-year-old. But it was his fateful 1969 season with the Seattle Pilots and his resulting insider’s account, BALL FOUR, that did nothing less than reintroduce America to its national pastime in a lasting, profound way. In BOUTON: The Life of a Baseball Original, Mitchell Nathanson gives readers a look at Bouton’s remarkable life.
University of Nebraska Press | 9781496217707
On Sale the Week of April 27th in Paperback
April 28th
AMERICAN SPIRIT: Profiles in Resilience, Courage, and Faith by Taya Kyle and Jim DeFelice (Biography)
After losing her husband, "American Sniper" Chris Kyle, Taya Kyle entered a period of deep grief. And yet the experience served as a catalyst for profound growth. Taya found her own reserve of strength with the help of the generous love and support of family and friends --- and also many strangers across America, who selflessly shared their own stories of suffering, survival and triumph. Inspired by her experience, Taya discovered her calling: spreading a message of how love, passion and service can combine to help us persevere over personal pain and heal our communities. Working with trusted collaborator Jim DeFelice, Taya tells her own story, as well as those of other Americans who have built extraordinary lives after traveling down life’s most difficult roads.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780062683724
BACKLASH by Brad Thor (Political Thriller)
In ancient texts, there are stories about men who struck from the shadows, seemingly beyond the reach of death itself. Their loyalty was to their families, friends and kings. You crossed these men at your peril. And once crossed, there was no crossing back. They were fearless --- men of honor who have been known throughout history by different names: Spartan, Viking, Samurai. Today, men like these still strike from the shadows. They are highly prized intelligence agents, military operatives and assassins. One man is all three. Two days ago, that man was crossed --- badly. Now, far from home and surrounded by his enemy, Scot Harvath must battle his way out. But survival isn’t enough. Harvath wants revenge.
Pocket Books | 9781982104047
THE BITTERROOTS by C. J. Box (Mystery/Thriller)
Former sheriff’s investigator Cassie Dewell is asked by a friend to help exonerate a man accused of assaulting a young woman from an influential family. Against her own better judgment, Cassie agrees. But out by the Bitterroot Mountains of Montana, twisted family loyalty runs as deep as the ties to the land, and there's always something more to the story. The Kleinsassers have ruled this part of Montana for decades, and the Iron Cross Ranch is their stronghold. They want to see Blake Kleinsasser, the black sheep of the family, put away forever for the assault. As Cassie attempts to uncover the truth, she must fight against a family whose roots are tangled and deadly --- as well as the ghosts of her own past that threaten to bring her down.
St. Martin's Paperbacks | 9781250051073
BLOOD ORANGE by Harriet Tyce (Psychological Thriller)
Alison has it all: a doting husband, an adorable daughter and a career on the rise --- she's just been given her first murder case to defend. But Alison drinks too much. She's neglecting her family. And she's having an affair with a colleague whose taste for pushing boundaries may be more than she can handle. Alison's client doesn't deny that she stabbed her husband --- she wants to plead guilty. And yet something about her story is deeply amiss. Saving this woman may be the first step to Alison saving herself. But someone knows Alison's secrets. Someone who wants to make her pay for what she's done, and who won't stop until she's lost everything.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538762745
BLUE MOON: A Jack Reacher Novel by Lee Child (Thriller)
Jack Reacher is on a Greyhound bus, minding his own business. He steps off the bus to help an old man who is obviously just a victim waiting to happen. But you know what they say about good deeds. Now Reacher wants to make it right. An elderly couple has made a few well-meaning mistakes, and now they owe big money to some very bad people. One brazen move leads to another, and suddenly Reacher finds himself a wanted man in the middle of a brutal turf war between rival Ukrainian and Albanian gangs. Reacher has to stay one step ahead of the loan sharks, the thugs and the assassins. He teams up with a fed-up waitress who knows a little more than she’s letting on, and sets out to take down the powerful and make the greedy pay.
Bantam | 9780593129999
THE BOATMAN AND OTHER STORIES by Billy O'Callaghan (Fiction/Short Stories)
Paperback Original
Spanning a century and two continents --- from the muddy fields of Ireland to a hotel room in Paris, a dingy bar in Segovia to an airplane bound for Taipei --- Billy O’Callaghan’s 12 stories explore the resiliency of the human heart and its ability to keep beating in the wake of bereavement, violence, lost love, and incomparable trauma and grief. Three gunshots on the Irish border define the course of a young man’s life; a writer clings fast to a star-crossed affair with a woman who has never been fully within his reach; a fisherman accustomed to hard labor rolls up his sleeves to dig a grave for his child; and a pair of newlyweds embark on their first adventure, living wild on the deserted Beginish Island.
Harper Perennial | 9780062856609
ELEVATOR PITCH by Linwood Barclay (Psychological Thriller)
It all begins on a Monday, when four people board an elevator in a Manhattan office tower. Each presses a button for their floor, but the elevator proceeds, nonstop, to the top. Once there, the doors don’t open. Instead, the elevator begins to descend floor by floor. Then it plummets. Right to the bottom of the shaft. It appears to be a random accident. But on Tuesday, it happens again, in a different Manhattan skyscraper. And then Wednesday brings yet another tragic high-rise catastrophe. Clearly, this is a cold, calculated bid to terrorize the city. Fearing for their lives, thousands of people who work in high-rises across the city refuse to leave their homes. Who is behind this? Are these deadly acts of sabotage connected to a fingerless body found on the High Line?
William Morrow | 9780062946683
THE FAMILY NEXT DOOR: The Heartbreaking Imprisonment of the Thirteen Turpin Siblings and Their Extraordinary Rescue by John Glatt (True Crime)
On January 14, 2018, a 17-year-old girl climbed out of the window of her Perris, California home and dialed 911 on a borrowed cell phone. Struggling to stay calm, she told the operator that she and her 12 siblings were being abused by their parents. When the dispatcher asked for her address, the girl hesitated. “I’ve never been out,” she stammered. Louise and David Turpin presented themselves as loving, faithful parents. But what police discovered when they entered the Turpin home would eclipse the most shocking child abuse cases in history. For years, Louise and David had kept their children in increasing isolation, trapping them in a sinister world of torture, fear and near starvation. THE FAMILY NEXT DOOR is the definitive account of the Turpins: a family whose dark secrets would shock and captivate the world.
St. Martin's True Crime | 9781250312303
THE FARM by Joanne Ramos (Fiction)
Nestled in New York’s Hudson Valley is a luxury retreat boasting every amenity --- and all of it for free. In fact, you’re paid big money to stay here. The catch? For nine months, you cannot leave the grounds, your movements are monitored, and you are cut off from your former life while you dedicate yourself to the task of producing the perfect baby. For someone else. Jane, an immigrant from the Philippines, is in desperate search of a better future when she commits to being a “Host” at Golden Oaks --- or the Farm, as residents call it. But now pregnant, fragile and consumed with worry for her family, Jane is determined to reconnect with her life outside. Yet she cannot leave the Farm, or she will lose the life-changing fee she’ll receive on the delivery of her child.
Random House Trade Paperbacks | 9781984853776
FEELS LIKE FALLING by Kristy Woodson Harvey (Fiction)
Paperback Original
It’s summertime on the North Carolina coast, and the livin’ is easy. Unless, that is, you’ve just lost your mother to cancer, your sister to her extremist husband, and your husband to his executive assistant. Meet Gray Howard. Right when Gray could use a serious infusion of good karma in her life, she inadvertently gets a stranger, Diana Harrington, fired from her job at the local pharmacy. Diana Harrington’s summer isn’t off to the greatest start either: Hours before losing her job, she broke up with her boyfriend and moved out of their shared house with only a worn-out Impala for a bed. Lucky for her, Gray has an empty guest house and a very guilty conscience. With Gray’s kindness, Diana’s tide begins to turn. But when her first love returns, every secret from her past seems to resurface all at once.
Gallery Books | 9781982117702
HAVE YOU SEEN ME? by Kate White (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
On a cold, rainy morning, finance journalist Ally Linden arrives soaked to the bone at her Manhattan office, only to find that she’s forgotten her keycard. When her boss shows, he’s shocked to see her --- because she hasn’t worked there in five years. Ally knows her name, but is having trouble coming up with much beyond that. Diagnosed as having experienced a dissociative state, she starts to wonder if it may have been triggered by something she saw. It soon becomes clear that someone wants to prevent her from learning where the past 48 hours have gone. In order to uncover the truth, Ally must dig deep into the secrets of her past --- and outsmart the person who seems determined to silence her.
Harper Paperbacks | 9780062747471
THE HEIRLOOM GARDEN by Viola Shipman (Fiction)
Paperback Original
Iris Maynard lost her husband in World War II, her daughter to illness and, finally, her reason to live. Walled off from the world for decades behind the towering fence surrounding her home, Iris has built a new family…of flowers. Iris propagates her own daylilies and roses while tending to a garden filled with the heirloom starts that keep the memories of her loved ones alive. When Abby Peterson moves next door with her family --- a husband traumatized by his service in the Iraq War and a young daughter searching for stability --- Iris is reluctantly yet inevitably drawn into her boisterous neighbor’s life, where, united by loss and a love of flowers, she and Abby tentatively unearth their secrets, and help each other discover how much life they have yet to live.
Graydon House | 9781525804618
MURDER, SHE WROTE: A TIME FOR MURDER by Jessica Fletcher and Jon Land (Mystery)
Young Jessica Fletcher's life couldn't be more ordinary. She teaches at the local high school while she and her loving husband, Frank, are raising their nephew, Grady, together. But when the beloved principal dies under mysterious circumstances, Jessica knows something is off and, for the very first time, investigates a death. Present-day Jessica returns to high school for a colleague's retirement party and has fun seeing familiar faces. That is, until the colleague winds up dead --- and his death has mysterious links to Jessica's very first murder case. With nothing but her own instincts to guide her, Jessica embarks on a quest to find out what really happened all those years ago and who's behind these murders.
Berkley | 9781984804310
NEVER HAVE I EVER by Joshilyn Jackson (Thriller)
Amy Whey's sweet, uncomplicated life begins to unravel when the mysterious and alluring Angelica Roux arrives on her doorstep one night. Amy knows that something wicked has come her way --- a she-devil in a pricey red sports car who seems to know the terrible truth about who she is and what she once did. Roux tells Amy that if she doesn’t give her what she asks for --- what she deserves --- she’s going to make Amy pay for her sins. To protect herself and her family, and save the life she’s built, Amy must beat the devil at her own clever game, matching wits with Roux in an escalating war of hidden pasts and unearthed secrets. Amy knows the consequences if she can’t beat Roux. What terrifies her is everything she could lose if she wins.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780062855329
THE NIGHT BEFORE by Wendy Walker (Psychological Thriller)
Devastated by the end of her last relationship, Laura Lochner fled her Wall Street job and New York City apartment for her sister’s home in the Connecticut suburb where they both grew up. Though still haunted by the tragedy that’s defined her entire life, Laura is determined to take one more chance on love with a man she’s met on an Internet dating site. Rosie Ferro has spent most of her life worrying about her troubled sister. Fearless but fragile, Laura has always walked an emotional tightrope. So when Laura does not return home the following morning from her blind date, Rosie fears the worst. As she begins a desperate search to find her sister, she is not just worried about what this man might have done to Laura. She’s worried about what Laura may have done to him.
St. Martin’s Griffin | 9781250198686
QUEEN BEE by Dorothea Benton Frank (Fiction)
Beekeeper Holly McNee Jensen quietly lives in a world of her own on Sullivan’s Island, tending her hives and working at the local island library. Holly calls her mother The Queen Bee because she’s a demanding hulk of a woman. Her mother, a devoted hypochondriac, might be unaware that she’s quite ill, but that doesn’t stop her from tormenting Holly. To escape the drama, Holly’s sister Leslie married and moved away, wanting little to do with island life. Holly’s escape is to submerge herself in the lives of the two young boys next door and their widowed father, Archie. Her world is upended when the more flamboyant Leslie returns, and both sisters, polar opposites, fixate on what’s happening in their neighbor’s home.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780062861238
RULES OF VISITING by Jessica Francis Kane (Fiction)
Dry, witty and unapologetic, May Attaway loves literature and her work as a botanist for the university in her hometown. More at home with plants than people, May begins to suspect that she isn’t very good at friendship and wonders if it’s possible to improve with practice. Granted some leave from her job, she sets out on a journey to spend time with four long-neglected friends. RULES FOR VISITING is the story of a search for friendship in the digital age, a singular look at the way we stay in touch. While May travels, she studies her friends’ lives and begins to confront the pain of her own.
Penguin Books | 9780525559245
RUTH BADER GINSBURG: A Life by Jane Sherron de Hart (Biography)
In this comprehensive, revelatory biography --- 15 years of interviews and research in the making --- historian Jane Sherron De Hart explores the central experiences that crucially shaped Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passion for justice, her advocacy for gender equality, and her meticulous jurisprudence. At the heart of her story and abiding beliefs is her Jewish background, specifically the concept of tikkun olam, the Hebrew injunction to “repair the world,” with its profound meaning for a young girl who grew up during the Holocaust and World War II.
Vintage | 9781984897831
THE SEVEN OR EIGHT DEATHS OF STELLA FORTUNA by Juliet Grames (Historical Fiction)
For Stella Fortuna, death has always been a part of life. Stella’s childhood is full of strange, life-threatening incidents. Even Stella’s own mother is convinced that her daughter is cursed or haunted. Stella uses her peculiar toughness to protect her slower, plainer baby sister Tina from life’s harshest realities. But she also provokes the ire of her father, who demands subservience from women. When the Fortunas emigrate to America on the cusp of World War II, Stella and Tina must come of age side-by-side in a hostile new world with strict expectations for each of them. In present-day Connecticut, one family member tells this heartrending story, determined to understand the persisting rift between the now-elderly Stella and Tina.
Ecco | 9780062862839
SINS OF THE FATHERS: A J. P. Beaumont Novel by J. A. Jance (Mystery/Thriller)
Former Seattle homicide cop J. P. Beaumont is learning to enjoy the new realities of retirement: doing morning crossword puzzles by a roaring fireplace, playing frisbee with his new dog, having quiet lunches with his still-working wife. But then his past comes calling. When a long-ago acquaintance, Alan Dale, shows up on Beau’s doorstep with a newborn infant in hand and asking for help locating his missing daughter, Beau finds himself faced with an investigation that will turn his own life upside down by dragging his none-too-stellar past onto a roller-coaster ride that may well derail his serene present. It turns out that, even in retirement, murder is still the name of J. P. Beaumont’s game.
William Morrow | 9780062853448
SOUTHERN LADY CODE: Essays by Helen Ellis (Humor/Essays)
Helen Ellis has a mantra: “If you don't have something nice to say, say something not-so-nice in a nice way.” Say “weathered” instead of “she looks like a cake left out in the rain” and “I’m not in charge” instead of “they’re doing it wrong.” In these 23 raucous essays, Ellis transforms herself into a dominatrix Donna Reed to save her marriage, inadvertently steals a Burberry trench coat, avoids a neck lift, and finds a black-tie gown that gives her the confidence of a drag queen. While she may have left Alabama for New York City, Ellis is clinging to her Southern accent like mayonnaise to white bread, and offering readers a hilarious, completely singular view on womanhood for both sides of the Mason-Dixon.
Anchor | 9780525562924
STAY UP WITH HUGO BEST by Erin Somers (Fiction/Humor)
When June Bloom, an assistant on the late-night comedy show "Stay Up with Hugo Best," runs into Hugo himself at an open mic following his unexpected retirement, she finds herself fielding a surprising invitation: Hugo asks June to come to his mansion in Greenwich for the long Memorial Day weekend. “No funny business,” he insists. June, in need of a job and money, but harboring the remains of a childhood crush on the charming older comedian and former role model, is confident she can handle herself. She accepts. As the weekend unfolds and the enigmatic Hugo gradually reveals appealingly vulnerable facets to his personality, their dynamic proves to be much more complicated and less predictable than June imagined.
Scribner | 9781982102364
SUNSET BEACH by Mary Kay Andrews (Fiction)
Out of a job and down on her luck, Drue Campbell’s life doesn’t seem to be getting any better when her estranged father, a flamboyant personal injury attorney, shows up at her mother’s funeral after a 20-year absence. Worse, he’s remarried --- to Drue’s eighth grade frenemy, Wendy, now his office manager. And they’re offering her a job. It seems like the job from hell, but the offer is sweetened by the news of her inheritance: her grandparents’ beach bungalow in the sleepy town of Sunset Beach. With no other prospects, Drue begrudgingly joins the firm. But when a suspicious death at an exclusive beach resort nearby exposes possible corruption at her father’s firm, she is drawn into a case that may --- or may not --- involve her father.
St. Martin’s Griffin | 9781250126115
THIRTEEN by Steve Cavanagh (Legal Thriller)
It’s the murder trial of the century --- and Joshua Kane has killed to get the best seat in the house. He has done everything in his power to make sure the wrong man goes down for the crime. Because this time, the killer isn’t on trial. He’s on the jury. But there’s someone on his tail. Defense lawyer and former conman Eddie Flynn doesn’t believe that his movie-star client killed two people. He suspects that the real killer is closer than they think. But who would guess just how close?
Flatiron Books | 9781250297624
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