Weekly Update
September 13, 2019
 September 13, 2019Quick Links to Features on Bookreporter.com Reviews | Features | Bookreporter.com Bets On | Upcoming Bets On  Latest Update on Our GoFundMe Campaign: Thank you to those of you who already have donated to our GoFundMe campaign. So far we have raised $30,380 of our $50,000 goal, with online donations and checks. We have two goals in place with our videos and podcasts. Now it's on to getting our website redesigned to be mobile-responsive and updated! In addition to your contributions, we are loving the comments that have been shared with donations about how you enjoy this newsletter and Bookreporter.com. Here are a couple of messages we received recently: Sandy: "I love getting Bookreporter every week and seeing what is new to read." Jud: "I love Bookreporter and use the site frequently."  Carol's latest "Bookreporter Talks To" interview is with Gilly Macmillan, whose latest   Carol attended a Barnes & Noble event where Andrew Gross talked about his new novel,  Edoardo Ballerini, who narrates the audiobook version of THE FIFTH COLUMN,   Carol interviewed Christy Lefteri, author of THE BEEKEEPER OF ALEPPO, at Book Expo. Carol's sister-in-law was in town last weekend and decided she wanted to learn to knit. Friday the 13th AND a Full MoonSo it’s Friday the 13th…and there's a full moon. As Ann, who is one of our former book chat hosts, said, “What could go wrong?” I also read that it's the first time this has happened in 19 years. Note that I have not fact-checked this statement, so do not quote me! Speaking of facts, Mary pointed out that in last week’s newsletter, I had the wrong name for the village where Louise Penny’s books are set. It’s Three Pines. Thanks for the note, Mary. On Monday night, I headed uptown to Barnes & Noble to see Andrew Gross talking about his new novel, THE FIFTH COLUMN, which I had read over the weekend. There was an interesting format to the event. First, Andy talked about his writing of the book --- and shared the plot. And then he invited Edoardo Ballerini, the audiobook’s narrator, on stage to read the first chapter. Ballerini is a prominent narrator, and it was such fun to see him performing the book for us. It definitely enhanced the experience. THE FIFTH COLUMN brings to light the idea of an enemy living on our own soil. When the novel opens, it’s 1939 and there is a rally happening at Madison Square Garden, where thousands who identify as Nazis have gathered. This actually happened. Charles Mossman is a drunk who tries to oust some Nazi activists from a bar where he is drinking. He kills an innocent bystander by accident and goes to jail for this. When he is released, he tries to reunite with his wife and young daughter. While visiting in their building, he thinks he has uncovered a Nazi spy ring operating in an apartment next to his wife. The big question is: How sound is his judgment on what he thinks he is seeing? It reminds people that in wartime, there can be spies anywhere, as well as those who want to undermine their country. I am happy to share our newest video and podcast with you, where I interview Gilly Macmillan, the author of THE NANNY. This is the first week that we are offering a simultaneous video and podcast release; we are aiming to adhere to this schedule, but we have some videos that still need podcast editing, so consider this still a goal! The podcast includes an audio excerpt, and we are hoping that will be the format for all future podcasts. So many of you have written to share that you are enjoying this new direction of ours. Keep the comments coming! This week saw the release of THE TESTAMENTS, the long-awaited sequel to Margaret Atwood’s classic 1985 novel, THE HANDMAID’S TALE. More than 15 years after the events of THE HANDMAID’S TALE, the theocratic regime of the Republic of Gilead maintains its grip on power, but there are signs it is beginning to rot from within. At this crucial moment, the lives of three radically different women converge, with potentially explosive results. Norah Piehl has our review and says, “[Atwood] constructs a novel that is full of ideas, reflections and philosophical revelations, but also is a propulsive, suspenseful read that will keep readers guessing about the fates of these characters, not to mention Gilead itself…. THE TESTAMENTS is a fascinating triple character study, a driving adventure story, and an urgent plea for readers to take action rather than sit back and watch.” Shortlisted for this year’s Man Booker Prize, THE TESTAMENTS is this month’s Barnes & Noble Book Club pick. B&N will be selling a special Exclusive Book Club Edition of the book, along with hosting a free Book Club Night to discuss it, in stores across the country on Wednesday, October 9th at 7pm local time. Click here to sign up for the event. Here’s a piece from Atwood called "'I’m Too Old to Be Scared by Much': Margaret Atwood on Her HANDMAID'S TALE Sequel." THE TESTAMENTS is one of the books we’re giving away in our current Word of Mouth contest; the other is ELEVATOR PITCH by Linwood Barclay, which we’re reviewing next week and will be a Bookreporter.com Bets On pick. Submit your comments about the books you’ve read, and you’ll be in the running to win both novels. Be sure to enter by Friday, September 20th at noon ET. Stephen King returns with another riveting story of kids confronting evil, just in time for the release of It: Chapter Two in theaters. When THE INSTITUTE opens, intruders murder Herbert and Eileen Ellis in the middle of the night and kidnap their 12-year-old son, Luke, who wakes up at The Institute, a creepy and isolated hospital-like building. Outside his door are other doors, behind which are other kids with special talents --- telekinesis and telepathy --- who got to this place the same way Luke did. In this most sinister of institutions, the director and her staff are ruthlessly dedicated to extracting from these children the force of their extranormal gifts. As each new victim disappears, Luke becomes more and more desperate to get out and get help. But no one has ever escaped from the Institute. Our reviewer Sarah Rachel Egelman calls THE INSTITUTE “an enjoyable and exciting page-turner just right for the transition from light summer reads to dark winter tales. There is action and violence here, but thoughtfulness as well…. The book is full of moral ambiguities that impact the thoughts and decisions of the characters, thus elevating an otherwise typical conspiracy-type thriller into a compelling and smart work.” We’re giving away the audio version of THE INSTITUTE (read by Santino Fontana) in this month’s Sounding Off on Audio contest, along with Alice Hoffman's THE WORLD THAT WE KNEW (read by Judith Light). Let us know by Tuesday, October 1st at noon ET what audiobooks you’ve listened to from your chance to win both these audio titles. Other books we’re reviewing this week include Emma Donoghue’s latest novel, AKIN, in which a retired professor's life is thrown into chaos when he takes his great-nephew to the French Riviera in hopes of uncovering his own mother's wartime secrets; KILLER INSTINCT by James Patterson and Howard Roughan, which finds Dr. Dylan Reinhart and Detective Elizabeth Needham reuniting to stop the most sinister plot against New York City since 9/11; and Gilly Macmillan’s aforementioned psychological thriller, THE NANNY, a dark and unpredictable tale of family secrets that explores the lengths people will go to hurt one another. Find out why I’m betting you’ll love THE NANNY in next week’s newsletter. This week, we’re featuring YALE NEEDS WOMEN: How the First Group of Girls Rewrote the Rules of an Ivy League Giant by Anne Gardiner Perkins in our New Release Spotlight. In the winter of 1969, young women across the country sent in applications to Yale University for the first time. The Ivy League institution dedicated to graduating "one thousand male leaders" each year had finally decided to open its doors to the nation's top female students. Isolated from one another, singled out as oddities and sexual objects, and barred from many of the privileges an elite education was supposed to offer, many of the first girls found themselves immersed in an overwhelmingly male culture they were unprepared to face. YALE NEEDS WOMEN is the story of how these young women fought against the backward-leaning traditions of a centuries-old institution and created the opportunities that would carry them into the future. Cindy Burnett has our review and says, "A Yale graduate herself, Perkins crafts a thoroughly researched and comprehensive look at the university's coeducation process... Her attention to detail and her logical chronology combine to create an intriguing and at times depressing look at an elite institution that would need to be unwillingly dragged into the modern era.” We also are featuring the discussion guide on ReadingGroupGuides.com, which you can take a look at here. This brought up a memory, as I remember being waitlisted by Princeton a few years later as they opened up the university to a small number of women. There was an afternoon when I decided I was not going to wait to see what happened and instead would head to Fordham. I also declared with great conviction that if someday Princeton asked me to speak there, I was going to turn them down. Pretty amusing for someone to say at 17. To date, I have not been asked, but I probably would think twice! I have spoken at Yale. YALE NEEDS WOMEN was one of the books we gave away in our Fall Preview contests, which kicked off this week; the others were THIS TENDER LAND by William Kent Krueger and THE BEEKEEPER OF ALEPPO by Christy Lefteri, both of which we featured in last week’s newsletter. Next week’s prizes will be the aforementioned ELEVATOR PITCH by Linwood Barclay, THE GLASS OCEAN by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig and Karen White (a Bets on pick that's now in paperback), KOPP SISTERS ON THE MARCH: A Kopp Sisters Novel by Amy Stewart, and THE NEAREST EXIT MAY BE BEHIND YOU by Amulya Malladi (also a Bets On selection). THIS TENDER LAND and THE BEEKEEPER OF ALEPPO are my latest Bets On picks. Click on each of the titles for my commentary. Back in June, I did a video interview with Christy at Book Expo, but we couldn’t post it as there was too much background noise. Fortunately, we were able to transcribe it, and you can read the full interview here. Our Nonfiction Author Spotlight & Contest for MOTHERHOOD SO WHITE, Nefertiti Austin’s honest, vulnerable and uplifting memoir about race, gender and parenting in America, continues for another week. We’re awarding the book to 35 readers, who then will have a chance to give us their feedback on it. To enter, please fill out this form by Thursday, September 19th at noon ET. Don’t miss our review of the book and interview with the author in the September 27th newsletter. Due to a technical glitch, we did not receive any contest entries for MOTHERHOOD SO WHITE from Thursday, September 5th through the morning of Tuesday, September 10th. So if you submitted an entry during that time, may we ask that you resubmit your entry? We would not want you to miss out on this opportunity, and we apologize for the inconvenience! Note: We have figured out the issue (WHY the form has a default of ONE answer is beyond me), and this should not happen going forward. Our poll continues to ask which of 25 titles releasing in September you are planning to read, if any. Click here to let us know which of these books you’re excited about. And yes, I love to see what you're jazzed about reading, so do weigh in. We heard the sad news this week that bestselling author Anne Rivers Siddons passed away Wednesday at the age of 83 after battling lung cancer. Siddons wrote 19 novels centered on strong Southern women --- including PEACHTREE ROAD, HEARTBREAK HOTEL, THE HOUSE NEXT DOOR, OFF SEASON, BURNT MOUNTAIN and THE GIRLS OF AUGUST (her last) --- and one work of nonfiction, JOHN CHANCELLOR MAKES ME CRY. She is survived by four stepsons and three step-grandchildren. Click here to read more about her life and legacy. We continue to see brilliant tributes to Dottie Frank. I particularly loved this one from The New Yorker, written by Mary Norris, whose most recent book is GREEK TO ME. She hit on many Dottie-isms here. I think you will enjoy it. Dottie’s funeral will be this Saturday, September 14th at 2pm ET at Grace Church Cathedral in Charleston, SC, and it is open to the public. It also will be live-streamed here. Behind every great writer, there often is a great editor. One of the most brilliant ones I have known, who also was a gifted publisher, is Susan Kamil from Random House. She passed away on Sunday from complications related to lung cancer just shy of her 70th birthday, and her passing rattled many in the book world. So many people wrote to tell me how they had worked with her, or for her, and all had wonderful stories to share about her editing smarts and her generous spirit. Here’s a terrific piece that Ruth Reichl, whose most recent book is SAVE ME THE PLUMS (a Bets On selection), wrote about Susan for The New York Times. Susan made a huge impact on so many authors, readers and colleagues. A sign of a life well-lived, though too short. News & Pop Culture Reader Mail: Pat wrote, “Hooray! The mailman brought me two new books (Laura Lippman’s and Daniel Silva’s latest books) on CD. I was delighted to discover that I was the winner in the Sounding Off on Audio contest. Thanks so much. I just started listening to THE NEW GIRL, and so far it is so engaging. I will be sure to write a review on Goodreads when I am finished listening to both. I will then give the CDs to my local library for their collection. So you have made many people happy! P.S. My book club enjoyed your presentation at the Rockville Centre library in June. You gave us many great titles to enjoy with the group.” Sherrie said, “Thank you for your lovely words about your friend, Dottie Frank. I wish I would have known her; I feel like we would have been pals. Blessings to her family and friends. "In the Shadow of the Towers": I watched an interesting documentary on HBO about students at Stuyvesant High School who were there on 9/11; the school is blocks from the Towers. It's so fascinating to hear their perspectives; they were 13-17 at the time, and now they are in their 30s. It is very well done. Last weekend, I made Chilled Corn Soup. It’s a recipe from Mario Batali’s AMERICA: FARM TO TABLE cookbook that I have been making for the last three years. The first summer I made it, I left it on the stove for a couple of days; it fermented and had to be tossed. Seriously, it was like I was making mash! Last year, I felt that there was too much onion in it. So this time, I changed up the recipe, leaving out the red onion, and the third time was a charm. We froze it so we can enjoy it as an appetizer on Thanksgiving. The idea of sweet corn in November sounds perfect! This recipe included taking the kernels off 10 ears of corn, plus the milk from the kernels. I forgot what Ina Garten used as a technique for this, which was very simple. In “The Carol Method,” kernels were shooting everywhere. On Sunday, while watching the U.S. Open men’s final, I made the aforementioned soup, a plum kuchen, corn muffins and lamb chops à la Ottolenghi, and cleaned the kitchen. I did not walk as many steps as the players ran up and down the court. I also watched the women’s final on Saturday. I think this is the first time I have watched tennis in probably five years. I still do not understand “love” in scoring. Last weekend, my sister-in-law, Katie, was in town and decided she wanted to learn to knit. So she went to the store and bought…size 50 needles and bulky yarn in variegated colors to make a pillow. You can see them above. Trust me, this is NOT the way you want to start out knitting. She made a video of me knitting, so she can follow it at home. It did provide some humor. She later said that once I showed her how to knit, she was kind of hoping I would keep going until the pillow that she was trying to make was done. Yep, knitting with rope on baseball bats --- right up my alley! For the record, learning to knit is best done on about a size 8 needle with solid-colored yarn. I am thinking of taking up weaving. If anyone has done it and has tips, let me know! Tom is fearing a loom the size of a room. I have assured him that I am looking for one that can be used on one’s lap. I have MANY weaving ideas for my substantial stash of yarn. I also think I can weave faster than I can knit. And now reading the paragraphs above, I sound like I am in an episode of "A Modern Little House on the Prairie" presented by HGTV. She cooks, she bakes, she knits, she weaves. Tom is away on a golf trip this weekend. I have a huge stack of reading to do for upcoming interviews. I did not read enough over our break, and thus I am on a crazy catch-up. I also am planning to hit a couple of yoga classes, and grab some pool and poolside time. Sometime over the weekend, I need to make pesto with the basil we bought a couple of weeks ago with this plan in mind. I am tired of watering it. Since Tom is gone, I will be dining on pizza on English muffins, which is de rigueur when he is on the road. Actually tonight we may drive out to a Mexican place in Frenchtown that I love. For humor, when I saw Elizabeth Gilbert at a Book Expo party a few months ago, we talked with great excitement about the place, and she gave it a rave too. She used to live in Frenchtown.    Featured Review: THE TESTAMENTS by Margaret Atwood September’s Barnes & Noble Book Club Pick  THE TESTAMENTS by Margaret Atwood (Dystopian Fiction) - Click here to read more about the book. Click here to read our review. Featured Review: THE INSTITUTE by Stephen King  THE INSTITUTE by Stephen King (Thriller) - Click here to read more about the book. Click here to read our review. Featured Review: AKIN by Emma Donoghue  AKIN by Emma Donoghue (Fiction) Click here to read our review. Featured Review: THE NANNY by Gilly Macmillan  THE NANNY by Gilly Macmillan (Psychological Thriller) - Click here to read more about the book. Click here to read our review. THE NANNY will be a Bookreporter.com Bets On pick.  New Release Spotlight:  YALE NEEDS WOMEN: How the First Group of Girls Rewrote the Rules of an Ivy League Giant by Anne Gardiner Perkins (History) Or was it? The experience the first undergraduate women found when they stepped onto Yale's imposing campus was not the same one their male peers enjoyed. Isolated from one another, singled out as oddities and sexual objects, and barred from many of the privileges an elite education was supposed to offer, many of the first girls found themselves immersed in an overwhelmingly male culture they were unprepared to face. YALE NEEDS WOMEN is the story of how these young women fought against the backward-leaning traditions of a centuries-old institution and created the opportunities that would carry them into the future. Anne Gardiner Perkins' unflinching account of a group of young women striving for change is an inspiring story of strength, resilience and courage that continues to resonate today. - Click here to read our review. Click here to read more in our New Release Spotlight.  Nonfiction Author Spotlight & Contest:  We have 35 copies of Nefertiti Austin's memoir, MOTHERHOOD SO WHITE --- the story of a single African American woman's fight to create the family she always knew she was meant to have --- to give away to those who would like to read the book, which releases on September 24th, and share their comments on it. To enter, please fill out this form by Thursday, September 19th at noon ET. Please note: Due to a technical glitch, we did not receive any contest entries for MOTHERHOOD SO WHITE from Thursday, September 5th through the morning of Tuesday, September 10th. So if you submitted an entry during that time, may we ask that you resubmit your entry? We would not want you to miss out on this opportunity, and we apologize for the inconvenience! MOTHERHOOD SO WHITE: A Memoir of Race, Gender, and Parenting in America by Nefertiti Austin (Memoir) MOTHERHOOD SO WHITE is the story of Nefertiti’s fight to create the family she always knew she was meant to have and the story of motherhood that all American families need now. In this unflinching account of her parenting journey, Nefertiti examines the history of adoption in the African American community, faces off against stereotypes of single, Black motherhood, and confronts the reality of raising children of color in racially charged, modern-day America. - Click here to read an excerpt. Click here to read more in our Nonfiction Author Spotlight  Bookreporter.com Bets On:   THIS TENDER LAND by William Kent Krueger (Historical Fiction) Click here to read more of Carol's commentary on THIS TENDER LAND.
The story revolves around Nuri, a beekeeper from Aleppo, Syria, and his wife, Afra, an artist. As the book opens, Nuri and his cousin, Mustafa, are cultivating a number of hives in the Syrian countryside. War quickly upends their safe world as their hives are burned, and they are forced to flee. Mustafa heads out one way, while Nuri heads first through Turkey and then into Greece, where they join fellow Syrians looking for a safe haven. The goal: to get to the UK, which is the dream of so many refugees. Mustafa already has made his way there; he has started a new apiary and awaits Nuri’s arrival. But there are so many challenges that lie between him and this destination. - Click here to read more about the book. Click here to read more of Carol's commentary  Bookreporter.com's Fall Preview Contests and Feature Fall is known as the biggest season of the year for books. The titles that release during this latter part of the year often become holiday gifts, and many are blockbusters. To celebrate the arrival of fall, we are spotlighting a number of outstanding books that we know people will be talking about in the days and months to come. We are hosting a series of 24-hour contests for these titles on select days in September and October, so you will have to check the site each day to see the featured prize book and enter to win. We also are sending a special newsletter to announce the day's title, which you can sign up for here. Our next prize book will be announced on Monday, September 16th at noon ET. This year's featured titles are:
Click here to read all the contest details  Suspense/Thriller Author Spotlight:  PRETTY GUILTY WOMEN by Gina LaManna (Mystery/Thriller) Ginger is holding her family together by a thread, and this wedding weekend is not the fabulous getaway she anticipated. Kate has enough money to buy her way out of anything. Well, almost anything. Emily can’t shake her reputation or her memories, and she’s planning to drown this whole vacation in a bottle. Lulu has ex-husbands to spare, and another on the way --- as soon as she figures out what the devil the current husband is up to behind her back. Why would they confess to the same murder? Only they know --- and they’re not telling. This page-turning novel explores the depths of friendship and the truths we love to ignore. - Click here to read more about the book. Click here to read more in our Suspense/Thriller Author Spotlight.    More Reviews This WeekKILLER INSTINCT by James Patterson and Howard Roughan (Thriller) GIDEON THE NINTH by Tamsyn Muir (Science Fiction/Space Opera) THINGS YOU SAVE IN A FIRE by Katherine Center (Fiction) THE LAST TRAIN TO LONDON by Meg Waite Clayton (Historical Fiction) ICE COLD HEART: A Monkeewrench Novel by P. J. Tracy (Mystery/Thriller) RAISED IN CAPTIVITY: Fictional Nonfiction by Chuck Klosterman (Fiction/Short Stories) THE PASSENGERS by John Marrs (Science Fiction/Thriller) MISSING PERSON by Sarah Lotz (Mystery/Thriller) THE RETREAT by Sherri Smith (Psychological Thriller) THREE HOURS by Anders Roslund and Börge Hellström (Thriller) NOW YOU SEE ME by Chris McGeorge (Mystery)   
Next Week’s Notables:
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