F. Scott Fitzgerald
And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in the fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.
Attribution
Editorial Content for The New One: Painfully True Stories from a Reluctant Dad
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
Mike Birbiglia has always been an entertainer. His newest muse is Oona, his first child (and only child, if he has his way). She is the subject of his off-Broadway comedy show, Netflix special and second book, THE NEW ONE: Painfully True Stories from a Reluctant Dad.
Mike and his wife, Jennifer Hope Stein (to whom he refers as Clo, for a reason unbeknownst to us), had always vowed never to have a child. When Jen has a change of heart, Mike grapples with his thoughts on his health, family and fatherhood. Read More
Teaser
In 2016, comedian Mike Birbiglia and poet Jennifer Hope Stein took their 14-month-old daughter, Oona, to the Nantucket Film Festival. When the festival director picked them up at the airport, she asked Mike if he would perform at the storytelling night. She said, "The theme of the stories is jealousy." Jen quipped, "You're jealous of Oona. You should talk about that." And so Mike began sharing some of his darkest and funniest thoughts about the decision to have a child. Over the next couple of years, these stories evolved into a Broadway show, and the more Mike performed it, the more he heard how it resonated --- not just with parents but also with people who resist all kinds of change. So he pored over his journals, dug deeper and created this book.
Promo
In 2016, comedian Mike Birbiglia and poet Jennifer Hope Stein took their 14-month-old daughter, Oona, to the Nantucket Film Festival. When the festival director picked them up at the airport, she asked Mike if he would perform at the storytelling night. She said, "The theme of the stories is jealousy." Jen quipped, "You're jealous of Oona. You should talk about that." And so Mike began sharing some of his darkest and funniest thoughts about the decision to have a child. Over the next couple of years, these stories evolved into a Broadway show, and the more Mike performed it, the more he heard how it resonated --- not just with parents but also with people who resist all kinds of change. So he pored over his journals, dug deeper and created this book.
About the Book
With laugh-out-loud funny parenting observations, the New York Times bestselling author and award-winning comedian delivers a book that is perfect for anyone who has ever raised a child, been a child, or refuses to stop acting like one.
In 2016, comedian Mike Birbiglia and poet Jennifer Hope Stein took their 14-month-old daughter Oona to the Nantucket Film Festival. When the festival director picked them up at the airport, she asked Mike if he would perform at the storytelling night. She said, "The theme of the stories is jealousy."
Jen quipped, "You're jealous of Oona. You should talk about that."
And so Mike began sharing some of his darkest and funniest thoughts about the decision to have a child. Jen and Mike revealed to each other their sides of what had gone down during Jen's pregnancy and that first year with their child. Over the next couple of years, these stories evolved into a Broadway show, and the more Mike performed it, the more he heard how it resonated --- not just with parents but also with people who resist all kinds of change.
So he pored over his journals, dug deeper and created this book: THE NEW ONE: Painfully True Stories from a Reluctant Dad. Along with hilarious and poignant stories he has never shared before, these pages are sprinkled with poetry Jen wrote as she navigated the same rocky shores of new parenthood.
So here it is. This book is an experiment --- sort of like a family.
Audiobook available, read by Mike Birbiglia and J. Hope Stein
Editorial Content for To Wake the Giant: A Novel of Pearl Harbor
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
On June 6th, the world marked the 76th anniversary of the remarkable and brutal landing by Allied Forces on the beaches of Normandy, France. American troops, in conjunction with their like-minded friends, sought to push into France and begin to purge Europe of the monstrous occupation by Adolf Hitler. Read More
Teaser
In 1941, the Japanese have waged an aggressive campaign against China, and they now begin to expand their ambitions to other parts of Asia. Their enemies know that Japan’s ultimate goal is total conquest over the region, especially when the Japanese align themselves with Hitler’s Germany and Mussolini’s Italy, who wage their own war of conquest across Europe. Meanwhile, the British stand nearly alone against Hitler, and there is pressure in Washington to transfer America’s powerful fleet of warships from Hawaii to the Atlantic to join the fight against German U-boats that are devastating shipping. But despite deep concerns about weakening the Pacific fleet, no one believes that the main base at Pearl Harbor is under any real threat.
Promo
In 1941, the Japanese have waged an aggressive campaign against China, and they now begin to expand their ambitions to other parts of Asia. Their enemies know that Japan’s ultimate goal is total conquest over the region, especially when the Japanese align themselves with Hitler’s Germany and Mussolini’s Italy, who wage their own war of conquest across Europe. Meanwhile, the British stand nearly alone against Hitler, and there is pressure in Washington to transfer America’s powerful fleet of warships from Hawaii to the Atlantic to join the fight against German U-boats that are devastating shipping. But despite deep concerns about weakening the Pacific fleet, no one believes that the main base at Pearl Harbor is under any real threat.
About the Book
The New York Times bestselling master of military historical fiction tells the story of Pearl Harbor as only he can in the first novel of a gripping new series set in World War II’s Pacific theater.
In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt watches uneasily as the world heads rapidly down a dangerous path. The Japanese have waged an aggressive campaign against China, and they now begin to expand their ambitions to other parts of Asia. As their expansion efforts grow bolder, their enemies know that Japan’s ultimate goal is total conquest over the region, especially when the Japanese align themselves with Hitler’s Germany and Mussolini’s Italy, who wage their own war of conquest across Europe.
Meanwhile, the British stand nearly alone against Hitler, and there is pressure in Washington to transfer America’s powerful fleet of warships from Hawaii to the Atlantic to join the fight against German U-boats that are devastating shipping. But despite deep concerns about weakening the Pacific fleet, no one believes that the main base at Pearl Harbor is under any real threat.
Told through the eyes of widely diverse characters, this story looks at all sides of the drama and puts the reader squarely in the middle. In Washington, Secretary of State Cordell Hull must balance his own concerns between President Roosevelt and the Japanese ambassador, Kichisaburo Nomura, who is little more than a puppet of his own government. In Japan, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto wins skeptical approval for his outrageous plans in the Pacific, yet he understands more than anyone that an attack on Pearl Harbor will start a war that Japan cannot win. In Hawaii, Commander Joseph Rochefort’s job as an accomplished intelligence officer is to decode radio signals and detect the location of the Japanese fleet, but when the airwaves suddenly go silent, no one has any idea why. And from a small Depression-ravaged town, 19-year-old Tommy Biggs sees the Navy as his chance to escape and happily accepts his assignment, every sailor’s dream: the battleship USS Arizona.
With you-are-there immediacy, Shaara opens up the mysteries of just how Japan --- a small, deeply militarist nation --- could launch one of history’s most devastating surprise attacks. In this story of innocence, heroism, sacrifice and unfathomable blindness, Shaara’s gift for storytelling uses these familiar wartime themes to shine a light on the personal, the painful, the tragic and the thrilling --- and on a crucial part of history we must never forget.
Audiobook available, read by Mark Bramhall
Editorial Content for Robert B. Parker's Grudge Match: A Sunny Randall Novel
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
Although it took the powers-that-be some time to find a suitable author to continue Robert B. Parker’s Sunny Randall series following his unfortunate passing, they struck gold with Mike Lupica. BLOOD FEUD was a successful first outing for Lupica, and he takes the character to new heights in GRUDGE MATCH.
Sunny previously had enlisted the aid of Boston crime kingpin Tony Marcus in a quid pro quo arrangement that she later reneged upon. So it is somewhat surprising that Tony retains Sunny’s services as a private investigator at the start of GRUDGE MATCH. Read More
Teaser
When PI Sunny Randall's longtime gangster associate Tony Marcus comes to her for help, Sunny is surprised. After all, she double-crossed him on a recent deal, and their relationship is on shakier ground than ever. Tony's trusted girlfriend and business partner has vanished, appearing to have left in a hurry, and he has no idea why. He just wants to talk to her, but first he needs Sunny to track her down. But when a witness is murdered hours after speaking to Sunny, it's clear there's more at stake than just Tony's love life. Someone --- maybe even Tony himself --- doesn't want this woman on the loose...and will go to any lengths to make sure she stays silent.
Promo
When PI Sunny Randall's longtime gangster associate Tony Marcus comes to her for help, Sunny is surprised. After all, she double-crossed him on a recent deal, and their relationship is on shakier ground than ever. Tony's trusted girlfriend and business partner has vanished, appearing to have left in a hurry, and he has no idea why. He just wants to talk to her, but first he needs Sunny to track her down. But when a witness is murdered hours after speaking to Sunny, it's clear there's more at stake than just Tony's love life. Someone --- maybe even Tony himself --- doesn't want this woman on the loose...and will go to any lengths to make sure she stays silent.
About the Book
Robert B. Parker's beloved PI Sunny Randall returns on a case that blurs the line between friend and foe...and if Sunny can't tell the difference, the consequences may be deadly.
When Sunny's longtime gangster associate Tony Marcus comes to her for help, Sunny is surprised --- after all, she double crossed him on a recent deal, and their relationship is on shakier ground than ever. But the way Tony figures it, Sunny owes him, and Sunny's willing to consider his case if it will clear the slate.
Tony's trusted girlfriend and business partner has vanished, appears to have left in a hurry, and he has no idea why. He just wants to talk to her, he says, but first he needs Sunny to track her down. While Sunny isn't willing to trust his good intentions, the missing woman intrigues her --- against all odds, she's risen to a position of power in Tony's criminal enterprise. Sunny can't help but admire her, and if this woman's in a jam, Sunny would like to help.
But when a witness is murdered hours after speaking to Sunny, it's clear there's more at stake than just Tony's love life. Someone --- maybe even Tony himself --- doesn't want this woman on the loose...and will go to any lengths to make sure she stays silent.
Audiobook available, read by Kate Burton
Editorial Content for Cult of Glory: The Bold and Brutal History of the Texas Rangers
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
I was not too far into reading CULT OF GLORY when I put the book down to check out a name. I am no kind of genealogy expert, but the modern online tools make it easy enough to search for common ancestors. Sure enough, the name mentioned in the book was a third cousin, several times removed. I don’t necessarily recommend mixing genealogy with history, but it does serve to personalize the history, to a degree --- and it brings home the reality that history is not as far away as we might think. Read More
Teaser
The Texas Rangers came to life in 1823, when Texas was still part of Mexico. Nearly 200 years later, the Rangers are still going --- one of the most famous of all law enforcement agencies. In CULT OF GLORY, Doug J. Swanson has written a sweeping account of the Rangers that chronicles their epic, daring escapades while showing how the white and propertied power structures of Texas used them as enforcers, protectors and officially sanctioned killers.
Promo
The Texas Rangers came to life in 1823, when Texas was still part of Mexico. Nearly 200 years later, the Rangers are still going --- one of the most famous of all law enforcement agencies. In CULT OF GLORY, Doug J. Swanson has written a sweeping account of the Rangers that chronicles their epic, daring escapades while showing how the white and propertied power structures of Texas used them as enforcers, protectors and officially sanctioned killers.
About the Book
A 21st-century reckoning with the legendary Texas Rangers that does justice to their heroic moments while also documenting atrocities, brutality, oppression and corruption
The Texas Rangers came to life in 1823, when Texas was still part of Mexico. Nearly 200 years later, the Rangers are still going --- one of the most famous of all law enforcement agencies. In CULT OF GLORY, Doug J. Swanson has written a sweeping account of the Rangers that chronicles their epic, daring escapades while showing how the white and propertied power structures of Texas used them as enforcers, protectors and officially sanctioned killers.
CULT OF GLORY begins with the Rangers' emergence as conquerors of the wild and violent Texas frontier. They fought the fierce Comanches, chased outlaws, and served in the U.S. Army during the Mexican War. As Texas developed, the Rangers were called upon to catch rustlers, tame oil boomtowns, and patrol the perilous Texas-Mexico border. In the 1930s they began their transformation into a professionally trained police force.
Countless movies, television shows and pulp novels have celebrated the Rangers as Wild West supermen. In many cases, they deserve their plaudits. But often the truth has been obliterated. Swanson demonstrates how the Rangers and their supporters have operated a propaganda machine that turned agency disasters and misdeeds into fables of triumph, transformed murderous rampages --- including the killing of scores of Mexican civilians --- into valorous feats, and elevated scoundrels to sainthood. CULT OF GLORY sets the record straight.
Beginning with the Texas Indian wars, CULT OF GLORY embraces the great, majestic arc of Lone Star history. It tells of border battles, range disputes, gunslingers, massacres, slavery, political intrigue, race riots, labor strife and the dangerous lure of celebrity. And it reveals how legends of the American West --- the real and the false --- are truly made.
Audiobook available, read by Kaleo Griffith
Editorial Content for I Was Told It Would Get Easier
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
Readers beware: If you have a child of a certain age (specifically one who has embarked upon the college search process), you might want to hold off on reading Abbi Waxman’s new novel, I WAS TOLD IT WOULD GET EASIER, until after your offspring is safely ensconced at their higher education institution of choice. If you pick it up then, you’ll be able to laugh knowingly at the foibles of Jessica and her daughter, Emily; until then, it might hit a little too close to home. Read More
Teaser
Jessica and Emily Burnstein have very different ideas of how their college tour should go. For Emily, it's a preview of freedom, exploring the possibility of her new and more exciting future. Maybe the other kids on the tour will like her more than the ones at school. For Jessica, it's a chance to bond with the daughter she seems to have lost. She isn't even sure if Emily likes her anymore. To be honest, Jessica isn't sure she likes herself. Together with a dozen strangers --- and two familiar enemies --- Jessica and Emily travel the East Coast, meeting up with family and old friends along the way. Surprises and secrets threaten their relationship and, in the end, change it forever.
Promo
Jessica and Emily Burnstein have very different ideas of how their college tour should go. For Emily, it's a preview of freedom, exploring the possibility of her new and more exciting future. Maybe the other kids on the tour will like her more than the ones at school. For Jessica, it's a chance to bond with the daughter she seems to have lost. She isn't even sure if Emily likes her anymore. To be honest, Jessica isn't sure she likes herself. Together with a dozen strangers --- and two familiar enemies --- Jessica and Emily travel the East Coast, meeting up with family and old friends along the way. Surprises and secrets threaten their relationship and, in the end, change it forever.
About the Book
Squashed among a bus full of strangers, mother-daughter duo Jessica and Emily Burnstein watch their carefully mapped-out college tour devolve into a series of off-roading misadventures, from the USA Today bestselling author of THE BOOKISH LIFE OF NINIA HILL.
Jessica and Emily Burnstein have very different ideas of how this college tour should go.
For Emily, it's a preview of freedom, exploring the possibility of her new and more exciting future. Not that she's sure she even wants to go to college, but let's ignore that for now. And maybe the other kids on the tour will like her more than the ones at school. They have to, right?
For Jessica, it's a chance to bond with the daughter she seems to have lost. They used to be so close, but then Goldfish crackers and Play-Doh were no longer enough of a draw. She isn't even sure if Emily likes her anymore. To be honest, Jessica isn't sure she likes herself.
Together with a dozen strangers --- and two familiar enemies --- Jessica and Emily travel the East Coast, meeting up with family and old friends along the way. Surprises and secrets threaten their relationship and, in the end, change it forever.
Editorial Content for Clean Hands
Book
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
I wonder if Patrick Hoffman chose CLEAN HANDS as the title of his latest thriller for its irony. The term refers to a legal principle that one party cannot seek equitable relief or claim an equitable defense if that party has itself engaged in inappropriate behavior. In courts of equity, the clean hands doctrine is as old as the law itself. On the pages of Hoffman’s fast-moving novel, readers may ponder if any of these unique characters have anything other than the dirtiest of hands as well as hearts and minds. Read More
Teaser
Elizabeth Carlyle’s prestigious New York law firm is working on the most high-stakes case in company history, defending a prominent bank. When Elizabeth gets the news that one of her junior associates has lost his phone --- and the secret documents that were on it --- she desperately needs help. Enter ex-CIA officer Valencia Walker, a high-priced fixer who gets called in when governments, corporations and plutocrats need their problems solved discretely. But things get complicated when the missing phone is retrieved: somebody has already copied the documents, and now they’re blackmailing the firm. The situation gets murkier still when stories about the documents start appearing in the press and a tragic suicide seems staged, hinting that darker forces may be churning below the surface.
Promo
Elizabeth Carlyle’s prestigious New York law firm is working on the most high-stakes case in company history, defending a prominent bank. When Elizabeth gets the news that one of her junior associates has lost his phone --- and the secret documents that were on it --- she desperately needs help. Enter ex-CIA officer Valencia Walker, a high-priced fixer who gets called in when governments, corporations and plutocrats need their problems solved discretely. But things get complicated when the missing phone is retrieved: somebody has already copied the documents, and now they’re blackmailing the firm. The situation gets murkier still when stories about the documents start appearing in the press and a tragic suicide seems staged, hinting that darker forces may be churning below the surface.
About the Book
Corporate lawyer Elizabeth Carlyle is under a lot of pressure. Her prestigious New York law firm is working on the most high-stakes case in company history, defending a prominent bank. When Elizabeth gets the news that one of her junior associates has lost his phone --- and the secret documents that were on it --- she needs help. Badly.
Enter ex-CIA officer Valencia Walker, a high-priced fixer who gets called in when governments, corporations and plutocrats need their problems solved discretely. But things get complicated when the missing phone is retrieved: somebody has already copied the documents, and now they’re blackmailing the firm. The situation gets murkier still when stories about the documents start appearing in the press and a tragic suicide seems staged, hinting that darker forces may be churning below the surface. With billions of dollars on the line, Elizabeth and Valencia must maneuver and outmaneuver whomever is behind this, and, most importantly, keep their hands clean.
This is a world of private security, private diplomacy and private justice. A sharply drawn cast of characters --- dirty lawyers, black-market traders, Russian criminals and extra-judicial actors, all take part in this breakneck tour through New York. Authentic, tense and impossible to put down, CLEAN HANDS gives a vivid look at the connections between corporations, government and the underworld.
Editorial Content for The Lightness
Book
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
THE LIGHTNESS is Emily Temple’s debut coming-of-age novel. It is sprinkled with Buddhist philosophy, high school drama, crushes who appear to be unattainable, and repressed memories from the past bubbling to the surface. Read More
Teaser
One year ago, the person Olivia adores most in the world, her father, left home for a meditation retreat in the mountains and never returned. Yearning to make sense of his shocking departure and to escape her overbearing mother, Olivia runs away from home and retraces his path to a place known as the Levitation Center. Once there, she enrolls in their summer program for troubled teens and finds herself drawn into the company of a close-knit trio of girls who are determined to finally achieve enlightenment --- and learn to levitate, to defy the weight of their bodies, to experience ultimate lightness. But it becomes increasingly clear that this is an advanced and perilous practice, and there’s a chance not all of them will survive.
Promo
One year ago, the person Olivia adores most in the world, her father, left home for a meditation retreat in the mountains and never returned. Yearning to make sense of his shocking departure and to escape her overbearing mother, Olivia runs away from home and retraces his path to a place known as the Levitation Center. Once there, she enrolls in their summer program for troubled teens and finds herself drawn into the company of a close-knit trio of girls who are determined to finally achieve enlightenment --- and learn to levitate, to defy the weight of their bodies, to experience ultimate lightness. But it becomes increasingly clear that this is an advanced and perilous practice, and there’s a chance not all of them will survive.
About the Book
A stylish, stunningly precise and suspenseful meditation on adolescent desire, female friendship, and the female body that shimmers with rage, wit and fierce longing --- an audacious, darkly observant, and mordantly funny literary debut for fans of Emma Cline, Ottessa Moshfegh and Jenny Offill.
One year ago, the person Olivia adores most in the world, her father, left home for a meditation retreat in the mountains and never returned. Yearning to make sense of his shocking departure and to escape her overbearing mother --- a woman as grounded as her father is mercurial --- Olivia runs away from home and retraces his path to a place known as the Levitation Center.
Once there, she enrolls in their summer program for troubled teens, which Olivia refers to as “Buddhist Boot Camp for Bad Girls”. Soon, she finds herself drawn into the company of a close-knit trio of girls determined to transcend their circumstances, by any means necessary. Led by the elusive and beautiful Serena, and her aloof, secretive acolytes, Janet and Laurel, the girls decide this is the summer they will finally achieve enlightenment --- and learn to levitate, to defy the weight of their bodies, to experience ultimate lightness.
But as desire and danger intertwine, and Olivia comes ever closer to discovering what a body --- and a girl --- is capable of, it becomes increasingly clear that this is an advanced and perilous practice, and there’s a chance not all of them will survive. Set over the course of one fateful summer that unfolds like a fever dream, THE LIGHTNESS juxtaposes fairy tales with quantum physics, cognitive science with religious fervor, and the passions and obsessions of youth with all of these, to explore concepts as complex as faith and as simple as loving people --- even though you don’t, and can’t, know them at all.
Audiobook available, read by Brittany Pressley
Editorial Content for Don't Turn Around
Book
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
Following the explosive release of her debut, FREEFALL, Jessica Barry returns with DON’T TURN AROUND, a timely, chilling thriller about two women fighting not only for their right to live, but for their lives. Read More
Teaser
Cait Monaghan and Rebecca McRae are on a desolate road that slices through the New Mexican desert. They've never met before tonight. Both have secrets to protect. Both of their lives are in danger. When a truck pulls up fast behind them, they assume it's punk teenagers or run-of-the-mill road rage, but it soon becomes clear that whoever is driving the truck is hunting them for sport --- and they are out to draw blood. As the miles unspool and the dangers mount, the pasts they've worked so hard to keep buried have come back to haunt them. Someone wants one of them dead. But which one? And given the lives the two women have been leading, that someone could be almost anyone. If Cait and Rebecca are going to survive, they'll have to learn to trust one another --- and themselves.
Promo
Cait Monaghan and Rebecca McRae are on a desolate road that slices through the New Mexican desert. They've never met before tonight. Both have secrets to protect. Both of their lives are in danger. When a truck pulls up fast behind them, they assume it's punk teenagers or run-of-the-mill road rage, but it soon becomes clear that whoever is driving the truck is hunting them for sport --- and they are out to draw blood. As the miles unspool and the dangers mount, the pasts they've worked so hard to keep buried have come back to haunt them. Someone wants one of them dead. But which one? And given the lives the two women have been leading, that someone could be almost anyone. If Cait and Rebecca are going to survive, they'll have to learn to trust one another --- and themselves.
About the Book
The riveting follow-up to Jessica Barry’s debut FREEFALL --- a controversial, of-the-moment thriller about two women fighting for their right to live.
322 miles of road. Six hours. Two strangers. One killer. Too many secrets.
Midnight. Cait Monaghan and Rebecca McRae are on a desolate road that slices through the New Mexican desert. They've never met before tonight. Both have secrets to protect. Both of their lives are in danger.
When a truck pulls up fast behind them, they assume it's punk teenagers or run-of-the-mill road rage, but it soon becomes clear that whoever is driving the truck is hunting them for sport --- and they are out to draw blood.
As the miles unspool and the dangers mount, the pasts they've worked so hard to keep buried have come back to haunt them. Someone wants one of them dead. But which one? And given the lives the two women have been leading, that someone could be almost anyone.
If Cait and Rebecca are going to survive, they'll have to learn to trust one another --- and themselves. But trust is a costly business, and they’ve both paid the price before.
Audiobook available, read by Sarah Zimmerman




Do the current stay-at-home measures have you craving a summer getaway? Bookreporter has a way for you to virtually travel with our list of books set in vacation locales. Escape to idyllic spots like Cape Cod, Nantucket, Montauk, Charleston and Pasadena --- along with many others --- with our Virtual Vacation Reads feature. Pick your book(s) to embark on the summer vacation you've been dreaming of.
