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Editorial Content for Making a Scene

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Jana Siciliano

These days, it seems that a rite of passage in Hollywood is to write a memoir sometime in the middle of your career when people are very much aware of you and interested in what you have to say. Some of them are vapid, full of jokes and tell us nothing about the life the celebrity actually has led or currently leads. Read More

Teaser

Growing up in the friendly suburbs of Richmond, Virginia, Constance Wu was often scolded for having big feelings or strong reactions. “Good girls don’t make scenes,” people warned her. And while she spent most of her childhood suppressing her bold, emotional nature, she found an early outlet in local community theater. At 18 she moved to New York, where she’d spend the next 10 years of her life auditioning, waiting tables and struggling to make rent before her two big breaks: the TV sitcom “Fresh Off the Boat” and the hit film Crazy Rich Asians. Through raw and relatable essays, Constance shares private memories of childhood, young love and heartbreak, sexual assault and harassment, and how she “made it” in Hollywood.

Promo

Growing up in the friendly suburbs of Richmond, Virginia, Constance Wu was often scolded for having big feelings or strong reactions. “Good girls don’t make scenes,” people warned her. And while she spent most of her childhood suppressing her bold, emotional nature, she found an early outlet in local community theater. At 18 she moved to New York, where she’d spend the next 10 years of her life auditioning, waiting tables and struggling to make rent before her two big breaks: the TV sitcom “Fresh Off the Boat” and the hit film Crazy Rich Asians. Through raw and relatable essays, Constance shares private memories of childhood, young love and heartbreak, sexual assault and harassment, and how she “made it” in Hollywood.

About the Book

From actor Constance Wu, a powerful and poignant memoir-in-essays.

Growing up in the friendly suburbs of Richmond, Virginia, Constance Wu was often scolded for having big feelings or strong reactions. “Good girls don’t make scenes,” people warned her. And while she spent most of her childhood suppressing her bold, emotional nature, she found an early outlet in local community theater --- it was the one place where big feelings were okay --- were good, even. Acting became her refuge, her touchstone and eventually her vocation. At 18 she moved to New York, where she’d spend the next 10 years of her life auditioning, waiting tables and struggling to make rent before her two big breaks: the TV sitcom "Fresh Off the Boat" and the hit film Crazy Rich Asians.

Here Constance shares private memories of childhood, young love and heartbreak, sexual assault and harassment, and how she “made it” in Hollywood. Raw, relatable and enthralling, MAKING A SCENE is an intimate portrait of the pressures and pleasures of existing in today’s world.

Audiobook available, read by Constance Wu

Editorial Content for Poster Girl

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Sarah Rachel Egelman

If you only know Veronica Roth as the author of the wildly popular Divergent series, her latest novel, POSTER GIRL, will seem a bit like familiar territory. However, here Roth mellows the teen girl dystopian survival trope so that political and personal nuances can shine through the overarching battle against the oppressive government. While there is a mercurial heroine facing tough choices and a requisite romance, the book is a worthwhile work of speculative fiction that stands on its own against similar stories. Read More

Teaser

For decades, everyone in the Seattle-Portland megalopolis lived under constant surveillance in the form of the Insight, an ocular implant that tracked every word and every action, rewarding or punishing according to the rigid moral code set forth by the Delegation. Then there was a revolution. The Delegation fell. Its most valuable members were locked in the Aperture, a prison on the outskirts of the city. And everyone else, now free from the Insight’s monitoring, went on with their lives. Sonya, former poster girl for the Delegation, has been imprisoned for 10 years when an old enemy comes to her with a deal: find a missing girl who was stolen from her parents by the old regime and earn her freedom. The path Sonya takes to find the child will lead her through an unfamiliar, corrupt post-Delegation world.

Promo

For decades, everyone in the Seattle-Portland megalopolis lived under constant surveillance in the form of the Insight, an ocular implant that tracked every word and every action, rewarding or punishing according to the rigid moral code set forth by the Delegation. Then there was a revolution. The Delegation fell. Its most valuable members were locked in the Aperture, a prison on the outskirts of the city. And everyone else, now free from the Insight’s monitoring, went on with their lives. Sonya, former poster girl for the Delegation, has been imprisoned for 10 years when an old enemy comes to her with a deal: find a missing girl who was stolen from her parents by the old regime and earn her freedom. The path Sonya takes to find the child will lead her through an unfamiliar, corrupt post-Delegation world.

About the Book

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth, a dystopian novel set in a surveillance state about one woman’s desperate search for a missing girl...and the dark family secrets she uncovers along the way.

For decades, everyone in the Seattle-Portland megalopolis lived under constant surveillance in the form of the Insight, an ocular implant that tracked every word and every action, rewarding or punishing according to the rigid moral code set forth by the Delegation.

Then there was a revolution. The Delegation fell. Its most valuable members were locked in the Aperture, a prison on the outskirts of the city. And everyone else, now free from the Insight’s monitoring, went on with their lives.

Sonya, former poster girl for the Delegation, has been imprisoned for 10 years when an old enemy comes to her with a deal: find a missing girl who was stolen from her parents by the old regime and earn her freedom. The path Sonya takes to find the child will lead her through an unfamiliar, corrupt post-Delegation world where she finds herself digging deeper into the past --- and her family’s dark secrets --- than she ever wanted to.

With razor-sharp prose and insights, POSTER GIRL is a haunting dystopian mystery that explores the ever expanding role of surveillance on society.

Audiobook available, read by Anna Caputo

Editorial Content for The Oracle of Maracoor

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Ray Palen

Gregory Maguire surely had no idea that his novel WICKED would become a global phenomenon. Not only did it spawn a handful of successful sequels, it also was the impetus for the Broadway musical of the same name that has thrilled and inspired millions of theatergoers.

Maguire’s latest novel, THE ORACLE OF MARACOOR, is the second installment in his trilogy, Another Day, which kicked off last year with THE BRIDES OF MARACOOR. It marks the return of Rain, the green-skinned granddaughter of Elphaba (aka the Wicked Witch of the West). Read More

Teaser

THE ORACLE OF MARACOOR continues the story of Elphaba’s green-skinned granddaughter, Rain. That strange land, Maracoor --- across the ocean from Oz --- is beset by an invading army. In the mayhem, Rain and Cossy, a child felon, break out of prison. Helped by a few flying monkeys, they struggle to escape the city before it falls under siege. Their arresting officer, Lucikles, also retreats with his family to a highland redoubt. But safety eludes them all. Chaos thunders upon them in the form of warriors, refugees and brigands. The very fabric of reality loosens, liberating creatures of myth and legend. Cued in by secrets known only to the most highly placed members of the royal court, Rain and her companions hunt the fabled Oracle of Maracoor for guidance and soothsaying.

Promo

THE ORACLE OF MARACOOR continues the story of Elphaba’s green-skinned granddaughter, Rain. That strange land, Maracoor --- across the ocean from Oz --- is beset by an invading army. In the mayhem, Rain and Cossy, a child felon, break out of prison. Helped by a few flying monkeys, they struggle to escape the city before it falls under siege. Their arresting officer, Lucikles, also retreats with his family to a highland redoubt. But safety eludes them all. Chaos thunders upon them in the form of warriors, refugees and brigands. The very fabric of reality loosens, liberating creatures of myth and legend. Cued in by secrets known only to the most highly placed members of the royal court, Rain and her companions hunt the fabled Oracle of Maracoor for guidance and soothsaying.

About the Book

Multimillion-copy bestselling author Gregory Maguire brings us the enchanting second novel in the series Another Day, returning to the world he first created in WICKED.

THE ORACLE OF MARACOOR, the second in the trilogy called Another Day, continues the story of Elphaba’s green-skinned granddaughter, Rain. That strange land, Maracoor --- across the ocean from Oz --- is beset by an invading army. In the mayhem, Rain and Cossy, a child felon, break out of prison. Helped by a few flying monkeys, they struggle to escape the city before it falls under siege. Their arresting officer, Lucikles, also retreats with his family to a highland redoubt. But safety eludes them all. Chaos thunders upon them in the form of warriors, refugees and brigands. The very fabric of reality loosens, liberating creatures of myth and legend --- huge blue wolves, harpies and giants made of the very landscape. 

Cued in by secrets known only to the most highly placed members of the royal court, Rain and her companions hunt the fabled Oracle of Maracoor for guidance and soothsaying. Rain has to recover her forgotten past if she is to consider returning home. Cossy, the 10-year-old convicted of murder, must become invisible to avoid being taken into custody again. Meanwhile, the Fist of Mara, an arcane artifact that renders all around it barren, hammers against human lives. If the reclusive Oracle should spin a prophecy, might the desperate wicked years promise another day, one less perilous?

Audiobook available, read by Debra Wise

Editorial Content for The Grandest Stage: A History of the World Series

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Ron Kaplan

The good thing about having your team eliminated from postseason contention early on is that it gives you more time to read. And what more appropriate material than something about the Fall Classic?

Tyler Kepner, a baseball columnist for the New York Times, offers the latest look with THE GRANDEST STAGE: A History of the World Series. Much as in his previous book, K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches, he tells his tales in gimmicky titled chapters, in this case aligning them into one for each game of the Series’s maximum seven. Read More

Teaser

The World Series is the most enduring showcase in American team sports. It’s the place where legends are made, where celebration and devastation can hinge on a fly ball off a foul pole or a grounder beneath a first baseman’s glove. In THE GRANDEST STAGE, New York Times national baseball columnist Tyler Kepner delivers an indelible portrait of baseball’s signature event. He digs deep for essential tales dating back to the beginning in 1903, adding insights from Hall of Famers like Reggie Jackson, Mike Schmidt, Jim Palmer, Dennis Eckersley and many others who have thrived --- and failed --- when it mattered most.

Promo

The World Series is the most enduring showcase in American team sports. It’s the place where legends are made, where celebration and devastation can hinge on a fly ball off a foul pole or a grounder beneath a first baseman’s glove. In THE GRANDEST STAGE, New York Times national baseball columnist Tyler Kepner delivers an indelible portrait of baseball’s signature event. He digs deep for essential tales dating back to the beginning in 1903, adding insights from Hall of Famers like Reggie Jackson, Mike Schmidt, Jim Palmer, Dennis Eckersley and many others who have thrived --- and failed --- when it mattered most.

About the Book

From the New York Times bestselling author of K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches comes the ultimate history of the World Series --- a vivid portrait of baseball at its finest and most intense, filled with humor, lore, analysis and fascinating behind-the-scenes stories from 117 years of the Fall Classic.

The World Series is the most enduring showcase in American team sports. It’s the place where legends are made, where celebration and devastation can hinge on a fly ball off a foul pole or a grounder beneath a first baseman’s glove. And there’s no one better to bring this rich history to life than New York Times national baseball columnist Tyler Kepner, whose bestselling book about pitching, K, was lauded as “Michelangelo explaining the brush strokes on the Sistine Chapel” by Newsday.

In seven scintillating chapters, Kepner delivers an indelible portrait of baseball’s signature event. He digs deep for essential tales dating back to the beginning in 1903, adding insights from Hall of Famers like Reggie Jackson, Mike Schmidt, Jim Palmer, Dennis Eckersley and many others who have thrived --- and failed --- when it mattered most.

Why do some players, like Madison Bumgarner, Derek Jeter and David Ortiz, crave the pressure? How do players handle a dream that comes up short? What’s it like to manage in the World Series, and what are the secrets of building a champion? Kepner celebrates unexpected heroes like Bill Wambsganss, who pulled off an unassisted triple play in 1920, probes the mysteries behind magic moments (Did Babe Ruth call his shot in 1932? How could Eckersley walk Mike Davis to get to Kirk Gibson in 1988?) and busts some long-time myths (the 1919 Reds were much better than the Black Sox, anyway). 

THE GRANDEST STAGE is the ultimate history of the World Series, the perfect gift for all the fans who feel their hearts pounding in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game Seven.

Audiobook available, read by Tyler Kepner

Editorial Content for Waging a Good War: A Military History of the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1968

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Sam Johnson

In WAGING A GOOD WAR, Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas E. Ricks offers a fascinating look at the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and ’60s. With a particular focus on the nonviolent efforts of this era, he has crafted a concise history of how the Movement’s leaders and volunteers operated like generals and soldiers in war. Read More

Teaser

In WAGING A GOOD WAR, Thomas E. Ricks offers a fresh perspective on America’s greatest moral revolution --- the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s --- and its legacy today. While the Movement has become synonymous with Martin Luther King, Jr.’s ethos of nonviolence, Ricks, a Pulitzer Prize–winning war reporter, draws on his deep knowledge of tactics and strategy to advance a surprising but revelatory idea: the greatest victories for Black Americans of the past century were won not by idealism alone, but by paying attention to recruiting, training, discipline and organization --- the hallmarks of any successful military campaign.

Promo

In WAGING A GOOD WAR, Thomas E. Ricks offers a fresh perspective on America’s greatest moral revolution --- the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s --- and its legacy today. While the Movement has become synonymous with Martin Luther King, Jr.’s ethos of nonviolence, Ricks, a Pulitzer Prize–winning war reporter, draws on his deep knowledge of tactics and strategy to advance a surprising but revelatory idea: the greatest victories for Black Americans of the past century were won not by idealism alone, but by paying attention to recruiting, training, discipline and organization --- the hallmarks of any successful military campaign.

About the Book

#1 New York Times bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas E. Ricks offers a new take on the Civil Rights Movement, stressing its unexpected use of military strategy and its lessons for nonviolent resistance around the world.

In WAGING A GOOD WAR, bestselling author Thomas E. Ricks offers a fresh perspective on America’s greatest moral revolution --- the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s --- and its legacy today. While the Movement has become synonymous with Martin Luther King, Jr.’s ethos of nonviolence, Ricks, a Pulitzer Prize–winning war reporter, draws on his deep knowledge of tactics and strategy to advance a surprising but revelatory idea: the greatest victories for Black Americans of the past century were won not by idealism alone, but by paying attention to recruiting, training, discipline and organization --- the hallmarks of any successful military campaign.

An engaging storyteller, Ricks deftly narrates the Movement’s triumphs and defeats. He follows King and other key figures from Montgomery to Memphis, demonstrating that Gandhian nonviolence was a philosophy of active, not passive, resistance. While bringing legends such as Fannie Lou Hamer and John Lewis into new focus, Ricks also highlights lesser-known figures --- the activists James Lawson, James Bevel, Diane Nash and Septima Clark foremost among them.

Rich with fresh interpretations of familiar events and overlooked aspects of America’s civil rights struggle, WAGING A GOOD WAR is an indispensable addition to the literature of racial justice and social change.

Audiobook available, read by JD Jackson

Editorial Content for Eyes Turned Skyward

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Rebecca Munro

Alena Dillon, author of MERCY HOUSE and THE HAPPIEST GIRL IN THE WORLD, returns with her most ambitious, sprawling novel yet. EYES TURNED SKYWARD is a dual-perspective, dual-timeline story about the legacy of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs). Read More

Teaser

Kathy Begley is an empty nester, the primary caretaker of her ailing mother, and the emotional support for her laid-off husband. She’s also returning to the office after two decades to work under a borderline inappropriate boss. Then a Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony invitation arrives, and she uncovers an unfathomable family secret: her mother, Peggy Mayfield, was a Women Airforce Service Pilot. Peggy jumped at the opportunity to become a WASP, the first American female to fly military aircraft. Once a spunky flyer, Peggy is now filled with regret as she confronts the end of her life, but Kathy is determined to make her last months count by securing Peggy long-overdue recognition and forgiving her before it’s too late.

Promo

Kathy Begley is an empty nester, the primary caretaker of her ailing mother, and the emotional support for her laid-off husband. She’s also returning to the office after two decades to work under a borderline inappropriate boss. Then a Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony invitation arrives, and she uncovers an unfathomable family secret: her mother, Peggy Mayfield, was a Women Airforce Service Pilot. Peggy jumped at the opportunity to become a WASP, the first American female to fly military aircraft. Once a spunky flyer, Peggy is now filled with regret as she confronts the end of her life, but Kathy is determined to make her last months count by securing Peggy long-overdue recognition and forgiving her before it’s too late.

About the Book

From the author of MERCY HOUSE and THE HAPPIEST GIRL IN THE WORLD comes a brilliant, dual-timeline novel about a daughter discovering her mother’s past as a female pilot during World War II and the consequences of women’s contributions remaining unrecognized.

Kathy Begley is an empty nester, the primary caretaker of her ailing mother and the emotional support for her laid-off husband. She’s also returning to the office after two decades to work under a borderline inappropriate boss. Then a Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony invitation arrives, and she uncovers an unfathomable family secret: her mother, Peggy Mayfield, wasn’t just a tempestuous wife and mother. She was a Women Airforce Service Pilot.

Peggy jumped at the opportunity to become a WASP, the first American females to fly military aircraft. She wore men’s uniforms, sweated, studied, trained and soared. She also danced, drank, played poker and fell in love with adventure, new friends and her commanding officer.

Once a spunky flyer, Peggy is now filled with regret as she confronts the end of her life, but Kathy is determined to make her last months count by securing Peggy long-overdue recognition, appreciating her anew and forgiving her before it’s too late.

EYES TURNED SKYWARD is an unforgettable novel about unheralded female heroism, the transformation of misogyny, inheritance and, ultimately, reconciliation.

Audiobook available, read by Nancy Peterson

Editorial Content for In Plain View: The Daily Lives of Amish Women

Reviewer (text)

Barbara Bamberger Scott

A longtime friend of the Amish, Judy Stavisky has compiled a thorough, thoughtful picture of these “plain people” in her new book, IN PLAIN VIEW. She appropriately focuses her attention on women and their work, which, it often seems from her depictions, is never done, but is always done with cheer and a will to share within the community. Read More

Teaser

What does the life of an Amish woman really look like? Over the course of a decade, author Judy Stavisky, a curious outsider, spent hundreds of hours getting to know the women of Pennsylvania's Lancaster County Amish community to find out the answer to this question. She joined mothers and grandmothers, unmarried women and teens, on their shopping excursions for household items, fabric and groceries. They drove miles between undulating fields and shared hundreds of hours of conversation on everyday topics. As relationships evolved into enduring friendships, she grew to understand firsthand how Amish women bind their families and communities together.

Promo

What does the life of an Amish woman really look like? Over the course of a decade, author Judy Stavisky, a curious outsider, spent hundreds of hours getting to know the women of Pennsylvania's Lancaster County Amish community to find out the answer to this question. She joined mothers and grandmothers, unmarried women and teens, on their shopping excursions for household items, fabric and groceries. They drove miles between undulating fields and shared hundreds of hours of conversation on everyday topics. As relationships evolved into enduring friendships, she grew to understand firsthand how Amish women bind their families and communities together.

About the Book

A fresh view into a life that is anything but simple.

What does the life of an Amish woman really look like? Over the course of a decade, author Judy Stavisky, a curious outsider, spent hundreds of hours getting to know the women of Pennsylvania's Lancaster County Amish community to find out the answer to this question. She joined mothers and grandmothers, unmarried women and teens, on their shopping excursions for household items, fabric and groceries. They drove miles between undulating fields and shared hundreds of hours of conversation on everyday topics --- laughing together about sneaking healthier entrees into their family's evening meals, sharing concerns about their children, and trading family remedies for persistent coughs. As relationships evolved into enduring friendships, she grew to understand firsthand how Amish women bind their families and communities together.

IN PLAIN VIEW draws the reader inside a community governed by faith and separated by time, taking a closer look at the roles Amish women assume within their families and community, their fierce work ethic and their camaraderie. Hundreds of years of shared traditions comes to life through a personal connection with Amish women, their own soft voices gently opening their world to an outsider.

October 21, 2022

This is the time of year when publicists begin to earnestly deliver pitches to Tom Donadio and myself for 2023 books. By the end of September, the pitching for 2022 has come to an end as most big books come out by mid-October. This is when with gusto we start getting pitches --- and we are attending virtual preview events daily.

Honor by Thrity Umrigar

October 2022

I discovered Thrity Umrigar’s work back in 2006 when I read THE SPACE BETWEEN US. It’s a book from which I drew so much meaning; I still know exactly where it is on my bookshelf. Her latest novel, HONOR, once again brought me memorable characters and a lot to think about.

In it, Smita, an Indian American journalist, has been asked by her colleague, Shannon, to cover the verdict of a trial in a small Indian village for her. For years, Smita has traveled the world working on stories but with one proviso: she will not go to India. However, Shannon convinces her that this assignment is urgent. Meena, a young Hindu woman, married a Muslim man. Her family is so shamed by this union that a horrific act of violence was committed on the couple by her brothers. And they are on trial.

After you read the Bookreporter newsletter and our reviews, what do you typically do? Please check all that apply.

October 21, 2022, 562 voters