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Henry Louis Gates, Jr., author of The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song

For the young Henry Louis Gates, Jr., growing up in a small, segregated West Virginia town, the church was his family and his community's true center of gravity. Within those walls, voices were lifted up in song to call forth the best in each other, and to comfort each other when times were at their worst. In this book, Gates takes us from his own experience onto a journey across more than 400 years and spanning the entire country. At road's end, we emerge with a new understanding of the centrality of the Black church to the American story --- as a cultural and political force, as the center of resistance to slavery and white supremacy, as an unparalleled incubator of talent, and as a crucible for working through the community's most important issues, down to today.

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Walter Mosley, author of Blood Grove: An Easy Rawlins Mystery

Easy Rawlins, the Black private detective whose small agency finally has its own office, gets a visit from a white Vietnam veteran. He and his lover were attacked in a citrus grove at the city’s outskirts. He may have killed a man, and the woman and his dog are now missing. Inclined to turn down what sounds like nothing but trouble, Easy takes the case when he realizes how damaged the young vet is from his war experiences. Meanwhile, Easy’s adopted daughter Feather’s white uncle shows up uninvited, raising questions and unsettling the life Easy has long forged for the now young woman. Where Feather sees a family reunion, Easy suspects something else, something that will break his heart.

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Do you read or listen to more than one book at a time? Please check all that apply.

February 19, 2021, 655 voters

February 19, 2021 - March 5, 2021

Here are reading recommendations with your comments and a rating of 1 to 5 stars for the contest period of February 19 - March 5.

Edna Ferber

Perhaps too much of everything is as bad as too little.

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Edna Ferber

Herbert Bayard Swope

I can't give you a sure-fire formula for success, but I can give you a formula for failure: try to please everybody all the time.

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Herbert Bayard Swope

Jonathan Kellerman, author of Serpentine: An Alex Delaware Novel

The LAPD pressures homicide lieutenant Milo Sturgis to cater to the demands of a mogul: a hard-to-fathom, megarich young woman who is obsessed with reopening the coldest of cases --- the decades-old death of the mother she never knew. A mysterious woman was found with a bullet in her head in a torched Cadillac that has overturned on infamously treacherous Mulholland Drive. No physical evidence, no witnesses, no apparent motive. And a slew of detectives have already worked the case and failed. But as Sturgis and psychologist Alex Delaware begin digging, the mist begins to lift. Too many coincidences. Facts turn out to be anything but. And, as they soon discover, very real threats lurking in the present.

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Aaron Douglas Trimble

Nothing’s better than the wind to your back, the sun in front of you, and your friends beside you.

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Aaron Douglas Trimble

February 16, 2021

In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of February 15th and February 22nd 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 special contest for THE GIRLS IN THE STILT HOUSE by debut novelist Kelly Mustian. Told in shifting perspectives, the book --- which the publisher describes as “THIS TENDER LAND meets WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING” --- centers on two young girls, Ada and Matilda, in 1920s Mississippi amidst the lawlessness of Prohibition, Southern race relations of the time, and in a society where young women, especially those of meager resources, live at the mercy of the men around them. THE GIRLS IN THE STILT HOUSE doesn’t release until April 6th, but we have 25 advance copies to give away to those who would like to read the book. The deadline for your entries is Thursday, February 25th at noon ET.

We know that many of you enjoy listening to talks from authors and conversations about books. A number of you have asked if there is a list of book podcasts available. We are happy to share that there is now. LiveWriters has a collection of the most important podcasts about books, authors and publishing. You can sign up for their newsletter here --- and while you are there, you can read the current newsletter where Carol is interviewed about our "Bookreporter Talks To" podcast series.

Our Next "Bookaccino Live" Event:
Wednesday, March 10th at 2pm ET

Next month's "Bookaccino Live" event will take place on Wednesday, March 10th at 2pm ET. Carol will present titles releasing between March 9th and April 6th, along with a few from May, that she thinks will be of interest to our readers. Click here to sign up. Those attending the live event will be asked to answer a survey about the books from the presentation that they are most interested in reading and will be eligible to win prizes.

If you missed our February 10th event, where Carol talked about 22 titles coming out from February 9th to March 2nd, along with six April releases, you can watch it here and see a list of the featured titles here.

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February 16, 2021

This Bookreporter.com Special Newsletter spotlights a book that we know people will be talking about this winter. Read more about it, and enter our Winter Reading Contest by Wednesday, February 17th at noon ET for a chance to win one of five copies of DARK HORSES by Susan Mihalic, which is now available. Please note that each contest is only open for 24 hours, so you will need to act quickly!

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