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Vista M. Kelly

Snowflakes are one of nature's most fragile things, but just look what they can do when they stick together.

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Vista M. Kelly

February 1, 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 Tuesday, February 2nd at noon ET for a chance to win one of five copies of HOW THE ONE-ARMED SISTER SWEEPS HER HOUSE by Cherie Jones, which releases tomorrow. Please note that each contest is only open for 24 hours, so you will need to act quickly!

Week of February 8, 2021

Paperback releases for the week of February 8th include 28 SUMMERS, Elin Hilderbrand's novel that explores the agony and romance of a one-weekend-per-year affair and the dramatic ways this relationship complicates and enriches her characters' lives, and the lives of the people they love; MASKED PREY, the 30th installment in John Sandford's Prey series, in which Lucas Davenport investigates a vitriolic blog that seems to be targeting the children of U.S. politicians; HIT LIST, which finds Stuart Woods' protagonist, Stone Barrington, facing down a vengeful miscreant who has put a hit out on him --- leading to an international cat-and-mouse hunt that has Stone questioning if he has become the predator or the prey; OONA OUT OF ORDER by Margarita Montimore, a remarkably inventive novel that explores what it means to live a life fully in the moment, even if those moments are out of order; and WASHINGTON'S END, the astonishing true story of George Washington’s forgotten last years, as told by popular historian and former White House speechwriter Jonathan Horn.

Week of February 1, 2021

Paperback releases for the week of February 1st include one of the most talked-about books of 2020, DEAR EDWARD, Ann Napolitano's novel about a 12-year-old boy who struggles with the worst kind of fame --- as the sole survivor of a notorious plane crash; MY DARK VANESSA, Kate Elizabeth Russell's debut novel that explores the psychological dynamics of the relationship between a precocious yet naïve teenage girl and her magnetic and manipulative teacher; FAIR WARNING by Michael Connelly, in which Jack McEvoy, the journalist who never backs down, tracks a serial killer who has been operating completely under the radar --- until now; A CONSPIRACY OF BONES, a Temperance Brennan mystery from Kathy Reichs that finds the forensic anthropologist having to use all her skills to discover the identity of a faceless corpse and its connection to a decade-old missing child case; and FACEBOOK: The Inside Story, Steven Levy's definitive history --- packed with untold stories --- of one of America’s most controversial and powerful companies.

John Grogan

A dog is the greatest gift a parent can give a child. OK, a good education, then a dog.

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John Grogan

Edward Chapin

Never does the human soul appear so strong and noble as when it foregoes revenge and dares to forgive an injury.

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Edward Chapin

January 29, 2021

I am “caked out"! Birthdays for both of the boys within five days has me swearing off chocolate. You can see the cakes above; yes, the emergency delivery of fudge marble cake mix came just in time. I know it’s a mix, but I found that it came out much better this time as I beat the eggs into the oil and water with a whisk, and I actually measured the batter for the fudge part of the mix instead of guessing. My husband constantly tells me that baking is chemistry and science. Well, I was never great at science, which may be the reasons that my baking skills definitely require measuring, often twice.

Editorial Content for Tropic of Stupid

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Joe Hartlaub

Pandemic disruptions within the publishing industry (and every other industry) notwithstanding, Serge A. Storms (or should I say his creator, Tim Dorsey?) is like the Duke of Earl: Nothing can stop his annual appearance at the start of each year. TROPIC OF STUPID is 2021’s entry and the 24th installment. As the series approaches its silver volume, Dorsey and his literary offspring show absolutely no signs of slowing down. Read More

Teaser

Serge Storms has decided to investigate his own history using one of those DNA services from late-night TV. Excited to construct a family tree, he and Coleman hit the road to meet his kin. Serge is thrilled to discover he may be related to a notorious serial killer who’s terrorized the state for 20 years and never been caught. Which of his newfound relatives will be the one to help him hunt down this deranged maniac? Serge doesn’t know that a dogged investigator from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is also hot on the trail. Then he meets a park ranger who’s also longing to make a family reconnection. But all is not as it appears on the surface, and Serge’s newfound friendship in the mysterious swamps of Florida may lead to deadly results.

Promo

Serge Storms has decided to investigate his own history using one of those DNA services from late-night TV. Excited to construct a family tree, he and Coleman hit the road to meet his kin. Serge is thrilled to discover he may be related to a notorious serial killer who’s terrorized the state for 20 years and never been caught. Which of his newfound relatives will be the one to help him hunt down this deranged maniac? Serge doesn’t know that a dogged investigator from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is also hot on the trail. Then he meets a park ranger who’s also longing to make a family reconnection. But all is not as it appears on the surface, and Serge’s newfound friendship in the mysterious swamps of Florida may lead to deadly results.

About the Book

Serge A. Storms embarks on a tour to meet his long-lost relatives in this latest madcap entry in the bestselling series from Florida’s “compulsively irreverent and shockingly funny” (Boston Globe) Tim Dorsey.

Devoted Floridaphile Serge Storms is a lover of history, so he’s decided to investigate his own using one of those DNA services from late-night TV. Excited to construct a family tree, he and Coleman hit the road to meet his kin. Along the way, he plans to introduce Coleman to the Sunshine State’s beautiful parks where he can brush up on his flora, fauna and wildlife, and more importantly, collect the missing stamps for his park passport book.

But as the old saying goes, the apple doesn’t fall far... Serge is thrilled to discover he may be related to a notorious serial killer who’s terrorized the state for 20 years and never been caught. Which one of his newfound relatives will be the one to help him hunt down this deranged maniac? Serge doesn’t know that a dogged investigator from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is also hot on the trail.

Then Serge meets a park ranger who’s also longing to make a family reconnection. But all is not as it appears on the surface, and Serge’s newfound friendship in the mysterious swamps of Florida may lead to deadly results.

Finding his own relatives has made Serge understand the importance of family. Of course he’ll do anything to help.

Audiobook available, read by Oliver Wyman

Editorial Content for A Thousand Ships

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Kayla Provencher

Broadcaster and classicist Natalie Haynes amplifies the muted voices of women in her all-female retelling of the Trojan War. From slaves to queens to muses to deities, she takes the scraps of women Homer offers us in THE ILIAD and THE ODYSSEY and patches them into full characters with powerful stories. Read More

Teaser

In the middle of the night, a woman wakes to find her beloved city engulfed in flames. Ten seemingly endless years of conflict between the Greeks and the Trojans are over. Troy has fallen. From the Trojan women whose fates now lie in the hands of the Greeks, to the Amazon princess who fought Achilles on their behalf, to Penelope awaiting the return of Odysseus, to the three goddesses whose feud started it all, these are the stories of the women whose lives, loves and rivalries were forever altered by this long and tragic war.

Promo

In the middle of the night, a woman wakes to find her beloved city engulfed in flames. Ten seemingly endless years of conflict between the Greeks and the Trojans are over. Troy has fallen. From the Trojan women whose fates now lie in the hands of the Greeks, to the Amazon princess who fought Achilles on their behalf, to Penelope awaiting the return of Odysseus, to the three goddesses whose feud started it all, these are the stories of the women whose lives, loves and rivalries were forever altered by this long and tragic war.

About the Book

Shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, a gorgeous retelling of the Trojan War from the perspectives of the many women involved in its causes and consequences --- for fans of Madeline Miller.

This is the women’s war, just as much as it is the men’s. They have waited long enough for their turn...

This was never the story of one woman or two. It was the story of them all...

In the middle of the night, a woman wakes to find her beloved city engulfed in flames. Ten seemingly endless years of conflict between the Greeks and the Trojans are over. Troy has fallen.

From the Trojan women whose fates now lie in the hands of the Greeks, to the Amazon princess who fought Achilles on their behalf, to Penelope awaiting the return of Odysseus, to the three goddesses whose feud started it all, these are the stories of the women whose lives, loves and rivalries were forever altered by this long and tragic war. 

A woman’s epic, powerfully imbued with new life, A THOUSAND SHIPS puts the women, girls and goddesses at the center of the Western world’s great tale ever told.

Audiobook available, read by Natalie Haynes

Editorial Content for The Good American: The Epic Life of Bob Gersony, the U.S. Government's Greatest Humanitarian

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Harvey Freedenberg

If there was a category of travel known as Hell Tourism, Bob Gersony would be one of its most avid practitioners. From war-torn regions of sub-Saharan Africa to hurricane-ravaged countries in Central America, for more than four decades, Gersony has devoted his life to bringing relief and hope to people residing in these benighted lands. Robert D. Kaplan’s THE GOOD AMERICAN is the fascinating account of Gersony’s work. Both informative and inspirational, it’s a testimonial to how much good one smart, empathetic, dedicated person can accomplish in the world. Read More

Teaser

In his long career as an acclaimed journalist covering the “hot” moments of the Cold War and its aftermath, Robert D. Kaplan often found himself crossing paths with Bob Gersony, a consultant for the U.S. State Department whose quiet dedication and consequential work made a deep impression on Kaplan. Gersony, a high school dropout later awarded a Bronze Star for his service in Vietnam, conducted on-the-ground research for the U.S. government in virtually every war and natural-disaster zone in the world. Kaplan saw in Gersony a powerful example of how American diplomacy should be conducted. Set during the State Department’s golden age, THE GOOD AMERICAN is a story about the loneliness, sweat and tears, and the genuine courage, that characterized Gersony’s work in far-flung places.

Promo

In his long career as an acclaimed journalist covering the “hot” moments of the Cold War and its aftermath, Robert D. Kaplan often found himself crossing paths with Bob Gersony, a consultant for the U.S. State Department whose quiet dedication and consequential work made a deep impression on Kaplan. Gersony, a high school dropout later awarded a Bronze Star for his service in Vietnam, conducted on-the-ground research for the U.S. government in virtually every war and natural-disaster zone in the world. Kaplan saw in Gersony a powerful example of how American diplomacy should be conducted. Set during the State Department’s golden age, THE GOOD AMERICAN is a story about the loneliness, sweat and tears, and the genuine courage, that characterized Gersony’s work in far-flung places.

About the Book

From the New York Times bestselling author of THE REVENGE OF GEOGRAPHY comes a sweeping yet intimate story of the most influential humanitarian you’ve never heard of --- Bob Gersony, who spent four decades in crisis zones around the world.

In his long career as an acclaimed journalist covering the “hot” moments of the Cold War and its aftermath, bestselling author Robert D. Kaplan often found himself crossing paths with Bob Gersony, a consultant for the U.S. State Department whose quiet dedication and consequential work made a deep impression on Kaplan.

Gersony, a high school dropout later awarded a Bronze Star for his service in Vietnam, conducted on-the-ground research for the U.S. government in virtually every war and natural-disaster zone in the world. In Thailand, Central and South America, Sudan, Chad, Mozambique, Rwanda, Gaza, Bosnia, North Korea, Iraq and beyond, Gersony never flinched from entering dangerous areas that diplomats could not reach, sometimes risking his own life. Gersony’s behind-the scenes fact-finding, which included interviews with hundreds of refugees and displaced persons from each war zone and natural-disaster area, often challenged the assumptions and received wisdom of the powers that be, on both the left and the right. In nearly every case, his advice and recommendations made American policy at once smarter and more humane --- often dramatically so.

In Gersony, Kaplan saw a powerful example of how American diplomacy should be conducted. In a work that exhibits Kaplan’s signature talent for combining travel and geography with sharp political analysis, THE GOOD AMERICAN tells Gersony’s powerful life story. Set during the State Department’s golden age, this is a story about the loneliness, sweat and tears, and the genuine courage, that characterized Gersony’s work in far-flung places. It is also a celebration of ground-level reporting: a page-turning demonstration, by one of our finest geopolitical thinkers, of how getting an up-close, worm’s-eye view of crises and applying sound reason can elicit world-changing results.

Audiobook available, read by Eric Jason Martin