September 2014

For many of you, we know that September signals time for your book group to start back up for the year, like an adult version of back to school. For those of you who took the summer off, welcome back. And if you have not seen our newsletters while you were hibernating, click here to read some back issues.

I love going to author events, and thus I was thrilled to learn that a town near me in New Jersey, Morristown, is holding the Morristown Festival of Books on the evening of September 26th and the day on September 27th. I am looking forward to attending, and if you live in the area and are going to be there, let me know. Ishmael Beah, Dorothea Benton Frank, Caroline Leavitt and Martha Woodruff are among the expected guests. Full details are here.

New York area readers, remember to sign up for the Hachette Book Group’s Book Club Brunch on Saturday, October 18th in New York City. This is the third year that ReadingGroupGuides.com is a proud sponsor --- I’ll be there, of course, and I’d love to meet you! EVERY attendee will be given an advance copy of THE SECRET WISDOM OF THE EARTH prior to the event, so you can read it and participate in a discussion during the day. I’ve already read this book and am looking forward to this; I already know it will be one of my first Bets One selections of 2015. Maureen Corrigan, Jean Korelitz, Edan Lepucki and Barbara Ehrenreich will be among the amazing authors who will be in attendance. You can sign up NOW to attend here; tickets are just $45 for a full day of programming and book group bonding. Also, if your group is not available to attend, this is the kind of event where you easily can come solo. People are really welcoming!

I saw a comment the other night by Jamie Ford’s literary agent that said, “Just got the news this morning that Random House is in its 30th printing for HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET, and that officially puts the title over a million copies in print (for the physical editions). That is huge! One in a hundred thousand books or some such reach this kind of milestone.” How exciting is that, and I wonder how many book groups were part of that 1,000,000!

Also, last year I was lucky enough to be part of a small audience when Wally Lamb was interviewed about WE ARE WATER by Barbara Hoffert from Library Journal. Barbara is an excellent interviewer, and I am happy to share that we have a link to the video here. The book pubbed in paperback last month and is perfect for discussion --- along with the video to give you more insight into the author.

Now on to this month’s terrific lineup…

We have a contest for Laura Lane McNeal's heartwarming debut, DOLLBABY, a book I am crazy about and picked as a Bookreporter.com Bets On selection. We're giving three groups the chance to win 12 copies, plus some pralines, a New Orleans specialty (if you win, we would love you to send a photo of you and your group with the books and the pralines to Laura; smile before you eat them). DOLLBABY is the story of a young girl's coming of age in 1960s New Orleans, during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, and it has been enthusiastically compared to Kathryn Stockett's fan-favorite THE HELP by many more than me! I have been recommending it up a storm as I fell in love with the characters. I also loved that New Orleans did not steal the whole show; many books set there allow the city to star instead of it being a luscious backdrop. Oh, and we'll also be giving away five additional copies of the book. Enter here by Thursday, September 18th at noon ET to win!

Our September “What’s Your Book Group Reading This Month?” prize is New York Times bestselling author Laura Hillenbrand’s UNBROKEN: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. It’s the inspiring true story of Louis Zamperini, who grew up a scrappy kid in Torrance, California and went on to race in the Berlin Olympics before heading off to the Pacific for World War II. His plane crashed, he survived only to be interred in a Japanese POW camp. It’s a brilliant story of resilience. I noted a description of the term “unbroken” when Louie was on the water, and I kept that in mind; I had always thought that the title only described his spirit! Hillenbrand’s pacing and timing make this a treasure of a book.

The Angelina Jolie-helmed movie adaptation (written by the Coen brothers) is slated for release on December 25th (and the trailer is amazing), but this book is so incredible I want to get people reading it well before then! I listened to it on audio about a month ago (Edward Herrmann as the narrator is excellent), and I am committed to getting as many readers as possible to delve into the book before the movie comes out. Enter here by Monday, October 6th at noon ET for your chance to win 12 copies for your book group; all you need to do to enter is to tell us what YOUR book group read, or is reading, this month. And if you have read UNBROKEN, shoot me a note and let me know what YOU loved about it!

We have a new featured guide up this month for Alyson Richman’s THE GARDEN OF LETTERS. From the author of THE LOST WIFE, it’s a moving coming-of-age story about a cellist in wartime Italy. When Mussolini's Fascist regime strikes her family in Verona, Elodie Bertolotti is drawn into the burgeoning resistance movement by Luca, a young and impassioned bookseller. As the occupation looms, she discovers that her unique musical talents, and her courage, have the power to save lives. Click here for the featured guide.

If you haven’t already done so, check out our featured guide for Tania Malik’s debut, THREE BARGAINS. Twelve-year-old Madan's father works for Avtaar Singh, who owns the largest factory in town and much of the land around it. When Madan’s father's misdeeds jeopardize his sister's life, Madan strikes a deal with Avtaar Singh and is drawn into his violent world, becoming his son in every way but by blood. Suddenly it looks as if everything will change for Madan and his family until a forbidden love affair has brutal consequences. Click here for the featured guide.

In July, we ran a special contest in which winners were asked to submit questions for #1 New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman about his latest book, THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE. Now, you can watch Mr. Gaiman answer the top questions from book groups here. With his signature wit, he covers topics ranging from the particular (or non-particular) memory that inspired the story to why he feels compelled to write about what happens when characters come home from their quest (because we can all agree that "and they lived happily ever after" is not a trope that reflects real life in any way), and whether or not he likes waffles to the absolute best question he was ever asked. Mr. Gaiman also admits his love for book groups, which share books as a "communal, pleasurable thing" and are admirably "never backward in coming forward."

We receive tons of "Request a Guide" notes on a daily basis, but we've noticed that the absolute most popular book you'd like discussion questions for is Donna Tartt's Pulitzer Prize-winning bestseller, THE GOLDFINCH. There is currently no guide available for the 700-plus page-turner, but that doesn't mean we can't come up with our own book group discussion questions. So here is our official call to help create an **unofficial** guide for THE GOLDFINCH. IF you have read the book, please send us questions you think would spark a lively group discussion --- or, as the case may be, DID spark a lively discussion among the members of your own group. You can submit as many questions as you like, but please make sure to submit discussion questions as in questions that would spark lively conversation, NOT questions for the author. The deadline for entries is Friday, October 31st at noon ET. You can enter your question(s) here. We’re looking forward to seeing what YOU would want to discuss. We clearly see from the Gaiman interview that you all are terrific at coming up with questions!

My latest Bookreporter.com Bets On pick is Matthew Thomas’s epic debut, WE ARE NOT OURSELVES. This impressive and masterful novel follows the daughter of Irish immigrants, Eilieen Tumulty, as she encourages her husband to follow the American Dream. Charting the promise of domestic bliss during the American Century, the author follows Tumulty and her husband as they fight to preserve their hope following a heartbreaking tragedy. I know this book will be one that book groups want to explore.

Drumroll as our Bookreporter.com Fourth Annual Fall Preview feature is now live! Coming off the heels of our very successful Summer Reading feature, we are happy to share that on select days in September and October, we will spotlight a different title and offer a 24-hour contest to win five copies of the book. We also will be sending a special newsletter to announce each day's title. You can sign up here to receive the Fall Preview newsletter. If you have problems signing up, please get a note to [email protected] and he will handle this for you. Our first series of contests kick off this coming Tuesday the 9th at noon ET. The stellar --- and I do mean stellar --- prize books for Week One will be THE CHILDREN ACT by Ian McEwan (which will be a Bookreporter.com Bets On selection), FIVE DAYS LEFT by Julie Lawson Timmer (another Bets On selection) and NEVERHOME by Laird Hunt (which was a BEA Buzz title).

If you have a preteen or teen in your life who is looking for a cure for back-to-school blues, make sure to send him or her over to Teenreads.com to enter the Back to School Book Bag Giveaway (or enter the contest yourself and surprise a loved one). Five lucky winners will win eight amazing YA books, including LET’S GET LOST by Adi Alsaid and THE RAVEN BOYS by Maggie Stiefvater. Going back to school can be exhilarating or daunting (or both!), but winning a bag full of books is always great. Enter here by Monday, September 22nd at noon ET for your chance to win.

Whew…read on for more…and be sure to share this newsletter with others who you know who are in book groups!

Carol Fitzgerald ([email protected])

 

We're giving three groups the chance to win 12 copies of Laura Lane McNeal's warmhearted debut DOLLBABY, plus some famous New Orleans pralines. It's the story of a young girl's coming of age in 1960s New Orleans. We'll also be giving away five additional copies of the book. To enter, please fill out this form by Thursday, September 18th at noon ET.

DOLLBABY by Laura Lane McNeal (Historical Fiction)
When Ibby Bell's father dies in the summer of 1964, her mother Vidrine deposits the 11-year-old with her eccentric grandmother Fannie Bell, whom she didn’t know existed. Fannie, who lives in a decrepit Victorian mansion in Uptown New Orleans, tends to wind up in the local asylum every now and then. Her black cook, Queenie, who runs the household, and Queenie’s outspoken daughter, Dollbaby, take young Ibby under their wing and initiate her into the ways of the South --- both its grand traditions as well as its darkest secrets. As Ibby uncovers the ghosts of her family's past, she learns that family can be found in places you least expect it.

Uplifting and funny, poignant and full of verve, DOLLBABY is a novel of Southern eccentricity, secrets and charm. Fans of Sue Monk Kidd, Pat Conroy and Harper Lee won’t want to miss this one!

-Click here for the reading group guide.
-Click here to read a review on Bookreporter.com.
-Click here to see why we're betting you'll love this book.
 

Each month, we ask book groups to share the titles they are reading that month and rate them. From all entries, three winners will be selected, and each will win 12 copies of that month’s prize book for their group. Note: To be eligible to win, let us know the title of the book that YOUR book group is CURRENTLY reading, NOT the title we are giving away.

In anticipation of the film adaptation --- slated for release December 25th --- our latest prize book is New York Times bestselling author Laura Hillenbrand's UNBROKEN: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, the inspiring true story of Louis Zamperini, who escaped against all odds from a Japanese POW camp. To enter, please fill out the form on this page by Monday, October 6th at noon ET.

UNBROKEN: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand (Biography)
On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.

The lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini. In boyhood, he’d been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling and fleeing his home to ride the rails. As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile. But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft and a drift into the unknown.

Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will.

In her long-awaited new book, Laura Hillenbrand writes with the same rich and vivid narrative voice she displayed in SEABISCUIT. Telling an unforgettable story of a man’s journey into extremity, UNBROKEN is a testament to the resilience of the human mind, body and spirit.

-Click here for the reading group guide.
-Click here to read our review on Bookreporter.com.
 

THE GARDEN OF LETTERS by Alyson Richman (Historical Fiction)
Set against the rich backdrop of World War II Italy, GARDEN OF LETTERS captures the hope, suspense and romance of an uncertain era, in an epic intertwining story of first love, great tragedy and spectacular bravery

Portofino, Italy, 1943. A young woman steps off a boat in a scenic coastal village. Although she knows how to disappear in a crowd, Elodie is too terrified to slip by the German officers while carrying her poorly forged identity papers. She is frozen until a man she’s never met before claims to know her. In desperate need of shelter, Elodie follows him back to his home on the cliffs of Portofino.

Only months before, Elodie Bertolotti was a cello prodigy in Verona, unconcerned with world events. But when Mussolini’s Fascist regime strikes her family, Elodie is drawn into the burgeoning resistance movement by Luca, a young and impassioned bookseller. As the occupation looms, she discovers that her unique musical talents, and her courage, have the power to save lives.

In Portofino, young doctor Angelo Rosselli gives the frightened and exhausted girl sanctuary. He is a man with painful secrets of his own, haunted by guilt and remorse. But Elodie’s arrival has the power to awaken a sense of hope and joy that Angelo thought was lost to him forever.

-Click here for our Paperback Spotlight feature on Bookreporter.com.
 

THREE BARGAINS by Tania Malik (Fiction)
By the banks of the River Yamuna in northern India, where rice paddies of basmati merge into fields of sugarcane, 12-year-old Madan lives with his impoverished family in the town of Gorapur. Madan's father works for Avtaar Singh, a powerful and controlling man who owns the largest factory in town and much of the land around it. Madan's sharp mind and hardened determination catch Avtaar Singh's attention. When Madan’s father's misdeeds jeopardize his sister's life, Madan strikes his first bargain with Avtaar Singh to save her. Drawn into Avtaar Singh's violent world, Madan becomes his son in every way but by blood. Suddenly it looks as if everything will change for Madan and his family until a forbidden love affair has brutal consequences and he is forced to leave behind all that is dear to him. On his journey toward redemption, Madan will have to bargain, once, twice, three times for his life and for the lives of those he loves.

-Click here to read our review on Bookreporter.com.
 

• THE ASSASSINATION OF MARGARET THATCHER: Stories by Hilary Mantel
• BRINGING UP BÉBÉ: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting by Pamela Druckerman
• THE CHILDREN ACT by Ian McEwan
• DIRTY ROWDY THING by Christina Lauren
• FIVE DAYS LEFT by Julie Lawson Timmer
• THE HIGH DIVIDE by Lin Enger
• THE MATHEMATICIAN’S SHIVA by Stuart Rojstaczer
• NECESSARY LIES by Diane Chamberlain
• NEVERHOME by Laird Hunt
• THE REMEDY FOR LOVE by Bill Roorbach
• ROOMS by Lauren Oliver
   

This will be the third year that ReadingGroupGuides.com will be a proud sponsor of the Hachette Book Group’s "Book Club Brunch" on Saturday, October 18th in New York City. EVERY attendee will be given an advance copy of Christopher Scotton's THE SECRET WISDOM OF THE EARTH prior to the event, so you can read it and participate in a discussion during the day. Seven authors will be in attendance at the event: Christopher Scotton, Maureen Corrigan, Barbara Ehrenreich, Sam Kean, Edan Lepucki, Joshua Ferris and Jean Hanff Korelitz. You can sign up NOW to attend here; tickets are just $45 for a full day of programming and book group bonding.
 

Among this month’s nonfiction offerings are THE BULLY PULPIT, Doris Kearns Goodwin's dynamic history of the first decade of the Progressive era, that tumultuous time when the nation was coming unseamed and reform was in the air; Simon Winchester's THE MEN WHO UNITED THE STATES, which illuminates the men who toiled fearlessly to discover, connect and bond the citizenry and geography of the U.S.A. from its beginnings; and THE PERFECT SCORE PROJECT by Debbie Stier, an indispensable guide to acing the SAT --- as well as the affecting story of a single mom’s quest to light a fire under her teenage son.

-Find out what's New in Paperback for the weeks of September 1st, September 8th, September 15th, September 22nd and September 29th.

 

The following guides are now available on ReadingGroupGuides.com:

DE POTTER'S GRAND TOUR by Joanna Scott (Literary Fiction)
A gripping novel about a seemingly charmed marriage and a mysterious disappearance at sea.

DOLLBABY by Laura Lane McNeal (Historical Fiction)
A sweeping family saga of Southern eccentricities and secrets set against the backdrop of civil-rights era New Orleans, DOLLBABY weaves together the lives of five women who prove family can be found where you least expect it.

DR. MUTTER'S MARVELS: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz (Biography)
A mesmerizing biography of the brilliant and eccentric medical innovator who revolutionized American surgery and founded the country’s most famous museum of medical oddities.

THE GARDEN OF LETTERS by Alyson Richman (Historical Fiction)
Brand-new from the author of THE LOST WIFE comes the engrossing story of a young cellist drawn into the Italian Resistance during World War II.

NOT FADE AWAY: A Memoir of Senses Lost and Found by Rebecca Alexander (Memoir)
Even a darkening world can be brilliantly lit from within: the inspirational story of a courageous woman gradually losing her hearing and sight, but continuing to live each day with optimism and purpose.

THE PATRON SAINT OF UGLY by Marie Manilla (Fiction)
Grace Ferrari sets out to prove that she is not a saint by spinning the tale of her family's tangled history of love, deception and transcendence --- learning along the way that the line between myth and reality is not always clear.

STRINGS ATTACHED: One Tough Teacher and the Gift of Great Expectations by Joanne Lipman and Melanie Kupchynsky (Nonfiction)
Can one person --- a teacher, mentor, coach --- make all the difference for success in life? STRINGS ATTACHED explores how two women found that one person in the toughest instructor either ever had: the one man who believed in them more than they believed in themselves.

THIS DARK ROAD TO MERCY by Wiley Cash (Fiction)
The critically acclaimed author of the New York Times bestseller A LAND MORE KIND THAN HOME returns with THIS DARK ROAD TO MERCY, a resonant novel of love and atonement, blood and vengeance, set in western North Carolina, involving two young sisters, a wayward father and an enemy determined to see him pay for his sins.

UNDER THE WIDE AND STARRY SKY by Nancy Horan (Historical Romance)
From Nancy Horan, the New York Times bestselling author of LOVING FRANK, comes her much-anticipated second novel, which tells the improbable love story of Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson and his tempestuous American wife, Fanny.

THE WAY LIFE SHOULD BE by Christina Baker Kline (Fiction)
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of ORPHAN TRAIN comes a novel of love, risk and self-discovery.

WE ARE NOT OURSELVES by Matthew Thomas (Fiction)
WE ARE NOT OURSELVES is the sprawling story of Eileen and Ed Leary, a wife and husband drawn apart and together again by their complicated relationship with the American Dream.