May 2016

A belated Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there! Anyone else want to vote for it to be Mother’s Week? Still in the mood for being feted? Then check out our fabulous Mother’s Day Author Blogs, which are back for a seventh year! We’re sharing pieces from authors who talk about how their moms influenced them to become readers and writers, along with their own experiences as mothers and their views on motherhood. This year, we heard from Viola Shipman, Elizabeth J. Church, Helen Simonson, Martha Hall Kelly, Mary Volmer, Ruth Wariner and Beatriz Williams. One story is better and more inspiring than the next!

Speaking of stories, I have a wonderful story about Harper Lee to share with you. In December 2011, Jack Jablonski, the high school sophomore son of my friend Leslie, was paralyzed in a hockey accident. Leslie and I worked together at Conde Nast and have remained in touch. As a result of this accident, Jack will have huge medical expenses for the rest of his life. A friend of his family, Tom Ryan, came up with an idea. He had first edition copies of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, and he wanted to see if he could get Harper Lee to sign them. Their value when sold would help Jack enormously.

He reached out by just addressing a note to Harper Lee in Monroeville, Alabama. He received a reply from Ms. Lee's attorney, Tonja B. Carter. As Leslie shared, “Ms. Lee was touched by Jack's story and asked for a family member or priest from his school to send along a note with the books to be signed. We gratefully obliged. A letter was sent, as was a photo book that I had made to present to Ms. Lee. Tom received the signed books in the summer of 2012. We'll never forget the day he stopped by to present them to Jack. It was a moment to remember when we opened the novels and there it was...Harper Lee's signature.”

They were asked to promise not to share this story while Harper Lee was alive. I was brought into the inner circle on it, promising confidentiality as well. Leslie chose to share it on April 28th, which would have been Lee’s birthday. One more thing: The photo book that Leslie sent “sat on Harper Lee's mantle as a daily reminder of Jack.” By the way, Jack is now a sophomore attending USC where he has become friends with my nephew, Josh! Small world; great story, right?

And continuing with Harper Lee...

GO SET A WATCHMAN is now in out in paperback, and we’re featuring the guide this month. As you probably know by now, it was originally written in the mid-1950s --- the novel Harper Lee first submitted to her publishers before TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. GO SET A WATCHMAN features many of the characters from TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD some 20 years later. Returning home to Maycomb to visit her father, Jean Louise Finch --- Scout --- struggles with issues both personal and political, involving Atticus, society, and the small Alabama town that shaped her. Click here for the discussion questions.

And while we’re partaking in “Mockingbird Mania,” also just out is the revised and updated edition of Charles J. Shields’ MOCKINGBIRD: A Portrait of Harper Lee: From Scout to Go Set a Watchman. In this in-depth biography, first published in 2006, Shields brings to life the woman who gave us two of American literature's most unforgettable characters: Atticus Finch and his daughter, Scout. Now, 10 years after its initial publication --- with revisions throughout the book and a new epilogue --- Shields finishes the story of Harper Lee's life, up to its end. Read our review on Bookreporter.com here.

This month, we’re also featuring the guide for Laura Barnett’s charming debut, THE VERSIONS OF US. It’s a tale of possibilities and consequences that ring across the shifting decades, showing how even the smallest choices can define the course of our lives. It’s also a love story --- or, rather, love stories. The one thing that’s certain for Eva and Jim is that they met on a Cambridge street by chance and felt a connection that would last a lifetime. But as for what happened next... They fell wildly in love, or went their separate ways. They kissed, or they thought better of it. They married soon after, or were together for a few weeks before splitting up. They grew distracted and disappointed with their daily lives together, or found solace together only after hard years spent apart. Click here for the featured guide, and here for a Q&A with the author.

Getting you in the mood for summer, this month's "What's Your Book Group Reading This Month?" prize book is BEACH TOWN, New York Times bestselling author and "Queen of the Summer Beach Read" Mary Kay Andrews' delightful tale of an unlikely romance between a stubborn, environmentalist mayor and the determined film location scout who'd like to set her big budget movie in his idyllic beach town. To enter, please fill out the form on this page by Wednesday, June 1st at noon ET --- you'll have the perfect beach read for your book group just in time for summer! And make sure to check out Mary Kay Andrews' latest, THE WEEKENDERS, in bookstores May 17th.

And for all the Mary Kay Andrews fans out there: you have until Thursday, May 12th at noon ET to enter our Bookreporter.com Women’s Fiction Author Spotlight contest for THE WEEKENDERS. In this book, when her husband fails to arrive on the ferry one afternoon, Riley Griggs turns to her island friends for help and support, but it turns out that each of them has their own secrets, and the clock is ticking as the mystery deepens...in a murderous way. We have 25 copies of the book to give away to readers who would like to read and comment on it. Click here to enter our giveaway for the latest from MKA (as we like to refer to her in the office).

If you have not yet registered your book group so you receive our special mid-month newsletter, here’s something that may tempt you: We’ve added a feature to that newsletter where we list new releases that we think will be of interest to book groups each month. We have a fabulous weekly “On Sale This Week” newsletter over on Bookreporter.com, as well as our Coming Soon feature, and from those lists we’ve hand-picked books we think book groups will love. You can register your group here. To receive the full list in your inbox each week, you can subscribe to the “On Sale This Week” newsletter here.

Our New in Paperback roundups have been updated for May. Unquestionably this month’s biggest paperback release is the aforementioned GO SET A WATCHMAN. Other notable titles include CIRCLING THE SUN by Paula McLain and DID YOU EVER HAVE A FAMILY by Bill Clegg, both of which were Bookreporter.com Bets On selections when they released in hardcover, and A LUCKY LIFE INTERRUPTED, in which Tom Brokaw chronicles the year he spent battling cancer and reflects on his long, happy and lucky life.

On Bookreporter, EVERYONE BRAVE IS FORGIVEN and REDEMPTION ROAD are the two prizes we’re offering to the winners of our Word of Mouth contest. Let us know by Friday, May 13th at noon ET what books you’ve finished reading, and you’ll have a chance to win both novels. We’re also awarding the audio versions of THE CURIOUS CHARMS OF ARTHUR PEPPER (performed by James Langton) and Mary Kubica’s DON’T YOU CRY (performed by Kate Rudd and Kirby Heyborne) to the winners of May’s Sounding Off on Audio contest. All you have to do is let us know by Wednesday, June 1st at noon ET what audiobooks you’ve finished listening to, and you’ll be in the running to win both prizes.

Back in January, we asked 100 groups to read and send us advance comments on MOST WANTED, Lisa Scottoline's latest thriller about a couple struggling with fertility who decide to use a donor...only to discover the biological father of their baby may be a serial killer. We endlessly appreciate all the feedback from the groups who participated. To see a list of all the winning groups, click here. To read some of their comments, click here. And click here to watch a video interview with Lisa Scottoline talking about why book clubs should select her books to discuss!

Summer will be here before you know it! At Bookreporter.com, this means it's time for us to share some great summer book picks with our Summer Reading Contests and Feature. We will be hosting a number of 24-hour contests for these titles on select days throughout the summer, so you will have to check the site each day to see the featured prize book and enter to win. We also will be sending a special newsletter to announce the day's title, which you can sign up for here. The contests officially get underway next week when our prize books will be THE WEEKENDERS by Mary Kay Andrews, DEAD WAKE: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson and JUST LIFE by Neil Abramson. We are excited about this feature and the contests; we have a stellar lineup for you in what may be our biggest Summer Reading feature ever.

I loved reading this piece in the Times about book groups that are “men only.”

Our staffer Rebecca Munro takes you behind the scenes of the Random House Open House that was held a week ago Friday with her usual stellar reporting. Read all about it here. Such a fun day. You can see a photo of me with Dawn Tripp, Melanie Benjamin and Helen Simonson.

In this month’s poll, we want to know where you got the book that you most recently read with your group. If you are in more than one book group, please respond about just one. Click here to let us know. Last month, we asked about the resources you rely on for your discussions, and --- no surprises here! --- 79% of you use discussion guides. Almost half of the groups polled do background research on the author as well. Good thinking! Click here for the full results.

I am headed to Chicago this week for BookExpo America. Trust that I will be on the prowl for the great book group reads to share with you. And once I return, we will share the titles with you that were presented at our Book Group Speed Dating session.

Here’s to a great book group discussion this month…

Carol Fitzgerald ([email protected])

P.S. For those of you who are doing online shopping for books, if you use the store links below, ReadingGroupGuides.com gets a small affiliate fee on your purchases. We would appreciate your considering this!
 

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.

This month's prize book is BEACH TOWN, New York Times bestselling author and "Queen of the Summer Beach Read" Mary Kay Andrews' charming tale of an unlikely romance between a stubborn, environmentalist mayor and the determined film location scout who'd like to set her big budget movie in his idyllic beach town. To enter, please fill out the form on this page by Wednesday, June 1st at noon ET for a chance to win the perfect beach read just in time for summer! And be sure to check out Mary Kay Andrews' latest, THE WEEKENDERS, in bookstores May 17th.

BEACH TOWN by Mary Kay Andrews (Fiction)
Greer Hennessy is a struggling movie location scout. Her last location shoot ended in disaster when a film crew destroyed property on an avocado grove. And Greer ended up with the blame.

Now Greer has been given one more chance --- a shot at finding the perfect undiscovered beach town for a big budget movie. She zeroes in on a sleepy Florida panhandle town. There's one motel, a marina, a long stretch of pristine beach and an old fishing pier with a community casino --- which will be perfect for the film's climax --- when the bad guys blow it up in an all-out assault on the townspeople.

Greer slips into town and is ecstatic to find the last unspoilt patch of the Florida gulf coast. She takes a room at the only motel in town, and starts working her charm. However, she finds a formidable obstacle in the town mayor, Eben Thibadeaux. Eben is a born-again environmentalist who's seen huge damage done to the town by a huge paper company. The bay has only recently been re-born, a fishing industry has sprung up, and Eben has no intention of letting anybody screw with his town again. The only problem is that he finds Greer way too attractive for his own good, and knows that her motivation is in direct conflict with his.

Will true love find a foothold in this small beach town before it's too late and disaster strikes? Told with Mary Kay Andrews' inimitable wit and charm, BEACH TOWN is this year's summer beach read!

-Click here for the reading group guide.
-Click here to read a review on Bookreporter.com.
-Click here to read a Q&A with the author.
 

THE VERSIONS OF US by Laura Barnett (Fiction)
In one moment, two lives will be changed forever...and forever...and forever.

The one thing that’s certain is they met on a Cambridge street by chance and felt a connection that would last a lifetime. But as for what happened next... They fell wildly in love, or went their separate ways. They kissed, or they thought better of it. They married soon after, or were together for a few weeks before splitting up. They grew distracted and disappointed with their daily lives together, or found solace together only after hard years spent apart.

With THE VERSIONS OF US, Laura Barnett has created a world as magical and affecting as those that captivated readers in ONE DAY and LIFE AFTER LIFE. It is a tale of possibilities and consequences that rings across the shifting decades, from the '50s, '60s, '70s and on to the present, showing how even the smallest choices can define the course of our lives.

-Click here for the reading group guide.
-Click here to read a review on Bookreporter.com.
-Click here to read a Q&A with the author.
 

WILDE LAKE by Laura Lippman (Psychological Suspense)
What happens when we’re forced to look closely at the myths and stories that shape our families? The New York Times bestselling author of the acclaimed literary thrillers AFTER I’M GONE, I’D KNOW YOU ANYWHERE, EVERY SECRET THING and WHAT THE DEAD KNOW takes on the frailty of memory and the way that ever-evolving standards can create villains where heroes once stood.

“She’s one of the best novelists around, period.” —Washington Post

Luisa “Lu” Brant is the newly elected state’s attorney of Howard County, Maryland, a job in which her widower father famously served. Fiercely intelligent and ambitious, she sees an opportunity to burnish her reputation by trying a homeless man accused of beating a woman to death in her home. It’s not the kind of case that makes national headlines, but peaceful Howard County doesn’t see many homicides.

As Lu prepares for the trial, the case dredges up painful memories, reminding her small but tight-knit family of the night when her brother, AJ, saved his best friend at the cost of another man’s life. Only eighteen at the time, AJ was found to have acted in self-defense. Now Lu wonders if the events of 1980 happened as she remembers them. Long discrete memories begin to fit together, revealing connections and secrets that Lu never suspected.

The more she learns about her new case, the more questions arise about the past. Why was her brother’s friend attacked? Who was the true victim? Lu discovers that the legal system, the bedrock of her entire life, can no longer provide comfort or even reliable answers. If there is such a thing as the whole truth, Lu realizes --- possibly too late --- that she would be better off not knowing what it is.

-Click here for the reading group guide.
-Click here to read a review on Bookreporter.com.
-Click here to read a Q&A with the author.

 

GO SET A WATCHMAN by Harper Lee (Historical Fiction)
An historic literary event: the publication of a newly discovered novel, the earliest known work from Harper Lee, the beloved, bestselling author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning classic, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD.

Originally written in the mid-1950s, GO SET A WATCHMAN was the novel Harper Lee first submitted to her publishers before TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. Assumed to have been lost, the manuscript was discovered in late 2014.

GO SET A WATCHMAN features many of the characters from TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD some 20 years later. Returning home to Maycomb to visit her father, Jean Louise Finch --- Scout --- struggles with issues both personal and political, involving Atticus, society, and the small Alabama town that shaped her.

Exploring how the characters from TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD are adjusting to the turbulent events transforming mid-1950s America, GO SET A WATCHMAN casts a fascinating new light on Harper Lee’s enduring classic. Moving, funny and compelling, it stands as a magnificent novel in its own right.

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

 

Our mothers inspire us in all kinds of ways; for some of us, one of the most important things we learned from our moms was how to love books. This is especially true for this group of brilliant authors, who were kind enough to contribute their stories to our 2016 Mother's Day Author Blog series. This year, we heard from: Viola Shipman, Elizabeth J. Church, Helen Simonson, Martha Hall Kelly, Mary Volmer, Ruth Wariner and Beatriz Williams. Click on each author's name to read her blog post. Many thanks to all the authors who took time out of their busy schedules to participate and share some lovely memories with us!
 

GLORY OVER EVERYTHING: Beyond The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom (Historical Fiction)
The author of the New York Times bestseller and beloved book club favorite THE KITCHEN HOUSE continues the story of Jamie Pyke, son of both a slave and master of Tall Oakes, whose deadly secret compels him to take a treacherous journey through the Underground Railroad.

Published in 2010, THE KITCHEN HOUSE became a grassroots bestseller. Fans connected so deeply to the book’s characters that the author, Kathleen Grissom, found herself being asked over and over “what happens next?” The wait is finally over.

This new, stand-alone novel opens in 1830, and Jamie, who fled from the Virginian plantation he once called home, is passing in Philadelphia society as a wealthy white silversmith. After many years of striving, Jamie has achieved acclaim and security, only to discover that his aristocratic lover Caroline is pregnant. Before he can reveal his real identity to her, he learns that his beloved servant Pan has been captured and sold into slavery in the South. Pan’s father, to whom Jamie owes a great debt, pleads for Jamie’s help, and Jamie agrees, knowing the journey will take him perilously close to Tall Oakes and the ruthless slave hunter who is still searching for him. Meanwhile, Caroline’s father learns and exposes Jamie’s secret, and Jamie loses his home, his business, and finally Caroline.

Heartbroken and with nothing to lose, Jamie embarks on a trip to a North Carolina plantation where Pan is being held with a former Tall Oakes slave named Sukey, who is intent on getting Pan to the Underground Railroad. Soon the three of them are running through the Great Dismal Swamp, the notoriously deadly hiding place for escaped slaves. Though they have help from those in the Underground Railroad, not all of them will make it out alive.

-Click here for the reading group guide.

 

If you have not yet registered for our special mid-month newsletter, here’s something that may tempt you: We’ve added a feature where we list new releases that we think will be of interest to book group every month. We have a fabulous weekly “On Sale This Week” newsletter over on Bookreporter.com, and from those lists we’ve hand-picked books we think groups will love. You can register your group here. To receive the full list in your inbox each week, you can subscribe to the “On Sale This Week” newsletter here.
 

Summer will be here before you know it! At Bookreporter.com, this means it's time for us to share some great summer book picks with our Summer Reading Contests and Feature. We will be hosting a number of 24-hour contests for these titles on select days throughout the summer, so you will have to check the site each day to see the featured prize book and enter to win. We also will be sending a special newsletter to announce the day's title, which you can sign up for here.The contests officially get underway next week when our prize books will be THE WEEKENDERS by Mary Kay Andrews, DEAD WAKE: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson and JUST LIFE by Neil Abramson. We are excited about this feature and the contests; we have a stellar lineup for you in what may be our biggest Summer Reading feature ever.
 

Word of Mouth Contest: Tell Us What You're Reading --- and You Can Win Two Books!

Tell us about the books you’ve finished reading with your comments and a rating of 1 to 5 stars. During the contest period from April 29th to May 13th at noon ET, three lucky readers each will be randomly chosen to win a copy of EVERYONE BRAVE IS FORGIVEN by Chris Cleave and REDEMPTION ROAD by John Hart.

To make sure other readers will be able to find the books you write about, please include the full title and correct author names (your entry must include these to be eligible to win). For rules and guidelines, click here.

-Click here to enter the contest.
-To see reader comments from previous contest periods, click here.


Sounding Off on Audio Contest: Tell Us What You're Listening to --- and You Can Win Two Audiobooks!

Tell us about the audiobooks you’ve finished listening to with your comments and a rating of 1 to 5 stars for both the performance and the content. During the contest period from May 2nd to June 1st at noon ET, two lucky readers each will be randomly chosen to win the audio versions of Phaedra Patrick's THE CURIOUS CHARMS OF ARTHUR PEPPER, performed by James Langton, and Mary Kubica’s DON'T YOU CRY, performed by Kate Rudd and Kirby Heyborne.

To make sure other readers will be able to find the audiobook, please include the full title and correct author names (your entry must include these to be eligible to win). For complete rules and guidelines, click here.

-Click here to enter the contest.
-To see reader comments from previous contest periods, click here.

 

Each month, we share top book picks from Indie Next and LibraryReads, as well as the Target Book Club title and Pennie's Pick for Costco.

Indie Next's top titles for May include debut author Elizabeth J. Church's THE ATOMIC WEIGHT OF LOVE, the moving story of ambition and identity, and the women who sacrificed their careers so that their husbands could pursue their own; BRITT-MARIE WAS HERE by Fredrik Backman, an irresistible novel about finding love and second chances in the most unlikely of places from the bestselling author of A MAN CALLED OVE and MY GRANDMOTHER ASKED ME TO TELL YOU SHE’S SORRY; and LAROSE, bestselling author and National Book Award winner Louise Erdrich's emotionally haunting contemporary tale of a tragic accident, a demand for justice, and a profound act of atonement with ancient roots in Native American culture.

LibraryReads is spotlighting Laura Lippman's latest thriller, WILDE LAKE, a psychologically complex story about a long-ago death that still haunts a family (you can check out our featured guide here); EVERYONE BRAVE IS FORGIVEN, #1 New York Times bestselling author Chris Cleave's spellbinding novel about three unforgettable individuals thrown together by war, love and their search for belonging in the ever-changing landscape of WWII London (a prize book in our current Word of Mouth contest); and THE FIREMAN by New York Times bestselling author Joe Hill, a chilling novel about a worldwide pandemic of spontaneous combustion that threatens to reduce civilization to ashes and the band of improbable heroes who battle to save it, led by one powerful and enigmatic man known as the Fireman.
 

LILAC GIRLS by Martha Hall Kelly (Historical Fiction)
LILAC GIRLS by Martha Hall Kelly is set during World War II. It’s the story of three women whose lives intersect during the war. Caroline Ferriday is a humanitarian; Kasia Kuzmerick is a Polish prisoner in the Ravensbrück camp and is known as “a Rabbit” (you will have to read to find out why); and Herta Oberheuser is a doctor at the camp. Each woman’s story is told in stand-alone chapters. Martha writes such brilliant cliffhangers that more than once I found myself flipping to the character’s next chapter to discover what was going to happen!

-Click here to read more of Carol's thoughts on the book.
-Click here to read more about the book.
-Click here to read a review on Bookreporter.com.


GLORY OVER EVERYTHING: Beyond The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom (Historical Fiction)
I tore through GLORY OVER EVERYTHING: Beyond The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom realizing it’s been a while since I had read a book set before the Civil War. It opens in 1830, and Jamie, who is biracial but passes as white, has fled from Virginia where his parentage has been discovered and is living in Philadelphia society as a wealthy silversmith. He must return to the South to do a favor for a man to whom he owes a great debt, traveling there to rescue that man’s son. This will take him near Tall Oakes and a ruthless slave hunter who has not forgotten him. Escape via the Underground Railroad weaves its way into the story, which is a complete page-turner.

-Click here to read more of Carol's thoughts on the book.
-Click here to read more about the book.
-Click here to read a review on Bookreporter.com.
-Click here for the reading group guide.
 

GEORGIA: A Novel of Georgia O'Keeffe by Dawn Tripp (Historical Fiction)
I confess that I never knew Georgia O’Keefe lived in New York. I always thought she spent her entire life in New Mexico, which I have visited just once, but still think of when I contemplate beautiful places. Thus GEORGIA: A Novel of Georgia O’Keeffe by Dawn Tripp was a real treat as I read about Georgia’s life in New York (where she moved in 1916), her relationship and marriage to the noted photographer and art dealer Alfred Stieglitz, and her works beyond the flowers and landscapes that I have come to associate with her. Stieglitz’s photographs of her, many of them nudes, drew attention to them both. He also marketed and showed her work, positioning her in the art world and continuously urging her to do more.

-Click here to read more of Carol's thoughts on the book.
-Click here to read more about the book.
-Click here to read a review on Bookreporter.com.


I LET YOU GO by Clare Mackintosh (Psychological Thriller)
I read I LET YOU GO by Clare Mackintosh in a day, and boy is it good. Psychological thrillers are so courant, and endlessly compared to this one or that one. You all know what I mean. I LET YOU GO is not to be compared. It has set a new standard with a twist that I did not see coming. When you hit it, the entire narrative shifts. Just brilliant.

-Click here to read more of Carol's thoughts on the book.
-Click here to read more about the book.
-Click here to read a review on Bookreporter.com.


EVERYONE BRAVE IS FORGIVEN by Chris Cleave (Historical Fiction)
EVERYONE BRAVE IS FORGIVEN by Chris Cleave is based on the story of his grandfather’s service on Malta, as well as his grandmother’s life in the UK during the same time period.

Three characters --- Mary North, Tom Shaw and Alistair Heath --- bring the story to life here. Mary has volunteered to teach a small group of kids who have been left behind in the evacuation of the children, something I had not been aware of. The infirmed, those mentally handicapped and the non-whites typically were rejected by the families in the countryside who boarded the evacuees, or they were not sent at all. Tom is the school administrator who does not wish to join the war effort, preferring to stay behind and help those who were not wanted. Mary and Tom quickly become enamored with each other.

-Click here to read more of Carol's thoughts on the book.
-Click here to read more about the book.
-Click here to read a review on Bookreporter.com.
 

The following guides are now available on ReadingGroupGuides.com:

THE CHERRY HARVEST by Lucy Sanna (Historical Fiction)
A memorable coming-of-age story and love story, laced with suspense, which explores a hidden side of the home front during World War II, when German POWs were put to work in a Wisconsin farm community…with dark and unexpected consequences.

FATHER'S DAY by Simon Van Booy (Fiction)
FATHER'S DAY is the moving story of an orphaned girl named Harvey and the troubled uncle who raises her --- an unforgettable tale of loss and redemption from the award-winning author of THE ILLUSION OF SEPARATENESS.

GLORY OVER EVERYTHING: Beyond The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom (Historical Fiction)
The author of the New York Times bestseller and beloved book club favorite THE KITCHEN HOUSE continues the story of Jamie Pyke, son of both a slave and master of Tall Oakes, whose deadly secret compels him to take a treacherous journey through the Underground Railroad.

GO SET A WATCHMAN by Harper Lee (Historical Fiction)
Originally written in the mid-1950s, GO SET A WATCHMAN picks up 20 years after the events of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, as Jean Louise Finch --- Scout --- returns home to Maycomb to visit her father and struggles with issues both personal and political, involving Atticus, society, and the small Alabama town that shaped her.

A PATTERN OF LIES: A Bess Crawford Mystery by Charles Todd (Historical Mystery)
Bess Crawford must keep a deadly pattern of lies from destroying an innocent family in this compelling and atmospheric mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of A QUESTION OF HONOR and AN UNWILLING ACCOMPLICE.

THE VERSIONS OF US by Laura Barnett (Fiction)
THE VERSIONS OF US is a tale of possibilities and consequences that rings across the shifting decades, showing how even the smallest choices can define the course of our lives.

WILDE LAKE by Laura Lippman (Psychological Suspense)
The New York Times bestselling author of the acclaimed stand-alones AFTER I’M GONE, I’D KNOW YOU ANYWHERE and WHAT THE DEAD KNOW challenges our notions of memory, loyalty, responsibility and justice in this evocative and psychologically complex story about a long-ago death that still haunts a family.

WOMAN WITH A SECRET by Sophie Hannah (Psychological Thriller)
For fans of THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN, GONE GIRL and the best of Hitchcock comes an extraordinary thriller --- and an extraordinarily unreliable narrator --- from an author whose work has been described by Tana French as "like watching a nightmare come to life."


Please note that these titles, for which we already had the guides when they appeared in hardcover, are now available in paperback:

GIRL IN THE MOONLIGHT by Charles Dubow (Fiction)
The author of the acclaimed INDISCRETION returns with a searing tale of love, passion and obsession --- the story of one man’s all-consuming desire for a beautiful, bewitching and elusive woman.

THE MAKING OF ZOMBIE WARS by Aleksandar Hemon (Fiction)
Disaster ensues when Josh --- an aspiring screenwriter teaching ESL classes --- becomes entangled with a student whose husband is jealous and violent in this seriously funny roller-coaster ride of a novel.

PLEASANTVILLE by Attica Locke (Thriller)
In this sophisticated thriller, lawyer Jay Porter, hero of Attica Locke’s bestseller BLACK WATER RISING, returns to fight one last case, only to become embroiled once again in a dangerous game of shadowy politics and a witness to how far those in power are willing to go to win.

WHERE THEY FOUND HER by Kimberly McCreight (Psychological Suspense)
Kimberly McCreight's taut and profoundly moving novel unwinds the tangled truth behind a tragedy, revealing that three women have far more in common than they could ever have imagined: that the very worst crimes are committed against those we love.
 

Where did you get the book that you most recently read with your group? If you are in more than one book group, please respond about just one.

I bought it at an independent bookstore.
I bought it at a chain bookstore, i.e. Barnes and Noble.
I bought it at a "big box" store, i.e. Costco, Walmart.
I bought it at a used bookstore.
I bought it online at Amazon as a print book.
I bought it online at Amazon as an eBook
I bought it online as an audiobook.
I bought it online at another retailer as a print book.
I bought it online at another retailer as an eBook
I bought it online at another retailer as an audiobook.
I borrowed it from the library as a print book.
I borrowed it from the library as an eBook.
I borrowed it from the library as an audiobook.
I borrowed it from a friend.
Other (please specify)