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Ramp Up Your Reading for 2018!
January is a time for making promises. I could promise to diet, exercise more and get more sleep, but the reality is that each of those promises would be broken pretty quickly. After all, I still am eating Christmas cookies, the arctic weather of last weekend meant that exercise was putting my feet up on the coffee table, and sleep...well, that has been overrated for years in my book.
To read more --- THAT is something I can champion. One way I upped my reading time last year was by listening to audiobooks. For years I listened to memoirs and other nonfiction, but rarely fiction. In the last quarter of the year, I changed up my game and started listening to more fiction. It gave me an opportunity to enjoy some of fall’s big books that I would not have had time to get to. It also made commuting a lot more pleasurable.
Over the holidays I got a new phone. I had cracked the camera on my almost-four-year-old phone about two years ago, and it did not have the bandwidth I needed for all that I do on my phone. The new one is wickedly fast, and it has made it easier to download audio. Also, I have been listening to tons of podcasts, as I am mulling starting one.
Question for all of you: What would YOU like to hear on a podcast from Bookreporter/ReadingGroupGuides? I am going to leave this open-ended right now…and in the next couple of months, I will hone what I want to do and ask you a few more questions. For now, just email me your ideas at [email protected]. People have been asking me to do this for the last couple of years, and if I can get the right mix --- one that I feel would be fun to do week in and week out --- I am all in. But I need to feel it’s really going to work. So chime in and tell me what would make this a must-listen for you. For humor, every person who has suggested I do this has also said, “But if you do it, you are going to have to learn to talk slower,” which makes me laugh.
We have a great lineup for you this month, including four contests, so let’s get to it.
GINNY MOON, a Bookreporter.com Bets On pick when it released in hardcover last year, is now available in paperback. This debut novel from Benjamin Ludwig introduces readers to the exceptional Ginny Moon, an autistic teenager who has found her birth mother on Facebook and is determined to see her. Ginny left something behind and is desperate to get it back, to make things right. But no one listens to her or understands how important this potential meeting is for her. So Ginny decides to take matters into her own hands. We’re giving three groups the opportunity to win 12 copies of the paperback edition in our special contest. All you have to do is fill out this form by Wednesday, February 7th at noon ET. Also, be sure to click on these GINNY MOON-related links: the discussion guide, our review on Bookreporter.com, an interview I conducted with Benjamin, and my Bets On comments from last year.
This month’s “What’s Your Book Group Reading?” contest title is one of my favorite books from last year (and another Bets On selection), BENEATH A SCARLET SKY by Mark Sullivan. It’s a #1 Amazon Charts bestseller, and it was announced back in August that it will be adapted for the big screen. Spider-Man: Homecoming star Tom Holland is attached to play the lead role of Pino Lella, a real-life hero who, during World War II, risked his life guiding Jews across the Alps into neutral Switzerland, then became a spy inside the German High Command. Three groups will have the chance to win 12 copies of the book; to enter, please fill out the form on this page by Wednesday, February 7th at noon ET. Click here to find out why I’m betting you’ll love this book (as so many readers have; last I looked, it had sold more than 500,000 copies, and there were 14,423 Amazon reviews, 83% of which were five-star, since its release last May) --- and be sure to check out the discussion guide, our review on Bookreporter.com, and an interview with Mark.
In our previous “What’s Your Book Group Reading This Month?” contest, here are the five books mentioned most frequently as titles that our book groups read: BEFORE WE WERE YOURS by Lisa Wingate, SMALL GREAT THINGS by Jodi Picoult, NEWS OF THE WORLD by Paulette Jiles, A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW by Amor Towles, and LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE by Celeste Ng. Scroll further down the newsletter to see the Top 15.
Continuing from last month is our special End-of-the-Year contest. By sharing your favorite book that you read with your group in 2017 and your favorite book that you read outside your group, you will be eligible to win six titles releasing this year that are perfect for book group discussions; I have read them all and am so excited to be sharing each of these six books: AN AMERICAN MARRIAGE by Tayari Jones, EDUCATED: A Memoir by Tara Westover, EVERY NOTE PLAYED by Lisa Genova, THE GREAT ALONE by Kristin Hannah, THE IMMORTALISTS by Chloe Benjamin, and THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW by A. J. Finn. The deadline for your entries is Wednesday, January 31st at noon ET. We will share our reader-compiled "Best Of" list with you in the early February newsletter. Please note that all six of these titles will be Bets On picks, and you can read my Bets On commentary for THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW later in this newsletter. I also realize that I have met all of the authors of these books, and one is more interesting than the other.
In our next newsletter, which will come your way in two weeks, we will share our list of the “Most Requested Guides of 2017.”
Book groups also will want to take note of a contest that Susan Wiggs has posted on her Facebook page. To celebrate the paperback release of FAMILY TREE, Susan would like to join one book club for their discussion of the book and treat them to a real taste of Vermont. One lucky winner will win a book club Skype session with Susan, 12 paperback copies of FAMILY TREE, and an assortment of Vermont foods. Be sure to enter by Wednesday, January 24th at noon ET.
We have two new featured guides to tell you about. First up is THE WICKED CITY by Beatriz Williams, the first book of a trilogy that is now available in paperback. When she discovers that her banker husband has been harboring a secret life, Ella Gilbert escapes their SoHo loft for a studio apartment in Greenwich Village. Her charismatic musician neighbor, Hector, warns her to stay out of the basement after midnight, when a symphony of mysterious noise strikes up, even though it's stood empty for decades. Back in the Roaring Twenties, the building hosted one of the city’s most notorious speakeasies. As Ella unravels the strange history of the building --- and the family thread that connects her to flapper Geneva Kelly --- she senses the Jazz Age spirit of her incandescent predecessor invading her own shy nature. Click here for the discussion guide and here for our review on Bookreporter.com. I would love to meet Beatriz at some point and ask her what spurs her to write her terrific period-piece novels.
Our second featured guide is for A HUNDRED SMALL LESSONS by Ashley Hay, author of the highly acclaimed THE RAILWAYMAN’S WIFE. When Elsie Gormley leaves the Brisbane house in which she has lived for more than 60 years, Lucy Kiss and her family move in, eager to establish their new life. As they settle in, Lucy and her husband Ben struggle to navigate their transformation from adventurous lovers to new parents, taking comfort in memories of their vibrant past as they begin to unearth who their future selves might be. But the house has secrets of its own, and the rooms seem to share recollections of Elsie’s life with Lucy. In her nearby nursing home, Elsie traces the span of her life --- the moments she can’t bear to let go and the places to which she dreams of returning. Over the course of one hot Brisbane summer, two families’ stories intersect in sudden and unexpected ways. You can see the discussion guide here. Many of our friends are downsizing, and thus this story really stuck a chord with me. For us, we would need years to streamline our lives enough to downsize.
We are so curious about your book clubs, so here’s our first poll question of the year: How often does your book group select titles? Click here to let us know!
Our previous poll asked if your book group does anything special for the holidays. 23% of you go to a restaurant, 21% prepare special meals for your meetings, and 20% do a book swap. Click here for all the results.
In our last newsletter, we shared the news that STAY WITH ME by Ayobami Adebayo, a Bookreporter.com Bets On title, is Sarah Jessica Parker's latest ALA Book Club Central Pick. Here are some additional resources for you to check out: an interview with the author and STAY WITH ME read-alike titles.
Finally, I wanted to share this exciting news. The Book Report Network’s own Jesse Kornbluth, who co-founded the company with me, has written a play called “The Color of Light,” which opened in San Diego last night. It’s playing on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at 8:00 and Sunday at 4:00, until February 3rd. For tickets, click here. For the back story, click here. And there’s a 15-minute radio interview that, as Jesse says, “is not altogether dull” here. I listened earlier today, and it's immensely fun!
Here’s to a brilliant discussion for you and your book group!
Carol Fitzgerald ([email protected])
P.S. For those of you who are doing online shopping, if you use the store links below, ReadingGroupGuides.com gets a small affiliate fee on your purchases. We would appreciate your considering this!
New Special Contest: Enter to Win 12 Copies of
GINNY MOON by Benjamin Ludwig for Your Group
GINNY MOON by Benjamin Ludwig is a compulsively readable and touching debut novel about being an outsider trying to find a place to belong and making sense of a world that just doesn't seem to add up. We are celebrating its paperback release with a special contest that will give three readers the chance to win 12 copies of the book for their group. To enter, please fill out this form by Wednesday, February 7th at noon ET.
GINNY MOON by Benjamin Ludwig (Fiction)
Meet Ginny Moon.
She’s mostly your average teenager --- she plays flute in the school band, has weekly basketball practice, and reads Robert Frost poems for English class. But Ginny is autistic. So what’s important to her might seem a bit…different: starting every day with exactly nine grapes for breakfast, Michael Jackson, taking care of her baby doll…and crafting a secret plan of escape.
Ginny has been in foster care for years, and for the first time in her life she has found her “forever home.” After being traumatically taken from her abusive birth mother and moved around to different homes, she is finally in a place where she’ll be safe and protected, with a family who will love and nurture her.
This is exactly what all foster kids are hoping for. But Ginny has other plans. She’ll steal and lie and exploit the good intentions of those who love her --- anything it takes to get back what’s missing in her life. She’ll even try to get herself kidnapped.
- Click here for the discussion guide.
- Click here to read a review on Bookreporter.com.
- Click here to read Carol Fitzgerald's Bookreporter.com Bets On commentary.
- Click here to read our interview with Benjamin Ludwig.
Click here to enter the contest.
"What's Your Book Group Reading This Month?" Contest: Enter to Win 12 Copies of BENEATH A SCARLET SKY
by Mark Sullivan for Your Group
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 the #1 Amazon Charts bestseller BENEATH A SCARLET SKY, which is being made into a major motion picture starring Tom Holland. Based on the true story of World War II hero Pino Lella, Mark Sullivan's novel is the triumphant, epic tale of one young man’s incredible courage and resilience during one of history’s darkest hours. To enter, please fill out the form on this page by Wednesday, February 7th at noon ET.
BENEATH A SCARLET SKY by Mark Sullivan (Historical Fiction)
Pino Lella wants nothing to do with the war or the Nazis. He’s a normal Italian teenager --- obsessed with music, food and girls --- but his days of innocence are numbered. When his family home in Milan is destroyed by Allied bombs, Pino joins an underground railroad helping Jews escape over the Alps, and falls for Anna, a beautiful widow six years his senior.
In an attempt to protect him, Pino’s parents force him to enlist as a German soldier --- a move they think will keep him out of combat. But after Pino is injured, he is recruited at the tender age of 18 to become the personal driver for Adolf Hitler’s left hand in Italy, General Hans Leyers, one of the Third Reich’s most mysterious and powerful commanders.
Now, with the opportunity to spy for the Allies inside the German High Command, Pino endures the horrors of the war and the Nazi occupation by fighting in secret, his courage bolstered by his love for Anna and for the life he dreams they will one day share.
Fans of ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE, THE NIGHTINGALE and UNBROKEN will enjoy this riveting saga of history, suspense and love.
- Click here for the discussion guide.
- Click here to read a review on Bookreporter.com.
- Click here to read Carol Fitzgerald's Bookreporter.com Bets On commentary.
- Click here to read an interview with Mark Sullivan.
Click here to enter the contest.
Share Your Favorite Books of 2017
and Enter to Win SIX Great Book Group Titles
Coming Out in 2018!
This is the time of year when everyone is posting “Best Books of the Year” lists. We would like you and your book group to help us compile ours! Click here to share both your favorite book that you read with your group in 2017 and your favorite book that you read outside your group by Wednesday, January 31st at noon ET. You then will be eligible to win SIX great book group titles releasing this year.
Please note: Your favorite book that you discussed with your group CAN be the same as your favorite book of the year. And they don't need to have been published in 2017. Also, please be careful with the spelling of book titles and authors’ first and last names to save us editing time.
We will have our reader-compiled "Best Of" list to share with you in early February. We cannot wait to see what you select!
Click here to share your favorite books of 2017 and enter the contest.
New Featured Guide: THE WICKED CITY
by Beatriz Williams
THE WICKED CITY by Beatriz Williams (Fiction)
In the first book of a breathtaking new trilogy by bestselling author Beatriz Williams, two generations of women are brought together inside a Greenwich Village apartment --- a flapper hiding an extraordinary past and a modern-day Manhattanite forced to start her life anew.
When she discovers her banker husband has been harboring a secret life, Ella Gilbert escapes her SoHo loft for a studio in Greenwich Village. Her charismatic musician neighbor, Hector, warns her to stay out of the basement after midnight, when a symphony of mysterious noise strikes up --- laughter, clinking glasses, jazz piano, the occasional bloodcurdling scream --- even though the space has been empty for decades. Back in the Roaring Twenties, the basement was home to one of the city’s most notorious speakeasies.
In 1924, Geneva “Gin” Kelly, a quick-witted flapper from the hills of western Maryland, is a regular at this Village hideaway. Caught up in a raid, Gin lands in the office of Prohibition enforcement agent Oliver Anson, who persuades her to help him catch her stepfather, Duke Kelly, one of the biggest bootleggers in Appalachia.
But Gin is nobody’s fool. She strikes a risky bargain with the taciturn, straight-arrow Revenue agent, and their alliance rattles Manhattan society to its foundations, exposing secrets that shock even this free-spirited redhead.
As Ella unravels the strange history of her new building --- and the family thread that connects her to Geneva Kelly --- she senses the Jazz Age spirit of her exuberant predecessor invading her own shy nature, in ways that will transform her existence in the wicked city.
- Click here to read a review on Bookreporter.com.
Click here for the featured guide.
New Featured Guide: A HUNDRED SMALL LESSONS
by Ashley Hay
A HUNDRED SMALL LESSONS by Ashley Hay (Fiction)
From the author of the highly acclaimed THE RAILWAYMAN’S WIFE, called a “literary and literate gem” by Psychology Today, comes an emotionally resonant and profound new novel of two families, interconnected through the house that bears witness to their lives.
When Elsie Gormley leaves the Brisbane house in which she has lived for more than 60 years, Lucy Kiss and her family move in, eager to establish their new life. As they settle in, Lucy and her husband Ben struggle to navigate their transformation from adventurous lovers to new parents, taking comfort in memories of their vibrant past as they begin to unearth who their future selves might be. But the house has secrets of its own, and the rooms seem to share recollections of Elsie’s life with Lucy.
In her nearby nursing home, Elsie traces the span of her life --- the moments she can’t bear to let go and the places to which she dreams of returning. Her beloved former house is at the heart of her memories of marriage, motherhood, love and death and the boundary between present and past becomes increasingly porous for both her and Lucy.
Over the course of one hot Brisbane summer, two families’ stories intersect in sudden and unexpected ways. Through the richly intertwined narratives of two ordinary, extraordinary women, Ashley Hay uses her “lyrical prose, poetic dialogue, and stunning imagery” (RT Magazine) to weave an intricate, bighearted story of what it is to be human.
Click here for the featured guide.
Enter for a Chance to Win a Book Club Skype Session
with Susan Wiggs, Copies of FAMILY TREE,
and an Assortment of Vermont Foods!
Enter for your chance to win a book club meeting complete with a Skype visit from Susan Wiggs, copies of FAMILY TREE for your book club, and a Vermont food buffet!
Love. Success. A handsome husband, a beautiful home. These are the foundations of Annie Rush’s charmed life in Los Angeles. When a tragic turn of events takes all that away, Annie retreats to her family home in Switchback, Vermont. There, surrounded by a maple farm generations old, her brother, their divorced mother, and young nieces and nephews, Annie begins to rediscover herself and the true wealth of her family’s history.
Pick FAMILY TREE by Susan Wiggs for your next book club read, and enter for a chance to Skype with the author.
January’s Reading Roundup: Top Picks from
Indie Next, LibraryReads, Target and Costco
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.
This month's Indie Next titles include Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen's THE WIFE BETWEEN US, which exposes the secret complexities of an enviable marriage --- and the dangerous truths we ignore in the name of love; THIS COULD HURT by Jillian Medoff, which captures the emotional complexities of five HR colleagues trying to balance ambition, hope and fear as their small company is buffeted by economic forces that threaten to upend them; and Leila Slimani’s THE PERFECT NANNY, a compulsive, riveting, bravely observed exploration of power, class, race, domesticity and motherhood.
Library Reads is spotlighting Chloe Benjamin's second novel, THE IMMORTALISTS, a dazzling family love story that probes the line between destiny and choice, reality and illusion, this world and the next; STILL ME, a new book featuring Jojo Moyes’ iconic heroine of ME BEFORE YOU and AFTER YOU, Louisa Clark; and CARNEGIE’S MAID by Marie Benedict, which tells the story of one brilliant woman who may have spurred Andrew Carnegie's transformation from ruthless industrialist into the world's first true philanthropist.
January's Target Book Club title is THE LONELY HEARTS HOTEL by Heather O'Neill, and Pennie's Pick for Costco is WE WERE THE LUCKY ONES by Georgia Hunter.
Click here for the complete roundup.
Our Most Popular Book Group Selections for November/December’s "What's Your Book Group
Reading This Month?" Contest
January's New in Paperback Roundups
on Bookreporter.com
January’s roundup of New in Paperback fiction titles on Bookreporter.com includes THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD by Colson Whitehead, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, which chronicles a young slave's adventures as she makes a desperate bid for freedom in the antebellum South; THE GIRL BEFORE, an enthralling psychological thriller from JP Delaney that spins one woman’s seemingly good fortune, and another woman’s mysterious fate, through a kaleidoscope of duplicity, death and deception; A PIECE OF THE WORLD, Christina Baker Kline's novel of friendship, passion and art, inspired by Andrew Wyeth’s mysterious and iconic painting Christina’s World; and Jessica Shattuck's THE WOMEN IN THE CASTLE, a powerful and propulsive story of three widows whose lives and fates become intertwined, set at the end of World War II, in a crumbling Bavarian castle that once played host to all of German high society.
Among our nonfiction highlights are THE STRANGER IN THE WOODS by Michael Finkel, the remarkable true story of a man who lived alone in the woods of Maine for 27 years --- not out of anger at the world, but simply because he preferred to live on his own; INSOMNIAC CITY, a moving celebration of what Bill Hayes calls "the evanescent, the eavesdropped, the unexpected" of life in New York City, and an intimate glimpse of his relationship with the late Oliver Sacks; Stephen Kinzer’s THE TRUE FLAG, which brings to life the forgotten political debate that set America’s interventionist course in the world for the 20th century and beyond; and MRS. SHERLOCK HOLMES by Brad Ricca, the shocking and amazing true story of the first female U.S. District Attorney and traveling detective who found missing 18-year-old Ruth Cruger when the entire NYPD had given up.
See what's New in Paperback for the weeks of
January 1st, January 8th, January 15th, January 22nd and January 29th.
Bookreporter.com Bets On:
THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW by A. J. Finn
THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW by A. J. Finn (Psychological Thriller)
My first Bookreporter.com Bets On selection of 2018 is THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW, a thriller that I have been talking about since BookExpo last May when I interviewed its author, A. J. Finn, about it, as it was one of the show’s Buzz books. It’s tough to talk about a thriller without giving anything away, so here is what I can tell you.
Anna Fox lives alone; she is a recluse in her New York City home, suffering from agoraphobia. She spends her day drinking wine (Merlot by the caseload is delivered to her house) and watching old movies, preferably those in black and white. She reminisces about happier times in her life, bringing up many memories that weave their way into the story. For recreation, she spies on her neighbors. She charts what happens to these folks, chronicling their comings and goings, noting irregularities as well as routines.
The Russells move into the house across the way, and to Anna they are the perfect family. But when she is gazing out her window one night, she sees something she shouldn’t, and from there her world begins to crumble. What did she see, and what does it mean? This is a well-plotted thriller, with one twist I saw and one that I missed. I was thinking about Alfred Hitchcock films a lot as I read it.
THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW is a terrific look into the head of someone suffering from agoraphobia and how paralyzing that is. Oh, and there are times when a cover for a book is perfect; this is one of them.
- Click here to read a review on Bookreporter.com.
Click here for more books we're betting you'll love.
Bookreporter.com’s Sneak Peek Contest:
Enter to Win an Advance Copy of
THE DEVIL’S REWARD by Emmanuelle de Villepin
and Share Your Comments on It
Bookreporter.com's latest Sneak Peek Feature spotlights THE DEVIL'S REWARD by Emmanuelle de Villepin, in which three generations of women untangle a complex family story that encompasses the First and Second World Wars, revealing unexpected lessons about marriage and fidelity. The book doesn’t release until May 1st, but we have 35 advance copies to give away to readers who can commit to previewing it and sharing their comments on it by Wednesday, March 14th. To enter, please fill out this form by Thursday, January 18th at noon ET.
For our Sneak Peek program, your commitment to participate is critical, so please only enter this contest if you truly will have time to read THE DEVIL'S REWARD and give us your feedback by the March 14th deadline.
THE DEVIL'S REWARD written by Emmanuelle de Villepin, translated by C. Jon Delogu (Fiction)
Christiane, 86 years old with a vibrant sense of humor, lives alone in a large apartment in the heart of Paris. Her daughter, Catherine, is her total opposite: sullen and uptight, filled with resentment toward her unfaithful Milanese husband. After discovering yet another affair, Catherine takes refuge in Paris at her mother’s home, accompanied by her own daughter, Luna. Christiane --- who, in spite of occasional dalliances on both sides, lived a beautiful love story with her late husband --- uses all of her freethinking charm in an effort to change Catherine’s rigid, self-pitying attitude.
As the women air their opposing views, Luna discovers by chance that her great-grandfather had met the philosopher Rudolf Steiner, the subject of the thesis she is in the middle of writing. Seeing Luna’s avid curiosity, Christiane takes the opportunity to tell the story of her family, which spans the 20th century. Memories resurface, and past events are reconstructed, shedding a new light on the present.
With a keen, lighthearted wit, THE DEVIL'S REWARD shows that life is complicated and often painful, but when conventional morals are imperative, it becomes unbearable.
Click here to enter the contest.
Enter Our Ongoing Bookreporter.com Contests:
"Word of Mouth" and "Sounding Off on Audio"
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 January 5th to January 19th at noon ET, three lucky readers each will be randomly chosen to win a copy of CARNEGIE'S MAID by Marie Benedict and THE IMMORTALISTS by Chloe Benjamin.
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.
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 January 2nd to February 1st at noon ET, two lucky readers each will be randomly chosen to win the audio versions of Lauren Willig's THE ENGLISH WIFE, read by Nicola Barber, and Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen's THE WIFE BETWEEN US, read by Julia Whelan.
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.
We currently are featuring the following guides on ReadingGroupGuides.com:
BENEATH A SCARLET SKY by Mark Sullivan (Historical Fiction)
Based on the true story of a forgotten hero, the #1 Amazon Charts bestseller BENEATH A SCARLET SKY is the triumphant, epic tale of one young man’s incredible courage and resilience during one of history’s darkest hours.
A HUNDRED SMALL LESSONS by Ashley Hay (Fiction)
A HUNDRED SMALL LESSONS is a journey through the memories of two women from two different generations, who inhabit the same house and each discover what it means to be a mother, a wife and a woman.
THE KEEPER OF LOST THINGS by Ruth Hogan (Fiction)
THE KEEPER OF LOST THINGS is a charming, clever and quietly moving debut novel of endless possibilities and joyful discoveries that explores the promises we make and break, losing and finding ourselves, the objects that hold magic and meaning for our lives, and the surprising connections that bind us.
OUR HEARTS WILL BURN US DOWN by Anne Valente (Fiction)
A stunning debut in the vein of STATION ELEVEN and EVERYTHING I NEVER TOLD YOU, OUR HEARTS WILL BURN US DOWN is about a yearbook staff who must find a way to commemorate their high school years after a devastating experience, while trying to reconcile with the mysterious events occurring in their town.
THE WICKED CITY by Beatriz Williams (Fiction)
In the first book of a breathtaking new trilogy by bestselling author Beatriz Williams, two generations of women are brought together inside a Greenwich Village apartment --- a flapper hiding an extraordinary past and a modern-day Manhattanite forced to start her life anew.
Please note that these titles, for which we already had the guides when they appeared in hardcover, are now available in paperback:
ANY DREAM WILL DO by Debbie Macomber (Fiction)
Beloved and bestselling author Debbie Macomber returns with a powerful stand-alone novel about a woman forced to start her life anew, embarking on the most courageous journey of all --- to a place where she learns what love and trust really mean.
GINNY MOON by Benjamin Ludwig (Fiction)
GINNY MOON is a compulsively readable and touching novel about being an outsider trying to find a place to belong and making sense of a world that just doesn't seem to add up.
THE GIRL BEFORE by JP Delaney (Psychological Thriller)
In the tradition of THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN, THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10 and GONE GIRL comes an enthralling psychological thriller that spins one woman’s seemingly good fortune, and another woman’s mysterious fate, through a kaleidoscope of duplicity, death and deception.
MISSISSIPPI BLOOD: The Natchez Burning Trilogy by Greg Iles (Thriller)
MISSISSIPPI BLOOD is the enthralling conclusion to a breathtaking trilogy seven years in the making --- one that has kept readers on the edge of their seats. Greg Iles illuminates the brutal history of the American South in a highly atmospheric and suspenseful novel that delivers the shocking resolution his fans have eagerly awaited.
This Month's Poll:
How Do You Time Your Book Group Selections?
How often does your book group select titles?
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Every month
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Every other month
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Quarterly
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Every six months
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Once a year
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It varies.
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Other (Please specify)
Click here to vote in the poll by Wednesday, February 7th at noon ET.
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