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We are so excited to be hosting our very first "Bookaccino Live" Book Group event!
We will be joined by Jeanine Cummins, who will talk about AMERICAN DIRT with Carol Fitzgerald
and 15 guests who have read the book; other readers will be in the audience.
It will take place on Thursday, November 19th at 8pm ET.
Scroll further down the newsletter for all the details, and click on the image above to sign up.
Last week, we held our fifth “Bookaccino Live" event. Carol presented books releasing
between October 13th and November 3rd, as well as five publishing in December.
Click on the image above to watch the presentation. You also can see a list of the featured titles here.
On Wednesday, November 11th at 2pm ET, we will host our next "Bookaccino Live" event.
Carol will present a number of books releasing between November 10th and January 5th
that she would like to get on your radar. Click on the image above to sign up.
We have three new "Bookreporter Talks To" interviews to share with you.
First up is Lisa Jewell, who talked to Carol about her latest psychological thriller, INVISIBLE GIRL,
which will be a Bookreporter.com Bets On selection.
Click on the image above for the video and here for the podcast.
Carol had a wonderful conversation with Lisa Unger about her new work of
psychological suspense, CONFESSIONS ON THE 7:45, which is a Bets On pick.
Click on the image above for the video and here for the podcast.
Carol welcomed back Suzanne Skyvara and Danny Feekes from Goodreads for their second "Bookreporter Talks To" interview. As they did in June, Suzanne and Danny talk about a number of books that have just come out, or will be out soon, along with titles that are trending with Goodreads members.
Click on the image above for the video and here for the podcast.
On Tuesday, October 27th at 2pm ET, members of the Simon & Schuster team will host a
Facebook Live Book Club chat to discuss WHEN WE WERE VIKINGS by Andrew David MacDonald,
October's pick for S&S's Book Club Favorites. Andrew will be joining the conversation as well!
Click on the image above to RSVP.
Over the past few months, we have ramped up our video and podcast programming to keep you on top of new book releases as many of you are not able to browse in bookstores and libraries.
Our latest project is one that we have been mulling for a few months --- a virtual book group discussion.
I am excited to share that on Thursday, November 19th at 8pm ET, we will be hosting our first “Bookaccino Live” Book Group event. Our special guest will be Jeanine Cummins, who will discuss AMERICAN DIRT, an Oprah’s Book Club selection and a Bookreporter.com Bets On pick (one of my first picks of 2020).
We will be embracing a new format for this program. I will chat with Jeanine, and then we are planning to have 15 book group participants who have read the book join our conversation, asking Jeanine questions and telling us about their reading experience. Other readers are invited to join as audience members to watch the program --- and in the last 10 minutes, we will entertain questions from this group. As with our other events, this session will be conducted via Zoom.
If you would like to attend the event as a participant or as an audience member, sign up here by Monday, November 16th at 10am ET. We will send the link and password for the program on the morning of November 19th. If you are one of the 15 on-stage participants, we will confirm with you by November 17th. Our room can hold up to 500 attendees, so feel free to ask your book group members to attend as well.
Back in January when AMERICAN DIRT released (which honestly seems like a lifetime ago), we featured the discussion guide, our Bookreporter review, my Bets On commentary, and feedback from 10 book groups that won copies of the book in a special contest we held at the end of 2019. I have been excited about AMERICAN DIRT ever since I read an early advance copy of it in June 2019 --- it’s an absolute page-turner that can spur a 360-degree conversation on the subject of immigration --- so I am thrilled to be talking to Jeanine about it. I spoke with her last week, and she is looking forward to this program.
Last Wednesday, we held our fifth “Bookaccino Live” event, where I talked about titles releasing from October 13th to November 3rd, along with five from December, that I wanted to get your radar. For those of you who missed the presentation, you can watch it here, and a list of the featured titles is here.
Don’t miss our next “Bookaccino Live” session, which will take place on Wednesday, November 11th at 2pm ET. I will present books that are coming out between November 10th and January 5th that I am especially excited about. Click here to sign up. Those who attend the live event will be asked to answer a survey about the books that they are most interested in reading and will be eligible to win prizes. Please note that we will not be doing an event in December, as we know many of you will be preparing for the holidays and not a lot of notable books release towards the end of the year. We will pick up our schedule again in mid-January.
Catching up on some older emails... Over the summer, we gave book groups the chance to win copies of the instant New York Times bestseller THREE WOMEN and an opportunity to chat with the author, Lisa Taddeo. I recently heard from two of these winners. Irene said, “Thank you! I look forward to reading the book.” And Anne Marie said, “Thank you for your email in regards to letting me know that I won a copy of THREE WOMEN. I always enjoy visiting ReadingGroupGuides as an avid reader and member of three book clubs."
Our latest “What’s Your Book Group Reading This Month?” contest title is PLAIN BAD HEROINES, emily m. danforth’s debut novel for adults featuring illustrations by Sara Lautman, which releases tomorrow, October 20th.
The story opens at the Brookhants School for Girls in 1902. Flo and Clara are obsessed with each other and with a daring young writer named Mary MacLane. To show their devotion to Mary, the girls establish their own private club and call it the Plain Bad Heroine Society. They meet in secret in a nearby apple orchard, where their bodies are later discovered with a copy of Mary’s book splayed beside them. Less than five years later, the school closes its doors forever --- but not before three more people mysteriously die on the property. Over a century later, Brookhants is back in the news when wunderkind writer Merritt Emmons publishes a breakout book celebrating the queer, feminist history surrounding the “haunted and cursed” Gilded Age institution.
Three groups will win 12 copies of PLAIN BAD HEROINES; to enter, please fill out the form on this page by Monday, November 9th at noon ET. Also, click here for the discussion guide and here for some wonderful praise from O, The Oprah Magazine and novelist Sarah Waters.
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: the aforementioned AMERICAN DIRT by Jeanine Cummins, THE BOOK WOMAN OF TROUBLESOME CREEK by Kim Michele Richardson, THE GIVER OF STARS by Jojo Moyes, THE DUTCH HOUSE by Ann Patchett, and THE VANISHING HALF by Brit Bennett. Scroll further down the newsletter to see the Top 15.
One of the biggest releases of the fall is LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND, Rumaan Alam’s third novel, which is about two families --- strangers to each other --- who are forced together on a long weekend gone terribly wrong. Shortlisted for this year’s National Book Awards, it is this month’s Barnes & Noble Book Club selection and a “Read with Jenna” Today Show Book Club pick. Click here for the guide and here for our review on Bookreporter; our reviewer Rebecca Munro calls the book "positively engrossing in its tone, pacing and atmosphere. Alam fills his scenes with tension and then backs away just enough that the space between his characters’ actions and his own hand can be filled by his readers’ minds, preconceived notions and familiarity with different genres.”
According to Jenna Bush Hager, "It is a suspense at its core, but to call it only a thriller discredits the incredible detail and intimacy with which the author writes about and understands family dynamics and race." She goes on to say, “It’s chilling and mysterious but also poignant and at times funny, a book about family, race, ambition and class. My only advice --- read it with the lights on.”
On Tuesday, October 27th at 7pm ET, join Rumaan Alam on B&N’s Facebook page for a discussion of LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND. In the meantime, check out this terrific interview with the author.
You can see for yourself if LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND wins this year's National Book Award, as this year's ceremony will be virtual and open to everyone! Other finalists include A CHILDREN'S BIBLE by Lydia Millet (Fiction), THE DEAD ARE ARISING: The Life of Malcolm X, by Les Payne and Tamara Payne (Nonfiction), and TOKYO UENO STATION by Yu Miri, translated from the Japanese by Morgan Giles (Translated Literature). Click here to RSVP for the event, which will take place on Wednesday, November 18th at 7pm ET.
Where does the story of the Owens bloodline begin? Beloved author Alice Hoffman answers that burning question in MAGIC LESSONS by exploring the early life of Maria Owens, matriarch of the family featured in PRACTICAL MAGIC and THE RULES OF MAGIC. Maria is abandoned in a snowy field in rural England as a baby and left under the care of Hannah Owens, who teaches the girl all she knows. When Maria is abandoned by the man who has declared his love for her, she follows him to Salem, Massachusetts. Here she invokes the curse that will haunt her family. And it’s here that she learns the rules of magic and the lesson that she will carry with her for the rest of her life: Love is the only thing that matters. The guide can be found here, and don’t miss our review in the October 23rd Bookreporter Weekly Update newsletter.
In JACK, Pulitzer Prize winner Marilynne Robinson returns to the world of Gilead --- the setting for her novels GILEAD, HOME and LILA. Here, she tells the story of John Ames Boughton, the prodigal son of Gilead’s Presbyterian minister, and his romance with Della Miles, a high school teacher who is also the child of a preacher. Their deeply felt, tormented, star-crossed interracial romance resonates with all the paradoxes of American life, then and now. Click here for the guide and here for our review from Harvey Freedenberg, who points out, “JACK is not some facile morality play. Robinson is too serious a writer and thinker, as she has revealed in her other Gilead novels and in her nonfiction essays, to offer anything less than wisdom of the most hard-won variety, all of which is well worth pondering.”
THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY by Matt Haig is this month’s “Good Morning America” Book Club pick. “GMA” describes the book as a “thought-provoking, time-traveling novel” in which “Nora Seed finds herself in a magical library between life and death filled with all the lives she could have led. Every book is a chance to try another life. To undo a mistake, to make a different choice. To see how things would be different. What would you do?” As the story progresses, “[w]e follow Nora as she gets a chance to live all the lives she could have led and discovers what makes life worth living in the first place.” As you can tell from this brief but intriguing description, there is so much here for book groups to discuss and ponder. Click here for the guide and here for our review from Ray Palen, who says that the book “reads like a dream and provides so much joy and wonder that you will not want it to end."
This month’s Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club pick is HIS ONLY WIFE, Peace Adzo Medie’s first novel about a brave young woman traversing the minefield of modern life with its taboos and injustices. Here’s what Reese has to say about the book: “Reading takes us all over the world, and this month we are traveling to modern-day Ghana… Culture, heroism and the search for independence are just a few of the wonderful themes in this vibrant book.” Click here for the guide and here for our review from Rebecca Munro, who calls the book “an illuminating and empowering read with a heroine you will remember for a long time. Perfect for readers of Candice Carty-Williams and Oyinkan Braithwaite, HIS ONLY WIFE ushers in a stunning new talent and an unforgettable story about what it means to be a woman, wife and daughter.”
Our final new guide in this mid-month newsletter is for DEAR CHILD, Romy Hausmann’s English-language debut about a young woman who escapes from her captor. She is known as Lena, and during captivity she took care of two children. Lena has been missing for 13 years, so her family cannot wait to be reunited with her. But suddenly she does not appear to be the woman they searched for all these years. What’s going on? I look forward to hearing what you think about this truly twisted thriller, which the publisher describes as “GONE GIRL meets ROOM.” You can read our review here.
WHEN WE WERE VIKINGS by Andrew David MacDonald, which is now available in paperback and was our previous “What’s Your Book Group Reading This Month?” contest title, is this month’s pick for Simon & Schuster’s Book Club Favorites. Andrew will join members of the S&S team for a Facebook Live Book Club chat about the book on Tuesday, October 27th at 2pm ET. Click here to RSVP for the event. We encourage you to join the conversation with your comments about the novel and interact with Andrew and your fellow readers.
For more October selections, including the Indie Next and LibraryReads lists, see our “Favorite Monthly Lists & Picks” feature here.
Don’t miss my latest “Bookreporter Talks To” interviews. First up is Lisa Jewell, whose new psychological thriller, INVISIBLE GIRL (an upcoming Bets On title), is about a young woman’s disappearance and a group of strangers whose lives intersect in its wake. In our conversation, Lisa revealed her inspiration for the book, which came from a rather innocuous sighting that got her imagination going. We also talked about the incel ideology, which one of her characters has embraced, and the strange ways that it has crept into society. And Lisa gave us her thoughts on perfectionism --- how it influences her work and affects her life in general. Click here to watch the video and here to listen to the podcast.
I had a lovely discussion with Lisa Unger, whose new work of psychological suspense is CONFESSIONS ON THE 7:45. In this Bets On selection, readers are introduced to Selena Murphy, whose usual train commute is interrupted and stalled. She begins a deep conversation with her seat neighbor and reveals a few too many secrets from her personal life. Selena assumes they'll never meet again when the train arrives at the station, and they part ways. However, she soon finds out that this stranger on the train will have a bigger impact on her life than she ever could have realized. Lisa and I talked about how easy it is to confess dark secrets to people we don’t know, how intense connections can be formed in short periods of time, and the reasons that people might lie to themselves and others. Click here to watch the video and here to listen to the podcast.
A few weeks ago, I was so pleased to welcome back Suzanne Skyvara, the Vice President of Marketing & Editorial for Goodreads, and Danny Feekes, their Managing Editor, for their second “Bookreporter Talks To” interview. Just as they did in June, Suzanne and Danny shared recently released and upcoming titles that are resonating with Goodreads members. There is a lot to discover here as they talk about books in eight genres --- Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery & Thriller, Fantasy, Horror, Women’s Fiction, Romance, and Memoir --- so you will want to stay tuned until the end. Come for the books and stay for the banter! I had such a great time with them. Click here to watch the video and here to listen to the podcast.
My Long Hill Book Group is meeting tonight, and we will discuss the aforementioned THE VANISHING HALF by Brit Bennett. My neighborhood book group will talk about JP Delaney's THE PERFECT WIFE next week. Over the weekend, I joined the Stone Harbor Yacht Club's book group; their guest was Julie Clark, the author of THE LAST FLIGHT. It was a terrific discussion.
Here's to a great next discussion for you and your 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!
Announcing Our First “Bookaccino Live” Book Group Event with Jeanine Cummins, Author of AMERICAN DIRT,
on Thursday, November 19th at 8pm ET
On Thursday, November 19th at 8pm ET, we will host our first “Bookaccino Live” Book Group event via Zoom. Our special guest will be Jeanine Cummins, who will discuss AMERICAN DIRT, an Oprah’s Book Club selection and a Bookreporter.com Bets On pick.
For this event, there will be two ways to participate.
Fifteen guests who have read AMERICAN DIRT will join Carol Fitzgerald "on stage" to be part of the discussion, interacting with Jeanine and giving us their feedback on the book.
Other readers will watch the event and will be able to pose a question during the last 10 minutes of the program.
If you would like to attend the event as a participant or as an audience member, please sign up here by Monday, November 16th at 10am ET. We will send the link and password for the program on the morning of the 19th. If you are one of the 15 on-stage participants, we will confirm with you by the 17th. Our room can hold up to 500 attendees, so feel free to ask your book group members to attend as well.
Click here to sign up for our first "Bookaccino Live" Book Group event.
New Guide: LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND by Rumaan Alam
October’s Barnes & Noble Book Club Selection
and a “Read with Jenna” Today Show Book Club Pick
LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND by Rumaan Alam (Fiction)
Amanda and Clay head out to a remote corner of Long Island expecting a vacation: a quiet reprieve from life in New York City, quality time with their teenage son and daughter, and a taste of the good life in the luxurious home they’ve rented for the week. But a late-night knock on the door breaks the spell. Ruth and G. H. are an older couple --- it’s their house, and they’ve arrived in a panic. They bring the news that a sudden blackout has swept the city. But in this rural area --- with the TV and internet now down, and no cell phone service --- it’s hard to know what to believe.
Should Amanda and Clay trust this couple, and vice versa? What happened back in New York? Is the vacation home, isolated from civilization, a truly safe place for their families? And are they safe from one another?
Suspenseful and provocative, Rumaan Alam’s third novel is keenly attuned to the complexities of parenthood, race and class. LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND explores how our closest bonds are reshaped --- and unexpected new ones are forged --- in moments of crisis
- Click here to read our review on Bookreporter.com.
- Click here to see why the book is October's "Read with Jenna" Today Show Book Club pick.
- Click here for details on Barnes & Noble's virtual Book Club event on Tuesday, October 27th at 7pm ET.
Click here for the discussion guide.
New Guide: MAGIC LESSONS by Alice Hoffman
MAGIC LESSONS: The Prequel to Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman (Historical Fiction/Magical Realism)
Where does the story of the Owens bloodline begin? With Maria Owens, in the 1600s, when she’s abandoned in a snowy field in rural England as a baby. Under the care of Hannah Owens, Maria learns about the “Unnamed Arts.” Hannah recognizes that Maria has a gift, and she teaches the girl all she knows. It is here that she learns her first important lesson: Always love someone who will love you back.
When Maria is abandoned by the man who has declared his love for her, she follows him to Salem, Massachusetts. Here she invokes the curse that will haunt her family. And it’s here that she learns the rules of magic and the lesson that she will carry with her for the rest of her life. Love is the only thing that matters.
MAGIC LESSONS is a celebration of life and love and a showcase of Alice Hoffman’s masterful storytelling.
Click here for the discussion guide.
Don't miss our review in the October 23rd
Bookreporter Weekly Update newsletter.
New Guide: JACK by Marilynne Robinson
JACK by Marilynne Robinson (Fiction)
Marilynne Robinson’s mythical world of Gilead, Iowa --- the setting of her novels GILEAD, HOME and LILA --- and its beloved characters have illuminated and interrogated the complexities of American history, the power of our emotions and the wonders of a sacred world.
JACK is Robinson’s fourth novel in this now-classic series. In it, Robinson tells the story of John Ames Boughton, the prodigal son of Gilead’s Presbyterian minister, and his romance with Della Miles, a high school teacher who is also the child of a preacher. Their deeply felt, tormented, star-crossed interracial romance resonates with all the paradoxes of American life, then and now.
Robinson’s Gilead novels, which have won one Pulitzer Prize and two National Book Critics Circle Awards, are a vital contribution to contemporary American literature and a revelation of our national character and humanity.
- Click here to read our review on Bookreporter.com.
Click here for the discussion guide.
“What’s Your Book Group Reading This Month?” Contest: Enter to Win 12 Copies of PLAIN BAD HEROINES
by emily m. danforth 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.
Our latest prize book is PLAIN BAD HEROINES, a highly imaginative and original horror-comedy centered on a cursed New England boarding school for girls. With illustrations by Sara Lautman, emily m. danforth's first novel for adults is a wickedly whimsical celebration of the art of storytelling, sapphic love and the rebellious female spirit. To enter, please fill out the form on this page by Monday, November 9th at noon ET.
PLAIN BAD HEROINES written by emily m. danforth, with illustrations by Sara Lautman (Gothic Fiction)
Our story begins in 1902, at the Brookhants School for Girls. Flo and Clara, two impressionable students, are obsessed with each other and with a daring young writer named Mary MacLane, the author of a scandalous bestselling memoir. To show their devotion to Mary, the girls establish their own private club and call it the Plain Bad Heroine Society. They meet in secret in a nearby apple orchard, the setting of their wildest happiness and, ultimately, of their macabre deaths. This is where their bodies are later discovered with a copy of Mary’s book splayed beside them, the victims of a swarm of stinging, angry yellow jackets. Less than five years later, the Brookhants School for Girls closes its doors forever --- but not before three more people mysteriously die on the property, each in a most troubling way.
Over a century later, the now abandoned and crumbling Brookhants is back in the news when wunderkind writer Merritt Emmons publishes a breakout book celebrating the queer, feminist history surrounding the “haunted and cursed” Gilded Age institution. Her bestselling book inspires a controversial horror film adaptation starring celebrity actor and lesbian it girl Harper Harper playing the ill-fated heroine Flo, opposite B-list actress and former child star Audrey Wells as Clara. But as Brookhants opens its gates once again, and our three modern heroines arrive on set to begin filming, past and present become grimly entangled --- or perhaps just grimly exploited --- and soon it’s impossible to tell where the curse leaves off and Hollywood begins.
A story within a story within a story and featuring black-and-white period-inspired illustrations, PLAIN BAD HEROINES is a devilishly haunting, modern masterwork of metafiction that manages to combine the ghostly sensibility of Sarah Waters with the dark imagination of Marisha Pessl and the sharp humor and incisive social commentary of Curtis Sittenfeld into one laugh-out-loud funny, spellbinding and wonderfully luxuriant read.
- Click here for the discussion guide.
Click here to enter the contest.
New Guide: THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY by Matt Haig
October’s “Good Morning America” Book Club Pick
THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY by Matt Haig (Fiction)
Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe, there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?
In THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY, Matt Haig's enchanting new novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Confronted with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist, she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.
- Click here to read our review on Bookreporter.com.
- Click here to see why the book is October's "Good Morning America" Book Club pick.
Click here for the discussion guide.
New Guide: HIS ONLY WIFE by Peace Adzo Medie
October’s Reese Witherspoon x
Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick
HIS ONLY WIFE by Peace Adzo Medie (Fiction)
Afi Tekple is a young seamstress in Ghana. She is smart; she is pretty; and she has been convinced by her mother to marry a man she does not know. Afi knows who he is, of course --- Elikem is a wealthy businessman whose mother has chosen Afi in the hopes that she will distract him from his relationship with a woman his family claims is inappropriate.
But Afi is not prepared for the shift her life takes when she is moved from her small hometown of Ho to live in Accra, Ghana’s gleaming capital, a place of wealth and sophistication where she has days of nothing to do but cook meals for a man who may or may not show up to eat them. She has agreed to this marriage in order to give her mother the financial security she desperately needs, and so she must see it through. Or maybe not?
- Click here to read our review on Bookreporter.com.
- Click here to see why the book is October's Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club pick
Click here for the discussion guide.
New Guide: DEAR CHILD by Romy Hausmann
DEAR CHILD by Romy Hausmann (Psychological Thriller/Mystery)
A windowless shack in the woods. A dash to safety. But when a woman finally escapes her captor, the end of the story is only the beginning of her nightmare.
She says her name is Lena. Lena, who disappeared without a trace 14 years prior. She fits the profile. She has the distinctive scar. But her family swears that she isn’t their Lena.
The little girl who escaped the woods with her knows things she isn’t sharing, and Lena’s devastated father is trying to piece together details that don’t quite fit. Lena is desperate to begin again, but something tells her that her tormentor still wants to get back what belongs to him…and that she may not be able to truly escape until the whole truth about what happened in the woods finally emerges.
Twisty, suspenseful and psychologically clever, Romy Hausmann's DEAR CHILD is a captivating thriller with all the ingredients of a breakout hit.
- Click here to read our review on Bookreporter.com.
Click here for the discussion guide.
Favorite Monthly Lists & Picks for October
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. We also feature a number of other prominent picks, including Oprah’s Book Club, the Barnes & Noble Book Club, the Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club, Jenna Bush Hager's "Read with Jenna" Today Show Book Club, the "Good Morning America" Book Club, the PBS NewsHour-New York Times “Now Read This” Book Club, and Simon & Schuster’s Book Club Favorites.
Below is a preview of October's "Favorite Monthly Lists & Picks." For the complete Indie Next and LibraryReads lists, as well as additional links pertaining to this month's selections, please click here.
Indie Next
#1 Pick: THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LaRUE by V. E. Schwab
HENCH by Natalie Zina Walschots
WHITE TEARS/BROWN SCARS: How White Feminism Betrays Women of Color, by Ruby Hamad
THE END OF THE DAY by Bill Clegg
A DEADLY EDUCATION by Naomi Novik
LibraryReads
LibraryReads Top Pick: THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LaRUE by V. E. Schwab
BLACK SUN by Rebecca Roanhorse
CONFESSIONS ON THE 7:45 by Lisa Unger
GOODNIGHT BEAUTIFUL by Aimee Molloy
LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND by Rumaan Alam
Target Book Club
THE OTHER PEOPLE by C. J. Tudor
Pennie's Pick (Costco)
THE STATIONERY SHOP by Marjan Kamali
Barnes & Noble Book Club
LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND by Rumaan Alam
Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club
HIS ONLY WIFE by Peace Adzo Medie
Jenna Bush Hager's "Read with Jenna" Today Show Book Club
LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND by Rumaan Alam
"Good Morning America" Book Club
THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY by Matt Haig
PBS NewsHour-New York Times “Now Read This” Book Club
HELPING CHILDREN SUCCEED: What Works and Why, by Paul Tough
Simon & Schuster's Book Club Favorites
WHEN WE WERE VIKINGS by Andrew David MacDonald
Our Most Popular Book Group Selections for September’s "What's Your Book Group Reading This Month?" Contest
October’s New in Paperback Roundups
on Bookreporter.com
October's roundup of New in Paperback fiction titles on Bookreporter.com includes NINTH HOUSE by Leigh Bardugo, a mesmerizing tale of power, privilege and dark magic set among the Ivy League elite; GRAND UNION, Zadie Smith's debut short story collection, which is about time and place, identity and rebirth, the persistent legacies that haunt our present selves and the uncanny futures that rush up to meet us; A MRS. MIRACLE CHRISTMAS, an uplifting holiday tale from Debbie Macomber, whose beloved protagonist, Mrs. Miracle, shows an ordinary family that they are blessed beyond belief; IMAGINARY FRIEND, Stephen Chbosky's first novel since 1999's THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER, an epic work of literary horror about a young boy who is haunted by a voice in his head; and Nancy Thayer's LET IT SNOW, in which a Nantucket shopkeeper discovers that Christmas is the perfect occasion to make unexpected friendships, warm the coldest of hearts, and maybe even find love.
Among our nonfiction highlights are ME, the first and only official autobiography of music icon Elton John, who reveals the truth about his extraordinary life --- from his rollercoaster lifestyle as shown in the film Rocketman, to becoming a living legend; HOME WORK, a follow-up to Julie Andrews' critically acclaimed memoir, HOME, in which she reflects on her astonishing career, including such classics as Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music and Victor/Victoria; MAKE IT SCREAM, MAKE IT BURN, an essay collection from Leslie Jamison that explores the oceanic depths of longing and the reverberations of obsession; and Susan Ronald's CONDÉ NAST: The Man and His Empire, the first biography in over 30 years of Condé Nast, the pioneering publisher of Vogue and Vanity Fair and main rival to media magnate William Randolph Hearst.
Find out what's New in Paperback for the weeks of
October 5th, October 12th, October 19th and October 26th.
Bookreporter.com Bets On:
CONFESSIONS ON THE 7:45 by Lisa Unger
CONFESSIONS ON THE 7:45 by Lisa Unger (Psychological Thriller)
CONFESSIONS ON THE 7:45 by Lisa Unger opens with a frazzled Selena boarding a commuter train home that has her behind schedule --- and then the train gets stuck in a tunnel. During this frustrating delay, she turns to the woman next to her and they start chatting. At first it’s idle chatter, but then her seatmate reveals that she is having an affair with her boss. This emboldens Selena to blurt out that her husband, Graham, is having an affair with their nanny, Geneva. Between them, they establish the kind of instant intimacy that often happens when in a confined space like this. I confess that I have been in dishy conversations on more than one airplane!
They part ways, presumably never to see each other again. But the next day Geneva disappears, and a woman named Martha starts texting Selena referencing their conversation on the train. But wait, Selena does not remember exchanging contact information with the stranger. So what is going on?
- Click here to read our review on Bookreporter.com.
- Click here to watch Carol's "Bookreporter Talks To" interview with Lisa Unger.
- Click here to listen to a podcast of the interview.
Click here to read more of Carol's commentary.
From left to right: Alice Hoffman, Matthew McConaughey, Rumaan Alam
Upcoming Virtual Book and Author Events
As so many book and author events are happening online these days, we are highlighting a number of them that you may be interested in attending. Click on the links below for more info and to register.
October 5-25: Boston Book Festival
Here are some virtual author panels you may want to attend. Click here for the full schedule.
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Friday, October 23rd at 6pm ET: Fiction at the End of the World: Lydia Millet (A CHILDREN'S BIBLE), Jenny Offill (WEATHER)
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Saturday, October 24th at 11:45am ET: Fiction: Don't Look Behind You: Stephen Chbosky (IMAGINARY FRIEND), Joe Hill (FULL THROTTLE), Paul Tremblay (SURVIVOR SONG), Jen Waite (SURVIVAL INSTINCTS)
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Sunday, October 25th at 1pm ET: Fiction: Witches and Other Bad Heroines: Quan Barry (WE RIDE UPON STICKS), emily m. danforth (PLAIN BAD HEROINES), Layne Fargo (THEY NEVER LEARN), Alix E. Harrow (THE ONCE AND FUTURE WITCHES)
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Sunday, October 25th at 3:45pm ET: Homeland Elegies: Ayad Akhtar (HOMELAND ELEGIES)
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Sunday, October 25th at 6pm ET: Memoir: Extraordinary Beginnings (pre-recorded): Mikel Jollett (HOLLYWOOD PARK), Megan Margulies (MY CAPTAIN AMERICA), Honor Moore (OUR REVOLUTION)
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Sunday, October 25th at 6pm ET: Memoir: Secrets, Lies, and the Mysteries of Our Youth (pre-recorded): Betsy Bonner (THE BOOK OF ATLANTIS BLACK), Nick Flynn (THIS IS THE NIGHT OUR HOUSE WILL CATCH FIRE), Helen Fremont (THE ESCAPE ARTIST)
Tuesday, October 20th at 7pm ET: Barnes & Noble Virtual Event: Barnes & Noble welcomes Academy Award–winning actor Matthew McConaughey for a live virtual event to discuss GREENLIGHTS, his unconventional memoir filled with raucous stories, outlaw wisdom and lessons learned the hard way about living with greater satisfaction. He will be in conversation with special guest Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
Tuesday, October 20th at 9pm ET: Powell's Books Virtual Event: Powell’s presents a virtual event with Alice Hoffman, who will discuss her new novel, MAGIC LESSONS: The Prequel to Practical Magic. She will be in conversation with Ann Leary, author of THE CHILDREN and OUTTAKES FROM A MARRIAGE.
Wednesday, October 21st at 3pm ET: Warwick's Virtual Event: Warwick's will host John Grisham as he discusses his new book, A TIME FOR MERCY, and answers YOUR questions. Submit your question here.
Wednesday, October 21st at 7pm ET: "Friends and Fiction": Every Wednesday, Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel, Kristy Woodson Harvey, Patti Callahan Henry and Mary Alice Monroe talk books and writing on their "Friends and Fiction" Facebook group page. Their special guest will be Elizabeth Berg, who will talk about her upcoming memoir, I'LL BE SEEING YOU.
Wednesday, October 21st at 9pm ET: Live Talks Los Angeles Virtual Event: Academy Award–winning actor Matthew McConaughey will be in conversation with John Grisham discussing his memoir, GREENLIGHTS.
Tuesday, October 27th at 2pm ET: Simon & Schuster's Book Club Favorites Online Event: Andrew David MacDonald will join members of the Simon & Schuster team for a Facebook Live Book Club chat about WHEN WE WERE VIKINGS, which is now in paperback and is this month's pick for S&S's Book Club Favorites.
Tuesday, October 27th at 7pm ET: Barnes & Noble Virtual Book Club Event: Barnes & Noble will host a Facebook Live discussion for their October book club pick, LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND, featuring author Rumaan Alam.
Wednesday, October 28th at 7pm ET: "Friends and Fiction": The "Friends and Fiction" authors will talk books and writing on their "Friends and Fiction" Facebook group page.
Thursday, October 29th at 6pm ET: Brookline Brooksmith Virtual Event: Join Brookline Brooksmith for Sophie Kinsella's sole US-based event and celebrate LOVE YOUR LIFE, in conversation with Elin Hilderbrand, whose latest novel is TROUBLES IN PARADISE.
"Bookreporter Talks To" Videos & Podcasts
“Bookreporter Talks To” is a video and podcast series that delivers a long-form, in-depth author interview every week. For years, Carol has moderated book festivals and author events around the country. But we know that readers often do not live where they can attend an author event. Our goal is to bring these author interviews to readers, wherever they may be. Watch on video, or listen as a podcast. (The podcasts include audio excerpts.)
Here are our latest interviews:
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Lisa Jewell (INVISIBLE GIRL) Video | Podcast
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Suzanne Skyvara, the Vice President of Marketing & Editorial at Goodreads, and Danny Feekes, their Managing Editor Video | Podcast
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Lisa Unger (CONFESSIONS ON THE 7:45) Video | Podcast
Other authors we've interviewed include:
Upcoming interviews include:
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Rose Carlyle (THE GIRL IN THE MIRROR)
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Sue Miller (MONOGAMY)
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Aimee Molloy (GOODNIGHT BEAUTIFUL)
Click here for a complete list of our
"Bookreporter Talks To" videos and podcasts.
Enter Bookreporter.com’s 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 October 9th to October 23rd at noon ET, three lucky readers each will be randomly chosen to win a copy of A TIME FOR MERCY by John Grisham and LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND by Rumaan Alam.
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.
- To see reader comments from previous contest periods, click here.
We currently are featuring the following guides on ReadingGroupGuides.com:
THE BOOK OF TWO WAYS by Jodi Picoult (Fiction)
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of SMALL GREAT THINGS and A SPARK OF LIGHT comes a riveting novel about the choices that alter the course of our lives.
DEAR CHILD by Romy Hausmann (Psychological Thriller/Mystery)
A woman held captive finally escapes --- but can she ever really get away? GONE GIRL meets ROOM in this page-turning, #1 internationally bestselling thriller from one of Germany’s hottest new talents.
THE END OF THE DAY by Bill Clegg (Fiction)
Following his acclaimed New York Times bestseller, DID YOU EVER HAVE A FAMILY, Bill Clegg returns with a deeply moving, emotionally resonant second novel about the complicated bonds and breaking points of friendship, the corrosive forces of secrets, the heartbeat of longing, and the redemption found in forgiveness.
HIS ONLY WIFE by Peace Adzo Medie (Fiction)
HIS ONLY WIFE is a witty, smart and moving debut novel about a brave young woman traversing the minefield of modern life with its taboos and injustices, living in a world of men who want their wives to be beautiful, to be good cooks and mothers, to be women who respect their husbands and grant them forbearance.
JACK by Marilynne Robinson (Fiction)
Marilynne Robinson, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Humanities Medal, returns to the world of Gilead with JACK, the latest novel in one of the great works of contemporary American fiction.
JUST LIKE YOU by Nick Hornby (Fiction)
This warm, wise, highly entertaining 21st-century love story is about what happens when the person who makes you happiest is someone you never expected.
LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND by Rumaan Alam (Fiction)
LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND is a magnetic novel about two families, strangers to each other, who are forced together on a long weekend gone terribly wrong.
MAGIC LESSONS: The Prequel to Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman (Historical Fiction/Magical Realism)
In an unforgettable novel that traces a centuries-old curse to its source, beloved author Alice Hoffman unveils the story of Maria Owens, accused of witchcraft in Salem, and matriarch of a line of the amazing Owens women and men featured in PRACTICAL MAGIC and THE RULES OF MAGIC.
THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY by Matt Haig (Fiction)
From the internationally bestselling author of REASONS TO STAY ALIVE and HOW TO STOP TIME comes a dazzling novel about all the choices that go into a life well lived.
MONOGAMY by Sue Miller (Fiction)
MONOGAMY is a brilliantly insightful, engrossing and haunting novel --- about marriage, love, family, happiness and sorrow --- from New York Times bestselling author Sue Miller.
PLAIN BAD HEROINES written by emily m. danforth, with illustrations by Sara Lautman (Gothic Fiction)
The award-winning author of THE MISEDUCATION OF CAMERON POST makes her adult debut with this highly imaginative and original horror-comedy centered on a cursed New England boarding school for girls --- a wickedly whimsical celebration of the art of storytelling, sapphic love and the rebellious female spirit.
Please note that this title, for which we already had the guide when it appeared in hardcover, is now available in paperback:
A SINGLE THREAD by Tracy Chevalier (Historical Fiction)
A SINGLE THREAD by internationally bestselling author Tracy Chevalier is an immersive, moving story of a woman coming into her own at the dawn of the Second World War.
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