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Sooooo Much to Share in This Update!
Get ready! We have so much to share in this update. I think there is something for every book group here.
Announcing Our Special End-of-the-Year Contest!
For all of us at ReadingGroupGuides.com, the official start of the holiday season signals the launch of our year-end contest. Once again, we are asking you and your book group to help us compile our own “Best Books of the Year” list.
Click here to share both your favorite book that you read with your group and your favorite book that you read outside your group this year. One Grand Prize winner will receive six outstanding book group titles releasing in early 2024. We have three historical novels --- FINDING MARGARET FULLER by Allison Pataki, THE STORM WE MADE by Vanessa Chan, and THE WOMEN by Kristin Hannah --- the mystery/thrillers FIRST LIE WINS by Ashley Elston and WHAT HAPPENED TO NINA? by Dervla McTiernan, and the memoir SLOW NOODLES: A Cambodian Memoir of Love, Loss, and Family Recipes by Chantha Nguon with Kim Green.
The deadline for your entries is Wednesday, January 10th at noon ET. We will share our reader-compiled "Best Of" list with you shortly after the contest ends.
Bookreporter’s Contest for Kristin Hannah’s Upcoming Novel --- with a Couple of Fun Additions
You also have a chance to win an advance copy of THE WOMEN in our Bookreporter contest, where 25 winners will share their comments on the book and submit a question for Kristin Hannah that could be asked during a LIVE “Bookreporter Talks To” interview. Scroll further down the newsletter for all the details. The deadline for your entries is Monday, December 4th at noon ET, so be sure to enter the giveaway now before it’s too late.
Our 12 ½ Annual Book Group Speed Dating Event is Now Available for Viewing!
Earlier this month, we hosted our 12 ½ Annual Book Group Speed Dating event for booksellers, librarians, book club leaders and bloggers. Representatives from seven publishers presented more than 35 titles perfect for book groups that will be published between now and next May. You can watch the event here --- and if you would like to hear from a specific publisher, we have included timestamps for each of them.
To learn more about the books, click here to access a PDF of the PowerPoint presentation of the featured titles, as well as an Excel spreadsheet that lists the books both by publisher and alphabetically by title, along with a sheet to take notes. We heard from many attendees who enjoyed the event, including Cathy S., who wrote, “Thank you so much for this fabulous program. I found a number of interesting titles to read and recommend.”
This is your last ReadingGroupGuides newsletter reminder to sign up for this month’s “Bookaccino Live” Book Group event, which will take place THIS Thursday, November 30th at 8pm ET.
Our guest will be Dani Shapiro, and she will be talking about her book, SIGNAL FIRES. Now available in paperback, this Bookreporter.com Bets On selection is a gripping novel about two families bound together across generations by an unspeakable tragedy.
You can register for the event here. If you would like to ask Dani a question about the book on camera during the event and chat with her in our virtual green room before the event, email me with your question using the subject line “Dani” by Thursday at noon ET. Be sure to include your name, city and state, as well as your question. If you do not want to appear on camera but still would like to ask a question, please note that you want to be off camera, and share your question --- adding your name, city and state.
We are so excited to announce our “Bookaccino Live” Best of 2023 event that is scheduled for Wednesday, December 6th at 8pm ET. Join us as some of our Bookreporter reviewers will be talking about their favorite books of the year. If you would like to attend and see some of the faces behind the reviews, you can sign up by clicking here. We are looking forward to what promises to be a really fun evening!
My latest "Bookreporter Talks To" interview is with Tess Gerritsen. Her recently released novel, THE SPY COAST, kicks off a new series, The Martini Club, and is a Bets On title. In this fresh take on the spy thriller, a retired CIA operative in small-town Maine tackles the ghosts of her past.
Tess shares where she got the idea for this book, which has a very interesting origin. She has visited the international locations where the action takes place, and she discusses how she was able to make those scenes feel so authentic. She did not plot the novel in advance, which is surprising when readers see how well it all came together. I think this is her best book yet! Click here to watch the interview or here to listen to the podcast. And my Bets On commentary is here.
This month, we are featuring the discussion guide for Amanda Peters’ much-talked-about debut novel, THE BERRY PICKERS. In it, a four-year-old girl goes missing from the blueberry fields of Maine, sparking a tragic mystery that will remain unsolved for nearly 50 years.
The book won the Barnes & Noble Discover Prize, is Amazon's #2 Best Book of the Year, and is one of three finalists for the Carnegie Medal for Fiction. It also was the top pick from this month’s “Bookaccino Live” book preview event --- the book that our attendees most wanted to read from the 44 titles I presented.
We will be giving away THE BERRY PICKERS in a 24-hour Holiday Cheer contest on Bookreporter starting Tuesday, December 12th at noon ET. Click here for all the details and to learn more about our featured titles.
We also have posted the guide for Mary Kay Andrews’ BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CHRISTMAS, which is a Bets On selection. Filled with family ties, both rekindled and new, and sparkling with Christmas magic, this book delivers everything that MKA fans adore, all tied up in a hilarious, romantic gem of a novel.
According to fellow bestselling author Adriana Trigiani, “Nobody owns Christmas like Santa’s favorite novelist, Mary Kay Andrews. With wit, wisdom and the occasional tangle of tinsel, North Carolina native Kerry Tolliver reinvents her life as she sells Christmas trees from a beloved camper in the glittering heart of New York City. Grab the eggnog and the cookies and cozy up in Greenwich Village with BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CHRISTMAS for big fun.” Find out why I’m betting you’ll love this book here.
We also have added guides for these four books:
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A VERY INCONVENIENT SCANDAL: Stunned by her recently widowed father’s reckless behavior, a young woman must learn to navigate a new world --- where the people she should trust the most have become strangers she cannot trust at all --- in Jacquelyn Mitchard’s new novel.
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MAYBE NEXT TIME: Reese’s Book Club pick for November is part romance and part mystery. This Groundhog Day love story by Cesca Major is about a stressed working mother and literary agent who finds herself trapped in a time loop as she attempts to save her family from calamity.
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THE SUN SETS IN SINGAPORE: In this month’s “Read with Jenna” Today Show Book Club pick, debut novelist Kehinde Fadipe captures the richness of Singapore through the eyes of three tenacious women, who are about to learn that unfinished history can follow you anywhere, no matter how far you run from home.
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BLOOD SISTERS: Vanessa Lillie’s exploration of contemporary Native experiences and injustices, from land rights to cultural identity, is November’s Target Book Club pick. But at its heart, this is a story of missing girls and women, connecting to the larger conversation about the high rate of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two Spirit.
We also continue to feature the guides for Kerry Washington's memoir, THICKER THAN WATER, and Sharon Virts' new historical novel, VEIL OF DOUBT.
Alice McDermott’s new novel, ABSOLUTION, is November’s Barnes & Noble Book Club pick. The renowned winner of the National Book Award has written a riveting account of women’s lives on the margins of the Vietnam War. On Wednesday, December 6th at 3pm ET, B&N will host a live virtual event with Alice, which you can sign up for here.
CLASS is this month’s “Good Morning America” Book Club pick. Stephanie Land wrote about being a struggling mother barely making ends meet as a housecleaner in her book, MAID, which was turned into a hit Netflix series two years ago. Now Stephanie is back with a follow-up memoir, where she takes readers with her as she finishes college and pursues her writing career. Click here for our review on Bookreporter.
In October’s “What’s Your Book Group Reading This Month?” contest, here are the five books mentioned most frequently by book groups that they have read: LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY by Bonnie Garmus, HELLO BEAUTIFUL by Ann Napolitano, REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES by Shelby Van Pelt, HORSE by Geraldine Brooks, and MAD HONEY by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan.
Rounding out the top 15 are DEMON COPPERHEAD by Barbara Kingsolver, THE COVENANT OF WATER by Abraham Verghese, THE MAGNIFICENT LIVES OF MARJORIE POST by Allison Pataki, TRUST by Hernan Diaz, TOM LAKE by Ann Patchett, THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB by Richard Osman, THE PERSONAL LIBRARIAN by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray, LADY TAN'S CIRCLE OF WOMEN by Lisa See, THE RIVER WE REMEMBER by William Kent Krueger, and HOMECOMING by Kate Morton.
Please note that we do not have a “What’s Your Book Group Reading This Month?” prize book for November or December as we know many groups do not meet to discuss books towards the end of the year. We will be back with a new contest in January.
“What to Give, What to Get” is Back on Bookreporter!
After more than a decade-long hiatus, we have brought back our “What to Give, What to Get” feature on Bookreporter. Here you will find seven books in a variety of genres that we think are “reader perfect” suggestions for holiday giving and getting.
Among these titles are the aforementioned BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CHRISTMAS by Mary Kay Andrews and MOTHER-DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT by Nina Simon, a Reese’s Book Club pick that we will be giving away in a Holiday Cheer contest THIS Thursday, November 30th starting at noon ET.
We received lovely notes (and accompanying photos) from four winners of contests that recently ran on the site.
Two people wrote about winning copies of the aforementioned MAD HONEY by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan for their groups.
Monica J. from Round Rock, TX said, “I was thrilled to receive your email informing me that I had won the ‘What's Your Book Group Reading This Month?’ feature. I have been a fan of Jodi Picoult for a long time and have had MAD HONEY on my TBR list for a while. I received a copy of the book yesterday. I look forward to reading it and telling my book groups my thoughts on the book. Thanks so much for the book and also for your newsletter. I really appreciate your newsletters and all of the book information and reviews.”
Another winner wrote on Facebook, “I just wanted to thank you so much for the copies of MAD HONEY! We have a small but mighty group of four ladies who have been meeting for about 15 years, and I got to play book fairy last night. We were all thrilled! I love all of your newsletters and author interviews, and I have become a devoted fan of ‘Bookaccino Live’ too! Attached is a photo of us with our treasure (I’m top left). Thanks again!”
Beth S. from Oak Park, IL said, “I wanted to thank you and ReadingGroupGuides for the 12 copies of FELLOWSHIP POINT by Alice Elliott Dark that I won. I also attended your author talk with Alice where I learned she was willing to talk to book clubs. She attended our book club meeting last night and was gracious and generous with her time. We gained some new insights into the book from her. I forgot to take a picture before she signed off, but I have attached a picture of our hybrid meeting with everyone holding copies of the book. Thanks for all you do and all the reading pleasure you bring to me and my book club! Everyone really loved having the author there, and you facilitated that with your author talks.”
Mabel P. from Lakewood, CO had this to say: “A few months ago, I won THE LAST THING HE TOLD ME by Laura Dave from the ReadingGroupGuides contest ‘What’s Your Book Group Reading?’ I was so excited to share this with my book club, but we had several book club kits come in from the library, so I waited until we didn't have a book set up to surprise my fellow club members. It was so much fun to hand out the books and share how I won them. We all felt like it was Christmas. Thank you for doing these contests. Several people asked about the website, and I think I may have added to your readership (at least I hope so!). I also shared with them the ‘Bookaccino Live’ events you do every month.”
We love to hear from our readers. We love when you spread the word about our websites and newsletters. And we love to “see you” at our events. Here’s hoping that your next book group meeting is inspiring!
Carol Fitzgerald ([email protected])
P.S. For those of you who shop online, if you use the store links that appear on our site for shopping, ReadingGroupGuides.com gets a small affiliate fee on your purchases from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and IndieBound. As you check out the discussion guides and various features on our site, we would appreciate your considering this as you buy!
New Special Contest:
Share Your Favorite Books of 2023
and Enter to Win SIX Outstanding Book Group Titles Releasing in 2024!
This is the time of year when we start seeing “Best Books of the Year” lists. We would like you and your book group to help us compile ours by entering our special End-of-the-Year contest!
All you have to do is fill out this form, sharing both your favorite book that you discussed with your group and your favorite book that you read outside your group in 2023, by Wednesday, January 10th at noon ET.
One Grand Prize winner will be awarded SIX fabulous book group titles releasing in early 2024:
Please note: Your favorite book that you discussed with your group CAN be the same as your favorite book that you read outside your group. And they don't need to have been published in 2023. Also, please be careful with the spelling of book titles and authors’ first and last names to save us editing time.
We will share our reader-compiled "Best Of" list with you shortly after the contest ends. We cannot wait to see what you select!
Click here to share your favorite books of 2023 and enter the contest.
ReadingGroupGuides.com’s 12 ½ Annual Book Group Speed Dating Event: Great Books for Book Groups
New Special Contest on Bookreporter.com:
Enter to Win One of 25 Advance Copies of
THE WOMEN by Kristin Hannah
Share Your Feedback on the Book
and Ask Kristin a Question!
From master storyteller Kristin Hannah, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of THE NIGHTINGALE, THE GREAT ALONE and THE FOUR WINDS, comes the story of a turbulent, transformative era in America: the 1960s.
We are giving 25 readers the chance to win an advance copy of THE WOMEN. All winners must be prepared to provide feedback on the book and share a question for Kristin by Monday, January 8th. Carol will ask Kristin some of these questions during a live "Bookreporter Talks To" interview after the book's February 6th release. The winners also will be given the option of appearing on camera to share their question with Kristin.
To enter, please fill out this form by Monday, December 4th at noon ET.
THE WOMEN by Kristin Hannah (Historical Fiction)
“Women can be heroes, too.” When 20-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these unexpected words, it is a revelation. Raised on idyllic Coronado Island and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing and being a good girl. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly imagines a different choice for her life. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she impulsively joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path. As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is overwhelmed by the chaos and destruction of war, as well as the unexpected trauma of coming home to a changed and politically divided America.
- Click here to visit Kristin Hannah's website.
Click here to enter the contest.
New Guide: THE BERRY PICKERS by Amanda Peters
THE BERRY PICKERS by Amanda Peters (Fiction)
July 1962. A Mi’kmaq family from Nova Scotia arrives in Maine to pick blueberries for the summer. Weeks later, four-year-old Ruthie, the family’s youngest child, vanishes. She is last seen by her six-year-old brother, Joe, sitting on a favorite rock at the edge of a berry field. Joe will remain distraught by his sister’s disappearance for years to come. In Maine, a young girl named Norma grows up as the only child of an affluent family. Her father is emotionally distant, her mother frustratingly overprotective. Norma is often troubled by recurring dreams and visions that seem more like memories than imagination. As she grows older, Norma slowly comes to realize there is something her parents aren’t telling her --- and she will spend decades trying to uncover this family secret.
- Click here to read more about the book.
Click here for the discussion guide.
New Guide: BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CHRISTMAS
by Mary Kay Andrews
A Bookreporter.com Bets On Title
BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CHRISTMAS by Mary Kay Andrews (Romance)
When fall rolls around, it’s time for Kerry Tolliver to leave her family’s Christmas tree farm in the mountains of North Carolina for the wilds of New York City to help her gruff older brother and his dog, Queenie, sell the trees at the family stand on a corner in Greenwich Village. In the weeks leading into Christmas, Kerry quickly becomes close with the charming neighbors who live near their stand. When an elderly neighbor goes missing, Kerry will need to combine her country know-how with her newly acquired New York knowledge to protect the new friends she’s come to think of as family. And complicating everything is Patrick, a single dad raising his son, Austin, on this quirky block. Kerry and Patrick’s chemistry is undeniable, but what chance does this holiday romance really have?
- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to read an excerpt.
- Click here to read Carol's Bookreporter.com Bets On commentary.
- Click here to visit Mary Kay Andrews' website.
Click here for the discussion guide.
New Guide: A VERY INCONVENIENT SCANDAL
by Jacquelyn Mitchard
A VERY INCONVENIENT SCANDAL by Jacquelyn Mitchard (Fiction)
Frankie Attleboro returns home to Cape Cod with thrilling news. She’s met the love of her life, and they’re getting married with a baby on the way. That’s the moment her widowed father makes his own jaw-dropping announcement. At 60, he’s getting married as well, to Frankie’s best friend, Ariel, who is also pregnant, and due soon. As Frankie and Ariel struggle to adjust to their new relationship, Ariel’s estranged mother, Carlotta, returns after a decade-long absence. She claims to be a changed woman. But is she really? And where has she been all these years? Frankie is suspicious, and as Carlotta’s unpredictable behavior intensifies, Frankie must untangle the threads of the past to protect Ariel’s future --- and her own.
- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to read our review on Bookreporter.com.
Click here for the discussion guide.
New Guide: MAYBE NEXT TIME by Cesca Major
Reese’s Book Club Pick for November
MAYBE NEXT TIME by Cesca Major (Fiction)
It is an ordinary Monday, and harried literary agent Emma is flying out of the door. Preoccupied with work and her ever-growing to-do list, she fails to notice that her lovely husband Dan seems bereft, her son can barely meet her eye, and her daughter won’t go near her. As she rushes back through the door for dinner, Dan is still upset. They fight, and he walks out. Just as she realizes it is their anniversary, she hears the screech of brakes. Dan is dead. The next day Emma wakes up…and Dan is alive. It’s Monday again. And again. And again. Emma tries desperately to change the course of fate by doing different things each time she wakes up. But will she have the chance to find herself again, remember what she likes about her job, reconnect with her children and love her husband?
- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to visit the Reese's Book Club website.
Click here for the discussion guide.
New Guide:
THE SUN SETS IN SINGAPORE by Kehinde Fadipe
November’s “Read with Jenna”
Today Show Book Club Pick
THE SUN SETS IN SINGAPORE by Kehinde Fadipe (Fiction)
For Dara, a workaholic lawyer from the UK, Singapore is opportunity. Every day, brokering deals for her firm’s wealthy clientele, she gets closer to her ultimate goal: making partner. For Amaka, a sharp-tongued banker from Nigeria, Singapore is extravagance. Gucci, Prada, Hermès --- she loves nothing more than to luxuriate in the major department stores that call her name on Orchard Road. And for Lillian, a former pianist turned “trailing spouse” from the U.S., Singapore is reinvention. In a stunning apartment with 360° views, the island seems to glitter as far as the eye can see. But complications are looming in the form of an enigmatic stranger, whose presence exposes cracks in Singapore’s beguiling façade.
- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to see why the book is November's "Read with Jenna" pick.
Click here for the discussion guide.
New Guide: BLOOD SISTERS by Vanessa Lillie
November’s Target Book Club Pick
BLOOD SISTERS by Vanessa Lillie (Mystery/Thriller)
As an archaeologist for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Syd Walker spends her days in Rhode Island trying to protect the land's indigenous past. While Syd is dedicated to her job, she’s haunted by a night of violence she barely escaped in her Oklahoma hometown 15 years ago. Though she swore she’d never go back, the past comes calling. When a skull is found near the crime scene of her youth, just as her sister, Emma Lou, vanishes, Syd knows she must return home. She refuses to let her sister's disappearance, or the remains, go ignored --- as so often happens in cases of missing Native women. But not everyone is glad to have Syd home, and she can feel the crosshairs on her. Still, the deeper Syd digs, the more she uncovers about a string of missing indigenous women cases going back decades.
- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to read an excerpt.
Click here for the discussion guide.
Featured Guide:
THICKER THAN WATER by Kerry Washington
THICKER THAN WATER: A Memoir by Kerry Washington (Memoir)
While on a drive in Los Angeles, Kerry Washington received a text message that would send her on a life-changing journey of self-discovery. In an instant, her very identity was torn apart, with everything she thought she knew about herself thrown into question. In THICKER THAN WATER, Washington gives readers an intimate view into both her public and private worlds --- as a mother, daughter, wife, artist, advocate and trailblazer. Chronicling her upbringing and life’s journey thus far, she reveals how she faced a series of challenges and setbacks, effectively hid childhood traumas, met extraordinary mentors, managed to grow her career, and crossed the threshold into stardom and political advocacy, ultimately discovering her truest self and, with it, a deeper sense of belonging.
- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here for discussion questions.
- Click here to read critical praise.
- Click here to visit the book's website.
- Click here to watch a video about the making of the book's cover.
Click here for the featured guide.
Featured Guide: VEIL OF DOUBT by Sharon Virts
A Bookreporter.com Bets On Title
VEIL OF DOUBT by Sharon Virts (Historical Mystery/Thriller)
Emily Lloyd, a young widow in Reconstruction-era Virginia, is accused of poisoning her three-year-old daughter, Maud. Her husband and three other children all died of mysterious illnesses, so when Maud succumbs to an unexplained malady, the town suspects foul play. Soon Mrs. Lloyd is charged not only with poisoning the child but also with murdering her children, her husband and her aunt. Enter Powell Harrison, a soft-spoken, brilliant attorney who recently returned to his Virginia hometown to help his brother manage their late father’s practice. As details about the widow’s erratic behavior and her reclusive neighbors emerge, Harrison begins to suspect that an even more sinister truth might lurk beneath the family’s horrible fate and finds himself irresistibly drawn to the case.
- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here for discussion questions.
- Click here to read an excerpt.
- Click here to read our review on Bookreporter.com.
- Click here to read Carol's Bookreporter.com Bets On commentary.
- Click here to visit Sharon Virts' website.
- Click here to watch Carol's "Bookreporter Talks To" interview with Sharon Virts.
- Click here to listen to a podcast of the interview.
Click here for the featured guide.
New November Releases of Interest to Book Groups
Here are a number of books that released in November for the first time (which we aren't currently featuring on the site or in the newsletter) that we think will be of interest to book groups.
AGAIN AND AGAIN by Jonathan Evison (Fiction)
From one of America’s greatest, most creative novelists comes AGAIN AND AGAIN, a poignant and endlessly surprising story about love lost, found and redeemed.
THE BALL AT VERSAILLES by Danielle Steel (Historical Fiction)
Four American debutantes attend a renowned Paris cotillion in #1 New York Times bestselling author Danielle Steel’s captivating new novel.
CLASS: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education by Stephanie Land (Memoir)
From the New York Times bestselling author who inspired the hit Netflix series about a struggling mother barely making ends meet as a housecleaner comes a gripping memoir about college, motherhood, poverty and life after MAID.
DAY by Michael Cunningham (Fiction)
From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of THE HOURS comes a “quietly stunning” (Ocean Vuong) exploration of love and loss, the struggles and limitations of family life --- and how we all must learn to live together and apart.
THE FICTION WRITER by Jillian Cantor (Gothic Mystery)
Jillian Cantor's THE FICTION WRITER follows a writer hired by a handsome billionaire to write about his family history with Daphne du Maurier and finds herself drawn into a tangled web of obsession, marital secrets and stolen manuscripts.
THE LITTLE LIAR by Mitch Albom (Historical Fiction)
Beloved bestselling author Mitch Albom returns with a powerful novel that moves from a coastal Greek city during the Holocaust, to America, where the intertwined lives of three survivors are forever changed by the perils of deception and the grace of redemption.
THE MYSTERY GUEST: A Maid Novel by Nita Prose (Mystery)
A new mess. A new mystery. It’s up to Molly the maid to uncover the truth, no matter how dirty, in this stand-alone novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of THE MAID, a "Good Morning America" Book Club pick.
THE VULNERABLES by Sigrid Nunez (Fiction)
THE VULNERABLES offers a meditation on our contemporary era, as a solitary female narrator asks what it means to be alive at this complex moment in history and considers how our present reality affects the way a person looks back on her past.
WE MUST NOT THINK OF OURSELVES by Lauren Grodstein (Historical Fiction)
Inspired by the testimony-gathering project with the code name Oneg Shabbat, New York Times bestselling author Lauren Grodstein draws readers into the lives of people living on the edge.
THE WISHING BRIDGE by Viola Shipman (Fiction)
With unabashed winter charm, THE WISHING BRIDGE sparkles with the humor and heart that fans of Kristy Woodson Harvey, Nancy Thayer and Jenny Colgan love most.
Bookreporter.com's Holiday Cheer Contests and Feature
This year, we at Bookreporter.com kick off the holiday season in style with three Holiday Cheer contests. Our prize books are THE BERRY PICKERS by Amanda Peters, THE JOLLIEST BUNCH: Unhinged Holiday Stories by Danny Pellegrino, and MOTHER-DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT by Nina Simon.
Our 24-hour contest for MOTHER-DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT will go live on Thursday, November 30th at noon ET. Five readers will win a copy of the book. If you would like to receive a special Holiday Cheer newsletter alerting you to this giveaway, you can sign up for it here.
The contest for THE BERRY PICKERS will be up on Tuesday, December 12th at noon ET. You can see the five winners of THE JOLLIEST BUNCH here.
THE BERRY PICKERS by Amanda Peters (Fiction)
A four-year-old Mi’kmaq girl goes missing from the blueberry fields of Maine, sparking a mystery that will haunt the survivors, unravel a family and remain unsolved for nearly 50 years.
THE JOLLIEST BUNCH: Unhinged Holiday Stories by Danny Pellegrino (Humor/Essays)
From the New York Times bestselling author of HOW DO I UN-REMEMBER THIS? and host of the hit podcast "Everything Iconic with Danny Pellegrino" comes a collection of tragically hilarious holiday mishaps.
MOTHER-DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT by Nina Simon (Mystery)
Nothing brings a family together like a murder next door. MOTHER-DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT is a lighthearted whodunnit about a grandmother-mother-daughter trio of amateur sleuths. Think "Gilmore Girls" but with murder.
Click here to read all the contest details
and learn more about our featured titles.
Bookreporter.com’s “What to Give, What to Get” Guide: “Reader Perfect” Suggestions
for Holiday Giving and Getting
We at Bookreporter.com know that readers crave ideas for gift-giving --- and getting --- at the holidays. With this in mind, we're offering a "What to Give, What to Get" Guide with "Reader Perfect" suggestions. We have book ideas for everyone on your holiday list. And while you're looking for gifts for others, may we suggest you jot down notes for books YOU want? Let the shopping begin!
Our featured titles are:
Click here to see our "What to Give, What to Get" Guide.
From left to right: Stephanie Land, Dani Shapiro, Alice McDermott
Upcoming Virtual Book and Author Events
Here are 10 upcoming virtual book and author events that you may be interested in attending. Click on the links for more info and to register.
Tuesday, November 28th at 8:30pm ET: Book Passage: Stephanie Land will be in conversation with May-lee Chai about her new book, CLASS, a gripping memoir about college, motherhood, poverty and life after her bestseller, MAID, which inspired the hit Netflix series.
Wednesday, November 29th at 1pm ET: Simon & Schuster's Book Club Favorites: Nancy Jooyoun Kim will join members of the Simon & Schuster team to discuss her new novel, WHAT WE KEPT TO OURSELVES, which is November's pick for S&S's Book Club Favorites.
Wednesday, November 29th at 7pm ET: "Friends and Fiction": The "Friends and Fiction" authors --- Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel, Kristy Woodson Harvey and Patti Callahan Henry --- will talk to Ariel Lawhon about her new novel, THE FROZEN RIVER, a gripping historical mystery inspired by the life and diary of Martha Ballard, a renowned 18th-century midwife who defied the legal system and wrote herself into American history.
Thursday, November 30th at 8pm ET: "Bookaccino Live" Book Group: Carol Fitzgerald will talk to Dani Shapiro about her novel, SIGNAL FIRES, a Bookreporter.com Bets On pick that is now available in paperback. Dani also will answer questions from guests who will be "on stage," as well as from other members of the audience. If you would like to be one of our featured audience guests and ask Dani a question on camera, please send Carol an email with the subject line “Dani” by November 30th at noon ET.
Monday, December 4th at 4pm ET: Barnes & Noble: Join Barnes & Noble as they welcome New York Times bestselling author Mary Kay Andrews for a live virtual discussion of BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CHRISTMAS, a novella celebrating love and the warm, glittering charm of the holiday season. Mary Kay will be in conversation with Adriana Trigiani, the New York Times bestselling author of 20 books of fiction and nonfiction, most recently THE GOOD LEFT UNDONE.
Tuesday, December 5th at 4pm ET: Book Passage: Alice McDermott and Lisa Gornick will talk about their latest novels: Alice's ABSOLUTION, a riveting account of women’s lives on the margins of the Vietnam War, and Lisa's ANA TURNS, a kaleidoscopic story that unspools over the 24 hours of a very contemporary woman's 60th birthday.
Wednesday, December 6th at 3pm ET: Barnes & Noble Book Club: Join Barnes & Noble as they welcome Alice McDermott for a live virtual event to discuss ABSOLUTION, November's B&N Book Club pick. She will be in conversation with Shannon DeVito, the Sr. Director of Book Strategy and Customer Experience at B&N, and Miwa Messer, the host and Executive Producer of B&N's “Poured Over” podcast.
Wednesday, December 6th at 7pm ET: "Friends and Fiction": The "Friends and Fiction" authors will talk to Tessa Bailey about her new novel, WRECK THE HALLS, a sexy, hilarious stand-alone holiday rom-com about the adult children of two former rock stars who team up to convince their estranged mothers to play a Christmas Eve concert.
Wednesday, December 6th at 8pm ET: "Bookaccino Live" Reviewer Event: Join us for a special “Bookaccino Live” evening event as some of our Bookreporter reviewers share their favorite books of 2023.
Wednesday, December 13th at 7pm ET: "Friends and Fiction": Join the "Friends and Fiction" authors for a special Christmas show. Stay tuned for all the festive details!
"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 is our latest interview:
Other authors we've interviewed include:
Upcoming interviews include:
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Douglas Brunt (THE MYSTERIOUS CASE OF RUDOLF DIESEL: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I)
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Gilly Macmillan (THE MANOR HOUSE)
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Nita Prose (THE MYSTERY GUEST: A Maid Novel)
Click here for a complete list of our
"Bookreporter Talks To" videos and podcasts.
We currently are featuring the following guides on ReadingGroupGuides.com:
AMERICA FANTASTICA by Tim O’Brien (Fiction/Satire)
The author of THE THINGS THEY CARRIED delivers his first new novel in two decades, a brilliant and rollicking odyssey, in which a bank robbery sparks “a satirical romp through a country plagued by deceit” (Kirkus, starred review).
THE BERRY PICKERS by Amanda Peters (Fiction)
A four-year-old Mi’kmaq girl goes missing from the blueberry fields of Maine, sparking a mystery that will haunt the survivors, unravel a family and remain unsolved for nearly 50 years.
BLOOD SISTERS by Vanessa Lillie (Mystery/Thriller)
BLOOD SISTERS is a visceral and compelling mystery about a Cherokee archaeologist for the Bureau of Indian Affairs who is summoned to rural Oklahoma to investigate the disappearance of two women...one of them her sister.
BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CHRISTMAS by Mary Kay Andrews (Romance)
From Mary Kay Andrews, the New York Times bestselling author of THE HOMEWRECKERS and THE SANTA SUIT, comes a novella celebrating love and the warm, glittering charm of the holiday season.
HOW TO SAY BABYLON: A Memoir by Safiya Sinclair (Memoir)
With echoes of EDUCATED and BORN A CRIME, HOW TO SAY BABYLON is the stunning story of Safiya Sinclair’s struggle to break free of her rigid Rastafarian upbringing, ruled by her father’s strict patriarchal views and repressive control of her childhood, to find her own voice as a woman and poet.
LET US DESCEND by Jesmyn Ward (Historical Fiction)
From Jesmyn Ward --- the two-time National Book Award winner, youngest winner of the Library of Congress Prize for Fiction, and MacArthur Fellow --- comes a haunting masterpiece, sure to be an instant classic, about an enslaved girl in the years before the Civil War.
MAYBE NEXT TIME by Cesca Major (Fiction)
One Day meets Groundhog Day in this heartwarming and emotionally poignant novel about a stressed woman who must relive the same day over and over, keeping her family and work life from imploding as she attempts to spare her husband from an unfortunate fate.
MY DARLING GIRL by Jennifer McMahon (Psychological/Supernatural Thriller)
The New York Times bestselling author of THE DROWNING KIND and THE CHILDREN ON THE HILL returns with a spine-tingling psychological thriller about a woman who, after taking in her dying, alcoholic mother, begins to suspect that demonic possession is haunting her family.
THE SISTERHOOD: The Secret History of Women at the CIA by Liza Mundy (History)
The acclaimed author of CODE GIRLS returns with a “rip-roaring” (Steve Coll) history of three generations at the CIA, “electric with revelations” (Booklist) about the women who fought to become operatives, transformed spycraft and tracked down Osama bin Laden.
THE SUN SETS IN SINGAPORE by Kehinde Fadipe (Fiction)
Basking in Singapore’s nonstop sunshine, Dara, Amaka and Lillian are living the glamorous expat dream --- until a mysterious (not to mention handsome) new arrival infiltrates their tight-knit community and ruins everything.
THICKER THAN WATER: A Memoir by Kerry Washington (Memoir)
In her instant New York Times bestselling memoir, award-winning actor, director, producer and activist Kerry Washington shares the "exquisitely moving” journey of her life so far (Isabel Wilkerson) and the bravely intimate story of discovering her truth.
VEIL OF DOUBT by Sharon Virts (Historical Mystery/Thriller)
When a mother is charged with murder in a town already convinced of her guilt, can defense attorney Powell Harrison find truth and justice in a legal system where innocence is not presumed?
A VERY INCONVENIENT SCANDAL by Jacquelyn Mitchard (Fiction)
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Jacquelyn Mitchard comes a page-turning family drama that explores the emotional consequences of loyalty, deception and jealousy.
Please note that these titles, for which we already had the guides when they appeared in hardcover, are now available in paperback:
THE NIGHT TRAVELER by Armando Lucas Correa (Historical Fiction)
Four generations of women experience love, loss, war and hope from the rise of Nazism to the Cuban Revolution and, finally, the fall of the Berlin Wall in this sweeping novel from the bestselling author of THE GERMAN GIRL.
SAM by Allegra Goodman (Fiction)
What happens to a girl’s sense of joy and belonging --- to her belief in herself --- as she becomes a woman? This unforgettable portrait of coming-of-age offers subtle yet powerful reflections on class, parenthood, addiction, lust and the irrepressible power of dreams.
THE VILLA by Rachel Hawkins (Gothic Thriller)
From New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins comes a deliciously wicked gothic suspense, set at an Italian villa with a dark history, for fans of Lucy Foley and Ruth Ware.
WE ARE THE LIGHT by Matthew Quick (Fiction)
From Matthew Quick, the New York Times bestselling author of THE SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, comes a poignant and hopeful novel about a widower who takes in a grieving teenager and inspires a magical revival in their small town.
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