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Jill and Ted Have Spent Years Turning Their Brooklyn Brownstone into Their Sanctuary

So when their money runs out, they see only one solution to keep their beloved home and enviable lifestyle: they have to commit a murder.

CITY OF WIDOWS Gives Voices to the Afghan Women at a Crossroads of History

This occasionally terrifying yet ultimately hopeful novel focuses on the women of Afghanistan in the years since the Taliban regained power.

DAD, LOVE, ME is Matthew Quick’s Most Personal and Potent Work to Date

The bestselling author of THE SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK explores the complicated burden of caring for an abusive parent who is dying.

Frances Trades Her Working-Class World for an Elite Maine Lakeside Estate

But during one golden summer, privilege and betrayal turn into a deadly game in Joyce Maynard's new novel, IN WONDERLAND.

We're Giving Away a Different Summer Reading Title on Select Days This Summer

Our latest prize book is CULPABILITY by Bruce Holsinger. The deadline for your entries is Wednesday, August 5th at noon ET.

Latest Features and Contests


Bookreporter.com's 22nd Annual Summer Reading Contests and Feature

Summer is here! At Bookreporter.com, this means it's time for us to share some great summer book picks with our Summer Reading Contests and Feature.

We are hosting a series of 24-hour contests for these titles on select days this summer, so you will have to check the site each day to see the featured prize book and enter to win.

We also are sending a special newsletter to announce the day's title, which you can sign up for here.

Our latest prize book is CULPABILITY by Bruce Holsinger, which is an Oprah's Book Club pick and a Bookreporter.com Bets On selection. The deadline for your entries is Wednesday, August 5th at noon ET.

» Click here to enter the contest.


Special Contest: Enter to Win One of 25 Copies of THE MUNICH AFFAIR by James Patterson and David Ellis --- and Share Your Feedback on It

Based on a true story, THE MUNICH AFFAIR is a suspenseful thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling authors James Patterson and David Ellis that spans a century --- set in motion by the murder of Adolf Hitler's young lover by his own hand.

The book --- which will be a Bookreporter.com Bets On selection --- doesn't release until September 21st, but we have 25 copies to give away to those who would like to read it and give us their feedback on it by Monday, September 14th.

The deadline for your entries is Monday, August 17th at noon ET.

» Click here to enter the contest.


Bookreporter.com Bets On: THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING by Lisa Scottoline

THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING by Lisa Scottoline brings Julia Pritzker back in touch with her old friend, Courtney Horan.

As the book opens, Julia is living in Tuscany with her husband, Gianluca Moretti, and her young daughter, Leni. She has reached out to Courtney via FaceTime, anticipating one of their usual catchup conversations as Courtney is driving. Julia asks where she is headed, and Courtney mentions that she is visiting her grandmother, Kay Patterson, who Julia also knows. So she stays on the line to chat.

» Click here to read more of Carol's Bets On commentary.
» Click here to read our review.
» Click here to watch Carol's “Bookreporter Talks To” interview with Lisa Scottoline.
» Click here to listen to a podcast of the interview.


Bookreporter.com Bets On: THE HALF LIFE by Rachel Beanland

THE HALF LIFE is the third Rachel Beanland book that I have selected as a Bets On title. The previous two were FLORENCE ADLER SWIMS FOREVER and THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE, both of which still are memorable. 

In her latest novel, Rachel brings us the story of 23-year-old Eileen O'Malley, who immediately marries a young Navy man she falls for named Paul Archer and accompanies him to La Maddalena, a stunning Mediterranean island off the coast of Sardinia. It's the Atomic Age, and the United States has nuclear submarines stationed there as a precautionary measure in case Italy falls to Communism.

» Click here to read more of Carol's Bets On commentary.
» Click here to read our review.
» Click here to watch Carol's “Bookreporter Talks To” interview with Rachel Beanland.
» Click here to listen to a podcast of the interview.


Bookreporter.com's Word of Mouth Contest: Tell Us What You've Read --- and You Can Win Two Books!

Let us know by Friday, August 7th at noon ET what books you’ve read, and you’ll have a chance to win two upcoming Bookreporter.com Bets On selections in our Word of Mouth contestTHE AMATEUR by Chris Bohjalian and CITY OF WIDOWS by Nadia Hashimi.

When a young woman, a golf prodigy, kills a caddie with a stray ball at the country club, the investigation of this freak accident reveals a dark and shocking tale of secret affairs, predatory men and a teenager on trial in THE AMATEUR.

CITY OF WIDOWS is a gripping, occasionally terrifying, yet ultimately hopeful novel focusing on the women of Afghanistan in the years since the Taliban regained power.

» Click here to enter the contest.

Bookreporter Talks To...

As part of our mission to expand The Book Report Network, we have been shooting video interviews with authors and posting them on our YouTube channel. We also have been making them available as podcasts. Carol loves interviewing authors, so this feels like a natural.

Carol had the pleasure of talking to Ben Reeves about his debut novel, EVERYTHING WAS BEAUTIFUL AND NOTHING HURT, which is a Bets On pick. The book reimagines the Grim Reaper as a compassionate, ordinary man named Travis who spends time with people before they die. Ben notes that he is always personally preoccupied with whether or not he is using his time well, and he wanted to unpack that through storytelling --- encouraging readers to “wake up” by contemplating mortality. He also explains why he brought two characters to the forefront of the story: a midwife and her daughter. Watch the video or listen to the podcast.

LITTLE WONDER, Sophie Chen Keller's latest novel, is an Oprah's Book Club pick and a Bets On title. Song, a migrant worker, and her 11-year-old piano prodigy son, River, are separated in a massive crowd at a Beijing train station on the busiest travel day of the year. The story follows both characters over the years as they search for each other while building separate lives. Sophie describes LITTLE WONDER as being about motherhood, music, and the love between a mother and a child. Her own experiences as a mother and a pianist deeply informed the novel. And yes, Sophie explains what she was doing when she got the call from Oprah. Watch the video or listen to the podcast.

Lisa Scottoline's latest psychological thriller, THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING, is a Bets On selection. It features two best friends, Julia and Courtney, who investigate the murder of Courtney's grandmother in rural Pennsylvania. Lisa describes the novel as the “twistiest” she has ever written, with multiple layers of plot and character development. Lisa says that female friendships are often undervalued despite being a primary source of support through life's challenges. Bennie Rosato, who was in 17 of Lisa's previous novels, adds a third strong female voice and embodies the theme of fighting for justice over mere legal compliance. Watch the video or listen to the podcast.

Carol enjoyed talking to Rachel Beanland about her new novel, THE HALF LIFE, which is a Bets On pick. This is the third time that Carol has interviewed Rachel. Her previous books, FLORENCE ADLER SWIMS FOREVER and THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE, were Bets On titles as well. THE HALF LIFE follows Eileen O'Malley, a 23-year-old from Charleston who marries a naval officer named Paul Archer and moves to La Maddalena, Italy, in 1974. Rachel drew heavily from her own childhood experiences living on La Maddalena as a Navy family member, as well as a 2019 research trip back to the island. Watch the video or listen to the podcast.

» Click here for a complete list of our "Bookreporter Talks To" videos and podcasts, along with upcoming interviews.

Latest Reviews

This story begins when a mother and her daughter take off on a trip. It is a summer of rapidly changing winds, volcanic rumbles and sudden tempests. They’ve landed in Sicily, near the ancient ruins where the mother’s grandmother worked long ago on an archaeological dig. The narrator’s marriage has collapsed, her mother is losing her memory, and her daughter is on the threshold of adolescence, starting to ask difficult questions and form complex memories. How do you begin again? the narrator wonders, pondering her family line. How do you begin again if you got the beginning wrong? While the mother tries to figure out how to reconstruct their lives as a duo, her daughter takes the reins of the story, and their journey soon becomes a quest for origins.

Sea of Charms by Sarah Beth Durst - Fantasy/Romance

Betrayed by love, Marin lives and works as a supply runner, sailing from island to island, delivering an array of goods with Perri the sea serpent and Ree the sailor shrub as her crew. On one of her routine trips to the capital, Alyssium, Marin finds a revolution underway --- and her friend, Dax, in the line of fire. What starts as a rescue evolves into a deal: Marin will keep Dax on as a member of her crew if he pretends to be her boyfriend at the End-of-Harvest Festival back home. But against her better judgment, Marin finds herself intrigued by his stubbornness, his passion for stories, his charming smile --- and realizes that perhaps she isn’t saving him. Maybe it’s the other way around.

The Good Parts by Evann Normandin - Fiction/Magical Realism

When Landon receives a letter from Rose --- the woman he once planned forever with --- he learns that their love story is over. She has undergone a radical memory-erasing treatment, leaving behind her grief, her past...and him. But Landon can't bear to lose the love of his life. Now living in Edinburgh, Rose's world is a blank canvas, and she's dating someone new. When Landon reenters her life as a stranger, they become fast friends. But what Rose doesn’t know is that this new friend carries the weight of everything they once shared. And when she starts exhibiting strange symptoms, it becomes clear their history isn’t gone --- it’s just buried. And remembering could come at a devastating cost.

Angelica Glass spent decades as a social worker helping families struggling with poverty, addiction, abuse and neglect. Needing relief from work-related stress, she turned to walking as an outlet. What began as a way to incorporate more exercise into her busy life transformed into something extraordinary: a years-long odyssey in which Glass drew upon physical exercise, a close observation of the natural world, and long periods of introspection to reconcile with her own past. Between moments of awe as she explored her community and documented what she saw with her camera, she grappled with the turmoil of her early years in a complicated, challenging family, the aging process, long-held insecurities and grief.

Runner by Ashton Lattimore - Historical Fiction

Martha’s Vineyard, 1923. The sea was the gift that kept on giving to Lena Jameson’s father, Earl, a fisherman turned successful rumrunner who built up a small fortune smuggling liquor from offshore ships to thirsty customers back on the island. But when Earl and his entire crew are lost in a mysterious shipwreck that some whisper was no accident, his loved ones are left reeling and penniless. And Lena, who had been on the cusp of a college career in Boston, sees her future slipping away. Desperate to save her family, as well as her own hopes of escaping their small town, Lena decides to take over Earl’s rum-running business. But as buried secrets rise to the surface and the temptations of the glittering underworld pull Lena in deeper, everything she’s fought to protect soon hangs in the balance.

Our Marriage Is Murder by Carol Goodman - Psychological Thriller/Mystery

Fred and Thea Morgan-Lane coauthor the wildly successful Death Takes a Holiday series, and they’ve been invited to the Italian castle where it all began for a mystery conference celebrating their first novel, Death Takes the Castle. But 20 years and 20 books after they met, Thea wants out. Shortly after their arrival at the beautiful Castellarosa, a shocking death takes place when the wrong person drinks a cocktail meant for Thea. Could someone be trying to kill her? When a second death occurs, a disturbing pattern emerges. These deaths aren’t random --- they’re following the murders in Death Takes the Castle exactly. In order to save the day --- and maybe even their marriage --- the unhappy couple will have to work together to figure out who is using their book as a blueprint for a killing spree.

Indie Darling by Lauren Nossett - Mystery/Thriller

Kelly Williams, a private investigator in Nashville, helps women. Her latest client is Sarah Owens, better known as Seraph, the magnetic and polarizing lead singer of the indie sensation The Garden Snakes. After a series of threats turns violent, she hires Kelly to identify her assailant. With feminist anthems, cryptic lyrical Easter eggs, and an electrifying stage presence, Seraph has built a fiercely loyal following --- and attracted a number of critics. At that level of fame, her attacker could be anyone. Then, in the middle of a Nashville performance, Seraph is shot on stage. The ambulance carrying her disappears. As the city reels and conspiracy theories swirl, Kelly is pulled into a dangerous web of secrets involving Seraph’s bandmates, her troubled past, and the high cost of stardom.

The Shadow Step: One taken simultaneously by a pair of dancers facing the same direction, one of them behind and slightly shifted leftwards ("in the shadow"). A perfectly executed shadow step demonstrates synchronized elegance. It showcases a couple in near telepathic harmony with one another. It normally does not end with someone stone-dead in a lake. DS Declan Miller is a magnet for strange cases, but an innocent man confessing to the crime? That’s a first. Things rapidly escalate when the murder that isn’t really a murder attracts the unwanted attention of a drug Queenpin, a deranged ex-squaddie, and a lovesick gangland enforcer. And when a real murder follows --- and a student is kidnapped --- all evidence points back to the same innocent man.

A disgraced intel officer anxious to redeem herself after a disastrous mission, January Holte vows to uncover the identity of a traitor who is selling her agency's secrets. The few clues she's found have led her to a sleepy river town: Lethey, Texas --- and to Bill Connors, the one man who might know the truth. July Whitlock, a rookie bodyguard, searches for his one and only client, who has suddenly disappeared. He follows a trail to Lethey to find his missing protectee: Bill Connors. But Bill's friends and enemies in Lethey have secrets of their own. And as January and July ask questions no one wants to answer, they find a tangled web of murder, greed and ambition --- one that will kill anyone who tries to unravel its mysteries.

Meg Gregory never wanted to return to Tuskin, the small Georgia town in which she grew up. But after her divorce left her wounded, she knew she had to quit running. Now, years later, Meg is bent on hiding from the memories that haunt her. Because she skipped town for a reason, and that reason runs deep. But when Meg's unassuming granddaughter, Lucy, is suddenly charged with the murder of her boyfriend, everything changes. Meg knows Lucy couldn't have done it. As she fights for Lucy's innocence, memories from the past threaten to break free, and she's left to contemplate a different murder, a different dead boy, a different summer under the hot Georgia sun. And soon enough, Meg isn't quite sure what is memory and who is innocent.