ANOTHER LETTER FROM GERALDINE

Oh yes, Geraldine and I are pen pals!! Here's her latest letter...

Dear Joyce, My new novel, The Secret Chord, will be published October 6th. These last few days are unsettled ones for me. The book is finished, in the warehouses, gone beyond my reach. What happens next is up to you. I'm hoping for that magical connection, that moment when something I've written grips you and carries you away. This time the journey reaches deep into the past—Second Iron Age Israel—and into the hidden recesses of one of the most passionate and mysterious hearts in literature. King David shimmers between history and myth. He loves ardently, fights viciously, creates great art, forges a nation, loses his children: in short, everything happens to him. I've imagined him through the eyes of Natan, the prophet who foresees his greatness but who also sees his flaws. As a news reporter in the 1990s, I covered the lives of women in the Mideast. I found myself remembering those women as I thought about David’s wives, shaping their destinies as best they could in a patriarchal world that allowed them little obvious power. A pleasure of writing the novel was imagining full lives behind the scant sentences about them in the scriptures. Ten years ago, my son asked if he could learn the harp. As I write this, I’m listening to him play an arrangement of Leonard Cohen’s "Hallelujah," and thinking of all the ways this enigmatic and charismatic king from three thousand years ago continues to inspire. Hoping you, too, will be inspired.  Geraldine Brooks

HAPPY BLOGOVERSARY!

Really?!! You've been blogging for FOUR years!!!

Yes! It's my BLOGOVERSARY...Thankyou to all my followers and page viewers...all 57,000 of you!
Thankyou for your comments and feedback...Thankyou to Bookreporter.com, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, Bookish and of course Amazon for continually keeping me updated and ahead of the game. But most of all, thankyou to all blog readers for your support and love of books. Looking forward to another year of great reads!

AVENUE OF MYSTERIES (SEPTEMBER 2015)

It won't be out until November but definitely worth the wait. The world according to John...and now he has a new one, Avenue of Mysteries. Put this book on your must-read list ...you're in for a treat.

 

Avenue of Mysteries

The world according to John

If you’ve been obsessed with John Irving since The World According to Garp, then you certainly aren’t alone. While early reviews aren’t putting Avenue of Mysteries on quite the same level as Irving’s prior blockbusters, no fan should pass up the opportunity to immerse him- or herself in this engrossing saga. Familiar themes of sex and death permeate this tale about a writer named Juan Diego, who has journeyed far and wide to find success, and must grapple with his own impending end. Viagra, lust, and music abound in John Irving’s latest.

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO IS ALIVE AND WELL (SEPTEMBER 2015)

I have read all of Steig Larsson's books and am elated to hear that author David Lagercrantz is continuing the Larsson legacy.  Charismatic character Mikael Blomkvist remains the prominent force along with Lisbeth Salander. Lagercrantz has created a thriller almost as good as the original trilogy. Joe Hartlaub reviews The Girl In the Spider's Web in the latest Bookreporter.com....

THE GIRL IN THE SPIDER'S WEB: A Lisbeth Salander Novel by David Lagercrantz (Thriller) Late one night, Mikael Blomkvist receives a phone call from a source claiming to have information vital to the United States. The source has been in contact with a young female superhacker --- a hacker resembling someone Blomkvist knows all too well. The implications are staggering. Blomkvist, in desperate need of a scoop for Millennium, turns to Lisbeth Salander for help. The secret they are both chasing is at the center of a tangled web of spies, cybercriminals and governments around the world, and someone is prepared to kill to protect it. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub. Recently Andrea D, a friend and blog reader mentioned a new book by Linda Hirshman. The clever title caught my attention (It was easy to remember which is a huge plus! ) and a biography of these two judges seemed like a formula for a best seller...and indeed it will be.  However, the reviewer had some disparaging comments which caused some reflection...See what you think.... The following review is from www.bookreporter.com SISTERS IN LAW: How Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Went to the Supreme Court and Changed the World by Linda Hirshman (Biography) The relationship between Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg transcends party, religion, region and culture. Strengthened by each other’s presence, these groundbreaking judges, the first and second to serve on the highest court in the land, have transformed the Constitution and America itself, making it a more equal place for all women. Linda Hirshman’s dual biography includes revealing stories of how these trailblazers fought for their own recognition in a male-dominated profession. Reviewed by Maya Gittelman.

GET READY FOR THIS! (SEPTEMBER 2015)

Thirteen Ways of Looking by Colum McCann

Colum McCann

 

 

Acclaimed National Book Award–winning author Colum McCann returns withThirteen Ways of Looking, a short fiction collection containing three short stories and a novella. McCann’s characters in this new work — whether nuns or judges or writers — are mostly ordinary people encountering extraordinary situations often touched by loss. Powerful, profound, and deeply empathetic, McCann’s beautifully wrought writing in Thirteen Ways of Looking glides off the page. (Buzzfeed Books)

Pre-order from this Blog. Click on the Amazon Search Box in the Sidebar.

HOT OFF THE PRESS (SEPTEMBER 2015)

Hot off the presses from Kirkus Reviews, two most talked about new releases debuting soon. I am a fan of Geraldine Brooks, her books, and the wonderful life she leads on Martha's Vineyard. She's an integral part of this island community, a gifted storyteller, and I wonder when she has the time to write...but write she does, and I'm anxiously awaiting THE SECRET CHORD releasing September 22nd.

Thankyou Kirkus.com and Goodreads for the following comments....

view book	Ghostly by Audrey Niffenegger Release Date: September 29 Collected and introduced by the bestselling author of The Time Traveler's Wife and Her Fearful Symmetry--including Audrey Niffenegger's own fabulous new illustrations for each piece, and a new story by..more
view book	The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks Release Date: September 22 A rich and utterly absorbing novel about the life of King David, from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of People of the Book and Pulitzer Prize winning March. PRE-ORDER FROM AMAZON CLICK ON AMAZON SEARCH BOX IN THE SIDEBAR.

X MARKS THE SPOT (SEPTEMBER 2015)

Two more alphabet letters left and the infamous Sue Grafton's mystery novels will end! For all the fans, including me, hopefully she'll contuinue the adventures of Kinsey!  How about using vowels...or even the Hebrew alphabet... Here's what to expect from her latest....

X by Sue Grafton (Mystery) Perhaps her darkest and most chilling novel, Sue Grafton’s X features a remorseless serial killer who leaves no trace of his crimes. Once again breaking the rules and establishing new paths, Grafton wastes little time identifying this sociopath. The test is whether Kinsey Millhone can prove her case against him before she becomes his next victim. Reviewed by Roz Shea.

STOP AND CLICK! (September 2015)

I like to help unknown authors whenever possible and now you, as a blog reader can also be of assistance just by nominating Author Jenifer B. Stockdale by clicking on the link below.

Jenifer Stockdale was born on Martha's Vineyard and her new novel, A Good Memory to Forget is on Kindle Scout and needs your nominations to get published!  (Kindle Scout is reader-powered publishing for new, never-before-published books. It’s a place where readers help decide if a book gets published)

This novel, which is full of mystery and intrigue will keep you guessing until the very end...and then you'll still be surprised.  I know because I read the early chapters! 

Click on the link, find it under "Mystery and Suspense" and click"nominate me." 

Let's help this aspiring author! And if you nominate her and she gets published, Amazon will gift you with a free e-book copy.

HERE'S THE LINK...CLICK NOW!

https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/3K5WMOW31RKOK 

BLOG READERS SPEAK (AUGUST 2015)

 

Often blog readers send me opinions about books and I welcome the comments. 

Susan G. Of Cape Cod had high praise for Ken Haruf's final novel, OUR SOULS IN THE NIGHT.  Below find a recent review..

OUR SOULS IN THE NIGHT by Kent Haruf

I don’t think there’s a false word in Kent Haruf’s final novel, Our Souls in the Night. Nor, for all the colloquial ease and transparency of the prose and the apparent simplicity of the story, is there a glib word, or a predictable one.

Ordinarily the circumstances of the writing of a novel aren’t of much interest to me as a reader, but in this case, I am moved, even awed, to consider that the book was written while the author was dying. It is a report from the edge of darkness, made in the consciousness of responsibility. Haruf is bearing witness. Having gone farther than we have, he wants to tell us what matters there. His knowledge of his situation, and my knowledge of it as I read the book, made me appreciate the rare privilege of being with a person who is past the need to say anything but what needs to be said.

BARBARA A. is a blog reader from Boston. This scathing review was also posted on Goodreads.com.

HOW TO BUILD A GIRL

by Caitlin Moran

Please save the $17.95, or whatever this horrid book costs, and buy your granddaughter a LEGO set. Together, you can build something far more valuable than this piece of scatological drivel. 

I only finished it so that I could honestly write a review. It's disgusting.

Watch for upcoming Fall releases

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THE MARRIAGE OF OPPOSITES (AUGUST 2015)

I have always been an Alice Hoffman fan and have been anxiously awaiting this new release. Her earlier works were my favorites, whimsical and plaintive on so many levels. Her writing has definitely evolved and The Dovekeepers was a huge success.

In this new novel, Hoffman finds inspiration for her particular brand of magical realism in the Caribbean island of St. Thomas and the personal history of a nonfictional woman named Rachel Pomié, who lived on the colony in the 19th century. 

Rachel begins the story as the headstrong daughter of a French merchant, whose Jewish ancestors came to the New World in pursuit of religious freedom and found refuge under the protection of the King of Denmark, a champion of civil rights who also outlawed slavery on the island. 

THE MARRIAGE OF OPPOSITES by Alice Hoffman

Growing up on idyllic St. Thomas in the early 1800s, Rachel dreams of life in faraway Paris. She is married off to a widower with three children. When her husband dies suddenly and his handsome, much younger nephew, Frédérick, arrives from France to save the family business, all hell  breaks loose. Hoffman turns to actual historical figures, namely Rachel Petit Pizarro and her son, the Impressionist artist Camille Pisarro to tell this wonderful tale.

ANTICIPATING FALL (August 2015)

Publisher's Weekly just announced the most notable books publishing in Fall 2015. I'm anticipating Jonathan Franzen's timely new one and I'm always in the mood for John Irving. 

For more detailed info click on www.publishers weekly.com

As much as I hate to say goodbye to summer, Fall reading looks pretty enticing....

Purity by Jonathan Franzen (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Sept.) - In Franzen’s first novel since Freedom, a young woman follows a German peace activist to South America to intern for his WikiLeaks-like organization.

The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende (Atria, Nov.) - A love story and multigenerational epic encompassing WWII-era Poland and the United States and present-day San Francisco.

Avenue of Mysteries by John Irving (Simon & Schuster, Nov.) - Irving’s 14th novel relates what happens to Juan Diego in the Philippines, and how his past in Mexico collides with his future.

The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante, trans. by Ann Goldstein (Europa, Sept.) - The fourth and final Neapolitan novel solidifies the masterpiece status of Ferrante’s series.

A Strangeness in My Mind by Orhan Pamuk, trans. by Ekin Oklap (Knopf, Oct.) - The latest from the Nobel Prize winner is the tale of an Istanbul street vendor and the love of his life, told from the perspectives of several characters.

WHEN THE MOON IS LOW (JULY 2015)

Following the success of her internationally bestselling debut novel, THE PEARL THAT BROKE ITS SHELL, Nadia Hashimi returns with WHEN THE MOON IS LOW. Set in Kabul during the Taliban’s rise to power, this sophomore effort introduces readers to a happy, middle class man, Mahmoud, and his wife, Fereiba. 

THE PEARL THAT BROKE ITS SHELL was one of my favorite books for 2015. This new one has all the elements of being equally as powerful. Read what Bookreporter.com had to say.

WHEN THE MOON IS LOW by Nadia Hashimi 

Mahmoud's passion for his wife Fereiba, a schoolteacher, is greater than any love she's ever known. But their happy, middle-class world implodes when their country is engulfed in war, and the Taliban rises to power. 

Mahmoud, a civil engineer, becomes a target of the new fundamentalist regime and is murdered. Forced to flee Kabul with her three children, Fereiba has one hope to survive: she must find a way to cross Europe and reach her sister's family in England.

GOOD ONE FROM GOODREADS (JULY 2015)

This is a recommendation for history buffs or wanna-be buffs. Intriguing and loaded with details, Philippa Gregory does her usual job of combining suspense and intrigue in this intimate portrayal of Henry VIII's sixth queen. If you liked Wolf Hall, this is a no-brainier. 

The Taming of The Queen Kateryn Parr, a thirty-year-old widow in a secret affair with a new lover, has no choice when King Henry VIII commands her to marry him—despite the fact that he is old enough to be her father and has already buried four wives Kateryn has no doubt about the danger she faces: Henry’s previous queen lasted sixteen months, the one before barely half a year. But the king adores his new bride and Kateryn’s trust in him grows. But is this enough to keep her safe? "Full of vivid details and fraught with the constant tension of a court run by a madman, this novel will appeal most to historical fiction readers and those who enjoyed Wolf Hall." —Library Journal

BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME (July 2015)

Ta-Nehisi Coates is the National Correspondent for the Atlantic.com. His new book is a 155 page letter to his teenaged son. He writes "Here is what I would like you to know.  In America, it is traditional to destroy the black body-it is heritage." This is a powerful book, not just about race...but a thoughtful, evocative story.....not a beach read, for sure!!!

BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME by Ta-Nehisi Coates (Memoir)
Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race,” a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men --- bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden? BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME is Ta-Nehisi Coates’ attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his son.

(Bookreporter.com)

READ IT OR NOT...JULY 2015

GO SET A WATCHMAN by Harper Lee (Fiction)
Originally written in the mid-1950s, GO SET A WATCHMAN was the novel Harper Lee first submitted to her publishers before TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. Assumed to have been lost, the manuscript was discovered in late 2014. GO SET A WATCHMAN features many of the characters from TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD some 20 years later. Returning home to Maycomb to visit her father, Jean Louise Finch --- Scout --- struggles with issues both personal and political, involving Atticus, society, and the small Alabama town that shaped her.

So much controversy over this novel...Reviews have been mixed, readers are confused and  disillusioned!! What to do???

According to Bookreporter.com, it's definitely worth reading. Let me know...

LOVERS ON ALL SAINTS DAY (JULY 2015)

Juan Gabriel Vasquez, the Columbian writer, best known for his novel THE SOUND OF THINGS FALLING has a new release. It's a collection of brilliantly told short stories with ageless themes and memorable characters. Readers remarked that Vasquez can capture a scene or an emotion with just a few well-chosen phrases....Publishers Weekly commented below....

Lovers on All Saints' Day by Juan Gabriel Vasquez, translated from the Spanish by Anne McLean 

These stories from Vasquez (The Sound of Things Falling) were originally published in Spanish, in 2001, when the Colombian author was in self-imposed exile in Europe and aghast at how “fate or fluke is the name we give to events beyond our control that lay waste to our soaring dreams.” A number of Vasquez’s characters are middle-aged or old, mostly flawed men falling toward solitude at the expense of their lovers and wives. 

Many of the settings are in the forests of the Ardennes, peopled with hunters and fishermen, and impart a kind of foreboding; the metaphors for which Vasquez is celebrated abound: in “Hiding Places,” an immature fish cannot be saved when lured by a callous sportsman; in “The Lodger,” an address book once rejected by a lover contains beautiful maps of places that do not exist. 

The title story tells of a man who agrees to spend All Hallow’s Eve night with a young widow, even donning her dead husband’s pajamas to comfort her. Vasquez charts the internal struggles of small men whose mistakes and betrayals condemn them to a confounding world that repeatedly fails to satisfy, a world about which one character wonders “if everything had a human cause and another random one...”

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BOOK ALERT(JULY 2015)

AMONG THE TEN THOUSAND THINGS by Julia Pierpont is my next read!

Why am I interested in this debut novel by Julia Pierpont? Aside from riveting reviews it sounds like a witty, lucious, smart novel about two middle aged self centered " babies" who want to stay in a dysfunctional marriage for purely selfish reasons. What could be more intriguing? (Rhetorical question...)

So download, buy or whatever you do...it's going be a blockbuster..

LOVE MAY FAIL (JULY 2015)

I just read a great review in the Boston Globe. Evidently Matthew Quick the author of SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK has released a new book titled LOVE MAY FAIL. It sounds like a more complicated storyline but equally as inspiring.

The reviewer said there are lapses, and some sections are a bit uneven, but so what.... Who doesn't like an easy, thoughtful read with laughs and tears along the way? Who doesn't like engaging characters, quirky circumstances and rhythmical prose?  Who doesn't like a little dysfunction as long as it doesn't affect you?  It's all there and then some...Get ready for an interesting ride....

BLOG READER'S SUGGESTIONS

I recently received a call from blog reader Susan G. She is a longtime follower of Joyce's Choices and we seem to share similar views on books and authors. Susan had a few suggestions for  "beach reads"....although in this case, her suggestions have a lot more depth than the label suggests.

Here are two of her favorites....

A SIMPLE PLAN by Scott Smith

An amazing story that will sound like a modern day morality play...This is a debut novel also made into a film. The film and the book were both excellent...for a change!

HALF THE SKY by Nicholas Kristoff and Sheryl WuDunn

This would be a "pseudo" beach read written by New York Times columnist and his wife, a former Times reporter. The book is a call to arms against the oppression of women and girls in the developing world of Africa and Asia. An inspirational book and a must read...on the beach or off!

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WHAT AM I READING AND WHY? (JUNE 2015)

Author Jami Attenberg wrote a book I'll never forget. The title was The MIDDLESTEINS and I couldn't put it down. This new book is not as captivating but Attenberg's unique wit and heart shine through....slow moving at first and a major departure from The MIDDLESTEINS...you'll be caught up in Maizie before you know it. My only critique is the diary form and so many voices, but the writing style makes up for it...it flows.

SAINT MAZIE by Jami Attenberg (Historical Fiction) Mazie Phillips is the truth-telling proprietress of The Venice, the famed New York City movie theater. When the Great Depression hits, she opens the doors of The Venice to those in need, becoming the beating heart of the Lower East Side. More than 90 years after Mazie began her diary, it is discovered by a documentarian in search of a good story. Who was Mazie Phillips, really? A chorus of voices from the past and present fill in some of the mysterious blanks of her adventurous life. Reviewed by Megan Elliott on Bookreporter.com

JUNE BOOKMARKS (2015)

Did you know that Andrew Jackson was a sleaze? Do you care? Well, for history buffs out there, JACKSONLAND depicts our seventh president in not such a good light. According to the editors on Bookpage.com, Jackson left a messy legacy and this lively narrative by award winning journalist, Steve Inskeep of NPR fame, is a page turner.

On a different note, if you were a fan of THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL SOCIETY, you'll want to read Annie Barrow's new book, THE TRUTH ACCORDING TO US. Evoking the same charm, style and appeal, it captivated critics and blog readers alike. It's on the top of my TBR list....

The Truth According to Us By Annie Barrows HISTORICAL FICTION The co-author of the 2008 reader favorite The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society returns with a thoroughly charming small-town story. When a socialite arrives in tiny Macedonia, West Virginia, during the Great Depression to write a town history, she stirs up a whole lot of secrets—and 12-year-old Willa’s life will never be the same. Barrows blends letters and multiple narrators to provide a panoramic view of a community bursting with vivid personalities. Jacksonland By Steve Inskeep HISTORY For now, at least, Andrew Jackson still graces the front of our 20-dollar bill. But the reputation of our seventh president will be jolted by this riveting look at how Old Hickory prevailed in taking land from the Cherokee and enriching himself and his associates in the process. Inskeep, an award-winning journalist and cohost of NPR's "Morning Edition" pairs Jackson's story with the struggles of John Ross, the eloquent Cherokee chief who went all the way to the Supreme Court in a failing effort to hold on to the tribe's ancestral lands.

EVERYTHING I NEVER TOLD YOU (MAY 2015)

My favorite book this year is finally out in paperback! Outstanding prose, vibrant three dimensional characters combine to make this quiet powerful story unforgettable. The subtlle storyline will keep you holding your breathe. From the opening sentence, I could tell I was going to be hooked..am anxiously awaiting a second novel....

EVERYTHING I NEVER TOLD YOU by Celeste Ng (Fiction) “Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet.” So begins this exquisite novel about a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee, and her parents are determined that she will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue. But when Lydia’s body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together is destroyed, tumbling them into chaos. A profoundly moving story of family, secrets and longing, EVERYTHING I NEVER TOLD YOU is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive family portrait, uncovering the ways in which mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives struggle, all their lives, to understand one another. “If we know this story, we haven’t seen it yet in American fiction, not until now.... Deep, heartfelt.” —The New York Times Book Review

WALL STREET JOURNAL PICKS BEST SUMMER NOVELS

I love these authors and can't wait for their new releases! I didn't know that Jami Attenberg was writing another novel. THE MIDDLESTEINS was one of my all time faves and am anticipating another great read. And what can compare to short stories by award winning author, Anne Beattie?

The WSJ is usually right on target, "literally" and financially. So check out their choices...

  

“Saint Mazie”

by Jami Attenberg; June 2

Jami Attenberg, best-selling author of “The Middlesteins,” has written a novel inspired by Mazie P. Gordon, a woman profiled by Joseph Mitchell in the New Yorker in 1940. In the novel, Mazie, a bawdy movie-theater proprietress on New York’s Lower East Side, opens the theater’s doors to the homeless during the Great Depression.

“The State We’re In: Maine Stories”

by Ann Beattie; Aug. 11

This is the first new collection in more than a decade from short-story master Ann Beattie. Three of them are about Jocelyn, a teenager sent for the summer to live with her Uncle Raleigh and dreaded Aunt Bettina Louise Tompkins (BLT for short.)

“The Diver’s Clothes Lie Empty”

by Vendela Vida; June 2

This is the fourth novel from award-winning author Vendela Vida. A woman traveling in Casablanca is robbed of all her money and identification, and takes a job as a stand-in for a movie star.

"THE HAND THAT FEEDS YOU"

by A.J. Rich; July 7

Award-winning authors Amy Hempel and Jill Ciment, writing together under the pen name A.J. Rich, have collaborated on a thriller in tribute to their late friend, Katherine Russell Rich. The story, about a woman who discovers that her fiancé is not who he said he was, is inspired by a real-life experience of Ms. Rich.

Pre-order on Amazon...Click on the Amazon Search Box in the Sidebar.

BUZZING IN THE BOOK WORLD (MAY 2015)

Every once in awhile a book debuts that causes a major buzz amongst book people. A GOD IN RUINS by Kate Atkinson Is buzzing non stop. It's a campanion piece to LIFE AFTER LIFE and it probably helps  if you've read the first one. Reviews have been over the top and the review below by author Tom Perotta says it all....

NEW TIMES REVIEW....

"But then you read a novel like Kate Atkinson’s “A God in Ruins,” a sprawling, unapologetically ambitious saga that tells the story of postwar Britain through the microcosm of a single family, and you remember what a big, old-school novel can do. Atkinson’s book covers almost a century, tracks four generations, and is almost inexhaustibly rich in scenes and characters and incidents. It deploys the whole realist bag of tricks, and none of it feels fake or embarrassing. In fact, it’s a masterly and frequently exhilarating performance by a novelist who seems utterly undaunted by the imposing challenges she’s set for herself."

Sounds like a must read...Is it really, really necessary to read LIFE AFTER LIFE first?  The response is a "yes" by most readers and reviewers.. Do you agree? Leave a comment.....

SUMMER READS (MAY 2015)

Summer is almost here and with its approach comes a selection of books that I'm anxious to read and share. Publisher's Weekly, a trade news magazine compiles a list that usually includes a wide range of choices. Below are some of the new titles....

"Summer is a time to catch up with old friends, like Stephen King, whose Finders Keepers, a new crime fiction novel, follows last summer's  Mr Mercedes. Harper Lee's second book, Go Set a Watchman, arrives after 55 years with all the usual suspects from her eternal blockbuster; and Judy Blume tackles the early 50s with In the Unlikely Event, her first adult novel since 1998. Things that go bump in the night are always fitting summer fare and The Decagon House Murders, a Japanese mystery by Yukito Ayatsuji fills the bill."

Here's a few reviews.....

All That Followed

Gabriel Urza 

A foreign setting that's just exotic enough (the Basque region of Spain), a terrible crime (kidnapping and murder), a small town with complicated history and delicious superstitions (fear of la Cerda, a woman who was burned to death in afurnace as a witch during the Spanish Inquisition for holding gatherings where young girls cavorted with the Devil), and a beautiful widow are just some of the elements that make this intriguing literary debut a book to while away a summer afternoon with. The narrator is an American who has lived in the village for 50 years but acknowledges that he "would always be considered a foreigner here, a visitor passing through." Aren't we all? –

Finders Keepers

Stephen King (Scribner)

I'm a huge fan of Stephen King's high-concept fiction, and last summer while sitting in the airport waiting to leave the American Library Association Annual Conference in Vegas, I read a review of Mr. Mercedes (which had just come out) that described it as a crime novel with the desperation of Under the Dome. I went to the airport's bookstore and picked it up, finished it in a couple days, and spent the rest of the summer reading crime fiction. I'm really excited to kick off another summer of crime fiction with the Mr. Mercedes follow-up. —Seth Dellon, digital business manager

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