Library Love Fest

Fast-Forward to Spring with These LLF-Faves

Hello, librarians!

As we make our way through this final, agonizing stretch of winter, our hearts and minds have already moved on to spring. And it's not just the sunshine and warmth and blossoming of life that we have to look forward to—spring also brings with it a wealth of mesmerizing, powerful, unforgettable new books.

Keep reading to discover books coming this May and June that have us excited. It is our hope that you'll find one or two (or ten!) that grab hold of your head and heart and won't let go.

GREAT NEWS: All of these titles and more are now available on NetGalley! To be added to our Auto-Approved List for unlimited egalley downloads on NetGalley, please fill out this form.

To see the full list of titles from HarperCollins Publishers now available on NetGalley, click here.

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The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna by Juliet Grames
For fans of: The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck and Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
In this stunning debut novel, a young woman tells the story behind two elderly sisters’ estrangement, unraveling family secrets stretching back a century and across the Atlantic to early twentieth-century Italy.

"With her story of an 'ordinary' woman who is anything but, Grames explores not just the immigrant experience but the stages of a woman’s life. This is a sharp and richly satisfying novel."
—Publishers Weekly review

"Right from the first page, I was transported to Calabria, Italy and into the lives of Stella Fortuna and her sister Tina. Spanning decades, from the native beauty of their mountain village to the suburbs of Connecticut, this is a heartfilled, cinematic story of immigration, love, family and resilience. An unforgettable novel filled with characters I don’t think I’ll ever forget."
—Nancy Pearl, librarian and author of George & Lizzie and the Book Lust series of reading recommendations

Click here to learn more about this unforgettable debut.

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LibraryReads Votes Due: April 1, 2019

The Last Time I Saw You by Liv Constantine
For fans of: The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware and A Stranger in the House by Shari Lapena
The internationally bestselling author of The Last Mrs. Parrish follows that success with an addictive novel filled with shocking twists about the aftermath of a brutal high-society murder.

"The Last Time I Saw You is a thrilling murder mystery rife with lies, scandal, obsession, and revenge. With unreliable characters, a sinister storyline, and a handful of twists to boot, Liv Constantine raises the bar high. A must-read!"
—Mary Kubica, New York Times bestselling author of The Good Girl and When the Lights Go Out

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LibraryReads Votes Due: April 1, 2019

The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins
For fans of: The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
A servant and former slave is accused of murdering her employer and his wife in this astonishing historical thriller that moves from a Jamaican sugar plantation to the fetid streets of Georgian London—a remarkable literary debut with echoes of Alias Grace, The Underground Railroad, and The Paying Guests.

"Collins’ debut novel administers a bold and vibrant jolt to both the gothic and historical fiction genres.... Most of all, she has created in her title character a complex, melancholy, and trenchantly observant protagonist...as dynamic and compelling as any character conceived by a Brontë sister....
[a] gripping, groundbreaking debut." 
—Kirkus Reviews review

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LibraryReads Votes Due: April 1, 2019

How to Forget by Kate Mulgrew
For fans of: Between Them by Richard Ford
In this profoundly honest and examined memoir about returning to Iowa to care for her ailing parents, the star of Orange Is the New Black and author of Born with Teeth takes us on an unexpected journey of loss, betrayal, and the transcendent nature of a daughter’s love for her parents.

"Actress Kate Mulgrew has gone deep to deliver a beautifully written, searingly honest collection of memories about her parents who are in the final chapters of their lives. 

The biggest mistake a reader could make is to presume one needs to be a follower of Ms. Mulgrew’s dramatic work in order to connect to the voice in this book. That simply isn’t the case. This is an entirely relatable, universal story about family. It is a powerful and at times very funny read (her parents were very quick-witted!) written in prose so beautiful it borders on poetic. I absolutely love this book."
—Virginia Stanley, Director of Library Marketing, HarperCollins Publishers

Click here to read more insights from Virginia on this must-read memoir.

Join Us for a Facebook Live Interview with Kate Mulgrew: This Friday, March 8th, from 10:30-11:30am EST, actress and author Kate Mulgrew will discuss her upcoming memoir How to Forget with Library Love Fest's Virginia Stanley.

Tune in to the Library Love Fest Facebook page to watch! You can also sign up for our Facebook event to receive reminders!

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LibraryReads Votes Due: April 1, 2019

Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev
For fans of: The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang and My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan
Award-winning author Sonali Dev launches a new series about the Rajes, an immigrant Indian family descended from royalty, who have built their lives in San Francisco—a compelling, heartwarming romance between two strangers from completely different worlds, and a poignant exploration of cultural assimilation, identity, and the meaning of the word home.

"A profound, unique talent, Sonali Dev grabs the reader by the heart."
—Kristan Higgins, New York Times bestselling author of Good Luck with That

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LibraryReads Votes Due: April 1, 2019

Aloha Rodeo by David Wolman and Julian Smith
For fans of: The Three-Year Swim Club by Julie Checkoway and Smokejumper by Jason A. Ramos
In the spirit of The Boys in the Boat comes the captivating true story of the Hawaiian cowboys who changed rodeo and the West forever. 

"This inspiring and impeccably crafted story of against-all-odds triumph is one that movie-makers surely will yearn to produce, seeing in Wolman and Smith’s elegantly told Aloha Rodeo a new Chariots of Fire, with Cheyenne’s Frontier Days standing in for the Paris Olympics, the islands of Hawaii for the British Isles, and, at center stage, three brave cowboys, no hats and all cattle. I loved this book, truly."
—Simon Winchester, New York Times bestselling author of The Perfectionists and Pacific

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LibraryReads Votes Due: April 1, 2019

For more great reading suggestions for May, check out our
May LibraryReads Suggestions Edelweiss catalog! 

The deadline to submit your votes for LibraryReads is January 1! 

 

Looking Ahead: Reading Suggestions for June

Searching for Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok
For fans of: The Leavers by Lisa Ko and Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
A poignant and suspenseful drama that untangles the complicated ties binding three women—two sisters and their mother—in one Chinese immigrant family and explores what happens when the eldest daughter disappears, and a series of family secrets emerge, from the New York Times bestselling author of Girl in Translation.  

"This isn’t a novel––it’s a puzzle box of familial secrets, some dark, others luminous, all of it haunting, mysterious, and completely satisfying. I was utterly spellbound."
—Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

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LibraryReads Votes Due: May 1, 2019

The Gone Dead by Chanelle Benz
For fans of: An American Marriage by Tayari Jones and A Separation by Katie Kitamura 
An electrifying first novel from "a riveting new voice in American fiction" (George Saunders): A young woman returns to her childhood home in the American South and uncovers secrets about her father’s life and death.

"The Gone Dead is one of the greatest novels ever placed Mississippi. The southern novel will never be the same after this book. Billie James, the protagonist of The Gone Dead, holds more mystery, lyricism, tragedy, nuance than most characters I’ve read in recent years."
—Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy

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LibraryReads Votes Due: May 1, 2019

The Sentence Is Death by Anthony Horowitz
Also from the author: Forever and a Day, The Word Is Murder, and Magpie Murders
Death, deception, and a detective with quite a lot to hide stalk the pages of Anthony Horowitz’s brilliant murder mystery, the second in the bestselling series starring Private Investigator Daniel Hawthorne.

Praise for The Word Is Murder: 
"Actually, the word is not murder, it’s ingenious.... a masterful meta-mystery." 
—Booklist review

"Deduction and wit are well-balanced, and fans of Peter Lovesey and other modern channelers of the spirit of the golden age of detection will clamor for more."
—Publishers Weekly  review

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LibraryReads Votes Due: May 1, 2019

The Perfect Fraud by Ellen LaCorte
For fans of: The Perfect Mother by Aimee Molloy and Behind Closed Doors by B. A. Paris
In this propulsive debut thriller, two women with their own dangerous secrets are thrown together by a chance meeting that plunges both their lives into chaos, with a sick little girl’s fate hanging in the balance.

"The Perfect Fraud is equal parts dark, creepy thriller and compelling character study with a little bit of magic and a little bit of heartbreak thrown in for good measure. Mothers and daughters, hindsight and clairvoyance, sickness and health twist and trade places in a delicious slow simmer and in ways we never see coming, and gluten-free eating finally gets the sendup it so richly deserves."
—Laurie Frankel, author of This Is How It Always Is

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LibraryReads Votes Due: May 1, 2019

 

Fix Her Up by Tessa Bailey
For fans of: The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
New York Times bestseller Tessa Bailey delivers a fun, sexy romantic comedy perfect for fans of Christina Lauren and Sally Thorne.

"Tessa Bailey’s alpha heroes will make you combust!"
—Laura Kaye, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author

"Tessa Bailey’s books completely, utterly, totally wreck me."
—Sophie Jordan, New York Times bestselling author

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LibraryReads Votes Due: May 1, 2019

The Tenth Muse by Catherine Chung
For fans of: The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry and Chemistry by Weike Wang
An exhilarating, moving novel about a trailblazing mathematician whose research unearths her own extraordinary family story and its roots in World War II.

"Reading The Tenth Muse is like setting out on a boat for a short trip and finding the way back barred by waves that grow taller and taller. And then the boat itself turns out to be a riddle; a paper boat, each leaf bound to the other with equations of fearsome beauty. Arresting in scope and its treatment of time, its prose at turns crystalline and richly balletic, this story pulls puzzle from puzzle—human, historical, and all too contemporary."
—Helen Oyeyemi, author of Boy, Snow, Bird and What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours

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LibraryReads Votes Due: May 1, 2019

For more great reading suggestions for June, check out our
June LibraryReads Suggestions Edelweiss catalog!

The deadline to submit your votes for LibraryReads is January 1!  

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We hope you enjoy the books! For more information about LibraryReads, visit their website. Remember: Vote early! Vote often!

-Chris

Congratulations to all the HarperCollins Award Winners!

Congratulations to all of our HarperCollins award-winning authors! We celebrated with an ad in the March 15th issue of Booklist. Find out more information about these awards and more below!

THE NOTABLE BOOKS LIST: An annual ‘best-of’ list comprised of twenty six titles written for adult readers and published in the U.S. including fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.

Don’t Skip Out on Me by Willy Vlautin (Fiction)
High-Risers by Ben Austen (Nonfiction)

You can find the complete list of Notable Books here.

THE READING LIST AWARDS: This is a ‘best-of’ list comprised of eight different fiction genres.

Stray City by Chelsey Johnson (Women’s Fiction) WINNER!

SHORTLIST (Adrenaline)
Bearskin by James A. McLaughlin

SHORTLIST (Fantasy)
The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty
The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

SHORTLIST (Horror)
Awakened by James S. Murray, with Darren Wearmouth
The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay
Melmoth by Sarah Perry

SHORTLIST (Romance)
A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole
Tempest by Beverly Jenkins

SHORTLIST(Science Fiction)
Noumenon Infinity by Marina J. Lostetter

Find out more about the Reading List here.

BLACK CAUCUS LITERARY AWARDS: Recognizes excellence in adult fiction and nonfiction by African American authors published in 2018.

HONOR AWARD FOR NONFICTION:

Black Fortunes by Shomari Wills  

Find out more about the BCALA awards here.

REFERENCE AND USERS SERVICES AWARDS: This committee identifies works destined to become the backbone of most popular collections, works that serve as sure bets for readers and standards of their genre.

Feast: Food of the Islamic World by Anissa Helou (Cookbooks)

Find out more about this award here.

LISTEN LIST: Outstanding Audiobook Narration: This award highlights extraordinary narrators and listening experiences that merit special attention by a general adult audience and the librarians who advise them.

Dear America by Jose Antonio Vargas
The Secrets Between Us by Thrity Umrigar

See all of the Listen List selections here.

OVER THE RAINBOW BOOK LIST: An annual, annotated bibliography of books for general adult readers aged 18 years or older that have commendable literary quality and significant, authentic lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (LGBTQIA+) content.

The House of Impossible Beauties by Joseph Cassara (included in the 2018 Top 10 list for Fiction and Nonfiction!)

2019 Fiction Long List

Alice Isn’t Dead by Joseph Fink (Genre Fiction)
The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Temblay (Genre Fiction)
Stray City by Chelsey Johnson (Literary and General Interest)
Speak No Evil by Uzodinma Iweala (Literary and General Interest)
The House of Impossible Beauties by Joseph Cassara (Literary and General Interest)

See a full list of titles selected here.


Congrats to all of our winners!

-Lainey

From Virginia Stanley: HOW TO FORGET by Kate Mulgrew is a Must-Read Memoir

On Friday, March 8th, author and actress Kate Mulgrew sat down with LLF's Virginia Stanley to discuss her upcoming memoir, How to Forget. This is an incredible interview not to be missed.

Before you watch, please read this powerful review from Maxine Bleiweis, former Westport (CT) Library Director and current owner of Maxine Bleiweis & Associates Consulting:

"How to Forget leaves you wishing you had read it before going through the hardest role for an adult child—being witness to your parents at the end of their lives. Whether the reason is cancer, Alzheimer’s, or natural causes, this book by Kate Mulgrew left me wishing I had read this book before going through the challenge of how to be the best daughter for my parents’ last months. Mulgrew’s insight will stay with me for a long, long time and be on my recommendation list for all who are saying goodbye to their parents."

Click below to watch the interview!

Watch on  : https://youtu.be/JPYRigm3aqw

You can also listen to the interview on our podcast:

From Virginia Stanley: Who were your parents before they were your parents? How and why did they fall in love with each other? Did they measure up to each other’s expectations? What were their dreams—and what happened to those dreams? What was your unique connection to each of them? And in the final chapters of their lives, do you have a full understanding of who they inherently were, who they became and why? Can you let them go? Have all the words been said that needed saying?

Kate Mulgrew takes on these questions and so much more in her forthcoming memoir, How to Forget.  She has gone deep to deliver a beautifully written, searingly honest collection of memories of her childhood in Iowa but more specifically of her parents: who they were, what family life was like, and how she cared for them in the final chapter of their lives.

This is an entirely relatable, universal story about family. Whether you have aging parents or parental figures in your life, if you are an only child or one of eight or nine or ten, if you are the primary caregiver or dancing that emotional tightrope with siblings, this book will touch your heart. You will likely recognize moments, passages, pages in this memoir that will relate to your own life.

 

The biggest mistake a reader could make is to presume one needs to be a follower of Ms. Mulgrew’s dramatic work in order to connect to the voice in this book. That simply isn’t the case. This memoir is devoid of celebrity ego but full of pathos and hubris. It’s a reflective and at times very funny read (her parents were very quick-witted!) I wasn’t fully prepared to have this book envelop me as it did. This is a powerful look back on the lives of two of the most important people in her life—written in prose so beautiful it borders on poetic.

Every so often a book comes along that pierces my heart and introduces me to people I’m better for having known.

How to Forget is one those books.

Check out this amazing quote from author Malachy McCourt:

-Virginia

We're Looking Forward to These Historical Fiction Titles!

We had a fantastic line up of our exciting new Historical Fiction titles featured in the March 1st issue of Booklist. Find out more about these titles and more below!

Old Baggage by Lissa Evans

• The author of the acclaimed Crooked Heart returns with a comic, charming, and surprisingly timely portrait of a once pioneering suffragette trying to find her new passion in post-World War I era London.

America Was Hard to Find by Kathleen Alcott

• In the wake of an affair, the lives of an astronaut and a radical are forever altered by the political fault lines of the 1960s, setting off a series of events ricocheting from anti-Vietnam activism to the Apollo program to the AIDS crisis, in this sprawling multigenerational novel.

The Tenth Muse by Catherine Chung

• An exhilarating, moving novel about a trailblazing mathematician whose research unearths her own extraordinary family story and its roots in World War II.

The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins

• A servant and former slave is accused of murdering her employer and his wife in this astonishing historical thriller that moves from a Jamaican sugar plantation to the fetid streets of Georgian London—a remarkable literary debut with echoes of Alias Grace, The Underground Railroad, and The Paying Guests.

The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang

• Rin’s story continues in this acclaimed sequel to The Poppy War—an epic fantasy combining the history of twentieth-century China with a gripping world of gods and monsters.

The Golden Hour by Beatriz Williams

• The New York Times bestselling author of The Summer Wives and A Certain Age creates a dazzling epic of World War II-era Nassau—a hotbed of spies, traitors, and the most infamous couple of the age, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

Westside by W.M. Akers

• A young detective who specializes in “tiny mysteries” finds herself at the center of a massive conspiracy in this beguiling historical fantasy set on Manhattan’s Westside—a peculiar and dangerous neighborhood home to strange magic and stranger residents—that blends the vivid atmosphere of Caleb Carr with the imaginative power of Neil Gaiman.

The Summer Country by Lauren Willig

• The New York Times bestselling historical novelist delivers her biggest, boldest, and most ambitious novel yet—a sweeping, dramatic Victorian epic of lost love, lies, jealousy, and rebellion set in colonial Barbados.

Resistance Women by Jennifer Chiaverini

• From the New York Times bestselling author of Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker, an enthralling historical saga that recreates the danger, romance, and sacrifice of an era and brings to life one courageous, passionate American—Mildred Fish Harnack—and her circle of women friends who waged a clandestine battle against Hitler in Nazi Berlin.

The Song of the Jade Lily by Kirsty Manning

• Kirsty Manning makes her U.S. debut with this gripping historical novel that tells the little-known story of Jewish refugees who fled to Shanghai during World War II.

One Night in Georgia by Celeste O. Norfleet

• Set in the summer of 1968, a provocative and devastating novel of individual lives caught in the grips of violent history—a timely and poignant story that reverberates with the power of Alice Walker’s Meridian and Ntozake Shange’s Betsey Browne.

The Chocolate Maker's Wife by Karen Brooks

• Australian bestselling novelist Karen Brooks rewrites women back into history with this breathtaking novel set in 17th century London—a lush, fascinating story of the beautiful woman who is drawn into a world of riches, power, intrigue,…and chocolate.

The Lost Daughter by Gill Paul

• From Gill Paul, the author of Another Woman’s Husband and The Secret Wife, comes a powerful new chapter in her Romanov saga…a gripping journey through the decades and across the continents, a novel of eternal love, devastating loss, and courage against all odds.

The Accidentals by Minrose Gwin

• Following the death of their mother from a botched backwoods abortion, the McAlister daughters have to cope with the ripple effect of this tragedy as they come of age in 1950s Mississippi and then grow up to face their own impossible choices—an unforgettable, beautiful novel that is threaded throughout with the stories of mothers and daughters in pre-Roe versus Wade America.

Meet Me in Monaco by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb

• Set in the 1950s against the backdrop of Grace Kelly’s whirlwind romance and unforgettable wedding to Prince Rainier of Monaco, New York Times bestselling author Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb take the reader on an evocative sun-drenched journey along the Côte d’Azur in this page-turning novel of passion, fate, and second chances.

The Peacock Summer by Hannah Richell

• From internationally bestselling author Hannah Richell comes this compelling story of hidden secrets, forbidden love, and a mysterious old house.

In Another Time by Jillian Cantor

• A sweeping historical novel that spans Germany, England, and the United States and follows a young couple torn apart by circumstance leading up to World War II—and the family secret that may prove to be the means for survival.

Outside Looking In by T.C. Boyle

• In this stirring and insightful novel, T.C. Boyle takes us back to the 1960s and to the early days of a drug whose effects have reverberated widely throughout our culture: LSD.

The American Agent by Jacqueline Winspear

• Beloved heroine Maisie Dobbs, “one of the great fictional heroines” (Parade), investigates the mysterious murder of an American war correspondent in London during the Blitz in a page-turning tale of love and war, terror, and survival.

The Quintland Sisters by Shelley Wood

• In Shelley Wood’s fiction debut, readers are taken inside the devastating true story of the Dionne Quintuplets, told from the perspective of one young woman who meets them at the moment of their birth.

Say No to the Duke by Eloisa James

• New York Times bestselling author Eloisa James returns with the fourth novel in her breathtaking Wildes of Lindow Castle series.

One Fine Duke by Lenora Bell

• The third book in USA Today bestselling author Lenora Bell's sexy School for Dukes series is a Dracula-Northanger Abbey mash-up, with a dash of James Bond’s Miss Moneypenny.

Brazen and the Beast by Sarah MacLean

• New York Times bestselling author Sarah MacLean returns with the next book in the Bareknuckle Bastards series about three brothers bound by a secret that they cannot escape—and the women who bring them to their knees.

The Wallflower Wager by Tessa Dare

• Another scintillating romance from USA Today bestselling author Tessa Dare. Wealthy and ruthless, Gabriel Duke clawed his way from the lowliest slums to the pinnacle of high society—and now he wants to get even.

The Duchess in His Bed by Lorraine Heath

• USA Today bestselling author Lorraine Heath delivers a scintillating story of a widow who has never known true desire—and the man who intends to show her the meaning of real passion.

To Wed an Heiress by Karen Ranney

• New York Times bestselling author Karen Ranney returns to her royally seductive and heart-stirring series as a runaway heiress and an impetuous earl fight for love against scandal, ruin, and a shadowing danger.
  
  

You can find more Historical Fiction titles in our Edelweiss catalogs here.

-Lainey

February Facebook Live Book List

If you missed our Facebook Live video today, you can find the archived video on Facebook and Youtube.

Here's a list of titles we chatted about:

The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna by Juliet Grames

• Be sure check out all of the amazing Stella content we mentioned—including the lovely recipes we cooked—here.
  
• Request an egalley on NetGalley or Edelweiss.

Heirloom Kitchen by Anna Francese Gass

• Listen to the conversation with Anna and her editor on our podcast here.

Vegetables Unleashed by José Andrés & Matt Goulding

The Huckle & Goose Cookbook by Anca Toderic & Christine Lucaciu

• Read more about this book on their website here.

The Book of Pride by Mason Funk

• Learn more about additional interviews here.
• Request an egalley on NetGalley or Edelweiss.

The Song of the Jade Lily by Kirsty Manning

• Request an egalley on NetGalley or Edelweiss.

Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman

• Request an egalley on NetGalley or Edelweiss.

Remembering Anthony Bourdain by CNN

The Perfect Fraud by Ellen LaCorte

• Request an egalley on NetGalley or Edelweiss.

Bone Appetit by Debora Robertson

After Life by Alice Marie Johnson

• Find the interview of Alice and Kim Kardashian here.

Artisan Sourdough by Casper Andre Lugg & Martin Ivar Hveem Fjeld

How to Forget by Kate Mulgrew

• Request an egalley on NetGalley or Edelweiss.

 

Finished Books Available Now:

Secrets of Great Second Meals by Sara Dickerman

Pieces of Her by Karin Slaughter

We Fed an Island by José Andrés with Richard Wolffe

Sunburn by Laura Lippman

See you next month!

-Lainey

Lots of love for Sonali Dev's PRIDE, PREJUDICE, AND OTHER FLAVORS!

In Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors, Sonali Dev introduces the Rajes—an immigrant Indian family descended from royalty, who have painstakingly built their lives in San Francisco. 

A story that is at once a compelling, heartwarming romance between two strangers from completely different worlds and a poignant exploration of cultural assimilation, identity, and the meaning of the word home.

There is a lot of spice in this modern twist on an old classic, and that's not even including all of the mouthwatering food DJ whips up!

Everyone is excited for this first in a two-book series. Check out some of the buzz:

Library Journal Prepub Alert: “Born into a distinguished Indian immigrant family, Dr. Trisha Raje seems too uppity to modestly raised DJ Caine, now a star chef. But as San Francisco’s top neurosurgeon, she alone can save his sister’s life. Here, preconceptions get ditched, even as the good doctor defies her family. From an ALA Reading List Council’s romance winner, expanding into women’s fiction.”

Included in Publishers Weekly's Top 10 Romances of Spring 2019: “Dev opens a series about an immigrant Indian family in San Francisco with this romance between a neurosurgeon and a pastry chef, exploring cultural assimilation, identity, and the idea of home.”

Bookpage included in Most Anticipated Romances of 2019: “I will admit to some Austen-update fatigue. Does the world really need yet another retelling of Pride and Prejudice? However, my fatigue instantly dissipated when I saw Dev’s name. If anyone can deliver a fresh take on the classic story, it’s her.”

Check out Sonali's book web series "Lit With Love" here!

Download an egalley on Edelweiss or NetGalley now!

-Lainey

Meet the Unforgettable Stella Fortuna!

Librarians, now is the time! Download the egalley for The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna by Juliet Grames, the remarkable debut novel author Lisa See called a "quintessential American immigrant story" and Publishers Weekly, in a STARRED review, praised as a "sharp and richly satisfying novel."

BIG NEWS: We're running a sweepstakes in celebration of a very special upcoming debut novel: The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna by Juliet Grames. Keep reading for full details and to find out more about this incredible novel.

 

 

SWEEPSTAKES ALERT!

Between February 25th, 2019 and March 18th, 2019, fifty public librarians will be chosen at random to win a signed first edition copy of The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna.

UPDATE: This sweepstakes is now closed.

***

Juliet Grames, who is also the associate publisher for Soho Press, has written a stunning debut novel about Stella, an extraordinary young woman coming of age as she immigrates from Calabria, Italy to the United States, while also tracing her fractured relationship with her sister Tina. 

In addition to the author love on the above ecard, The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna has garnered even MORE author and librarian praise:

"Reading The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna is like listening to the rollicking stories of your Italian grandmother— full of memorable characters and speckled with fascinating bits of history. This is a fantastic and timely family story."
—Jessica Shattuck, bestselling author of The Women in the Castle
 
"I so enjoyed The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna. Juliet Grames has delved into the family secrets of an Italian American family and the ways in which those secrets, as well as slights and injustices, can both cross oceans and trickle down through the generations. This quintessential American immigrant story feels important right now, and I highly recommend it."
—Lisa See, author of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane

"...astounding and heartbreaking. Grames has crafted an intimate, powerful tale that sounds like it was told in whispers between sips of grappa after weekend dinners when the tables are cleared of food, the kids are busy playing in the backyard, and family secrets start to come out." —Gregg Winsor, Johnson County Library (KS)

"An engrossing debut, The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna is a saga of an Italian-born girl who endures a number of sometimes terrifying and slightly odd life-threatening experiences.... A joy to read, Stella's story is moving and memorable." —Cynthia Baskin, Arlington Public Library (VA)

"You probably won't like Stella Fortuna, but that's okay—she probably won't like you either. And that's what makes this debut family saga so bewitching. The quintessential Mediterranean migration story told with uncommon honesty and beauty." —Stephanie Anderson, BookOps (NY)

Intrigued? Want to know more about Stella? We have you covered! Keep reading to discover what makes this novel so special!

Learn More About Stella Fortuna!

In the video below, author Juliet discusses The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna and her rich but complicated family history that inspired it. 

Juliet also recorded an interview for the Public Library Association's podcast, which delves further into Juliet's fascinating personal backstory and how the story of her own grandmother inspired the novel. Click below to listen!

The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna details the immigrant experience, especially the female immigrant experience, with incredible honesty and poise. Our friend Kim Racon with HarperAcademic put together the below teaser that narrates Stella's first time seeing the Statue of Liberty. Check it out!

Cooking with Stella Fortuna

The Library Love Fest team had so much fun on our special Stella edition of Facebook Live. In addition to discussing why this book is so special, we also cooked recipes from "The Seven or Eight Recipes of Stella Fortuna," a collection of recipes Juliet put together inspired by the The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna. Below, you can watch the replay on Facebook or Youtube!

Watch on  : https://youtu.be/3xr84YbKQJw

You can get a digital copy of the recipe book here.

We can't wait to hear what you think about The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna. Please be sure to download the egalley on Edelweiss or NetGalley or request the physical galley by clicking one of the options below.

Remember to submit your votes for LibraryReads by April 1st!

Enjoy!

Karin Slaughter's PIECES OF HER is coming to Netflix!

We are very excited to announce that Karin Slaughter's latest novel, Pieces of Her, will be adapted into an eight episode limited series on Netflix!

In Pieces of Her, we meet Andrea Oliver. Andrea knows everything about her mother, Laura. She knows she’s never kept a secret in her life. Because we all know our mothers, don’t we?

But all that changes when a trip to the mall explodes into violence and Andrea suddenly sees a completely different side to Laura. For nearly thirty years she’s been hiding from her previous identity, lying low in the hope that no one would ever find her. But now she’s been exposed, and nothing will ever be the same again.

The first two episodes of the show will be directed by Lesli Linka Glatter, of Homeland. Charlotte Stoudt (Homeland, House of Cards) will be the writer/showrunner/executive producer, along with Executive Producer Bruna Papandrea (Gone Girl, Big Little Lies, and Wild) of Made Up Stories, a development, production and finance company committed to creating content with compelling female figures squarely at the center and enabling female directors, writers, actors, and fellow producers to tell the stories they want to tell.

Find out more about the big news on the press release from Netflix here and read Cosmopolitan's announcement here.

We also have a Spanish version of this title! Check out ¿Sabes quién es?, available now!

Congrats, Karin!

LLF Guest Post: Etaf Rum, Author of A WOMAN IS NO MAN

In Etaf Rum's powerful debut novel, A Woman Is No Man, three generations of Palestinian-American women living in Brooklyn are torn between individual desire and the strict mores of Arab culture—a heart-wrenching story of love, intrigue, courage, and betrayal that will resonate with women from all backgrounds, giving voice to the silenced and agency to the oppressed.

Today, we welcome a guest post from author, Etaf Rum.

***

I never visited the library when I was growing up. I lived in Brooklyn, New York, less than a mile away from the Brooklyn Public Library, yet my parents, Palestinian immigrants, never took me. I don’t know the precise reason why, but looking back I suspect the library was not the ideal place to take two handfuls of noisy children—I am the eldest of nine. Besides this, my parents did not inhibit my love for reading, and I routinely purchased books from my school catalog, grocery stores, even yard sales.

When I was seven years old, I read Ronald Dahl’s Matilda for the first time. After that, whenever I felt most alone—most desperate to understand myself and the world around me—I always wished I could slip out our front door undetected and wander off to the library as Matilda had, bringing a bundle of new books home with me.

By the time I finally did visit the library, I was a sophomore in high school, and it was for a school project. I remember walking the short blocks to the Brooklyn Library alongside my mother and younger siblings, beaming with the anticipation of what I would find inside this magical place. As soon as we entered the mossy green building, I left my family, wandering around the shelves and scanning the spines of books, in awe and wonder. The library was the dreamiest place I’d ever seen.

It has been a little over a decade since, and now I visit the library daily with my own two children—Reyann, who’s nine, and Isah, who’s six. I’ve raised them in our hometown library, Braswell Memorial Library. The librarians at Braswell Memorial have watched my children grow up, recommending reads along the way. Under their wise tutelage we’ve read everything from Dr. Seuss and Harry Potter to Her Right Foot and The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.

One day a librarian once asked me why I brought my children to the library so often. I wasn’t certain of the answer at the time. Perhaps I was trying to compensate for all the time I’d lost growing up—all the days I’d wished to wander off to the library in search of answers and couldn’t. Or perhaps it was because I knew that books would teach my children things I could not. Or perhaps I wanted to provide them with a sense of connection and belonging when they felt most alone.

This sense of seeking connection and understanding through stories is a theme I explore in A Woman Is No Man. Like me, my characters grew up in an insular community and felt quite isolated. In my novel books become their companions—granting them a bridge to the outside world and ultimately giving them strength. This is why I spend most days in the library with my children, surrounded by books: I want to teach them that the library is a gathering place of stories, and it is through these stories that we come to understand ourselves and the world.

***

Thank you, Etaf! Be sure to download an egalley of A Woman Is No Man now!

Couldn’t Come to the HarperCollins Book Buzz at ALAMW? Here’s the Handout!

We just wrapped up the HarperCollins Book Buzz at ALA Midwinter in Seattle!

For a printable copy of the handout, with details on all of the titles we buzzed about, click here!

-Chris