Library Love Fest

The Buzz is Building for Diane Cook's THE NEW WILDERNESS!

The buzz is seriously building for Diane Cook's The New Wilderness (on sale August 11th)! In addition to being longlisted for the Booker Prize, this powerful debut novel (following Diane's short story collection Man V. Nature) is garnering wide-spread praise in national publications, including a feature in Entertainment Weekly, who posted the first serial excerpt from The New Wilderness, as well as including it in their Late-Summer Must-Reads. Their thoughts? "Could this be the great climate change novel of our time? Buzz is building fast for the epic debut novel of Diane Cook."

On Tuesday, August 4th, we had the pleasure of welcoming Diane Cook to Door to Door to discuss The New Wilderness, along with legendary author Jonathan Lethem, who discussed his upcoming novel The Arrest. You can watch the replay below!

As you can tell from our interview, the Library Love Fest team was blown away by
The New Wilderness. Timely, haunting, beautiful, and challenging, this book will stay with you long after the final page.

Below, you can check out just a sampling of the praise this unforgettable novel has received. The New Wilderness goes on sale August 11th, so you can pre-order your copy now! 

 

Praise for The New Wilderness

"Gripping, fierce, terrifying examination of what people are capable of when they want to survive in both the best and worst ways. Loved this."
—Roxane Gay

"More than a version of ‘Survivor: Woodlands,’ this novel asks tough questions about love and sustainability."
—Bethanne Patrick, The Washington Post

"In this wry, speculative debut novel, Cook envisions a crowded and polluted near future in which only one natural area remains, the Wilderness State.... Cook’s unsettling, darkly humorous tale explores maternal love and man’s disdain for nature with impressive results."
—Publishers Weekly review

"This ecological horror story (particularly horrifying now) explores painful regions of the human heart."
—Kirkus Reviews review

"In her gripping and provoking debut novel, Cook extends the shrewd and implacable dramatization of our catastrophic assault on the biosphere that she so boldly launched in her short story collection, Man V. Nature.... Violence, death, tribalism, lust, love, betrayals, wonder, genius, and courage—all are enacted in this stunningly incisive and complexly suspenseful tale akin to dystopian novels by Margaret Atwood and Claire Vaye Watkins."
—Donna Seaman, Booklist review

"I’ve been impatiently waiting for Diane Cook’s first novel since I discovered her collection, Man V. Nature, in 2014. It’s finally here—and to answer your first question, yes, it was indeed worth the wait...it tackles the deepest of human emotions—as well as big ideas about the planet—in satisfying ways. Also, it’s a page-turner!"
—Emily Temple, author of The Lightness and Managing Editor at Literary Hub                          

"Few books electrify me the way Cook’s surreal short story collection Man V. Nature did, but her debut novel—which continues her exploration of the interplay between nature and civilization—has done it again."
—Arianna Rebolini, Buzzfeed                                                  
        

"[Diane Cook] returns this summer with her first novel, a dystopian tale being compared to Station Eleven. A mother and daughter flee the dangers of pollution and join a community that hopes to build a new life in protected wilderness. But how to live in nature and not destroy it? These are questions many of us are already asking, and we can’t wait to dive into Cook’s exploration."
—BookPage

"The New Wilderness is a virtuosic debut, brutal and beautiful in equal measure."
—Emily St. John Mandel, New York Times bestselling author of Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel

"The New Wilderness left me as stunned as a deer in headlights. Gut-wrenching and heart-wrecking, this is a book that demands to be read, and urgently. With beauty and compassion, Diane Cook writes about the precariousness of life on this planet, about the things that make us human—foremost the love between mothers and daughters, at once complex and elemental. Cook observes humanity as a zoologist might—seeing us exactly as the strange animals we really are."
—Rachel Khong, author of Goodbye, Vitamin

"Diane Cook upends old tropes of autonomy, survival, and civilization to reveal startling new life teeming beneath, giving a glimpse into the ways the world we think we know could come unstuck and come to life in the care of the women and girls of the future. This is not just a thrilling, curious, vibrant book--but an essential one, a compass to guide us into the future."
—Alexandra Kleeman, author of You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine

-Chris

LLF Staff Suggestions for the October LibraryReads List

Hello, librarians! 

We are thrilled to present our staff suggestions for the October LibraryReads List! Simply put: October is packed with propulsive, thought-provoking, masterful reads. We cannot wait to hear what you think.

Remember: votes for the October LibraryReads List are due September 1st! 

-The LLF Team (Virginia, Chris, and Lainey)

***

The Cold Millions by Jess Walter
For fans of: Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan and
Moonglow by Michael Chabon
The author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Beautiful Ruins delivers another "literary miracle" (NPR)—a propulsive, richly entertaining novel about two adventure-seeking brothers, the enemies who threaten them, and the women who reveal to them an unjust world on the brink of upheaval.

"The fact that the same author has written books as wildly different and all as transporting as The Zero (2006), The Financial Lives of the Poets (2009), Beautiful Ruins (2012), and now this latest tour de force is testimony to Walter’s protean storytelling power and astounding ability to set a scene, any scene.... We have heard that Jess Walter writes nonstop: Seven days a week, 365 days a year. Please, never stop."
—Kirkus Reviews review

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LibraryReads Votes Due: September 1, 2020

 

Watch Jess Walter's guest appearance on Door to Door!

Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam
For fans of: The Better Sister by Alafair Burke
and The River by Peter Heller
From the author of Rich and Pretty and That Kind of Mother, a magnetic novel about two families, strangers to each other, who are forced together on a long weekend gone terribly wrong.

"Spectacular and ominous…. This illuminating social novel offers piercing commentary on race, class and the luxurious mirage of safety, adding up to an all-too-plausible apocalyptic vision." 
—Publishers Weekly  review

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LibraryReads Votes Due: September 1, 2020

Listen to a podcast interview between Rumaan Alam and LLF's Chris Connolly!

 

 

Plain Bad Heroines by emily m. danforth
For fans of: The Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo and 
Wilder Girls by Rory Power
The Favourite meets The Haunting of Hill House in this highly imaginative and original highbrow horror-comedy centered around a cursed New England boarding school for girls, a wickedly whimsical celebration of the art of storytelling, sapphic love, and the rebellious female spirit—and the highly-anticipated adult debut from the award-winning author of The Miseducation of Cameron Post.

"Plain Bad Heroines wears its brilliance lightly and like the Black Oxford apples described in these pages, it's dark, sweet, and addictive. emily danforth displays all the gothic wit of Edward Gorey and all the soaring metafictional ambitions of David Mitchell, alongside a generosity and humanity that is uniquely her own.  Simply one of the best books I've read in the last decade."
—Joe Hill, New York Times  bestselling author of The Fireman

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LibraryReads Votes Due: September 1, 2020

Listen to a podcast interview between emily m. danforth and Jessica Williams, Executive Editor at William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers!  

 

 

Goodnight Beautiful by Aimee Molloy
For fans of: The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides and 
The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine
From "master of clever misdirection" (Kirkus Reviews) Aimee Molloy, author of the New York Times
bestseller The Perfect Mother, comes an irresistible psychological thriller featuring a newly married woman whose life is turned upside down when her husband goes missing.

"Constructed with house-of-cards precision, this cunning story surges forward as though powered by outboard motor. But Molloy proves equally skilled in the elusive arts of character and dialogue: Goodnight Beautiful isn’t only the most suspenseful novel you’ll read this year; it’s likely to be the funniest, too. I wish that every book, in every genre, were as deeply imagined and fully inhabited as this one."
—A. J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window

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LibraryReads Votes Due: September 1, 2020

Watch Aimee Molloy's guest appearance on Door to Door!

 

 

Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade
For fans of: Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert and The Right Swipe by Alisha Rai
Olivia Dade bursts onto the scene in this delightfully fun romantic comedy set in the world of fanfiction, in which a devoted fan goes on an unexpected date with her celebrity crush, who’s secretly posting fanfiction of his own.

"Spoiler Alert is a gentle, funny, and sexy romance that captivated me from the first page and kept me enthralled to the very (happy) end. I adored these characters and every moment of their journey to love. Olivia Dade has crafted an unforgettable story, one that’s earned an immediate spot on my comfort-reads shelf."
—Mia Sosa, USA Today bestselling author of The Worst Best Man

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LibraryReads Votes Due: September 1, 2020

 

A Solitude of Wolverines by Alice Henderson
For fans of: Field of Bones by J. A. Jance and Bearskin by James A. McLaughlin
The first book in a thrilling series featuring a wildlife biologist who courts trouble as she saves endangered species...and a mysterious killer who buries his dead in the land she helps preserve—a fast-paced, action-driven tale of suspense with the atmosphere and propulsive tension of works by Jane Harper, C. J. Box, William Kent Krueger, and Nevada Barr.

"A true stunner of a thriller debut. Both a mystery and a survival story, here is a novel written with a naturalist’s eye for detail and an unrelenting pace. It reminded me of the best of Nevada Barr, where the wilderness itself is as much a character as the feisty wildlife biologist who must solve a crime in a remote town where no one is talking, and everyone is a suspect. It's so fraught with excitement and wondrous details that it demands to be read in one sitting and savored afterward. Don’t miss it."
—James Rollins, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Last Odyssey

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LibraryReads Votes Due: September 1, 2020

 

A Wild Winter Swan by Gregory Maguire
Also from the author: Hiddensee and After Alice
After brilliantly reimagining the worlds of Oz, Wonderland, Dickensian London, and the Nutcracker, the New York Times bestselling author of Wicked turns his unconventional genius to Hans Christian Andersen's "The Wild Swans," transforming this classic tale into an Italian-American girl's poignant coming-of-age story, set amid the magic of Christmas in 1960s New York.

"Maguire (Wicked) continues his fabulist fairy tale remixes with this enchanting story.... Maguire parallels the swan boy’s story of brokenness to Laura’s own struggles overcoming class and cultural differences. Fans of Maguire’s retellings will love this simple, elegant story." 
—Publishers Weekly

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LibraryReads Votes Due: September 1, 2020

 

The Forgotten Daughter by Joanna Goodman
For fans of: The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton and
The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter by Hazel Gaynor
From the author of the bestselling novel The Home for Unwanted Girls comes another compulsively readable story of love and suspense, following the lives of two women reckoning with their pasts and the choices that will define their futures.

Praise for The Home for Unwanted Girls: "A study of how love persists through the most trying of circumstances. Deep and meaningful, this novel captures the reader’s attention until they’re rewarded with a happy ending."
—Booklist 

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LibraryReads Votes Due: September 1, 2020

The Girl in the Mirror by Rose Carlyle
For fans of: Never Have I Ever by Joshilyn Jackson and 
Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman
Written with the chilling, twisty suspense of The Wife Between Us, a seductive debut thriller about greed, lust, secrets, and deadly lies involving identical twin sisters.

"Rose Carlyle's The Girl in the Mirror took my breath away, page after page. It has it all: a superbly taut plot. Unforgettable, haunting characters. A setting that will instantly transport you to the lush landscape of the Seychelles. And one of the best endings I've read in a very long time. Bottom line—this book is exactly what we're all craving right now: a delicious, perfect escape."
—Aimee Molloy, New York Times bestselling author of The Perfect Mother 
and Goodnight Beautiful

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LibraryReads Votes Due: September 1, 2020

 

A Walk Around the Block by Spike Carlsen
For fans of: Soonish by Kelly Weinersmith and Stuff Matters by Mark Miodownik
The bestselling author of A Splintered History of Wood uses a walk around his hometown to explore how every part of our urban landscape—from manhole covers and recycling bins to pedestrian crossings and bike lanes—impact and shape our lives in this fascinating work of popular science.

"No neighborhood walk will ever be the same after Spike Carlsen reveals to you the extraordinary origins of your ordinary surroundings. His grand storytelling style will make you wonder why you’ve always taken for granted alleyways, asphalt, and manhole covers, and how your ancestors could ever have lived without them."
— Rebecca Martin, technical editor, 
Mother Earth News and Grit

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LibraryReads Votes Due: September 1, 2020

Watch Spike Carlsen's guest appearance on Door to Door!

 

 

The Lost Shtetl by Max Gross
For fans of: Forest Dark by Nicole Krauss
A remarkable debut novel—written with the fearless imagination of Michael Chabon and the piercing humor of Gary Shteyngart—about a small Jewish village in the Polish forest that is so secluded no one knows it exists...until now.

"Lively and imaginative.... 
alternately reminiscent of early Isaac Bashevis Singer and a Catskills comedian. Gross’s entertaining, sometimes disquieting tale delivers laugh-out-loud moments and deep insight on human foolishness, resilience, and faith."
—Publishers Weekly review

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LibraryReads Votes Due: September 1, 2020

 

When We Were Young & Brave by Hazel Gaynor
Also from the author: Meet Me in Monaco and Last Christmas in Paris
The New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Who Came Home sets her unforgettable new novel in China during WWII, inspired by true events surrounding the Japanese Army’s internment of teachers and children from a British-run missionary school.

"Gaynor's story of courage and strength will make you believe in the heroic spirit in each of us."
 —Lisa Wingate, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were Yours

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LibraryReads Votes Due: September 1, 2020

 

Christmas at the Island Hotel by Jennie Colgan
Also from the author: 500 Miles from You and Christmas as Rosie Hopkins' Sweetshop
Another heartfelt and delightful Christmas tale from the beloved New York Times bestselling author of The Bookshop on the Corner  and Christmas on the Island.

Praise for Christmas at the Cupcake Cafe: "This tale is even sweeter than the first. Festive and charming, it’s another triumph for Jenny Colgan."
—Cosmopolitan (UK)

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LibraryReads Votes Due: September 1, 2020

 

The Fragile Earth edited by David Remnick and Henry Finder
For fans of: The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells
A collection of the New Yorker’s groundbreaking reporting from the front lines of climate change—including writing from Bill McKibben, Elizabeth Kolbert, Ian Frazier, Kathryn Schulz, and more.

"An informative, stimulating collection.... Top-shelf writers deliver urgent and compelling
calls for dramatic change."
—Kirkus Reviews review

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LibraryReads Votes Due: September 1, 2020

 

Jane in Love by Rachel Givney
For fans of: The Jane Austen Project by Kathleen A. Flynn
A charming, romantic debut novel in which Jane Austen, heralded author, ends up time-traveling almost 200 years in the future. There she finds the love she's written about and the destiny she's dreamed of...but is it worth her legacy?

"Artfully written and engaging, Jane in Love is a lively effusion of wit and humor."
—Graeme Simsion, New York Times bestselling author of 
                               The Rosie Project

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LibraryReads Votes Due: September 1, 2020

 

The Cookbook Club by Beth Harbison
Also from the author: Every Time You Go Away and One Less Problem Without You
New York Times bestselling author Beth Harbison whips together a witty and charming—and delicious—story about the secrets we keep, the friends we make, and the food we cook.

Praise for Every Time You Go Away: "A heartwarming story about love transcending time and space...tempering tragedy with wry humor, heartfelt introspection, and an unexpected romance."
—Booklist

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LibraryReads Votes Due: September 1, 2020

 

House of Correction by Nicci French
For fans of: Under a Dark Sky by Lori Rader-Day
In this heart-pounding standalone from the internationally bestselling author that People calls "razor sharp," a woman accused of murder attempts to solve her own case from the confines of prison—but as she unravels the truth, everything is called into question, including her own certainty that she is innocent.

"This well-written, psychological thriller has a gripping plot that will satisfy fans of Val McDermid and Sharon J. Bolton."
—Library Journal

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LibraryReads Votes Due: September 1, 2020

 

Santa Monica by Cassidy Lucas
For fans of: What Happens in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand
A debut novel in the vein of Liane Moriarty and Tom Perrotta, about dark secrets brought to life after the mysterious death of a handsome and charismatic trainer to the elite women in Santa Monica.

"Part riveting mystery, part incisive domestic drama, Santa Monica is a sharp look at the superficial lives of the pretending-to-be-perfect in gorgeous seaside California, expertly walking the line between satire, suspense and biting social commentary."
—Kimberly McCreight, New York Times bestselling author of Reconstructing Amelia and A Good Marriage

Request the egalley from Edelweiss+
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LibraryReads Votes Due: September 1, 2020

 

For more great reading suggestions for October, check out our

October LibraryReads Suggestions Edelweiss catalog!
 

The deadline to submit your votes is September 1! 

 

***

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

-Chris

Don't Leaf These Fall Books Behind

Check out these upcoming Fall reads that were included in our August Library Journal ad. 

• The Short Life and Curious Death of Free Speech in America by Ellis Cose
• Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots
• A Wild Winter Swan by Gregory McGuire
• Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur
  -Listen to an interview with the author on our podcast here.
• American Daughter by Stephanie Thornton Plymale
• All About Us by Tom Ellen
• The Arrest by Jonathan Lethem
• The Berlin Girl by Mandy Robotham
• Wise As Fu*k by Gary John Bishop
• Good Mourning by Teresa Caputo
• Plain Bad Heroines by emily m. danforth
  -Listen to an interview with the author on our podcast here.
• Dearly by Margaret Atwood
• Fly Into the Wind by Lt Colonel Dan Rooney
• The Forgotten Daughter by Joanna Goodman
• The Lost Shtetl by Max Gross
• The Wake-Up Call by John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge
• Frontier Follies by Ree Drummond
• Make Me Rain by Nikki Giovanni
• The Writer’s Library by Nancy Pearl and Jeff Schwager
  -Listen to an interview with Nancy Pearl on our podcast here.
• The Lady Brewer of London by Karen Brooks
• I Marched with Patton by Frank Sisson, with Robert L. Wise
• The Transatlantic Book Club by Felicity Hayes-McCoy
• First Principles by Thomas E. Ricks
• The Blade Between by Sam J. Miller
• Dancing in the Mosque by Homeira Qaderi
• Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam
  -Listen to an interview with the author on our podcast here.
• Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz
• The Price You Pay for College by Ron Lieber
• Shed No Tears by Caz Frear
• The Girl in the Mirror by Rose Carlyle
• Barack Before Obama by David Katz
• This One Wild and Precious Life by Sarah Wilson
• When We Were Young & Brave by Hazel Gaynor
• When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole

Additional titles not included in the ad:

• Barely Functional Adult by Meichi Ng
• The Half-God of Rainfall by Inua Ellams
• The Brothers of Auschwitz by Malka Adler
• In Case You Missed It by Lindsey Kelk
• Sisters of War by Lana Kortchik
• Just Feed Me by Jessie James Decker
• The Night Portrait by Laura Morelli
• To Tell You the Truth by Gilly Macmillan
• I Am These Truths by Sunny Hostin
• Mantel Pieces by Hilary Mantel
• Christmas at the Island Hotel by Jenny Colgan
• The Bladebone by Ausma Zehanat Khan
• Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade
• The Killer’s Shadow by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker
• Do Not Disturb by Claire Douglas
• La bibliotecaria de Saint-Malo (The Librarian of Saint-Malo Spanish Edition) by Mario Escobar
• A Relevant Faith by J. D. Vance

Find more upcoming HarperCollins titles in our Edelweiss+ catalogs.

-Lainey

Shout 'N Share 2020: Librarians Across the Country Love These Forthcoming HarperCollins Titles

Every year at Book Expo, a program called Shout 'N Share features a panel of librarians who present forthcoming books that have caught their attention. Though Book Expo was cancelled, Booklist hosted this virtual book presentation on Wednesday, July 22nd, with over 1,400 librarians in attendance.

Panelists included: Donna Seaman, Booklist, Adult Books Editor; Robin Bradford from Pierce County Library System in WA; Allison Escoto from The Center for Fiction, Brooklyn, NY; Sharon Fason from the Chicago Public Library; and Sara Martinez from the Nathan Hale Library in Tulsa, OK.

The library marketing team sent reading material to each panelist prior to the event, tailored to their reading tastes. We are happy to announce the following HarperCollins titles that were chosen by the panelists. This list was sent to all registrants and also included in The Booklist Reader, which has a readership of 45,000 monthly visits.

HarperCollins has participated in this program for many years and our books have been well-represented. But this year is extraordinary. We’ve never had this many must-read titles called out by the panel of librarians.

Congratulations to our authors on the list!

The Big She-Bang by Marisa Acocella

Black Bottom Saints by Alice Randall

The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett by Annie Lyons

Clean Mind, Clean Body by Tara Stiles

I Am These Truths by Sunny Hostin

Like Lovers Do by Tracey Livesay

Make Me Rain by Nikki Giovanni

Prime Deceptions by Valerie Valdes

Reclaiming Her Time by Helena Andrews-Dyer and R. Eric Thomas

Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade

Too Much Lip by Melissa Lucashenko

Unforgetting by Robert Lovato

A Walk Around the Block by Spike Carlsen 

We’re Better Than This by Elijah Cummings and James Dale 

What Becomes a Legend Most by Philip Gefter

You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria

Find the full list of titles presented here. Watch the replay of the event here. Read the article from The Booklist Reader here.

-Lainey

New Podcast Episode: An Interview with Rumaan Alam, Author of LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND

Hello, librarian friends.

Today, I'm thrilled to share my interview with Rumaan Alam, author of Leave the World Behind. Rumaan's latest novel is one of the buzziest books of the fall, and for good reason: it's part tension-packed thriller, part biting social critique, told in Rumaan's signature voice that won him acclaim for his previous novels Rich and Pretty and That Kind of Mother. 

Leave the World Behind flew to the top of my TBR pile when all-star Harper sales rep Kate McCune raved about it. You can read her thoughts here. I subsequently tore through the book in a matter of days, and, along with my colleagues Virginia Stanley and Lainey Mays, formed a triumvirate of Rumaan-fandom. The book has also received praise from authors Roxane Gay, Emma Straub, Laura Lippman, and others. Just check out this rave from Laura Lippman!

"You will want to read Leave the World Behind very quickly, you will want to read it very slowly and savor every word. Rumaan Alam's ingenious, gorgeously written novel feels both like a prophecy and a contemporaneous response to our anxious era, all of it building to a perfect finale."
—Laura Lippman, New York Times bestselling author of Lady in the Lake and My Life as a Villainess

You can listen to our interview below and also check out our show notes. Enjoy!

 

To listen to Rumaan's podcast interview with Tracy Sherrod, Editorial Director of Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, click here. You can also listen to Tracy's interview on The Library Love Fest Podcast here.

Check out Rumaan's two podcasts on Slate: Working and Outward

Read Rumaan's interview with Vogue that was referenced in our interview regarding cell phones and writing across gender.

Request an egalley and audiobook egalley from Edelweiss+
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Be sure to get your LibraryReads votes in by September 1, 2020.

Thank you Rumaan for joining us on the podcast!

-Chris

LLF Guest Post: Why Mothers Make the Best Writers by Pamela Crane, Author of LITTLE DEADLY SECRETS

We are honored to have a guest post from Pamela Crane, author of Little Deadly Secrets, on the blog this week. Little Deadly Secrets is the latest addictively readable domestic suspense novel from USA Today bestselling author Pamela Crane. In this book, we meet Mackenzie, Robin, and Lily. They have been inseparable forever, sharing life’s ups and downs and growing even closer as the years have gone by. They know everything about each other—or so they believe. 

Welcome, Pamela!

 

***

My kids call me the Mental Mommy. We even made matching t-shirts. Before the pandemic, we wore them to our library so that I could easily find my children amid the book stacks. (Because what other kid would wear a shirt that says Proud child of a Mental Mommy?) The nickname could have evolved because there are four of them and one of me, and since they outnumber me, some days Mommy goes a little...well, mental. When I asked my oldest daughter where they came up with it, she told me it’s because I write stories about domestic drama, particularly mothers and their wild families. I remember sighing with relief (yay, they didn’t think I was a bad mom!)...until she elaborated that she, too, wrote a short story about murder and motherhood. I’m sure I’ll be paying for her therapy over it someday.

Sure, being a mom makes it hard to write. Sneaking in a chapter here, a paragraph there, around naps and snacks and virtual learning (God help me). But motherhood also gives writers an advantage. It stretches you in ways you never imagine—both in how it fills you with a sacrificial love more limitless than the skies, and pushes your buttons more than a trigger-happy child on an elevator. The range of emotions parenthood equips you with is enough to fill a Fyodor Dostoyevsky page count, and the drama (oh, the drama!) would make Shakespeare’s quill pen tremble.

My books are as honest as life. We rarely see this in literature, the darker side of motherhood. Instead we read about the ever-patient mom with kids who are rarely seen or heard. In real life, kids are noisy, messy, curious, always talking over you, screaming a thousand “Mommy’s!” a day. There’s a lot of drama that comes with parenting—whether your child is little or big—and to me, it makes a more exciting family dynamic in fiction. That’s what I write about. The little and big messes that come with family—and in the case of Little Deadly Secrets, include a dash of murder.

If you’re a parent, you know what I’m talking about. When your toddler paints his bedroom in poo. Or when your five-year-old plays hairdresser and cuts her sister’s hair in a style even the 1980s would disown. From there the problems grow bigger, like when your pre-teen uses his first swear word (he certainly didn’t learn that word from me!). By the time they hit puberty, lying is an art form. Don’t get me started on the teen drama. I’m faint just thinking about it.

You’ll find “Mental Mommy-hood” woven into my drama because life with kids is full of it. Kids are natural rebels, wanting their own way, watching the world around them, wondering how they can tame it for their own. So I feature those rebellious children, angsty teens, and miniature spitfires...then tell my children never to act like Mommy’s characters.

***

Thank you, Pamela! 

Be sure to download an egalley of Little Deadly Secrets, available August 18, 2020, from Edelweiss+ and NetGalley.

-Lainey

Join Us on Tuesday, 7/21, for an Adventure-Filled Episode of DOOR TO DOOR!

Hello, librarians!

We are reaching out to let you know about a very special upcoming episode of Door to Door that you won't want to miss!

On Tuesday, July 21st at 2:00pm ET, join us for an entirely fresh look at the cities in which we live! Go on an intellectual adventure with Thomas Hynes, author of Wild City and Spike Carlsen, author of A Walk Around the Block.

About Wild City by Thomas Hynes: An illustrated guide to 40 of the most well-known, surprising, notorious, mythical, and sublime non-human citizens of New York City—a love letter to its surprising ecological diversity. 

Find out more about Wild City

Wild City is chock full of delightful surprises, so be sure to join us to learn more. Below are seven fun facts to get you started!

1. There are more peregrine falcons per square mile in NYC than anywhere else in the world. The ledges and pigeons make it an ideal habitat.  

2.The first panda bear to ever set foot (or paw) anywhere in the United States first lived for two months in a Midtown apartment before relocating to a zoo. 

3. There are two beavers on the New York City flag. 

4. In the late 1800s, there were more horses living in New York City than there were humans living in Pittsburgh. 

5. Rooftop honey bees in Brooklyn unintentionally uncovered the largest known marijuana growing facility in New York City's history.

6. New York City, as recently as 1600, was home to half the world's oysters. 

7. There is a coyote living in Central Park. 







About A Walk Around the Block by Spike Carlsen:
The bestselling author of A Splintered History of Wood uses a walk around his hometown to explore how every part of our urban landscape—from manhole covers and recycling bins to pedestrian crossings and bike lanes—impact and shape our lives in this fascinating work of popular science.

Find out more about A Walk Around the Block 

Watch this great video introduction to A Walk Around the Block
by author Spike Carlsen!

Check out these ten unique experiences Spike Carlsen encountered while researching for A Walk Around the Block!

1. A conversation with Bea Johnson (who explains how her family of four generates a mere quart jar of trash during an entire year).

2. Touring the Trash Museum of New York City (home of 45,000+ items one sanitation worker collected over a 34-year career).

3. Walking through the sewers of Paris (an activity that’s been popular with Parisians for 170 years).

4. Interviewing squirrel linguist Robert Lishak (a professor at Auburn University who’s studied squirrel behavior and language for 40 years) (now I know what Kuk-kuk means).

5. Spending a week with a pigeon racer, his racing club and his 240 "race horses of the sky" as they find their way home from 100 miles away.

6. Working side-by-side in a Paris alley with graffiti artist, Irvin (making a name for myself without being arrested).

7. Judging a roadkill contest in Marlington, West Virginia (the wild boar-pepper dish won over the Bumper Bear tacos and rabbit stew).

8. Nordic Walking with the Nordic Walking Queen (and adding years to my life).

9. Strolling through Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta, Georgia (a cemetery that’s part public park, part burial ground, part art museum, and part wedding venue).

10. Walking the neighborhood route with my mail delivery person (and finding out why the letter to my next-door neighbors needs to travel 60 miles).

 

To watch the episode LIVE on Facebook, simply visit our Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/librarylovefest.  Be sure to follow us on Facebook to receive notification every time we're live. 

If you don't use Facebook, not to worry! Every episode of Door to Door is available on our blog and our YouTube channel immediately following the Facebook Live broadcast! 

Click here for access to every episode of Door to Door!

 

-LLF

Lots of Love for Rebekah Taussig's SITTING PRETTY

Sitting Pretty is a memoir-in-essays from Rebekah Taussig, disability advocate and creator of the Instagram account @sitting_pretty, reflecting on identity, accessibility, and representation and processing a lifetime of memories to paint a more beautiful, nuanced portrait of a body that looks and moves differently than most.

The love for this book is pouring in. Check out these reviews:

“A disability advocate debuts with a collection offering potent rejoinders to ableism.... A fierce and fabulous revision to entrenched ableist scripts.”
—Kirkus Reviews review

“An invaluable, eye-opening look at disability from a firsthand perspective.”
—Booklist

“Her smart and witty observations about living with disabilities will be enlightening and eye-opening for readers.”
—Publishers Weekly

"Rebekah writes in a way that is somehow both world-shakingly profound and beautifully intimate. Her voice is unforgettable in its power to make you feel, question, learn, and grow. There aren't words for how much the world needs this book."
—Megan Jayne Crabbe, bestselling author of Body Positive Power 

"Sitting Pretty is the book I needed years ago as I grappled with my sense of self and my identity as a disabled woman. I put it down while reading only long enough to collect myself each time waves of emotion crashed over me. Rebekah's spunky, self-aware wit, combined with education that never feels didactic, make this book a worthwhile and rewarding read."
—Emily Ladau, writer, speaker, and disability rights activist

Be sure to check out Rebekah's recent Q&A with Publishers Weekly.

We have previously heard from Rebekah when she wrote an excellent letter to librarians and when she was interviewed by her editor at HarperOne on our podcast. Listen to the episode here: 

Be sure to download an egalley from NetGalley and Edelweiss+. 

Rebekah is also taking over our Instagram feed tomorrow, Friday, July 17! Follow along here.

-Lainey

The August LibraryReads List is Here!

You voted, they counted, and the winners have finally been announced!

This month, we are thrilled to share that You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria is the
#1 LibraryReads pick for August! Congratulations, Alexis!

More great news: The Silent Wife by Karin Slaughter, The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline, and No Offense by Meg Cabot have also been selected for the August LibraryReads List! And that's not all! Ilona Andrews officially joins the LibraryReads Hall of Fame with the selection of Emerald Blaze.

Want to hear how our authors reacted to being selected for the August LibraryReads List? Listen to our newest Library Love Fest Podcast episode below to hear their responses!

Congratulations to all of our wonderful authors!

Click here to see the full list.

***

 

You Had Me at Hola
by Alexis Daria: RITA® Award-winning author Alexis Daria brings readers an unforgettable, hilarious rom-com set in the drama-filled world of telenovelas—perfect for fans of Jane the Virgin and The Kiss Quotient.

"RITA Award-winning Daria has created extremely smart and appealing characters, and the scenes of their shooting the show are delicious fun. Fans of Susan Elizabeth Philips will enjoy the humor and chemistry Daria whips up." —Booklist

Request the egalley from Edelweiss+
Request the egalley from NetGalley

 

 

The Silent Wife by Karin Saughter: New York Times 
bestselling author Karin Slaughter returns with another electrifying thriller in the Will Trent series—her 20th book!

"The emotionally sophisticated characters work through the brutality of their jobs in this dynamic psychological thriller and police procedural that will please readers of Slaughter’s 'Grant County' series. For fans of Meg Gardiner, David Baldacci, and Carrie Smith."
—Library Journal

Request the egalley from Edelweiss+
Request the egalley from NetGalley

Watch Karin Slaughter's guest appearance on Door to Door!

 

The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline: The author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Orphan Train returns with an ambitious, emotionally resonant historical novel that captures the hardship, oppression, opportunity, and hope of a trio of women’s lives—two English convicts and an orphaned Aboriginal girl—in untamed nineteenth-century Australia.

"Master storyteller Christina Baker Kline is at her best in this epic yet intimate tale of nineteenth-century Australia. I loved this book." 
—Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife and Love and Ruin 

Request the egalley from Edelweiss+
Request the egalley from NetGalley

 

 

No Offense by Meg Cabot: New York Times bestselling author Meg Cabot returns with a charming romance between a children's librarian and the town sheriff in the second book in the Little Bridge Island series.

Praise for No Judgments: "You know the woman who wrote The Princess Diaries series (and a dozen other series adding up to more than 80 novels for middle-grade, YA and adult readers) will deliver a happy ending, along with engaging characters, lively dialogue and plenty of plot twists."
—Tampa Bay Times

Request the egalley from Edelweiss+
Request the egalley from NetGalley

 

 

Emerald Blaze by Ilona Andrews: Ilona Andrews, #1 New York Times bestselling author, continues her spellbinding series set in the Hidden Legacy world where magic controls everything—except the hearts of those who wield it.

"Andrew’s whirlwind fifth Hidden Legacy romance opens with a bang and maintains a breakneck pace, dealing in magic that rouses and entertains.... Andrew’s world-building is world-class, and the banter between Catalina and Alessandro sings. New readers will have no trouble jumping in with this installment and series fans will not be disappointed."
—Publishers Weekly

Previous LibraryReads selections:
Sapphire Flames (August 2019)
White Hot (May 2017)

Request the egalley from Edelweiss+
Request the egalley from NetGalley

***

Thanks to all who participated and submitted votes for the August LibraryReads list!
Be sure to submit your votes for the September LibraryReads list by August 1st. Click here to find out what we're recommending!  

Click here to learn more about LibraryReads.

-Chris

You Must Read Natasha Trethewey's MEMORIAL DRIVE

Natasha Trethewey's Memorial Drive is a chillingly personal and exquisitely wrought memoir of a daughter reckoning with the brutal murder of her mother at the hands of her former stepfather, and the moving, intimate story of a poet coming into her own in the wake of a tragedy.

We three on the library team love this captivating work of nonfiction and we are not alone! Check out all of this incoming praise:

It has been included in a plethora of 'must-read' book round-ups including Refinery 29, Deep South, Lit Hub, Time, Chicago Tribune, and many more. Essence named it one of "14 Books By Black Authors To Add To Your Bookshelf."

This title was also selected as our Summer 2020 Lead Read by all the HarperCollins sales force.

Check out a few of the many reviews:

"A work of exquisitely distilled anguish and elegiac drama...Through finely honed, evermore harrowing memories, dreams, visions, and musings, Trethewey maps the inexorable path to her mother’s murder.... Trethewey writes, ‘To survive trauma, one must be able to tell a story about it.’ And tell her tragic story she does in this lyrical, courageous, and resounding remembrance."
—Booklist  review

"Beautifully composed, achingly sad...This profound story of the horrors of domestic abuse and a daughter’s eternal love for her mother will linger long after the book’s last page is turned."
—Publishers Weekly

"[A] graceful, moving memoir...Delicate prose distinguishes a narrative of tragedy and grief."
—Kirkus Reviews

"A moving, heartbreaking memoir about a traumatic event and the path to healing."
—Library Journal

So much praise for this book. Read more quotes here.

Natasha also wrote a great opinion piece in The New York Times about the Mississippi flag. 

Natasha will be the keynote speaker at the 2020 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction Awards that will take place today, July 9th, at 3:00 PM CDT. You can still register for the event until 2:59 PM CDT here.

Download an egalley from Edelweiss+
Download an egalley from NetGalley

A must-read book.

-Lainey