Library Love Fest

HarperCollins is Heading to Seattle for ALA Midwinter 2019!

Dearest librarians, who's excited? ALA Midwinter 2019 is almost here! We're thrilled to have a wonderful line-up of authors and events, not to mention our world-famous Adult Book Buzz, where exciting upcoming titles, snacks, and sound machines come hand-in-hand(-in hand). Use our schedule below to mark your calendars so you don't miss a thing!

ALA Midwinter 2019 

Saturday, January 26, 2019

   

8:30-10:00am
HarperCollins Adult Book Buzz
Sheraton Grand Seattle / Metropolitan A Ballroom
1400 6th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101
(A 2-minute walk from the convention center!)

Refreshments will be served and seating is limited, so RSVP to librarylovefest@harpercollins.com today!

Don't forget to come to our booth #1101 and meet our authors!

10:00-11:00am
Chanel Reynolds / What Matters Most
Booth signing

10:30-11:00am
BONUS BOOK BUZZ!
HarperCollins Publishers with Sterling, Norton, and Workman
Book Buzz Theater
Exhibit Hall: Aisle 2400

11:00am-12:00pm
Julia Quinn / The Other Miss Bridgerton
Marie Tremayne / The Viscount Can Wait
Booth signing

1:00-2:00pm
Juliet Grames / The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna
Booth signing

2:00-3:00pm
Glen Erik Hamilton / Mercy River
Booth signing

3:00-4:00pm
LibraryReads Debut Authors Panel
Juliet Grames / The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna
Washington State Convention Center, Room 3A

Sunday, January 27

11:00am-12:00pm
Taylor Adams / No Exit
Booth signing

12:00-1:00pm
Tara Conklin / The Last Romantics 
Booth signing

1:00-2:00pm
Susan Wiggs / The Oysterville Sewing Circle
Booth signing

2:00-3:00pm
Kate Quinn / The Huntress
Booth signing

2:00-4:00pm
UFL Author Gala Tea*
Juliet Grames / The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna
Grand Hyatt Seattle, Leonesa Ballroom

*HarperCollins is a proud sponsor of UNITED FOR LIBRARIES (UFL)
www.ala.org/united
Call 1-800-545-2433 ext 2161 for tickets.

3:00-4:00pm
Isha Sesay / Beneath the Tamarind Tree 
Booth signing

4:00-5:00pm
Elise Hooper / Learning to See 
Booth signing

Monday, January 28

8:00-9:00am
LibraryReads Breakfast Panel
Tara Conklin / The Last Romantics
Sheraton Grand Seattle / Cirrus Ballroom
1400 6th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101
(A 2-minute walk from the convention center!)

SEATING IS LIMITED, so please RSVP
by January 7th, 2019.
http://bit.ly/LRMidwinterBreakfast2019

10:30-11:00am
BONUS BOOK BUZZ!
HarperCollins Publishers and Harlequin
Book Buzz Theater
Exhibit Hall: Aisle 2400

2:00-3:00pm
CLOSING SESSION
Isha Sessay / Beneath the Tamarind Tree
In conversation with Booklist's Donna Seaman
Washington State Convention Center, Ballroom 6, A-B

 

Click here for a printable version of our full conference schedule!

The February LibraryReads List is Here!

   
 

 

 

 

 

You voted, they counted, and the winners have been announced. We are excited to share that The Huntress by Kate Quinn and The Last Romantics by Tara Conklin have been selected for the February LibraryReads list! A huge congratulations to all the titles on the list! See the full list here.

The Huntress by Kate Quinn: From the author of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling novel, The Alice Network, comes another fascinating historical novel about a battle-haunted English journalist and a Russian female bomber pilot who join forces to track the Huntress, a Nazi war criminal gone to ground in America. Click here to request the egalley on Edelweiss.

The Last Romantics by Tara Conklin: The New York Times bestselling author of The House Girl explores the lives of four siblings in this ambitious and absorbing novel in the vein of Commonwealth and The Interestings. Click here to request the egalley on Edelweiss.

Thanks to all who participated and submitted votes for the February LibraryReads list! Be sure to submit your votes for the March LibraryReads list by February 1st. You can see our recommendations here. Click here to learn more about LibraryReads.

-Chris

Jason Rezaian, Author of PRISONER, to Guest on LIVE from the NYPL

In July 2014, Washington Post Tehran bureau chief Jason Rezaian was arrested by Iranian police, accused of spying for America. The charges were absurd. Rezaian’s reporting was a mix of human interest stories and political analysis. He had even served as a guide for Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown. Initially, Rezaian thought the whole thing was a terrible misunderstanding, but soon realized that it was much more dire as it became an eighteen-month prison stint with impossibly high diplomatic stakes. 

In Prisoner, Rezaian writes of his exhausting interrogations and farcical trial. He also reflects on his idyllic childhood in Northern California and his bond with his Iranian father, a rug merchant; how his teacher Christopher Hitchens inspired him to pursue journalism; and his life-changing decision to move to Tehran, where his career took off and he met his wife. Written with wit, humor, and grace, Prisoner brings to life a fascinating, maddening culture in all its complexity.

Jason will be in conversation with New Yorker Editor-in-Chief David Remnick on Tuesday, January 22 at 7:30 PM EST at the main branch of the New York Public Library for the LIVE from the NYPL series. Find out more and buy tickets here.

Can't make it? No worries, you can follow along with the hashtag #LIVEfromtheNYPL on Twitter and Instagram.

Be sure to download an egalley of Prisoner now!

-Lainey

The #LIBFAVES18 List is Here!

Happy New Year, everyone! This past December, librarians took to Twitter to vote for their favorite books of the year using the hashtag #libfaves18. We are thrilled to share the top HarperCollins books selected by librarians for 2018!

To begin, we had three books in the top 10:

I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara: A masterful true crime account of the Golden State Killer—the elusive serial rapist turned murderer who terrorized California for over a decade—from Michelle McNamara, the gifted journalist who died tragically while investigating the case.

 

The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn: For readers of Gillian Flynn and Tana French, a twisty, powerful, Hitchcockian thriller about an agoraphobic woman who believes she witnessed a crime in a neighboring house. Soon to be a major motion picture starring Amy Adams, Julianne Moore, and Gary Oldman, in theaters October 4th!

 

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo: Fans of Jacqueline Woodson, Meg Medina, and Jason Reynolds will fall hard for this astonishing, National Book Award-winning, New York Times-bestselling novel-in-verse by an award-winning slam poet, about an Afro-Latina heroine who tells her story with blazing words and powerful truth.

 

 

Other titles that received hefty doses of librarian love include: 

November Road by Lou Berney

A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole

The Word Is Murder by Anthony Horowitz

The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay

The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang

Varina by Charles Frazier

Marilla of Green Gables by Sarah McCoy

Wicked and the Wallflower by Sarah MacLean

The Sea Queen by Linnea Hartsuyker

The Book of M by Peng Shepherd

French Exit by Patrick deWitt

Melmoth by Sarah Perry

The Secrets Between Us by Thrity Umrigar

Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver

Congratulations to all of the authors on the list and thanks to all who participated. To see the full list, head on over to EarlyWord.com.

-Chris

Amazing Praise for Lou Berney's NOVEMBER ROAD!

We are so excited to share an amazing new quote from author Stephen King, praising Lou Berney's November Road: “When people say they want to read a really good novel, the kind you just can't put down, this is the kind of book they mean. Exceptional.”

Wow! Check out some additional praise for November Road:

“November Road is a remarkable and unforgettable reading experience. Lou Berney’s artistry as a writer hits you in the heart and tugs hard at your soul. This tense and riveting thriller unfolds in the shadow of the assassination of JFK and is a deeply moving love story about people caught in moral dilemmas for which there are no easy answers and who together find hope against all odds. It will stay with you long after you read the final page. You will recommend it to friends. You will read it again. Berney is a writer to be read and admired. This is a staggeringly brilliant book and a flat-out terrific read.”
—Don Winslow, New York Times bestselling author of The Force

“From its first frenetic pages to its wrenching final ones, Lou Berney takes us on the ride of a lifetime as two people collide, dangerously, with history in 1963 America. It’s a crime story, a love story, a deeply American story. With November Road, Berney proves beyond doubt that he’s one of the most talented crime novelists working today.”
—Megan Abbott, New York Times bestselling author of You Will Know Me

Everyone on the LLF team has major love for November Road, and we can't wait for you to check it out. Get your copy here!

—Lainey

2019 Texas Topaz Nonfiction Reading List Announced

Today, the Texas Library Association announced the 2019 Texas Topaz Nonfiction Reading List. We are proud to announce that two HarperCollins adult titles made the list!

                  

 Barracoon by Zora Neale Hurston       The Cooking Gene by Michael W. Twitty

The purpose of the Texas Topaz Reading List is to provide children and adults with recommended nonfiction titles that stimulate reading for pleasure and personal learning. Because this list covers a wide array of topics, it makes a wonderful resource for librarians to use while considering purchasing titles for their own local collection development.

In order to make the list, the book must have a copyright date within the last three years prior to the release of the list and have a favorable review in a scholarly journal or magazine for grades Pre-K through 12, or adults.

Both of these titles made the list with a unanimous vote by the committee!


Additionally, three HarperCollins Children's books also made the list:

Chasing Space (Young Reader’s Edition) by Leland Melvin

*Shaking Things Up by Susan Hood

*The United States v. Jackie Robinson by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen and illustrated by R. Gregory Christie

(*) denotes a unanimous vote by the committee.

Find out more about the Texas Topaz Nonfiction Reading List and see the rest of the titles selected here.

-Lainey

An Interview with Etaf Rum, Author of A WOMAN IS NO MAN

"Where I come from, we’ve learned to silence ourselves. We’ve been taught that silence will save us. Where I come from, we keep these stories to ourselves. To tell them to the outside world is unheard of—dangerous, the ultimate shame.”

In Etaf Rum's 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. Set in an America at once foreign to many and staggeringly close at hand, A Woman Is No Man is an intimate glimpse into a controlling and closed cultural world, and a universal tale about family and the ways silence and shame can destroy those we have sworn to protect. It is 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.

In this week's podcast episode, Etaf discusses her upcoming book, writing about a closed community and the potential pushback she may receive, and what she wants readers to take away from the book. Check out some of the amazing reviews of A Woman Is No Man and be sure to listen to the episode below!

“First-time novelist Rum’s setting...is rare: a Brooklyn Palestinian enclave in which reputation matters above all else….The daughter of Brooklyn Palestinian immigrants, Rum was often told ‘a woman is no man.’ Overcoming her fear of community reprisal, she alchemizes that limiting warning into a celebration of ‘the strength and power of our women.’”
—Booklist

“Etaf Rum’s A Woman is No Man is a shattering, revelatory tale of immigration, womanhood, and the cyclical impact of violence and oppression. An unflinchingly written story of both loss and hope, strewn with enthralling, vibrant characters, Rum has accomplished the extraordinary: a tale that bridges the domestic and global, memory and future, the old world and the new. A spectacular debut.”
—Hala Alyan, author of Salt Houses

A Woman Is No Man will be available on March 5, 2019. You can download an egalley on Edelweiss now.

-Lainey

LLF Staff Suggestions for the February LibraryReads List (and Beyond!)

Hello, librarian friends!

'Tis the holiday season and we're thrilled to bring you good book-tidings and cheer, alongside a hefty dose of flannel. If you're looking for new reads to warm you up as the days grow cold, we're here to help!

To begin, we have an incredible line-up of reading suggestions for the February LibraryReads list (and beyond), including new novels from librarian-favorites Kate Quinn, Tara Conklin, and Elizabeth McCracken, as well as Nickolas Butler, Peter Swanson, and Lissa Evans. We also have some wonderful debuts, including When You Read This by Mary Adkins and American Pop by Snowden Wright.

Keep reading for more details on all of the books we're currently loving. We can't wait for you to dip in and let us know what you think!

Enjoy!

P.S. We've also put together a helpful guide to voting for LibraryReads on Edelweiss, available as a podcast, video, and handout!

We hope you find these resources helpful! Remember: be heard, vote early and often, and if you have questions, email us!

***

The Last Romantics by Tara Conklin
For fans of: The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin and The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer
The New York Times bestselling author of The House Girl explores the lives of four siblings in this ambitious and absorbing novel in the vein of Ann Patchett's Commonwealth.
"Despite spanning almost a century, The Last Romantics never feels rushed. Conklin places readers in the center of the Skinner family, moving back and forth in time and allowing waves of emotion to slowly uncurl. Perfectly paced, affecting fiction."  
—Booklist

Click here to download the egalley from Edelweiss
LibraryReads voting deadline: January 1st

The Huntress by Kate Quinn
For fans of: The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck and The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
From the author of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling novel The Alice Network, comes another fascinating historical novel about a battle-haunted English journalist and a Russian female bomber pilot who join forces to track the Huntress, a Nazi war criminal gone to ground in America.
"An impressive historical novel sure to harness WWII-fiction fans’ attention.... Laced with Russian folklore allusions and deliciously witty banter, Quinn’s tale refreshingly avoids contrived situations while portraying three touching, unpredictable love stories; the suspenseful quest for justice; and the courage involved in confronting one’s greatest fears."
—Booklist  review

Click here to download the egalley from Edelweiss
LibraryReads voting deadline: January 1st

Bowlaway by Elizabeth McCracken
For fans of: Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan and Everybody's Fool by Richard Russo
A sweeping and enchanting new novel from the widely beloved, award-winning author of The Giant's House about three generations of an unconventional New England family who own and operate a candlepin bowling alley.
"McCracken writes with exuberant precision, ingenious lyricism, satirical humor, and warmhearted mischief and delight.... This compassionate and rambunctious saga about love, grief, prejudice, and the courage to be one’s self chimes with novels by John Irving, Audrey Niffenegger, and Alice Hoffman." 
—Booklist  review

Click here to download the egalley from Edelweiss
LibraryReads voting deadline: January 1st



American Pop by Snowden Wright
For fans of: News of the World by Paulette Jiles and Some Luck by Jane Smiley
Moving from Mississippi to Paris to New York and back again, an epic saga of family, ambition, passion, and tragedy that brings to life one unforgettable Southern dynasty—the Forsters, founders of the world’s first major soft-drink company—against the backdrop of more than a century of American cultural history.
"This spectacular novel blends history and lore....This is an American saga of one man’s ambition, the woman who stoked it, and the family whose complex identity it became. Snowden Wright takes us into the heart of the deep south with insight, sophistication, and humor. What a ride!" 
—Adriana Trigiani, New York Times bestselling author of Kiss Carlo

Click here to download the egalley from Edelweiss
LibraryReads voting deadline: January 1st

LIBRARY JOURNAL’s 'Best Books of 2018' is Here! Congratulations to Our Authors!

Congratulations to our authors who made Library Journal’s Best Books of 2018 list!

November Road by Lou Berney

Sunburn by Laura Lippman

The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay 

The House of Impossible Beauties by Joseph Cassara

Speak No Evil by Uzodinma Iweala

That Kind of Mother by Rumaan Alam

How to Be Famous by Caitlin Moran

A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole

Too Wilde to Wed by Eloisa James

Diamond Fire by Ilona Andrews

Unmasked by the Marquess by Cat Sebastian

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

Planetside by Michael Mammay

Baby, You're Gonna Be Mine by Kevin Wilson

The Labyrinth of the Spirits by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Famous Father Girl by Jamie Bernstein

Grateful by Diana Butler Bass

A Call for Revolution by the Dalai Lama and Sofia Stril-Rever

Fatal Discord by Michael Massing

The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs by Steve Brusatte

I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara

The Making of a Dream by Laura Wides-Muñoz

Doing Harm by Maya Dusenbery

To see the full list, click here. 

-Virginia

Editors Unedited: Editor Carrie Feron in Conversation with Author Sally Thorne

On this very special episode of Editors Unedited, Executive Editor Carrie Feron called author Sally Thorne—from New York to Sally's home in Australia—to discuss her much anticipated second novel, 99 Percent Mine. Sally is the USA Today bestselling author of the smash hit debut novel, The Hating Game—which sold in over 20 countries. Now she’s back with a new unforgettable romantic comedy!

In 99 Percent Mine, we meet Darcy Barrett—who has undertaken a global survey of men. She’s travelled the world, and can categorically say that no one measures up to Tom Valeska, whose only flaw is that Darcy’s twin brother Jamie saw him first and claimed him forever as his best friend. Despite Darcy’s best efforts, Tom’s off limits and loyal to her brother, 99%.

When Darcy and Jamie inherit a tumble-down cottage from their grandmother, they’re left with strict instructions to bring it back to its former glory and sell the property. Darcy plans to be in an aisle seat halfway across the ocean as soon as the renovations start, but before she can cut and run, she finds a familiar face on her porch: house-flipper extraordinaire Tom’s arrived, he’s bearing power tools, and he’s single for the first time in almost a decade. This time around, she’s switching things up. She’s going to make Tom Valeska 99 percent hers.

Be sure to listen to the episode below; wait until the end to hear Sally answer questions submitted by her fans!

Sally also shared a Spotify playlist of songs that inspired her while writing 99 Percent Mine! 

99 Percent Mine will be available on January 29, 2019. Be sure to download an egalley on Edelweiss now!

-Lainey

November Facebook Live Book List

Season's Greetings! If you missed our Facebook Live video today, you can find the archived video on Facebook and Youtube.

Here's your TBR list from this month's episode:

Searching for Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok

• Be sure to listen to the conversation between Jean and her editor on our podcast here.

No Happy Endings by Nora McInerny

41 Reasons I'm Staying In by Hallie Heald

The Good Lie by Tom Rosenstiel

The Night Agent by Matthew Quirk

Dressing Barbie by Carol Spencer

The Better Sister by Alafair Burke

The Huntress by Kate Quinn

A Thousand Sisters by Elizabeth Wein

How the Bible Actually Works by Peter Enns

Before She Knew Him by Peter Swanson

American Pop by Snowden Wright

• Be sure to listen to Lainey's interview with Snowden on our podcast here.
  
  

Finished Books Available Now:

It's Okay to Laugh by Nora McInerny

The Little Book of Sloth Philosophy by Jennifer McCartney

GuRu by RuPaul

How to Slay the Buffy Way by Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Shining City by Tom Rosenstiel

The Wife by Alafair Burke

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

Silver Stars by Michael Grant

All the Beautiful Lies by Peter Swanson

Hindsight by Justin Timberlake

Have a wonderful weekend! 

-Lainey

BOOKLIST's 2018 Editors' Choice List Includes Some LLF Favorites!

Exciting news! Our friends at Booklist have compiled their 2018 Editors' Choice list and we are thrilled to share that they've included the following HarperCollins titles:

Visionary Women by Andrea Barnet  
High-Risers by Ben Austen  
The Perfectionists by Simon Winchester  
Fascism by Madeleine Albright  
Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver  
Summer Hours at the Robbers Library by Sue Halpern  
Don't Skip Out on Me by Willy Vlautin  
If You Leave Me by Crystal Hana Kim  
November Road by Lou Berney

The full list will be included in Booklist's January ALA issue, so keep your eyes peeled! Congratulations to all of the authors!

-Chris

 

Editors Unedited: Editor Emily Griffin in Conversation with Author Mary Adkins

On this week's episode of Editors Unedited, Mary Adkins, debut author of When You Read This, stopped by the HarperCollins office for a chat with her editor, Emily Griffin. When You Read This is a comedy-drama for the digital age: an epistolary debut novel about the ties that bind and break our hearts.

For four years, Iris Massey worked side by side with PR maven Smith Simonyi, helping clients perfect their brands. But Iris has died, taken by terminal illness at only thirty-three. Adrift without his friend and colleague, Smith is surprised to discover that in her last six months, Iris created a blog filled with sharp and often funny musings on the end of a life not quite fulfilled. She also made one final request: for Smith to get her posts published as a book. With the help of his charmingly eager, if overbearingly forthright, new intern Carl, Smith tackles the task of fulfilling Iris’s last wish.

Before he can do so, though, he must get the approval of Iris’ big sister Jade, a haute cuisine chef who’s been knocked sideways by her loss. Each carrying their own baggage, Smith and Jade end up on a collision course with their own unresolved pasts and with each other.

Told in a series of e-mails, blog posts, online therapy submissions, text messages, legal correspondence, home-rental bookings, and other snippets of our virtual lives, When You Read This is a deft, captivating romantic comedy—funny, tragic, surprising, and bittersweet—that candidly reveals how we find new beginnings after loss.

Enjoy the episode below:

In the interview, Mary said that she loved to draw horses when she was a kid. We couldn't leave the interview without asking Mary to draw a horse for us!

Be sure to check out When You Read This, out on February 5, 2019. You can also download an egalley on Edelweiss now.

Best,

-Lainey

Chicago Public Library's 2018 Best of the Best Book Selections Include the Following HarperCollins Titles...

Still catching up with all of the incredible books that came out in 2018? We're with you! While end-of-the-year best-of lists are helpful guides to all of the great books you might have missed this past year, there's an intimidating amount of these lists to sift through. So who should you trust with your reading future? The answer, as always, is to trust a librarian! Our friends at the Chicago Public Library have released a brilliant and comprehensive list of their choices for the year's most outstanding titles. Keep reading to find out which HarperCollins titles they've selected.

To begin, we're thrilled that Chicago Public Library has chosen I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara as one of their top 10 books of 2018! Click here to see the full list.

Chicago Public Library also selected 20 additional HarperCollins titles for their 2018 Best of the Best list, which highlights their choices for the top 100 adult titles published in 2018.

A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole

Melmoth by Sarah Perry

Bearskin by James A. McLaughlin

Blackfish City by Sam J. Miller

That Kind of Mother by Rumaan Alam 

The Big Fella by Jane Leavy

High-Risers by Ben Austen

I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara

The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar

The Perfectionists by Simon Winchester

The Word Is Murder by Anthony Horowitz

This Will Be My Undoing by Morgan Jerkins

The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang

Temper by Nicky Drayden

The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay 

November Road by Lou Berney

The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs by Steve Brusatte 

Scarface and the Untouchable by Max Allan Collins and A. Brad Schwartz

Sunburn by Laura Lippman

The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn  

For the full list of Chicago Public Library's 2018 Best of the Best picks, click here. 

Congratulations to all of the selections!

-Chris

Editors Unedited: Editor Jessica Williams in Conversation with Author Jean Kwok

Jean Kwok is the New York Times bestselling author of Girl in Translation. Her new novel, Searching for Sylvie Lee is 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.

It begins with a mystery. Sylvie, the beautiful, brilliant, successful older daughter of the Lee family, flies to the Netherlands for one final visit with her dying grandmother—and then vanishes.

Amy, the sheltered baby of the Lee family, is too young to remember a time when her parents were newly immigrated and too poor to keep Sylvie. Seven years older, Sylvie was raised by a distant relative in a faraway, foreign place, and didn’t rejoin her family in America until age nine. Timid and shy, Amy has always looked up to her sister, the fierce and fearless protector who showered her with unconditional love.

Here are only a couple of the many fabulous reviews that have already arrived for Searching for Sylvie Lee:

“Like all most compelling mysteries, Jean Kwok’s Searching for Sylvie Lee has a powerful emotional drama at its heart. A twisting tale of love, loss, and dark family secrets.”
—Paula Hawkins, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Girl on the Train and Into the Water

“Searching for Sylvie Lee had me in its grip from the very first page and didn’t set me loose till the last. Apart from a moving portrait of two sisters, so very different in character, it also showed me my own country—The Netherlands—and its people from a perspective in which we Dutch seldom see it. Jean Kwok has the sharp and intelligent eye of the newcomer who has lived here long enough to know perfectly well what she does and doesn’t like about her second country. A wonderful portrait of an immigrant family life and one of the best ‘unputdownable’ suspense novels I’ve read in a long time.”
—Herman Koch, New York Times bestselling author of The Dinner

The LLF team was fortunate enough to meet Jean last week when she came into the New York office—bringing along some delicious chocolate from The Netherlands to share! After meeting Jean, we knew that she had to make a guest appearance on our podcast. Jean was so genuine and heartfelt in her conversation with her Editor, Jessica Williams, on this week's episode of Editors Unedited. Libraries were beacons of hope during Jean's childhood; it was important to have a safe, warm place to go as a young immigrant. This interview is truly beautiful and one that you don't want to miss. Hear the interview below:

 In the interview, Jean mentions her brother, Kwan. Jean was kind enough to share a picture of Kwan and herself as kids. See the picture below:

What an adorable photo! Find out more about the book in Jean's Behind the Book Essay. We can't wait for you to read Searching for Sylvie Lee; you can download an egalley on Edelweiss now.

-Lainey

Matt Gutman on the publication of THE BOYS IN THE CAVE

The Boys in the Cave is the definitive account of the dramatic story that gripped the world: the miracle rescue of twelve boys and their soccer coach trapped in a flooded cave miles underground for nearly three weeks—a pulse-pounding page-turner by award-winning ABC News Chief National Correspondent Matt Gutman. Matt covered the story intensively, going deep inside the caves himself, interviewing dozens of rescuers, experts, and eye-witnesses around the world. This book tells little-known facts about the rescue like how the boys survived by licking condensation off of the cave walls and how four Thai pump workers were marooned and rescued a little over a week before this incident. You don't want to miss this heart-pumping look into the rescue that made the world stop in their tracks and cheer as the boys were finally rescued.

Watch Matt Gutman talk about The Boys in the Cave on ABC News below.

The LLF team had the pleasure of celebrating the book's publication with Matt this week.

Matt with Lisa Sharkey, Senior Vice President and Director of Creative Development, who initiated this project.


Congratulations, Matt! Be sure to pick up a copy of The Boys in the Cave, available now.

-Lainey

Editors Unedited: Editor Rachel Kahan in Conversation with Author Balli Kaur Jaswal

On this episode of Editors Unedited, William Morrow Executive Editor Rachel Kahan places an international call to her author Balli Kaur Jaswal. Since Rachel is based in New York and Balli in Singapore, they had to time a phone call that would work well with their twelve-hour time difference. Balli starts off the interview talking to Rachel about her last novel, Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows, a Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick. In this book, we get to know Nikki, the daughter of Indian immigrants, who impulsively takes a job teaching a "creative writing" course at the community center in the beating heart of London’s close-knit Punjabi community. Because of a miscommunication, the proper Sikh widows who show up to take the course are expecting to learn basic English literacy, not the art of short-story writing. When one of the widows finds a book of sexy stories in English and shares it with the class, Nikki realizes that beneath their white dupattas, her students have a wealth of fantasies and memories.

In the interview, Balli speaks about how the Punjabi community received the book, her experience growing up attending a westernized high school, and her upcoming book, The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters.

In The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters, we meet the British-born Punjabi Shergill sisters—Rajni, Jezmeen, and Shirnia. They were never close and barely got along growing up, and now as adults, have grown even further apart. On her deathbed, their mother voices one last wish: that her daughters will make a pilgrimage together to the Golden Temple in Amritsar to carry out her final rites. Arriving in India, these sisters will make unexpected discoveries about themselves, their mother, and their lives—and learn the real story behind the trip Rajni took with their Mother long ago—a momentous journey that resulted in Mum never being able to return to India again.

Powerful, emotionally evocative, and wonderfully atmospheric, The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters is a charming and thoughtful story that illuminates the bonds of family, sisterhood, and heritage that tether us despite our differences. Funny and heartbreaking, it is a reminder of the truly important things we must treasure in our lives.

Check out Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows, available now, and look out for The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters, coming out on April 30, 2019. Listen to the podcast episode below.

Be sure to listen until the end for a few of Balli's ideas for upcoming books! We are so excited to see what story she will bring to life next.

-Lainey

Author Patricia Harman Writes About the Importance of Libraries

Patricia Harman's Once a Midwife follows Patience Murphy. Patience has a young family with her new husband Daniel and a thriving practice as a midwife in her beloved Appalachian town. But Patience and Daniel's happy existence is thrown into chaos when the U.S. enters World War II. Daniel, a staunch pacifist after fighting in World War I, refuses to serve as a soldier again. When he's called in to fight, Daniel dodges the draft and ends up imprisoned during a brutal and difficult winter. Alone and struggling, Patience must support their family and fight for her husband's release, all the while continuing her midwifery practice in one of the most tumultuous times in U.S. history.

Today, we welcome a guest post by Patricia Harman!

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When we first moved to our farm near rural Spencer, West Virginia in the 1970's, we were a bunch of rag-tag hippies bent on saving the world from war, racism, sexism, capitalism, the depletion of natural resources, and just about every other evil we could think of. Our goal was nothing short of revolutionary. We wanted to find a way to live simply on the earth as a non-violent community and to do whatever we could to help a region known for its poverty.

I wasn’t a midwife or an author then, but I was almost a children’s librarian. Off and on for years in Spencer I was the story lady on Wednesday afternoons. Partly, I just enjoyed reading aloud. Partly, I love kids. Partly, I wanted to encourage children to care about books the way I do.

It was books that inspired our movement: Mahatma Gandhi’s autobiography, Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, George Orwell’s 1984, Tolstoy’s War and Peace, Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, Wendell Berry’s The Unsettling of America.

It was books that showed us how to survive: Living the Good Life by Helen and Scott Nearing, Diet for a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappe, The Owner-Built Home by Ken Kern, The Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening by Rodale Press. 

It was books that taught us to care about others; To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank.

And it was books, on winter evenings, reading aloud to our kids by kerosene light, that gave us comfort in troubled times: Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White.

And where did all these books come from? In Spencer, there was no bookstore on Main Street and no online bookseller, either—because there was no “on-line.”

It was the local library. 

And where did we meet with other hippie homesteaders when we had our potlucks to discuss the natural food co-op that we’d started? 

It was in the basement of the local library. 

And where did I teach the first natural childbirth classes in the county?

You guessed it—sitting in a circle of folding chairs at the local library.

Community center, repository of knowledge, fountain of inspiration, home of children’s programs…in every city and small town, we need such sanctuaries. As a former “story lady,” I remind everyone to celebrate and protect your library and remember to thank a librarian today!  

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Thanks, Patricia! Be sure to check out Once a Midwife, out today!

-Lainey

Clemency Burton-Hill on YEAR OF WONDER

“Year of Wonder is an absolute treat—the most enlightening way to be guided through the year.”
—Eddie Redmayne

Year of Wonder introduces readers to one piece of music each day of the year, artfully selected from across genres, time periods, and composers. Clemency Burton-Hill offers short introductions to contextualize each piece, and makes the music come alive in modern and playful ways. From Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, and Puccini to George Gershwin, Clara Schumann, Philip Glass, Duke Ellington, and many remarkable yet often overlooked voices, Burton-Hill takes us on a dazzling journey through our most treasured musical landscape.

Classical music has a reputation for being stuffy, boring, and largely inaccessible, but Burton-Hill is here to change that. She is an award-winning writer, broadcaster, and musician with a deep love of the art form, wanting everyone to feel welcome at the classical party. As she says, “The only requirements for enjoying classical music are open ears and an open mind.”

Here's a wonderful video of author Clemency Burton-Hill discussing the inspiration behind the book.

You can also find music listed in the book on this Spotify playlist:

Be sure to check out Year of Wonder, available now!

-Lainey

The HINDSIGHT of Justin Timberlake

"I can't help that my music shows who I am in this moment, what I'm drawn to, what I'm wondering about. I don't want to help it. What you hear in the words, what you feel in those songs—that's what I was feeling when I wrote them. I want you to see me, just like I want to see you."
—Justin Timberlake

In Hindsight, Justin Timberlake has moved from triple threat to quadruple threat, creating a characteristically dynamic experience, one that combines an intimate, remarkable collection of anecdotes, reflections, and observations on his life and work. The book includes hundreds of candid images from his personal archives that range from his early years to the present day, in locations around the world, both on and off the stage.

Justin discusses many aspects of his childhood, including his very early love of music and the inspiration behind many of his hit songs and albums. He also reflects on who he is, examining what makes him tick, speaking candidly about fatherhood, family, close relationships, struggles, and his search to find an inner calm and strength.

Everyone is excited to read about Justin's creative process. People Magazine covered his book jacket reveal, linking to his Instagram post with over one million likes! To see spreads from this gorgeous book, check out the Edelweiss page and watch a video Justin posted on Instagram below.

Justin was also interviewed last night by Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show. Check out the video below:

Congrats, Justin! Be sure to check out Hindsight by Justin Timberlake, available now!

-Lainey

A Visit from Sarah McCoy, Author of MARILLA OF GREEN GABLES

Sarah McCoy's Marilla of Green Gables is a bold, heartfelt tale of life at Green Gables...before Anne. A marvelously entertaining and moving historical novel, set in rural Prince Edward Island in the nineteenth century, that imagines the young life of spinster Marilla Cuthbert, and the choices that will open her life to the possibility of heartbreak—and unimaginable greatness. Based on the beloved characters from L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables series.

On Monday, Sarah McCoy visited the HarperCollins office in New York. If you missed our conversation on Facebook Live, you can watch the video here. In our live video, we reference our podcast interview with Sarah that we recorded during ALA Annual in New Orleans. In this interview, we talk to Sarah about her time spent on Prince Edward Island, researching and getting to know L.M. Montgomery's family. This is a must-listen interview that delves deep into her writing process for Marilla of Green Gables. Be sure to take a listen below!

We ended a perfect Green Gables-filled day with a hug! Be sure to check out Marilla of Green Gables, available now!

-Lainey