Library Love Fest

Catch the Replay of the HarperCollins Librarian Love Fest!

Hello, librarians!

On Friday, October 11th, Library Love Fest hosted our two-part book buzz and author talk. The event was live streamed from the Library Love Fest Facebook page and the replay can be viewed below!

Please note: A Facebook account is not required in order to watch the replay of our presentation! A recording of the presentation is also available on the Library Love Fest Youtube channel.

For a printable version of the handout, visit https://tinyurl.com/y54pvrnz
 
Part 1 of the Librarian Love Fest Book Buzz:

Watch on : https://youtu.be/t7ai2DledXg

 

Part 2 of the Librarian Love Fest Book Buzz,
with special guest speaker Jeffrey Colvin,
debut author of Africaville (on sale December 10th, 2019):
Click here to request an egalley on Edelweiss+
Click here to request an egalley on NetGalley

Watch on : https://youtu.be/H2kJ36a5ClU

 

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask!

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

NEW on The Library Love Fest Podcast: An Interview with Meng Jin, Author of LITTLE GODS

On this week's episode of The Library Love Fest Podcast, I sat down with author Meng Jin, whose debut novel Little Gods goes on sale January 14th. 

Little Gods is an unforgettable debut that is both ambitious and deeply intimate. It follows a young woman, Liya, who, after the sudden death of her enigmatic physicist mother Su Lan, travels to China to discover the truth behind her origins. After I finished this story, after following Meng down this lyrical, non-linear rabbit hole of ambition, motherhood, memory, time, and space, I found myself continually drawn back to the book. Trust me: this novel will STICK with you. It was such a joy to talk to Meng and dive deep into her history, her process, and the incredible amount of thought and care she put into this debut novel. You can listen to the interview below.

You can also find out more by reading this Behind the Book essay!

Request the egalley on either Edelweiss+ or NetGalley below:

Check out some of the praise for Little Gods:

"Artfully composed and emotionally searing, Jin’s debut about lost girls, bottomless ambition, and the myriad ways family members can hurt and betray one another is gripping from beginning to end. This is a beautiful, intensely moving debut."
—Publishers Weekly review

"With precocious dexterity, Jin...adroitly privileges her readers with a haunting omniscience she denies her characters, giving voice to Liya’s first caregiver and the runaway stranger whose genes are Liya's dubious legacy. Skillfully revealed, exquisitely rendered, Jin’s first novel undoubtedly presages future success."
—Booklist review

Hope you enjoyed the episode!

-Chris

The LibraryReads Voter Favorites 2019 List is Here!

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

We are thrilled to share that The Dutch House by Ann Patchett has been selected for the LibraryReads Voter Favorites 2019 list!

Click here to see the full list.

***

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett: The New York Times bestselling author of Commonwealth and State of Wonder 
returns with her most powerful novel to date: a richly moving story that explores the indelible bond between two siblings, the house of their childhood, and a past that will not let them go.

"Patchett’s splendid novel is a thoughtful, compassionate exploration of obsession and forgiveness, what people acquire, keep, lose or give away, and what they leave behind."
—Publishers Weekly review

***

Congratulations, Ann!

Thanks to all who participated and submitted votes for the LibraryReads Voter Favorites 2019 list! Be sure to submit your votes for the February LibraryReads list by January 1st. You can see our recommendations here. Click here to learn more about LibraryReads.

-Chris

Check Out the Cover of Meg Cabot's Next Book, NO OFFENSE, an Ode to Librarians Who Take Care of Business!

Earlier this year, beloved New York Times bestselling author Meg Cabot introduced us to her Little Bridge Island series with No Judgments, a LibraryReads pick for September. 

Now, we are thrilled to share an EXCLUSIVE first look at the cover for No Offense, the SECOND book in the series, coming August 2020! And, as if a new book by Meg Cabot isn't exciting enough, No Offense stars a librarian! We also have a short excerpt from the book, which you can check out via the link below.

Click here to read a (HILARIOUS) excerpt from the book!

Below, we have an overdue notice from librarian Molly Montgomery, the hero of No Offense!

More details on No Offense

A Paperback Original—Also Available as a Hardcover Library Edition

Welcome to Little Bridge, one of the smallest, most beautiful islands in the Florida Keys, home to sandy white beaches, salt-rimmed margaritas, and stunning sunsets—a place where nothing goes under the radar and love has a way of sneaking up when least expected...

A broken engagement only gave Molly Montgomery additional incentive to follow her dream job from the Colorado Rockies to the Florida Keys. Now, as Little Bridge Island Public Library’s head of children’s services, Molly hopes the messiest thing in her life will be her sticky-note covered desk. But fate—in the form of a newborn left in the restroom—has other ideas. So does the sheriff who comes to investigate the “abandonment”. When John Hartwell folds all six-feet-three of himself into a tiny chair and insists that whoever left the baby is a criminal, Molly begs to differ and asks what he’s doing about the Island’s real crime wave (if thefts of items from homes that have been left unlocked could be called that). Not the best of starts, but the man’s arrogance is almost as distracting as his blue eyes. Almost…

John would be pretty irritated if one of his deputies had a desk as disorderly as Molly’s. Good thing she doesn’t work for him, considering how attracted he is to her. Molly’s lilting librarian voice makes even the saltiest remarks go down sweeter, which is bad as long as she’s a witness but might be good once the case is solved—provided he hasn’t gotten on her last nerve by then. Recently divorced, John has been having trouble adjusting to single life as well as single parenthood. But something in Molly’s beautiful smile gives John hope that his old life on Little Bridge might suddenly hold new promise—if only they can get over their differences.

Clever, hilarious, and fun, No Offense will tug at readers’ heartstrings and make them fall in love with Little Bridge Island and its unique characters once again.
 

HarperCollins Titles Included in 2019 Best Book Round-Ups

It's that time of year: the time for the best books of 2019 round-ups! We are so excited to share the following HarperCollins titles that were selected for the Chicago Public Library and the New York Public Library's best books of 2019.

Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books of 2019

The Best of the Best list represents the CPL's choices for the year’s most outstanding titles, books of exceptional quality for a diverse, city-wide readership. 

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett (included in the Top 10!)

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert

Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson

Your House Will Pay by Steph Cha

Full Throttle by Joe Hill

Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman

Find the full list here.

 

The New York Public Library Best Books of 2019

The following books were selected as part of NYPL's top 100 best books published in 2019. 

Historical Fiction

The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna by Juliet Grames

Mystery

Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman

The Nanny by Gilly Macmillan

Romance

A Prince on Paper by Alyssa Cola

The Right Swipe by Alisha Rai

Nonfiction

Parkland by Dave Cullen

Bottle of Lies by Katherine Eban

Find the full list here.

 

Congrats to all!

-Lainey

Editors Unedited: Jessica Williams in Conversation with Elisabeth Thomas, Author of CATHERINE HOUSE

"I want to write a story about a girl who falls in love with a house."
—Elisabeth Thomas on writing Catherine House

On this week's episode of The Library Love Fest Podcast we sat down with William Morrow Executive Editor Jessica Williams and Elisabeth Thomas, author of Catherine House.

Catherine House is a gothic-infused debut of literary suspense, set within a secluded, elite university and following a dangerously curious, rebellious undergraduate who uncovers a shocking secret about an exclusive circle of students...and the dark truth beneath her school’s promise of prestige.

Be sure to listen to the podcast episode below to hear them discuss Elisabeth's inspiration for this novel, including an early love of gothic novels like Rebecca and Jane Eyre. They also talk about the house in the novel becoming a character in the story and how she wanted to write diverse characters in a novel in which race isn't the main conflict.

Find a letter from the editor here and a behind-the-book essay from Elisabeth here.

In the episode, Elisabeth spoke about her grandfather's class at Yale. She shared a photo with us of his Glee Club from 1953:

Hope you enjoyed the episode. Be sure to request the egalley from Edelweiss+ and let us know on social: Would you go to Catherine House?

-Lainey

November Facebook Live Book List

Happy Holidays from all of us at the Library Love Fest team!

We presented some gifts and grub on our November Facebook Live on Wednesday, November 20th. Find the video below as well as a list of the books we discussed and any links we promised to share. We also included the recipes we used to make all of the yummy snacks!

For our grub, Lainey made Gelatina de mosaico/Mosaic Jello from Chicano Eats by Esteban Castillo. Recipe below:

Ingredients:
3 6 oz flavored gelatin packets in the flavors of your choice (I used cherry, lime, and lemon)
6 cups boiling water
4 tablespoons unflavored gelatin
1 cup cold water
3 cups of milk
1 large Mexican cinnamon stick, broken in half
14 oz condensed milk
2 cups half and half
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Grease three 8-inch square pans and one 9x13-inch baking pan and set aside. Mix each packet of flavored gelatin with 2 cups of boiling water in three separate bowls, and pour each into its own greased square pan. Refrigerate for an hour.

2.After 30 minutes, make the milk gelatin. Mix the unflavored gelatin into the cold water in a 3 quart saucepan, and set aside so the gelatin can bloom for about 5 minutes. Place the pan on the stove and turn the heat on to medium low. Stir occasionally until the gelatin has dissolved, then add the 3 cups of milk and heat to just under a simmer. Add the cinnamon stick, turn off the heat, and let the mixture sit for 30 minutes to let the cinnamon steep. Remove the cinnamon stick and whisk in the condensed milk, half and half, and the vanilla extract. Set aside while you prep the colored gelatin.

3. Remove the flavored gelatin from the refrigerator and cut each flavor into ¼-inch cubes. Evenly spread out half of each flavor in a greased 9x13-inch baking pan then repeat with the rest of the flavored gelatin. Pour the milk jello over the cubes then place in the refrigerator to set, about 1–1½ hours. When you’re ready to serve, invert the jello onto a cutting board, cut into 3-inch squares, and place on a serving platter.

Virginia made Granola Pink Yogurt Parfaits from The Adventurous Eaters Club by Misha & Vicki Collins:

Virginia also mentioned her family recipe for Artichoke Pie:

2 jars of marinated artichoke hearts
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
4 eggs
2 cups grated sharp cheddar
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon tabasco
1/2 cup Italian flavored breadcrumbs.

Drain and chop artichoke hearts finely.  Beat eggs and add to artichokes with all of the other ingredients.  Mix well.  Bake at 375 for approx. 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.  (It usually takes a little longer than that)

Chris made a vegan burger from Bosh!: Healthy Vegan by Ian Theasby and Henry Firth:

After we introduced our delicious masterpieces, Lisa Sharkey, Director of Creative Development, joined us in the tiki hut!

She presented The Other Side of the Coin by Angela Kelly and IT'S ALL IN YOUR HEAD by Russ.

Other books presented on the video:

-Copper, Iron, and Clay by Sara Dahmen

-Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson

-Africaville by Jeffrey Colvin

~Find the LibraryReads announcement and video from his presentation at the HarperCollins office here.

-Strange Planet by Nathan W. Pyle

~Here's the library comic from the Strange Planet Instagram account:

-How to Forget by Kate Mulgrew

-Before She Knew Him by Peter Swanson

-Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson

-You Are 24 Carrot Gold

-AvoCuddle

Looking for more gift ideas? Check out the HarperCollins Holiday Gift Guides—including Lainey's selection—here.

 

Happy Holidays!

-Lainey

AFRICAVILLE by Jeffrey Colvin Selected as a December LibraryReads Pick!

We are so excited that Africaville by Jeffrey Colvin was selected as a December 2019 LibraryReads Pick! On this week's episode of The Library Love Fest Podcast, we explained how LibraryReads works and gave Jeffrey a call (he called in from a local New York public library!) to offer our congratulations.

Africaville is a stunning debut novel featuring a richly woven story of a town settled by former slaves on the outskirts of Woods Bluff, Nova Scotia, that is both bound together and torn apart by family, faith, and fate. Find out more about the book in the podcast audio below.

Here are a few links that we mentioned!

-LibraryReads

-Find the podcast recording with Rebecca Vnuk, Director of LibraryReads, recorded LIVE on the show floor at ALA Annual here.

-Find our staff LibraryReads Suggestions for January here.

-Watch Jeffrey Colvin speak at our librarian preview at the HarperCollins offices in New York here.

 

Be sure to check out Africaville, available on December 10th, 2019. See you next week!

-Lainey

There's So Much to See with Kevin Wilson's NOTHING TO SEE HERE!

Hello, librarians!

The love for Kevin Wilson's Nothing to See Here continues to burn! You've already shown so much support for this unforgettable novel, including selecting it as a LibraryReads pick for October! If you haven't yet dipped into this quirky, heartfelt, one-of-a-kind novel, please do so now!

Want to learn more? Kevin sat down with LLF's Virginia Stanley at ALA Annual in Washington D.C. to discuss Nothing to See Here and his inspiration behind writing it. You can listen to the podcast interview below!

Click below to watch Kevin Wilson speak at the UFL Editor's Panel at ALA Annual!

 

More exciting news! Kevin will appear on Today to speak with Jenna Bush Hager about Nothing to See Here on Tuesday,11/26, for the culmination of Jenna’s Book Club for November.

PBS NewsHour will also be running an interview with Kevin very soon!

Last month, The New York Times Book Review ran a rave front page review for Nothing to See Here. You can read the review here. They also included Nothing to See Here as an Editor’s Choice pick!

TIME included Nothing to See Here in its Best Books of 2019!

Over the weekend, Elizabeth Gilbert posted a video about how much she loves the book, calling it "Buck wild amazing!" Check her post out below that’s been viewed over 73,000 times!

 

 

We can't wait to see what's next for this enchanting novel from Kevin Wilson!

-Chris

Celebrating National Native American Heritage Month

November is National Native American Heritage Month!

To celebrate, we've put together a collection of incredible works that illuminate the Native American experience and remind us how vital these stories are to the history and makeup of America.

***

The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich: Based on the extraordinary life of National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrich’s grandfather who worked as a night watchman and carried the fight against Native dispossession from rural North Dakota all the way to Washington, D.C., this powerful novel explores themes of love and death with lightness and gravity and unfolds with the elegant prose, sly humor, and depth of feeling of a master craftsman.

Request the egalley from Edelweiss+
Request the egalley from NetGalley

Also from Louise Erdrich:
Future Home of the Living God
LaRose
The Round House

 

The Death of Sitting Bear by N. Scott Momaday: Pulitzer Prize winner and celebrated American master N. Scott Momaday returns with a radiant collection of more than 100 new and selected poems rooted in Native American tradition.

Request the egalley from Edelweiss+

Also from N. Scott Momaday:
House Made of Dawn
The Ancient Child

 

House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday: A special 
50th anniversary edition of the magnificent Pulitzer Prize-winning classic from N. Scott Momaday, with a new preface by the author.

Find out more on HarperCollins.com

 

Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden: An addictive and groundbreaking debut thriller set on a Native American reservation, Winter Counts is a tour-de-force of crime fiction, a bracingly honest look at a long-ignored part of American life, and a twisting, turning story that’s as deeply rendered as it is thrilling.

Find out more on Edelweiss+

Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline: A bold and brilliant new indigenous voice in contemporary literature makes her American debut with this kinetic, imaginative, and sensuous fable inspired by the traditional Canadian Métis legend of the Rogarou—a werewolf-like creature that haunts the roads and woods of native people’s communities.

Find out more on Edelweiss+

 

Don't Skip Out on Me by Willy Vlautin: From the award-winning author of Lean on Pete and The Free comes this moving novel—an ALA Notable Book and a finalist for the Pen/Faulkner Award—about a young ranch hand who goes on a quest to become a champion boxer to prove his worth. 

Find out more on HarperCollins.com

The Tale Teller by Anne Hillerman: Legendary Navajo policeman Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn takes center stage in this riveting atmospheric mystery from New York Times bestselling author Anne Hillerman that combines crime, superstition, and tradition, and brings the desert Southwest vividly alive.

Find out more on HarperCollins.com

Also from the author:
Cave of Bones
                              Song of the Lion
                              Rock with Wings

 

In a Barren Land by Paula Mitchell Marks: Award-winning historian Paula Mitchell Marks reconfirms her status as one of the foremost contemporary chroniclers of the American West with this definitive account of American Indian cultures under siege from 1607 to the present. 

Find out more on HarperCollins.com

Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones: A spellbinding and darkly humorous coming-of-age story about an unusual boy whose family lives on the fringe of society and struggles to survive in a hostile world that shuns and fears them.

Find out more on HarperCollins.com

 

 

 

Two Old Women by Velma Wallis: Based on an Athabascan Indian legend passed along for many generations from mothers to daughters of the upper Yukon River Valley in Alaska, this is the suspenseful, shocking, ultimately inspirational tale of two old women abandoned by their tribe during a brutal winter famine.

Find out more on HarperCollins.com

 

***

-Chris

 

The December LibraryReads List is Here!

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

This month, we are thrilled to share that Africaville by Jeffrey Colvin has been selected for the December LibraryReads list!

Click here to see the full list.

We called Jeffrey to surprise him with the news that Africaville made the December LibraryReads list. You can listen below!

 

***

Africaville by Jeffrey Colvin: A ferociously talented writer makes his stunning debut with this richly woven tapestry, set in a small Nova Scotia town settled by former slaves, that depicts several generations of one family bound together and torn apart by blood, faith, time, and fate.

"Colvin’s intriguing and memorable debut shines a light on a little-known black experience: the freed slaves from the Caribbean and U.S. who established a community in Canada in the 1800s. [He] expertly weaves in the subject of owning one’s heritage…this is a penetrating, fresh look at the indomitable spirit of black pioneers and their descendants."
—Publishers Weekly 

Request the egalley from Edelweiss+
Request the egalley from NetGalley

Watch Jeffrey Colvin discuss Africaville and the true story that inspired it!

***

Congratulations, Jeffrey!

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

-Chris

Editors Unedited: A Conversation with Amistad Editorial Director Tracy Sherrod

On this week's episode of The Library Love Fest Podcast, we welcome back Tracy Sherrod, Editorial Director of Amistad. Tracy gives an overview of the imprint and a few of the books they have published, including some award winners! She also gives us a glimpse into their upcoming schedule and genres that she wants to explore in the future. You can find the podcast below as well as a list of all the titles—including author and on-sale dates—discussed.

Titles Discussed:

Think Black by Clyde W. Ford, available now

    -Listen to Tracy's interview with the author here.

The Known World by Edward P. Jones, available now

Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson, available now

Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick by Zora Neale Hurston, available on 1/14/20

Dust Tracks on a Road by Zora Neale Hurston, available now

Barracoon by Zora Neale Hurston, available now

The Universal Nature of Glory and Greed by Deborah G. Plant, available on 2/16/21

The Cooking Gene by Michael W. Twitty, available now

Kosher Soul by Michael W. Twitty, available on 4/20/21

Infinitum by Tim Fielder, available on 8/18/20

Laughing to America by Gina Yashere, available on 2/16/21

The Mother of Black Hollywood by Jenifer Lewis, available now

The Great Mrs. Elias by Barbara Chase-Riboud, available on 2/2/21

Black Fortunes by Shomari Wills, available now

Three Strikes by Ursula Burns, available on 4/27/21

Own the Area by Katrina M. Adams, available on 7/7/20

Black Bottom Saints by Alice Randall, available on 8/18/20

The Secret Women by Sheila Williams, available on 6/9/20

Radical Reparations by Marcus Hunter, available on 3/15/22

Africaville by Jeffrey Colvin, available on 12/10/19

Sweat the Technique by Rakim, available now

Open Season by Ben Crump, available now

Just As I Am by Cicely Tyson, available on 10/20/20

Editor Toni Morrison and 1970's Black Literary World by Dana Williams, available on 1/15/22

Thanks for listening,

-Lainey

Great Reviews for Mitch Albom's FINDING CHIKA

"Albom addresses Chika directly: “You never have to worry about us forgetting you...we’d lose every memory we ever had before we would let go of yours.” Both painfully sad and beautiful, this is an absolute tearjerker."
—Publishers Weekly review

Finding Chika marks Mitch Albom's return to nonfiction for the first time in over a decade. It is an intimate and heartwarming memoir about what it means to be a family and the young Haitian orphan whose short life would forever change his heart.

Read the USA Today review here. They also shared an excerpt from the book.

Watch Mitch's interview—with clips of Chika—on the Today show below. 
Anderson Cooper devoted his entire CNN Full Circle Facebook show to the book. Mitch talks about how he came to run the orphanage in Haiti and care for Chika. Find the interview here.

Mitch also appeared on Fox & Friends and Dr. Phil.

Find the Associated Press' review here.

Finding Chika is available now. We can't wait to see what great reviews will come next!

-Lainey

Editors Unedited: A Conversation with HarperOne President and Publisher Judith Curr

On this week's episode of The Library Love Fest Podcast, we continue our imprint exploration series with a conversation between Virginia and Judith Curr, the President and Publisher of the HarperOne Group. Judith gives an overview of the four imprints of the HarperOne Group: HarperVia, Amistad, HarperCollins Espanol and HarperOne. She explains the essence of each imprint and the goals they hope to achieve. Be sure to listen to the episode and find a list of the titles that were discussed below.

Books discussed:

Previously published:

Over the Top by Jonathan Van Ness

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Barracoon by Zora Neale Hurston

Think Black by Clyde W. Ford

Open Season by Ben Crump

Diamond Doris by Doris Payne

Remember Me/Recuérdame (Spanish Edition) by Mario Escobar

    -Find out more about the Book Corner Selection from People en Español here.

 

Upcoming Titles:

Growing Old by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas

The Little Book of Big Lies by Tina Lifford

My Name Is Prince by Randee St. Nicholas

Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick by Zora Neale Hurston

The German House by Annette Hess, Translated by Elisabeth Lauffer

The End of the Ocean by Maja Lunde, Translated by Diane Oatley

Then the Fish Swallowed Him by Amir Ahmadi Arian

Almond by Won-pyung Sohn, Translated by Joosun Lee

The Yield by Tara June Winch

The Book of Rosy by Rosayra Pablo Cruz and Julie Schwietert Collazo

If you enjoyed the episode, please be sure to share it with a friend! Let us know your favorite translated work by tagging us on social on Twitter @librarylovefest.

-Lainey

LLF Staff Suggestions for the January LibraryReads List

Hello, librarians! We hope you've been having a wonderful fall! We're back with our staff suggestions for the January LibraryReads list! Before we dive in, we have an important update!

**

My Dark Vanessa Update!

The excitement and conversation surrounding My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell has been truly special. Thank you, librarians, for all your support. 

We want to let you know that My Dark Vanessa will now be publishing on March 10, 2020.

If you haven't yet read this unforgettable debut novel, we highly recommend you do so now.

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
For fans of: My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent and The Girls by Emma Cline
Exploring the psychological dynamics of the relationship between a precocious yet naïve teenage girl and her magnetic and manipulative teacher, a brilliant, all-consuming read that marks the explosive debut of an extraordinary new writer.

"Russell’s novel, alternating between past and present, presents a damning indictment of sexual predation, as she starkly elucidates the ways in which abuse robbed Vanessa not only of her childhood but also of her own once-promising future. It also prompts readers to interrogate their own assumptions about victimhood, consent, and agency. This is a frighteningly sharp debut."
—Publishers Weekly review

"A deeply relevant debut novel...[that] enlightens even as it chills."
—Library Journal review

"A gut-wrenching debut."
—Kirkus review

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

***

Reading Suggestions for January

All the Ways We Said Goodbye by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White
For fans of: The Summer Wives by Beatriz Williams and The Summer Country by Lauren Willig
The New York Times bestselling authors of The Glass Ocean and The Forgotten Room return with a glorious historical adventure that moves from the dark days of two World Wars to the turbulent years of the 1960s, in which three women with bruised hearts find refuge at Paris's legendary Ritz hotel.

Praise for The Glass Ocean: "Williams, Willig, and White work together again to create a riveting historical mystery.... 'Team W' takes readers on a voyage, filled with twists and turns, in which secrets abound, no one can be trusted, and history isn’t always what it seems."
—Booklist

Request the egalley from Edelweiss+
Request the egalley from NetGalley
LibraryReads Votes Due: December 1, 2019

 

Highfire by Eoin Colfer
For fans of: The Oracle Year by Charles Soule and Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor
From the New York Times bestselling author of the Artemis Fowl series comes a hilarious and high-octane adult novel about a vodka-drinking, Flashdance-loving dragon who lives an isolated life in the bayous of Louisiana—and the raucous adventures that ensue when he crosses paths with a fifteen-year-old troublemaker on the run from a crooked sheriff.

Click here to read a behind-the-book essay from Eoin Colfer!

Request the egalley from Edelweiss+
Request the egalley from NetGalley
LibraryReads Votes Due: December 1, 2019

 

The End of the Ocean by Maja Lunde
For fans of: Gold Fame Citrus by Claire Vaye Watkins and The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi
From the author of the #1 international bestseller The History of Bees, a captivating story of the power of nature and the human spirit that explores the threat of a devastating worldwide drought, witnessed through the lives of a father, a daughter, and a woman who will risk her life to save the future.

"Lyrical, atmospheric, and eerily prescient, The End of the Ocean is my favorite kind of speculative fiction. Lunde expertly weaves together both a warning and a gorgeous literary work of love and survival that will leave you wishing for rain."
—Christina Dalcher, bestselling author of Vox  

Request the egalley from Edelweiss+
Request the egalley from NetGalley
LibraryReads Votes Due: December 1, 2019

Love Her or Lose Her by Tessa Bailey
For fans of: 99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne and
My Favorite Half-Night Stand by Christina Lauren
The New York Times bestselling author of Fix Her Up returns with a unique, sexy romantic comedy about a young married couple whose rocky relationship needs a serious renovation.

"Books by Tessa Bailey are an insta-buy for me." 
—Sally Thorne, USA Today bestselling author of 
The Hating Game and 99 Percent Mine

Request the egalley from Edelweiss+
Request the egalley from NetGalley
LibraryReads Votes Due: December 1, 2019

 

Little Gods by Meng Jin
For fans of: Stay with Me by Ayobami Adebayo and
The Leavers by Lisa Ko
Combining the emotional resonance of Home Fire with the ambition and innovation of Asymmetry, a lyrical and thought-provoking debut novel that explores the complex web of grief, memory, time, physics, history, and selfhood in the immigrant experience, and the complicated bond between daughters and mothers.

"Meng Jin is a writer whose sweep is as intimate as it is global.  Little Gods is a novel about the heart-wracking ways in which we move through history and time.  A fierce and intelligent debut from a writer with longitude and latitude embedded in her vision."
—Colum McCann, bestselling author of Let the Great World Spin

Request the egalley from Edelweiss+
Request the egalley from NetGalley
LibraryReads Votes Due: December 1, 2019

The Gimmicks by Chris McCormick
For fans of: Imagine Me Gone by Adam Haslett and
The Association of Small Bombs by Karan Mahajan
Set in the waning years of the Cold War, a stunning debut novel about a trio of young Armenians that moves from the Soviet Union, across Europe, to Southern California, and at its center, one of the most tragic cataclysms in twentieth-century history—the Armenian Genocide—whose traumatic reverberations will have unexpected consequences on all three lives.

"The Gimmicks is a gorgeous epic that astounds with its scope and beauty. With empathy and humor, McCormick unravels the ties between brotherhood and betrayal, love and abandonment, and the fictions we create to live with the pain of the past. This novel will blow you away." 
—Brit Bennett, New York Times bestselling author of The Mothers

Request the egalley from Edelweiss+
Request the egalley from NetGalley
LibraryReads Votes Due: December 1, 2019

Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick by Zora Neale Hurston
For fans of: Whatever Happened to Interracial Love? by Kathleen Collins and What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi
From "one of the greatest writers of our time" (Toni Morrison)—the author of Barracoon and Their Eyes Were Watching God—a collection of remarkable stories, including eight lost Harlem Renaissance tales now available to a wide audience for the first time.

Request the egalley from Edelweiss+
LibraryReads Votes Due: December 1, 2019

 

Hunter Killer by Brad Taylor
For fans of: Red War by Vince Flynn and Spymaster by Brad Thor
Pike Logan tracks highly-trained Russian assassins to Brazil in this blistering, action-packed thriller from New York Times bestselling author and former Special Forces Officer Brad Taylor.

"Brad Taylor knows his stuff. His new Pike Logan novel, Hunter Killer, has the gun metal ring of authenticity and the crisp writing of a military communique…. It makes you pause and think while you’re being thoroughly and rapidly entertained. It’s an excellent read, and I greatly enjoyed it."
—Nelson DeMille, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Cuban Affair

Request the egalley from Edelweiss+
LibraryReads Votes Due: December 1, 2019

 

Hunting for a Highlander by Lynsay Sands
Also from the author: Immortal Born and The Wrong Highlander
Four Buchanan brothers have found their brides...only three more to go in this scintillating romance from New York Times bestselling author Lynsay Sands.

Praise for Lynsay Sands: "Sands is skilled at crafting genuine characters with deep familial ties..."
—Publishers Weekly

Request the egalley from Edelweiss+
LibraryReads Votes Due: December 1, 2019

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

The deadline to submit your votes is December 1!

***

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

-Chris

Author Lou Berney Makes History and More News from Bouchercon 2019!

Bouchercon 2019 just wrapped up in Dallas, Texas, and we have some incredible news to share.

First, a huge congratulations to Lou Berney! His latest novel, November Road, swept all three major "Best Novel" awards at Bouchercon by winning the Anthony Award, Barry Award, and Macavity Award!

November Road is the only novel to win all three plus the Hammett Award for Best Novel in the same year!

You can learn more about this incredible novel by listening to an interview with Lou below!

 

In addition, Lori Rader-Day won the Best Paperback Original Anthony Award for Under a Dark Sky! Be sure to check out our podcast episode featuring Lori as she sits down with her editor to discuss her latest upcoming novel, The Lucky One, on sale February 2020!

Click here to request an egalley for The Lucky One on Edelweiss+
Click here to request an egalley for The Lucky One on NetGalley

Here are Lou and Lori celebrating their incredible accomplishments "prom-style"!

 

Finally, Sarah Weinman’s The Real Lolita won a Macavity Award for Best Nonfiction at Bouchercon! David Grann, author of Killers of the Flower Moon, praised The Real Lolita as "a tour de force of literary detective work. Not only does it shed new light on the terrifying true saga that influenced Nabokov’s masterpiece, it restores the forgotten victim to our consciousness."

You can listen to an audio excerpt from the book by clicking here. 

Below is Sarah with her Macavity Award!

A huge congratulations to Lou, Lori, and Sarah!

-Chris

Happy Book Birthday to FINDING CHIKA by Mitch Albom!

"Mitch Albom has done it again with this moving memoir of love and loss. You can’t help but fall for Chika. A page-turner that will no doubt become a classic." 
—Mary Karr, author of The Liars’ Club and The Art of Memoir

Mitch Albom’s first nonfiction book in more than a decade, Finding Chika is a moving memoir about caring for a child. It is a beautiful reminder of the importance of kindness and service. At once heartwarming and thoughtful, readers will fall easily under the spell of this classic in the making.

Watch this moving interview on CBS Sunday Morning which aired on November 3^rd.

-Virginia

Happy Halloween! Here's Our Spoooooky October Facebook Live Book List

Trick or treat! The Library Love Fest Team took to Facebook Live on Monday, October 28th, to discuss terrifyingly good books that we previously hadn't presented. In true LLF fashion, we brought the holiday spirit. 

If you couldn't join us live, you can still watch the archived video below via Facebook or Youtube. We've also provided a list of the titles we discussed!

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

 

Blossom and Bones by Kim Krans

The Sea of Lost Girls by Carol Goodman

No Bad Deed by Heather Chavez

Listen to LLF's Virginia Stanley read from No Bad Deed!

 

No Exit by Taylor Adams

Mother Land by Leah Franqui

The Distant Dead by Heather Young

Sanctuary by Luca D'Andrea

Help for the Haunted by John Searles  

Watch an author video with John Searles!

Race the Sands by Sarah Beth Durst 

Get more scifi and fantasy reading recommendations by listening to our podcast episode featuring David Pomerico, Editorial Director for Harper Voyager US!

 

The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa

The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn

The Dead Wife by Sue Fortin

Black Mad Wheel by Josh Malerman

Below, you can listen to author Josh Malerman discuss his novel Bird Box (now a Netflix Original Movie!), and how being a musician informs his work!

 

The Last Seance by Agatha Christie

We hope you enjoyed our October Facebook Live! We'll see you next month. Until then, have a happy Halloween!

-Chris

Adriana Trigiani's TONY'S WIFE Wins People’s Choice Award in Fiction at Library of Virginia Literary Awards

A big congratulations to Tony's Wife by Adriana Trigiani, the winner of the People's Choice Award in Fiction at the 2019 Library of Virginia Literary Awards! The Library of Virginia Literary Awards are given to outstanding Virginia authors in the areas of poetry, fiction, nonfiction (and, in the case of nonfiction, also by any author about a Virginia subject), and literary lifetime achievement. The People's Choice Award winners are selected based on online voting. 

To see a full list of the winners and the long list of finalists, including HarperCollins author James A. McLaughlin's Bearskin, read the awards announcement here.

Three cheers for Adriana Trigiani! In celebration, we are giving away finished copies of Tony's Wife to the first 10 librarians to email librarylovefest@harpercollins.com.

-Lainey

Editors Unedited: A Conversation with Harper Voyager U.S. Editorial Director David Pomerico

Our latest episode of The Library Love Fest Podcast is out of this world—literally! This week, we sat down with Editorial Director David Pomerico to learn more about our Harper Voyager imprint. Our Harper Voyager imprint at HarperCollins publishes some of the most notable names in science fiction, fantasy, and horror. On the episode, David gave an overview of the imprint, new topics they hope to cover in the future, and a presentation of some upcoming Winter/Summer 2020 titles. Listen to the episode and check out the title list below. You can find out more about Harper Voyager and sign up for their newsletter here.

Titles presented:

Daughter from the Dark by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko, translated by Julia Meitov Hersey

The Sisters Grimm by Menna van Praag

Chaos Reigning by Jessie Mihalik

A Pale Light in the Black by K. B. Wagers

Race the Sands by Sarah Beth Durst

Crush the King by Jennifer Estep

 

David also mentioned these authors in response to the question about diversity in the genre:

To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

Noumenon Infinity by Marina J. Lostetter

Escaping Exodus by Nicky Drayden

A Study in Honor and The Hound of Justice by Claire O'Dell

The Dragon Republic by R. F. Kuang

The Blue Eye by Ausma Zehanat Khan

Markswoman and Mahimata by Rati Mehrotra

And he mentioned The Right Swipe by Alisha Rai as a rom-com he loved!

I hope you enjoyed this imprint overview. If you enjoyed the episode, please be sure to share on social and let us know your current sci-fi/fantasy read!

-Lainey

LLF Guest Post from Author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni: "Libraries will get you through times of no money far better than money will get you through times of no libraries."

The Forest of Enchantments is a brilliant retelling of the Ramayana, one of the world’s greatest epics as well as a tragic love story. It is also a very human story of some of the other women in the epic, often misunderstood and relegated to the margins: Kaikeyi, Surpanakha, and Mandodari. While the Ramayana resonates even today, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni makes it more relevant than ever, asking questions such as: How should women be treated by their loved ones? What are their rights in a relationship? When does a woman need to stand up and say, ‘Enough!’

The Diwali festival is coming up on October 27, 2019. In celebration, we welcome a guest post by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, the author of The Forest of Enchantments. She is the winner of an American Book Award, the Italian Premio Scanno, and several Pushcart Prizes. Her books have been translated into 29 languages, including Hebrew, Hindi, and Hungarian, and some have been made into movies. She teaches Creative Writing at the University of Houston. Having been a poor grad student for many years, she is a lover of libraries and a staunch believer of the saying, “Libraries will get you through times of no money far better than money will get you through times of no libraries."

***

Fall is a popular time for festivals around the world. There’s Halloween and the National Apple Festival in the US, the Moon Festival in China, the Matchmaking Festival in Ireland, Mehregan in Iran—and Diwali in India. Diwali, the festival of lights, perhaps the most popular festival in India, is celebrated by millions of people of Indian origin across the world. It has always been my favorite, symbolizing the victory of light over darkness, something we seem to need more and more each year.

This year, though, it holds a special meaning for me.

The first ever Diwali was celebrated, people say, to commemorate the return of King Ram and his wife Sita to their kingdom, Ayodhya, after the demon king Ravan had been vanquished. Thus it is central to my new novel, The Forest of Enchantments, which retells the story of Sita, a woman much misrepresented by centuries of patriarchal reinterpretation.

Growing up, I’d been fascinated by the story of Sita, the beautiful princess who accompanies her beloved husband Prince Ram to the forest when he is banished due to a stepmother’s trickery. I’d read over and over about the abduction that separates her from Ram, how they are reunited, and the unexpectedly tragic turn that Sita’s life takes just when she is ready to live happily ever after. I always felt she was more than the docile wife my elders interpreted her to be. In The Forest of Enchantments, I explore her endurance, her courage, her outrage at victim-shaming, her resolution to not compromise her values—but also her humor and her very human shortcomings. At once timeless and timely, her life touches on contemporary themes such as #MeToo and single motherhood.

At this dark time in our world when so many countries are looking with suspicion upon their immigrants, multicultural books are one of the best ways to bring people together. And libraries are one of the best places to access such books. My hope is that they will enable The Forest of Enchantments to reach many people and help them celebrate the festival of humanity that we share. That readers will resonate with Sita as she discovers, “No one can take your dignity away from you. You lose it only by your own actions.”

***

Thank you, Chitra! The Forest of Enchantments is available now. We are giving away finished copies to the first 10 librarians to email librarylovefest@harpercollins.com.