September 2019

Last week, The Library Love Fest Podcast featured a great round-up of upcoming Fall and Winter titles coming from HarperCollins 360, the global publishing program of HarperCollins Publishers that introduces American readers to the wide variety of international titles published by HarperCollins companies in the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and India. Listen to Affiliate Publisher Jean Marie Kelly talk about the HarperCollins 360 imprint, the differences in the American and international publishing markets, and present a few of their exciting upcoming titles.

Titles presented:

Murder in the Graveyard by Don Hale

Book of Colours by Robyn Cadwallader

The Second Midnight by Andrew Taylor

The Orphan Thief by Glynis Peters

Happy Fat by Sofie Hagen

Letters to the Earth with an introduction by Emma Thompson

 

-Lainey

Our good friend Carol Fitzgerald, President of The Book Report Network (and world-class book talker), sat down with author Linwood Barclay to discuss his latest thriller, Elevator Pitch, on sale now from William Morrow! 

In addition to receiving a STARRED review from Library Journal, who says "Barclay’s latest combines an engrossing, fast-moving, well-twisted modern-day plot with believable characters," Elevator Pitch has also been named a Bookreporter Bets On selection!

This is a can't-miss interview, available below as both a podcast and video interview. Get your copy of Elevator Pitch here. For more great "Bookreporter Talks To…" interviews, click here.

 

 

-Chris

On this week's episode of The Library Love Fest Podcast, we are joined by Executive Editor Lucia Macro. Lucia presented some of her upcoming Winter 2020 titles. Be sure to listen to the audio below and add the titles to your TBR list. 

Titles Presented:

The Queen's Secret by Karen Harper

Little Wonders by Kate Rorick

St. Francis Society for Wayward Pets by Annie England Noblin

Girl Gone Viral by Alisha Rai

Never Kiss a Duke by Megan Frampton

 

As promised, here is a photo from my visit to the Juneau Public Library in Alaska!

And my new favorite bookmark:

-Lainey

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

This month, we are thrilled to share that we have TWO selections for the October LibraryReads List: Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson and The Butterfly Girl by Rene Denfeld!

Additionally, Full Throttle has earned Joe Hill a place in the LibraryReads Hall of Fame!

Click here to see the full list.

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Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson: In this moving and uproarious novel—a HarperCollins Lead Read selection for Fall 2019—a woman finds meaning in her life when she begins caring for two children with remarkable and disturbing abilities.

"[An] exceptional, and exceptionally hilarious, novel."
 —Publishers Weekly review

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Click below to listen to an interview between Kevin Wilson and LLF's Virginia Stanley!

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

 

The Butterfly Girl by Rene Denfeld: The dark and haunting companion to Rene Denfeld’s acclaimed novel The Child Finder, a riveting story of lost children and one haunted woman’s search for what may never be found.

"[Denfeld's] depictions of women and girls surviving horrific conditions through the power of their own imaginations will stay with readers."
 —Booklist  

"Equal parts chilling, tragic and hopeful, Rene Denfeld’s new novel combines her haunting, lyrical prose with a page-turning and harrowing mystery, putting The Butterfly Girl into a league of its own. Fans of The Child Finder will devour this."
—Mary Kubica, New York Times bestselling author of The Good Girl

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Full Throttle by Joe Hill: The #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Fireman and Strange Weather returns with a dark and ingenious collection of thirteen compelling short stories that showcase his ability to "push genre conventions to new extremes" (New York Times Book Review). 

"The poet laureate of everyday terrors returns with a baker’s dozen of deliciously sinister tales…. Miniature masterworks of modern horror, proving that life is hard, weird, and always fatal."
—Kirkus review

"The tale that will be the biggest hit with library workers and patrons is the beautiful, elegiac 'Late Returns,' featuring a grieving bookmobile driver who sometimes delivers books to ghosts."
—Booklist review

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

-Chris

We are very excited to share that Kassandra Montag's After the Flood has been selected as a Libraries Transform Book Pick!

“Montag’s thrilling debut takes place in a future climate-change-altered world overrun by water…Anchored by a complicated, compelling heroine, this gripping, speculative, high-seas adventure is impossible to put down.”
—Booklist (starred review)

Find out more in the press release below.

Congratulations, Kassandra! 

 

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NEWS
For Immediate Release 

ALA AND OVERDRIVE COLLABORATE TO OFFER PUBLIC LIBRARIES ACROSS U.S. A NEW ACTION-PACKED ADVENTURE FOR A “DIGITAL BOOK CLUB”

CHICAGO – The American Library Association (ALA) and Rakuten OverDrive have collaborated on a digital reading program – a national “digital book club” – which connects readers nationwide with simultaneous access to the same ebook through their public libraries. This program, called the Libraries Transform Book Pick, offers the new riveting post-apocalyptic novel “After the Flood” by Kassandra Montag, published by William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. 

“After the Flood” will be available as an ebook with no waitlists or holds from Oct. 7—21, 2019 at public libraries through OverDrive. Public libraries in the U.S. already partnering with OverDrive can lend ebook copies of “After the Flood” at no cost during the two-week program. Free marketing resources are available for public libraries to help promote the program and encourage checkouts, including a flyer template, social media graphics, a sample press release and more. A discussion guide and other materials for libraries to fuel discussion about the book will be available in late September. 

“ALA is happy to partner with OverDrive and sincerely thanks them for their innovative and generous efforts in support of communities and information literacy,” said ALA President Wanda Brown. “The ebook lending environment is a challenging one today, so I’m particularly thrilled ALA was able to work together with OverDrive on an innovative project like the Libraries Transform Book Pick. ALA will continue to forge relationships to make progress on critical issues to help our members and libraries meet the needs of the communities they serve.”  

Readers will only need a library card and the Libby app to borrow and read the ebook. 

“Digital book clubs are a fun and engaging way for readers across the country to unite over and discuss a book specifically chosen for the event,” said Shannon Lichty, OverDrive Vice President of Partner Services. “We’re proud to partner with the American Library Association to bring this Libraries Transform Book Pick to our nation’s public libraries and their readers.”

“After the Flood” is an inventive and riveting epic saga from a promising new author. In a starred review, Booklist describes Montag’s thrilling debut: “Anchored by a complicated, compelling heroine, this gripping, speculative, high-seas adventure is impossible to put down.” And Karin Slaughter, international bestselling author of “The Last Widow,” calls Montag “a visionary new talent!”   

Kassandra Montag is an award-winning poet, fiction writer and freelance medical journalist. Her work has appeared in journals and anthologies such as Midwestern Gothic, Nebraska Poetry, Prairie Schooner and Mystery Weekly Magazine, among others. She holds an MA in English Literature and Creative Writing from Creighton University, and makes her home in Omaha, Nebraska.

The selection of “After the Flood” for the Libraries Transform Book Pick was made in consultation with experts at Booklist. 

Libraries transform lives every day by advancing literacy and fostering a love of reading in people of all ages. The Libraries Transform Book Pick will give public libraries and their staff the opportunity to bring readers in their community together to discover a new ebook and celebrate the very best in reading.

For more information about the Libraries Transform Book Pick, please visit ilovelibraries.org/libraries-transform-book-pick. You can also follow the Libraries Transform Book Pick on ALA’s Facebook and Twitter and join the discussion on social media using the hashtag #LTBookPick.

The Libraries Transform Book Pick is a collaboration between Booklist, the book review magazine of the American Library Association; Libraries Transform, the American Library Association’s public awareness initiative; and OverDrive, ALA Library Champion and lead sponsor of Libraries Transform.  

About Rakuten OverDrive
OverDrive is the leading digital reading platform for libraries and schools worldwide. Named one of PCMag’s Best Free Software of 2019 and one of TIME's Best Apps of 2018, the award-winning Libby is the "one-tap reading app" for libraries. We are dedicated to “a world enlightened by reading” by delivering the industry’s largest catalog of ebooks, audiobooks, magazines and other digital media to a growing network of 43,000 libraries and schools in 76 countries. Founded in 1986, OverDrive is based in Cleveland, Ohio USA and owned by Tokyo-based Rakuten. www.overdrive.com

About the American Library Association
The American Library Association is the foremost national organization providing resources to inspire library and information professionals to transform their communities through essential programs and services. For more than 140 years, the ALA has been the trusted voice of libraries, advocating for the profession and the library’s role in enhancing learning and ensuring access to information for all. For more information, visit ala.org.

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Contact: 
Macey Morales 
Deputy Director 
Communications and Marketing Office, ALA 
312-280-4393
mmorales@ala.org 

 

Hello, librarians!

Our latest round of LibraryReads suggestions includes a can't-miss rom-com from rising star Talia Hibbert, a much-anticipated sequel to Michael Crichton's The Andromeda Strain, and Mitch Albom's first work of nonfiction in over 10 years. Keep reading to find out more!

Enjoy!

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Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
For fans of: The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory and The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
Talia Hibbert, one of contemporary romance’s brightest new stars, delivers a witty, hilarious romantic comedy about a woman who’s tired of being "boring" and recruits her mysterious, sexy neighbor to help her get a life—perfect for fans of Sally Thorne.

"Will readers giggle at the cuteness of the banter and weep at the emotional truths…? Absolutely. Is this book what the word 'charming' was invented for? Probably. This interracial romance with a disabled heroine is an #OwnVoices treat that will satisfy readers who love a cinnamon-roll hero and love scenes that scorch the dang pages."
—Booklist review

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LibraryReads Votes Due: October 1, 2019

 

The Andromeda Evolution by Michael Crichton and Daniel H. Wilson
Also from the author: Dragon Teeth and Pirate Latitudes
Fifty years after The Andromeda Strain made Michael Crichton a household name—and spawned a new genre, the technothriller—the threat returns, in a gripping sequel that is terrifyingly realistic and resonant.

"The story’s premise (the justification for the existence of this sequel) is rigorously developed, and the story deftly blends science, suspense, and character interaction in a way that will be familiar to Crichton’s fans…. Oh, and the glorious final-sentence cliff-hanger is just beautiful. In every way, this is a wonderful sequel to a classic novel, written in the spirit of Crichton but in Wilson’s own powerful voice. Terrific."
—Booklist review

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LibraryReads Votes Due: October 1, 2019

 

Finding Chika by Mitch Albom
Also from the author: The Next Person You Meet in Heaven and The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto
Bestselling author Mitch Albom returns to nonfiction for the first time in more than a decade in this poignant memoir that celebrates Chika, a young Haitian orphan whose short life would forever change his heart.

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LibraryReads Votes Due: October 1, 2019

Restless Rancher by Jennifer Ryan
Also from the author: The Me I Used to Be and Dirty Little Secret
Meet the women of the Wild Rose Ranch—and the men who want to tame them—in New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Ryan’s breathtaking series of romance and scandal.

"Ryan delights with exciting twists and one hot, protective cowboy." 
—Library Journal 

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LibraryReads Votes Due: October 1, 2019

 

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

The deadline to submit your votes is October 1! 

 

Looking Ahead: Reading Suggestions for December

Africaville by Jeffrey Colvin
For fans of: Washington Black by Esi Edugyan and 
The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis
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…. this is a penetrating, fresh look at the indomitable spirit of black pioneers and their descendants."
—Publishers Weekly

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LibraryReads Votes Due: November 1, 2019

 

The Network by L. C. Shaw
For fans of: Dead Man Running by Steve Hamilton and
The Bishop's Pawn by Steve Berry
A pulse-pounding, page-turning thriller involving corruption, secrets, and lies at the very deepest levels of government and media.

"The Network offers a superb blend of a political, speculative, and action thriller.  Lynne Constantine manages this delicate balancing act with a skill and aplomb that is both a throwback to Robert Ludlum and testament to Dan Brown.  The kind of tale Alfred Hitchcock would have loved to adapt and thriller lovers are certain to devour." 
—Jon Land, USA Today bestselling author of Strong as Steel

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LibraryReads Votes Due: November 1, 2019

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

-Chris

There will be a memorial service for Dot Frank on September 14, 2019 at 2:00 pm in Charleston.

If you are in the area and would like to attend, please do.

All are welcome.

By now you have no doubt heard the heartbreaking news about our beloved author, Dottie Frank, who passed away on Monday, September 2, 2019.

Dot was a force of nature: brilliant, generous, gregarious. She had a wicked sense of humor that could break up any room. She was devoted to friends and family (and was always quick to share the latest photos of her beloved young grandson, Teddy.) In short, she loved life. Which makes it that much harder to accept this loss.

Dot could walk into a room filled with strangers and leave with newfound friends. (She’d also have a handful of dates confirmed to speak at their book clubs or libraries!) She adored her readers and she loved librarians. Google ‘Dorothea Benton Frank’ and ‘Public Libraries’ and you’ll find an endless list of appearances she’d made over the years at libraries, conferences, fundraisers, book clubs, etc. She was tireless, enthusiastic, and genuine.

Dot made her William Morrow debut in 2006 with her novel, Full of Grace. That year she spoke at the Texas Library Association conference in Houston. It was an author dinner held on the top floor of the Petroleum Club which overlooked the city. She lit up that room with her sharp wit and sassy asides. The audience loved her. We all did. Ironically, her last library conference was the Texas Library Association conference in 2018. Here is a photo of her signing at the HarperCollins booth. You can almost hear her laughing.

She had a great time at library shows and she loved meeting librarians. Sharing her beloved Low Country books with readers gave her the greatest joy.

It’s unfathomable that she is gone—but how fortunate we all were to have had her in our lives.

With the permission of William Morrow President and Publisher Liate Stehlik, here is the internal memo which was sent out to HarperCollins employees this week:

We are deeply saddened by the passing of our beloved author Dorothea Benton Frank, who died Monday following a brief struggle with leukemia at the age of 67. 

Dottie was the author of 20 bestselling novels set in the Low Country of South Carolina, and we were honored to publish her for the last 15 years, including her most recent bestseller, Queen Bee. 

She wrote her first book, Sullivan’s Island: A Low Country Tale, shortly after the death of her mother in 2000, determined to buy back her childhood family home—the last physical connection she had to her beloved hometown—with the money she earned. The book went on to debut on the New York Times bestseller list at number nine and now has well over one million copies in print. Thus started a bestselling franchise that was often celebrated for its tart humor, honesty, and strong-willed female characters that struggled with the real slings and arrows of everyday life: love and heartbreak, fortune and ruin, bliss and disappointment, and the folly of youth and the wisdom of experience.

Dottie was an avid cook, and enjoyed fly fishing the one time she tried it, reading, traveling, and mentoring young writers on the creative process. She divided her time between her home on Sullivan's Island and New Jersey. 

She was a friend to so many here and will be missed by us all.   

“I want my books to entertain and inform, and I want somebody to be glad that they spent the time reading it. So I try to write a satisfying story about something that’s important in all our lives and is contemporary. I don’t think people read my books to get lost in them so much as they read my books to find themselves in them.”  
—Dorothea Benton Frank

It’s only fitting that we end this post by raising a glass in honor of Dot, using her very own recipe* for her beloved Mint Julep. 

To Dot: Who brought the sass of New Jersey and the charm of South Carolina like no other. We will never forget you.

-Virginia, Chris, and Lainey

 

*Dot's Mint Julep

Ingredients: simple syrup, Makers Mark, muddled mint leaves, and crushed ice.

One part syrup to two parts Makers Mark; freeze julep cup.

1. Fill shaker with ice, simple syrup, and Makers Mark
2. Muddle leaves in cup, fill with ice
3. Shake shaker like mad
4. Strain and pour into cup
5. Repeat until happiness takes over

 

Homegrown: How the Red Sox Built a Champion from the Ground Up chronicles how the Red Sox assembled a historically talented core of young players and the many years of successes and failures that it took to help those young players to navigate through the minor leagues and then gain their footing in the big leagues before achieving the ultimate form of individual and collective success, a historic 108-win season and World Series title for the 2018 Red Sox. The book explores not just the growth trajectories of individual players such as Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts but also the scouting infrastructure that allowed the Red Sox to identify exceptional amateur talents as well as the coaches and team officials who helped them to emerge as stars.

Today, we welcome a guest post from Alex Speier, author of Homegrown. Alex has covered the Red Sox for the Boston Globe since 2015 and, before that, for a variety of media outlets for more than a decade.

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I always felt at home in libraries—hardly a surprise given that my mom spent my entire childhood as a librarian in the D.C. Public Schools. On days when our schedules were misaligned—when her school was open and mine wasn’t, perhaps due to teacher workdays—I loved accompanying her, sitting in a corner, and piling a stack of books to peruse, while also listening as she did her best to enthrall grade school classes while reading to them. Hers was the voice of my original narrator, and some of her students surely felt the same.

Yet her library at Stevens Elementary School wasn’t just a setting for storytelling. On the days we spent together in her “office,” my mom put me to work—trusting me to help her organize the books on her shelves, an awesome responsibility that I treated with appropriate seriousness. The Dewey Decimal Classification system seemed like the invention of the almighty Oz, and I recognized the weight of accurately ordering the books so that they would not be lost to those who sought them—or, for that matter, me, as I pulled books by the handfuls from the 790s (Sports) during my visits.

Evidently, the combination and relationship of imagination, storytelling, and structure made an impression, permeating my understanding of the sport that represented my foremost passion. The skills developed organizing books in a library translated neatly into the way that I catalogued my baseball cards, and then baseball thoughts, and ultimately baseball writing, while the notion of baseball as an undertaking that translated to the written word possessed an obvious resonance for a kid who always understood the limits of his playing abilities.

This summer, when I received my first copies of my first book–Homegrown: How the Red Sox Built a Champion from the Ground Up—one of the most satisfying moments came when I brought copies to gift to our two neighborhood libraries. The fact that my book is now in circulation is both enormously fulfilling and wondrous, and perhaps excuses the fact that my new favorite number is 796.357.

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Wow! Thanks to Alex for such a moving letter to librarians. Homegrown is available now! We are giving away finished copies to the first 10 librarians who email librarylovefest@harpercollins.com.

-Lainey