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"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

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

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

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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

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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!

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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  

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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

"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

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

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

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

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.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Booklist’s Senior Editor Susan Maguire sits down with Kassandra Montag, author of After the Flood, the inaugural Libraries Transform Book Pick selection.

Join us TOMORROW, Thursday, October 17 at 3pm EST, 2pm CT to watch this conversation on Facebook Live!
 

To watch the interview, visit the American Library Association Facebook page!

All public libraries in the U.S. currently participating in OverDrive are lending unlimited copies of the ebook edition of After the Flood to borrowers during the reading period of October 7-21, 2019.

The clock is ticking! Libraries only have a few more days to loan the ebook edition of After the Flood at no cost with no holds or waitlists.

The deadline to download is October 21!

Learn more about the Libraries Transform Book Pick: http://bit.ly/lt-book-pick

To help public libraries promote the program and encourage checkouts, free marketing resources are available, including a flyer template, social media graphics, a sample press release, and more. (Registration is required but the tools are free.)

A discussion guide and other materials for libraries to fuel discussion about the book are also available!

For more information and resources, please visit the I Love Libraries website or join the conversation online using the hashtag #LTBookPick.

-Chris

Reminder: After the Flood by Kassandra Montag, the inaugural Libraries Transform Book Pick, a new digital reading program from ALA in collaboration with Rakuten OverDrive, is available as an ebook with no waitlists or holds until October 21, 2019. 

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. Readers will only need a library card and the Libby app to download a copy.

To help public libraries promote the program and encourage checkouts, free marketing resources are available, including a flyer template, social media graphics, a sample press release, and more. (Registration is required but the tools are free.)

A discussion guide and other materials for libraries to fuel discussion about the book are also available!

Click here to listen to an exclusive interview with author Kassandra Montag!

For more information and resources, please visit the I Love Libraries website or join the conversation online using the hashtag #LTBookPick.

-Chris

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 November LibraryReads List: Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert and We Met in December by Rosie Curtis.

Click here to see the full list.

***

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert: 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, Jasmine Guillory, and Helen Hoang.

"Will readers giggle at the cuteness of the banter and weep at the emotional truths that are thrown down…? 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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We Met in December by Rosie Curtis: Following a year in the life of a twenty-something American woman who falls hard for her London flat mate, this clever, fun, and unforgettable romantic comedy is the perfect feel-good holiday read.

"Curtis has a gift for capturing complex emotion and both romantic and platonic intimacy. The witty dialogue, loyal friendships, and endearing romance are sure to capture readers’ hearts."
—Publishers Weekly review

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***

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

-Chris

We hope you enjoy our staff suggestions for the December and January LibraryReads lists!

***

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

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

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

The deadline to submit your votes is November 1!

 

Looking Ahead: Reading Suggestions for January

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: 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

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

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) 

Big news from library land: ALA is launching their Libraries Transform Book Pick, a new digital reading program in collaboration with Rakuten OverDrive, which connects readers nationwide by offering free access to the same ebook through their public libraries. We are very excited to share the news that their first selection is 
After the Flood by Kassandra Montag!

The ebook will be available with no waitlists or holds from October 7-21, 2019. 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. Readers will only need a library card and the Libby app to download a copy.

To help public libraries promote the program and encourage checkouts, free marketing resources are available, including a flyer template, social media graphics, a sample press release, and more. (Registration is required but the tools are free.)

A discussion guide and other materials for libraries to fuel discussion about the book are also available!

Click here to read an exclusive interview with author Kassandra Montag!

For more information and resources, please visit the I Love Libraries website or join the conversation online using the hashtag #LTBookPick.

A note from Donna Seaman, the Booklist editor who helped select After the Flood: "As we pondered the criteria for the Libraries Transform Book Pick, we found ourselves––and by 'we' I’m referring to myself, Senior Editor Susan Maguire and Associate Editor Annie Bostrom––galvanized by how the overarching theme of transformation is manifest in such totality and so very dramatically in Kassandra Montag's After the Flood, a speculative epic set in a world ravaged by climate change. We also felt that the strong women protagonists in this tale of a mother’s quest for a lost daughter made for exciting reading, as does Montag's skill in provoking us to think about timely issues as she holds us rapt with the timeless thrills of heroism, adventure, and suspense. After the Flood is an ideal catalyst for lively and probing book-club discussions."

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.

***

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

Request the egalley from Edelweiss+
Request the egalley from NetGalley

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

Request the egalley from Edelweiss+
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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

Request the egalley from Edelweiss+
Request the egalley from NetGalley

***

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! 

 

###

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.

###

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!

***

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

Request the egalley from Edelweiss+
Request the egalley from NetGalley
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

Request the egalley from Edelweiss+
Request the egalley from NetGalley
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.

Request the egalley from Edelweiss+
Request the egalley from NetGalley
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 

Request the egalley from Edelweiss+
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

Request the egalley from Edelweiss+
Request the egalley from NetGalley
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

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

***

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.

***

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.

***

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

On this week's episode of The Library Love Fest Podcast, I sat down with Editor Emily Griffin to speak with Elizabeth Wetmore, author of Valentine. This knockout debut is much loved within the the LLF team and it was such a pleasure to have a chance to talk with Elizabeth. We discussed how Emily received this book on submission, the editorial process, and the charming, perfectly imperfect, and ultimately, unforgettable characters Elizabeth has brought to life in Valentine.

Valentine is a haunting exploration of the intersections of violence and race, class and region in a story that plumbs the depths of darkness and fear, yet offers a window into beauty and hope. Told through the alternating points of view of indelible characters who burrow deep in the reader’s heart, this fierce, unflinching, darkly funny, and surprisingly tender novel illuminates women’s strength and vulnerability, and reminds us that it is the stories we tell ourselves that keep us alive.

Be sure to listen to the interview below:

You can download an egalley of Valentine on Edelweiss and NetGalley. If you would like a physical galley please write to librarylovefest@harpercollins.com. Valentine is coming out on April 7th, 2020.

-Lainey