Louise Penny - Macmillan Library

FOUR STARS for How the Light Gets In!

Posted on July 11, 2013 by Ali Fisher

Incredibly important update: HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN is #1 on the New York Times bestseller list (dated Sept.15)! Cue happy dance freakout!

We have so much love and respect for mystery awards darling Louise Penny and we're not the only ones. Her ninth intimate, yet thrilling Chief Inspector Gamache novel, HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN, has received FOUR pre-pub starred reviews!

"Once again, Penny impressively balances personal courage and faith with heartbreaking choices and monstrous evil." ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"[I]t’s Three Pines, with its quirky tenants, resident duck and luminous insights into trust and friendship, that will hook readers and keep them hooked." ―Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Another bravura performance from an author who has reinvented the village mystery as profoundly as Dashiell Hammett transformed the detective novel." ―Booklist (starred review)

"Highly recommended for mystery lovers, readers who enjoy character-driven mysteries, and those who like seeing good triumph and evil get its just desserts." ―Library Journal (starred review)

#LouisePenny's HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN received starred reviews from @KirkusReviews, @LibraryJournal, @ALA_Booklist AND @PublishersWkly!

— Minotaur Books (@MinotaurBooks) July 11, 2013

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Sneak Peek: The September Indie Next List

Posted on July 10, 2013 by Ali Fisher

I know, I know—it's only July, but we just got word that a few of our super fine fall titles are going to be featured on the September Indie Next List and we had to share the good news!

The following books have been selected as "Great Reads from Booksellers You Trust."

LOOKAWAY, LOOKAWAY by Wilton Barnhardt

HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN by Louise Penny

BITTER RIVER by Julia Keller

THE AFFAIRS OF OTHERS by Amy Grace Loyd

THE BONE SEASON by Samantha Shannon

You'll also see A HUNDRED FLOWERS by Gail Tsukiyama in the "NOW IN PAPERBACK: Indie Next List Selections Come to Paperback" section.

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Monday Fun Day! (6/3/2013 Edition)

Posted on June 3, 2013 by Ali Fisher

Happy post-BEA Monday!

*cue everyone collapsing into a pile and catnapping for a week.*

We're almost at the end of this year's frenzied conference season, so let's wrap up our BookExpo adventures and get you back in gear for ALA Annual.

BookExpo America:

First of all, a huge thanks to all of the happy librarians who joined us for dinner on Wednesday at the AAP's Annual BEA Librarians Dinner with Erica Jong, the author of FEAR OF FLYING (40th Anniversary Edition), and also on Thursday at the AAP's BEA Librarians Author Lunch with Louise Penny, author of the Chief Inspector Gamache novels (pictured below)! We had a great time and we hope you were entertained and well-fed for your other panels and show floor expeditions. Please join us again next year and spread the word!

Alene Moroni and Stephanie Chase (King County Library System) bookending Louise Penny!

And also thank you to everyone who came out to hear me gush about a few of Macmillan's forthcoming titles at the AAP's Annual Librarians Book Buzz panel. My handout is available for you to download (PDF) and definitely go to MacmillanBEAPreview.com to register for e-galley downloads of all of Macmillan's featured BEA titles (expires June 10). Read more about Edelweiss here.

C-SPAN 2 posted the hour-long state of the book industry talk at BookExpo America with Macmillan CEO John Sargent. Watch "Publishing, Bookselling, and the Whole Damn Thing: A Conversation with John Sargent" now.

Finally, EarlyWord will post the full list of titles mentioned at the 4th Annual Librarian Shout 'n Share panel. Stay tuned! UPDATE: EarlyWord posted the list here.

American Library Association Annual Convention:

Please take a look at our full schedule posted here and find us during the show at booth 2103!

Texas Library Association Annual Conference:

We're still talking about TxLA?? You betcha. That's because you still have a chance to win a stack of super fine signed books! The deadline to enter is today. Enter now.

Cute Stuff:

As we embark into June let's take a look back over last month's ridiculously smile-worthy cat videos:

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Booklist’s 2013 Best Crime Novels

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Ali Fisher

It's #MysteryMonth over at Booklist and one of the things I love about that is getting to post a "year's best" list in summer—December and January get all the round-up love.

And if you're thinking, Hold up! There's a reason those round-ups are in December! Are these books from last year? This year? Next year?! Don't you fret, they've cleared that up for us: "As always, both our best crime novel lists draw from crime fiction reviewed in Booklist since the last Mystery Showcase issue"

In Top 10 Crime Fiction:

THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY by Louise Penny

"Roiling human passion set against the sublime serenity of the chants produces a melody of uncommon complexity and beauty."

In Best Crime Fiction Debuts:

A GOOD DEATH by Christopher R. Cox

"[Cox] channels Conrad, Kipling, and Francis Ford Coppola. An insightful, transcendent adventure."

See Booklist's full list on "The Year’s Best Crime Novels: 2013."

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Monday Fun Day! (5/6/2013 Edition)

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Ali Fisher

Hellooooo Monday! It's yet another brand new week and we're inching ever closer to summer skies. To kick off your week right we rounded up a few exciting viewables; take a look.

- Watch Louise Penny accept the 2013 Agatha Award for Best Novel (yet again!) this time for THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY and Catriona McPherson accept the 2013 Agatha Award for Best Historical for DANDY GILVER AND AN UNSUITABLE DAY FOR MURDER:

Louise kindly thanked her editor Hope Dellon, her publicist Sarah Melnyk, and publisher Andrew Martin. In describing her books she said,

"At the heart of the nugget they're about belonging, they're about my own personal quest for belonging, that for all of my life I've felt—for much of my life I've felt like I was on an island near the mainland [...] for me to find my community is deeply meaningful and what great company to be in."

Catriona also thanked all of the excellent people at Minotaur Books, her editor Marcia Markland, her fellow Macmillan author and winner of the Mary Higgins Clark Award Hank Fabulous Ryan, er, Hank Phillippi Ryan and everyone in the Flatiron building (that's us!).

We loved getting the chance to talk about these two incredible books and if you didn't heed our praises when they came out, now's the time!

See all of the Agatha winners at MaliceDomestic.org.

- Speaking of Mysteries, if you missed the "Thrilling Mysteries" Booklist webinar you can now access the archived webinar (the link is available on our titles list post).

- And finally, the greatest mystery of all: what exactly is this cat trying to pull? (Thanks, Ivy!)

@taliasherer @macmillanlib These tweeps in your repertoire? // RT @emrgencykittens: twitter.com/EmrgencyKitten…

— Ivy B (@Ivy_B) May 2, 2013

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Monday Fun Day! (2/11/2013 Edition)

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Ali Fisher

Happy Monday, librarians!

Apologies for the unexpected radio silence after Wednesday of last week; I fell victim to the seasonal cold monster. I've triumphantly defeated the beast and returned only slightly sniffly to kick off the week with some great news.

- Continuing the exciting award nomination news from last week, we got the list of Macmillan books nominated for the 2012 Agatha Awards:

Nominated for the Agatha Award for Best Novel of 2012:

THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY
by Louise Penny

A FATAL WINTER
by G.M. Malliet

THE OTHER WOMAN
by Hank Phillippi Ryan

Nominated for the Agatha Award for Best Historical Novel of 2012:

DANDY GILVER AND AN UNSUITABLE DAY FOR A MURDER
by Catriona McPherson

Winners will be announced at the 2012 Agatha Awards banquet on May 4th, 2013, during Malice Domestic 25. See the full list of Agatha nominees here.

- A delightful review of THE MARLOW PAPERS is currently traveling all across the U.S. in American Airline's American Way magazine!

"With the screw-tightening verve of a great thriller and the romantic pull of Renaissance poetry, the novel—which purports that Marlowe is the true author of William Shakespeare’s legendary oeuvre—is a gripping, lyrical, most unlikely page-turner."

Read the super quick review here.

- Flavorwire suckered us in with another one of their bookish listicles, "The Best Fictional Libraries in Pop Culture."

- And finally, a couple of snuggly red pandas romping around in the snow!!

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Starred Reviews for A Fatal Winter

Posted on October 16, 2012 by Ali Fisher

Agatha Award-winning author G.M. Malliet is getting great reviews for her charming second Max Tudor cozy, A FATAL WINTER!

Max Tudor—Anglican priest, former MI5 agent, and village heartthrob—is investigating two deaths at Chedrow Castle. But his growing attraction to Awena Owen complicates his case, as does the recent arrival at Chedrow Castle of a raucous group of long-lost, greedy relatives, any one of whom has a motive for murder...

"Agatha Christie fans will relish Malliet’s delicious second Max Tudor novel. [...] Clever deduction and a logical fair-play solution are enhanced by the author’s wry humor." -Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"This series shines for its wit, well-drawn characters, pitch-perfect dialog, and intricately structured puzzle. [...] For Louse Penny fans, of course, but also for those who crave a well-done Golden Age-style mystery." -Library Journal (starred review)

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Once Again Louise Penny Wins the Anthony Award for Best Novel!

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Ali Fisher

This past weekend at Bouchercon, Louise Penny was awarded the Anthony Award for Best Novel for the third year in a row with another exquisite Chief Inspector Gamache novel, A TRICK OF THE LIGHT! In 2011 she won for BURY YOUR DEAD and in 2010 she won for THE BRUTAL TELLING.

If you haven't joined the Penny party, it's about time! Robin Nesbitt of the Columbus Metropolitan Library admitted on the library's blog that she only just picked up the first book in the series and very much enjoyed it!

"This is a great read for fans of Agatha Christie. Great characters, great writing, and good plot - if you haven't read this series yet, give it a try."

A word to new readers: the character and relationship development in these books is beautifully done, but they are all stand-alone mysteries so start with which ever book you can get your hands on!

See the rest of the Anthony Award winners here.

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Starred Reviews for The Beautiful Mystery

Posted on September 7, 2012 by Ali Fisher

As the last note of the chant escaped the Blessed Chapel a great silence fell, and with it came an even greater disquiet.

The silence stretched on. And on.

These were men used to silence, but this seemed extreme, even to them.

So begins THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY, the eighth entry in Louise Penny's award-winning and New York Times bestselling Chief Inspector Gamache series.

This mystery brings Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir to the monastery of Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups, deep in the wilderness of Quebec. Between growing vegetables, tending chickens, making chocolate and singing, one of the monks planned and committed a violent murder.

"Traditional mystery fans can look forward to a captivating whodunit plot, a clever fair-play clue concealed in plain view, and the deft use of humor to lighten the story’s dark patches. On a deeper level, the crime provides a means for Penny’s unusually empathic, all-too-fallible lead to unearth truths about human passions and weaknesses while avoiding simple answers." -Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"This heart-rending tale is a marvelous addition to Penny’s acclaimed series. Fans won’t be disappointed." -Library Journal (starred review)

"There is always something mammoth roiling away beneath the surface of Penny’s novels—but this time the roiling is set against the serenity of the chanting, producing a melody of uncommon complexity and beauty." -Booklist (starred review)

Readers' Advisory librarians take note, Kirkus Reviews said, "The most illuminating analogies are not to other contemporary detective fiction but to THE NAME OF THE ROSE and MURDER IN THE CATHEDRAL."

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The Ultimate #BookBattle2 Webinar Title List

Posted on July 12, 2012 by Ali Fisher

Today at 2pm Talia and Chris (Sterling) are going head-to-head in a reprise of their Oscar-nominated book buzz performance from ALA Annual and you don't want to miss it this time around. Sign up now!

UPDATE: This event is now over. The archived Booklist webinar will be available here soon!

Here's a sneak peek at the books that Talia will be talking about this afternoon (and see her full slide deck here!). WARNING: Major spoilers below!

50 SHADES OF GREY Read-Alikes:

WILD CARD by Lora Leigh

BLUSH by Opal Carew

PANIC SNAP by Laura Reese

TOPPING FROM BELOW by Laura Reese

Adult Titles:

THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY by Louise Penny

A KILLING IN THE HILLS by Julia Keller

ROGUE by Mark Sullivan

YOUNG PHILBY by Robert Littell

CHINESE WHISKERS by Pallavi Aiyar

PAW PRINTS IN THE MOONLIGHT by Denis O'Connor

MEMOIRS OF AN IMAGINARY FRIEND by Matthew Dicks

THE FORGETTING TREE by Tatjana Soli

THE ELEMENTALS by Francesca Lia Block

GRACE GROWS by Shelle Sumners

HOW I CAME TO SPARKLE AGAIN by Kaya McLaren

MR. PENUMBRA'S 24-HOUR BOOKSTORE by Robin Sloan

STORMDANCER by Jay Kristoff

THIS BOOK IS FULL OF SPIDERS by David Wong

SHAKESPEARE'S TREMOR AND ORWELL'S COUGH by John J. Ross, M.D.

WE KILLED by Yael Kohen

Teen Titles:

WAKE and LULLABY by Amanda Hocking

BENEATH THE GLITTER by Elle & Blair Fowler

ECHO by Alyson Noel

DEATH AND THE GIRL NEXT DOOR by Darynda Jones

WHISPERS AT MOONRISE by C.C. Hunter

THIS IS NOT A TEST by Courtney Summers

SPARK by Amy Kathleen Ryan

GLITCH by Heather Anastasiu

MIDNIGHT CITY by J. Barton Mitchell

THE HUNT by Andrew Fukuda

And, of course...

PIPPI MOVES IN! by Astrid Lindgren

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