“I didn’t set out to write a book with a message or a moral. This really was just a story I had to tell. But along the way, I stumbled across the idea of people finding each other in their shared frailty. We’re at our most human when we can recognize our dread, and our […]
Tag: starred reviews
Teen Talk Tuesday (7/22/14 Edition)
It’s time for another Teen Talk Tuesday! Read on for more info. on our favorite new and forthcoming teen titles from St. Martin’s Griffin! COMPLICIT by Stephanie Kuehn Morris Award-winning author Kuehn’s second novel about fifteen-year-old Jamie and his sister Cate. Cate just was just released from juvi and is coming after him! COMPLICIT has […]
Focus on FRIENDSHIP
Before Lena Dunham and Girls, Emily Books founder and blogger Emily Gould was the one talking about young women trying to find their bearings in life. Now, Gould’s debut novel, FRIENDSHIP, about two girlfriends dragged, kicking and screaming into real adulthood is getting major media attention and landing on Summer Reading Lists from Glamour to […]
Thriller Thursday (7/17/14 Edition)
Today’s #ThrillerThursday roundup has something for every mystery reader, whether you like cozies, police procedurals, or historical mysteries: THE BONE ORCHARD by Paul Doiron In Doiron’s “excellent fifth series installment” (Publishers Weekly, starred review), Mike Bowditch retired from his Maine Game Warden position, but is drawn back in when his mentor Sgt. Kathy Frost is […]
Spotlight: ON IMMUNITY
If you love fascinating non-fiction, have we got a timely story for you: ON IMMUNITY, National Book Critics Circle Award-winner Eula Biss’s investigation about why we fear vaccines. As a new mother, Biss grew fearful of the government and medicine, ultimately realizing that she cannot immunize her child, or herself, from the world. In order to […]
Happy #BookBday (7/15/14 Edition)
Today we wish a Happy #BookBday to two very different but well-reviewed books: THE SPARK AND THE DRIVE by Wayne Harrison Anne loved this “strikingly original” (Booklist) debut coming-of-age story about a young man torn between his loyalty to Nick, his auto mechanic boss and the woman he loves—Nick’s wife. “Harrison’s debut novel crackles with […]
Thriller Thursday (7/10/14 Edition)
There’s nothing like reading a great thriller in the heat of summer to send chills down your spine. Check out these books for immediate heat relief: THE DEAD WILL TELL by Linda Castillo Recommended by People Magazine! In Castillo’s latest electrifying Kate Burkholder mystery guaranteed to “keep suspense fans glued to their books and ereaders” (Library […]
Graphic Novels for the Classroom & School Libraries!
This first book in the Great American Documents series (GREAT AMERICAN DOCUMENTS, Volume 1: 1620-1830 by Ruth Ashby and illustrated by Ernie Colón) tells the history of America through twenty of the major speeches, laws, proclamations, court decisions, and essays that shaped it between 1620 and 1830.
It's already received two starred reviews!
“[Ashby and Colón] breathe accessible and cogent life into the written documents that formed U.S. policy, beginning with the Mayflower Compact (1620) and ending with the Indian Removal Act (1830)... Colón uses well-designed, full-color panel layouts to eloquently blend charts and other informative graphics with straightforward images of events, clothing, and customs as well as clear, concise metaphors, all with an eye toward promoting a solid understanding of the basic facts and their impact... School libraries would do well to include this engaging volume in their history collections.” — Booklist, starred review
“Using notable treatises, pamphlets, laws, proclamations, and other documents, [The Great American Documents]—which begins with the Mayflower Compact and ends with the Monroe Doctrine and the Indian Removal Act—weaves together nearly two dozen vignettes with clarity and synthesis. Most remarkably, it covers the culture and context of each time period with a balanced truthfulness... For those who aren’t just curious about history but who really want to understand it, this is an exemplary volume.” — Publishers Weekly, starred review
“The cartoon approach helps refresh history and make it come alive. A good primer for students and a refresher course for their parents.” — Kirkus Reviews
[...]
Friday Reads: Minotaur Stars Edition
At last! FRIDAY! Woohoo! We're especially happy to dig our grubby little paws into these two Minotaur mysteries, both of which have multiple starred reviews!
Talia still has goosebumps from THE FROZEN DEAD by Bernard Minier
A suspenseful and chilling murder mystery set in a high-security asylum for the criminally insane and the snowy mountains of the French Pyrénées.
“The pervasiveness of evil in this tense and disturbing novel makes for very compelling reading, with the suspense bordering on horror. It should appeal to those who enjoyed Pierre Lemaitre’s ALEX as well as the edgier Scandinavian thrillers.” — Booklist, starred & boxed review
“French author Minier’s assured debut adroitly combines a genuinely creepy series of crimes, a literally chilling atmosphere, and a dogged detective. Minier’s execution equals his considerable cleverness.” — Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Complex, fast-paced, and completely absorbing, Minier's wickedly plotted mystery has already been published in numerous languages and found a place on international best sellers lists. Thriller and crime fiction fans will have a hard time putting this mix of police procedural and psychological thriller down.”
— Library Journal
Anne is all about COLDSLEEP LULLABY by Andrew Brown
Sunday Times Fiction Prize winner Brown brings his intelligent and compelling police procedural set in Stellenbosch, South Africa and starring flawed Detective Eberard Februarie to America for the first time!
“With its lush, detailed descriptions, Brown's debut successfully captures both the beautiful landscapes and the violent textures of South Africa's racially charged history. Try pairing with Paul Thomas's New Zealand-set series (Death on Demand).” — Library Journal, starred review & Debut of the Month
“A London Sunday Times Fiction Prize winner, this outstanding series debut from South African Brown introduces tormented Det. Insp. Eberard Februarie. Fans of gritty procedurals in unfamiliar settings will look forward to the next book.”
— Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Brown skillfully creates a handful of compelling and well-drawn characters and offers a plausible sense of a country still consumed by racial tensions and suspicion of immigrants from other African nations. American devotees of international crime fiction will embrace the emotionally scarred Eberard and the fractious society that is at once exotic and all too familiar.” — Booklist
[...]
Booklist’s Best Crime
May is Mystery Month over at Booklist and to celebrate they’ve put together “Best of” reading lists with loads of Macmillan titles!
THE CAIRO AFFAIR by Olen Steinhauer
Steinhauer follows his acclaimed Milo Weaver trilogy with a stand-alone that is as emotionally rich as it is layered with intrigue. A career diplomat is shot dead in Budapest in front of his disbelieving wife, who is determined to find out why. This complex tale leaves us with the feeling that, despite all the information won, lost, hoarded, and put to use, the world of intelligence is no stronger than the fragile, fallible human beings who navigate it.
HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN by Louise Penny
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache has a new case involving the murder of the last surviving sister of quintuplets, a woman with ties to Three Pines, the idyllic, off-the-grid village outside Montreal where several of Gamache’s previous adventures have been set. The novel not only puts Gamache in harm’s way but also exposes Three Pines to defilement—a cozy setting under attack from a decidedly hard-boiled world. Another bravura performance from the magnificent Penny.
THE ORPHAN CHOIR by Sophie Hannah
Teetering on the edge of sanity, Louise Beeston retreats to a country home in England, hoping to escape the haunting choir music she hears continually. This riveting stand-alone, in which suspense snowballs to a climax that is all the more dire for its everyday contemporary English setting, is absolutely haunting, in every sense of the word.
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