Yesterday, I shared some of the book club recommendations I discovered while attending the highly popular Book Club Speed Dating session at Book Expo America. Today, I’m sharing more of those recommendations, but combining it with another event that took place prior to BEA.
Harper Collins, the most supportive publisher of bloggers, IMHO, annually holds a Summer/Fall Book Preview for bloggers prior to BEA. This year, since so many weren’t attending due to it being in Chicago rather than New York, Harper Collins decided to do a live webinar preview.
Following are some of the titles I discovered during this preview. Since there are so many, I am breaking this up into two posts.
I’m so excited about so many of them! I’ve listed the imprint for each group of titles.
Harper Books
Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson (August 9):
August is a young woman who grew up in Brooklyn. There was a side of Brooklyn where young girls were brilliant, talented, and had a future ahead of them. Yet there was a darker side of Brooklyn, one in which parents abandoned their children, where young girls couldn’t walk down a dark hallway without fear of attack or abuse.
This book is a story of friendship, of hope, and the ever-shortening bridge between being a child and an adult.
Commonwealth by Ann Patchett (September 13):
One instance, one chance encounter influences the lives of two families. Spanning five decades, this novel showcases the connection the children involved forge in order to survive this tumultuous change in their lives.
The Comet Seekers by Helen Sedgwick (October 11):
Róisín and François meet at a remote research facility in Antarctica. The two couldn’t be any more different, yet the shared desire for a fresh start is what brings them together. Unbeknownst to either one of them, their fates have been tied for centuries.
Ecco Books
Heat and Light by Jennifer Haigh (May 3):
Decades ago, coal mines in Bakerton helped fuel the country. Now, the mines have closed and the town is just a shell of its former self. When they learn it sits upon Marcellus Shale, a massive deposit of natural gas, the remaining families are torn. Should they drill? Is the potential wealth it brings worth the health of their families? A wholly timely novel, this title reflects on a cast of characters and a community both blessed and cursed by the natural resources that sustain them.
The Risen by Ron Rash (September 6)
Honestly, this man could write gibberish and I would read it! Luckily, that’s not the case!
One summer in 1969, two brothers (Eugene and Bill) meet a free-spirited, fiery red-head named Ligeia. The relationship Eugene begins with her forces a wedge between him and his brother. Although the relationship ultimately ends, the rift does not.
Fast forward two decades. Bill has found success, while Eugene struggles to find his place in the world. A reminder of the past forces Eugene to retrace history and the situations that helped shape his less than successful future. Will uncovering the truth help heal him, move him forward? Or will it further his disillusionment and destroy the lives of those he loves?
Avon Books
A Scot in the Dark: Scandal & Scoundrel, Book II by Sarah MacLean (August 30):
I don’t read a lot of romance. Nothing against it; it’s just not my thing. But when I discovered Sarah’s books last year, I devoured them. I’m quite thankful that my library keeps them in their collection; they are so good that I need to make them a permanent part of my personal library collection!
Harper Voyager
The Rift Uprising: The Rift Uprising Trilogy, Book 1 by Amy S. Foster (October 4):
The first in a trilogy, mixing speculative fiction with military thriller. Seventeen-year-old Ryn Whittaker is an elite soldier trained to protect a rift, a portal into alternate Earths that science is unable to close. Her training is intense, for she’s never certain as to what sort of creature may attempt to pass through the rift into her world. But when a seemingly harmless young man walks through, all of her training is useless. He asks her questions about the rift that force her to question everything she has ever known, including the purpose of the rift itself.
Lost Gods by Brom (October 25): 
It’s quite hard to describe this one, other than it’s dark and chilling and totally my kind of book.
A young man must travel into Pergatory to save his wife and unborn child. Sound creepy enough? The illustrations are STUNNING. This is the talent that brought us Krampus. I’m sold.
Quite the list, right? Do any of these appeal to you? Come back later this week…there’s more!
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