If you are looking to stock up on some new reads, today is your day. There are so many great new releases this week that I felt this publication day deserved its own blog post!
Continue reading “February 18th, 2020 New Book Releases & BOOK GIVEAWAY!”
I am excited to offer an advanced reader copy of Chris Bohjalian’s 2020 book release, The Red Lotus, to one of YOU!
I read The Red Lotus this past fall and I am excited that we are getting closer to its publication date (March 17th, 2020!)
Bohjalian is known for his character-driven novels full of suspense and intrigue. This one was a page-turner and while it was a topic I would never have predicted I would be into, I had a hard time putting it down.
“Set amidst the adrenaline-fueled world of the emergency room, The Red Lotus is a global thriller about those who dedicate their lives to saving people, and those who peddle death to the highest bidder.”
His books are such a big part of my reading memories and I especially loved Midwives and The Double Bind.
To enter this GIVEAWAY please make sure to LIKE my Gen The Bookworm Facebook Page and comment below, tagging a friend who you think might like to enter this giveaway too.
Each friend you tag will count as an additional entry, up to FIVE entries.
The winner will be chosen on Tuesday, January 21st at 8pm EST. U.S. Residents ONLY due to shipping.
*This Contest is NOT affiliated with Facebook.
Good luck!!
Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links. This means if you click through and make a purchase, I receive a small commission that helps support this blog at no cost to you. Thank you!
I have been waiting for months and it is finally almost here! Diane Chamberlain’s 2020 fiction release, Big Lies in a Small Town will be published next week!! 🙌
North Carolina, 2018: Morgan Christopher’s life has been derailed. Taking the fall for a crime she did not commit, she finds herself serving a three-year stint in the North Carolina Women’s Correctional Center. Her dream of a career in art is put on hold―until a mysterious visitor makes her an offer that will see her released immediately. Her assignment: restore an old post office mural in a sleepy southern town. Morgan knows nothing about art restoration, but desperate to leave prison, she accepts. What she finds under the layers of grime is a painting that tells the story of madness, violence, and a conspiracy of small-town secrets.
North Carolina, 1940: Anna Dale, an artist from New Jersey, wins a national contest to paint a mural for the post office in Edenton, North Carolina. Alone in the world and desperate for work, she accepts. But what she doesn’t expect is to find herself immersed in a town where prejudices run deep, where people are hiding secrets behind closed doors, and where the price of being different might just end in murder.
What happened to Anna Dale? Are the clues hidden in the decrepit mural? Can Morgan overcome her own demons to discover what exists beneath the layers of lies?
Diane Chamberlain is one of my very favorite authors and I always highly anticipate her new book publications. Her 2018 release, The Dream Daughter, ranks as one of my favorite books ever and was a tough act to follow.
Chamberlain is gifted at writing engaging and compelling novels that tackle tough topics with such awareness of others. Her topics are thought-provoking and always cause great self-reflection for myself as the reader.
Chamberlain’s vividly detailed plotlines and multifaceted characters bring you inside the story and you can feel the emotions of the characters she shares. In Big Lies in a Small Town, Chamberlain shares a dual narrative as well as a past and present timeline with ease.
She introduces us to the worlds of Morgan Christopher and Anna Dale and the events who made and changed them. I don’t know how she does it, but I can connect personally with every one of her characters, even if our lives and worlds are so different.
There are many “heavier” themes including alcoholism, sexual assault, racial issues of the 1940s, and many family secrets which she handles both sensitively and eloquently.
Not only does she make you feel but she makes you think when reading her novels. I really enjoyed reading this one but I kept thinking about it long after I was finished which is the sign of a great book for me.
You can read my full review of Big Lies in a Small Town in my blog post HERE.
Today, I am partnering with Saint Martin’s Press to offer this advanced readers copy of Big Lies in a Small Town with one of YOU!
2. like this post
3. tag up to THREE book-loving friends in the comments below. Each comment will count as an entry.
✨You can get an extra TWO entries for following along on my Gen The Bookworm Facebook page as well (or comment if you already are!)
*This contest closes this Sunday 1/12/20 at 8 pm EST. U.S. entries only due to shipping. Good luck!
Acclaimed author Colleen Oakley delivers a heart-wrenching and unforgettable love story about a woman who must choose between the man she loves and the man fate has chosen for her, in a novel that reminds us that the best life is one led by the heart.
Mia Graydon’s life looks picket-fence perfect; she has the house, her loving husband, and dreams of starting a family. But she has other dreams too—unexplained, recurring ones starring the same man. Still, she doesn’t think much of it, until a relocation to small-town Pennsylvania brings her face to face with the stranger she has been dreaming about for years. And this man harbors a jaw-dropping secret of his own—he’s been dreaming of her too.
Determined to understand, Mia and this not-so-stranger search for answers. But when diving into their pasts begins to unravel her life in the present, Mia emerges with a single question—what if?
January 7th, 2020
Family Life Fiction/Romance
You Were There Too is a unique take on the regular contemporary romance novel and I was very excited when Berkley asked me to be a part of the Blog Tour this past fall.
It was one of those books that when I saw that it included elements of dreams I wasn’t sure exactly where it was going to go. Anything that takes on a more fantastical side can sometimes lose me quickly as a reader. I am so glad I hung on though!
This book was so much more emotional and the characters had a depth that made this book one of those ones I felt super connected to. The dream elements added so much to the storyline, I think because there were so many “real life” issues and situations that pulled it into reality for me.
This book was a lot more emotional than I was expecting and wasn’t always an easy read. The storyline was full of smaller twists and turns that kept me guessing and I just loved the uniqueness of this one. If you are looking for a book to get swept away with and is also super thought-provoking at the same time, this is it!
You Were There Too will be published tomorrow, Tuesday, January 7th, 2020 and I am partnering with Berkley Publishing to share a copy of You Were There Too with one of my readers. You can enter my BOOK GIVEAWAY over on my Gen The Bookworm Facebook Page right now!
Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links. This means if you click through and make a purchase, I receive a small commission that helps support this blog at no cost to you. Thank you!
Award-winning author Iona Grey’s next unforgettable historical about true love found and lost and the secrets we keep from one another
Selina Lennox is a Bright Young Thing. Her life is a whirl of parties and drinking, pursued by the press and staying on just the right side of scandal, all while running from the life her parents would choose for her.
Lawrence Weston is a penniless painter who stumbles into Selina’s orbit one night and can never let her go even while knowing someone of her stature could never end up with someone of his. Except Selina falls hard for Lawrence, envisioning a life of true happiness. But when tragedy strikes, Selina finds herself choosing what’s safe over what’s right.
Spanning two decades and a seismic shift in British history as World War II approaches, Iona Grey’s The Glittering Hour is an epic novel of passion, heartache, and loss.
Iona Grey is the author of the award-winning Letters to the Lost. She has a degree in English Literature and Language from Manchester University, an obsession with history and an enduring fascination with the lives of women in the twentieth century. She lives in rural Cheshire with her husband and three daughters.
December 10th, 2019
Historical Fiction/Romance
This past fall I was invited to participate in the St. Martin’s Press/Thomas Dunne Books Blog Tour for the upcoming December release, The Glittering Hour. One of the wonderful things about reading advanced copies of books is that a lot of times I get to read books before they have been super hyped up, which means I go into it without a lot of expectations either way!
I went into this book not really knowing anything about the plotline or author’s previous writing (Letters to The Lost in 2015). I was immediately entranced by the vividly detailed characters and storyline and loved being immersed in the mid-1920s and 1930s.
Told in a dual storyline, we meet the main characters Selina, and her daughter Alice. I love getting the backstory to themes and storylines and so this back and forth really worked for me. I so enjoyed following along on this treasure hunt of secrets alongside Alice. This book was not only beautifully written but totally engaging from the very beginning.
The Glittering Hour has an “unlikely love story” that skews this one more towards the romance genre than just historical fiction and it was one of my favorite parts of this book. All the characters were well developed and multifaceted which made me feel like I was a part of this journey with them. I loved the themes of hidden secrets, family dynamics, love and loss that made this book and characters so memorable. The ending was emotional and super satisfying and I can’t wait to hear other people’s thoughts now that it is out in the world!
I will be sharing a social media post later today with a chance to enter my BOOK GIVEAWAY for The Glittering Hour, so stay tuned!
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for inviting me to be a part of this Blog Tour and for providing me with an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.
Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links. This means if you click through and make a purchase, I receive a small commission that helps support this blog at no cost to you. Thank you!
“The only child of a single mother, Nina has her life just as she wants it: a job in a bookstore, a kick-butt trivia team, a world-class planner and a cat named Phil. If she sometimes suspects there might be more to life than reading, she just shrugs and picks up a new book.
When the father Nina never knew existed suddenly dies, leaving behind innumerable sisters, brothers, nieces, and nephews, Nina is horrified. They all live close by! They’re all—or mostly all—excited to meet her! She’ll have to Speak. To. Strangers. It’s a disaster! And as if that wasn’t enough, Tom, her trivia nemesis, has turned out to be cute, funny, and deeply interested in getting to know her. Doesn’t he realize what a terrible idea that is?
Nina considers her options.
1. Completely change her name and appearance. (Too drastic, plus she likes her hair.)
2. Flee to a deserted island. (Hard pass, see: coffee).
3. Hide in a corner of her apartment and rock back and forth. (Already doing it.)
It’s time for Nina to come out of her comfortable shell, but she isn’t convinced real life could ever live up to fiction. It’s going to take a brand-new family, a persistent suitor, and the combined effects of ice cream and trivia to make her turn her own fresh page.”
July 9th, 2019
Contemporary /Satire Fiction
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill is a quirky and humorous read, perfect for your summer beach bag. Author Abbi Waxman introduces us to a woman named Nina, who has lived a quiet life filled with predictability and routine.
She works at a bookstore, enjoys trivia nights and struggles with many social situations. She is happy with the simplicity and life she has lived for so long when an out of the blue communication disrupts her world. She receives news that she has a whole side of her family she previously had no idea about. Her life gets flipped upside down and a little messy and an entirely new cast of characters enter’s Nina’s previously peaceful bubble.
Waxman walks us through Nina’s transition with smart humor, witty dialogue and a level of intimacy that many other bookish readers will connect and relate with. Nina says what she thinks, and isn’t afraid to be herself. She struggles with change, and we get to walk along this path with her. The other characters in the book were enjoyable to connect with, and I especially loved meeting Mr. Phil, her feline sidekick.
While there are elements of romance, the most significant part of this story for me was the growth and change Nina experienced in her relationship with herself. She has a love interest, and some may be disappointed that this isn’t the highlight of the book, but as a reader, I enjoyed that this was only a smaller part of the storyline and this book was indeed about Nina’s personal journey and growth.
We get to watch Nina come into her own, experience ups and downs, and adapt to a new life and the people that are now in it. I loved that Waxman was able to address Nina’s insecurities and struggles with anxiety, and not only was this relatable but also inspiring as we watched her come out of her comfort zone. There was a beautiful mix of dry humor and a feel-good storyline.
I loved having the opportunity to read an advanced copy of The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, and I am excited to partner with Berkley Publishing to provide a copy to one of you! You can click on over to my Instagram @genthebookworm for a chance to enter this giveaway.
Thank you @Berkley Pub for including me in this Blog Tour and for providing me with a copy to review.
If you like following along here I recently started a Gen The Bookworm Facebook page and today I am doing my first Facebook book giveaway! If you would like to enter you can click HERE. This giveaway closes tomorrow night (4/12/19) at 8pm EST and I will announce the winner right after. <3
