With GIRL, FORGOTTEN, Karin Slaughter pens a worthy follow-up to PIECES OF HER, which became a huge hit as a Netflix series. . . .
The whole story is a masterpiece of mystery, and Slaughter's skill as a writer has never shone as brightly as it has in this novel.
Follow the link above to learn more.
May Cobb is the author of three novels, the latest of which is My Summer Darlings, which was recommended by “The Today Show,” CrimeReads, Booklist, Shelf Awareness, and many more, and follows the critical and public enthusiasm her prior novel (The Hunting Wives) received. Her essays and interviews have appeared in the Washington Post, the Rumpus, Edible Austin, and Austin Monthly.
Follow the link above to learn more.
Barbara Bourland’s riveting new novel, The Force of Such Beauty, opens with the breathless escape attempt of a modern-day princess named Caroline as she endeavors to leave her marble prison once and for all. . . .
I spoke with Bourland over Zoom about the princess trap, the inescapable pervasion of the monarchy, and fiction as catharsis.
Follow the link above to learn more.
Author Karin Slaughter discusses her new book, "Girl, Forgotten" a sequel to the Netflix smash hit "Pieces of Her".
Follow the link above to learn more.
International best-selling crime writer Karin Slaughter previews her new mystery, "Girl, Forgotten."
Follow the link above to learn more.
Ride On by Faith Erin Hicks. First Second, $24.99; ISBN 978-1-250-77281-7; $14.99 paper; ISBN 978-1-250-77282-4.
A group of riding camp veterans are surprised to find a former rival camp’s student at their camp for the summer, and despite their initial first impressions of one another, they bond over their love of horses and competing. The middle grade graphic novel earned a starred review from PW.
Follow the link above to learn more.
Ride On by Faith Erin Hicks
WEDNESDAY Faith Erin Hicks (“Ride On”) is in conversation with Kristin Varner and Gene Luen Yang at 7 p.m. at An Unlikely Story.
Follow the link above to learn more.
RIDE ON by writer and artist Faith Erin Hicks with colors by Kelly Fitzpatrick is an exceptionally beautiful graphic novel about horses and friendships.
Follow the link above to learn more.
ABC has picked up drama pilot Will Trent (working title) to series for a midseason launch.
Based on Karin Slaughter’s bestselling “Will Trent” series, the series stars Rodriguez as Special Agent Will Trent of the Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI), who was abandoned at birth and endured a harsh coming-of-age in Atlanta’s overwhelmed foster care system. But now, determined to use his unique point of view to make sure no one is abandoned like he was, Will Trent has the highest clearance rate in the GBI.
Follow the link above to learn more.
Ride On by Faith Erin Hicks
This graphic novel is a must-read for horse lovers. Victoria loves riding horses, but she’s tired of the competitions and especially tired of the elitist attitudes at the stable where she rides. When she and her wealthy best friend Taylor have a falling out, Victoria decides it’s time to change stables and searches for a less expensive and less stressful stable. This time, she’s not going to try to make friends or compete. With that in mind, Victoria rebuffs the friendly overtures from Norrie when she starts riding at Edgewood Stables. Frustrated, Norrie immediately decides she doesn’t like Victoria, but when Victoria discovers Norrie is a fan of the sci-fi TV show Beyond the Galaxy like her, she realizes she might have been hasty. By becoming friends with Norrie and two other kids, Victoria realizes she doesn’t have to define herself by her riding and can have other interests.
Follow the link above to learn more.
Ride On by Faith Erin Hicks, First Second. Aug. 2022. 224p. Tr $22.99. ISBN 9781250772817.
VERDICT A “perfect ride” of a graphic novel that shows that there really is something special about horse friends.
Follow the link above to learn more.
The Force of Such Beauty by novelist Barbara Bourland
[A] smart, absorbing novel, with a heroine, Caroline, who’s naïve but strong-willed. A former Olympic-level marathon runner from South Africa, she’s seduced by her lavish life until the fantasy fractures and becomes a nightmare.
Follow the link above to learn more.
You write that when you went to space, “there was no mystery, no majestic awe to behold... all I saw was death. I saw a cold, dark, black emptiness.” How surprised were you by that?
William Shatner: I was struck dumb. I was absolutely gobsmacked because I’ve been amazed by the miracles of space for a long time. And I saw none of that in that blackness. All I saw was what I described in that quote. And it came as a shock because I had just been looking at Earth as we were leaving it, and I was thinking, my God, look how beautiful it is.
Follow the link above to learn more.
Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder by William Shatner, with Joshua Brandon. Atria, $28 (256p) ISBN 978-1-66800-732-7
Shatner’s curiosity shines through as he leavens the seriousness of his lifelong quest for meaning with his signature self-effacing humor…The result is a refreshingly self-aware portrait of a man determined to live every moment to the fullest.
Follow the link above to learn more.
Barbara Bourland, The Force of Such Beauty (Dutton)
This is a fascinating novel about bodies, the way we use them, and the way we break them. It’s one of several works to come out this year concerned with the appropriation of female beauty by powerful men, and examines a harsh choice in the lives of women dubbed desirable by the patriarchal state: do you participate, or do you say no? But let’s backtrack here: what’s this book actually about? It’s about an olympic athlete failed by the same body that propelled her to success, who finds herself falling in love with the heir apparent of a small kingdom suspiciously similar to Monaco or Luxembourg, then falling under the sway of his powerful mother and ministers. She soon realizes her new life is just as regimented, and affords just as few choices, as her time training as an elite runner. Barbara Bourland is skilled at finding the noir in the everyday, and illustrating the mechanisms of control that keep us in our place.
Follow the link above to learn more.
Ride On by Faith Erin Hicks
Horse lovers unite! This sweet middle graphic novel is perfect for the equine fan in your life. Coupled with gorgeous illustrations, Ride On is a charming story of friendship, self-discovery, and of course, plenty of horses.
Follow the link above to learn more.
Essay by Barbara Bourland
Lately I have needed novels that not only keep but wholly command my attention, which means most books are out. I don’t have the emotional bandwidth for a tender friendship or the patience to follow a trail to a dead body. I can’t bear to hope for an alternate universe—and I don’t want to read about the one I’m currently in, either. None of the usual formats are even remotely sufficient. I need to be captured, made into an active reader, solve a puzzle from the get-go in a world that looks like one thing but is gradually revealed to be another. I want tricks of the light, sleight of hand—anything that keeps my eyes on the ball. I want to follow a primary narrative underwritten with a heretofore invisible girding, doubling or tripling the meaning of everything that came before it. To sense the mystery right up front—then never quite catch it, not until the last page.
Coincidentally, this is also what I try to write.
Follow the link above to learn more.
Rich in emotion and luscious descriptions, The Force of Such Beauty is a careful dismantling of royalty that leaves readers wondering if any fairy tale is worth our desire.
The Force of Such Beauty by Barbara Bourland
Bourland draws inspiration from real-life royalty and the fantasies that are constructed for the outside world, in particular the lives of Charlene, Princess of Monaco, Diana, Princess of Wales and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. Rich in emotion and luscious descriptions, The Force of Such Beauty is a careful dismantling of royalty that leaves readers wondering if any fairy tale is worth our desire.
Follow the link above to learn more.