The Big Disruption: A Totally Fictional But Essentially True Silicon Valley Story by Jessica Powell is a rip-roaring comedy about big plans and bigger egos at the world’s largest tech company. Medium published this book as its first print book. A prince in exile is working as a product manager. The sales guys are battling with the engineers. The women employees are the unwitting subjects of a wild social experiment.Plan to laugh out loud!
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abby Waxman 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. Such a feel-good book!
The Floating Feldmans by Elyssa Friedland- Sink or swim. Or at least that’s what Annette Feldman tells herself when she books a cruise for her entire family. It’s been over a decade since the Feldman clan has spent more than twenty-four hours under the same roof, but Annette is determined to celebrate her seventieth birthday the right way. Just this once, they are going to behave like an actual family. Too bad her kids didn’t get the memo. Plan a family trip soon or don’t!
Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner– Jennifer Weiner wrote a supersmart, thoughtful, and timely exploration of two sisters’ lives from the 1950s to the present as they struggle to find their places—and be true to themselves—in a rapidly evolving world. Mrs. Everything is an ambitious, richly textured journey through history—and herstory—as these two sisters navigate a changing America over the course of their lives. This book is perfection and everything!
Waisted by Randy Susan Meyers– In this provocative, wildly entertaining, and compelling novel, seven women enrolled in an extreme weight loss documentary discover self-love and sisterhood as they enact a daring revenge against the exploitative filmmakers. With each pound lost, they edge deeper into obsession and instability…until they decide to take matters into their own hands.Perfect for any woman who has tried to lose weight.
Dear Wife by Kimberly Belle- Belle thrills yet again in thisriveting new novel of suspense about a woman who, in a fight for survival, must decide just how far she’ll go to escape the person she once lovedThe only thing that’s certain is that someone is lying and the truth won’t stay buried for long. Prepare to be blown away!
Girls Like Us by Cristina Alger- Bestselling Alger mesmerizes again whenworlds collide when an FBI agent investigates a string of grisly murders on Long Island that raises the impossible question: What happens when the primary suspect is your father? An OMG read that you cannot put down.
The Favorite Daughter by Kaira Rouda- From the author of Best Day Ever, another gripping novel of psychological suspense set in an upscale Southern California community, No one creates a narcissist like Rouda. The perfect home. The perfect family. The perfect lie. A Wow read that will have you floored.
Layover by David Bell-In this high concept psychological suspense novel, a chance meeting with a woman in an airport sends a man on a pulse-pounding quest for the truth. Read this one on a plane! The quintessential vacation read!
The Night Before by Wendy Walker- Riveting and compulsive, The Night Before takes you to deep, dark places few thrillers dare to go as two sisters uncover long-buried secrets when an internet date spirals out of control. A new definition of sisterly love!
The Chelsea Girls by Fiona Davis– Davis deliversthe bright lights of the theater district, the glamour and danger of 1950s New York, and the wild scene at the iconic Chelsea Hotel come together in a dazzling new novel about the twenty-year friendship that will irrevocably change two women’s lives. Fabulous dance through history.
The Last Collection: A Novel of Elsa Schiaparelli and Coco Chanel by Jeanne MackinAn American woman becomes entangled in the intense rivalry between iconic fashion designers Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli in this captivating novel.Their fierce competition reaches new and dangerous heights as the Nazis and the looming threat of World War II bear down on Paris. An exceedingly well-dressed historical catfight.
Meet Me in Monaco by Hazel Gaynor and Heather WebbSet in the 1950s against the backdrop of Grace Kelly’s whirlwind romance and unforgettable wedding to Prince Rainier of Monaco, Meet Me in Monaco takse the reader on an evocative sun-drenched journey along the Côte d’Azur in this page-turning novel of passion, fate and second chances… Royally fabulous!
Park Avenue Summer by Renee Rosen- A fabulous novel about an incredible woman… Helen Gurley Brown. It’s 1965 and Cosmopolitan magazine’s brazen new editor-in-chief—Helen Gurley Brown—shocks America and saves a dying publication by daring to talk to women about all things off-limits… Hello Pussycat!
The Summer Country by Lauren Willig– A brilliant, multigenerational saga in the tradition of The Thornbirds, The Summer Country delivers in a big, bold and ambitious novel—a sweeping Victorian epic of lost love, lies, jealousy, and rebellion set in colonial Barbados. Read with a tropical drink!
The Golden Hour by Beatriz Williams– Williams creates a dazzling epic of World War II-era Nassau—a hotbed of spies, traitors, and the most infamous couple of the age, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. A masterpiece!
Vacation Reads (or books to read if you wish you were vacationing)…
Drawing Home by Jamie Brenner– An unexpected inheritance, a promise broken, and four lives changed forever in the newest page-turner from Jamie Brenner. Drawn together in their battle for the house, Emma and Bea are forced to confront the past while facing a future that challenges everything they believe about love, fate, and family. You’ll want this house!
The Favorite Daughter by Patti Callahan Henry-From Callahan Henry, here is a lush, heart-wrenching novel about the power of memory, the meaning of family, and learning to forgive in a journey to discover the true meaning of home. A beautiful book!
The Summer Guests by Mary Alice Monroe-From the amazing author of the Beach House series comes a heartwarming and evocative novel about the bonds and new beginnings that are born from natural disasters and how, even during the worst of circumstances—or perhaps because of them—we discover what is most important in life. Drink a hurricane and savor this book!
Summer of ’69 by Elin Hilderbrand- Four siblings experience the drama, intrigue, and upheaval ofa summer when everything changed, inNew York Timesbestselling author Elin Hilderbrand’s first historical novel. As always, Hilderbrand delivers a blockbuster. Captivating read!
Sunset Beach by Mary Kay Andrews- Pull up a lounge chair and have a cocktail at Sunset Beach – it comes with a twist. Sunset Beach is a compelling ride, full of Mary Kay Andrews’ signature wit, heart, and charm. The reigning Queen of the beach read does it again! Here’s to Summer!
The Unbreakables by Lisa Barr- A delicious, sharp novel about a woman who jets off to France after her perfect marriage collapses, putting the broken pieces of herself back together while rediscovering her own joie de vivre—a lust for life, art, and steamy sex. A macaron of a novel!
Ayesha At Last by Usma Jalaluddin A modern-day Muslim Pride and Prejudice for a new generation of love. When a surprise engagement is announced between Khalid and Hafsa, Ayesha is torn between how she feels about the straightforward Khalid and the unsettling new gossip she hears about his family. Khalid meet Mr. Darcy!
The Bride Test by Helen Hoang Hoang again delivers a romantic novel about love that crosses international borders and all boundaries of the heart… Khai Diep has no feelings. His family knows better—that his autism means he just processes emotions differently. When he steadfastly avoids relationships, his mother takes matters into her own hands and returns to Vietnam to find him the perfect bride. Hot Perfection!
The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez Kristen Peterson doesn’t do drama, will fight to the death for her friends, and has no room in her life for guys who just don’t get her. She’s also keeping a big secret: facing a medically necessary procedure that will make it impossible for her to have children. Prepare to laugh and cry!
Love at First Like by Hannah OrensteinRoth and her sister Sophie co-own a jewelry shop in Brooklyn. One night, after learning of an ex’s engagement, Eliza accidentally posts a photo of herself wearing a diamond ring on that finger to her Instagram account beloved by 100,000 followers. Sales skyrocket, press rolls in, and Eliza learns that her personal life is good for business. Fake fiancé anyone?
Red White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuistonWhen his mother became President, Alex Claremont-Diaz was promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. There’s only one problem: Alex has a beef with the actual prince, Henry, across the pond. And when the tabloids get hold of a photo involving an Alex-Henry altercation, U.S./British relations take a turn for the worse. A beautiful love story!
The Great Connecting: The Emergence of Global Broadband, and How That Changes Everything by Jim Cashel- Right now, only half of the world’s population has internet access but very soon, the whole planet will be connected and everything will change. What will this transformative event in modern human history mean for society? The remarkable possibilities!
The Wrong End of the Table A Mostly Comic Memoir of a Muslim Arab American Woman Just Trying to Fit In by AyserSalmanYou know that feeling like you’re at a party but all the good stuff is happening out of earshot (#FOMO)? What happens when a shy, awkward Arab girl with a weird name and an unfortunate propensity toward facial hair is uprooted from her comfortable homeland of Iraq and thrust into the cold, alien town of Columbus, Ohio—with its Egg McMuffins, Barbie dolls, and kids playing doctor everywhere you turned? A delightful page-turner.
Citizen Capitalism by Lynn Stout, Sergio Albert Gramitto, Tamara Belinfanti
Citizen Capitalism by Lynn Stout, Sergio Albert Gramitto, Tamara Belinfanti Corporations have a huge influence on the life of every citizen–this book offers a visionary but practical plan to give every citizen a say in how corporations are run while also gaining some supplemental income. It lays out a clear approach that uses the mechanisms of the private market to hold corporations accountable to the public. Unlock the positive power of corporations.
One of the world’s bestselling authors, romance novelist Nora Roberts is suing Brazillian author Cristiane Serruya for plagiarism, seeking up to $25,000 in damages.
Left: Nora Roberts, Right: Cristiane Serruya | Image via Jornal O Global
According to a US News article, the lawsuit began on April 24th and Robert’s allegations were reported Rio De Janiero’s morning papers. Roberts’ case calls Serruya’s romance novels “a literary patchwork, piecing together phrases whose form portrays emotions practically identical to those expressed in the [Roberts’] books.”
Roberts also stated:
“If you plagiarize, I will come for you. If you take my work, you will pay for it and I will do my best to see you don’t write again.”
Nora Roberts wants to turn the situation around by donating any proceeds to Brazilian Literary organizations. Hopefully that will help spread more original writing and creativity.
On the subject of plagiarism, Roberts made a post on her blog entitled Not A Rant, But A Promise. This post revealed extensive research Roberts has done on the organized system of plagiarized books. We may not see it, but it happens on a “professional” level every day, with teams put together to hire cheap ghost writers and even tutors to teach writers how to scam the system.
If Serruya is proven guilty, her lawyer Saulo Daniel Lopez says that “[she] could be forced to pay from the proceeds of her books”. Cristiane Serruya has defended herself against Roberts’ allegations, stating that she is using software to analyze her books. She stated:
My books are big. In a book of 120,000 words it’s difficult to know how many supposedly came from a work of Nora Roberts.
Unfortunately for Serruya, she already has an alleged reputation as a plagiarist. According to US News:
Serruya has faced allegations from several other writers and even inspired the Twitter hashtag #CopyPasteCris. In February, author Courtney Milan titled a blog posting “Cristiane Serruya is a copyright infringer, a plagiarist, and an idiot,” and cited numerous passages from Serruya’s “Royal Love” that closely resembled Milan’s “The Duchess War.”
So far things do not look like they are in Serruya’s favor, but in the end, if Roberts wins, hopefully the money is put to good use.
Each week, Bookstr will be offering a look at some of the best novels in a particular genre for your continued reading list. Today, we’ll be recommending five recent romance books for your recommendation pleasure. Romance offers a look into the lives of couples, dealing with love and all the trials it offers. Let’s fall in love with the couples of these books and the worlds they create!
5. Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal
Image via Amazon
Described as a retelling of Pride and Prejudice, Unmarriageabletells the story of the Binat family, whose reputation have been destroyed by vicious rumors and scandals. Alys, a daughter of the Binat family, has found a happy life teaching English to teachers. She’s pulled back into the world of her family when a huge wedding comes to their small town and her mother arranges for her daughters to attend in order to catch the eye of eligible bachelors. At the party, Alys’s sister catches the eye of a man called Bungles, whose friend Valentine Darsee has a snobbish opinion of the family. Alys dismisses Valentine but as her sister makes arrangements to marry Bungles, she finds herself attracted to Darsee as she realizes he’s a different man that her opinion. This a charming update of the classic Jane Austen novel told with plenty of charm, wit, and lovely prose.
4. Meet Cute by Helena Hunting
Image Via Amazon
Meet Cute begins how it sounds: Kailyn Flowers literally crashes into her former crush, an actor called Daxton Hughes. What could be an embarrassment for them both brings them together and they start a relationship…until Daxton betrays Kailyn! After years apart, the two come together again and Daxton needs Kailyn’s help! This is a fun romance comedy filled with cringe and presents two interesting characters with a fractured relationship trying to make an awkward romance truly work.
3.The Bride Test by Helen Hoang
Image via Amazon
A matchmaking tale, this novel tells the story of Khan, an autistic man who believes he has no feelings. His family wants to help and they fly him to Vietnam to help him find a bride. Another woman enters the picture, a girl called Esme who falls for Khan and Khan has to struggle in order to try to love her, overcoming his condition to show her that he loves her as much as she does him. This is a heartbreaking novel about an unlikely couple finding love and showcasing that conditions shouldn’t hold you back from happiness.
2. Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
Image Via Amazon
Red, White & Royal Bluetells the story of a young couple from either side of the Atlantic, the son of the President and the royal Prince. Alex Cameron-Diaz is the son of his mother, the current President and Prince Henry of Britain. During a public relations meeting, the two have a beef and went the tabloids get hold of it, disaster could be spelled for diplomacy. To simmer tensions, the two are arranged to be in a fake friendship that’s documented before the world. Soon, their friendship becomes real and deeper than either could have imagined. Alex begins a secret romance with Henry, trying to keep their relationship on the down low as he finds he truly loves the young prince. This same-sex romance chronicles an unlikely love between two young men is a must read for anyone, truly getting you invested on both sides of the secret romance.
1. Under the Table by Stephanie Evanovich
Image Via Amazon
Under The Tabletells of a sexy, steam romance, centering on a woman called Zoey who has escaped her failing marriage and finds a new challenge with a rich gentleman called Tristan Malloy. He’s a computer programmer but very shy and she decides to give him a makeover to fit her image. As she begins to work him over, she begins to find him irresistible and who follows is a romance for the ages. Funny and steamy, this romance is a great beach read.
Have you got the travel bug but not the travel funds? Struck down with a bout of wanderlust but find yourself lacking the time off necessary to make the journeys you’re dreaming about? Well, never fear. We’ve got the cure; that’s what books are for! Let us take you on a virtual tour of Europe with some of the best 2019 releases set in Europe.
Publishers Weekly says that Timothy Jay Smith’s latest novel, The Fourth Courier, features “Sharply drawn characters, rich dialogue, and a clever conclusion that bodes well for any sequel.” Booklist notes how “Smith skillfully bridges police procedural and espionage fiction, crafting a show-stealing sense of place and realistically pairing the threats of underworld crime and destabilized regimes.” Timothy Jay Smith is a proud member of the LGBTQ community, who is passionate about exploring these themes in his work, which has garnered him countless accolades. His book Fire on the Island was the winner of the 2017 Gold Medal in the Faulkner-Wisdom Competition for the Novel. Smith also won the Paris Prize for Fiction for his debut work, A Vision of Angels. Smith has also been nominated for the 2017 Pushcart Prize for short fiction, and his screenplays have won numerous international competitions, as well as founding the Smith Prize for Political Theater. Set in post-cold war Poland in 1992, and exploring the politics and the problems of that time, this is a fascinating angle to examine for anyone interested in European history.
On the 30th anniversary of the victory of Solidarity in Poland and the fall of the Berlin Wall, comes a riveting new novel set in Poland on the brink of change, The Fourth Courier .
Smith sets his novel in 1992 in post-cold war Poland, where nothing is quite as it seems. When three execution-style murders take place in Warsaw, FBI Special Agent Jay Porter is assigned to help with the investigation, suspecting that the three victims may have been couriers hired to smuggle nuclear material out of the defunct Soviet Union.
When Jay learns that a Russian physicist who designed a portable atomic bomb has also disappeared, the race is on to find him—and the bomb—before it ends up in the wrong hands.
Suspenseful, thrilling, and smart, The Fourth Courier teams up an FBI agent with a gay CIA officer who uncover a gruesome plot involving murder, radioactive contraband, narcissistic government leaders, and unconscionable greed.
2. Normal People by Sally Rooney
Image Via Penguin Random House
Normal People was originally released in August 2018, but it hits the US for the first time this month and is sure to make waves. This love story between teenagers and and fascinating study of the human condition is set in modern day Ireland, and creates a snapshot of life through an eye-opening lens. Sally Rooney is one of the world’s most successful young writers, at only twenty-eight. Regularly profiled and published in publications like The New Yorker and The New York Times, Rooney’s first novel Conversations With Friends was beloved by literally everyone from Sarah Jessica Parker, to Tegan and Sara to your great-grandmother, and Normal People is a worthy successor, making the longlist for the Man Booker Prize last year, and in line to receive a TV adaptation from Room director Lenny Abrahamson.
Connell and Marianne grow up in the same small town in rural Ireland. The similarities end there; they are from very different worlds. When they both earn places at Trinity College in Dublin, a connection that has grown between them lasts long into the following years. This is an exquisite love story about how a person can change another person’s life – a simple yet profound realisation that unfolds beautifully over the course of the novel. It tells us how difficult it is to talk about how we feel and it tells us – blazingly – about cycles of domination, legitimacy and privilege. Alternating menace with overwhelming tenderness, Sally Rooney’s second novel breathes fiction with new life.
Set in Berlin, Duncan’s first novel has been described by the Irish Times as ‘a captivating debut’. ‘Duncan’s spare and meticulous prose provides a vivid reconstruction of a profession not commonly documented in fiction.’ Another review notes “Duncan empathetically navigates both terrains with beautiful, cinematic surges of light and stark linear description. With a refreshing, cross-disciplinary background in engineering and visual art, he guides the reader to meditate on the ways in which abstract thought may be expressed – in drawings, minimalist sculpture, or the high-gloss lure of consumerism – and the difficult, and occasionally injurious and exploitative labour involved in translating them into physical, load-bearing reality.” An unusual look at Berlin from an Irish perspective, this book published by The Lilliput Press, Ireland’s littlest independent publisher, is a rare gem that is definitely worth reading!
Paul, a young Irish engineer, follows his girlfriend to Berlin, and begins work on the renovation of a commercial building in Alexanderplatz. Wrestling with a new language, on a site running behind schedule, and with a relationship in flux, he becomes increasingly untethered.
Set against the structural evolution of a sprawling city, this meditation on language, memory and yearning is underpinned by the site’s physical reality. As the narrator explores the mind’s fragile architecture, he begins to map his own strange geography through a series of notebooks, or ‘Love Notes’.
This is at once a treatise on language, memory, building and desire, relayed in translucent Sebaldian prose in a voice new to fiction.
4. The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
Image Via Amazon
Released in paperback in the US this year, Quinn’s historical novel has burst onto the scene, becoming a New York Times and USA Today bestseller, as well as a #1 Globe and Mail Historical Fiction Bestseller. Named one of NPR’s Best Books of the Year, and one of Bookbub’s Biggest Historical Fiction Books of the Year, The Alice Network was also a Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick! Set between America, London and France, and spanning World Wars I and II, this novel has earned its accolades and gives an amazing look at wartime Europe.
In an enthralling new historical novel from national bestselling author Kate Quinn, two women-a female spy recruited to the real-life Alice Network in France during World War I and an unconventional American socialite searching for her cousin in 1947-are brought together in a mesmerizing story of courage and redemption.
1947. In the chaotic aftermath of World War II, American college girl Charlie St. Clair is pregnant, unmarried, and on the verge of being thrown out of her very proper family. She’s also nursing a desperate hope that her beloved cousin Rose, who disappeared in Nazi-occupied France during the war, might still be alive. So when Charlie’s parents banish her to Europe to have her “little problem” taken care of, Charlie breaks free and heads to London, determined to find out what happened to the cousin she loves like a sister.
1915. A year into the Great War, Eve Gardiner burns to join the fight against the Germans and unexpectedly gets her chance when she’s recruited to work as a spy. Sent into enemy-occupied France, she’s trained by the mesmerizing Lili, the “Queen of Spies”, who manages a vast network of secret agents right under the enemy’s nose.
Thirty years later, haunted by the betrayal that ultimately tore apart the Alice Network, Eve spends her days drunk and secluded in her crumbling London house. Until a young American barges in uttering a name Eve hasn’t heard in decades, and launches them both on a mission to find the truth…no matter where it leads.
5. The Pearl Thief by Fiona McIntosh
Image Via Book Depository
The Pearl Thief needs to be added to your To Be Read list with great haste. Described by NPR as “equal parts murder mystery and coming-of-age story,” their glowing review noted that “The brilliant cast of characters includes debt-laden aristocrats, a young librarian with a disfiguring genetic disease, and a brother and sister from a Traveller family.” And fans of Europe will be delighted to hear what Booktopia.com have to say: “The Pearl Thiefis laced with nugget upon nugget of historical gold, with the author weaving a grand sense of time and place throughout the action. Reading this book makes you feel as though you’ve lived and breathed 1963 London and Paris.”
Severine Kassel is asked by the Louvre in 1963 to aid the British Museum with curating its antique jewellery, her specialty. Her London colleagues find her distant and mysterious, her cool beauty the topic of conversations around its quiet halls. No one could imagine that she is a desperately damaged woman, hiding her trauma behind her chic, French image.
It is only when some dramatic Byzantine pearls are loaned to the Museum that Severine’s poise is dashed and the tightly controlled life she’s built around herself is shattered. Her shocking revelation of their provenance sets off a frenzied hunt for Nazi Ruda Mayek.
Mossad’s interest is triggered and one of its most skilled agents comes out of retirement to join the hunt, while the one person who can help Severine – the solicitor handling the pearls – is bound by client confidentiality. As she follows Mayek’s trail, there is still one lifelong secret for her to reveal – and one for her to discover.
From the snowy woodlands outside Prague to the Tuileries of Paris and the heather-covered moors of Yorkshire comes a confronting and heart-stopping novel that explores whether love and hope can ever overpower atrocity in a time of war and hate.
Gabriel García Márquez died on April 17, 2014, but his lasting impact on Central American literature and global culture still inspires us to strive for empathy.
