Fall Reads, Big List

by Malena Lott

I’ve been voraciously reading – opting to read in the carpool line instead of being on my phone – which is a great tip for anyone who says they don’t have time to read. We all have a few stolen moments we can spend inside of a book. Fall is full of great reads – and here’s a list of recent “finishes” and also what I’m reading now since I won’t see you for a month (’til my turn comes ’round again.)

Forgotten: A Novel by Catherine Mckenzie
A lawyer visits Africa as her mother’s dying wish, gets sick and doesn’t return for six months, and everyone thinks she’s dead. She tries to rebuild her life, but it’s an opportunity for her to do things differently this time. I loved the fresh concept and Catherine is a solid writer. I was expecting to read much more about Africa in the book and her experience there is bare, so the bulk of the story is her character back home, dealing with the aftermath of her disappearance. With a dash of romance and lots of spirited writing, I think women’s fiction fans will be right at home.

A Simple Thing: A Novel by Kathleen McCleary
From the publisher:
How far would you go to protect your children? Would you do it at the expense of your marriage? How far would you go to protect yourself?
For Susannah Delaney, the answers lie thousands of miles away, off the northwest corner of Washington state. When Susannah discovers her young son is being bullied and her adolescent daughter is spinning out of control, she moves them to remote Sounder Island in the San Juans to live off the grid for a year. Susannah hopes to save her children from the risks they’ve encountered at home, and to come to terms with her own haunted past. But the move threatens her marriage to the man she’s loved since childhood, and her very sense of self.
For Betty Pavalak, who first moved to Sounder to save her own troubled marriage, the island has been a haven for more than fifty years. But Betty also knows the guilt of living with choices she made long ago and actions that cannot be undone.The unlikely friendship between Susannah and Betty ignites a journey of self-discovery for both women that brings them both home to what they love most. A SIMPLE THING moves beyond friendship, children, and marriages to look deeply into what it means to love and forgive–yourself.

I read A Simple Thing in late summer – doesn’t that cover beckon you to? – and I’m a sucker for a “go off and discover yourself” tale. Kathleen’s writing is very crisp and her characters were well-developed. As a mom to a tween and teen myself, I could relate to Betty’s pull to protect her kids. Fans of family dramas will enjoy this one.

More recommended and reading:
Thriller – Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
Crime – Distortion by Lucie Smoker
Mainstream – The Good Dream by Donna VanLiere
Suspense/Mystery – Cold Light by Jenn Ashworth
Celeb Satire – Beneath a Starlet Sky by Amanda Goldberg and Ruthanna Khalighi Hopper
Women’s fiction – Dream Lake by Lisa Kleypas

FreeBee Alert: Retribution, Lucie Smoker’s short story is available for FREE in the Kindle store today through Sunday.

Announcement! My fourth novel, SOMETHING NEW, is coming out 11/5, but the trade paperback is already in the Amazon store. Excited to share the story of the Apple women with readers. If you’re a blogger, I’d love to connect with you for a review or Q&A and giveaway.

Summer Reading Sunset

by Malena Lott

Gone are the long wistful days of summer reading. Soon – some say Labor Day – we’ll all be officially back in the throes of school schedules and a vigorous fall work schedule. It also dawned on me that since I last posted a review, there’s A DOG ON MARS. What’s that? Not a dog? Okay, just Rover? Gotcha.

Anyhoo, speaking of gone, how about GONE GIRL, which we’ve reviewed here, yes, read it, liked it, shall read Gillian Flynn’s other two books. And back to school? I’ve got the remedy for that: BLACKLISTED FROM THE PTA by Lela Davidson. Speaking personal truths and being funny – what’s not to love?

How about a crime novel in the carpool line (you know you want to!). I rec Lou Berney’s WHIPLASH RIVER, which is whip-smart and stylishly written.

I also gobbled up BLACK MILK: On Writing, Motherhood, and the Harem Within by novelist Elif Shafek about her postpartum depression and struggle to fit writing and motherhood into her life. It’s a good one for writing mommies to take a look at if you’ve wondered about how women artists succeed – with or without children. Her “case studies” were interesting.

A quick bath read? THE GAP YEAR by Sarah Bird - another one moms of teens can relate to.

I think ebook shorts are the perfect thing for the carpool lane. A couple of new shorts are out by the Stinger line at Buzz Books: Jammie Kern’s Mythology High series: “Ryann in the Sky,” based on the Orion myth and her newest, “Taylor on Lockdown,” coming Labor Day; and Peggy Chamber’s “Bra Wars,” in The Apocalypse Sucks series. And if you’re looking for a fun and steamy women’s fiction read, I’m referring you to THE POOL BOY: A Short Story for FREE this Friday and Saturday. The Pool Boy is my take on the (sub)urban fantasy. Summer’s end, indeed. Buzz Books is has the summer gift of poolside recipes for free, so download a free pdf at the bottom of the Pool Boy page (looks scrumptious on the iPad) and get to that last summer soiree.

I have no idea what reads are up next for me, but I try to post pics of my TBR pile on Instagram as I get them in the mail and fed to Facebook and Twitter.

The Ugly Friend

Have you ever heard the saying, “If you can’t pick out the ugly friend in your group, then it’s you”? Well, Emma Frazier doesn’t even get that chance at naivety. While in the presence of her crush (and boss!), Emma is described by a frienemy as “the ugly friend”. With that in tow, Emma decides to focus on her writing… Which leads to turns she never expected.

While running away from her office life and toward her hometown, her past, her secrets, and positive transformations that span all areas of her life. For the first time in a long time, Emma feels desired, valued, and, well, beautiful. She reconnects with an old friend, and sparks fly… Leading to a delicious romance, right? Wrong!

The best message Maria Geraci provides in A Girl Like You is that beauty, money, and fame don’t bring happiness; only happiness with yourself can bring the confidence you need to navigate the transitions in your life. Through this process, Emma does find someone to love, and someone to love her… In the last place she thought to look.

Sunday Book in Bloom

Still enough summer left for a juicy read, and Laura Lippman delivers big:

AND WHEN SHE WAS GOOD (William Morrow; August 14, 2012)

Praise:

“AND WHEN SHE WAS GOOD is a steady, surprising tale… Ms. Lippman’s nominal subject may be prostitution, but her book is not about a woman who takes care of clients. It’s about a woman who can take care of herself.” –THE NEW YORK TIMES, August 2

“Lippman, so smart, clear-sighted, and polished and yet so intense and furious, surveys the intersection of perpetual misogyny and the criminality of sex work in this psychologically astute, diabolically witty, intricately suspenseful, and stylishly righteous tale of atrocities and revenge.”
—BOOKLIST (STARRED REVIEW), July 1

“Lippman is a master at the summer read and this story—ripped from the headlines—is no different. A ‘normal’ suburban mother has a dark secret that could spell out her downfall: She’s a madam who supplies call girls to very successful men.”
—NEW YORK POST, July 8

“The consequences of long-buried secrets involving misogyny, motherhood, and morality play out in this excellent stand-alone set in suburban Maryland from Edgar-winner Lippman…Shifting smoothly from Heloise’s past to her present, Lippman delivers an intense character study about a strong, complex woman whose love for her son compels her to make some desperate choices.”
—PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (STARRED REVIEW), July 16

“Like Mary Cassatt, Lippman studies families with a different eye than her male contemporaries, showing the heartbreaking complexity of life with those you love.” – KIRKUS, July 31

“[Lippman] slowly ratchets up the tension until the final, blood-drenched showdown . . . It’s a page-turner…” —LIBRARY JOURNAL (STARRED REVIEW), August 15

Interesting facts:

Laura’s a very prolific writer and this book is full of thought-provoking, conversation-worthy hooks. Here are three interesting facts Laura learned during her research of prostitution for the book:

Friday is a dead night; men go into the weekend feeling very confident they can get sex without paying for it. Sunday, by contrast, is quite busy.
There is a persistent myth that if a prostitute asks a cop, straight-up, if he is a cop and he lies, the case cannot stand. This is just a myth.
Conversely, the big-time pimps and madams, a la Al Capone, are seldom busted solely for procurement. It’s often money laundering, mail fraud, tax evasion, etc. It is hard to prove that someone has sex for money unless the client is a law enforcement agent who has very strict protocols.

ABOUT THE BOOK:
Heloise Lewis an American everywoman—a small businesswoman sweating out a recession, a single mom juggling play dates and homework help. Heloise runs an airtight escort service with a devilishly clever cover, a fail-safe filing-shredding system, and a firewall around her son, who believes that his father is dead, although Heloise’s tyrannical and murderous former lover and pimp is in prison instead. Lippman maps the path of abuse and betrayal that turns an honor student into a prostitute who risks her life to sneak off to the library and finally liberates herself. Vigilant Heloise feels reasonably secure until she reads the headline “Suburban Madam Dead in Apparent Suicide,” the start of harrowing disclosures that put everything she’s worked so hard to achieve in danger.

Inspired, in part, by recent headlines touting the arrest of the “New York City Millionaire Madam,” Laura’s own newfound motherhood, and pop culture’s never-ending fascination with ladies of the night (e.g. Pretty Woman and most recently Lifetime’s The Client List)—AND WHEN SHE WAS GOOD smartly delves into the limits and extremes of maternal love, and the cruel, misogynistic world of the sex trade—ultimately delivering a suspenseful thought-provoking story of redemption and the tragedy of circumstance.

Summer Readin’ Happened So Fast

I camped out with my Cub Scout. Mama tired.

Just when I’d reached my “stick a fork in me, I’m done” moment of motherhood (coincides with end of school madness), SUMMER IS HERE! Memorial Weekend marks the start of summer and for avid readers it’s a great time to get caught up on reading. I hope you’ll join me in going back through the BEB posts to find new reads. BEB and Buzz Books USA are joining forces to promote a BIG beach read contest now through the end of June, including Buzz Books titles as well as the items one needs for fun in the sun.

As a long-time blogger and reading promoter who is married to an even longer-time blogger, we get quite a few books sent to our reading castle. (Okay, it’s a two-story rock house, not a castle, but it’s FULL OF BOOKS!) I’ve gathered up ARCS (galleys, advanced reader copies) from my husband’s book blog, BOOKGASM, as well as a few sent to me for Book End Babes, as a bonus gift to the already awesome beach read-y package to celebrate my new ebook, THE LAST RESORT. THEN some of my girlfriends sweetened the pot even more by donating their books to the contest, too. When it’s books, re-gifting is a beautiful thing.

I hope you’ll pop over to the contest page to see how you can win and learn more about my new ebook novella, THE LAST RESORT, about summer, sisterhood and sacred answers, set at a luxury resort in Maui.

I’m currently reading or finishing up several of the books in the package:
SIZE 12 AND READY TO ROCK by Meg Cabot
MISS ME WHEN I’M GONE by Emily Arsenault
A SIMPLE THING by Kathleen McCleary
BEACH COLORS by Shelley Noble
GILT by Katherine Longshore

already read: NINE MONTHS by Paula Bomer

Happy reading, babes! Share in comments what you’re reading this summer. Are you stocking your e-reader as well as physical books in your tote? Do tell.