February 19, 2020
February 05, 2020
Dear BookBrowsers,
Do you like a good mystery? You're not alone. True crime books have been all the rage in recent years, and one of the latest and most acclaimed releases in this genre is Emma Copley Eisenberg's contemplative exploration of a double murder in West Virginia, The Third Rainbow Girl.
Of course, not all mysteries involve crimes. In Meng Jin's debut novel Little Gods, a young woman travels to China, hoping to piece together a greater understanding of her deceased enigmatic mother's earlier life. In The Truants, Kate Weingberg's thrilling debut, a college student's world is turned upside down by secrets and lies centered around a professor who specializes in the work of author Agatha Christie. Our Beyond the Book for this one focuses on a real mystery from Christie's life that remains the subject of much conjecture.
The Volunteer, Jack Fairweather's harrowing biography of a Polish lieutenant who went undercover in Auschwitz to collect intelligence and organize resistance, won the Costa Book of the Year Award last week, so we're rerunning our First Impressions review for this one in case you missed it. The book is an astonishing firsthand account that draws heavily from the courageous soldier's journal.
We also have a wealth of intriguing beyond the book articles on a diverse range of topics including mythical healers, tree law, America's obsession with stuff, and the five Confucian virtues.
Additionally, we have an illuminating new Book Club Q&A in this issue with Adrienna Turner, librarian and book club facilitator at the Sacramento State Prison. Make sure to browse through the latest in paperback, and previews for upcoming releases as well!
Enjoy!
Your editor,
Davina
P.S. We have a new section under development to showcase our Beyond the Book articles. You can search for topics, or browse alphabetically or by publication date. Please do let me know what you think!
Read This Issue
January 22, 2020
January 08, 2020
December 04, 2019
Dear Bookbrowsers,
It's been a great year for books, and if you haven't had as much time to read as you might have liked, hopefully you can take the opportunity over the holidays to rest, read, and refuel. If you don't already have a stack of unread books on your nightstand waiting for your attention (or even if you do), you'll definitely want to pick up a few of the titles we're featuring in this, our Best of the Year issue, consisting of the 20 books that were rated highest by you, BookBrowse subscribers, in our annual Best of Year survey. The books are listed in ratings order.
The award for Best Nonfiction Book goes to Michelle Obama's Becoming. Becoming published last November and is included in our 2019 Awards because voting takes place in November and therefore books published in the last two months of 2018 are eligible.
You might be interested to know that even though Becoming was the bestselling book of 2018 with 3.4 million copies sold, it was not a shoo-in for BookBrowse's awards because what sets ours apart from other popular awards is that we don't simply count raw votes (which favors the most widely read books), instead we ask subscribers to rate each book they've read that is on the shortlist, and the winners are the books with the highest overall ratings. We also prevent vote stuffing by restricting voting only to you, our subscribers.
The Best Fiction Book Award goes to the ever-popular Elizabeth Strout for Olive, Again, her sequel to Olive Kitteridge published ten years after the original. Readers were thrilled to return to this beloved character's stubborn but poignant perspective, and Strout's exceptional writing skills all but guarantee every outing will be a success.
Thanhha Lai's Butterfly Yellow wins the Best Young Adult category. This moving novel about a teenage Vietnamese refugee's search for her brother through Texas in 1981 is Lai's second book, but her first for a YA audience. Her children's debut, Inside Out and Back Again, won the 2011 National Book Award for Young People's Literature and the 2012 Newbery Medal.
Our Best Debut Author Award goes to Solitary by Albert Woodfox. In this remarkable memoir, the author writes of his four decades in solitary confinement for a crime he did not commit. It is a story of hope in the face of impossible circumstances and a call to action for prison reform. Solitary was also a finalist for the National Book Award.
Thanks to everyone who participated in the Best of the Year survey. Over 8,000 votes were cast, and we value your opinions very highly!
If you'd like to comment on any of these books, or tell people about your favorite books of the year, you can do so in our blog
Also in this issue are our best of year interviews, our top recommendations for book clubs to read in early 2020, and previews of December and early January releases.
Enjoy!
Your editor,
Davina
About the BookBrowse Awards
BookBrowse's Best of the Year Awards are an excellent barometer of great reading. The awards are particularly noteworthy because voting is only open to BookBrowse subscribers - so no vote stuffing by rabid fan bases; and instead of just voting for a book (which favors the most widely read books) subscribers rate each book they've read that is on the shortlist, and the winners are the books with the highest overall rating. Such considered selection results in truly outstanding books being feted every year. 2019 is no different in that regard. Over 8,000 votes were cast this year. If you took part in the voting - thank you!
See 20 years of Best of Year Books, and Award Winners.
Read This Issue
November 13, 2019
October 30, 2019
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BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
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