Hello
All The Ugly and Wonderful Things is the title of one of three books featured this week, and it could easily have been the title of a second very different book, The Secret Life of Ivan Isaenko. Both are beautiful reads about very tough subjects, and both totally won over our members who reviewed them for First Impressions.
Our third featured novel also got rave reviews from our members. The Book That Matters the Most by Ann Hood is a novel about love, loss, friendship and the healing power of literature; it's a shoo-in for book clubs and all who love to read books about books.
We also bring you a round-up of 25 notable books that published this week and our top 10 recommendations for epistolary novels. Lastly, we challenge you with our fiendish Wordplay puzzle.
Thanks for reading! Your Editor, Davina
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  1. First Impressions: Members Recommend Each month we give away books to U.S. resident members to read and review (or discuss). Members who choose to participate receive a free book about every three months. Here are their opinions on three recent releases.  All the Ugly and Wonderful Things
by Bryn Greenwood Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Publication Date: Aug 2016
Novel, 352 pages
Number of reader reviews: 28
Readers' consensus: 4.3/5.0
Members Say
"Have you ever read a book that was so beautifully perfectly written that you just had to put it down every once in a while to savor the words? That is this book." - Amy W. (Annapolis, MD)
"Oh my, I thought I was going to dislike this book. I was very wrong, it is very well written, the author knows her subjects very well. The story line moved so fluidly, I found myself rooting for characters that I had no intention of liking. The title UGLY and WONDERFUL says it all. I couldn't put it down. The moral..don't rush to judge what you do not know or understand. Can't wait for the movie!" - Carm D. (Omaha, NE)
"Greenwood does a masterful job of creating sympathetic characters -- of showing us the wonderful amidst the ugly. I found myself asking, Am I rooting for the love story of a tattooed bruiser of a biker and the way underage child of a meth dealer? Yes. Yes, I am." - Ann B. (Kernville, CA)
"This is both an intelligent and honestly written book, I will think about Wavy and her ugly but wonderful world long after having finished Greenwood's emotional roller coaster ride." - Carol N. (San Jose, CA)
More about this book | Read all the reviews Buy at Amazon | B&N | Indie
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2. First Impressions: Members Recommend
 The Invisible Life of Ivan Isaenko by Scott Stambach Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: Aug 2016
Novel, 336 pages
Number of reader reviews: 22
Readers' consensus: 4.5/5.0
Members Say
"How to describe this book? Amazing! Breathtaking! Inspiring! Heartbreaking! This is an exceptional book and all I can say is READ IT." - Carole P. (Framingham, MA)
"This a masterful combination of humor and tragedy." - Honey P
"I love when a book just touches my heart in unexpected ways. The narrator, Ivan Isaenko soars off the pages in this exquisitely written warm-hearted debut. Seventeen year-old Ivan lives in the Mazyr Hospital for Gravely Ill Children in Belarus with severe physical disabilities and deformities due to being born shortly after the Chernobyl disaster. Ivan has a smart brain, snarky attitude, and mischievous nature which allow him to survive the monotony of his life that is until 16 year-old Polina enters the hospital. The author conveys the raw realities with dignity and the disobedient vitality of those often invisible to us." - Beverly J. (Hoover, AL)
"The Invisible Life of Ivan Isaenko is my new favorite novel. Stambach is that rare author that can capture the beauty in the human spirit in the most ugly of places and people. True genius!" - Melissa S. (Rowland, NC)
More about this book | Read all the reviews Buy at Amazon | B&N | Indie |
3. First Impressions: Members Recommend
 The Book That Matters Most by Ann Hood Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company
Publication Date: Aug 2016
Novel, 288 pages
Number of reader reviews: 46
Readers' consensus: 4.3/5.0
Members Say
"I really enjoyed this book. The title is an attention-grabber for anyone who loves to read. In this case it refers to the year's selection of books chosen by a Providence, RI book club. The book revolves around these choices and how they have effected the group's members." - Sheila S. (Supply, NC)
"I am a member of a long standing book club and love the idea of reading this as a choice and then asking each member to choose a book that is meaningful to them." - Barbara F. (Westmont, NJ)
"I had been drawn to selecting The Book That Matters the Most because I wondered what book I would choose for 'the book that matters most.' I was surprised to find that something else was even more compelling to me. Ann Hood's words spoke to the losses I have lived through in my life. It made me cry and it made my heart smile... this book wove such a web around me, my thoughts, and my emotions."
"A wonderful reminder that books are like people that turn up in your life when you most need them." - Shirin M. (Beverly Hills, CA)
More about this book | Read all the reviews Buy at Amazon | B&N | Indie
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 4. Blog: Ten Excellent Epistolary Novels Each time BookBrowse reviews a book we also go "beyond the book" to explore a related topic. Here is a recommended reading list of 10 epistolary novels - that is to say books written in the form of letters or journal entries - which we wrote to support our review of Letters to the Lost by Iona Grey: Epistolary novels are not new - Bram Stoker's Dracula, for example, was published in 1879, and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein even earlier, in 1818. The form, which is not limited to letters, (nor to horror novels!) also includes journal entries, newspaper clippings, emails, and other forms of correspondence. Perhaps, its appeal lies in its inherent hush-hush nature: the main character seems to share a secret with the reader, something meant for his or her own eyes, or one other beloved's eyes. The reader feels lucky to be included in the communication. Whatever the reason, the epistolary novel continues to be written, and enjoyed. Iona Grey's debut, Letters to the Lost, is one such novel. Here are 10 others. It is not an exhaustive list, by any means, but a good place to begin investigating this intriguing form. continued...
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 5. Published This Week
Interested to know what notable books published this week? Click on any of the book jacket images to view info about the book on BookBrowse.
More Coming Soon
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 6. Wordplay Solve our fiendish Wordplay puzzle, and be entered to win the book of your choice!
This week's Wordplay: A P I W A T Words
The answer to last Week's Wordplay: W M T N, W C F All
"With malice toward none, with charity for all"
Meaning: Feel no ill will towards anyone, feel kindness toward everyone.
This is a quote from the final paragraph of Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address given on March 4, 1865, a little under six weeks before his assassination.
"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."
John Quincy Adams expressed a similar thought in an 1838 letter:
"In charity to all mankind, bearing no malice or ill will to any human being, and even compassionating those who hold to bondage their fellow men, not knowing what they do."
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