All posts by Robin Wood

Wanderers – Chuck Wendig

A decadent rock star. A deeply religious radio host. A disgraced scientist. And a teenage girl who may be the world’s last hope. From the mind of Chuck Wendig comes “a magnum opus . . . a story about survival that’s not just about you and me, but all of us, together” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).

Shana wakes up one morning to discover her little sister in the grip of a strange malady. She appears to be sleepwalking. She cannot talk and cannot be woken up. And she is heading with inexorable determination to a destination that only she knows. But Shana and her sister are not alone. Soon they are joined by a flock of sleepwalkers from across America, on the same mysterious journey. And like Shana, there are other “shepherds” who follow the flock to protect their friends and family on the long dark road ahead.

For as the sleepwalking phenomenon awakens terror and violence in America, the real danger may not be the epidemic but the fear of it. With society collapsing all around them—and an ultraviolent militia threatening to exterminate them—the fate of the sleepwalkers depends on unraveling the mystery behind the epidemic. The terrifying secret will either tear the nation apart—or bring the survivors together to remake a shattered world.

Advance praise for Wanderers

“This career-defining epic deserves its inevitable comparisons to Stephen King’s The Stand.”Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“A suspenseful, twisty, satisfying, surprising, thought-provoking epic.”—Harlan Coben, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Run Away

“A true tour de force.”—Erin Morgenstern, New York Times bestselling author of The Night Circus

“A masterpiece with prose as sharp and heartbreaking as Station Eleven.”—Peng Shepherd, author of The Book of M

“A magnum opus . . . It reminded me of Stephen King’s The Stand—but dare I say, this story is even better.”—James Rollins, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Crucible   

“An inventive, fierce, uncompromising, stay-up-way-past-bedtime masterwork.—Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts and The Cabin at the End of the World 

“An American epic for these times.”—Charles Soule, author of The Oracle Year

About the Author


Chuck Wendig is the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Aftermath, as well as the Miriam Black thrillers, the Atlanta Burns books, and Zer0es and Invasive, alongside other works across comics, games, film, and more. He was a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer and an alum of the Sundance Screenwriters Lab, and he served as the co-writer of the Emmy-nominated digital narrative Collapsus. He is also known for his popular blog, terribleminds, and books about writing such as Damn Fine Story. He lives in Pennsylvania with his family.

Praise For…


Wanderers is amazing—huge, current, both broad and intensely personal, blending the contemplative apocalypse of Station Eleven with the compulsive readability of the best thrillers.”—Django Wexler, author of the Shadow Campaigns series

“A riveting examination of America.”—Scott Sigler, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Generations Trilogy

“If you ever wanted to know what America’s soul might look like, here’s its biography.”—Rin Chupeco, author of The Bone Witch

“A tsunami of a novel.”—Meg Gardiner, Edgar Award-winning author of Into the Black Nowhere

“A defining moment in speculative fiction.”—Adam Christopher, author of Empire State and Made to Kill

“Trust me: You’re not ready for this book.”—Delilah S. Dawson, New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Phasma

“An astounding adventure.”—Fran Wilde, Hugo-, Nebula-, and World Fantasy finalist and award-winning author of the Bone Universe trilogy

“Utterly brilliant and frighteningly plausible.”—Kat Howard, Alex Award-winning author of An Unkindness of Magicians

“Beautiful and harrowing—and timely as hell.”—Richard Kadrey, New York Times bestselling author of The Grand Dark

“A harrowing portrait of an unraveling America . . . terrifyingly prophetic.”—Christopher Golden, New York Times bestselling author of Ararat and The Pandora Room

“A brilliant, Hollywood-blockbuster of a novel.”—Peter Clines, author of Dead Moon and Paradox Bound

“Approach Wanderers like it’s a primetime television series, along the lines of The Passage [or] Lost. . . . Make Wanderers a summer reading priority; you won’t regret it.”Book Riot

Casting into the Light: Tales of a Fishing Life – Janet Messineo

Tales of a champion surfcaster: the education of a young woman hell-bent on following her dream and learning the mysterious and profound sport, and art, of surfcasting, on the island of Martha’s Vineyard.

Janet Messineo knew from the get-go that she wanted to become a great fisherman. She knew she was as capable as any man of catching and landing a huge fish. It took years—and many terrifying nights alone on the beach in complete darkness, in search of a huge creature to pull out of the sea—for her to prove to herself and to the male-dominated fishing community that she could make her dream real.

Messineo writes of the object of her obsession: striped bass and how it can take a lifetime to become a proficient striped bass fisherman; of stripers as nocturnal feeders, hard-fighting, clever fish that under the cover of darkness trap bait against jetties or between fields of large boulders near shorelines, or, once hooked, rub their mouths against the rocks to cut the line.

She writes of growing up in Lawrence, Massachusetts, and Salem, New Hampshire, the granddaughter of textile mill workers, tagging along with her father and brother as they cast off of jetties; of going to art school, feeling from a young age the need to escape, and finding herself, one summer, on the Vineyard.

She describes the series of jobs that supported her fishing—waitressing at the Black Dog, Helios, and the Home Port, among other restaurants. She writes of her education in patience and the technique to land a fish; learning the equipment—hooks, sinkers, her first squid jig; buying her first one-ounce Rebel lure.

She re-creates the thrill of fishing at night, of being buffeted by the island’s harsh winds and torrential rains; the terror of hooking something mysterious in the darkness that might pull her into water over her head.

She gives us a rich portrait of island life and writes of its history and of Chappaquiddick’s (it belonged to the Wampanoags, who originally called it Cheppiaquidne—“separate island”); of the Martha’s Vineyard Derby: its beginning in 1946 as a way to bring tourism to the island during the offseason, and the Derby’s growing into one of the largest tournaments in the world.

Messineo describes her dream of becoming a marine taxidermist, of learning the craft and perfecting the art of it. She writes of the men she’s fished with and the women who forged the path for others (among them, Lorraine “Tootie” Johnson, who fished Vineyard waters for more than sixty years, and Lori VanDerlaske, who won the Derby shore division in 1995). And she writes of her life commingled with fishing—her marriage to a singer, poet, activist; their adopting a son with Asperger’s; and her teaching him to fish. She writes of the transformative power of fishing that helped her to shake off drugs and alcohol, and of her profound respect for fish as a magnificent animal.

With eighteen of the author’s favorite fish recipes, Casting into the Light is a book about following one’s dreams and about the quiet reckoning with self in the long hours of darkness at the water’s edge, with the sounds of the ocean, the night air, and the jet-black sky.

About the Author


JANET MESSINEO is a former president of the Martha’s Vineyard Surfcasters Association. She has written about fishing for many publications, including On the Water, Vineyard Style, and the Martha’s Vineyard Times. She lives with her husband, Tristan Israel, in Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts.

Praise For…


“Terrific … affecting … categorizing this as a fishing book would be doing it a disservice. At its heart, this is a book about renewal. It will fill you with hope.”

–Steve Donoghue, The Vineyard Gazette

“A must-read … inspirational.”

Booklist (starred review)

“How Janet Messineo, through sheer grit, managed to acquire her skills and gain acceptance into the boys’ club of master fishermen on Martha’s Vineyard reads like a fairytale in which a callow youth overcomes endless obstacles to realize a seemingly impossible dream. But be warned: Once you start reading this gripping and instructive saga, it’s hard to put it down.”
—Lisa Alther

“Delightful . . . great insight into the existence of professional anglers and the insular culture of Martha’s Vineyard . . . Messineo’s captivating memoir brings a refreshing mix of vulnerability, accessibility, and joy to the fishing genre.”
Publishers Weekly

“A tackle box full of fishing tips, memories, histories, taxidermy, and even recipes from an angler who found focus and purpose for her life among her fellow fishermen on Martha’s Vineyard . . . A chronicle of a life in fishing by an author who seems like good company.”
Kirkus

Deep River – Karl Marlantes

Karl Marlantes’s debut novel Matterhorn has been hailed as a modern classic of war literature. In his new novel, Deep River, Marlantes turns to another mode of storytelling–the family epic–to craft a stunningly expansive narrative of human suffering, courage, and reinvention.
In the early 1900s, as the oppression of Russia’s imperial rule takes its toll on Finland, the three Koski siblings–Ilmari, Matti, and the politicized young Aino–are forced to flee to the United States. Not far from the majestic Columbia River, the siblings settle among other Finns in a logging community in southern Washington, where the first harvesting of the colossal old-growth forests begets rapid development, and radical labor movements begin to catch fire. The brothers face the excitement and danger of pioneering this frontier wilderness–climbing and felling trees one-hundred meters high–while Aino, foremost of the books many strong, independent women, devotes herself to organizing the industry’s first unions. As the Koski siblings strive to rebuild lives and families in an America in flux, they also try to hold fast to the traditions of a home they left behind.
Layered with fascinating historical detail, this is a novel that breathes deeply of the sun-dappled forest and bears witness to the stump-ridden fields the loggers, and the first waves of modernity, leave behind. At its heart, Deep River is an ambitious and timely exploration of the place of the individual, and of the immigrant, in an America still in the process of defining its own identity.

About the Author


Karl Marlantes graduated from Yale University and was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, before serving as a Marine in Vietnam, where he was awarded the Navy Cross, the Bronze Star, two Navy Commendation Medals for valor, two Purple Hearts, and ten air medals. He is the bestselling author of Matterhorn and What It Is Like to Go to War. He lives in rural Washington.

In Oceans Deep: Courage, Innovation, and Adventure Beneath the Waves – Bill Streever

In the spirit of Bill Bryson and Ian Frazier comes this fascinating examination of our past, present, and future beneath the waves.


In an age of unprecedented exploration and innovation, our oceans remain largely unknown, and endlessly fascinating: full of mystery, danger, beauty, and inspiration. Bill Streever-a longtime deep-sea diver himself-has masterfully woven together the science and history of Earth’s last remaining frontier: the sea.

In Oceans Deep celebrates the daring pioneers who tested the limits of what the human body can endure under water: . free divers able to reach 300 feet on a single breath; engineers and scientists who uncovered the secrets of decompression; teenagers who built their own diving gear from discarded boilers and garden hoses in the 1930s; saturation divers who lived under water for weeks at a time in the 1960s; and the trailblazing men who voluntarily breathed experimental gases at pressures sufficient to trigger insanity.

Tracing both the little-known history and exciting future of how we travel and study the depths, Streever’s captivating journey includes seventeenth-century leather-hulled submarines, their nuclear-powered descendants, a workshop where luxury submersibles are built for billionaire clients, and robots capable of roving unsupervised between continents, revolutionizing access to the ocean.

In this far-flung trip to the wild, night-dark place of shipwrecks, trapped submariners, oil wells, innovative technologies, and people willing to risk their lives while challenging the deep, we discover all the adventures our seas have to offer-and why they are in such dire need of conservation.

About the Author


Bill Streever is the bestselling and award-winning authors of And Soon I Heard a Roaring Wind, Cold, and HeatAs a biologist, he has worked on issues ranging from climate change to the restoration of Arctic tundra to underwater noise to the evolution of cave crayfish. With his wife and co-captain, he splits his time between Alaska and their cruising sailboat, currently in Central America.

Praise For…


“With a real knack for
storytelling, Streever evocatively puts the reader in the helmets, flippers,
and submersibles of sea explorers throughout history…Streever crafts a book to
be enjoyed by divers and general readers alike.”— Publishers Weekly 

“A
buoyant, at times thrilling, account of the deep sea experience, perfect for
divers and other lovers of life beneath the waves.”— Kirkus Review 

Praise for And Soon I Heard a Roaring Wind

“The wind is always changeable, whether it’s a brisk nor’easter or the shifting tempests of intellectual history. And Soon I Heard Roaring Wind proves that Bill Streever is a master at navigating both.”—Sam Kean, author of Caesar’s Last Breath and The Disappearing Spoon

“Science, history, and personal adventure come together in a wild and witty exploration of wind. When Streever deals with a natural phenomenon, he does so with aplomb…[he] has a knack for blending his research and personal experience into an easy-to-read account that is hard to put down.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Clear prose animated by deadpan humor and enthusiasm for all things meteorological…. Streever absorbingly explains the processes that make air move….”—Publishers Weekly

“Streever covers the science of wind and weather and the history of weather forecasting in an authoritative, well-researched, and engrossing text…. A riveting, detailed look at the power of wind, along with the pleasures and perils of sailing….This page-turning work of narrative nonfiction will appeal to readers interested in the history of science, the history and science of meteorology, the science of wind, and memoirs of life at sea.”—Sue O’Brien, Library Journal

Summertime, Summertime, Summertime Reading

Every year the “beach reads” display goes up and we try to define the quintessential summertime read. Should it be light and fluffy or be dense and deep? Just like the choice of reading at the beach, dockside, by the pool or inside in the air conditioning, the choice is up to you.

Here’s what we’re reading and enjoying this summer:

Camila: Elizabeth Gilbert’s CITY OF GIRLS – It’s an easy story to get into and read anywhere… especially outside in the shade next to the pool (while keeping an eye on my boys, of course). CITY OF GIRLS is a sexy coming of age story, it’s well written, full of NYC 1940’s glamour, lots of sex.

Gianelle: I am listening to CITY OF GIRLS on Libro.fm. I’m not very far in, but It seems to fit the summer read vibe. It is a coming of age story, full of excitement & attraction of theater culture in 1940’s NYC. Vivian is not interested in conventional standards for young women of her time & as a consequence is kicked out of school & her parents send her away to live with Aunt Peg. There she encounters the freedom to explore life as it interests her.

This week I finished THE INVINCIBLE SUMMER by Alice Adams selected by the military spouse book club. It follows the lives of four friends over the period of twenty years beginning at university, detailing their struggles & successes of their personal & professional lives, and how friendship supports resilience.

Judy: I’ve listened to two very different, but very good books recently. Each is wonderfully read. Sally Rooney’s NORMAL PEOPLE is a contemporary Irish love story of two young people who meet in high school and go through college together. It’s beautifully and simply told.  But, oh, the details. And the families. The best part of listening is the narrator’s Irish accent, making you feel you’re in Dublin or the countryside with them.

The second book is a mystery. Laura Lippman’s LADY IN THE LAKE, (Coming July 23) the story of a lovely and intelligent Baltimore girl who does what’s expected of her, marries well, has a child, keeps a beautiful home. When it all falls apart she has to make a new life for herself. That’s when the story and our heroine heat up. Loved the details of the setting (husband is from Baltimore) but you don’t have to be to get lost in this story. Either book would be a pleasure to read but listening via Libro.fm was an excellent change for me. Happy Summer!

Emily: I’m tackling an epic read, THE OLD DRIFT by Namwali Serpell. It follows the curse down a Zambian family line for generations. Each section of the book follows a new member of the family, acting as novellas of their own. It makes it easy to take little “side trips” and pick up a different book before jumping right back in.

On one of these side trips, I read RABBITS FOR FOOD by Binnie Kirshenbaum. This book centers around Bunny, a middle-aged woman with clinical depression. Doesn’t sound like something for the beach? You’d be surprised at the humor packed in this one. It’s great for anyone who liked ELEANOR OLIPHANT IS COMPLETELY FINE but doesn’t mind going a little darker.

These first weeks of summer I’ve also spent some time paging through WAITING FOR THE PUNCH by Marc Maron and rereading favorite interviews. On Maron’s podcast, WTF, he interviews everyone,  writers, actors, comedians, musicians and even a politicians or two. I love listening to the podcast but the book is the perfect bring along for the boat or beach because you can open to any page and it’ll be thoroughly entertaining.

George: For the beach I can recommend Peter Heller’s THE RIVER, a thrilling adventure of two young men on a canoe trip in the trackless Canadian wilderness threatened by a raging forest fire and sinister men sharing the river.

For a long summer read, nothing beats the biography of FREDERICK DOUGLASS by David Blight. It’s both a mesmerizing story of a magnificent life and a history of America’s racial turmoil from the abolition struggles of the 1840s through the Civil War, and the ups and downs of reconstruction through the rest of the century.

Michael (Key West librarian and bookstore volunteer): For a super-fun summer beach read, I recommend THE UNINHABITABLE EARTH: LIFE AFTER WARMING by David Wallace-Wells. It outlines how few enjoyable summers the planet may have left, sketching the probable horrors from food shortages, deadly heat, rising waters, the certain mayhem of mass migration and likely death of millions or billions of people around the globe. Kick back and grab a Margarita, and focus on the fragility of our planet and our little lives on it. Additional Margaritas may be required.

Robin: I guess I’m in a fantastic mood this summer. Recently finished is OPPOSITE OF ALWAYS by Justin A. Reynolds about a boy in a time loop trying to save the girl he loves. It’s a charming love story with a great voice. Even going over the same story elements several times, Reynolds keeps the story fresh.

And I’ve finally moved Sarah Gailey’s MAGIC FOR LIARS out of the TBR pile and next to my air-conditioned spot on the couch. I’m a fan of the audacity of her prior collection, AMERICAN HIPPO and looking for what her novel featuring a murder mystery at a magic school brings. Happy reading!

 

Fleishman Is in Troubl – Taffy Brodesser-Akner

“Just the sort of thing that Philip Roth or John Updike might have produced in their prime (except, of course, that the author understands women).”—Elizabeth Gilbert 
 
“This is a remarkable debut from one of the most distinctive writers around.”—Tom Perrotta
 
A finely observed, timely exploration of marriage, divorce, and the bewildering dynamics of ambition from one of the most exciting writers working todayToby Fleishman thought he knew what to expect when he and his wife of almost fifteen years separated: weekends and every other holiday with the kids, some residual bitterness, the occasional moment of tension in their co-parenting negotiations. He could not have predicted that one day, in the middle of his summer of sexual emancipation, Rachel would just drop their two children off at his place and simply not return. He had been working so hard to find equilibrium in his single life. The winds of his optimism, long dormant, had finally begun to pick up. Now this.

As Toby tries to figure out where Rachel went, all while juggling his patients at the hospital, his never-ending parental duties, and his new app-assisted sexual popularity, his tidy narrative of the spurned husband with the too-ambitious wife is his sole consolation. But if Toby ever wants to truly understand what happened to Rachel and what happened to his marriage, he is going to have to consider that he might not have seen things all that clearly in the first place.

A searing, utterly unvarnished debut, Fleishman Is in Trouble is an insightful, unsettling, often hilarious exploration of a culture trying to navigate the fault lines of an institution that has proven to be worthy of our great wariness and our great hope.

Advance praise for Fleishman Is in Trouble

“Blisteringly funny, feverishly smart, heartbreaking, and true, Fleishman Is in Trouble is an essential read for anyone who’s wondered how to navigate loving (and hating) the people we choose.”—Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, author of The Nest

“From its opening pages, Fleishman Is in Trouble is shrewdly observed, brimming with wisdom, and utterly of this moment. Not until its explosive final pages are you fully aware of its cunning ferocity. Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s debut is that rare and delicious treat: a page-turner with heft.”—Maria Semple

About the Author


Taffy Brodesser-Akner is a staff writer for The New York Times Magazine. She has also written for GQ, ESPN the Magazine, and many other publications. Fleishman Is in Trouble is her first novel.

Praise For…


“This glorious debut has the humor of Maria Semple, the heart of Meg Wolitzer, the lustiness of Philip Roth, and a voice that is pure. It’s wild and wonderful and goes in so many directions, each with profundity—my favorite thing that novels can do. How does one’s favorite journalist become one’s new favorite novelist? With this book.”—Emma Straub

“This portrait of modern love and marriage is blisteringly funny, searingly accurate, wincingly painful, and—ultimately—both heartbreaking and humane. Fleishman Is in Trouble reminds me of the great novels of the 1960s and 1970s—just the sort of thing that Philip Roth or John Updike might have produced in their prime (except, of course, that the author understands women). Taffy Brodesser-Akner can write the pants off any novelist out there. She’s a star, and this book is a work of utter perfection.”—Elizabeth Gilbert

“Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s sharp debut novel is packed with humor and heart. In it, the titular trouble begins when Toby Fleishman realizes that Rachel—his wife of 15 years, from whom he’s now separated—is missing. Where has she gone, and why? This book will have you racing through the pages to find the answers.”Southern Living 

“Everything you could wish for in a satisfying summer read . . . Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s page-turner doubles as a satirical take on modern relationships.”Women’s Health

“A New York Times journalist known for her incisive, entertaining profiles, Brodesser-Akner proves herself also a master of startlingly true invention in her enthralling, affirming debut of midlife, marital, and existential despair. It asks and answers if there’s such a thing as fairness, in marriage or in life, and if the story of a marriage can ever be told from all sides—or the outside. Shrewd and delectable, this would be a novel to savor, if it were possible to put down.”Booklist (starred review)

“[Taffy Brodesser-Akner is] firing on all circuits, from psychological insight to cultural acuity to narrative strategy to very smart humor. Quite a debut!”Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Anyone who has followed Akner’s illustrious career—from her hilarious and biting celebrity profiles with the likes of Bradley Cooper and Tom Hiddleston (at the height of Hiddleswift), to her deep dives into curious cultural phenomena like the rise of sugar daddies—will know she was destined to write a good book one day. Well, that day has arrived, and it’s just as blisteringly funny as you’d expect it to be—not to mention heartbreaking.”Sheer Luxe

“Brodesser-Akner, a staff writer for the New York Times Magazine, presents complex and contradictory characters with First World problems—too much money, too much social climbing, too many levels of upkeep in their lives. The resulting story of marriage and divorce is insightful, disturbing, and at times amusing. Readers of general contemporary fiction who don’t object to explicit language will enjoy.”Library Journal

Summer of ’69 – Elin Hilderbrand

Four siblings experience the drama, intrigue, and upheaval of a summer when everything changedin New York Times bestselling author Elin Hilderbrand’s first historical novel

Welcome to the most tumultuous summer of the twentieth century. It’s 1969, and for the Levin family, the times they are a-changing. Every year the children have looked forward to spending the summer at their grandmother’s historic home in downtown Nantucket. But like so much else in America, nothing is the same: Blair, the oldest sister, is marooned in Boston, pregnant with twins and unable to travel. Middle sister Kirby, caught up in the thrilling vortex of civil rights protests and determined to be independent, takes a summer job on Martha’s Vineyard. Only-son Tiger is an infantry soldier, recently deployed to Vietnam. Thirteen-year-old Jessie suddenly feels like an only child, marooned in the house with her out-of-touch grandmother and her worried mother, each of them hiding a troubling secret. As the summer heats up, Ted Kennedy sinks a car in Chappaquiddick, man flies to the moon, and Jessie and her family experience their own dramatic upheavals along with the rest of the country.

In her first historical novel, rich with the details of an era that shaped both a nation and an island thirty miles out to sea, Elin Hilderbrand once again earns her title as queen of the summer novel.

About the Author


Elin Hilderbrand was born on July 17, 1969 in Boston, Massachusetts. She has used her 50 years to write 23 novels and raise three children on Nantucket Island.

Praise For…


Praise for Summer of ’69:

“An engrossing tale of an iconic American summer”—People Magazine

“Superb…Hilderbrand hits all the right notes about life in a tightly knit family, and this crowd-pleaser is sure to satisfy both her fans and newcomers alike.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Hilderbrand’s first foray into historical fiction will rouse curiosity in new readers as well as devotees of her annual summer smashes.”—Susan Maguire, Booklist

“Hilderbrand’s characters are utterly convincing and immediately draw us into their problems, from petty to grave…To use the parlance of the period, a highly relevant retrospective.”
Kirkus

“Misunderstandings, secrets, and wrong choices are revealed in this completely satisfying novel that is the beach read of the summer, sure to appeal to Hilderbrand’s fans while earning her new readers. A must buy.”—The Library Journal

“With vivid descriptions of the songs, fashions and other details of the era woven throughout, it’s a true nostalgia trip.”—AARP

Praise for The Perfect Couple:

“A quintessential summer read.”
People

“One of this summer’s must-reads that is all at once quick paced, compulsively readable, and thought provoking. An entertaining yet observant look at the surprising secrets that can fester and erupt in marriage.”—Patriot-Ledger

“a fantastic and clever whodunit that keeps readers in suspense throughout the entire book…Hilderbrand’s books keep getting better and better as they’re well thought out and meticulously written.”—Bookreporter

“This is one beach read you won’t be able to put down as the investigation unfolds.”—Brides.com

“Elin Hilderbrand’s fans can expect a twist on the beach this summer with her new book”—CBS News

“a sizzling summer read fans won’t want to miss”—Bustle

“We’ve been saying this for a while, but it bears repeating that Elin Hilderbrand is the queen of summer reading.”—Amazon Book Review

The Perfect Couple proves that Elin Hilderbrand is the queen of the summer beach read”—WFMY News 2

“Readers can open her latest with complete confidence that it will deliver everything we expect: terrific clothes and food, smart humor, fun plot, Nantucket atmosphere, connections to the characters of preceding novels, and warmth in relationships evoked so beautifully it gets you right there…Sink into this book like a hot, scented bath…a delicious, relaxing pleasure. And a clever whodunit at the same time.”—Kirkus, starred review

“Hilderbrand throws enough curveballs to keep readers guessing, but not too many, maintaining the breezy pace her novels are known for. The mystery element is new, but The Perfect Couple is classic Hilderbrand.”—Booklist

Praise for THE IDENTICALS:

“A sun-drenched treat.”
Kim HubbardPeople

“Another Hilderbrand beach hit.”
Jocelyn McClurgUSA Today, 10 Hot Books You Won’t Want to Miss This Summer

“Engaging family relationships mixed with vivid landscape descriptions create an effortless read.”
Library Journal

“Hilderbrand is the queen of the smart beach read, and her latest is no exception.”—Entertainment Weekly

Young Castro: The Making of a Revolutionary – Jonathan M. Hansen

An intimate, revisionist portrait of the early years of Fidel Castro, showing how an unlikely young Cuban led his country in revolution and transfixed the world.

This book will change how you think about Fidel Castro. Until now, biographers have treated Castro’s life like prosecutors, scouring his past for evidence to convict a person they don’t like or don’t understand. This can make for bad history and unsatisfying biography. Young Castro challenges readers to put aside the caricature of a bearded, cigar-munching, anti-American hot head to discover how Castro became the dictator who acted as a thorn in the side of US presidents for nearly half a century.

These pages show Fidel Castro getting his toughness from a father who survived Spain’s nasty class system and colonial wars to become one of the most successful independent plantation owners in Cuba. They show a boy running around that plantation more comfortable playing with the children of his father’s laborers than his tony classmates at elite boarding schools in Santiago de Cuba and Havana. They show a young man who writes flowery love letters from prison and contemplates the meaning of life, a gregarious soul attentive to the needs of strangers but often indifferent to the needs of his own family. These pages show a liberal democrat who admires FDR’s New Deal policies and is skeptical of communism, but is also hostile to American imperialism. They show an audacious militant who stages a reckless attack on a military barracks but is canny about building an army of resisters. In short, Young Castro reveals a complex man.

The first American historian in a generation to gain access to the Castro archives in Havana, Jonathan Hansen was able to secure cooperation from Castro’s family and closest confidants, gaining access to hundreds of never-before-seen letters and to interviews with people he was the first to ask for their impressions of the man. The result is a nuanced and penetrating portrait of a figure who was determined to be a leader—a man at once brilliant, arrogant, bold, vulnerable and all too human. A man who, having grown up on an island that felt like a colonial cage, was compelled to lead his country to independence.

About the Author


Jonathan M. Hansen is a senior lecturer at Harvard University and the author of Guantánamo: An American History and The Lost Promise of Patriotism: Debating American Identity, 1890-1920. His writing has been published in The New York Times, The Huffington Post, and The Guardian, among other places. His most recent book is Young Castro: The Making of a Revolutionary.

Praise For…


“A gripping and edifying narrative… Hansen brings imposing research and notable erudition to this account of Fidel Castro’s early life.”

— Booklist

“A nuanced portrait of a complex young man… Hansen fills out personal details and adds new layers of complexity to a life whose narrative has often been shaped and manipulated to serve the purposes of the Cuban Revolution.”
— ReVista, the Harvard Review of Latin America

“An engaging, astute character study. A welcome addition to the literature of Castro and Cuba.”
— Kirkus Reviews

“Sure to become the standard on Castro’s early life.”
— Publishers Weekly

The Porpoise – Mark Haddon

From the Whitbread and Los Angeles Times Prize-winning author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, a stunningly ambitious, fantastical novel about the theft of female agency by rapacious men and the ways in which archetypal stories can warp history and the present

Mark Haddon’s breathtaking novel begins with a harrowing plane crash: Maja, the pregnant wife of the unimaginably wealthy Philippe, is killed, but their daughter Angelica survives. Philippe’s obsession with the girl’s safety morphs into something sinister and grotesque as she grows into a beautiful teen. A young man named Darius, visiting Philippe with a business proposition, encounters Angelica and intuits their secret — he decides to rescue her, but the attempt goes awry and he flees England by sea.

This contemporary story mirrors the ancient legend of Antiochus, whose love for the daughter of his dead wife was discovered by the adventurer Appolinus of Tyre. The tale appeared in many forms through the ages; Apollinus becoming the swashbuckling Pericles in Shakespeare’s eponymous play. In The Porpoise, as Angelique comes to terms with a life imprisoned on her father’s estate, Darius morphs into Pericles, voyaging through a mythic world. In a bravura feat of storytelling, Haddon recounts his many exploits in thrilling fashion, mining the meaning of the old legends while creating parallels with the monstrous modern world Angelica inhabits. The language is rich and gorgeous; the conjured worlds are perfectly imagined; the plot moves forward at a ferocious pace.

But as much as Haddon plays with myth and meaning, his themes speak deeply to the current moment. As profound as it is entertaining, The Porpoiseis a major literary achievement by an author whose myriad talents are on full, vivid display.

About the Author


MARK HADDON is the author of the bestselling novels The Red House, and A Spot of Bother and the story collection The Pier Falls. His novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time won the Whitbread Book of the Year Award, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for First Fiction and is the basis for the Tony Award winning play. He is the author of a collection of poetry, The Talking Horse and the Sad Girl and the Village Under the Sea and has won awards for both his radio dramas and his television screenplays. His play, Polar Bears, was produced by the Donmar Warehouse in 2010. He lives in Oxford, England.

Praise For…


“Staggeringly ambitious, innovative, beautifully written. . .The Porpoise has the pace of a really good thriller, combined with a subtlety and depth that few thrillers possess.”
–Pat Barker, author of The Silence of the Girls and the Booker Prize-winning The Ghost Road

“A full-throttle blast of storytelling mastery. Ancient and modern overlap in exhilarating ways, it’s like romping through a literary Netflix: an episode of something historical and bloody, then something slick and contemporary, then something really weird and unnerving. . .The Porpoise is a joy to read.
–Max Porter, author of the International Dylan Thomas Prize-winning Grief is the Thing With Feathers

“Mark Haddon cuts down to the grittiness of humanity every time he writes. The Porpoise is a beautiful, unputdownable, ancient tangle with its own sweeping tides and dangerous depths.” 
Daisy Johnson, author of the Booker Prize finalist Everything Under

“An artfully crafted story of layered lives. . .Haddon’s ambitious tale captures the ethos of tragic Shakespearean vibrations and the tangle of lives that magically intersect. The prose is exquisite and elevates this story that blends reality and mythology to great effect.”
Publishers Weekly 

News from The Studios of Key West

Big things are happening at The Studios of Key West, the arts organization that Books & Books @ The Studios is part of. We are moving our artists residences into the neighboring building on Eaton Street and construction is well underway for our new rooftop terrace, Hugh’s View.

Hugh’s View will take advantage of our building’s three-story height and offer fabulous views of Key West.

Additionally, The Studios has purchased the neighboring historic guesthouse at 529 Eaton Street, and will use the new space for its month-long artist residencies. The move from the artist residences on Ashe Street increases the residency space and puts the artists in the thick of everything happening at The Studios. Through the residency program, The Studios hosts writers, musicians, actors, painters, photographers and other artists, enhancing the Keys dynamic, creative community.

Interested in learning more about The Studios’ programs? Visit tskw.org.