#read99women: Mary Kubica

There are certain writers whose work you just devour, and Mary Kubica is one of those writers for me. I love to write books where the bottom drops out and leaves the reader reeling at least once along the way, so it’s no surprise that I enjoy reading thrillers that do the same, and Mary is a master of the twisty, oh-wow-NOW-I-get-it form.

Her latest thriller, THE OTHER MRS., is out today! And it’s already been optioned by Netflix, which is putting together the film adaptation as we speak. Can’t wait.

Mary Kubica is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of THE GOOD GIRL, PRETTY BABY, DON’T YOU CRY, EVERY LAST LIE and WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT. A former high school history teacher, Mary holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, in History and American Literature. She lives outside of Chicago with her husband and two children. Her first novel THE GOOD GIRL was an Indie Next pick in August of 2014, received a Strand Critics Nomination for Best First Novel and was a nominee in the Goodreads Choice Awards in Debut Goodreads Author and in Mystery & Thriller for 2014. Mary’s novels have been translated into over thirty languages and have sold over two million copies worldwide. She’s been described as “a helluva storyteller,” (Kirkus Reviews) and “a writer of vice-like control,” (Chicago Tribune), and her novels have been praised as “hypnotic” (People) and “thrilling and illuminating” (Los Angeles Times).

Mary Kubica

So what book did Mary choose as her #read99women recommendation? “Uber-prolific writer Sara Shepard’s latest adult thriller, REPUTATION, boasts five female narrators, each as unique and captivating as the next. What starts as an email hack scandal soon turns into murder, in a novel that’s juicy, scandalous and totally twisted. Even better, REPUTATION has one of those picture perfect endings that may leave readers a little choked up – it’s that good. If you’re a fan of smart female characters, jaw-dropping twists and page- turning suspense, check this one out!”

For more on Mary, her novels, and other recommendations, click here.

#read99women: Catherine McKenzie

Please welcome to the blog Catherine McKenzie, a talented and prolific author who also belongs to a select but sizable group: writers who are also lawyers. (There are more than you’d think!)

A graduate of McGill University in History and Law, Catherine practices law in Montreal, where she was born and raised. An avid skier and runner, her novels HIDDEN, SMOKE and I'LL NEVER TELL have all been #1 Amazon bestsellers, and I'LL NEVER TELL was nominated for a Goodreads award in 2019 for best thriller and optioned for a TV show to Paramount TV. Her tenth novel, YOU CAN'T CATCH ME, will be released on June 9, 2020. Visit her online at www.catherinemckenzie.com.

Catherine McKenzie

Catherine’s recommendation for #read99women? THE OTHER MRS. by NYT bestselling thriller author Mary Kubica, which hits shelves tomorrow. She calls it “Mary Kubica's best book since her debut, THE GOOD GIRL.” High praise! Other reasons to read: it’s got “Wonderful atmosphere, amazing writing, a unique premise and pages that turn themselves.”

See Catherine’s recommendation in full on BookBub here.

And tune in tomorrow to see what Mary Kubica chose for her own #read99women recommendation!

#read99women: Kris Waldherr

I may have already mentioned this in a #read99women intro — we’re more than 20 authors in! — but one of the things I love most about being an author is the opportunity to read forthcoming books long before they hit shelves. One I really delighted in last year was Kris Waldherr’s moody Gothic debut THE LOST HISTORY OF DREAMS. It’s coming out in paperback from Atria in just a few days, and you’ll want to pick it up if you haven’t already. In my blurb I called it “a dark, shimmering gem of a novel, glittering with love lost, secrets kept, and long-buried truths revealed.” You can read more about it here. 

So I thought it was the perfect time to invite Kris to participate in #read99women. Kris Waldherr’s books for adults and children include Bad Princess, Doomed Queens, and The Book of Goddesses. The New Yorker praised Doomed Queens as “utterly satisfying” and “deliciously perverse.” The Book of Goddesses was a One Spirit/Book-of-the-Month Club’s Top Ten Most Popular Book. Her picture book Persephone and the Pomegranate was noted by the New York Times Book Review for its “quality of myth and magic.” Her fiction has won fellowships from the Virginia Center of the Creative Arts, and a works-in-progress reading grant from Poets & Writers.

Kris Waldherr

Kris says: “My recommendation is Erika Swyler’s LIGHT FROM OTHER STARS, a tour de force that intermingles magical realism and science fiction into a 1980s family saga unlike anything else I’ve read. Though the official description for LIGHT FROM OTHER STARS plays up the relationship between eleven-year-old future astronaut Nedda and her ‘mad scientist’ father Theo amid the backdrop of the Challenger disaster, it’s Nedda’s mother Betheen who steals the show. Betheen is just as brilliant a scientist as her husband—perhaps even more so—but has put her career on hold to raise a family; she instead funnels her ambitions into competitive baking. I loved that, when it all goes to pieces, it’s the mother-daughter relationship that ultimately saves the day. LIGHT FROM OTHER STARS received six starred trade reviews when first published last year. It also moved me to tears—it’s a novel that wears a huge heart on its exquisitely written sleeve.” 

Sounds gorgeous, doesn’t it? I’m sold. It’s another busy week in publishing — stay tuned for recommendations from, and of, authors launching new books in the next few days!

#read99women: Nicole Baart

The recommendations flooding in for #read99women are as varied as the authors choosing them! Suspense and romance, fantasy and nonfiction, intense and light-hearted — we’ve got them all.

Today’s recommendation comes from Nicole Baart, whose choice is, as she puts it, “both whimsical and profound.” Because none of us are just one thing or another, so why should our books be?

Nicole Baart is the mother of five children from four different countries. She is passionate about global issues and the cofounder of a non-profit organization, One Body One Hope. Nicole lives in a small town in Iowa where she enjoys cooking, gardening, yoga, and watching her kids play sports. She is the author of nine novels, including the People Magazine Editor's Top Pick LITTLE BROKEN THINGS and YOU WERE ALWAYS MINE. Find out more at NicoleBaart.com.

Nicole Baart

Nicole’s #read99women recommendation is THE CURIOUS CHARMS OF ARTHUR PEPPER by Phaedra Patrick. “Recently, I picked up The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper because I was in desperate need of something redemptive and hope-filled,” she says. “The quirky cover and flap copy made the novel sound light-hearted and adventurous, and I looked forward to an easy read. What I didn’t bargain for was the depth of emotion that kept me alternately in tears and doubled over with laughter as I traveled with Arthur on his amazing journey.”

Read Nicole’s full review on Bookbub here. And you can click here to read more about Nicole, her books, and her other recommendations.

#read99women: Gill Paul

Happy Valentine’s Day! Of course as I looked through my collection of yet-to-be-blogged-about #read99women recommendations, I figured today’s story needed to be a love story. But what kind? Romantic love? Family love? A book about a mother’s love for her child, a lighthearted will-they-or-won’t-they romance, an epic tale of passion and betrayal?

Then I decided that no matter what I picked, it would be appropriate, since this whole series is about books we love. And in nearly every recommendation I looked at, my writer friends talked about how they loved or adored the book they’d chosen. Basically, warm fuzzy feelings every day around here.

So I chose the recommendation from Gill Paul, a fabulous author from the UK, whose recommendation is full of book-love and also happens to sound like a fascinating love story of a most unusual sort: THE POISON BED by E.C. Fremantle.

Ah, but first! Gill’s bio: Gill Paul’s historical novels have reached the top of the USA Today, Toronto Globe & Mail and UK kindle charts, and been translated into twenty languages. She specializes in relatively recent history, mostly 20th century, and enjoys re-evaluating real historical characters and trying to get inside their heads.

Gill also writes historical non-fiction, including A History of Medicine in 50 Objects and series of Love Stories. Published around the world, this series includes Royal Love Stories, World War I Love Stories and Titanic Love Stories. She also writes short stories for magazines and speaks at libraries and literary festivals about subjects ranging from the British royal family to the Romanovs, and about writing itself. Her next novel, JACKIE AND MARIA (about Jackie Kennedy and Maria Callas) will be published in the US in August 2020 and in the UK in September 2020.

Gill Paul

Gill’s #read99women recommendation is THE POISON BED, by E.C. Fremantle. Says Gill, “I’ve bought this novel for loads of book-loving friends, and they’ve all loved it as much as I do. It’s an instantly absorbing, cleverly written historical mystery, told partly from the point of view of Robert Carr, a handsome, charismatic favourite of King James I, and partly through the eyes of the beautiful Francis Howard, of the famous Howard dynasty. The story opens with Francis being taken to the Tower after confessing to murder – but did she do it?” 

“She was previously married to Essex, a physically abusive and emotionally stunted man who failed to consummate their marriage. Her devious uncle plots to have the union annulled so he can wed her to Carr and thus wriggle into royal favour. Francis and Robert are attracted to each other so it seems a good plan. But in the background there are whispers of witchcraft, punishable by death, and Robert’s ex-lover Thomas Overbury stands in the way.”

“Elizabeth Fremantle’s prose is rich and delicious. She builds a convincing picture of the surreptitious glances and veiled nuances that create intrigue in the shadowy reaches of the English court, where Machiavellian ambition, gossip and self-interest rule. It’s Hilary Mantelesque but sharper and more focused. I knew little of the period, but learned this is the true story of what became a major scandal in the early 17 th century; you can feel in your bones that the research is impeccable. The characterisation of both Francis and Carr is subtle and convincing. She has been groomed to use her womanly wiles to secure her family’s fortunes, but might she have her own plans? Should Robert trust her? Should she trust him? We jump from the present day, as they are held in the Tower trying to save their skins, to the past as their romance develops, layer upon layer. It’s a sensual, addictive novel that gets inside your head, and a portrait of evil you won’t forget in a long time.”

#read99women: Rebecca Hodge

As promised in yesterday’s post, today’s guest is Rebecca Hodge, debut author of WILDLAND! If you missed Barbara Claypole White waxing poetic about WILDLAND yesterday, here’s where you can catch up quick.

Rebecca Hodge is an author of fiction, a veterinarian, and a clinical research scientist who lives and writes in North Carolina. Fiction writing is the space where her creative side comes out to play, and her writing centers on characters who discover that life is not a spectator sport. She has three grown sons, two crazy dogs, and one patient husband. When not busy writing, she loves hiking, travel, and (of course) curling up with a good book. WILDLAND is her debut novel. 

Rebecca Hodge

Rebecca’s recommendation is THE MOONSHINER’S DAUGHTER by Donna Everhart, which was released in early January. “Told with compassion and deft characterization, this is the story of a teenage girl fighting her own demons as she tries to balance allegiance to her father and brother with the illegality of the family business.” It’s set in western North Carolina in the early 1960s, and it sounds amazing. Read Rebecca’s review in full on BookBub here.

#read99women: Kristina McMorris

This is going to be a fun week of #read99women recommendations! Not that they aren’t all fun — they are — but there are some extra-fun connections between the days this week that I’ve been looking forward to.

Up today is the delightful Kristina McMorris, whose latest historical fiction hit is SOLD ON A MONDAY. You know how when someone you know gets really successful, you’re sometimes jealous of that person, except when that person is particularly wonderful, you’re just so happy for them there’s no room for jealousy? That’s how I feel about Kristina. She’s put in hard work for years and when she skyrocketed to the bestseller list it felt like exactly the right thing to happen. Instead of “Aw, why her?” it was all “Yeah! About time!”

Kristina McMorris

The official bio: Kristina McMorris is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. Her novels have garnered more than two dozen literary awards and nominations, including the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, RWA’s RITA® Award, and a Goodreads Choice Award for Best Historical Fiction. Inspired by true personal and historical accounts, her works of fiction have been published by Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, and Kensington Books. Her new novel, Sold on a Monday, follows her widely praised The Edge of Lost, The Pieces We Keep, Bridge of Scarlet Leaves, and Letters from Home. Additionally, her novellas are featured in the anthologies A Winter Wonderland and Grand Central. Prior to her writing career, Kristina hosted weekly TV shows since age nine, including an Emmy® Award-winning program, and has been named one of Portland's "40 Under 40" by The Business Journal. She lives with her husband and two sons in the Pacific Northwest, where she is working on her next novel. For more, visit www.KristinaMcMorris.com

So what book does Kristina recommend for the #read99women series? It’s the newest novel from Allison Pataki, THE QUEEN’S FORTUNE, which hits shelves tomorrow. It’s the fictionalized story of the real-life Desiree Clary, whose fortunes and misfortunes alike were intertwined with the lives of Napoleon Bonaparte and his empress Josephine. As Kristina puts it: “Allison Pataki is a masterful historical author at the top of her game….Painstaking research and page-turning prose placed me directly at the side of this remarkable yet lesser-known figure, journeying from innocent girlhood to seasoned royalty, a survivor of guillotine threats, palace politics, and strains of the heart. I absolutely loved this book from beginning to end.”

Here’s the full review.

And if you’re curious to hear more about Allison Pataki or THE QUEEN’S FORTUNE — I’ve got great news for you! Guess who’s up on the blog tomorrow?

#read99women: Greer Macallister

That’s right, I’ve decided that in my epic #read99women project, one of the 99 authors I’m bringing to my blog to recommend a book by and/or about women will be… me!

I’ll dispense with my official bio (you can find it here) but will make one brief note before jumping into my recommendation: today’s the day that my newest novel, WOMAN 99, releases in paperback. Yay!

Now on with the fun.

Oh wait. I’ve used everyone else’s headshot in their recommendation blogpost. So I guess I need to include my headshot too? Here it is.

Greer Macallister

My recommendation is THE CONFESSIONS OF FRANNIE LANGTON by Sara Collins. I picked it up because, as I say in my BookBub review, “I'm a sucker for historical fiction about women who might or might not be guilty of murder.” (My first book, THE MAGICIAN’S LIE, and my upcoming book set in the Arctic both fit that description, and Margaret Atwood’s ALIAS GRACE is probably my favorite novel of all time.) THE CONFESSIONS OF FRANNIE LANGTON is an intense, haunting novel, and beautifully written. A bit more of my review: “Parts of this story, especially the horror of the Jamaica-set plotline that's only gradually revealed, are full of stomach-churning cruelty, but Collins's language and imagery are never gratuitous, only evocative.” You can read the full review here.

For more on, well, me, as well as WOMAN 99 and my other novels, plus other books I recommend, you can follow me on BookBub here.

#read99women: Michelle Gable

It may be the weekend, but #read99women is going strong seven days a week! Today’s guest is Michelle Gable, New York Times bestselling author of A PARIS APARTMENT, I'LL SEE YOU IN PARIS, THE BOOK OF SUMMER, and THE SUMMER I MET JACK.

Michelle grew up in San Diego and attended The College of William & Mary, where she majored in accounting, as most aspiring writers do. After a twenty-year career in finance, Michelle now writes full-time. She lives in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California, with her husband, two daughters, and what is quickly becoming a menagerie: one cat, one bunny, and a lab/jindo mix recently rescued from the dog meat trade in Thailand. 

Michelle can be reached at www.michellegable.com or on Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest at @MGableWriter.

Michelle Gable

Michelle’s recommendation is THE FIVE by Hallie Rubenhold, one of 2019’s most exciting nonfiction books — it’s the first full-length biography of Jack the Ripper’s five victims, painstakingly re-creating their stories from extensive research and shining a spotlight on the societal forces that drove these women to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Says Michelle, “The narrative has been that Jack the Ripper killed prostitutes, but this is an oversimplification, if not outright mistruth. His victims were those on the margins of society, women who it was simply easier to dismiss as ’prostitutes’ than look at them with any level of humanity.” Hallie Rubenhold tells their story “with great storytelling prowess and tremendous empathy.” 

Read Michelle’s full review on Goodreads here.

#read99women: Meg Waite Clayton

Today’s #read99women recommendation is a fun — and brief! — one. Some books, the less you know going in, the more you get to relish the surprise of getting blown away.

Our recommender is Meg Waite Clayton, a New York Times and USA Today bestseller and book club favorite and the author of seven novels. Her most recent, the international bestseller THE LAST TRAIN TO LONDON, is published or forthcoming in 19 languages. Her screenplay of the same story gained her recognition by the prestigious The Writers Lab, sponsored by Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman to expand the diversity of narrative film.

Her prior books include the #1 Amazon fiction bestseller BEAUTIFUL EXILES; the Langum Prize honored THE RACE FOR PARIS; THE WEDNESDAY SISTERS, named one of Entertainment Weekly’s 25 Essential Best Friend Novels of all time (on a list with The Three Musketeers!); and THE LANGUAGE OF LIGHT, a finalist for the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction. She has written for the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Runner’s World and public radio, often on the particular challenges women face. A member of the National Book Critics Circle, she has also written a monthly audiobook review for the San Francisco Chronicle.

Meg Waite Clayton

Meg’s recommendation is WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY BESIDE OURSELVES by Karen Joy Fowler, and instead of providing a description, she says this: “Don't read anything about this amazing book before you read the book itself--not even the copy on the back of the book!”

Need a wee bit more? This novel was the first book by an American author ever shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and won the 2014 PEN/Faulkner. And Barbara Kingsolver called it "a novel so readably juicy and surreptitiously smart, it deserves all the attention it can get" -- praise Meg agrees with and so do I. (The audiobook is bonkers good.)

Find Meg’s recommendation on BookBub here or see more about her, her books, and other recommendations here.