#read99women: Kristin Harmel

Kristin Harmel is the #1 international bestselling author of a dozen novels including The Book of Lost Names, The Winemaker’s Wife, The Room on Rue Amélie, and The Sweetness of Forgetting. Her work has been featured in People, Woman’s Day, Men’s Health, and Ladies’ Home Journal, among many other media outlets. She lives in Orlando, Florida. Her new historical novel The Book of Lost Names, which recently received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, is forthcoming in July 2020 — read more about it here.

Kristin Harmel

“Releasing a book in the middle of a national shutdown is a pretty difficult thing to do, especially when you're accustomed to touring, but bestselling author Kristy Woodson Harvey (who also happens to be my friend) makes it look easy. It helps that her latest, FEELS LIKE FALLING, is exactly the kind of book we all need right now--a wonderfully escapist beach read that also deals with persevering in tough times. You'll be swept away by this story of two women from different walks of life who learn to rely on each other--and you'll be reminded of the power we all have within ourselves to survive the challenges life throws at us. Elin Hilderbrand calls Kristy ‘the next major voice in Southern fiction’, and I couldn't agree more; she's a master of the perfect blend of beach and heart, and her star is most definitely on the rise.”

#read99women: Jennifer J. Chow

Happy Friday! I’m both pleased and a little bit sad to announce that #read99women has almost run its course — I’ll post the last handful of entries next week! It has been a fabulous run and not only do I have a boatload of new recommendations on my TBR pile, I’ve gotten to connect with lots of writers whose future work I now plan to follow.

Jennifer J. Chow’s new novel MIMI LEE GETS A CLUE, the first in a new cozy mystery series, was recently recommended for #read99women by Kellye Garrett, and I asked Jennifer if she’d share a recommendation as well — so happy she agreed!

Jennifer J. Chow writes multicultural mysteries and fantastical YA. Her newest book, MIMI LEE GETS A CLUE, is the first in the Sassy Cat mystery series. Other Asian-American novels include DRAGONFLY DREAMS (a Teen Vogue pick), THE 228 LEGACY, and the Winston Wong cozy mystery series.

Jennifer J. Chow

Her short fiction has most recently appeared in the STEM anthology, Brave New Girls: Tales of Heroines who Hack, Hyphen Magazine, and Yay! LA Magazine. Learn more at www.jenniferjchow.com and find her on social media @jenjchow.

Jennifer’s pick is THE NINJA DAUGHTER by Tori Eldridge, “A fast-paced novel that feels like reading a film.” She says it “offers a whirlwind ride through Los Angeles, especially the more dangerous locations… Overall, an enjoyable and energetic story with a ferocious ninja lead.” 

Read the full review on Goodreads.

#read99women: Tara Laskowski

I’ve been enjoying getting to know the DC writers’ scene better lately, even without leaving my house, and today’s guest is one of the great local crime writers our area seems to be particularly rich in. E.A. Aymar recommended her debut suspense novel One Night Gone earlier in the #read99women series, calling it “a taut, character-driven read, the kind of book that begs to be read slowly.”

And just a few days ago, One Night Gone brought home an Agatha Award! Great news! As you’ll see in her bio below, Tara’s been racking up awards and prizes and honors galore.

Tara Laskowski is the author of the suspense novel One Night Gone, which won the Agatha Award for Best First Novel and was a finalist for the Lefty Award and the Simon and Schuster Mary Higgins Clark Award. She has also written two short story collections, Modern Manners for Your Inner Demons and Bystanders. She has had stories published in numerous magazines and anthologies such as Mid-American Review, Barcelona Review, and the Norton anthologies Flash Fiction International and New Micro: Exceptionally Short Fiction, among others. Her Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine story, “The Case of the Vanishing Professor,” won the 2019 Agatha Award and her Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine story, “The Long-Term Tenant,” is a finalist for the 2020 Thriller Award. Tara was the winner of the 2010 Santa Fe Writers Project’s Literary Awards Prize, was the longtime editor of the popular online flash fiction journal SmokeLong Quarterly, and is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and International Thriller Writers. She and her husband, writer Art Taylor, write the column Long Story Short at the Washington Independent Review of Books. She earned a BA in English with a minor in writing from Susquehanna University and an MFA in creative writing from George Mason University. She grew up in Pennsylvania and lives in Virginia. Follow her on Twitter, @TaraLWrites.

Tara Laskowski

Tara’s recommendation: “I don't read a lot of poetry books, but when I find one I love I want to read it over and over again. This is how I feel about Catherine Pierce's The Tornado Is the World. Catherine's poetry is so vivid and relatable. I particularly love the themes in Tornado--motherhood, fear, nostalgia, hope. The ever-presence of the unyielding, uncaring force of the tornado is particularly poignant and unsettling. And it's relevant now, too, in these times, as we are reminded how brutal nature can be.”

#read99women: Layne Fargo

Ninety-some entries into #read99women and I have been blown away by all these amazing recommendations! My TBR pile is truly toppling. And hearing great things from sources I trust about new (some even not yet out!) books and old, thrillers and romances, romps and heartbreakers, that feels good deep in my lifelong reader’s heart.

If your curiosity was piqued by Kathleen Barber’s recommendation of Layne Fargo’s TEMPER, good news! TEMPER is now out in paperback. (Snag your copy from Bookshop!) And Layne is today’s guest, with a pick that sounds just as thrilling.

Bio first: Layne Fargo is the author of the thrillers TEMPER and THEY NEVER LEARN. She’s a Pitch Wars mentor, Vice President of the Chicagoland chapter of Sisters in Crime, and the cocreator of the podcast Unlikeable Female Characters. Layne lives in Chicago with her partner and their pets.

Layne Fargo

Her recommendation: TAKE ME APART. "Sara Sligar's debut novel is my favorite kind of thriller: subtle and psychological rather than action-packed (though trust me, it’ll make your heart pound all the same). TAKE ME APART is also packed full of stunning prose, and Sligar masterfully weaves in plenty of searing observations on art, sex, and power as her archivist heroine Kate's obsession with photographer Miranda Brand takes hold."

#read99women: Allie Larkin

Allie Larkin is the internationally bestselling author of the novels, Stay, Why Can’t I Be You, (Dutton/Plume) and Swimming for Sunlight (Atria/Simon & Schuster). Her short fiction has been published in the Summerset Review and Slice Magazine. Her nonfiction essays are included in the dog anthology, I’m Not the Biggest Bitch in This Relationship, alongside Chelsea Handler and Annabelle Gurwitch, and Author in Progress, a how-to guide for Writer’s Digest Books. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, with her husband, Jeremy, and their fearful, faithful German Shepherd, Stella.

Allie Larkin

Allie’s #read99women pick is Ann Mah’s THE LOST VINTAGE, “a gorgeous novel of French food, wine, and a mystery from the past rapidly unraveling.” Another highlight from her review: “It's beautifully written and expertly plotted. I couldn’t stop reading and wanted to savor every word.”

Read the full review on Bookbub here.

#read99women: Kaia Danielle

Remember when I said yesterday that some of the books in the #read99women series aren’t out yet? Today’s recommendation is like that, but when you read Kaia Danielle’s rave, you’ll be scrambling to pre-order! Some things are worth the wait.

Our guest’s bio first: Kaia is a comedy and fiction writer based out of coastal Georgia. Her recent publications include romantic comedy novella CALLING HER BLUFF and comics short stories in LADIES’ NIGHT ANTHOLOGY volumes 4 and 5. She has performed with Atlanta-based 2 Girls 3 Eyes improv group and is an alumna of Spelman College.

She has studied writing with the Hurston/Wright Foundation, The Second City and Voices of Our Nation (VONA) workshop. When she isn't living her best Twitter life, Kaia spends her evenings worshipping all things Nora Ephron.

Kaia Danielle

Writes Kaia: “TIES THAT TETHER by Jane Igharo is a must read for fans of ‘Insecure’ and ‘Sex and The City.’ This romcom has it all. A meddling matchmaking mama. Blind dates from hell. A gorgeous ex who keeps showing up at the wrong-est of times. A fling who isn't satisfied with a one-night stand. And a promise made to her dying father that becomes harder and harder to keep. Azere's disaster of a life will keep you rolling in laughter and swiping away tears. Newcomer Jane Igharo blew me away with her Toronto-set debut.”

You can pre-order TIES THAT TETHER here.

#read99women: Hazel Gaynor

Most books in the #read99women series so far (80-some and counting!) have been books that are already available, but a few here and there—both the featured recommendations and new books by the series guests who are doing the recommending—aren’t yet out in the world. But we need something to look forward to, don’t we? It’s like a cheerful little preview of what’s to come, on some future Tuesday. (It’s almost always Tuesday.)

And here’s something else to look forward to on an upcoming Tuesday: Hazel Gaynor’s next historical novel, set in China during WW2. It’ll be published as THE BIRD IN THE BAMBOO CAGE in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand in August 2020, and as WHEN WE WERE YOUNG & BRAVE in the USA and Canada in October 2020. Wherever you are, the book is available to pre-order now!

Today’s guest Hazel Gaynor is an award-winning, New York Times, USA Today, Irish Times and international bestselling author. Her 2014 debut novel THE GIRL WHO CAME HOME won the 2015 Romantic Novelists’ Association Historical Novel of the Year, A MEMORY OF VIOLETS was a 2015 WHSmith Fresh Talent pick, THE GIRL FROM THE SAVOY was shortlisted for the 2016 Irish Book Awards, and THE LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER’S DAUGHTER was shortlisted for the 2019 Historical Writers’ Association Gold Crown Award.

LAST CHRISTMAS IN PARIS (co-written with Heather Webb) won the 2018 Women’s Fiction Writers Association STAR Award. Their second collaboration, MEET ME IN MONACO, was shortlisted for the 2020 Romantic Novelists’ Association Historical Novel of the Year.

Hazel Gaynor

Hazel writes: "I've found it really difficult to read over the past few weeks. I've picked up and put down so many books, nothing quite able to hold my wandering attention before I flick back to the news or bake another cake, so when I finally fell headfirst into a new book, I knew it was going to be one I would think about for a long time. It must be a year since I first heard about Maggie O'Farrell's novel HAMNET (called 'Hamnet & Judith' in the US), a novel inspired by Shakespeare's son, and I've been waiting for its release ever since. Of course, the release date happened to fall smack in the middle of a global pandemic, but my local indie bookshop managed to get my pre-order mailed to me just before everything was locked down. After waiting so long, and having failed to read anything recently, the pressure was on and I was not disappointed!”

“HAMNET is the most beautifully written, brilliantly imagined historical novel, which looks at Shakespeare's life in an entirely new way. Interestingly, the author never mentions him by name. He is never William, or Shakespeare, but a father, son, husband, glovemaker, playwright. He is more often in the wings of the narrative rather than centre stage as HAMNET is the story not just of a beloved young boy, but of his mother, Agnes (who we will all know as Anne), of a twin sister, of a husband and wife, and of the utter devastation and heartbreak that follow Hamnet's death. That I read this novel (which is set during a time of plague), while in the midst of a global pandemic, definitely lent something extra to the narrative. I walked every step with Agnes, sat with her beside the fire, followed her out to the woods, felt her anguish as if it were my own. Often, Maggie O'Farrell's writing is so beautiful that I had to stop and re-read a sentence or a paragraph. This is an amazing historical novel which has been hailed as the best of the author's career, and deservedly so."

#read99women: Kellye Garrett

Kellye Garrett writes the Detective by Day mysteries about a semi-famous, mega-broke black actress who takes on the deadliest role of her life: Private Detective. The first, HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE, won the Agatha, Anthony, Lefty and Independent Publisher “IPPY” awards for best first novel and was named one of BookBub’s Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time. The second, HOLLYWOOD ENDING, was featured on the TODAY show’s Best Summer Reads of 2019 and was nominated for both Anthony and Lefty awards. Prior to writing novels, Kellye spent eight years working in Hollywood, including a stint writing for “Cold Case.” She now works for a leading media company and serves on the Board of Directors for Sisters in Crime. She also is a co-founder of Crime Writers of Color. You can learn more at KellyeGarrett.com.

Kellye Garrett

”Even though none of us will be going to a beach anytime soon, now is a perfect time for a beach read. My pick is MIMI LEE GETS A CLUE by Jennifer J. Chow, which came out in March 2020 from Berkley. If you’re like me in that you love mysteries but also can’t read anything too dark, then you already are a fan of amateur detective novels. Jennifer’s book has all the cozy/amateur detective staples: a cute cat (this one even talks!), amazing characters, and a great hook in Mimi as a novice pet grooming shop owner. But what I especially love is that she also takes the cozy tropes and turns them on their head. Instead of a small town, the story takes place in Los Angeles. Instead of dating a cop, Mimi is falling for her neighbor who’s a lawyer—and still just involved in the case. And what makes it even more exciting is that Jennifer’s series is helping usher in Berkley’s wave of diverse #ownvoices millennial focused cozies that will include upcoming books from Abby Collette, Alexis Daria and Mia P. Manansala.” 

#read99women: Elise Hooper

Yesterday on #read99women, Jennifer Robson recommended Elise Hooper’s FAST GIRLS. (Have you pre-ordered it yet?) And today we’ve got Elise Hooper with her own #read99women recommendation. Happy Friday!

A native New Englander, Elise Hooper spent several years writing for television and online news outlets before getting a MA and teaching high-school literature and history. She now lives in Seattle with her husband and two daughters.

Elise Hooper

Says Elise, “WE RIDE UPON STICKS had my name written all over it because I grew up playing field hockey during the 1980s so this one combines my love of sports with history in a fun and imaginative way. So if you take some big hair, mix it with field hockey, a dash of Emilio Estevez, and a smattering of New England witchcraft, and mash it all together you get this clever and quirky novel about the members of the 1989 Danvers High School Team who dabble in the dark arts to ensure a winning season. A perceptive look at the transformation of girls into young women, this one is wicked fun.”

#read99women: Jennifer Robson

Thanks to the coronavirus, some things have changed completely in the past couple of months; others remain completely unchanged. Most things are somewhere in the middle. And certain annual events we were counting on to happen this spring and summer — March Madness, BookExpo, the Olympics — won’t be happening until next year.

So, no 2020 Olympics. What’s a fan to do? Well, I suppose if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail, but I’m offering the same prescription for this problem that I do for so many others: books.

And Jennifer Robson, today’s #read99women guest, is here to help.

First, the bio: Jennifer Robson is an internationally acclaimed and bestselling author of historical fiction. She studied French literature and modern history as an undergraduate at King's College at the University of Western Ontario. She then attended Saint Antony's College at the University of Oxford, where she obtained her Doctorate in British economic and social history. Robson worked as an editor for a number of years, but is now lucky enough to consider herself a full-time writer. She is the author of the historical novels Moonlight Over Paris, After the War Is Over and Somewhere in France, and a contributor to the anthology Fall of Poppies: Stories of Love and the Great War.

Jennifer’s recommendation is Elise Hooper’s upcoming novel FAST GIRLS — perfect for readers interested in Olympics history who need their near-term sports fix, and of course for anyone interested in historical fiction done well.

Jennifer says: “In FAST GIRLS, a novel of three remarkable women and their journey to the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Elise Hooper seamlessly interweaves history and fiction, and the results are kinetic, mesmerizing, and terrifically entertaining. Her frank depiction of the obstacles faced by her heroines, all real-life champions, brings to stunning life three women whose stories have been long overlooked, but whose courage and ground-breaking achievements have endured. This is a wonderful novel from an accomplished historian and ferociously talented writer, and it will surely appeal to anyone with an interest in the pioneering women who paved the rocky and uphill way for today’s female Olympians.“