Best Sellers Club September Authors: Harlan Coben and C.J. Box

Want the hottest new release from your favorite author? Want to stay current with a celebrity book club? Love nonfiction? You should join the Best Sellers Club. Choose any author, celebrity pick, and/or nonfiction pick and the Davenport Public Library will put the latest title on hold for you automatically. Select as many as you want! If you still have questions, please check out our list of FAQs.

New month means new highlighted authors from the Best Sellers Club! September’s authors are Harlan Coben for fiction and C.J. Box for mystery.

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Our September fiction author is Harlan Coben. With books published in 45 languages around the world and over 75 million books in print worldwide, Harlan Coven is a #1 New York Times author of over thirty novels. In addition to those novels, Coben is also the creator and executive producer of several Netflix television dramas. He has won the Edgar Award, Shamus Award, and Anthony Award – the first author to win all three. Coben is most well-known for his Myron Bolitar series, a sports agent. He has written essays and columns for the New York Times, Parade Magazine, and Bloomburg Views. Fun facts: Coben was inducted into Little League Baseball’s Hall of Excellence in 2013. He is also a member of the New England Basketball Hall of Fame as a result of his playing days at Amherst College.

Coben’s latest book is Win, the first book in the Windsor Horne Lockwood III series. This book was published on March 16, 2021.

Curious what this book is about? Check out the following description provided by the publisher:

From a #1 New York Times bestselling author comes this thrilling story that shows what happens when a dead man’s secrets fall into the hands of vigilante antihero—drawing him down a dangerous road.

Over twenty years ago, the heiress Patricia Lockwood was abducted during a robbery of her family’s estate, then locked inside an isolated cabin for months. Patricia escaped, but so did her captors — and the items stolen from her family were never recovered.

Until now. On the Upper West Side, a recluse is found murdered in his penthouse apartment, alongside two objects of note: a stolen Vermeer painting and a leather suitcase bearing the initials WHL3. For the first time in years, the authorities have a lead — not only on Patricia’s kidnapping, but also on another FBI cold case — with the suitcase and painting both pointing them toward one man.

Windsor Horne Lockwood III — or Win, as his few friends call him — doesn’t know how his suitcase and his family’s stolen painting ended up with a dead man. But his interest is piqued, especially when the FBI tells him that the man who kidnapped his cousin was also behind an act of domestic terrorism — and that the conspirators may still be at large. The two cases have baffled the FBI for decades, but Win has three things the FBI doesn’t: a personal connection to the case; an ungodly fortune; and his own unique brand of justice.

This book is also available in the following formats:

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Our September mystery author is C.J. Box. A bestselling author of over thirty novels, Box is most well-known for his Joe Pickett series, the story of Wyoming game warden Pickett, an unlikely hero. Over ten million copies of Box’s novels have been sold worldwide, while they have been translated into 27 languages. Box is also the executive producer for two television series based on his novels that are currently in production.

Box’s latest book is Dark Skybook 21 in the Joe Pickett series. This book was published on March 2, 2021.

Curious what this book is about? Below is a description provided by the publisher.

Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett must accompany a Silicon Valley CEO on a hunting trip – but soon learns that he himself may be the hunted…

#1 New York Times bestseller C.J. Box returns with a new Joe Pickett novel.

THE TIME HAS COME

It’s a crisp October morning in Wyoming’s Twelve Sleep County, and game warden Joe Pickett should be keeping watch over his patch. Instead, the state governor has roped him into leading Silicon Valley billionaire Steven Price on a hunting trip. The department is facing major budget cuts and Price’s social media empire could bring serious business into the state – if someone can persuade him of Wyoming’s charms.

It looks like a straightforward job, but unbeknownst to Joe, there is a hunter hot on their heels, one with a different manner of prey in mind.

When Joe’s daughter Sheridan and his closest friend Nate Romanowksi learn of the threat, they head out to rescue Joe and his charge. To get out of the woods alive, they will all have to draw on their wits and knowledge of the outdoors as they confront the worst man – and nature – can throw at them.

This book is also available in the following format:

The Guncle by Steven Rowley

Have you ever read a book that made you both laugh and cry? The Guncle by Steven Rowley was the lightest, yet the most heartrending, book that I have read this year. Rowley’s storytelling had me yearning for happiness and serenity for all the characters, while tearing up at the difficulties they were going through.

Patrick is famous. Well he used to be anyway. A once-famous gay sitcom star with a desire to hide away from the world, Patrick moved away from the hustle of the world to Palm Springs where he can relax in his pool away from all the people who insist on bothering him. When an unexpected family tragedy has him flying back to Connecticut on short notice, Patrick finds his peace shattered.

Patrick isn’t a bad uncle. He’s always loved his niece, Maisie, and his nephew, Grant. He loves them in short doses: weeklong visits when they come to see him or when he goes back for the holidays. The important part is he gets to go home after he’s done. After all, he’s GUP, Gay Uncle Patrick. The idea of relating to children and caring for them overwhelms him.

Back home in Connecticut after Masie and Grant have lost their mother and after Patrick’s brother(the children’s father) has a crisis of his own, Patrick is at a loss. Greg wants him to become the children’s primary guardian and take them back to California with him. For 90 days, Patrick will be the sole caretaker for Maisie and Grant, a nine- and a six-year-old respectively. He is overwhelmed and has no idea what to expect. Realizing that Maisie and Grant need the escape as much as he does, Patrick brings them back to California with him.

Armed with a set of Guncle Rules, Patrick quickly realizes he has no idea what he’s doing. The kids are overwhelming, loud, and dealing with tough emotions while being around Patrick who they don’t know very well. Helping them deal with their emotions forces Patrick to deal with his own: he’s barely holding it together years after his love died, his career has stalled, and his lifestyle is not exactly suited to children. Patrick finds himself responsible for two young children and that responsibility cannot be waved off by joking or spoiling the kids with treats. He must find a balance between his old life and his new. What he discovers surprises them all.

This book is also available in the following formats:

Get Graphic Series: Audubon: On the Wings of the World by Fabien Grolleau

Up next in our Get Graphic Series is a non fiction title by Fabien Grolleau. Audubon: On the Wings of the World, takes the reader on a journey through 19th century rural America. John James Audubon was an ornithologist with a goal to create a pictorial record of the all the birds in North America. Traveling with only his drawing materials, an assistant and a gun, Audubon encounters dangerous animals, wild storms, and some not so friendly people.

Audubon: On the Wings of the World highlights not only the beauty of birds in America, but how Audubon’s life revolves around them. As he travels the US, he meets with prominent scientists in the hopes of publishing his book of bird paintings. But, the scientist believe his paintings are more “artistic” than “scientific”- which is something Audubon does not want to hear. This fuels his desire to prove the scientists wrong. He soon becomes obsessed with painting the animals and begins to disregard his family, friends, and even his health. An unlikely stranger meets with Audubon and pulls him from his fascination, changing the course of his career and life forever.

One of the things I love about nonfiction graphic novels is the chance to learn about something or someone I would have glanced over in the biography section. I wouldn’t have picked up a 300 page biography on John James Audubon, but Audubon: On the Wings of the World was just long enough to give me the facts and keep me engaged. Graphic novels are great starting points if you find yourself interested in a nonfiction topic.

Illustrations are key for nonfiction graphic novels. Some might find nonfiction “boring,” but the illustrations create a fun environment for the facts to live. Audubon: On the Wings of the World has wonderful illustrations of not only the story, but of the birds Audubon loved.

If you want to learn more about John James Audubon, give this graphic novel a try!

 

 

Online Reading Challenge – September

Hello Fellow Challenge Readers!

Welcome to the September edition of the Online Reading Challenge! This month our spotlight author is: Ann Patchett!

Ann Patchett is one of my favorite authors. I love her smooth, unfussy writing style and the depth and complexity of her characters. The story lines and locations of her books are wide ranging, from the Amazonian rain forest to an unnamed South American capital to a family home in the suburbs, but while the locations are fascinating and integral to the plot, it’s the characters that really draw you in.

Because Patchett’s books are so varied in setting and subject, it’s hard to pin down authors that are exactly like her. Look for books centered on ordinary people facing difficult moral issues that examine how different people respond to significant events.

Plus, if you haven’t yet read any of Patchett’s books, I highly recommend that you choose of of hers! Bel Canto may be her most well-known book about a lavish party at an unnamed South American capital that is interrupted and held hostage by terrorists, or State of Wonder about a woman going to the Amazonian rainforest to search for her missing colleague and a controversial scientist. Her most recent book is The Dutch House, an intriguing look at a complex family dynamic and the grand house at the center of their dramas.

Patchett also wrote Truth and Beauty, a non-fiction account of her friendship with poet Lucy Grealy who suffered from a disfiguring disease and struggled with addiction and depression. A portion of the book takes place in Iowa City where they were both enrolled in the Iowa Writer’s Workshop.

If you’ve already read all of Ann Patchett’s books, or would like to try someone else, here are a few suggestions.

In the Midst of Winter by Isabel Allende

The Immortalists by Chole Benjamin

My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout

Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver

At the Water’s Edge by Sara Gruen

The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo

Don’t forget, we’ll have displays of Ann Patchett books and read alikes at all three Davenport library buildings.

I am planning on reading A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles about a Russian aristocrat who is sent to live in a hotel room for life. It has been highly recommended to me by more than one person, so I’m hoping for a great reading experience!

What about you, what will you be reading this month?