Reese's April Book Club Pick: Into the Blue
Into the Blue by Emma Brodie (Ballantine) is the April pick for Reese's Book Club, which described the book this way: "From the moment AJ and Noah are thrust together as scene partners, their chemistry, on and off the stage, is undeniable. After years of pushing and pulling away from each other, the question isn't if feelings exist, but if either of them are brave enough to act on them.
[Into the Blue] is the perfect book for readers who can't resist a story full of yearning, second chances, and big feelings." Reese said: "Into the Blue is a story that really stayed with me--about love, timing, and what happens when the past finds its way back into your life. I was so drawn to the way it explores fate versus choice."
What a delight it must be to be recognized as the Bookstore Lady! I wish that I'd been able to own and operate a bookstore myself.
Quotation of the Day
"I live in between our two stores, so I can't tell you how often I will be walking down the street and a parent with a child will be like, 'This is the lady who owns the bookstore!'
"I absolutely love being the bookstore lady. Like, I love giving dogs treats and flirting with other people's babies and giving recommendations. It does feel like you're imprinting on these people. My husband and I have built something that children are going to remember, and that feels so meaningful." --Emma Straub, co-owner of Books Are Magic in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Great news for a fantastic children's author...I read several of her books to my son Nick when he was a toddler.
Kate DiCamillo and Karen Lotz 'Leap' to Norton
Kate DiCamillo, like the hero of her 12th novel, The True Story of Child Outlaw Edith Leapyear as Told by Herself, is making a "leap"--to W.W. Norton. DiCamillo's upcoming novel will be one of the inaugural titles in Norton's newly expanded children's book program launching in spring 2027.
This is a full-circle moment for DiCamillo and Karen Lotz, director of children's books and strategic development at Norton since September 2025.
Lotz read the manuscript for Because of Winn-Dixie, DiCamillo's debut novel and a Newbery Honor book, on her first day at Candlewick. And now, in Lotz's new role at Norton, DiCamillo's book was one of the first books she bought. Lotz acquired world English-language rights from Holly M. McGhee, president and creative director of Pippin Properties, for "north of seven figures," according to McGhee. Ahead of the Bologna Book Fair next week, McGhee said they've already sold 11 translations of The True Story of Child Outlaw Edith Leapyear, as Told by Herself.
"When I came through the doors [of W.W. Norton]," Lotz said, "it was a feeling of being with people who clearly loved books and loved each other. It felt familiar and it felt like home." DiCamillo, too, was struck by "the love of books and the cohesiveness of the team."
When asked why DiCamillo, whose body of work (including her two Newbery-winning novels, The Tale of Despereaux and Flora and Ulysses) almost entirely resides at Candlewick, made the decision to move to Norton, she answered, "A character can sometimes influence how you look at the world and encourage you to try something new, and so this is me following Edith and listening to her." She pointed to the Norton logo as being so much a part of her as a reader, "and it is the thing that is in my head as I think about all this, it's very much about me spreading my wings." At Norton, Lotz will also have the opportunity to edit books for adults, something she did while at Penguin Young Readers when her children's book authors wanted to write for adults; DiCamillo will also have that option at Norton.
"It's exciting to think about," Lotz said of the range of possibilities, "because the longer I've been in our world, I've realized that one of the things I don't love are all the barriers that are put up in front of readers. Some of them are not deliberate; they're consequences of how books are sold and how the world works. Some of them are deliberate, and those get me worked up. But being at a place that brings those barriers down, I think that's something Norton is growing into on the young readers side. It's relatively new for them, but they're so interested in learning more about bringing 'books that live' [Norton's motto] to readers of all ages."
I would bet this story takes to the stage smoothly and with great flair.
On Stage: The Great Gatsby
Noting that last month Corbin Bleu (High School Musical; Kiss Me, Kate) stepped into the role of Nick Carraway in Broadway's The Great Gatsby after playing the role in the musical's 2025 London production, Playbill featured a video of him leading the New York company in "Roaring On" at the Broadway Theatre.
Based on the classic F. Scott Fitzgerald novel, the production features music and lyrics by Nathan Tysen (Paradise Square) and Jason Howland (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical), along with a book by Kait Kerrigan (The Mad Ones). Marc Bruni (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical) directs with choreography by Dominique Kelley (Mariah's Magical Christmas Special).
In Frog, Anne Fadiman returns to her favorite genre, the essay, of which she is one of our most celebrated practitioners. Ranging in subject matter from her deceased frog, to archaic printer technology, to the fraught relationship between Samuel Taylor Coleridge and his son Hartley, these essays unlock a whole world―one overflowing with mundanity and oddity―through sly observation and brilliant wit.
The diverse subjects of Frog are bound together by the quality of Fadiman’s attention, and subtly, they come to form a slantwise portrait of the artist, a writer dedicated to chronicling the world as it changes around her, in ways small and large, as time passes.
This slender volume is filled with Fadiman's erudite observations on the mundane things that stick with us over the course of a lifetime...such as the changes in computer printers and the advent of Zoom for communication during the COVID years. Like all good essayists, Fadiman will have you laughing one moment and crying in sympathy the next. The full range of the human experience is writ large in these spare, concise chapters, making the whole book not even reach 200 pages. Though most avid readers could finish the entire volume in a afternoon, you will want to slow down and savor each chapter and experience, comparing it to your own life's trials and tribulations. I'd give this brilliant work an A, and recommend it to anyone who says that they "don't have time" to read. Trust me, you have time for a life-changing chapter of observations on life from Anne Fadiman. She's worth the time.
The Magical Mail Logs of Phoenix Firebolt by Paula Lester is a cozy fantasy novel that roams into deeper emotional territory than expected. Here's the blurb:
There's a lot of therapeutic engagement with grief, pain, loneliness and love in this book, and, along with a fascinating foray into the lives of mail carrier postal Puffins, this will be a book that, once started, is nearly impossible to put down again. I was riveted by Phoenix's journey of understanding the loss of her mother and her grandmother, and their time and sacrifice that they hid from her for over 45 years. She learns that listening, and not judging or trying to fix things or sacrificing your life are the keys to dealing with past ghosts of trauma. Though the book was, I think, self-published and therefore had a few typos along the way, (and it was too long and needed a good editor) it was worth slogging through some overly puffy prose to get to the HFN ending. I'd give it a B+ and recommend it to anyone who has dealt with family or generational trauma.
Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman is a science fiction/dystopian fantasy that reads like a videogame written out over 445+ pages, with small illustrations. I will warn you that it was written for the coveted 18-28 year old male audience ( read: gamers/incels/immature boys with rabid libidos and a yen for killing creatures to satisfy their blood lust), not for 65 year old women like myself. There's a ton of ageism and sexism and gore in this book, and if you are at all mature and intelligent, this plot will not appeal to you. Here's the blurb:
Though I know parts of this book were meant to be funny, I wasn't able to laugh at the stupid 10 year old boy humor that relies on gross bodily fluids in order to be funny...its more annoying than humorous, IMO. Carl, who is supposed to be sympathetic, is just irritating and crude, and even his smug and superior cat is an annoying b*tch, which, again, I gather we're supposed to find funny, (this relies on one of the many tired tropes in the book, such as "all cats are strategic snobs and see humans as inferior, while dogs are loving and loyal and stupid" Having grown up with both, I call BS on that) but which I found annoying and stupid. Princess Donut, the Queen Anne Chonk is one of the few reasons Carl lives to see another level. There are alien overlords that are somewhat reminiscent of Douglas Adams "Hitch hikers" Vogons, and the whole "televised hunger games" thing sounds like something that Adams would have reveled in. I got bored with the constant death/battles/gross squishing of bug aliens that was a major part of every chapter, but because my son loved this book (he's a gamer and is right at the end of the whole coveted young male demographic) I struggled through and finished it, and was relieved that it was over (I am certainly NOT wasting time reading any of the sequels). I'd give this book a C, and only recommend it to young gamer guys.
Her only tools for navigating this gritty world of rival warlords, magic, and mayhem? Her encyclopedic knowledge of the plot, the setting, and the characters' ambitions and fates. But while she quickly discovers she cannot be killed (though many will try!), the same cannot be said for the living, breathing characters she's coming to love—a motley band that includes a former lady’s maid, a deadly assassin, various outrageous magical creatures, and a dangerously appealing soldier. Soon, instead of trying to get home, she finds herself enmeshed in the schemes—and attentions—of dueling princes, dukes, and villains, all while trying to save them and the kingdom of Rellas from the way she knows their stories will end: in a cataclysmic war.
For fans of Samantha Shannon, Danielle L. Jensen, Sarah J. Maas, and isekai and portal fantasy, This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me is the beginning of the most epic adventure yet from genre powerhouse author duo Ilona Andrews.
Mary Anning wants to be a geomagician—a paleontologist who uses fossils to wield magic—but since the Geomagical Society of London refuses to admit women, she’s stuck selling her discoveries to tourists instead. Then an ancient egg hatches in her hands, revealing a lovable baby pterodactyl that Mary names Ajax, and she knows that this is a scientific find that could make her career—if she’s strategic.
But when Mary contacts the Society about her discovery, they demand to take possession of Ajax. Their emissary is none other than Henry Stanton, a distinguished (and infuriatingly handsome) scholar . . . and the man who once broke Mary’s heart. She knows she can’t trust her fellow scholars, who want to discredit her and claim Ajax for their own, but Henry insists he believes in the brilliant Mary and only wants to help her obtain the respect she deserves.
Now Mary has a new mystery to solve that’s buried deeper than any dinosaur skeleton: She must uncover the secrets behind the Society and the truth about Henry. As her conscience begins to chafe against her ambition, Mary must decide what lengths she’s willing to go to finally belong—and what her heart really wants.
“Mary Anning, magic, politics, and a pterodactyl—with this intriguing mix, this delightful and clever book provides definitive proof that Victorian England needed more dinosaurs!”—Sarah Beth Durst
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