Lauren Fortgang gives this gripping audiobook a supple and quietly dazzling performance. Every character has a recognizable and appropriate voice. When a 16-year-old appears in a flashback, you recognize her voice, but it’s younger. (Wow.) Fortgang shifts fluidly from female to male, old to young in this high-stakes family drama set in the world of competitive gymnastics. Abbott delivers an education about “amateur” sports in America and the hidden costs of ambition. It’s the backdrop for a deeply involving plot in which a violent death shatters a community. Her characters are vivid, human, and real, and with perfect control, Abbott drops small jagged fragments of the picture into place as in a kaleidoscope until you see, finally and devastatingly, what really happened. B.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine
A great way to maximize your reading time is to read faster, but forget about sketchy speed-reading techniques—just start reading more thrillers. As your pulse pounds, you’ll find yourself turning those pages faster and faster to relieve the tension and staying up later and later to get to the end—which, of course, means you’ll need more books to […]
On the eve of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, few events will inspire as much slack-jawed amazement—or furious debate—as the women’s gymnastics competition. Inside every spangled leotard, under every perfectly made-up face, is a fierce athlete who has pushed herself to unthinkable limits for a chance at Olympic gold. Working through devastating injuries, racing […]
To celebrate the launch of our new Samsung Galaxy Tab A NOOK device, and $99.99 offer for upgraders, we’re celebrating some of our favorite things to read on the NOOK. If you haven’t yet discovered B&N Readouts, welcome to your new favorite way to sample great reads—with the Tab A, it’s the closest you’ll get to strolling […]
Megan Abbott is having a Moment. With the publication of her ninth novel, Give Me Your Hand, comes the realization that this brilliant author has flown under the radar for too long, and it’s time we all caught up. Abbott hasn’t really written a bad book yet, but we have our own ideas about where […]
What we talk about when we talk about Old Hollywood: classic movies, glamorous movie stars, true crime, lush romance, bitter disillusionment, and of course a dash of noir, all tucked away behind Los Angeles’s seemingly perfect, sun-shiny facade. Day of the Locust, by Nathanael West, What Makes Sammy Run?, by Budd Schulberg, and Play it as […]