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Fall Into Reading PitchFest: a FREE “Choose Your Fall/Winter 2025 Reads” Virtual Adventure with bestselling, debut and fan-favorite authors
About PitchFest
Are you so overwhelmed with the dazzling array of books published each year that you have a difficult time choosing your next read? Whether you are part of a book club, a library, other reading group, or an individual reader who could use a little assistance in helping you choose your 2025 reads, allow us to Pitch in and help you decide with our Fall Into Reading PitchFest: a FREE Choose Your Fall/Winter 2025 Reads Virtual Adventure!
Prepare your fall/winter reading list by meeting an incredible lineup of 15 fan-favorite authors, including New York Times, international, and bestselling authors, as well as authors you may be meeting for the first time. We will even provide you with a PitchFest “cheat sheet” with information about the authors and their new book releases, and a section for you to take notes during the presentation (emailed the week of the event).
And, there will be book giveaways, so you won’t want to miss it!
To top it all off, there’s even more great news: a little birdie told us that all the authors are members of Adventures by the Book, meaning that every single one of them is available to meet with your book club, library, or reading group to chat about their incredible new books. Visit Adventures by the Book or click on the direct links below to schedule an author visit now and avoid the rush, or plan a visit with your favorites after Pitchfest.
Your FREE Adventure includes 15 fast-paced and fun presentations by all 15 of authors that are sure to help you choose your 2025 reads. You’ll also have the opportunity to Q&A the authors when you meet them virtually via Zoom.
Book Pre-Orders
Books are available for pre-order below at the bottom of this page. Please note some titles below have not yet been published, so your book(s) will ship once they have been published.
Registration
This event is FREE and open to the public. Simply select the Free PitchFest Registration (8/13/25) option below and a Zoom link and a Pitchfest Cheat Sheet will be emailed to you 3 days before the event.
About the Authors
Donna Jones Alward has enchanted readers with stories of happy endings and homecomings that have won several awards and been translated into over a dozen languages. She’s worked as an administrative assistant, teaching assistant, in retail and as a stay-at-home-mom, but always knew her degree in English Literature would pay off, as she is now happy to be a full-time writer. Her novel, Ship of Dreams, is a breathtaking tale of secrets, betrayal, and the enduring power of friendship set aboard the Titanic, where opulence knows no bounds and the horizon seems limitless.
To schedule a book club visit with Donna or any of our authors on Adventures by the Book® (formerly NovelNetwork®):
Jon Bassoff is the author of ten novels. His mountain gothic novel, Corrosion, has been translated in French and German and was nominated for the Grand Prix de Litterature Policiere, France’s biggest crime fiction award. Several of his novels have been optioned for the big screen, including The Drive-Thru Crematorium, which is currently being cast. He also wrote the screenplay for Bizarre Love Triangle, which was named semi-finalist at the New York Cinematography Awards and a finalist at the Seattle Film Festival for best short film. His newest novel, The Memory Ward, is a haunting Russian doll of a novel about one man’s attempt to discover what’s real and what isn’t.
To schedule a book club visit with Jon or any of our authors on Adventures by the Book® (formerly NovelNetwork®):
Jennifer Graeser Dornbush is a screenwriter, author, international speaker, and forensic specialist. Raised as the daughter of a medical examiner whose office was in their home, forensics is infused into her DNA. She completed studies at the Los Angeles Forensic Science Academy to supplement her work as a crime writer. Jennifer has worked in entertainment media since 2002 developing and writing both original and adapted work. Her theatrically released film and novel, God Bless the Broken Road (2018) is a Netflix Top Ten. She is author of the mystery novel series The Coroner’s Daughter. In the fifth book of this series, What Darkness Does, Dr. Emily Hartford finds herself dredging the depths of Lake Isabella—and her own past relationship.
To schedule a book club visit with Jennifer or any of our authors on Adventures by the Book® (formerly NovelNetwork®):
Rosa Kwon Easton is an Anaphora Writing Residency Fellow, and has been published in CRAFT Literary, StoryCenter.org, Writer’s Digest, and elsewhere. She is a graduate of Smith College, Columbia University, and Boston College Law School, and is a lawyer and trustee of the Palos Verdes Library District. She lives with her husband and Maltipoo in sunny Southern California. Her debut novel, White Mulberry, which is inspired by the life of her Korean grandmother in 1930s Japan who is torn between two worlds and must reclaim her true identity to provide a future for her family.
To schedule a book club visit with Rosa or any of our authors on Adventures by the Book® (formerly NovelNetwork®):
Brian Freeman is a New York Times bestselling author of psychological thrillers sold around the world and translated into 24 languages. He is widely acclaimed for his “you are there” settings and his complex, engaging characters and twist-filled plots. Brian’s novel Spilled Blood won the award for Best Hardcover Novel in the annual Thriller Awards given out by the International Thriller Writers organization, and his novel The Deep, Deep Snow was a finalist for the Edgar Award. In 2019, he was selected as the author to continue Robert Ludlum’s famous Jason Bourne series and has now released multiple bestselling Bourne novels. His upcoming novel, Photograph, is an emotional cold case mystery of hidden identities and startling twists.
To schedule a book club visit with Brian or any of our authors on Adventures by the Book® (formerly NovelNetwork®):
Christina Baker Kline is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of nine novels and has been published in 40 countries. Her novels have received the New England Prize for Fiction, the Maine Literary Award, and a Barnes & Noble Discover Award, among other prizes, and have been chosen by hundreds of communities, universities and schools as “One Book, One Read” selections. Her essays, articles, and reviews have appeared in publications such as the New York Times and the NYT Book Review, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The San Francisco Chronicle, LitHub, and Psychology Today. Her novel, Please Don’t Lie, is a stylish, twisty thriller following a young woman heads to the Adirondacks with her new husband for a fresh start—but the past won’t let her go.
To schedule a book club visit with Christina or any of our authors on Adventures by the Book® (formerly NovelNetwork®):
Sharon Kurtzman worked in television marketing before pursuing her dream of becoming a writer. She earned her MFA in fiction from Vermont College of Fine Arts and her undergraduate degree from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications. A former food writer, Sharon’s work has appeared in INDY Week, South Writ Large, and The Huffington Post. Kurtzman lives in North Carolina with her husband; they have two adult children. Her debut historical novel, The Lost Baker of Vienna, was inspired by the war and postwar experiences of her family, who were Holocaust survivors. Her novel will be published in seven languages.
To schedule a book club visit with Sharon or any of our authors on Adventures by the Book® (formerly NovelNetwork®):
Christina Lynch’s picaresque journey includes chapters in Chicago and at Harvard, where she was an editor on the Harvard Lampoon. She was the Milan correspondent for W magazine and Women’s Wear Daily, and disappeared for four years in Tuscany. In L.A. she was on the writing staff of Unhappily Ever After; Encore, Encore; The Dead Zone and Wildfire. Under the pen name Magnus Flyte, she is the co-author of the New York Times bestsellers City of Dark Magic and City of Lost Dreams. Her newest novel, Pony Confidential, is a mystery told from the point of view of a pony who is trying to reunite with the one little girl he really loved, twenty-five years after he last saw her.
To schedule a book club visit with Christina or any of our authors on Adventures by the Book® (formerly NovelNetwork®):
Sarah McCoy is the New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author of the novels Mustique Island, Marilla of Green Gables, The Mapmaker’s Children, The Baker’s Daughter (a 2012 Goodreads Choice Award Best Historical Fiction nominee), the novella “The Branch of Hazel” in Grand Central, The Time It Snowed in Puerto Rico, and Le souffle des feuilles et des promesses (Pride and Providence). Her work has been featured in Newsweek, Real Simple, The Millions, Literary Hub, Writer’s Digest, Huffington Post, Read It Forward, Writer Unboxed, and other publications. Her newest novel, Whatever Happened to Lori Lovely?, is a spellbinding novel based on a true story about a beautiful young movie star of Hollywood’s Golden Age who gives up her bright career to become a nun.
To schedule a book club visit with Sarah or any of our authors on Adventures by the Book® (formerly NovelNetwork®):
Lisa Montanaro is part no-nonsense Italian American New Yorker and part sunny Californian. She has a unique background as a performer, teacher of deaf students, lawyer, coach, speaker, and author. Lisa’s debut novel won first place for LGBTQ Fiction in the International Firebird Book Awards, received honorable mention in General Fiction from the Los Angeles Book Festival, and finalist in LGBTQ Fiction in the National Indie Excellence Awards. Her debut novel, Everything We Thought Was True, is the story of a family trying to reconcile their past, understand the secret at the heart of the family’s rupture, and embrace the future. Brimming with love and loss, heartache and hope, this multigenerational family drama weaves a tapestry of identity, healing, and forgiveness.
To schedule a book club visit with Lisa or any of our authors on Adventures by the Book® (formerly NovelNetwork®):
Rebecca Rosenberg fell in love with méthode champenoise in Sonoma, California, where she lives on a lavender farm with her family and founded the country’s largest lavender company. Her book Lavender Fields of America was published in 2012 and a new edition in 2022. Since then, she has pursued decades of delicious research about champagne in the wine caves and cellars of France and California. She is a champagne historian, tour guide and champagne cocktail creator for Breathless Wines. Her newest novel, Silver Echoes,is a dual timeline historical novel that asks the question, “What really happened to Silver Dollar Tabor?”
To schedule a book club visit with Rebecca or any of our authors on Adventures by the Book® (formerly NovelNetwork®):
James Wade is the youngest novelist to win two Spur Awards from the Western Writers of America, and the recipient of the MPIBA’s prestigious Reading the West Award. His debut novel, All Things Left Wild, was listed as one of the most influential westerns of the 21st century by True West Magazine and included in the Los Angeles Times‘s 1,001 Novels: A Library of America. His Southern Gothic mystery, Beasts of the Earth, was named a Best Book of 2022 by both Deep South Magazine and The Southern Review of Books. James is a four-time finalist for the Austin Chronicle‘s Best Writer in Austin award, and his work has appeared in Texas Highways, Writers’ Digest, and many additional publications. His newest novel, Narrow the Road, s a Southern Gothic, coming-of-age odyssey set in East Texas during the Great Depression.
To schedule a book club visit with James or any of our authors on Adventures by the Book® (formerly NovelNetwork®):
Jaclyn Westlake is an alumna of the Stanford Continuing Studies novel writing program. A recruiter turned career advice columnist, her work has appeared in Forbes, Business Insider, and Inc. She lives in California with her husband and their dachshund mix, Indiana Jones (but you can call him Indy). Her latest novel, Lucky Break, follows main character Eliza who, when a spate of bad luck upends her meticulously planned life, she moves to a charming—and mysterious—Midwestern lake town, where she just might find herself while trying to find the truth.
To schedule a book club visit with Jaclyn or any of our authors on Adventures by the Book® (formerly NovelNetwork®):
Sharon J. Wishnow is a transplanted New Englander who makes her home in Northern Virginia. In addition to writing upmarket fiction with environmental themes, Sharon writes non-fiction in the science, technology, and business categories with a passion for research, seashells, birds, and the ocean. She has been a member of the Boston Malacological Club since she was ten years old. She credits growing up by the ocean and family camping trips for her love and respect for all that is outside her door. Her debut novel, The Pelican Tide, where after disaster strikes, a Louisiana family and their community need to prove to each other and the world that their bond is thicker than the oil threatening their shores
To schedule a book club visit with Sharon or any of our authors on Adventures by the Book® (formerly NovelNetwork®):
Karen White is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of 36 books, including the Tradd Street and Royal Street series, The Last Night in London, Dreams of Falling, The Night the Lights Went Out, Flight Patterns, The Sound of Glass, and A Long Time Gone. She is the coauthor of The Author’s Guide to Murder, The Lost Summers of Newport, All the Ways We Said Goodbye, The Glass Ocean and The Forgotten Room with New York Times bestselling authors Beatriz Williams and Lauren Willig. She grew up in London but now lives with her husband near Atlanta, Georgia. In her newest novel, That Last Carolina Summer, is a contemporary stand-alone novel about sisterhood, secrets and one woman’s reckoning with the past.
To schedule a book club visit with Karen or any of our authors on Adventures by the Book® (formerly NovelNetwork®):
