Debra Ginsberg

Debra Ginsberg is the author of the memoirs, Waiting: The True Confessions of a Waitress, Raising Blaze: A Mother and Son's Long, Strange Journey Into Autism, and About My Sisters, and the novels Blind Submission, The Grift, and The Neighbors Are Watching. Her new novel, What the Heart Remembers, is now available from NAL/Penguin.

Earlier this month I asked the author what she was reading.  Ginsberg's reply:

As a reviewer and freelance editor, I am reading all the time, but unfortunately seldom for pleasure (although I do enjoy much of what I read for work; Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn being the most recent example). As a result, the to-be-read stack on the nightstand has become the to-be-read stack on the floor and actually now functions as its own nightstand. Sigh. So many books - so little time (some of the galleys in that stack are now coming out in paperback!).

But last week I picked up a copy of Tana French's Broken Harbor, of which I'd heard and read many wonderful things, and forced myself to carve out time for it. Tana French writes the kind of novel I love -- dark psychological thrillers that build slowly and focus on character as much as plot. Broken Harbor did not disappoint. A delightfully creepy story, it centers on the murder of a family in a bleak housing development in Ireland hit hard by the recession. The cop assigned to the case has his own issues rooted in the same place - Broken Harbor - and a rookie partner he's not sure of. The case seems like a slam dunk, but of course it isn't. The family had its own dark secrets and the list of suspects takes several unusual turns. This is a thoughtful, beautifully written novel that takes its time getting where it wants to go and it kept me guessing. I really enjoyed it and highly recommend it. Now, to the stack...

Visit Debra Ginsberg's website.

The Page 69 Test: Blind Submission.

The Page 69 Test: The Grift.

The Page 69 Test: The Neighbors Are Watching.

--Marshal Zeringue