Tao of J.T. is the online blog of New York Times bestselling author and EMMY-award winning television host J.T. Ellison.
Today is the day! I am so excited to finally share GOOD GIRLS LIE with you, in all formats!
Head to the Events page to learn more about each tour stop. I hope to see you there!
Wow. The reading year started off with a bang, and it never stopped. I’ve read 85 books this year, and I kept track of the books that really stood out to me as I finished them. You can find more of the books I loved this year here. This list represents the best of the best for me — and before you say “hey, J.T.” these are not necessarily published in 2019, but books I read in 2019. (Hey, I make the rules here…)
DAISY JONES AND THE SIX by Taylor Jenkins Reid
If you like music, you will LOVE this book about a tempestuous young singer and the band who launched her to stardom. The structure and multiple POVs give it the feel of a Rolling Stone interview. Very unique, very well written, and so good I immediately went to the store and grabbed THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO. Taylor Jenkins Reid is that good.
EDUCATED by Tara Westover
This book spoke to me on a number of levels. I grew up in the mountains, well away from the nearest town, and understand the joy and pain of isolation. But… that’s where our similarities end. This is a fascinating look at the lengths some people have to go to in order to become educated. Beautifully written, Tara Westover has a lovely command of language. Heartbreaking, inspiring, and frighteningly real.
THE SILENT PATIENT by Alex Michaelides
THE SILENT PATIENT is absolutely superb. And honestly, to say much more will ruin it completely. I expect great things from Alex going forward... Also, this one won the Goodreads Best Mystery/Thriller Book of the Year award, and it’s incredibly well deserved. I loved this book and I appreciate the effort that went into it.
THE STRANGER INSIDE by Laura Benedict
What if you came home to find a stranger living inside your house? An outstanding, ever-twisting, surprise-filled psychological drama (Publishers Weekly, starred review), in the tradition of Shari Lapena and Liane Moriarty, from an Edgar- and Thriller Award-nominated author.
Can you imagine the nightmare of a stranger taking over your house? The terror you would feel? Benedict turns her unique voice in suspense to this elegant scary mystery, where nothing is as it seems and one woman's truth is shattered by the hidden secrets of her past. It is so good!
THE STRANGER INSIDE by Lisa Unger
No, you aren’t seeing things — there were two books called THE STRANGER INSIDE this year, and they were both excellent! I'm a fan of Lisa Unger's work, and especially of how she builds her characters. From the most innocent to the most evil, every one of them has depth that makes them come alive on the page. THE STRANGER INSIDE is no different — a brilliant character study of victims who've survived a terrible event in their childhood and how they've found ways to cope with the aftermath. As always, this is more than a page turner, it is a complex psychological study and thrilling to boot. Her best yet.
OUT EAST by John Glynn
I’ve always been obsessed with the northeastern beach scene, being a Florida beach girl myself. I went in expecting a light read about the Hamptons and WHOA. Glynn’s style is amazingly evocative. This is a wonderful coming-of-age memoir, beautiful, lovely, heartbreaking, and inspiring. I gobbled it up in two days. While John’s day job is editing for Graydon House, I really hope he writes a lot more. He’s a true talent. This was a perfect first read of the summer.
IF SHE WAKES by Michael Koryta
I listened to this amazing title from Michael Koryta on audio. The conceit of IF SHE WAKES—the main character in a coma—scared me off at first, but several people told me Koryta pulled it off, so I dove in. And holy cow. The story rocks along and has one of the scariest villains I’ve read in a long time. Think of a rattlesnake sheathed in the skin of an assassin. His female leads are fantastic, heroic, leap off the page larger than life, and the intricate storyline is A+. There are also multiple points of view, all handled wonderfully. Just a superb book all the way around.
SAVE ME THE PLUMS by Ruth Reichl
What a lovely, fascinating book. I'm lately come to memoir, but each one I read builds on the last like layers in a cake. This slice of Reichl's life chronicles being named editor in chief of Gourmet Magazine to the magazine's eventual close a decade later made me laugh, and made me think. "Brand Ruth" is an excellent cautionary tale to us all, I think.
GIDEON THE NINTH by Tamsyn Muir
Every review you will see about this book starts the same way—I’ve never read anything quite so unique. This is the truth. I mean, you put together space, necromancy, wars and petty grievances, a kick ass heroine (Gideon) with a smart mouth and a longing to prove herself, pair her with a nemesis named Harrow who is the daughter of the Ninth House Leaders and as such in total control of her, and watch the bones fly. I’ve never read anything quite so original in my life. The cover itself gives you a clue about the journey—all those skeletons! Absolutely wonderful, and more to come in this series next year! I can’t wait.
NINTH HOUSE by Leigh Bardugo
Sigh. The evening after I finished Leigh Bardugo’s incredible novel, I sat down to read a new book and experienced an actual moment of grief that I was done with this one. What a brilliant world Bardugo has created. Smart, intricate, fearlessly crafted, this is an intellectual fantasy/horror novel that cements Bardugo firmly in the annals of the best storytellers of this generation. Immediately shot into my top 3 books of 2019. Just incredible. 🐍👻🖤
THE FAMILY UPSTAIRS by Lisa Jewell
I don’t often close a book and say “brilliant”, but that’s exactly what I did when I set down Lisa Jewell's latest. What a story! I read this in one gloriously long evening, captured from page one, and now I’d like to get it on audio and experience it again. A superb, insidious, compelling, compulsive read.
NEVER LET ME GO by Kazuo Ishiguro
I found this slim volume when I was looking for boarding school mysteries. I saw the description of the three friends as Hailsham School and bought it without a second though. I had no idea what I was getting into. Ishiguro was awarded the Nobel for Literature in 2017, and I’ve experienced other works of his, but nothing as deeply disturbing as this. The movie of the same name is an excellent adaptation, though it’s more up front about what’s happening than the book is. The slow reveal of Hailsham’s true purpose shocked me, troubled me, and hasn’t let me go. I suppose the title couldn’t be more perfect.
DIGITAL MIMIMALISM by Cal Newport
Cal Newport is always on my best of list when he has a book out, mostly because I admire how he stares into the digital abyss and finds a path for us mere mortals to navigate. I appreciate the thought behind this book—how can we find ways to make the internet work for us, instead of sapping our energy and creating issues? A wonderful quick read and a solid life plan for those of us who struggle with digital addictions.
STRONG IS THE NEW BEAUTIFUL by Lindsey Vonn
Lindsey Vonn is one of my heroes, and I thoroughly enjoyed this glimpse into how she keeps her body running at world champion level. If you have been dieting, or exercising, and aren’t seeing results (or are starving to death) read this. It’s a wonderful, simple, straightforward way to look at our health, and how we nourish our bodies.
It’s hard to believe… my new novel, GOOD GIRLS LIE, will be out in the world very soon. Because it’s releasing at a tricky time, when many of you will be gone for the holidays, I wanted to give you a precursor round-up. Here is everything you need to know about GOOD GIRLS LIE in one convenient spot! I can’t wait to get this book into your hands. Merry Everything!
GOOD GIRLS LIE will be in bookstores on Monday December 30, 2019.
About the book:
Goode girls don’t lie…
Perched atop a hill in the tiny town of Marchburg, Virginia, The Goode School is a prestigious prep school known as a Silent Ivy. The boarding school of choice for daughters of the rich and influential, it accepts only the best and the brightest. Its elite status, long-held traditions and honor code are ideal for preparing exceptional young women for brilliant futures at Ivy League universities and beyond. But a stranger has come to Goode, and this ivy has turned poisonous.
In a world where appearances are everything, as long as students pretend to follow the rules, no one questions the cruelties of the secret societies or the dubious behavior of the privileged young women who expect to get away with murder. But when a popular student is found dead, the truth cannot be ignored. Rumors suggest she was struggling with a secret that drove her to suicide.
But look closely…because there are truths and there are lies, and then there is everything that really happened.
J.T. Ellison’s pulse-pounding new novel examines the tenuous bonds of friendship, the power of lies, and the desperate lengths people will go to to protect their secrets.
★ Publishers Weekly starred review
I had a lovely sit down with the folks at BookClubbish to discuss GOOD GIRLS LIE, my writing, and other tidbits. Enjoy!
Head to the Events page to learn more about each tour stop. I hope to see you there! If I’m not coming to your area, you can preorder a signed copy from Parnassus Books.
“A high-tension thriller...Alternating points of view raise the suspense, blurring the lines between what’s true and false...Ellison keeps readers guessing throughout."
—★ Publishers Weekly, starred review
"An intriguing plot, featuring a final twist, shows what can happen when hidden truths are revealed."
—Booklist
“Good Girls Lie is an entertainingly twisted coming-of-age tale, pitting the desire for privacy against the corrosiveness of secrecy and taking an often harrowing look at how wealth and power can lull recipients into believing they’re untouchable.”
—BookPage
“Sinister and atmospheric, this page-turner elevates the thriller genre with descriptive writing and well-drawn characters. Ash arrives at the Goode School with secrets of her own. Following an honor code is difficult enough (no lies allowed), but throw in secret societies and overly privileged students, and the scene is set for murder. For readers who liked The Secret History and Watching You.”
—Douglas Beatty, Baltimore County Public Library, LibraryReads
“An exploration of deception and betrayal—and the caring-and-cruelty rollercoaster of adolescent friendships—“Good Girls Lie” represents a gripping read that simultaneously mesmerizes and disturbs.”
—The Free-Lance Star
“GOOD GIRLS LIE is a superb psychological thriller…a deliciously dark, wickedly plotted suspense story…with drama, secret societies, cliques, illicit affairs, manipulation, and, of course, murder, and it’s the sort of book you never want to end.”
—Crime By The Book
"Every facet this author weaves will have you chilled to the bone. Out of all the books you choose to read, make sure this is the one you do not overlook.”
—Suspense Magazine
LIE TO ME is on sale for only $1.99! That’s 75% savings. Get a copy for you and send one to a friend or two.
About the book:
Domestic noir at its best. Readers will devour this stunning page-turner about the disintegration of a marriage as grief, jealousy, betrayal and murder destroy the facade of the perfect literary couple. New York Times bestselling author J.T. Ellison takes her exceptional writing to a new level with this breakout novel.
They built a life on lies.
Sutton and Ethan Montclair's idyllic life is not as it appears. They seem made for each other, but the truth is ugly. Consumed by professional and personal betrayals and financial woes, the two both love and hate each other. As tensions mount, Sutton disappears, leaving behind a note saying not to look for her.
Ethan finds himself the target of vicious gossip as friends, family and the media speculate on what really happened to Sutton Montclair. As the police investigate, the lies the couple have been spinning for years quickly unravel. Is Ethan a killer? Is he being set up? Did Sutton hate him enough to kill the child she never wanted and then herself? The path to the answers is full of twists that will leave the reader breathless.
Buy the book!
Announcing the book tour for GOOD GIRLS LIE! I can't wait to visit these wonderful places and be in conversation with authors Ariel Lawhon, Barbara Claypole White, Emily Carpenter, Kimberly S. Belle, Alma Katsu, and Hank Phillippi Ryan.
Will I see you there?
Head to the Events page to learn more.
If I’m not visiting your town, please feel free to preorder a signed copy from Parnassus Books. You can contact them at (615) 953-2243.
