66 ratings | 1 review | avg rating:4.11

Mary Louise Kelly’s Followers (458)

Mary Louise’s Bookshelves

to-read (5)
currently-reading (1)
read (65)
childrens (0)

Mary Louise’s Friends (101)

Annie

2,801 books | 1,161 friends

Hilary

1,494 books | 229 friends

Leslie

825 books | 76 friends

Alicia Sokol

646 books | 221 friends

Michele

29,844 books | 5,118 friends

Page Gillett

346 books | 41 friends

Allison Renner

3,210 books | 131 friends

Melissa Biickert

463 books | 32 friends

More friends…

Mary Louise Kelly

Goodreads Author

Website

http://www.marylouisekellybooks.com

Twitter

KellyMaryLouise

Genre

Thriller, Suspense

Member Since

May 2013

edit data

Mary Louise Kelly spent two decades traveling the world as a reporter for NPR and the BBC. Her assignments have taken her from grimy Belfast bars to the glittering ports of the Persian Gulf, and from mosques in Hamburg to the ruined deserts of Iraq. As an NPR correspondent covering the spy beat and the Pentagon, she reported on wars, terrorism, and rising nuclear powers. A Georgia native, her first job was working as a staff writer at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Kelly was educated at Harvard University and at Cambridge University in England. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband and their two children.

Learn more
Ask the Author

To ask Mary Louise Kelly questions, please sign up.

Popular Answered Questions

You are welcome to read my full review but since you are answering questions directly, I am wondering how you would feel if I said "well she doesn't look like an NPR reporter?" Since you felt free to drag out the tired trope of "well she doesn't look like a librarian". I thought it only fair to turn the question back on you. Yes, I am a librarian and find the stereotype insulting and diminishing.

Mary Louise Kelly Maureen,
OK, that's a fair point. I didn't pause and think before invoking the stereotype. Librarians no doubt come in all shapes and sizes; NPR report…moreMaureen,
OK, that's a fair point. I didn't pause and think before invoking the stereotype. Librarians no doubt come in all shapes and sizes; NPR reporters certainly do! Thank you for making me stop and think about it, and my apologies for offending you.
It looks like your reviews are set to "private," so I can't tell if you otherwise enjoyed the Jessica Yeo character, and the book in general. I hope so, and either way -- I appreciate your taking the time both to read it, and to write.
Sincerely,
Mary Louise Kelly
(less)

flag

1 like · like
1 comment

I just wanted to say I received an ARC from NetGalley, Your novel THE BULLET was amazing. One of the best thrillers I have read in a long time! Thank you!! What made you take the leap from reporting real news to writing fiction? Which do you like better?

Mary Louise Kelly Hi Kim,
Thanks so much for reading, and for writing! It means a lot to hear from the first readers and to hear that the book spoke to them.
I still love…moreHi Kim,
Thanks so much for reading, and for writing! It means a lot to hear from the first readers and to hear that the book spoke to them.
I still love reporting and being a journalist and always will. It's in my blood. But writing a novel had seemed for a long time like a new and tantalizing challenge: could I come up with a story that would hold a reader's attention for HOURS, instead of the minutes that a typical news broadcast requires? We are all so crazily busy, and if a reader chooses to spend a few hours with my novel, I want to make it worth their while. So in my first book, ANONYMOUS SOURCES, I came up with a twisty, turny spy story and a plot involving a journalist chasing a big national security story. My protagonist, Alexandra James, is a force of nature: feisty and fearless as she races from Boston to London to the White House. The narrator in The Bullet is a very different creature, as you know -- Caroline Cashion is an introvert who's more comfortable in the library than in an adrenalin-pumping chase scene. Imagining how such a quiet person would react to the harrowing, wild events that befall her was fascinating; to me, Caroline's evolution is the heart of the story of THE BULLET.
Thanks so much again for writing, and for helping me to spread the word about the book!
All best regards,
Mary Louise
(less)

flag

like
Comment

See 2 answers from Mary Louise Kelly…

Combine Editions
Mary Louise Kelly’s books

Average rating: 3.81 · 19,778 ratings · 2,858 reviews · 16 distinct works • Similar authors

	It. Goes. So. Fast.: The Year of No Do-Overs 3.85 avg rating — 12,044 ratings — published 2023 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Bullet 3.72 avg rating — 5,957 ratings — published 2015 — 28 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Anonymous Sources 3.78 avg rating — 1,771 ratings — published 2013 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Bullet ; Miss Dreamsville and the lost heiress of Collier County ; One mile under ; The cherry harvest (Reader's Digest Select Editions, Vol. 1, 2016) by Mary Louise Kelly (Goodreads Author), Amy Hill Hearth (Goodreads Author), Andrew Gross 4.75 avg rating — 4 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Skottet really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Jacob Collamer liked it 3.00 avg rating — 1 rating — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Het meisje met de kogel 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Reader's Digest Select Editions, Volume 343: The Bullet, Miss Dreamsville and the Lost Heiress of Collier County, One Mile Under, The Cherry Harvest 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Anonymous Sources by Kelly, Mary Louise (2014) Paperback 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Woodstock’s U.S. Senator: Jacob Collamer (Woodstock Series No.1) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Mary Louise Kelly…

Mary Louise is Currently Reading

Mary Louise Kelly is currently reading

Tuesday's Gone (Frieda Klein, #2)

by Nicci French

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Feb 26, 2015 06:56AM

Quotes by Mary Louise Kelly (?)

“Reporters. Honestly. What an exhausting profession, to be professionally trained to be relentless.”
― Mary Louise Kelly, The Bullet: A Novel

3 likes

“It has to do with how two competing ideas can coexist. How two contradictory thoughts can both be true. Do I regret going? No. Do I regret leaving my babies? Yes.
I speak from personal experience when I say that the following holds true, whether children are newborns or nearly grown: it is possible both to hate leaving them, and to be terribly glad that you went.”
― Mary Louise Kelly, It. Goes. So. Fast.: The Year of No Do-Overs

2 likes

“But my most fervent mother’s wish is just … that he be happy. That he find real friends, and a partner who is good to him and makes him laugh. That he live his life in a way that leaves others around him a little happier too. In the end, what else is there? What otherwise is the point of it all?”
― Mary Louise Kelly, It. Goes. So. Fast.: The Year of No Do-Overs

2 likes

See all Mary Louise Kelly's quotes »

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
The Perks Of Bein...: Group Read-A-Thon February 2015	68	414	Mar 01, 2015 12:11PM
A Million More Pages: * Belladonna's vs. Badass Bibliophiles	731	72	Aug 29, 2015 02:51AM
The Seasonal Read...: Summer Challenge 2015: Completed Tasks (DO NOT DELETE POSTS)	3424	694	Sep 01, 2015 07:40PM
Nothing But Readi...: ROUND II: Team Leonidas	768	283	Sep 22, 2015 07:20PM