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A publishing colleague recently told Carol Fitzgerald that her dad is in a men’s book group. They are trying to decide what to read next and can use suggestions. They read books like Amor Towles' A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW and are looking for that kind of accessible fiction. Carol recommended BENEATH A SCARLET SKY by Mark Sullivan, but we wanted readers to weigh in with their own suggestions --- and you responded in a big way! Many thanks to all of you who shared your ideas.

For years, I have heard about Lisa Scottoline and Francesca Serritella’s Big Book Club Party and had wanted to experience it to share more about it with our readers. Last weekend, they hosted their 13th annual event. On Saturday, my son Greg and I were invited to Lisa’s 44-acre farm in Pennsylvania to attend the first day of what is a two-day celebration of book groups. One hundred groups attended each day on Saturday and Sunday, bringing somewhere between 500 and 600 people each day to Willow Farm, which is the name of Lisa’s farm. It was everything I hoped it would be --- and more.

This year's Bouchercon --- the world's largest mystery convention --- took place on September 6-9 in St. Petersburg, Florida, and brought together all parts of the mystery and crime fiction community for a weekend of exciting panels and awards. Although no one from our staff was able to attend, we were so pleased that 12 writers and publishing professionals were in St. Petersburg and eager to report back to us on their experiences at the convention. Many thanks to Linwood Barclay, Laura Benedict, Lou Berney, Alison Gaylin, William Kent Krueger, Clair Lamb, Carla Neggers, Hank Phillippi Ryan, Alex Segura, Wendy Corsi Staub, Sarah Weinman and Kate White for their enthusiastic participation!

Author and television writer Rebecca Serle is best known for her young adult books TRULY MADLY FAMOUSLY and FAMOUS IN LOVE, for which she also writes the screenplay of the television adaptation. This week, Rebecca made her adult book debut with THE DINNER LIST, a wistful, romantic and heartbreaking story based on the popular question, “If you could have dinner with any five people, alive or dead, who would they be?”

Three longtime Bookreporter.com readers shared their commentary about the National Book Festival with us. Many thanks to Denise Neary from Maryland, Nancy Sharko from New Jersey, and Clair Lamb from Virginia for sharing their thoughts with us. They each brought a special perspective to their reporting!  

Alison Law is an unapologetic book pusher and author enabler. Host of the Literary Atlanta podcast, she interviews authors who are residents there, as well as those who have subject matter ties to the area, or who are visiting metro Atlanta on book tour. Alison also has had the privilege of interviewing authors or moderating literary discussions at live events like Writers at the Wrecking Bar, the Beyond Books monthly author series, and, of course, the AJC Decatur Book Festival. Thus we are so pleased to be sharing her commentary on this storied festival, as well as her photos, which you can see here.  

Poisoned Pen Press, an independent publisher of mystery novels, was founded in 1997 by Robert Rosenwald (President and Founder), Barbara Peters (Editor-in-Chief), and their daughter Susan Malling. In recognition of their contribution to the publishing industry, Robert and Barbara received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2008 Bouchercon Crime and Mystery conference, and were given the Ellery Queen Award at the 2010 Mystery Writers of America’s annual dinner honoring “writing teams and outstanding people in the mystery-publishing industry.” This month marks the 21st anniversary of Poisoned Pen Press, and in this interview, Robert and Barbara reflect on the Press’s history --- including the first titles they published, the various challenges they’ve had to overcome, and their proudest accomplishments. They also identify the single most satisfying day they’ve enjoyed so far as publisher, the publishing trends they would like to implement (and reverse) if they had the power, and their primary goal for the Press over the next few years.

As historical fiction gains popularity with a broader range of readers, some who remember a time when the genre was shunned by publishers have asked “Why?” My answer is “Why not?” History provides us with everything we need for epic story plots --- suspense, mystery, intrigue, battles between good and evil, love and romance, even real superheroes. (Don't get me started on James Douglas!) With all this, it's no wonder millennials and 20somethings are becoming the fastest growing audience of historically based books and films. Sprinkled with fantasy and time-travel, a great story can capture the attention and satisfy the cravings of a generation of readers who grew up playing video games and reading Harry Potter.

On Friday, July 13th, I attended my first ThrillerFest with Bookreporter.com's Editorial Director Tom Donadio and President Carol Fitzgerald. Not only was this the 13th celebration of the annual conference of the International Thriller Writers (ITW), but this day of programming was being held on Friday the 13th, which was thrillingly appropriate.

On May 2, 2017, the debut novels of Thomas Kies and Annie Hogsett released, and both were first installments of a series. Kies’ RANDOM ROAD introduced readers to veteran reporter Geneva Chase, and TOO LUCKY TO LIVE kicked off Hogsett’s Somebody’s Bound to Wind Up Dead Mystery series. So it’s only fitting that the second books in their respective mystery series (DARKNESS LANE for Kies and MURDER TO THE METAL for Hogsett) would publish on the same day this year (June 5th). To celebrate, Thomas and Annie have teamed up for a dual interview, where they talk about the challenges of writing a second book in a series, explain what it was like to interact with the public as they promoted their first novels, and offer advice to their younger selves now that they have two published books under their belts.