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Bookreporter.com Newsletter |
June 11, 2004 |
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Enduring Love |
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As soon as a major world event happens our first thought is --- are there books about it to share with readers? The death last Sunday of Ronald Reagan immediately had me making notes on books for our Reagan books roundup. To read it, please click on the cover of REAGAN: A Life in Letters.
The Notebook, the movie based on the bestselling book by Nicholas Sparks, hits theatres next Friday. This week we share an interview with Sparks where he talks about his impressions of the movie and Hollywood adaptations of his books, as well as his views on marriage, which are simple, but poignant. Click on the cover above to access this interview.
The story of The Notebook is one of enduring love. Watching Nancy Reagan this week --- and reading about her devotion to her husband --- we saw an example of a real love-filled marriage. Our question of the week asks readers what book they think best depicts the romance between a married couple. Confession here: I am a hopeless romantic.
Sex, not romance, has been a recurring theme in the books of M.J. Rose. There are readers who pick up her books just for the way she writes a sex scene. So, who better than Rose to write a suspense/thriller where the protagonist is a sex therapist? THE HALO EFFECT is the first in a series about The Butterfield Institute, a sex therapy clinic. Readers have been saying that if you read the first few pages, you are hooked. And I completely agree. Thus Rose is our latest Debut Suspense/Thriller novelist. If you would like to be one of 10 advance readers of THE HALO EFFECT, please send your name and your mailing address to DebutSuspenseThriller@bookreporter.com by Friday, June 18th.
THE RULE OF FOUR continues to climb the bestseller charts. This week we share an interview with the authors -- Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason, Enjoy!
Had a great trip to Chicago last week where we previewed the fall titles coming out. A highlight of the weekend was moderating a panel about book clubs with Sue Monk Kidd, author of THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES and Adriana Trigiani, whose new one THE QUEEN OF THE BIG TIME will be in stores in July. I also got to see Mary Kay Andrews whose new one HISSY FIT will be out in August. See her website MaryKayAndrews.com for more about this.
For all of you who wrote to ask what movie I went to see in Chicago eight years ago when I left the BEA event, it was Mission Impossible. At the time it seemed like a pretty fitting title.
Looking forward to a weekend of reading and relaxing. Hope some of the same is on YOUR agenda.
Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com) |
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Bookreporter.com Talks To Jack Kerley, Author of THE HUNDREDTH MAN |
Jack Kerley, author of THE HUNDREDTH MAN, talks to Bookreporter.com's Suspense/Thriller Author Spotlight Team (Carol Fitzgerald, Joe Hartlaub and Wiley Saichek). In this interview Kerley explains his fascination with the human psyche and a friend's struggle with mental illness that heavily influenced his book. He also discusses living in and writing about the South, and his unlikely, almost fairy-tale introduction to the world of publishing.
THE HUNDREDTH MAN by Jack Kerley (Thriller)
Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
While a young patrolman in the Mobile, Alabama police department, Carson Ryder appears to single-handedly solve the "Adrian Killings." His success brings him a detective's shield, along with political enemies. When a killer is again loose in Mobile, leaving behind headless corpses with cryptic messages inked into their flesh, Carson gets plunged into a past he had tried to forget. |
Read our interview with Jack Kerley and a review of THE HUNDREDTH MAN here.
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Suspense/Thriller Author Spotlight: Tami Hoag, Author of KILL THE MESSENGER and Perri O'Shaughnessy, Author of UNLUCKY IN LAW |
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Tami Hoag, author of KILL THE MESSENGER, is our June Suspense/Thriller Author. KILL THE MESSENGER hits bookstores July 6th.
New This Week for Tami Hoag:
-Read another excerpt from KILL THE MESSENGER
Previous Weeks:
-Read about KILL THE MESSENGER
-Read about DARK HORSE (mass market paperback, on sale 6/1)
-Read more about Tami Hoag
-Read Fast Facts about Tami Hoag
-Browse through Hoag's bibliography
-Read critical praise for Hoag's books
-See our ARC Winners
KILL THE MESSENGER
At the end of a long day, bike messenger Jace Damon has one last drop to make. But en route to delivering a package for one of L.A.'s sleaziest defense attorneys, he's run down by a car, chased through back alleys and shot at. He narrowly manages to escape with his life --- and a package someone would kill for. Now he finds himself suspected of murder, and he's on the run from both the cops and a brutal killer. The key to saving himself and his ten-year-old brother may be the envelope with a message no one wants delivered: the truth.
Perri O'Shaughnessy, author of UNLUCKY IN LAW, is our latest featured Suspense/Thriller author. UNLUCKY IN LAW will be in stores July 13th.
New This Week for Perri O'Shaughnessy:
-Read an excerpt from UNLUCKY IN LAW
-See our ARC Winners
Previous Weeks:
-Read about UNLUCKY IN LAW
-Read about PRESUMPTION OF DEATH
-Read more about Perri O'Shaughnessy
-Read Fast Facts about Perri O'Shaughnessy
-Read critical praise for O'Shaughnessy's books
-Browse through Perri O'Shaughnessy's bibliography
UNLUCKY IN LAW
Nina Reilly takes on the most dangerous and difficult case of her career in New York Times bestselling author Perri O'Shaughnessy's latest thriller. An ingenious blend of forensic science, history, and gripping suspense, UNLUCKY IN LAW pits the tough but compassionate attorney against the most unbeatable adversary of all: the law. |
Read our Suspense/Thriller feature here.
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Debut Suspense/Thriller One To Watch: M.J. Rose, Author of THE HALO EFFECT |
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M.J. Rose is our latest Debut Suspense/Thriller Author. While she has written four other books, THE HALO EFFECT, which will be in stores on July 1st is the first book in her new Butterfield Institute Series.
Here is more about the book, which has as its protagonist, a sex therapist.
Lawyers, cops, forensic experts, FBI agents and CIA operatives are the expected heroes of suspense thrillers. But never before has a series featured a protagonist with the unlikely occupation of sex therapist. M.J. Rose breaks this ground with THE HALO EFFECT, the first book in an innovative new series featuring the sex therapy clinic The Butterfield Institute and psychiatrist Dr. Morgan Snow. A seductive mix of psychological suspense, intrigue and adventure, the novel takes a provocative look at sexual issues through the eyes of a woman who has devoted her career to studying and talking about them.
We are looking for 10 advance readers to read THE HALO EFFECT and share their comments. Interested? Please send your name AND your mailing address to DebutSuspenseThriller@bookreporter.com by Friday, June 18th. |
Read more about M.J. Rose and THE HALO EFFECT here.
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ONE TO WATCH: Elizabeth Brundage, Author of THE DOCTOR'S WIFE |
Elizabeth Brundage truly is One to Watch. From the moment you start reading THE DOCTOR'S WIFE, you are drawn to the four characters --- Michael, the doctor; Annie, the doctor's wife; Simon, the painter and Lydia, the painter's wife. Brundage creates a story that is told in their four voices, and keep you on your toes from start to finish in a complex psychological tale of literary suspense.
The book is on sale on June 21st. Read more about the book, as well as an excerpt. And see a list of our 10 advance readers here.
For more about Elizabeth, go to her new website, ElizabethBrundage.com. |
Click here to read more about Elizabeth Brundage and THE DOCTOR'S WIFE.
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Great Summer Read: CHESAPEAKE TIDE by Jeanette Baker |
Seventeen years ago, Libby Delacourte, the girl voted by her high school class "most likely to succeed," wiped the dust of Marshyhope Creek from
her feet and set her sights on Hollywood where everything that could go wrong did. Now, she wants nothing more than to return with her sixteen-year-old daughter, Chloe, to the small fishing community where she reigned as the town's golden girl. But California has changed Libby. She's divorced. She has a Ph.D. in biochemistry. She no longer thinks the sun rises and sets with her old flame, Russ Hennessey, and she asks dangerous questions like, why are trawlers pulling in horribly deformed crabs, why has the rate of environmental cancers tripled and why are old friends avoiding her like the plague. |
Read more about CHESAPEAKE TIDE here.
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This Week's Book Reviews and Features |
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BIG RUSS AND ME: Father and Son -- Lessons of Life by Tim Russert (Memoir)
Reviewed by Ron Kaplan
In this warm and engaging memoir, Tim Russert looks back fondly on his childhood in 1950s Buffalo and recalls the extraordinary example of his father, a WWII veteran who worked two jobs without complaint for thirty years and taught his children to appreciate the values of self-discipline, respect, and loyalty to friends.
TRUTH & BEAUTY: A Friendship by Ann Patchett (Memoir)
Reviewed by Heather Grimshaw
In her frank and tender first work of nonfiction, Ann Patchett tells of the warm and beautiful friendship she had with fellow writer Lucy Grealy, a remarkable woman who in her all-too brief life faced childhood cancer, years of chemotherapy and radiation, and endless reconstructive surgeries.
TRANSMISSION by Hari Kunzru (Fiction)
Reviewed by Stephen M. Deusner
Hari Kunzru's second novel follows a computer virus as it wrecks havoc across the globe, most notably for an Indian movie star, an English businessman, and its creator, a lonely Indian programmer in the Pacific Northwest.
MISTRESS OF THE PEARL by Eric Van Lustbader (Science Fiction/Fantasy)
Reviewed by Pauline Finch
Like so much classic science fiction that inspired it, Eric Van Lustbader's third volume in his Pearl fantasy series is more about adventurous questing than actually reaching a goal --- but what a great ride it is!
PIPSQUEAK by Brian M. Wiprud (Mystery)
Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
This unique mystery features Garth Carson, a New York City taxidermy collector, and his gal Angie. After a murderous melee in an obscure antique store, Pipsqueak the Nutty Nut, a squirrel puppet that Carson voices, goes missing, and they find themselves entangled in a deadly swing band conspiracy and Soviet-era secrets.
FOLLY AND GLORY by Larry McMurtry (Western)
Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
Larry McMurtry, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for LONESOME DOVE, has written the final installment in The Berrybender Narratives. An epic in its own right, FOLLY AND GLORY represents the culmination of a great and unique four-volume saga of the early days of the West.
IN THE MOON OF RED PONIES by James Lee Burke (Fiction)
Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
In James Lee Burke's previous novel featuring Billy Bob Holland, BITTERROOT, the former Texas Ranger left his home state to help a friend threatened by the most dangerous sociopath Billy Bob had ever faced. Now, in this fourth novel of the series, Holland discovers that jail cells have revolving doors and that the government he had sworn to serve may have become his enemy.
LIVE BAIT by P. J. Tracy (Mystery)
Reviewed by Norah Piehl
Mother-daughter writing team P. J. Tracy have done it again in this lively sequel to their first novel, MONKEEWRENCH. This quirky mystery story will have readers hooked from the very first page.
UNDER THE BOARDWALK by Carly Phillips (Contemporary Romance)
Reviewed by Marie Hashima Lofton
Ariana Costas returns home when she hears that her identical twin sister Zoe is missing. An adventure soon follows involving undercover work, death threats, and the possibility of love. Written by New York Times bestselling author Carly Phillips, UNDER THE BOARDWALK is a great summer read that should not be missed.
EATS, SHOOTS & LEAVES: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss (Reference)
Reviewed by H.V. Cordry
We all know the basics of punctuation. Or do we? In EATS, SHOOTS & LEAVES, former editor Lynne Truss dares to say that it is time to look at our commas and semicolons and see them as the wonderful and necessary things they are.
ON PARADISE DRIVE: How We Live Now (And Always Have) in the Future Tense by David Brooks (Social Science)
Reviewed by Ron Kaplan
David Brooks, author of the acclaimed bestseller BOBOS IN PARADISE, which hilariously described the upscale American culture, takes a witty look at how being American shapes us, and how America's suburban civilization will shape the world's future.
THE BOTOX DIARIES by Janice Kaplan & Lynn Schnurnberger (Fiction)
Reviewed by Jocelyn Maeve Kelley
Lynn Schnurnberger and Janice Kaplan have written a humorous novel about best friends in their 40s and how they handle the constant demands of being a woman, a mother, a wife, an ex-wife, and a friend.
BOBBED HAIR AND BATHTUB GIN: Writers Running Wild in the Twenties by Marion Meade (Literary Criticism and Collections)
Reviewed by Bob Rhubart
In this exuberant new work, Marion Meade presents a portrait of four extraordinary writers --- Dorothy Parker, Zelda Fitzgerald, Edna St. Vincent Millay and Edna Ferber --- whose loves, lives and literary endeavors embodied the spirit of the 1920s.
ICE RUN: An Alex McKnight Novel by Steven Hamilton (Mystery)
Reviewed by Andi Shechter
Alex McKnight is in love. Even though he met Natalie Reynaud, an officer from the Ontario Provincial Police, under difficult circumstances, they share a common bond of solitude, as well as the same nightmare --- they are both cops who buried their partners. But Natalie has her own fears to deal with, and her own secrets.
SOMETHING BORROWED by Emily Giffin (Chick Lit)
Reviewed by Melissa Palmer
One night, after too many drinks at a party, a young attorney named Rachel ends up in bed with her friend Darcy's fiancé. Although she is determined to put the one-night fling behind her, Rachel is horrified to discover that she has genuine feelings for the guy. As the September wedding date nears, Rachel knows she has to make a choice. |
Read the reviews and features here.
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Poll: Which of these books are you most looking forward to reading? |
Which of the following books have you read, are you reading or are you looking forward to reading? (Please check as many as apply.)
Cold Case Squad by Edna Buchanan
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim: Essays by David Sedaris
The Drowning Tree by Carol Goodman
The Enemy by Lee Child
Kill the Messenger by Tami Hoag
Killer Smile by Lisa Scottoline
Monday Mourning by Kathy Reichs
Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination by Helen Fielding
The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason
Sam's Letters to Jennifer by James Patterson
Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories by Chuck Palahniuk
Ten Big Ones: A Stephanie Plum Novel by Janet Evanovich
The Things We Do for Love by Kristin Hannah
Unlucky in Law by Perri O'Shaughnessy
I am not interested in reading any of these books. |
Answer the Poll here.
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Question of the Week: What book do you think best depicts the romance between a married couple? |
Our question of the month was inspired both by watching Nancy Reagan at her husband's funeral and by thinking about the movie, The Notebook, based on the bestselling book by Nicholas Sparks, which is in theatres on June 25th.
What book do you think best depicts the romance between a married couple?
Our next question update will be on July 1st. |
Answer the Question of the Week.
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Word of Mouth: Tell Us What You're Reading -- TWO Prizes! |
Tell us what books YOU are reading and loving --- or even those you don't.
This week we have some great prizes: FIVE readers each will win a copy of COLD CASE SQUAD by Edna Buchanan and TRANSMISSION by Hari Kunzru. Please note that our next Word of Mouth update will be on July 1st. |
Need more details about Word of Mouth? Click here.
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As always, here are a few housekeeping notes. If you are seeing this newsletter in a text version, and would prefer to see the graphics, you can either read it online (see the link on the upper right) or change your preferences below.
Those of you who wish to send mail to Bookreporter.com, please see the form on the Write to Us page. We were forced to move to this format after we were inundated with SPAM at the other address. If you would like to reach me, please write Carol@bookreporter.com. Writing any of the respond buttons below will not get to us.
Quick observation --- we have noticed that many of you have been changing your Internet providers in the past month. If you do, please be sure to "take us along" by signing up for the newsletter in your new name!
Happy reading! Don't forget to forward this newsletter to a friend or to visit our other websites from TheBookReportNetwork.com: ReadingGroupGuides.com, AuthorsOnTheWeb.com, FaithfulReader.com, AuthorYellowPages.com, Teenreads.com, and Kidsreads.com.
--- Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)
The Book Report Network
250 W. 57th Street - Suite 1228
New York, New York 10107 |
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