November 12, 2004

Bigger, More Robust and We Hope Better...

The newsletter is coming to you a bit late this week, but includes a few extras as the company that we work with on this, Patron Mail, upgraded their system this week. What's new? More quick links on the upper right. Also, the ability to add links in the text to take you more quickly to features, reviews and excerpts. In the weeks to come we also will be able to share 15 features instead of 10. We're excited about this new format; hope that you are too.

More good news: Last month for the first time we had more than 200,000 unique visitors at Bookreporter.com. Thanks to each of you for reading and helping us to hit this milestone.

This week we are bringing you an interview that I enjoyed working on, a roundtable discussion with four prominent book journalists --- Charlotte Abbott, Book News Editor of Publishers Weekly; Bob Minzesheimer, Book Reviewer and Publishing Reporter of USA Today; Sam Tanenhaus, Editor of the New York Times Book Review; and Steve Wasserman, Editor of the Los Angeles Times Book Review--- who weigh in about book awards and prizes, bestseller lists and what influences readers. Read it to see what inspired this feature.

Thanks to the more than 730 of you who already responded to our 3rd Annual Reader Survey. For those of you who have not yet been polled, it's your chance to weigh in on what you buy, where you buy it, what you read and what prompts you to read it. Your replies will help us program Bookreporter.com in the weeks and months to come, so please do weigh in. My original goal was 1,000 respondents. Seeing this terrific initial response I now would love to see 2,000 respondents by December 5th. May we suggest that you vote now?

And for sharing your thoughts in this poll you can be entered to win a $100 gift certificate from Amazon, as well as two other $25 gift certificates. Click on the link below to learn more.  One quick comment. There are three parts to the survey, so if you only answered one or two parts and would like to finish the survey, please click on the link below to access it.

I love to swim. It's the only exercise I am passionate about. I swam here at the house thru October --- swimming and trick or treating in the same day was a first this year. For most of October I spent mornings wrestling with the solar cover (think of a large piece of bubble wrap on top of the water) and scooping leaves so I could swim. Last weekend I decided this year my swimming is not ending with the cold weather and joined the local Y. I swam every morning this week. As my sons have dubbed me The Queen of Multitasking, I have a new idea --- listening to audiobooks while swimming. A pal once told me that he does this. Now I am not a fan of audiobooks, but somehow this sounds interesting to me. Besides counting strokes, laps and writing email in my head, there is not much else you can do when you swim. Will let you know if I figure out how to do this! If you have the answer, drop me a note.

As promised, from now until the holiday we are going to spotlight bookish gifts you may want to give...or get. This week's selection --- THE CHRISTMAS THIEF by Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark. Here's the story --- the Rockefeller Center tree is stolen from a forest in Vermont on the morning it is to be cut down with great ceremony. Alvirah Meehan, the lottery winner turned sleuth, teams up with private investigator Regan Reilly to solve the mystery.

As I am reading this, I realize that authors have great imaginations. When you and I watch the tree lighting I think we focus on the lights going on, the carolers and the endless stats that NBC will share with us about it. I don't think we imagine the tree being stolen and a mystery surrounding it. I would like to know some of the stories that my favorite authors have written in their heads that surround every day events. Ponder that one and answer our Question of the Week about what author you would like to invite to a holiday meal. I have a list of authors that I would invite. I wonder if they know how well I cook! Maybe I should send my menu and an invite. Wait, is that a plot for a book? 

Lots on our lineup this week...enjoy. Have a nice week....

Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)

Book Journalist Roundtable: Bookreporter.com Talks to the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today and Publishers Weekly

Bookreporter.com Talks to Luanne Rice, Author of SILVER BELLS

LONDON BRIDGES by James Patterson

LONDON BRIDGES by James Patterson (Thriller)

Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

Terrorists have seized the world's largest cities. London, Washington, DC, New York, and Frankfurt will be destroyed unless their demands are met. Alex Cross is stunned to learn that two of his deadliest adversaries --- familiar to all fans of this series --- may be behind the plot.

Read an excerpt.

THE STUPIDEST ANGEL: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror, by Christopher Moore

Reviewed by Andi Shechter

Christmas in the small California coastal tourist town of Pine Cove is anything but your average holiday season in Christopher Moore's latest novel, a not-so-typical Christmas story in which hilarity abounds. 

SAVANNAH {or} A GIFT FOR MR. LINCOLN by John Jakes (Historical Fiction)

Reviewed by Marie Hashima Lofton

John Jakes's latest Civil War novel is set in Savannah, where the widow Sara and her feisty twelve-year-old daughter Hattie struggle to save the family rice plantation. When General William T. Sherman offers the conquered city to President Lincoln as "a Christmas gift," Hattie and the feared general find themselves on a collision course that will astonish both of them.

QUEENAN COUNTRY: A Reluctant Anglophile's Pilgrimage to the Mother Country by Joe Queenan (Humor/Travel)

Reviewed by Ron Kaplan

Joe Queenan, the acerbic satirist on everything from Hollywood films to sports fandom, takes a crack at travel literature with his new book, as he seeks the answer to an eternal question: What makes the Brits tick? 

THE GRAND SLAM: Bobby Jones, America, and the Story of Golf by Mark Frost (Sports)

Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman

From the bestselling author of the critically acclaimed The Greatest Game Ever Played comes this riveting, in-depth look at the life and times of golf icon Bobby Jones.

THE DREAMING GAME: A Portrait of a Passionate Life by Philip B. Kunhardt, Jr. (Nonfiction)

Reviewed by Barbara Bamberger Scott

Author and historian Philip B. Kunhardt, Jr. provides a loving and inspiring portrait of his mother, Dorothy Meserve Kunhardt, an extraordinary woman who brought an intensity and originality to the life around her.

Which of the following books have you read or do you look forward to reading?

Citizen Girl by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe
Life Expectancy by Dean Koontz
London Bridges by James Patterson
Men and Cartoons by Jonathan Lethem
Metro Girl by Janet Evanovich
Night Fall by Nelson DeMille
A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg
Runaway by Alice Munro
Skeleton Man by Tony Hillerman
State of Fear by Michael Crichton
Twisted by Jonathan Kellerman
Whiteout by Ken Follett
Wolves Eat Dogs by Martin Cruz Smith
None of the above

Talking turkey, do you prefer white meat or dark meat?
White meat
Dark meat
I do not like turkey.

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 NIGHT FALL by Nelson DeMille and TWISTED by Jonathan Kellerman.

Please note that our next Word of Mouth update will be on December 3rd.