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Bookreporter.com Newsletter |
July 4, 2008
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Fireworks and Powerful Reading
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I love fireworks. Always have. For me they are like art in the sky. Usually around the 4th I catch a special about them on television and I learn how the colors are created and how each firework is built, and I retain this very useful information for about three days. After that, I sink right back into just loving the colors and how they explode in different ways. So last Monday night I found myself sitting in a condo parking lot watching the evening display from Disneyland (okay, I know I said last week that I was skipping Disneyland, but this was OUTSIDE the park) exploding above my head. What amuses me is that there were car alarms going off all around me. And dogs were barking. Can you imagine this going on EVERY night instead of just once a year on the 4th? Last night I caught part of the exhibit again as I was driving back to the hotel, and again I was smiling ear to ear and commenting on the way the sky exploded in color, rating each one.
In our area the fireworks on the 4th are dwarfed by a celebration on the 16th of July each year in connection with the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Garden State Fireworks, one of the two biggest fireworks companies, is headquartered in Millington (the next town), and each year they put on a HUGE display gratis for the fair. It's quite amazing.
But my favorite night of fireworks might have been when I was just out of college. My friend Derek Storm had his pilot's license, and he and two other friends of mine rented a plane and we flew on the 4th (actually the 5th since the 4th had been a rainout) to watch the fireworks from above along the eastern seaboard tracking them from New Jersey, up to Connecticut and out to Long Island before circling down to the Jersey shore. It was an amazing evening. I got the idea years before that when Hugh Downs had described this kind of an experience on "The Today Show." My younger son wants to learn to fly, and I find myself thinking how much fun it would be for him to pilot me on an adventure like this someday.
The American Library Association Convention was wonderful. Here's what I love about librarians: they are enthusiastic. They are wildly excited about books and meeting authors --- and they ask very smart questions. They also provide very smart answers to questions. During the Alex Awards panel, Patrick Rothfuss, author of THE NAME OF THE WIND, gave a quote and asked who should be cited for it, beseeching a research librarian in the audience for the source. Within seconds someone chimed up, "Neil Gaiman." It was confirmed a few seconds later by someone with a BlackBerry. Highlights for me included Khaled Hosseini's talk, the Scholastic breakfast, the New Voices and Voices from Other Places panels, and the panel where a few of the winners of the Alex Awards (given to the best books for adults that should be read by teens) were on hand to accept their award. That and the opportunity to see librarian friends and brainstorm ideas made this a terrific five days. I will write more about the conference in the weeks to come.
These last two weeks I read two books that I wanted to get on your "coming soon" radar. The first is THE GEOGRAPHY OF LOVE by Glenda Burgess, which will be out in August. It's a beautiful memoir that looks at love that gets stolen away way too soon and touches on how love can come to us in so many different ways. I cannot stop thinking about it. I blogged about it last week on ReadingGroupGuides.com, and you can read my post here. The other is TESTIMONY by Anita Shreve, due out in October, which I started reading on the flight out to California. Over the next days I found myself stealing time to go back to my room and read it between meetings and events until I finally changed my plans Sunday night and stayed in for the night to finish it. The story opens like this. The headmaster of a school is handed a tape that he has been told he needs to see. What's on it are three boys and a young girl from the school who are having sex. The video is very graphic and the headmaster clearly sees he has a problem. He does not come up with the right solution.
Shreve did a brilliant job with TESTIMONY. It's structured so each chapter in the book is the story as it impacted one of the participants and their family members. The chain of events that led up to this evening come together as each chapter unfolds, and it is just riveting. It brilliantly explores an issue that is no small matter today in this country, underage drinking --- and what can happen as a result. A year ago at the Poets & Writers dinner, in a casual conversation, Anita said she felt that teen drinking was one of the biggest unheeded epidemics in this country. Her comment stayed with me. It's clear from TESTIMONY that not only was she passionate about this, she clearly had a story to tell. There is so much here to think about and talk about. Like my thought that the drinking age should be 18 and not 21!
We are launching a new Historical Fiction feature for C. W. Gortner, whose new novel, THE LAST QUEEN, tells the story of the mysterious Juana of Castile, the last queen of Spanish blood to inherit her country’s throne. THE LAST QUEEN will be available on July 29th. We have 10 copies to give away to readers who would like to preview the book and comment about it. If you are interested, please fill out this form by Friday, July 11th.
Over the last few weeks, we received great feedback from our advance readers of MERCY STREET by Mariah Stewart and I SHALL NOT WANT by Julia Spencer-Fleming. This week we are featuring the authors’ responses to their questions. Click here to see Stewart’s responses and here for Spencer-Fleming’s replies.
Our beach bag book this week is SISTER MINE by Tawni O'Dell. O'Dell is the author of BACK ROADS, which was also an Oprah's Book Club selection. In this book, she tells the story of a woman who must confront her past when her long lost sister shows up at her door. Among the great prizes, our beach bag includes an oversized pink towel with a flip-flop pattern, a floating hammock and a set of beach bag-shaped candles. Read on below for more about the book and how to enter.
For the record my husband and sons returned from their sailing adventure tanned, smiling and full of memories, including those of seasickness in wild seas (which never had happened before). Just the description of what the boat was doing had me reaching for Dramamine. Since I keep up my wicked convention/travel pace again next week with ThrillerFest, the International Thriller Writers Convention, we are home for the 4th for the first time in many years. I crave the hammock, my pool chair and reading. I will grill something amazing...do a party with friends, and yes, seek out some fireworks. You have a firecracker 4th wherever you are. May you find a book, if not fireworks, to light up your world.
Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)
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Now in Stores: DEVIL MAY CARE by Sebastian Faulks writing as Ian Fleming
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DEVIL MAY CARE: The New James Bond Novel by Sebastian Faulks writing as Ian Fleming (Fiction/Action & Adventure)
Bond. James Bond. The suave intelligence agent is back between covers now that distinguished British novelist Sebastian Faulks has added another action-packed chapter to the original 007 canon. You may be shaken and stirred. Reviewed by Kathy Weissman.
-Click here to read an excerpt from DEVIL MAY CARE.
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Click here to read a review of DEVIL MAY CARE.
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Now in Stores: THE MONSTER OF FLORENCE by Douglas Preston with Mario Spezi
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THE MONSTER OF FLORENCE: A True Story by Douglas Preston with Mario Spezi (True Crime)
In the late 1900s, a serial killer terrorized young lovers in the hills surrounding Florence, Italy. He still runs free. Douglas Preston reveals the shocking story behind the investigation that, in a twist of fate --- or maybe revenge --- came to be focused on Preston himself. Reviewed by Kate Ayers.
-Click here to read an excerpt from THE MONSTER OF FLORENCE.
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Click here to read a review of THE MONSTER OF FLORENCE.
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Now in Stores: THE STORY OF EDGAR SAWTELLE by David Wroblewski
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THE STORY OF EDGAR SAWTELLE by David Wroblewski (Fiction)
Edgar Sawtelle leads an idyllic life with his parents on their farm in remote northern Wisconsin. For generations, the Sawtelles have raised and trained a fictional breed of dog whose thoughtful companionship is epitomized by Almondine, Edgar's lifelong friend and ally. But with the unexpected return of Claude, Edgar's paternal uncle, turmoil consumes the Sawtelles' once peaceful home. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
-Click here to read an excerpt from THE STORY OF EDGAR SAWTELLE.
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Click here to read a review of THE STORY OF EDGAR SAWTELLE.
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Our Summer Beach Bag Contest: Spotlight This Week on SISTER MINE by Tawni O'Dell
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Whether your "beach" is on sand, your backyard deck or a grassy meadow in the country, the summer months mean it's time for "beach reading." Bookreporter.com is celebrating the lazy days of summer reading with our Fourth Annual "Bookreporter.com Beach Bag of Books."
Every week from May 16th through August 29th, a different title or collection of titles will be featured with a review and contest prize --- a beach bag stocked with the featured book(s), plus summertime essentials that tie in to the weekly theme. Five FABULOUS beach bags will be given away each week, as well as five copies of the featured book(s) to additional winners.
This week we’re spotlighting SISTER MINE by Tawni O’Dell, a story about a woman forced to take on past demons and all-too-present dangers in a Pennsylvania coal mining town. In a lime green and turquoise beach bag, winners will find an oversized pink towel with a flip-flop pattern, a floating hammock, a set of beach bag-shaped candles, dive sticks, a lime green and turquoise beach blanket that is great for picnics and a blue EZ-Freeze water bottle, as well as a copy of SISTER MINE. We have five to give away, as well as five additional prizes of copies of SISTER MINE.
To enter, fill out this form and answer the following question by Thursday, July 10th at 11:59PM. You can find the answer by reading the excerpt here.
What is the name of the young girl in the narrator’s cab?
SISTER MINE by Tawni O’Dell (Fiction)
Set in the heart of Pennsylvania's coal country, Tawni O'Dell's third novel is simultaneously a study of a community in crisis and a portrait of a tough-as-nails female taxi cab driver who really has her act together --- at least on the outside. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.
-Read more about Tawni O'Dell and SISTER MINE here.
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Click here to read all the details of our Summer Beach Bag Contest.
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New Featured Historical Fiction Author: C. W. Gortner, Author of THE LAST QUEEN
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C. W. Gortner has a master’s degree in writing with an emphasis on historical studies. In THE LAST QUEEN, which will be available on July 29th, Gortner tells the story of a Spanish queen, her tumultuous marriage into the Habsburg Empire, her dynamic relationship with her parents Ferdinand and Isabella, and her determination to hold on to the throne that is rightfully hers.
We have 10 copies of THE LAST QUEEN to give away to readers who would like to preview the book and comment about it. If you are interested, please fill out this form by Friday, July 11th.
-Click here to read C. W. Gortner’s bio.
-Visit the author's official website, www.CWGortner.com.
More about THE LAST QUEEN:
Juana of Castile, the last queen of Spanish blood to inherit her country’s throne, has been for centuries an enigmatic figure shrouded in lurid myth. Was she the bereft widow of legend who was driven mad by her loss, or has history misjudged a woman who was ahead of her time? In his stunning new novel, C. W. Gortner challenges the myths about Queen Juana, unraveling the mystery surrounding her to reveal a brave, determined woman we can only now begin to fully understand.
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Click here to read more about C. W. Gortner and THE LAST QUEEN.
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Featured Suspense/Thriller Author: Brandon Massey, Author of DON'T EVER TELL |
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In 2000, Brandon Massey won the Black Writers Alliance’s Gold Pen Award for Best Thriller for his first book, THUNDERLAND. He has since published nine more suspense novels and short story collections. In DON’T EVER TELL, his newest thriller now in stores, a woman’s dark secrets have a way of coming back with a vengeance.
-Click here to read an excerpt from DON'T EVER TELL.
-Click here to read Brandon Massey’s bio.
-Visit the author’s official website, www.BrandonMassey.com.
More about DON’T EVER TELL:
With a new identity, a new city to live in and a wonderful new husband, Rachel Moore believes she's finally free of the demons in her past. But nothing could be farther from the truth. For the deadly secrets she thought were long buried are now on the brink of being exposed...
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Click here to read more about Brandon Massey and DON'T EVER TELL.
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Featured Suspense/Thriller Author: Christopher Reich, Author of RULES OF DECEPTION
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Christopher Reich is the New York Times bestselling author of NUMBERED ACCOUNT and THE PATRIOTS CLUB, the latter of which won the International Thriller Writers Award for Best Novel in 2006. In RULES OF DECEPTION, his new thriller releasing on July 15th, a man finds himself the subject of an international manhunt and the target of a master assassin after his wife's death.
-Click here to read a second excerpt from RULES OF DECEPTION.
-Click here to read fast facts about Christopher Reich.
-Click here to read Christopher Reich’s bio.
-Click here to see Christopher Reich's backlist.
-Click here to read critical praise for RULES OF DECEPTION.
-Visit the author’s official website, www.ChristopherReich.com.
-Click here to see our advance copy winners.
More about RULES OF DECEPTION:
Dr. Jonathan Ransom, world-class mountaineer and surgeon for Doctors Without Borders, is climbing in the Swiss Alps with his wife, Emma, when a blizzard sets in. In their bid to escape the storm, Emma is killed when she falls into a hidden crevasse.
Twenty-four hours later, Jonathan receives an envelope addressed to his wife containing two baggage-claim tickets. So begins a journey that will draw him deeper into a world of spies, high-tech weaponry and global terrorism --- a world where no one is who they appear to be and where the end always justifies the means.
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Click here to read more about Christopher Reich and RULES OF DECEPTION.
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Featured Mystery Mayhem Author: Tana French, Author of IN THE WOODS
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Released in hardcover in 2007, IN THE WOODS --- Tana French’s critically acclaimed debut novel --- won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel. Now available in paperback and a New York Times bestseller, IN THE WOODS is a compelling psychological mystery. When the body of a young girl is found murdered, detectives Rob Ryan and Cassie Maddox find chilling links to a disappearance decades earlier.
-Click here to read a third excerpt from IN THE WOODS.
-Click here to read Tana French’s bio.
-Click here to read critical praise for IN THE WOODS.
-Visit the author’s official website, www.TanaFrench.com.
-Watch a trailer for IN THE WOODS here.
-Click here to see Tana French discuss IN THE WOODS.
-Click here to see our advance copy winners.
More about IN THE WOODS:
In the mid-1980s, a terrible tragedy befell a small suburb of Dublin. Two children mysteriously vanished in the woods while a third was found terrified and with no recollection of what happened.
Twenty years later, the found boy, Rob Ryan, is a detective on the Dublin Murder Squad and keeps his past a secret. But when a 12-year-old girl is found murdered in the same woods, he and Cassie Maddox --- his partner and closest friend --- find themselves investigating a case with chilling links to that long-ago disappearance.
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Click here to read more about Tana French and IN THE WOODS.
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This Week's Graphic Novel Reviews |
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LA PERDIDA by Jessica Abel
When she leaves her comfortable surroundings in America to live an artistic life as an expatriate in Mexico City, Carla becomes entangled in a life she never expected. Naively thinking herself part of a culture that she doesn’t truly understand, she finds herself in deep in a dark and dangerous world. Reviewed by John Hogan.
THE NUMBER 73304-23-4153-6-96-8 by Thomas Ott
Strange occurrences and patterns follow a man’s discovery of an odd sequence of numbers after a prisoner’s execution. Not knowing what the numbers mean or why they have significance, he soon finds they have formed a definite pattern in his life, leading to a mysterious twist of circumstances. Reviewed by John Hogan.
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Now on Kidsreads.com: THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY Tote Bag Sweepstakes
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To celebrate the release of THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY AND THE PERILOUS JOURNEY by Trenton Lee Stewart, Kidsreads.com has teamed up with Little, Brown for Young Readers to give 25(!) lucky kids the chance to win a Bag of Books containing not only a copy of THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY AND THE PERILOUS JOURNEY, but also some of the coolest books from some of your favorite series published by Little, Brown for Young Readers. In a big tote bag, winners will receive one copy of THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY and the sequel, THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY AND THE PERILOUS JOURNEY, along with ATHERTON: THE HOUSE OF POWER and ATHERTON: RIVERS OF FIRE by Patrick Carman, MAXIMUM RIDE: THE ANGEL EXPERIMENT by James Patterson and VAMPIRATES: DEMONS OF THE OCEAN by Justin Somper.
-Read reviews of THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY and THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY AND THE PERILOUS JOURNEY.
-Visit the official website of the series, www.MysteriousBenedictSociety.com
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Click here to read all the contest details.
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This Month's Teenreads.com Grab Bag of Books Giveaway |
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We at Teenreads.com are THRILLED with the response we’ve been getting to our brand new Grab Bag of Books contest. Every month five readers will be awarded a Teenreads.com signature tote bag filled with some of the hottest books --- and may even include a sneak peak at titles that haven’t been released yet.
This contest period’s winners will each receive a copy of BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO by Niki Burnham, Terri Clark, Ellen Hopkins and Lynda Sandoval, CRUEL SUMMER by Alyson Noël, THE DEAD & THE GONE by Susan Beth Pfeffer, MARLEY Z AND THE BLOODSTAINED VIOLIN by Jim Fusilli and an advance reading copy of VIBES by Amy Kathleen Ryan (which releases October 6th).
-Click here for previous winners.
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Click here to read all the contest details.
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This Week's Reviews
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NOT IN THE FLESH: A Wexford Novel by Ruth Rendell (Mystery)
Ruth Rendell’s NOT IN THE FLESH is a complicated story about finding male bodies that no one can identify at first. It takes place in Flagford, a village that is part of Kingsmarkham, Chief Inspector Wexford’s patch. A long investigation reveals the “the evil that men (and women) do.” Reviewed by Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum.
DEAR AMERICAN AIRLINES by Jonathan Miles (Fiction)
This summer you may find yourself at the mercy of the airline industry, paying high prices and risking canceled flights. Or you may opt for train or car travel and long for a good book to absorb yourself in as the landscape rolls by the windows. Even if you plan to stay at home this vacation season, Jonathan Miles’s debut novel will satisfy your desire for a slim and funny but also quite thoughtful read. Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman.
THE HOUSE ON FORTUNE STREET by Margot Livesey (Fiction)
In THE HOUSE ON FORTUNE STREET, an absorbing, effective weaving of four interconnected stories, acclaimed author Margot Livesey masterfully demonstrates that literary merit and emotional power are not mutually exclusive. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.
BLOOD TRAIL: A Joe Pickett Novel by C. J. Box (Mystery)
Award-winning author C. J. Box returns with a vengeance in this thrilling new novel featuring Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett. It’s elk season in the Rockies, but this year a different kind of hunter is stalking a different kind of prey. When the call comes in on the radio, Pickett can hardly believe his ears. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
THE HOUSE AT RIVERTON by Kate Morton (Fiction)
Grace Reeves was a lady’s maid at Riverton, one of the great houses of the English upper crust, in the years leading up to and beyond World War I. Grace has kept Riverton’s and her mistress Hannah’s secrets for nearly 80 years, but a filmmaker intent on recreating the apparent suicide of a famous young poet who was rumored to have been Hannah’s lover has Grace revealing the truth as only she can know it. Reviewed by Usha Reynolds.
SISTER PELAGIA AND THE BLACK MONK by Boris Akunin (Mystery)
The appearance of a mysterious dark hooded figure has the monastery of New Ararat and the nearby townspeople in a panic. The only person with the wit and wisdom to solve the mystery is the indomitable Russian nun, Sister Pelagia. Reviewed by Amie Taylor.
MOOSE: A Memoir of Fat Camp by Stephanie Klein (Memoir)
The second memoir from the acclaimed author of STRAIGHT UP AND DIRTY, MOOSE is Stephanie Klein’s reminiscence of her lifelong struggles with her weight through the prism of a teenage summer spent at fat camp. Reviewed by Bronwyn Miller.
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Read this week's reviews here.
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span>Poll and Question of the Week: Vacation Reading
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Poll:
If you are going away for a week of vacation, how many books do you bring?
1
2-3
4-5
6-10
More than 10
None
-Click here to answer our poll.
Question:
What book are you most looking forward to reading this summer?
-Click here to answer our question.
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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 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. If you would like to reach me, please write Carol@bookreporter.com. Writing any of the respond buttons below will not get to us.
Those who are subscribed to the Bookreporter.com newsletter by July 31, 2008 automatically are entered in our Monthly Newsletter Contest. This month one winner will be selected to win the following five books: AT FIRST SIGHT: A Novel of Obsession by Stephen J. Cannell, FISHERMAN'S BEND: A Jane Bunker Novel by Linda Greenlaw, KILLER VIEW by Ridley Pearson, MOSCOW RULES by Daniel Silva and SAY GOODBYE by Lisa Gardner. Vada from Anoka, MN was last month's newsletter winner. She won THE BROKEN WINDOW: A Lincoln Rhyme Novel by Jeffery Deaver, FEARLESS FOURTEEN: A Stephanie Plum Novel by Janet Evanovich, THE MURDER NOTEBOOK by Jonathan Santlofer, NOTHING TO LOSE: A Jack Reacher Novel by Lee Child and THIS CHARMING MAN by Marian Keyes.
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.
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