January 6, 2012

Happy New Year! A few weeks without writing you has felt rather strange. Over the break, I kept making note of little nuggets of information to share with you.

First up. This year I bought bulbs for amaryllis plants that the garden center said were to have HUGE double flowers on them. They did not lie! As you can see in the photo above, these are just spectacular blooms. That was ONE flower, and the plant has had SIX of those with more to come. This plant is the bane of my husband’s existence! We brought it to the house on the Outer Banks --- and back. He was using adjectives I will not share here to describe this bit of flowering splendor as we found a “safe” place for it in the car in both directions. There were moments I thought it was me or the plant! He just assured me that this was a very good interpretation of the situation.

On the one rainy day of the trip, we went to the movies where I indulged in some Books on Screen reporting. First up, my husband and I saw The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; the boys opted to sleep til noon instead of joining us. We both had read the books and had seen the Swedish films. I had been a tad hesitant to see this latest version thinking it would be a letdown after the Swedish ones, which had been so “un-Hollywood.” So I was very pleasantly surprised with the latest versions, and it was not just because Daniel Craig was starring. It was a new visual interpretation of the story with some other changes as well. I liked seeing the story a new way. We also saw War Horse, which was very well done. My sons did not find the story “believable,” but I found it appealing. There still are plenty of movies on my list that I want to see.

Our Books on Screen feature for January has been updated. And we not only share films, but also programming like "Downton Abbey", which has a new season starting on Sunday, and "The Firm", which begins airing as a television series on Sunday at 9 pm ET/PT on NBC.

I love to cook, and thus vacations in a house with a great kitchen mean I can spend time in the kitchen. The photo above is of the spices that I brought with me to be sure I had everything I needed for cooking. I know, over the top! But I had a great time cooking everything from Dr. Pepper Ribs from the THE HOMESICK TEXAN COOKBOOK to the Holiday Ham from HeadButler.com. We watched three marathons of "Chopped" on Food Network. Greg got home from the beach a day before us and complained that there was no food. I told him after watching all those "Chopped" episodes, he should be able to fill a basket with four items from the pantry and whip up a meal.

There was lots of time for reading this trip. The roundup of titles included THE INNOCENTS by Francesca Segal (June 5th), THE RULES OF INHERITANCE by Claire Bidwell Smith (February 2nd), NO ONE IS HERE EXCEPT ALL OF US by Ramona Ausubel (February 2nd), STEVE JOBS by Walter Issacson, PARIS IN LOVE by Eloisa James (April 17th) and THE WOMAN AT THE LIGHT by Joanna Brady (coming in July). More on all of these in a blog next week!

Greg did some bookstore touring while we were away, hitting Buxton Village Books in Buxton and Books to be Red on the island of Ocracoke. He loved talking about our websites with folks there. He’s now off sailing on the Queen Mary 2 to the UK. He called excitedly from the ship when it was still in the harbor to tell me that LEFT NEGLECTED by Lisa Genova was the on-board book group selection for this portion of the voyage. He loved that one of our Bookreporter.com Bets On selections was one of the titles. By the way, Amy from Canton, Georgia, was our Grand Prize winner of the Bookreporter.com Bets On Contest that ended today. You can see the other 16 winners of single titles here.

Today also was the last day of our Author Holiday Blogs! We got so many notes from you about how you enjoyed this series. Soooo many great posts. If you have not had a chance to read these before, take a moment to read them now. One of my favorite comments was from a reader named Carlie who said, “I really enjoyed this blog-entries-from-authors series. It was like internet literary stocking stuffers!”

This week we are featuring an interview with Jeffrey Zaslow, author of THE MAGIC ROOM: A Story About the Love We Wish for Our Daughters. It weaves the story of Becker’s Bridal, a bridal shop in Fowler, Michigan, with a broader examination of how women today approach marriage. In his interview, Zaslow discusses his experience researching the book, and how he goes about writing of the emotional lives of women.

And of course, a new month means a brand new New in Paperback roundup! This month’s list includes some great titles, including BURIED SECRETS, Joseph Finder's second novel featuring "private spy" Nick Heller; Tina Fey’s memoir BOSSYPANTS; and Sarah Addison Allen’s THE PEACH KEEPER, a tale of uncovering skeletons in the family orchard. If you missed these in hardcover, pick them up now!

We also have a new Poll and Question for you this week. This time we want to know about the eReaders in your life: whether you received any over the holidays, and what you did with them! And, as always, enter our Word of Mouth contest by telling us about what you are reading now and you could win three books: BOND GIRL by Erin Duffy, THE ORPHAN MASTER'S SON by Adam Johnson and THE ROPE: An Anna Pigeon Novel by Nevada Barr.

Just a heads up: We now are asking you to list your addresses when you enter our Word of Mouth contests. This way it will be MUCH easier for us to get the lucky winners their prize books by saving a step and not having to write to ask you for your information. Soooo many times it has taken forever to hear back from winners! Have no fear. We will not publish your personal information or use it for any other purposes. Just to award prizes!

Polish off that lucky rabbit’s foot, readers --- we have THREE new contests coming your way next week on Bookreporter.com! The titles are HOME FRONT by Kristin Hannah, DEFENDING JACOB by William Landay and THE LEGACY OF EDEN by Nelle Davy. Warm up your mouse to enter contests next week!

Also, we are not the only ones talking about historical fiction author Eva Stachniak, who wrote THE WINTER PALACE, with wild enthusiasm. THE WINTER PALACE is featured on Oprah.com’s “16 Books to Watch For in January 2012,” and the Sacramento Bee reviewer Allen Pierleoni called the book “Scandalous stuff, but oh, so fun.” For those of you who don’t know, THE WINTER PALACE is the story of Russian Empress Catherine the Great’s rise to power from the perspective of one of her servants. We’ll have our review and interview next week

Have you entered yet to be a Book Giver for World Book Night, which will take place on April 23, 2012 --- a night of book celebration in the U.S., UK and Ireland? During World Book Night, 50,000 people, named as “book givers,” each will be giving away 20 books from a select list with a goal to have 1,000,000 people across the United States alone celebrating reading en masse. There will be 25 adult books and 5 young adult titles given away. Sign up here by February 1st to apply to be a “book giver.” We want our readers to be part of this very special night in a BIG way. You can see the complete list of titles that includes books from authors like Jodi Picoult, Michael Connelly, Barbara Kingsolver and Junot Diaz, among others, here.

One sad note this week. Many of you may have seen the story that's made national news about Jack Jablonski, the 16-year-old hockey player from Minneapolis who was paralyzed during an accident on the ice last Friday. It’s one of those heartbreaking stories that usually is about someone you do not know. This time it’s different. Jack is the son of my friend, Leslie, who I have known since back in my days at Mademoiselle. We’ve kept in touch through the years --- much of the Mlle crowd stays in touch --- and in fact her Christmas card was sitting on my counter at the house when I heard the news.

I immediately thought of what I had learned about spinal injuries from memoirs that I have read, like STILL ME and NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE: Reflections on a New Life by Christopher Reeve, THE BROOKE ELLISON STORY: One Mother, One Daughter, One Journey by Brooke Ellison and Jean Ellison, and RESCUING JEFFREY by Richard Galli. And one of our reviewers, Steve Hubbard, who is an ardent hockey player, and fan, told me about another book, ELEVEN SECONDS by Travis Roy with E.M. Swift. Jack and his family have a long road ahead of them. As Leslie said, “It’s a marathon, not a sprint.” Definitely lots of thoughts and prayers headed to the Midwest this week from all over the world! Please join me and send some of your own their way.

This weekend, I am tackling putting away the Christmas decorations. But this year, I am vowing to make this exercise a lot more organized than it has been the past few years. I keep buying wrapping paper, colorful bags and cookie tins when I already have these tucked away in the attic. Thus today, Ingrid, our amazing housekeeper, brought EVERYTHING Christmas into one part of the house, and this weekend I am going to sort it all logically into bins and label them. My inspiration? Candy Spelling. You can laugh. I am too. I watched "Selling Spelling Manor" on HGTV, and the sheer organization of this woman in her 56,000-square-foot house was like a cheerleading session for me.

I also have a number of terrific books lined up for reading; it's going to be a fabulous spring and summer for readers. Now I am reading PURE by Julianna Baggott, an absolutely wonderful post-apocalyptic work that I am loving. And I usually am not enamored with this kind of a book, but I cannot put it down. More on it next week, along with a blog of what I read over the holidays that I did not have time to get to this week.

Read on…and here’s to a great week of reading. And it's really nice to be back writing to you!

Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)

77 SHADOW STREET by Dean Koontz (Supernatural Thriller/Horror)
Once the dream home of a tycoon, the Pendleton is now a luxury apartment building, a sanctuary for its privileged inhabitants. They are unaware of the building’s dark history --- episodes of madness, suicide, mass murder, and whispers of things far worse. Reviewed by Ray Palen.

-Click here to read an excerpt.
 

PRIVATE: #1 SUSPECT by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro (Thriller)
Since former Marine Jack Morgan started Private, it has become the world's most effective investigation firm. But when his former lover is found murdered in Jack’s bed, he is instantly the number one suspect. Meanwhile, the mob strong-arms him into recovering $30 million in stolen pharmaceuticals. And the beautiful manager of a luxury hotel chain persuades him to investigate a string of murders at her properties. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

-Click here to read an excerpt.
 

THE HOUSE AT TYNEFORD by Natasha Solomons (Historical Romance)
It's the spring of 1938 and no longer safe to be a Jew in Vienna. Nineteen-year-old Elise Landau is forced to leave her glittering life of parties and champagne to become a parlor maid in England. She arrives at Tyneford, the great house on the bay. But war is coming, and the world is changing. When the master of Tyneford's young son, Kit, returns home, he and Elise strike up an unlikely friendship that will transform Tyneford --- and Elise --- forever.
 

Poll:

Did you get an eReader over the holidays, or did you already have one? Please check as many as apply.

Yes, I received a Kindle.
Yes, I received a Nook.
Yes, I received an iPad.
Yes, I received another eReader device.
I already had an iPad.
I already had a Nook.
I already had a Kindle.
I already had another eReader device.
I am thinking about getting an eReader.
I have no interest in getting an eReader.
I am not sure how I feel about eReaders.

If you did receive an eReader for the holidays, what did you do with it?

I started downloading books immediately!
I played around with it, but have not downloaded any books yet.
I opened it but haven't used it yet.
It's still sitting in the box.
I re-gifted it.

-Click here to answer the poll.


Question:

If you got an eReader this holiday season, what was the first book or short story that you downloaded? Name up to three.

-Click here to answer the question.