May 1, 2015

Today I am spending the day at Random House Open House, which is one of my favorite events, thus I am furiously typing this newsletter before I head to that. Their lineup is stellar: guests will include Tom Brokaw (still my favorite newsman), Jodi Picoult (she’s written a second book with her daughter, Samantha van Leer, who also will be a guest) and Emily Giffin. I love these events and look forward to seeing many of our readers there. We’ll have a report on the event next week!

Preview season is kicking off. No, I am not talking about the television upfronts where networks and cable channels tout their schedules to advertisers, but rather where we meet with publishers to see what is coming for Fall/Winter 2015-16 (though just seeing the word winter makes me shiver). On Wednesday, I had the pleasure of hearing Garth Risk Hallberg talk about his upcoming book, CITY ON FIRE, which I am now reading and will be a BEA Buzz title. As I will be interviewing him at BEA, it was terrific to hear him present the book, which is getting a ton of pre-publication buzz. It will be in stores on October 13th. It’s set in New York in the 1970s, which is interesting as Garth was born late in 1978 in eastern North Carolina. Thus he spent years doing research on a place I know during a timeframe where I went to school and began working in the city. To do research, he would go to the New York Public Library and read the New York Times for each day from 1976 and 1977, confining his reading to that exact day from decades before. Looking forward to it --- all 900 pages! I was joking with Garth that holding the book to read will get my upper arms in shape.

Next week, there are five previews for the children’s and YA market with at least three more adult/kids previews to come BEFORE we even get to BEA. While we are furiously making plans for the next few months, I also am looking at a teeteringly high book pile. I need the weekend to organize and plan my reading.

This week, I have been listening to A CURIOUS MIND: The Secret to a Bigger Life by Brian Grazer and Charles Fishman, which is narrated by Norbert Leo Butz with Grazer doing the introduction. Grazer looks at the importance of curiosity and how it has fueled his life and career. By the way, you may not know his name, but you will know some of the movies he produced with his company Imagine Entertainment --- A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13 and the upcoming In the Heart of the Sea. I am fascinated by his stories, and he is tempting me to make some phone calls to get to know some of the people I admire and am interested in, much the same way he did.

While reading the book, I was amused to recall my near meeting with Grazer. Years ago, during the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, Arianna Huffington hosted a party at her home. I was invited; I knew Arianna as I had met her when ON BECOMING FEARLESS was published. I literally knew no one except Arianna. I circled the room twice and still knew no one. Suddenly I saw Brian Grazer, who was the ONLY person I even recognized, and I got an idea. I was going to duck into the bathroom and Google his latest film on my Blackberry so I could ask him about it. I realized I might make a total fool of myself, but it beat standing there grasping my drink like a security blanket. Just as I turned to do this, Arianna called for everyone’s attention so she could make a speech, and right after that I ducked out. I realize now, as I read his book, that he probably would not have blown me off, and I wish I had done it! Here is a clip from "Good Morning America," if you would like to hear him talk more about this very interesting book.

Speaking of audiobooks, Melanie, our Word of Mouth editor, had a fun story about listening to Candice Bergen’s A FINE ROMANCE. She downloaded the audiobook from her local library; it was due back the next day, and she had not yet finished. She was able to cue the audio to “speed up” so she could hear the entire story before it disappeared from her personal digital library to be loaned to someone else. Loved that story!

Speaking of audio, MANY thanks to all of you who weighed in on our idea for a new feature similar to Word of Mouth, but dedicated to audio only. If you still would like to comment, please click here to share your thoughts!

This week, we are delighted to present our newest Women's Fiction Author Spotlight on Mary Kay Andrews and her latest novel, BEACH TOWN, which releases on May 19th. After a disastrous shoot, movie location scout Greer Hennessy has one last chance to find the perfect undiscovered beach town for a big budget movie. Terrified of screwing up, Greer is thrilled when she finds a sleepy Florida town with only one motel, a marina, a long stretch of beautiful beach and a casino --- which will be the perfect scene for the film’s explosive climax. But town mayor Eben Thinadeaux has no intention of letting anyone damage his town’s environment. Unfortunately, he finds Greer very attractive, even if their motives conflict. We’re giving away 25 copies of BEACH TOWN to readers who would like to read the book and share their comments on it. The deadline for your entries is Thursday, May 14th at noon ET. You’ll feel the sand between your toes and picture this off-the-beaten track resort town as you read the book, and you’ll want to shout ”Bring on summer!”

Our latest New Release Spotlight features DANGEROUS WHEN WET, Jamie Brickhouse’s darkly humorous and moving memoir. Born in Texas to flamboyant and outspoken Mama Jean, Brickhouse always knew he wanted a life of glamour. Fleeing Texas and his zany mother, he journeyed to New York for a high-profile career in book publishing --- and plenty of booze. But when his descent into alcoholism nearly costs him his life, he realizes he needs Mama Jean more than ever. Brickhouse bravely takes readers along as he enters rehab and begins to put his life back together, peppering his prose with unique insights along the way.

Sarah Rachel Egelman has our review and says, “At first glance, DANGEROUS WHEN WET is a campy and hilarious account of a man driven by lusts and desires. But the hilarity is just the vehicle for the serious story that Brickhouse tells: that of a son and a partner growing up, getting clean, and facing the expectations of others as well as his own dreams for himself. Ribald storytelling mixes with traditional familial themes, resulting in an entertaining, bittersweet and poignant debut.” As I mentioned in a previous newsletter, I know Jamie professionally, and a while ago, he shared that he was writing a book. I knew that part of the theme had to do with his overcoming his addiction to alcohol, but I was not aware how complicated his story was. In some parts, he truly unravels, and I found myself trying to parse that information with the person I know.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jane Smiley has penned EARLY WARNING, the second installment in her Last Hundred Years trilogy, which began last year with SOME LUCK. Beginning in 1953, immediately after the death of Walter Langdon, EARLY WARNING finds the five Langdon children preparing for the future. As the country moves out of post-World War II optimism, and into the radical changes of the 1960s and ‘70s, the Langdon children begin to scatter across the country and have kids of their own. From twin boys to a rebellious teenage girl to a golden son who drops out of college to fight in Vietnam, the Langdons experience every aspect of the rapidly changing world --- all while continuing the legacy that began with Walter and Rosanna.

Reviewer Eileen Zimmerman Nicol comments, “Not all readers have the patience for a character-driven novel of this scope, and if the thought of occasionally referring back to a family tree makes you crazy, buy another book. But for me, the pleasures and rewards far outweighed the challenges of this sprawling, luscious work. I don’t know how I missed SOME LUCK, but I’m looking forward to it.”

Matthew Pearl, whose bestsellers include THE DANTE CLUB and THE POE SHADOW, takes readers on an epic literary adventure in THE LAST BOOKANEER. The year is 1890, and loose copyright laws mean that books can be easily published without an author’s permission. Pen Davenport is Europe’s most notorious bookaneer --- a literary pirate who steals manuscripts in order to publish them cheaply while reaping huge fortunes. Unfortunately for Davenport and his peers, a new international treaty has been signed that threatens to destroy the underground world of literature. Desperate for one last heist, Davenport decides to steal a dying Robert Louis Stevenson’s new novel. Accompanied by his assistant, Fergins, and rivaled by his longtime adversary, Belial, Davenport journeys to the island of Samoa for a final showdown --- one that may be larger than literature itself.

Stephen Hubbard gives THE LAST BOOKANEER a rave review: “A combination intellectual mystery and high-seas adventure, THE LAST BOOKANEER is a masterful blending of fact and fiction that makes for a compelling exploration of betrayals, schemes, greed, and the business of literature in an age when intellectual property was at the mercy of the highest bidder.”

Practicing physician Oliver Sacks explores the ways in which his patients have come to define his life in ON THE MOVE. For years, Dr. Sacks has studied the brain, explaining the ways the complex organ makes us human. Now, Sacks energetically chronicles his life as a neurologist, beginning in the early 1960s, when he struggled with drug addiction in California. From there, he moved to New York, where he discovered a long-forgotten illness in the back wards of a hospital. With the same restlessness that propels him as a doctor, Sacks examines his love affairs, guilt over leaving his family, and his bond with his schizophrenic brother.

Reviewer Harvey Freedenberg calls ON THE MOVE “engrossing” and points out, “What gives this memoir a unique poignancy is the knowledge that Sacks was diagnosed earlier this year with terminal liver cancer.” A few months ago, we shared a poignant essay that Sacks had written for the New York Times. You can read more about him in this piece from Vanity Fair by his close friend, Lawrence Weschler.

This week, we have two Paperback Spotlights to share with you. First up is THE INVENTION OF WINGS by Sue Monk Kidd, which takes readers to the early 19th century, where Hetty “Handful” Grimke yearns for a life beyond her suffocating experience as a slave in the Grimke household. Meanwhile, the Grimkes’ daughter, Sarah, struggles with the limitations imposed on her as a woman in a patriarchal society. On Sarah’s 11th birthday, she is gifted with ownership of 10-year-old Handful, who is to be her handmaid. For the next 35 years, these women strive for lives of their own as they form a complex relationship marked by guilt, defiance and love. While Handful endures tragic loss and develops her sense of self, Sarah experiences great betrayal as she fights to find her place in the abolition and women’s rights movements. Click here to read our review and here for the reading group guide.

Our second Paperback Spotlight features BRIDGE TO HAVEN by Francine Rivers. In 1950s Hollywood, everyone knows Lena Scott, the hottest rising star since Marilyn Monroe. But Pastor Ezekiel Freeman will always know her as Abra, the newborn he once found abandoned under a bridge. Zeke and his son, Joshua, have watched Abra grow into a stunning woman, but they know that the details of her birth have wounded her emotionally. Her weakened state makes her vulnerable to an enigmatic bad boy who lures her to Hollywood. But fame comes at a terrible price, and naïve Abra soon learns that she may have sacrificed too much to get what she thought she wanted. Click here to read our review and here for the reading group guide.

My latest Bookreporter.com Bets On pick is celebrated poet Elizabeth Alexander’s heartfelt memoir, THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. In it, Alexander relays the story of her husband’s sudden death and how her grief affected her. Using her gift for words, however, she was able to find meaning in her loss.

There’s only a handful of days left to enter our Mother’s Day contest. Up for grabs are 25 prize packages, which includes a selection of five of our featured Mother’s Day titles, along with some delicious Ghirardelli chocolate, tea from Tea Forté and Yardley Bar Soap. The deadline for your entries is Monday, May 11th at noon ET. Click here to peruse our impressive selection of titles and fill out our entry form.

This week, we have another author essay to share with you --- this time from Stanley Meisler, author of SHOCKING PARIS: Soutine, Chagall and the Outsiders of Montparnasse. In his latest book, Meisler focuses on the School of Paris, a collection of immigrant painters who dominated the Paris art bazaar. In his piece written exclusively for us, Meisler further explains the history of these immigrants and reveals how his family history inspired him to write SHOCKING PARIS.

Please be sure to vote in our latest poll, where we’re asking if you usually feel the need to read books as soon as they release. And let us know by Friday, May 8th at noon ET what books you’ve finished reading in our Word of Mouth feature, and you’ll be in the running to win the aforementioned THE LAST BOOKANEER by Matthew Pearl, along with A GOD IN RUINS by Kate Atkinson and THE WRIGHT BROTHERS by David McCullough, the latter of which I am enjoying on audio.

Mystery Writers of America has announced the winners of this year’s Edgar Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, nonfiction and television. Stephen King’s MR. MERCEDES took home the honor of Best Novel. Click here for a complete list of the winners.

With the Kentucky Derby running tomorrow, we would like to draw your attention to our Kidsreads.com site and a special feature for Skylar James’ SHADOW OF A DOUBT. Plucky young Fyfe Flynn lives on a modest farm near the world famous horse track Churchill Downs. When a new foal loses its mother, Fyfe gains a best friend she names “Shadow of a Doubt.” More interested in horse racing than anything else, Fyfe and Shadow dream that one day he’ll become the greatest racehorse in the world. With illustrations by Kelley McMorris, readers will love watching as this inspiring pair fights for their dream.

News and Pop Culture:

Independent Bookstore Day: Get out and celebrate your local indie store on Saturday, May 2nd! Find out more here and come together to support the power of indie buying.

Children’s Book Week and Children’s Choice Book Awards: This 96th annual celebration of children and reading kicks off on Monday. Look here for where events for kids and teens may be located in a town near you. Kids have until Sunday to vote in what is the ONLY book award where the votes are cast for the winners by kids and teens. Send them to vote here. Shara, our Editorial Manager for Kidsreads.com and Teenreads.com, will be at the awards ceremony on Monday night, which also happens to be her birthday!

Free Comic Book Day: Each year, comic book shops across the country host Free Comic Book Day on the first Saturday in May. Read more about it here.

HBO's "The Casual Vacancy" miniseries kicked off on Wednesday night, based on the novel by J.K. Rowling. I must catch up with it on On Demand. You can read more about it here, as well as in our Books on Screen column next week.

"Broadchurch": Tom and I are enjoying previewing the complete second season of "Broadchurch" on DVD, which will be in stores on May 12th. We loved season one, and season two is proving to be just as wonderful. Love the characters, the setting and, well, just everything!

Excellent Documentary: "The University of Sing Sing," an HBO documentary, looks at a program where inmates can earn college degrees in prison. Not sure what I liked more: the classroom discussions or the graduation scene at the end. Click here to read more about it.

Nancy Drew: Turned 85 this week. Must be tough to get old; I still only claim to be 27!

"Mad Men": Two more episodes. I am going to miss Don and the gang.

Factoid: Last week, Diane Sawyer’s Friday night interview with Bruce Jenner had 17 million tuned in, which was augmented to 20.7 million in Live + 3 (which includes views three days later). It was deemed a huge success, and it sounds like it until you contemplate this: As I was reading THE RESIDENCE, which we reviewed a couple of weeks ago, there was a mention that 80 million viewers watched Jackie Kennedy host the tour of the White House in the early '60s!

Snow: I know. WHY snow after the winter we had? Well, I saw that eight inches of snow have fallen in VT since the beginning of March, and ski resorts in Vermont still are running! Hmmm...skiing the first weekend in May and into June? That would be amazing! One year I skied in Vermont on Memorial Day weekend. Loved extending the season like that.

Tom is going off to play golf for four days, thus I am going to be reading away this weekend. The patio cushions have been retrieved from the basement, and the umbrellas are in place. Mom’s birthday is on Tuesday, but as all my boys have plans, we will celebrate next weekend!

Read on, and have a great week…

Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)

P.S. For those of you who shop online, if you use the store links below, Bookreporter.com gets a small affiliate fee on your purchases. We would appreciate your considering this!

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound

We have 25 copies of BEACH TOWN by Mary Kay Andrews to give away to readers who would like to read the book, which releases on May 19th, and share their comments on it. To enter, please fill out this form by Thursday, May 14th at noon ET.

BEACH TOWN by Mary Kay Andrews (Fiction)
Greer Hennessy is a struggling movie location scout. Her last location shoot ended in disaster when a film crew destroyed property on an avocado grove. And Greer ended up with the blame.

Now Greer has been given one more chance --- a shot at finding the perfect undiscovered beach town for a big budget movie. She zeroes in on a sleepy Florida panhandle town. There's one motel, a marina, a long stretch of pristine beach and an old fishing pier with a community casino --- which will be perfect for the film's climax --- when the bad guys blow it up in an all-out assault on the townspeople.

Greer slips into town and is ecstatic to find the last unspoilt patch of the Florida gulf coast. She takes a room at the only motel in town, and starts working her charm. However, she finds a formidable obstacle in the town mayor, Eben Thibadeaux. Eben is a born-again environmentalist who's seen huge damage done to the town by a huge paper company. The bay has only recently been re-born, a fishing industry has sprung up, and Eben has no intention of letting anybody screw with his town again. The only problem is that he finds Greer way too attractive for his own good, and knows that her motivation is in direct conflict with his.

Will true love find a foothold in this small beach town before it's too late and disaster strikes?

-Click here to read an excerpt.
-Click here to read Mary Kay Andrews’ bio.
-Click here to visit Mary Kay Andrews’ official website.
-Connect with Mary Kay Andrews on Facebook and Twitter.

• AMERICAN WIFE: A Memoir of Love, War, Faith, and Renewal by Taya Kyle with Jim DeFelice
• THE ART OF BAKING BLIND by Sarah Vaughan
• AUNT DIMITY AND THE SUMMER KING by Nancy Atherton
• THE BEAUTY OF GRACE: Stories of God's Love from Today's Most Popular Writers edited by Dawn Camp
• BIG LITTLE LIES by Liane Moriarity
• THE BOOK OF JOAN: Tales of Mirth, Mischief, and Manipulation by Melissa Rivers
• CAT AND JEMIMA J by Jane Green
• THE DANDELION FIELD by Kathryn Springer
• DANGEROUS WHEN WET: A Memoir by Jamie Brickhouse
• A FINE ROMANCE (audiobook) written and read by Candice Bergen
• THE GIRLS OF MISCHIEF BAY by Susan Mallery
• GLITTER AND GLUE: A Memoir by Kelly Corrigan
• GOING OFF SCRIPT: How I Survived a Crazy Childhood, Cancer, and Clooney's 32 On-Screen Rejections by Giuliana Rancic
• HOUSEWITCH by Katie Schickel
• HOVER by Anne A. Wilson
• THE HURRICANE SISTERS by Dorothea Benton Frank
• THE INVENTION OF WINGS by Sue Monk Kidd
• LEAVING TIME by Jodi Picoult
• A LETTER TO MY MOM by Lisa Erspamer
• MISS JULIA LAYS DOWN THE LAW by Ann B. Ross
• NEVER TOO LATE by Robyn Carr
• ONE PLUS ONE by Jojo Moyes
• A PLACE FOR US by Harriet Evans
• SISTERS OF HEART AND SNOW by Margaret Dilloway
• SPRING BRIDES: Three Novellas by Rachel Hauck, Lenora Worth and Meg Moseley
• TRUE AND CONSTANT FRIENDS: Love and Inspiration from Our Grandmothers, Mothers, and Friends by Kelley Paul
• WHAT SHE REALLY WANTS by Barbara Delinsky