Archives - Weekly Update

I wanted to share three very different books with you this week. The first is a book that I first read in manuscript --- the New York Times Bestseller NOT FADE AWAY by Laurence Shames and Peter Barton. It's now out in paperback. Instead of sharing what it is about, I am going to suggest that you read my interview with Shames and our review by clicking on the link above. I will tell you that everyone I know who has read this book has told me it had a huge impact on him or her. When I need a laugh I turn to Sophie Kinsella. SHOPAHOLIC & SISTER is the latest in her Shopaholic series where Sophie finds that she has a long-lost sister. But how can they be relatives when her sister loathes SHOPPING, a "sport" in which Sophie has a Black Belt? Read what Roberta O'Hara has to say about it in our review this week. About a year ago there was a lot of news about Alicia Valdes-Rodriguez, whose book THE DIRTY GIRLS SOCIAL CLUB was a bestseller. Her new one is PLAYING WITH BOYS and again it has energy, bite and humor that were her signature in DIRTY GIRLS. Here the story revolves around three Latina women in the entertainment business in L.A. We love when a well-loved first novelist delivers a second book worth reading.

This week we are going to talk about contests. Everyone loves contests, right? I can see you with your finger poised on your mouse just ready to click. After all, there always is the chance that YOU could be the winner. The following authors each are running contests for readers who sign up for their newsletters (we also are sharing the titles of their most recent releases, in case you may recognize those and not their names) --- Daniel Silva (A DEATH IN VIENNA), Joseph Finder (PARANOIA), Linda Lael Miller (NEVER LOOK BACK), Kristin Hannah (THE THINGS WE DO FOR LOVE) and Marcia Muller (THE DANGEROUS HOUR). Not only will you get information about their next releases in their newsletters, but just for signing up you have a chance to win signed books! Interested in learning more about this? Then click the button that says "Sign Up for Author Newsletters" right above this letter.

I truly loathe when summer comes to a close. Last weekend I decided to prolong summer by reading BEACH GIRLS by Luanne Rice. I had not read her before, but felt the title was just perfect for the last weekend of summer. It's the story of three friends who spent summers together when they were teens --- and what this relationship meant to them. When the story opens, one of the original three beach girls has died and her daughter and her husband have returned to the beach town for the summer. Reading it was a great escape and I confess to leaving two chapters for Tuesday morning so I could pretend it was still summer.