Archives - Weekly Update

Last Saturday, I went to Manasquan, NJ with Annmarie Puleio for an event with Liane Moriarty, who talked about her new novel, HERE ONE MOMENT. It was lovely to finally meet Liane after reading --- and enjoying --- many of her books. She was interviewed by Ann Napolitano, who asked great questions and kept the conversation going. I asked Liane how she kept all of her characters straight. I assumed she was plotting, but she said she wrote more stream of consciousness. Given the book's wide cast, this was very impressive! It was nice to see so many enthusiastic readers lined up to meet her, especially since the weather was amazing and we were at the beach.

On Tuesday, I learned the very sad news that Nelson DeMille passed away. He had been fighting esophageal cancer for about nine months. When I saw a note in my inbox on Tuesday night from his children, Lauren and Alex, I literally yelled “No!’ so loudly that my husband came in from the other room to see what had happened.

Over the past few days, I have been trying to remember which of his books I read first. I am not sure which of his 23 novels it was! Was it THE GOLD COAST or PLUM ISLAND or THE GENERAL’S DAUGHTER? I truly cannot recall. I do know that when I read one of his books, I was going to be enjoying a smartly written thriller that would make me think. It often would have Nelson’s wry humor laced in, especially with any of his eight John Corey books, the last being THE MAZE, which came out in 2022.

Recently I joined a health club as I love to do water exercises --- everything from water aerobics to lap swimming. When we are in the pool before we start, among the group there often is an exchange of ideas --- everything from what we are reading to what we are making for dinner or where something interesting is going on.

One person in the class told me that she is a big reader. I asked where she gets books, and she proudly told me that she uses pirated sites to get them for free. In fact, she uses three of them. I was completely taken aback by this. Today I overheard her mention it for the third time. I have not said anything as I do not want to make waves in the water (pun intended), but knowing authors --- and publishers --- this form of stealing really rankles me. It’s not like she is downloading books from the library, which also would be free but still would benefit the author.

As planned, I thoroughly enjoyed my annual end-of-summer reading week. Lots of reading, lots of floating, and a fun afternoon with some of the kids and their moms from my book group. I think my favorite moment from the latter was their singing “Do-Re-Mi” from The Sound of Music.

As for books, here’s my roundup report. I loved THE NIGHT WE LOST HIM, which will be out on September 17th. As she did with THE LAST THING HE TOLD ME, Laura Dave hits all the right notes here. In it, a family patriarch who was a hotel magnate is found dead at the bottom of a cliff near a home that he loved. While it is first ruled an accident, further thought from two of his children (from different marriages) sparks an investigation. I have many folded-down pages for interview questions for Laura. And I found myself thinking a lot about interior and exterior design as I read it; the locations that she developed sound amazing. I love what she did with her characters conquering their own challenges while also unraveling a mystery. It will be a Bookreporter.com Bets On selection!