January 14, 2005

A Relaxing Holiday Weekend Ahead...

Just when we get back into the swing of work, here comes a three-day weekend for most of you! And it's the first holiday in a few months that does not require entertaining, gifts or other reveling. Make the most of it.

Earlier this week I went to see a screening of HOTEL RWANDA. What a powerful and wonderfully done film that will stay with me a long time. See more about what I had to say about this in the Bookreporter.com Blog from January 12th.

As promised, this week we bring you our newest selection for a Debut Suspense/Thriller Author, Michele Martinez. Her novel, MOST WANTED, will be in stores February 15th. This is one of the books that I enjoyed over the holidays. Martinez does a wonderful job of creating a lead character who is half Latina, but she does not fall into writing the typical stereotypes that often get written when an author creates a Latina character. Interested in reading an advance copy and commenting on it? Then send your name and mailing address to [email protected] by Friday, January 21st.

Do you belong to a book club? Has your club ever considered having an author participate in your book club chat? Or perhaps you have dismissed this as you know it will not work for your group. We want to know what you have to say on this topic. Please answer our Poll on ReadingGroupGuides.com and give us your two cents.
 
Want to begin the new year by reading the books by your favorite authors --- in order? The author bibliographies on AuthorsOnTheWeb.com may help. This is information that is not easily found, but Tom Donadio, our Editorial Manager, spent this week updating and revising the bibliographies, complete with copyright dates to help you organize your reading.

Short opening note this week since we have a lot for you to read...so scroll on.

Have a great week. I am off to watch NAPOLEON DYNAMITE. Jesse Kornbluth recommended it on his website, HeadButler.com as a MUST-SEE! I am trading a mouse for a remote.

Carol Fitzgerald ([email protected])

ALONE by Lisa Gardner: Watch an Interview

Watch an interview with Lisa Gardner where she talks about ALONE, her new novel just out this week. She divulges the news story that struck a chord with her and gave her a storyline to explore. She also confirms what we knew --- she loves to research, but also tells us why. And she  brings up a very interesting theme from the book that both our reviewer, Joe Hartlaub and I missed until she shared it.

ALONE by Lisa Gardner (Suspense)
Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
Massachusetts State Trooper and designated sniper Bobby Dodge watches a tense hostage standoff unfold, as an armed man barricades himself with his wife and child. Dodge ends up shooting the man, thus saving the woman and her son --- but little does he know that his problems have only just begun.

Watch an interview with Lisa Gardner and read a review of ALONE here.

Debut Suspense/Thriller Author: Michele Martinez, Author of MOST WANTED

Our new featured Debut Suspense/Thriller author is Michele Martinez. Her novel, MOST WANTED, is a solidly written pageturner that will have you craving the second book in the series. It will be in stores on February 15th.

Interested in being one of 10 readers to win an advance copy of the book to comment on? If so please send your name and mailing address to [email protected] by Friday, January 21, 2005.

Here's more about MOST WANTED:

Melanie Vargas is a hardworking, hotshot federal prosecutor in New York City with a rising career in the law and a marriage that's on the rocks. On an innocent evening stroll with her child, Melanie stumbles across a horrifying crime scene. It's the kind of high-profile case that can make her name, and Melanie wants in. But what she doesn't realize is that this opportunity will bring her dangerously close to a hard-to-resist FBI agent who may have secrets of his own -- and even closer to a dark, sadistic killer who seems to be one step ahead of her every inch of the way.

Read about Michele Martinez.
Sign up to get news about Michele Martinez.
Go to the website for Michele Martinez.

Read more about Michele Martinez and MOST WANTED here.

Suspense/Thriller Author Spotlight: Richard Montanari, Author of THE ROSARY GIRLS

Richard Montanari, author of THE ROSARY GIRLS, is our new featured Suspense/Thriller author. THE ROSARY GIRLS will be in stores on February 15th.

-Read more about Richard Montanari
-Visit Richard Montanari's website: RichardMontanari.com

More about THE ROSARY GIRLS:
Richard Montanari has written an astounding novel that pits two besieged detectives against a fiercely intelligent serial killer. Relentlessly paced and vividly told, THE ROSARY GIRLS is a smart, emotionally complex, fiercely gripping thriller from an author who takes chances, breaks new ground, and leaves readers haunted and moved long after the last page is turned.

Read more about Richard Montanari and THE ROSARY GIRLS here.

ONE TO WATCH: THE EFFECTS OF LIGHT by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore

Our newest One To Watch author is Miranda Beverly-Whittemore. Her novel, THE EFFECTS OF LIGHT, is beautifully and delicately written. It will be in stores on February 1st.

New: Read an excerpt from THE EFFECTS OF LIGHT

Here's more about THE EFFECTS OF LIGHT:

This richly evocative, poignant novel about two sisters, whose lives are forever altered by a series of photos, marks the debut of a remarkable talent. Their precocity and ethereal beauty soon make them the favorite subjects of photographer and family friend Ruth Handel, whose celebrated images of children involve nudity. The girls are at the center of a firestorm of controversy, with shattering results. Now, 13 years later, Myla Wolfe is living back east and finally edging toward romance, when she begins receiving mysterious communications that force her to confront her past and reclaim her future.

Read more about Miranda Beverly-Whittemore and THE EFFECTS OF LIGHT here.

New Biography: MAY AND AMY by Josceline Dimbleby

A chance encounter sent writer Josceline Dimbleby on a quest to uncover a mystery in her family's past. After talking with Andrew Lloyd Webber about a beautiful, dark portrait in his art collection, she decided to find out more about the subject of the painting: her great-aunt Amy Gaskell. Dimbleby had always known her great-aunt's face from this haunted portrait by the well-known Pre-Raphaelite painter Sir Edward Burne-Jones.

At the start of her search, Josceline came across a cache of unpublished letters from Burne-Jones to her great-grandmother May Gaskell, Amy's mother. These letters turned out to be part of a passionate correspondence-adoring, intimate, sometimes up to five letters a day-which continued throughout the last six years of the painter's life.

In piecing together the eventful life of her grandmother, Dimbleby takes readers through a turbulent period in history that includes the Boer War, the Great War, and the Second World War and visits the most far-flung corners of the British Empire.

Click here to read more about MAY AND AMY.

BLINK: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, by Malcolm Gladwell (Self-Help/Psychology)
Reviewed by Anne Miller (the author of METAPHORICALLY SELLING) and Stuart Shiffman
How do we make decisions --- good and bad --- and why are some people so much better at it than others? That's the question Malcolm Gladwell asks and answers in this follow-up to his huge bestseller, THE TIPPING POINT.

THE MEMORY OF RUNNING by Ron McLarty (Fiction)
Reviewed by Bronwyn Miller
Following the death of his parents in a tragic car accident, forty-something Smithson "Smithy" Ide embarks on a cross-country trek on his childhood bicycle in search of answers to what really happened to his schizophrenic sister.

WITNESS: FOR THE PROSECUTION OF SCOTT PETERSON by Amber Frey (Nonfiction)
Reviewed by Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum
WITNESS is the story of how Amber Frey became ensnared in Scott Peterson's web of lies, and then risked everything to seek justice for Laci Peterson and her unborn child, Conner.

BAKER TOWERS by Jennifer Haigh (Fiction)
Reviewed by Norah Piehl
A family saga and a bittersweet remembrance of a disappearing way of life, BAKER TOWERS is an ambitious and compelling new novel by the author of the award-winning MRS. KIMBLE.

THE MOTIVE by John Lescroart (Thriller)
Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
In John Lescroart's latest novel featuring Dismas Hardy and Abe Glitsky, the attorney and deputy chief of inspectors are embroiled in a murder that begins in the upper echelons of San Francisco society, where money and political influence collide.

UNEXPECTED BLESSINGS by Barbara Taylor Bradford (Fiction)
Reviewed by Amie Taylor
The four great-granddaughters of the legendary Emma Harte continue her legacy as they search for love, peace and happiness in UNEXPECTED BLESSINGS, the fifth book in the fascinating saga of a Yorkshire family that began with A WOMAN OF SUBSTANCE.

PREP by Curtis Sittenfeld (Fiction)
Reviewed by Jane Van Ingen
Curtis Sittenfeld's debut novel is a delightful coming-of-age story that focuses on Lee Fiora, an intelligent and observant young lady who leaves her family in South Bend, Indiana to attend the prestigious Ault School in Massachusetts.

TWILIGHT WHISPERS by Barbara Delinsky (Fiction)
Reviewed by Marie Hashima Lofton
An apparent murder/suicide is the backdrop for this story of the rise and fall of two prominent East Coast families. One investigator finds himself obsessed over this case, as he studies the history of these two families, hoping it will help him solve the case.

THE COMPLETE STORIES OF TRUMAN CAPOTE by Truman Capote (Fiction)
Reviewed by Brandon M. Stickney
In addition to being the well-known author of BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S and IN COLD BLOOD, Truman Capote also wrote a number of superb short tales, all of which are found in this outstanding volume.

THE BOY WHO WOULD LIVE FOREVER: A Novel of Gateway, by Frederik Pohl (Science Fiction)
Reviewed by Pauline Finch
The perennial delight of reading Frederik Pohl is to experience imaginary worlds whose creation and maintenance are taken very seriously, yet discover that the mind and spirit behind them are immersed in unrestrained play.

Poll:  Which of the following books are you looking forward to reading? (Note: for more on books being published in the upcoming months, go here: Coming Attractions

Alice in Jeopardy by Ed McBain
Alone by Lisa Gardner
Baker Towers by Jennifer Haigh
The Broker by John Grisham
Cage's Bend by Carter Coleman
Conviction by Richard North Patterson
Entombed by Linda Fairstein
The Family Tree by Carole Cadwalladr
The Memory of Running by Ron McLarty
Prince of Fire by Daniel Silva
The Same Sweet Girls by Cassandra King
Tool & Die: A Home Repair Is Homicide Mystery by Sarah Graves
Unexpected Blessings by Barbara Taylor Bradford
Valley of Bones by Michael Gruber
None of the above

Question: What did you read over the holiday?

Please note: Our next question update will be on January 21st.

Tell us what books YOU are reading and loving --- or even those you don't.

This week we have some great prizes: FIVE readers each will win a copy of ALONE by Lisa Gardner and JASS by David Fulmer. Please note that our next Word of Mouth update will be on January 21st.