July 31, 2009

“Gee but it’s great to be back home.” There’s a little more jetlag to work through. (I think I am up to western Pennsylvania on my way east.) I am getting caught up.

Last week at San Diego Comic-Con I perfected what I am calling the four-pocket system with my phone, BlackBerry, camera and wallet (with business cards/credit card/ID and cash for overpriced convention food) tucked into my jeans pockets. Thus, I was in ready mode for most of what happened on the floor. Though I was not dressed in costume in keeping with a comic theme, I felt like I had my own version of Quick Draw McGraw going with all my devices. Remember him? For the record, I posted what I think were the best costumes of Comic-Con here, including some lovely ladies who showed me where to store a phone, etc. when you have no pockets. You drop them in your boots. Of course, if I was wearing those boots I would be in traction.

For those of you curious about our take on Comic-Con, we have a complete report here, and a report on a panel where I saw Ray Bradbury is here.

In my rush to write while on the road last week (there is nothing like writing under pressure in a hotel room at 6:30 AM to make me forget things), I failed to note the passing of Frank McCourt, though we had a tribute to him on the homepage of Bookreporter.com. I had the pleasure of spending time with Frank on many occasions through the years. Besides being a gifted writer, he was a truly fun person to be around with no ego, a ready joke, a twinkle in his eye and even some rather nifty harmonica playing with The Rock Bottom Remainders. In particular, there were two memorable interviews at the Los Angeles Book Festival where one year he interviewed Mitch Albom and another where Mitch interviewed him. Each year, by the time they were done, they had interviewed each other --- and the audience had laughed and smiled a lot at their banter. Online I found a very funny conversation between the two of them about Frank’s harmonica playing. It will give you a nice take on just what it was like to be around him. He will be missed --- a lot.

I learned this week that Villanova University has chosen ROOFTOPS OF TEHRAN by Mahbod Seraji for their One Book Villanova Program, which means 7,500 incoming students will be reading it this fall. Mahbod will be joining them for a discussion. I wanted to ask what other schools are reading. If any of you know, drop me a note. I always am curious as to what has been selected. Of course, I am thrilled with the choice of ROOFTOPS as it is one of our Bookreporter.com Bets On picks. There was a terrific piece in USA Today yesterday about another of our selections, THE HELP. I am going to out on a limb here and say that I think this book is destined to be a classic. I am curious as to what you think will live on as classics from today’s reading. Again, drop me a line and let me know. I finally will have time to reply to emails!

A few of you have written to ask if I actually read the books that I talk about. The answer is YES! I read very fast, which is something I am very lucky to be able to do, though it is very hard for me to grab enough time for reading when I travel. Between meetings, conferences, business meals, writing, keeping up with the office and answering email, there is very little time for reading and swimming. However, on the way home I started a book that is my latest Bookreporter.com Bets On selection, THE WEIGHT OF SILENCE by Heather Gudenkauf. It’s a stunning debut, and for those of you who are price-conscious, it’s a trade paperback original! You can read more about why I selected it later in this newsletter.

Also coming to you this week is LABOR DAY by Joyce Maynard. Many of you may remember my talking about how much I loved this one after I finished reading an advance copy a few months ago. Our reviewer, Harvey Freedenberg, agrees with me as he says, “LABOR DAY is a wise, heartfelt novel that illuminates with subtlety and grace quiet truths about the sometimes fractured beauty of family life and the mysteries of the human heart.”

We are launching two new Suspense/Thriller features this week. The first is for Joseph Finder, whose new thriller novel, VANISHED, is the first in a new four-book series featuring corporate security specialist Nick Heller. I love Nick as a character. He also drives the car that I always have wanted --- a Land Rover Defender 90. And he even has it in the color I would have picked --- Coniston Green. We have 10 copies to give away to readers who would like to preview the book and comment about it. If you are interested, please fill out this form by Friday, August 7th. VANISHED will be available in stores on August 18th. Recently I interviewed Joseph about VANISHED and Nick Heller, and it was videotaped. You can see the interview here. THAT was a fun afternoon.

We are also beginning a new feature for Brandon Massey, whose novel, CORNERED, will be available in stores on August 4th. In this book, one man’s encounter with an old friend leads to some very negative consequences. We have 10 copies to give away to readers who would like to preview the book and comment about it. If you are interested, please fill out this form by Friday, August 7th.

We’ve received some nice feedback from our advance readers of UNDONE by Karin Slaughter, which you may read here. After reading their comments, I can safely say that it looks like many of our readers enjoyed this book just as much as I did! Our Beach Bag of Books Contest with CHOSEN TO DIE by Lisa Jackson continues this week, so be sure to enter if you have not already.

Quick reminder to those of you with teens or kids in your households or who have grandchildren, library patrons or friends. We have surveys running right now on Teenreads.com and Kidsreads.com. The Teenreads.com 2009 Reader Survey is open until August 31st, and 775 teens will have the chance to win one of the 27 titles being given away if they complete the survey. The Kidsreads.com 2009 Reader Survey is open until September 15th, and 1,000 readers will have the chance to read one of 24 titles being given away. Please note that anyone under 13 will need to have their parents mail or FAX us a form for them to be eligible. There will be a prompt with this in the survey when they get to the prize section. Their feedback will help us shape the programming on these two sites, and we will be sharing this information with publishers, booksellers, librarians and teachers.

Though I still have a bag packed with paperwork, and there are piles to go to the office in New York on the floor of my home office, I am settling back into my usual routine.

My sister is in town at the beach with her family this weekend, so we are getting together at what my older son has dubbed “the Ancestral Coastal Dwelling,” or in other words, my parents’ house at the beach. My younger son is 14, the age when you are in what I call "limbo" since you are not old enough to get everywhere on your own, but you are too old to be thinking that something organized every day is a whole lot of fun. He has been watching a lot of movies and reading up a storm when he is not chasing the white ball on the golf course. I want him to read THE FILM CLUB by David Gilmour and watch some of the movies talked about there. He keeps changing my Netflix queue, and it’s been fun to see what is interesting to him.

Have a great weekend. Happy reading wherever you are.
 

Mary Jane Clark is the New York Times bestselling author of 12 thrillers, including IT ONLY TAKES A MOMENT, WHEN DAY BREAKS and DANCING IN THE DARK. In this interview with Bookreporter.com's Christine Irvin, Clark discusses her inspiration behind her latest novel, DYING FOR MERCY, and talks about how her career as a writer and producer at CBS News helped shape many of her previous media-based works. She also explains the reason behind setting the book in the historic New York community of Tuxedo Park, gives insight into her daily writing process, and names some of the writers who have influenced her over the years.

DYING FOR MERCY by Mary Jane Clark (Suspense)
When death shatters the serenity of the exclusive moneyed enclave of Tuxedo Park, New York, Eliza Blake, co-host of a television show, is on the scene. While attending a lavish gala at her friends' estate, Pentimento, Eliza's host is found dead. Determined to find out the truth, Eliza and her colleagues discover that Pentimento holds the key. Reviewed by Christine M. Irvin.

-Click here to read a review of DYING FOR MERCY.
-Click here to read an excerpt from DYING FOR MERCY.
-Click here to read Mary Jane Clark's ReadingGroupGuides.com blog post, "How About Picking a Page-Turner?"
 

In this interview, Glenn Cooper --- whose book SECRET OF THE SEVENTH SON is now available in stores --- discusses how the plot of his debut novel was inspired by philosophical questions he grappled with at a young age, and explains how he relied on his background in science and archaeology to enrich the story. He also describes the book's unusual editing process and shares details about its sequel, BOOK OF SOULS, to be published in 2010.

SECRET OF THE SEVENTH SON by Glenn Cooper (Thriller)
Nine people have been slain in New York City --- nine strangers with nothing in common --- the apparent victims of a frighteningly elusive serial killer. Only one thing links the dead: postcards they received, mailed from Las Vegas, announcing the day they would die. But for Will Piper, the FBI agent investigating the case, nothing is what it seems, and the truth is an ancient secret best left undiscovered. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

-Click here to read a review of SECRET OF THE SEVENTH SON.
-Click here to read an excerpt from SECRET OF THE SEVENTH SON.
-Visit Glenn Cooper’s official website, www.GlennCooperBooks.com.
 

With thousands of books published each year and much attention paid to the works of bestselling and well-known authors, it is inevitable that some titles worthy of praise and discussion may not get the attention we think they deserve. Thus throughout 2009, we will be spotlighting books that immediately struck a chord with us and made us say “just read this.” Our plan is to alert our readers about these titles as soon as they’re released so you can discover them for yourselves and recommend them to your family and friends.

Here is our latest featured title:
 

THE WEIGHT OF SILENCE by Heather Gudenkauf (July 28th): As I flew back from San Diego earlier this week, I started reading THE WEIGHT OF SILENCE by Heather Gudenkauf, and from the first page this debut author grabbed me. Why? She dropped me right into the story in the Prologue, and from there the characters drew me through a plot that had me inside their lives and their heads bouncing from one perspective to the next. Though I was jetlagged and worn out when I got home, I could not stop reading and I didn’t until I closed the book at 11:30 that night. So what is the story?

Seven-year-old Calli Clark is a little girl with a story locked inside her. She suffers from select mutism, which means that she has elected not to speak though she is able to. Her silence began when a tragedy struck her family in her toddler years. Her friend Petra Gregory understands Calli and often speaks for her --- and fights for her with others who elect to have less compassion for this obviously wounded child. Then one night both girls are found missing from their homes. And the search for them will bring together two families who both have secrets that haunt them --- and many truths will be told.

The chapters are told from various character perspectives, including Calli, Petra, their parents, Calli’s brother, a police officer who has a past with Calli’s mother, and another deputy. Each will leave you with a piece of the story that has told you just enough to get you to turn the page to see where it goes next. It’s the kind of storytelling that is tough to do as each character in each chapter needs to fit just right to keep it moving --- and thus it is even more admirable to see how Gudenkauf pulls it off in a debut. The power of her writing and the tension in the story is very reminiscent to me of another book that I found equally as compelling when I read it years ago, ME & EMMA by Elizabeth Flock. Oh, and THE WEIGHT OF SILENCE is a trade paperback original, making it a very affordable Bets On selection.

-Click here to see the reading group guide for THE WEIGHT OF SILENCE.
 

Though established as an author and editor of horror and supernatural fiction, Brandon Massey’s first traditional thriller novel, DON'T EVER TELL, was widely met with critical acclaim when it was published in 2008. In CORNERED, his latest novel releasing on August 4th, a chance encounter brings a family man face to face with a dark past he’d long since left behind --- and now those he loves may be in grave danger.

We have 10 advance copies of CORNERED to give away to readers who would like to preview the book and comment about it. If you are interested, please fill out this form by Friday, August 7th.

-Click here to read Brandon Massey’s bio.
-Visit Brandon Massey’s official website, www.BrandonMassey.com.
-Read more about CORNERED here.

More about CORNERED:
In the tradition of Stephen King comes a bone-chilling new thriller --- CORNERED from award-winning master of suspense Brandon Massey --- about a man who will stop at nothing to ruin the life of his childhood best friend.

“The talented Mr. Massey has the rare knack of grabbing the reader early and not letting go.” --John Lutz, New York Times bestselling author

“Massey starts this thriller with a bang.” --Publishers Weekly
 

-Click here to read a second excerpt from FEAR THE WORST.
-Click here to read Linwood Barclay's bio.
-Click here to see Linwood Barclay's backlist.
-Click here to read critical praise for FEAR THE WORST.
-Visit Linwood Barclay's official website, www.LinwoodBarclay.com.
-Visit Bantam Dell's Suspense Book Club page, www.BloodOnThePage.com.
-Click here to see our finished copy winners.

More about FEAR THE WORST:
Your daughter doesn't come home from her summer job. You go there looking for her. No one's seen here --- no one's ever seen her. So where has she been going every day? And where is she now?

In Linwood Barclay's riveting new thriller, an ordinary man's desperate search for his daughter leads him into a dark world of corruption, exploitation and murder. Sometimes the people you think you know best are the ones harboring the biggest secrets.
 

THE DEVIL’S QUEEN: A Novel of Catherine de Medici by Jeanne Kalogridis (Historical Fiction)
From Jeanne Kalogridis, the bestselling author of I, MONA LISA and THE BORGIA BRIDE, comes a new novel that tells the passionate story of a queen who loved not wisely...but all too well.

Confidante of Nostradamus, scheming mother-in-law to Mary, Queen of Scots, and architect of the bloody St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, Catherine de Medici is one of the most maligned monarchs in history. In her latest historical fiction, Jeanne Kalogridis tells Catherine’s story --- that of a tender young girl, destined to be a pawn in Machiavellian games.

-Click here to read a review of THE DEVIL'S QUEEN.
-Click here to read an excerpt from THE DEVIL'S QUEEN.
-Click here to read our interview with Jeanne Kalogridis.
 

Now in Stores: SWAN FOR THE MONEY by Donna Andrews

July’s roundup of New in Paperback titles includes PROMISES IN DEATH by J.D. Robb, in which Lieutenant Eve Dallas faces down a cop killer; THE OTHER QUEEN, a work of historical fiction from Philippa Gregory that examines a different aspect of Tudor England from the perspective of one of Queen Elizabeth’s greatest rivals --- Mary, Queen of Scots; THE COMFORTS OF A MUDDY SATURDAY, the fifth installment in Alexander McCall Smith’s series featuring Isabel Dalhousie, who returns to investigate a medical mystery; GOOD-BYE AND AMEN, a beautifully written novel that continues the story of the Moss family that began in Beth Gutcheon’s critically acclaimed LEEWAY COTTAGE; BOOKS: A Memoir, in which Pulitzer Prize and Academy Award winner Larry McMurtry recounts his life as both a reader and a writer; and THE HOUSE AT SUGAR BEACH, Helene Cooper’s memoir that chronicles her youth and coming of age in 1980s Liberia during a period of political unrest.
 

BLACK HILLS by Nora Roberts (Romantic Suspense)
Time spent with Nora Roberts, the quintessential storyteller, is always time well spent. Every book delivers a smart plot, riveting suspense, and strong, interesting characters. In her latest romantic suspense novel, the reader is transported to the ranchlands of South Dakota. Reviewed by Jennifer McCord.

-Click here to read an excerpt from BLACK HILLS.

LABOR DAY by Joyce Maynard (Fiction)
The small town of Holton Mills, New Hampshire, in 1987 is the setting for Joyce Maynard’s gentle and quietly moving coming-of-age novel. In LABOR DAY, she tells the affecting tale of three damaged people who come together to form an unlikely family. Reviewed by Harvey Freedenberg.

-Click here to read an excerpt from LABOR DAY.
-Click here to read Joyce Maynard’s ReadingGroupGuides.com blog post, “Chance Encounter.”

THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE by Stieg Larsson (Thriller)
Mikael Blomkvist has decided to run a story that will expose an extensive sex trafficking operation between Eastern Europe and Sweden, implicating well-known and highly placed members of Swedish society, business and government. But he has no idea just how explosive the story will be until, on the eve of publication, the two investigating reporters are murdered. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

-Click here to read an excerpt from THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE.

THE CROWNING GLORY OF CALLA LILY PONDER by Rebecca Wells (Fiction)
A tale of family and friendship, tragedy and triumph, loss and love, THE CROWNING GLORY OF CALLA LILY PONDER features the warmth, humor, soul and wonder that have made Rebecca Wells one of today's most cherished writers, and gives us an unforgettable new heroine to treasure. Reviewed by Jana Siciliano.

-Click here to see the reading group guide for THE CROWNING GLORY OF CALLA LILY PONDER.

STORM CYCLE by Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen (Thriller)
On a university campus in Houston, Texas, a sharpshooter takes aim at a scientist. Several thousand miles away in Cairo, Egypt, a man becomes trapped in a tomb. Fortunately for Rachel Kirby and John Tavak, they have a lot more in common than their respective situations suggest. Reviewed by Amy Gwiazdowski.

RUDE AWAKENINGS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT by Laurie Viera Rigler (Fiction)
In CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT, a die-hard Jane Austen fan finds herself somehow transported into the 19th century in the strange body of Jane Mansfield, a proper English lady. RUDE AWAKENINGS is exactly the reverse scenario, now with 19th-century Jane finding herself as an impostor inside the body of a blonde knockout, who is Courtney Stone in modern-day U.S.A. Reviewed by Melanie Smith.

THE BRIDE WILL KEEP HER NAME by Jan Goldstein (Fiction)
Madison Mandelbaum has it all: a dream job, incredible friends, and a gorgeous fiancé who adores her. Days before her wedding, though, a mysterious stranger starts sending her messages implying her fiancé is involved in the murder of a call girl. Will Madison and her friends discover the truth before she says “I do”? Reviewed by Meredyth Temple.

THE LAST BRIDGE by Teri Coyne (Fiction)
For 10 years, Alexandra “Cat” Rucker has been on the run from her past. With an endless supply of bourbon and a series of meaningless jobs, Cat is struggling to forget her Ohio hometown and the rural farmhouse she once called home. But a sudden call from an old neighbor forces Cat to return to the home and family she never intended to see again. Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman.

-Click here to read Teri Coyne’s ReadingGroupGuides.com blog post, “Discussing THE LAST BRIDGE”

THE UNSEEN by Alexandra Sokoloff (Thriller)
After experiencing a precognitive dream that changes her life forever, a young psychology professor decides to get a fresh start by taking a job at Duke University. She soon becomes obsessed with the files from the world-famous Rhine parapsychology lab experiments, which attempted to prove ESP really exists. Along with a handsome professor, she uncovers troubling cases, including one about a house supposedly haunted by a poltergeist. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

HUNT THROUGH THE CRADLE OF FEAR by Gabriel Hunt, as told to Charles Ardai (Fiction/Action & Adventure)
HUNT THROUGH THE CRADLE OF FEAR is the second installment in a new series featuring globetrotting explorer/good guy Gabriel Hunt. Hunt starts out trying to rescue a scholar who has been abducted by a rich antiquities collector. But it quickly turns into a search for the long-lost secret of the Sphinx that takes Hunt on a nonstop adventure from Egypt to Greece to Turkey to Sri Lanka. Reviewed by Tom Callahan.

Poll:

Do you keep a list of books that you want to read?

Yes
No

How formal is your list?

I keep a list on my computer.
I write notes in a notebook.
I write notes on pieces of paper.
I just try to remember what I want to read.
I am not sure what I do.
I do not keep a list.

-Click here to answer our poll.

Question:

What are the top three books on your list to be read right now?

-Click here to answer our question.


Word of Mouth:

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

This week we have three great prizes: FIVE readers each will win a copy of SECRET OF THE SEVENTH SON by Glenn Cooper, THE SIEGE by Stephen White and THAT OLD CAPE MAGIC by Richard Russo. Tell us what you are reading and rate the titles 1-5 by noon on August 14th to ensure that you are in the running to win these books.