Dear Reader:

After taking an extended weekend last week, I am trying to catch my breath as Friday came a tad more quickly this week than I was prepared for! Keep in mind that this coming Monday will do the same as we change our clocks Saturday night. One less hour for reading.

A confession --- I brought too many books with me on vacation. I know that all of you can relate. I started the weekend with A THOUSAND COUNTRY ROADS, the new Robert James Waller book, which is a sequel to THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY. There's a new plotline here that I am not going to share now, but note that we will have more on this book closer to publication. Moved on to a poignant title called MIRACLES HAPPEN by Brooke and Jean Ellison, a powerful story of a mother/daughter whose lives become woven together on a whole new level after the daughter suffers an incapacitating injury. More on this to come as well. RUIN CREEK by David Payne was so well done that I picked it as one of the New Recommends for  ReadingGroupGuides.com this month. Now I am reading THE CHARM SCHOOL by Nelson DeMille, which is every bit as good as what you all said it was.

In our current poll week readers are weighing in with their selections of who they would add to a list of distinguished authors that should be noted and cited as such --- a list we started in 1999  ---- called Authors Of The Century. As I write, 492 of you have weighed in with your votes, and the authors currently topping the poll might surprise you. Be sure to check our existing Authors of the Century before voting in our poll --- many of the write-ins were already on our list!

Not sure how many of you heard the news from Oprah today --- that she selected SULA by Toni Morrison as her last formal Book Club selection. While she will continue to highlight and discuss books on an ongoing basis, she will no longer be doing the Oprah Book Club as we know it. Want to share your thoughts about this? Drop me a note at Carol@bookreporter.com.

A read-in I missed noting last week...The Westchester Library System in Westchester County, NY is reading CHARLOTTE'S WEB by E.B. White.

In our own version of an online reading club, I am pleased to bring you comments from seven readers who read advanced reading copies of SONS OF HEAVEN by Terrence Cheng. We plan to do many more of these in the future so please stay tuned.

One quick commercial message. Our success is measured by the number of page views we get to our website so I ask you to click to Bookreporter.com, as well as reading this newsletter each week. One reader suggested that you read the newsletter online --- Bookreporter.com Newsletter. Also, I personally measure your reactions to many of the books we do by measuring clicks to Amazon. As a result, whenever possible, if we intrigue you to look at a title there, please follow the link that we provide or use this one --- Amazon.com. It will help us endlessly in trying to program our content for you.

We are looking for a HIGHLY ORGANIZED person to work part-time five days a week in our New York office from April 15th to June 15th. Our Office Manager/Editorial Coordinator is taking a short break. Tasks include working with reviewers and publishers as well as clerical responsibilities. Interested? Drop me a note and resume in email (no attachments please) at Carol@bookreporter.com

And with that noted...here's our lineup for the week.....

In Memoriam
Bookreporter.com extends our condolences to the British Royal family and all of Great Britain upon the death of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother. For those of you who would like to learn more about this remarkable woman and her impact upon the history of Great Britain, we can recommend two books that chronicle her life: THE QUEEN MOTHER: Chronicle of a Remarkable Life 1900-2000 and HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH THE QUEEN MOTHER: Woman of the Century by Hugh Massingberd.


This Week's Question

Who is your favorite Classic author?

Respond to the question of the week by sending mail to: Question@bookreporter.com.


Bookreporter Readers Say...
The setting of a story often makes a reader wish he or she could actually be there. What country would you love to visit and what book did you read that sparked your interest in it? See how readers responded.


Poll:

As we mentioned last week, Bookreporter.com ran a year-long feature highlighting the authors that we felt deserved recognition as Authors of the Twentieth Century. Our list contained these 48 distinguished authors.

Now we'd like to know:
1. Which of these contemporary female authors do you think should be added to the list for their contribution to literature in the 20th and/or 21st centuries?

Maya Angelou
Isabelle Allende
Jean M. Auel
Elizabeth Berg
Maeve Binchy
Louise Erdrich
Diana Gabaldon
Jan Karon
Barbara Kingsolver
Rosamunde Pilcher
E. Annie Proulx
Anne Rice
J. K. Rowling
Anne Rivers Siddons
Anne Tyler
None of the Above ________

2. Which of these contemporary male authors should be added?

Isaac Asimov
James Lee Burke
Orson Scott Card
Tom Clancy
James Clavell
Nelson DeMille
E. L. Doctorow
John Grisham
Tim F. LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins
Ha Jin
Elmore Leonard
Michael Crichton
V. S. Naipaul
Jack Prelutsky
Nicholas Sparks
None of the Above _________


Word of Mouth
Tell us what YOU are reading and you could win a copy of 2ND CHANCE by James Patterson. Need more details on how to participate in Word of Mouth? Click here. Send your replies to WordOfMouth@bookreporter.com.

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