Every month, one subscriber to the Bookreporter.com newsletter wins 5 free hardcover books! This month's selection includes HORNET FLIGHT by Ken Follett, BY THE LIGHT OF THE MOON by Dean Koontz, UTOPIA by Lincoln Childs, FOREVER by Pete Hamill, CHILD OF MY HEART by Alice McDermott. (See the complete contest rules.)

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Bookreporter.com Newsletter	December 6, 2002
This Week on Bookreporter.com Ready...Set...Shop..... Author Talk: Ken Follett Bookreporter.com 2nd Annual Reader Survey This Week's Reviews Our 6th Annual What to Give/What to Get Feature Books Into Movies: Adaptation New Reading Group Guides Added Question: What is The Best Book of the Year? Poll Word of Mouth: Tell Us What You're Reading	On The Book Report Network Bookreporter.com Past Reviews Past Poll: Which book are you most excited about? Even if you are NOT in a book group, what book would you love to discuss with a group of readers?
Ready...Set...Shop..... Are you stumped on what to buy people for gifts this holiday season? Many of my friends are, which is why I get emails all day worded something like, "What book do you think my mother, father, brother, cousin, boyfriend, cousin (you get the picture) would like this holiday season?" Then I bang out notes with lists like a little elf. To answer some of these questions, we've pulled together our first week of selections for our 6th Annual What to Give/What to Get feature. This week we bring you five categories. Next week, we will have six more. We know what three of them will be, but want to know what others are stumping you! Tell us the person who is hardest to buy for on your list. Next week we'll cover the top 3 most requested categories. Write me at Carol@bookreporter.com. One quick note: I am not going to have time to answer individual mails, so please be sure to check back next week to see if your gift is covered! Want to simplify shopping? Have your family and friends build Wish Lists at Amazon.com and then click click click to shop. If you use the link below to shop, you can support Bookreporter.com with your shopping as we receive a portion of each purchase. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, sponsors are very important to us. Our sponsor this week is PerfectBound (http://www.perfectbound.com) who e-publishes Kevin Baker, Pearl Cleage, Bruce Feiler, Tony Hillerman, Elmore Leonard, Joyce Carol Oates, and many more. Try their FREE e-book excerpts. Thanks to all of you who have responded to our 2nd Annual Bookreporter.com Reader Survey. As of Thursday night, we have over 850 replies! For all of you who have not yet answered, the survey is only open till Friday, December 13th, so act quickly. Need incentive to take the survey? How's this? One lucky survey participant will win a $100 Amazon gift certificate and two others will win $25 Amazon gift certificates. You than can buy something "to you, from you" or use it towards holiday shopping. Our mailbox has been flooded with responses with your votes for our "Best Of" list. From your submissions, we will cull a Top Ten list. Remember, one lucky winner will win ALL ten books on the list. Lots to take a look at this week including 27 new reviews! Onto this week's lineup... --- Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com) Shop Amazon.com with this link and support Bookreporter.com.
Author Talk: Ken Follett Known for his thrillers (EYE OF THE NEEDLE, JACKDAWS, THE THIRD TWIN) and historical fiction (THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH), Ken Follett has entertained readers for decades. In this interview with Bookreporter.com co-Founder Jesse Kornbluth, Follett discusses the historical background behind his latest book, HORNET FLIGHT, and why he believes World War II fiction will remain popular. HORNET FLIGHT by Ken Follett Follett's new one takes place in 1941 as the British work to figure out how and where German radar stations operate in order to put a stop to the horrific numbers of British bombers being blown out of the sky. Reviewed by Jesse Kornbluth and excerpted. Read an interview with Ken Follett, a review of HORNET FLIGHT and an excerpt
Bookreporter.com 2nd Annual Reader Survey The Second Annual Bookreporter.com Reader Survey is open for your voting. This information will help us to program better the features and reviews on Bookreporter.com. This year we also are looking for feedback from you on how you shop and buy books. Consider this your chance to voice your opinion to book publishers, as we will be sharing these results with them. The answers and any information you give cannot be linked to you in anyway --- thus ensuring you of your privacy. Please note that there are three sections to this survey. As you finish each one, you will be prompted to go to the next. Answer the survey here.
This Week's Reviews BLESSINGS by Anna Quindlen (Fiction) Reviewed by Melissa Brown Anna Quindlen brings together an ex-convict, an elderly matriarch and a baby in this moving novel about life and how we should and shouldn't live. ALL IS VANITY by Christina Schwarz (Fiction) Reviewed by Roberta O'Hara Widely celebrated for her debut novel, DROWNING RUTH, Christina Schwarz proves herself to be a writer of remarkable depth and passion as she probes into the mysteries of the human heart and uncovers the passions that drive ordinary people to break the rules in pursuit of their own desires. THE SEA HUNTERS II by Clive Cussler and Craig Dirgo (Nonfiction) Reviewed by Ann Bruns In this fast-paced narrative, Clive Cussler and his team of experts search for 300 years' worth of wrecks as varied as La Salle's 17th-century flagship, a dirigible lost in a storm off the New Jersey coast in 1933 and the famous PT-109. NINE by Jan Burke (Thriller) Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub An unknown perpetrator begins murdering individuals who are on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List and is quickly heralded as a hero, much to the dismay of Los Angeles County Sheriff's Detective Alex Brandon. WHEN THE WOMEN COME OUT TO DANCE by Elmore Leonard (Fiction) Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub In this collection of new and recently published short fiction, Elmore Leonard demonstrates why he has achieved critical acclaim and become a bestselling author. CHILD OF MY HEART by Alice McDermott (Fiction) Reviewed by Rivka Galchen From National Book Award winner Alice McDermott comes an anxious and lovely book of a young girl's coming of age. THE WORLD'S FINEST MYSTERY AND CRIME STORIES: Third Annual Collection by Ed Gorman & Martin H. Greenberg, Ed. (Mystery) Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub Ed Gorman and Martin Greenberg combine their talents once again, enticing and thrilling readers with the best mystery and crime stories of the year, including tales by Jeffery Deaver, Ed McBain and Joyce Carol Oates. THE GOLD SWAN by James Thayer (Thriller) Reviewed by Ava Dianne Day Hong Kong is the star of James Thayer's classy, cerebral thriller that centers on the fate of one building --- a skyscraper that is meant to be a powerful symbol of the People's Republic of China. THE PUNCH by John Feinstein (Nonfiction) Reviewed by Andrew Musicus One December night in 1977, L.A. Laker forward Kermit Washington landed a devastating punch to the face of Houston Rocket Rudy Tomjanovich and, from that moment on, each man's life became defined by the incident and its aftermath. THREE DAUGHTERS by Letty Pogrebin (Fiction) Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman Three adult daughters struggle with middle age and address family issues, finding new strength in themselves and each other. AMERICAN: Beyond Our Grandest Notions by Chris Matthews (Current Events) Reviewed by Melissa Brown Chris Matthews of MSNBC's "Hardball" presents a softhearted look at what makes us uniquely American. DILBERT AND THE WAY OF THE WEASEL by Scott Adams (Humor) Reviewed by Ron Kaplan In this hilarious book, Scott Adams reveals the secrets of "weasels" --- how to recognize them, how they operate, how to stop them in their tracks and how you can become a weasel, too. LITERARY FEUDS by Anthony Arthur (Fiction) Reviewed by Toni Fitzgerald A literary examination of the ego and pride that have led to quarrels between some of the world's well-known wordsmiths. THE CLOUDS ABOVE: A Novel of Love and War by Andrew Greig (Fiction) Reviewed by Kathy Weissman In 1940, England is fighting for its life and a RAF pilot and a radar pilot fall in love in this fine novel that goes to the very heart of war. LYDIA CASSATT READING THE MORNING PAPER by Harriett Scott Chessman (Fiction) Reviewed by Karen Jenkins Holt An exquisitely graceful novel inspired by the relationship between painter Mary Cassatt and her sister, Lydia, that illuminates subjects as big as art, love and morality through the light of tiny, deftly observed details. CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND by Chuck Barris (Autobiography) Reviewed by Jonathan Shipley Chuck Barris, best known for his association with outrageous game shows, writes a tale of television superstardom and cold-blooded assassinations. Read this week's reviews here.
Our 6th Annual What to Give/What to Get Feature We have gift ideas for you! Whether you are stuck on what to give, or wondering what you want on your personal holiday list, Bookreporter.com has suggestions. We kick off this countdown to the holidays with books in the following categories: Jazz Golf Baseball Home Repair (Wait till you see these!) Children's Next week we'll have more suggestions, so be sure to check back! Read our What to Give/What to Get suggestions here.
Books Into Movies: Adaptation Adaptation is the story of an orchid collector, a journalist and the screenwriter, who, in adapting Susan Orlean's book THE ORCHID THIEF, writes himself and a twin brother into the movie. In the Newmarket Shooting Script, Orlean reveals her own struggle to tell the story of the orchid, and her delight that "strangely, marvelously, hilariously, the screenplay has ended up not being a literal adaptation of my book, but a spiritual one." If you have not read THE ORCHID THIEF, this might be a good time to explore it. Read more about Adaptation here.
New Reading Group Guides Added New Guides Added This Month: David Copperfield by Charles Dickens Falling Angels by Tracy Chevalier Fingersmith by Sarah Waters The Good Journey by Micaela Gilchrist Henry VIII by Alison Weir The Last Promise by Richard Paul Evans A Santo in the Image of Cristóbal García by Rick Collignon The Secret History by Donna Tartt Testimony of an Irish Slave Girl by Kate McCafferty The Yokota Officers Club by Sarah Bird Find a reading group guide here.
Question: What is The Best Book of the Year? Vote here for the Best Book of the Year! Our readers will be selecting the Top Ten Books of the Year in both the hardcover and paperback categories. One lucky winner will win all ten hardcover titles, while a second lucky winner will win all ten paperback titles. Here's the criteria: HOW TO WIN: 1) Send mail to Question@bookreporter.com with up to 5 hardcover titles and 5 paperback titles that you think were the best of the year. 2) Each book MUST have been published for the first time in 2002 as either a hardcover or paperback. 3) All book titles must be spelled correctly to qualify as an entry. 4) You must specify if a title is hardcover or paperback. 5) You may vote for up to FIVE books in EACH category. 6) You can only vote once. 7) We will post all submissions. 8) If the judges feel that the submissions are being "spammed" by an author or group of readers (such as the same submission lists coming in again and again albeit from different email addresses), they will be disregarded. Happy Voting! Send your responses to Question@bookreporter.com Read the Best Book of the Year Contest rules here.
Poll Are you giving books as gifts this holiday season? Yes No Not sure yet Do you think a book is enough of a gift, or do you buy something extra to go with it? A book is a great gift by itself. I always give something extra with the book. I sometimes give something extra with the book. I do not give books as gifts. Vote in our Poll here.
Word of Mouth: Tell Us What You're Reading Tell us what books YOU are reading and loving --- or even those you don't. FIVE lucky readers will win a copy of PREY by Michael Crichton Need more details about Word of Mouth? Click here.
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