Last night I went to a signing for a book I am excited to share with you --- THRILLER: Stories to Keep You Up All Night. It has 30 original short stories from 32 members of the International Thriller Writers and is edited by James Patterson. I have been reading this one over the past few weeks and am loving it. Many of the writers have used characters or plotlines from their previous work and incorporated them into these original stories. I found that as I read writers I had not previously known, I was drawn to want to read more of their work.
 
At the event that I was at, Eric Van Lustbader, M. J. Rose, James Siegel and F. Paul Wilson each discussed their stories and the genre. There was a lively crowd, one of many across the country, as there were simultaneous signings of THRILLER last night at Barnes & Noble stores in many cities; tonight the same cross-country signing will take place at Borders stores and throughout the month there are signings at independent booksellers, as well. You can read more about the book and find event news at ThrillerBook.com. See Joe Hartlaub's review below.
 
Speaking of thrillers, I am excited that we are featuring M. J. Rose as our newest Suspense/Thriller author. I read THE VENUS FIX a few weeks ago swinging in my hammock on an afternoon where I tuned the world out and just plunged into the world of her character, sex therapist Morgan Snow. The plot here revolves around Internet porn, and while readers will be riveted by the psychological suspense, there's also some strong social commentary here about the impact of this culture on high school students. THE VENUS FIX hits stores on July 1st, but we have 20 advance copies to share with readers who would like to read the book and comment on it. Interested? Then send your name and mailing address to SuspenseThriller@bookreporter.com by Friday, June 16th.

Stephen Spignesi is our newest featured Debut Suspense/Thriller author.
Spignesi's latest work is DIALOGUES --- a complex and compelling legal drama that revolves around a series of murders in an animal shelter. It hits shelves in paperback on June 27th. We have 10 Advance Copies of DIALOGUES to share with readers who would like to read the book and comment on it. Interested? Then send your name and mailing address to DebutSuspenseThriller@bookreporter.com by Friday, June 9th.

In the past few weeks I have been sharing my interest in regional bestseller lists with you. Here's some news --- WATER FOR ELEPHANTS by Sara Gruen that I was speaking so highly of last week appears on SIX of the eight regional lists. I love seeing momentum like that across the country for a title I enjoyed so much.
 
Jen Krieger, our resident movie guru, has updated our Books Into Movies feature with new titles for June and July. Get ready for The Peaceful Warrior and The Devil Wears Prada, both of which hit the big screen next month.
 
A few weeks ago I told you that Joe Hartlaub, our Senior Writer, will be attending ThrillerFest, the International Thriller Writers first convention in Phoenix, Arizona on June 29th thru July 2nd. Well, in late-breaking news, I also will be there. I am going on a three-part three-week trip that trust me will be well-chronicled in later blogs as Carol's Excellent Summer Adventure. Interested in details on this event? Go to ThrillerFest.com.
 
My house still looks like beach bag central. I was shopping the other night (manuvering two oversized shopping carts) and when I hit the checkout I was asked if I ran a summer camp. I confess that I did laugh. I am off to explore the HUGE box of beach-related items that arrived here today. I am starting to wonder what the UPS man thinks I am doing here. All to say, don't forget to enter our Weekly Beach Bag of Books Contest where the featured title is GUCCI GUCCI COO by Sue Margolis. Trust that when you read this one, you'll completely understand the prizes.
 
Have a good week.

Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)

List of titles reviewed and featured on June 2nd.

List of titles reviewed and featured on May 26th.

Naturalist, documentary scriptwriter and radio commentator Sy Montgomery has authored award-winning books such as JOURNEY OF THE PINK DOLPHINS, SPELL OF THE TIGER and SEARCH FOR THE GOLDEN MOON BEAR. Her latest work, THE GOOD GOOD PIG, centers on a beloved pig named Christopher Hogwood, who won the hearts of an entire community. Bookreporter.com's contributing writer Shannon McKenna interviewed Montgomery about the exceptional characteristics Christopher possessed and just how much of an impact he had on herself and others throughout the course of his life. She also describes the difficulties of writing about her experiences abroad, her kinship with animals and their significance in the greater scheme of things.

THE GOOD GOOD PIG by Sy Montgomery (Memoir)
Reviewed by Barbara Bamberger Scott
Sy Montgomery, a writer usually more concerned with exotic wildlife (JOURNEY OF THE PINK DOLPHINS), has gifted those of us who did not know Christopher Hogwood with the amusing, remarkable, poignant and revelatory biography of a pig who started life small and influenced the world around him in a big way.

Every week from May 19th through August 25th a different title in the Bookreporter.com's Second Annual Beach Bag of Books promotion will be featured with a review and contest prize --- a beach bag stocked with that book, plus summertime essentials that tie in to its theme. Five FABULOUS beach bags will be given away each week, as well as five copies of the book to additional winners.

Our third spotlighted title is GUCCI GUCCI COO by Sue Margolis, the wickedly funny novel about babies, sex, celebrity...and daring to date a gynecologist. In a pink and tan cooler beach bag, winners will find a pink-striped beach towel, a colorful and ornate hand-embroidered Guatemalan bag, a box of Tazo Passion tea and tea cup, a luxurious set of tango-mango and raspberry-guava shower/bath gels and body balm from H20+, the latest issues of the delectably dishy British celebrity magazines, Hello! and OK, and a hilariously apropos gift: a book of stamps --- as well as a copy of the book. We have five to give away, as well as five additional prizes of copies of GUCCI GUCCI COO. To enter to win answer the question below:

What does Ruby nickname her gynecologist?

You can find the answer by reading an excerpt here.

GUCCI GUCCI COO by Sue Margolis (Fiction)
Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon
Ruby, aged 32, gets the shock of her life when she discovers she's soon to become a big sister. Meanwhile, she uncovers a mystery involving skinny pregnant celebrities at her posh baby boutique --- and yet another one in her gorgeous but bewildering new man. The puzzles and laugh-out-loud predicaments keep on coming in this saucy escape read.

From May 26th through June 9th readers will have the chance to win one of five Father's Day Duffel Bags stocked with great gadgets and items that dad will love as well as one copy of ALL SIX of our featured books --- KILLER INSTINCT by Joseph Finder, MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN by Bob Mitchell, MEXICAN DAYS by Tony Cohan, THE MILLIONAIRES' UNIT by Marc Wortman, POP CULTURE by Christopher Healy and THE RABBIT FACTORY by Marshall Karp. Our sturdy grey Champion Duffel Bags have handy and fun items for dad including a handy 12-can cooler, a portable thermos for his morning brew, a brushed silver stainless steel picture frame for his favorite memories, waterproof playing cards with a billiard design, a divet tool and ball marker for golf-loving dads, a scrumptious cookie shaped like a barbecue grill, and a zip drive, which the dad in your life is bound to appreciate, whether he is computer savvy or a technophobe.

We are thrilled to be spotlighting Elisabeth Hyde as our latest One to Watch Author. The author of three previous novels, including CRAZY AS CHOCOLATE, her newest work, THE ABORTIONIST'S DAUGHTER, is a compelling and provocative tale that comes out June 20th and is already garnering advance praise from readers.

-Click here to read an excerpt from THE ABORTIONIST'S DAUGHTER.
-Click here to see the winners of our Advance Reader Copies.
-Click here to read Elisabeth Hyde's Backlist.
-Click here to read Critical Praise for THE ABORTIONIST'S DAUGHTER.

More about THE ABORTIONIST'S DAUGHTER:
Elisabeth Hyde has taken a powerful moral predicament and constructed around it a richly layered, compulsively readable novel about a murder in a small Colorado town, about the choices we make and the way their unintended consequences ripple through our lives.

It's a riveting and provocative page-turner: a novel of stunning economy and momentum by a writer poised for wide discovery.

To celebrate the June release of THE HUSBAND, by Dean Koontz, Bookreporter.com is running a very special contest where readers will have the chance to win one of 20 copies of Koontz's newest page-turner. To enter, all you have to do is read an excerpt from THE HUSBAND and comment on it.

Click here for details on the contest and how to enter.

THE HUSBAND by Dean Koontz (Thriller)
Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
In what may be his most suspenseful and heartfelt novel ever, Dean Koontz brings us the story of an ordinary man whose extraordinary commitment to his wife will take him on a harrowing journey of adventure, sacrifice and redemption to the mystery of love itself --- and to a showdown with the darkness that would destroy it forever.

-Click here to read our review of THE HUSBAND.
-Click here to check out Dean Koontz's website where he's running a VERY special sweepstakes.

"I present to you . . . the truth about this man's death and my life."

Baltimore, 1849. The body of Edgar Allan Poe has been buried in an unmarked grave. The public, the press, and even Poe's own family and friends accept the conclusion that Poe was a second-rate writer who met a disgraceful end as a drunkard. Everyone, in fact, seems to believe this except a young Baltimore lawyer named Quentin Clark, an ardent admirer who puts his own career and reputation at risk in a passionate crusade to salvage Poe's.

Following his phenomenal debut novel, THE DANTE CLUB, Matthew Pearl has once again crossed pitch-perfect literary history with innovative mystery to create a beautifully detailed, ingeniously plotted tale of suspense. Pearl's groundbreaking research --- featuring documented material never published before --- opens a new window on the truth behind Poe's demise, literary history's most persistent enigma. The resulting novel is a publishing event that, through sublime craftsmanship, subtle wit, and devious twists, does honor to Poe himself.

Question: What book are you most looking forward to reading this summer?

Please note our Question of the Week will update June 9th.

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

This week we have two great prizes: FIVE readers each will win a copy of THE COLD MOON by Jeffery Deaver and THE BOOK OF THE DEAD by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

Please note that our next Word of Mouth update will be on June 9th.