Summer Beach Bag of Books Promotion

Last Monday night we started a major renovation at the office as we are taking over the space next to ours. This entailed our staff packing everything we own into two rooms and moving home to work for the duration of this project. You can imagine how much fun this was. At the moment I am working out of one of those rooms with my son Greg, who is with us this summer.

This project has great grist for a novel. There also are some great visuals. We had the demo crew marching down the hallway of our corporate building with sledgehammers, crowbars and shovels. Totally intimidating. They started swinging, and I confess I was not feeling warm and fuzzy. But as the space opened up I knew it was going to be great! Dialogue includes such phrases as, "It's not on the drawing, so it is not there" when we are looking at an outlet on a wall.

My day goes something like this. Get into the office. Get summoned for questions. Make up answers. Sit down to work. Get summoned for more questions. Make up more answers. Answer staff questions in Instant Message. Sit down to work. Sign for messenger. Sit down to work. Answer phone call from solicitor. Sit down to work. Answer staff questions in Instant Message. Thus, there was a lot of work done at 6AM and 1:30AM when I was home uninterrupted. Our update is just as robust as ever due to the staff’s diligence, for which I thank them. I think we can say that this newsletter is brought to you by AOL Instant Messenger.

Back to books...Tuesday morning Daniel Silva was on the "Today Show" talking about his novel, THE SECRET SERVANT, which is in stores this week. When Silva talks about a book he paints a very vivid picture of the back story and his research, which has you itching to start reading. I can’t wait to get to my copy of THE SECRET SERVANT this weekend. You can see this segment, which includes a very fun look back at his last nine "Today Show" appearances and amusing comments about the research trip for THE SECRET SERVANT with his children, as well as some other interviews that aired this week, by clicking here. Silva spoke to a standing-room audience at an event in New York last night, which is the start of a nineteen-city tour. Later in this newsletter we have an interview with him and a review of THE SECRET SERVANT for those of you who will not be catching him on the road.

The question of the week, "Did you finish it yet?" refers to HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS. My husband and boys each finished their copies, thus I am feeling like a reading failure as I am reading at a more leisurely pace. I have told them they cannot discuss the ending until I am done, thus they have clandestine conversations without me. Last Friday night's event at Borders was a blast. Lots of people were in costume. My younger son was lamenting that he had not dressed up. He looks a lot like Harry Potter, which people were commenting on. I bought him a twig broom at the store. A reporter came up and asked him to pose with it, then to pose like he was riding it, and then asked him to fly. Cory tried to figure out how to do that. The photographer said lift one leg, now both legs. Cory said, "I then will fall. You DO know the flying part is fiction, right?" That was just ONE of the very humorous moments that evening.

On our way out of the store the boys were interviewed by CNN, CBS and MTV, and they also did an interview with USA Today for a piece that ran on Monday. I joke now that they are talking heads and are learning the art of the sound bite. They seem to be taking this all very in stride. Now maybe we can get something done around the house. Last weekend all chores were set aside because they were "reading for their interview deadline." Very funny.

We have our review of the Harry Potter book here and our Harry Central area on Kidsreads.com has been updated with new trivia games and features. We just posted a poll where readers are asked to name their favorite Harry Potter title. Vote here. I always admire authors who treat their fans with great appreciation. J.K. Rowling in her dedication in the book does just that, acknowledging her fans who stayed with Harry's story these past years. Just lovely to see that.

This week we also bring you Anita Amirrezvani's replies to our readers' questions. As you know, her book is THE BLOOD OF FLOWERS. And for those of you who like to wait until a book is in paperback to read it, this month's New in Paperback lineup is one you will want to note. Our beach bag book this week is DOCKSIDE by Susan Wiggs, who I had the pleasure of meeting a few years ago. This beach bag has a picnic theme to it as it's set on a lake, not the beach. See details below on how to enter.  

There's a book I have to note that came to my attention in a special way. At Book Expo America, as we were walking the show floor, there was a stuffed polar bear as a giveaway in a booth. Cory picked it up and it's become one of his favorite things. The book that it was promoting is just out in stores, ARCTIC TALE, which is the companion book to the motion picture. Check it out.

Here’s to another great summer week, progress on construction and time to read. I am off to answer more questions on such riveting topics as wire molding, phone lines and power boxes. Oh my!

Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)

Daniel Silva has written 10 espionage thrillers, seven of which feature art restorer and Israeli intelligence agent Gabriel Allon. In this interview, Silva discusses the events in his latest novel, THE SECRET SERVANT, that echo real-life occurrences and sheds light on some of the little-known facts about Islamic terrorism. He also explains how what he witnessed as a correspondent for United Press International fueled his novels and shares the advice his fictional protagonist would have given the President of the United States in the wake of the September 11th attacks.

THE SECRET SERVANT by Daniel Silva (Thriller)
Terrorists have planned a spectacular attack in London. The British government wants to handle it in their usual diplomatic fashion, but Israeli agent Gabriel Allon jumps in with his unconventional ways to thwart them. Reviewed by Kate Ayers.

-Click here to read a review of THE SECRET SERVANT.
-Click here to read an excerpt from THE SECRET SERVANT.
-Visit Daniel Silva's website, www.DanielSilvaBooks.com.

William Kent Krueger is the creator of a mystery series featuring Cork O'Connor, a former sheriff of Irish and American-Indian descent. In this interview with Bookreporter.com's Eileen Zimmerman Nicol, Krueger describes how he was inspired to write the latest installment, THUNDER BAY, and discusses the importance of physical settings in his work. He also explains how he acquired such in-depth knowledge about the Ojibwe tribe, elaborates on the book's themes of love and greed, and shares ideas about a possible stand-alone novel.

THUNDER BAY: A Cork O'Connor Mystery by William Kent Krueger (Mystery)
The promise, as I remember it, happened this way. And so begins Cork O'Connor's tale of a hopeless love affair between a young Ojibwe guide and a white woman, an affair that ended in treachery, betrayal and murder. Although it's a story that reaches more than 70 years into the past, Cork will discover that its grip is as deadly as ever. Reviewed by Eileen Zimmerman Nicol.

-Click here to read a review of THUNDER BAY.
-Click here to read an excerpt from THUNDER BAY.

Every week from May 18th through August 24th a different title in the Bookreporter.com 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 second featured Suspense/Thriller author is Raymond Khoury, whose debut novel THE LAST TEMPLAR was an international bestseller. His second work of fiction is THE SANCTUARY, and it releases on August 21st. In this powerful thriller, a geneticist and a CIA agent on a deadly quest to find the most dangerous book in the world discover a secret that has destroyed everyone in its path for centuries.

-Click here to see our advance copy winners.
-Click here to read an excerpt from THE SANCTUARY.
-Click here to read Raymond Khoury's bio.
-Click here to see Raymond Khoury's backlist.
-Visit the author's website, www.RaymondKhoury.com.

More about THE SANCTUARY:
Naples, 1750. In the dead of night, three men with swords burst into the palazzo of a marquis. Their leader, the Prince of San Severo, accuses the marquis of being an imposter, and demands to know a secret only the marquis harbors. In the fight that ensues, the false marquis escapes over the rooftops of Naples, leaving behind a burning palazzo and a raging prince now obsessed with finding his quarry at any cost.

Baghdad, 2003. An army unit on a routine mission makes a horrifying discovery: a state-of-the-art, concealed lab where dozens --- men, women, children --- have died, the subjects of gruesome experiments. The mysterious scientist they were after, a man believed to be working on a bioweapon and known only as the hakeem --- the doctor --- escapes, taking with him the startling truth about his work. A puzzling clue is left behind: a circular symbol of a snake feeding on its own tail.

As the power of the symbol comes to light, revealing the centuries of destruction left in its wake, one unsuspecting woman stands at the center of a conspiracy that could change the world forever. In the masterful hands of international bestseller Raymond Khoury, THE SANCTUARY delivers the same rapid-fire suspense and provocative scholarship that made THE LAST TEMPLAR a coast-to-coast blockbuster.

As Josh recovers, his mind is increasingly invaded with thoughts that have the emotion, the intensity, the intimacy of memories. But they are not his memories. They are ancient...and violent. A battery of medical and psychological tests can't explain Josh's baffling symptoms. And the memories have an urgency he can't ignore --- pulling him to save a woman named Sabina...and the treasures she is protecting.

But who is Sabina?

Desperate for answers, Josh turns to the world-renowned Phoenix Foundation --- a research facility that scientifically documents cases of past life experiences. His findings there lead him to an archaeological dig and to Professor Gabriella Chase, who has discovered an ancient tomb --- a tomb with a powerful secret that threatens to merge the past with the present. Here, the dead call out to the living, and murders of the past become murders of the present.

Nancy Horan's debut novel, LOVING FRANK, is a fictionalized account of Frank Lloyd Wright's relationship with Mamah Borthwick Cheney, who had commissioned the renowned architect to design a new home for her. During the construction of the house, a powerful attraction developed between Mamah and Frank; the two became lovers, even though they were each married with children.

-Click here to see our advance copy winners.
-Click here to read a second excerpt from LOVING FRANK.
-Click here to read critical praise for LOVING FRANK.
-Click here to read Nancy Horan's bio.
-Visit the author's website, www.NancyHoran.com.

More about LOVING FRANK:
I have been standing on the side of life, watching it float by. I want to swim in the river. I want to feel the current.

So writes Mamah Borthwick Cheney in her diary as she struggles to justify her clandestine love affair with Frank Lloyd Wright. Four years earlier, in 1903, Mamah and her husband, Edwin, had commissioned the renowned architect to design a new home for them. During the construction of the house, a powerful attraction developed between Mamah and Frank, and in time the lovers, each married with children, embarked on a course that would shock Chicago society and forever change their lives.

In this ambitious debut novel, fact and fiction blend together brilliantly. While scholars have largely relegated Mamah to a footnote in the life of America’s greatest architect, author Nancy Horan gives full weight to their dramatic love story and illuminates Cheney’s profound influence on Wright.

Drawing on years of research, Horan weaves little-known facts into a compelling narrative, vividly portraying the conflicts and struggles of a woman forced to choose between the roles of mother, wife, lover, and intellectual. Horan’s Mamah is a woman seeking to find her own place, her own creative calling in the world. Mamah’s is an unforgettable journey marked by choices that reshape her notions of love and responsibility, leading inexorably to this novel’s stunning conclusion.

Elegantly written and remarkably rich in detail, LOVING FRANK is a fitting tribute to a courageous woman, a national icon and their timeless love story.

Margaret Forster is being published in the States again this year after a 15-year absence. She is the author of the bestselling memoirs HIDDEN LIVES and PRECIOUS LIVES, acclaimed biographies of Daphne du Maurier and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and many successful novels, including DIARY OF AN ORDINARY WOMAN. Her newest book, KEEPING THE WORLD AWAY, is the story of an actual early 20th century painting and its fictional adventures through the century and of the women whose lives it touches.

-Click here to see our advance copy winners.
-Click here to read a third excerpt from KEEPING THE WORLD AWAY.
-Click here to read Margaret Forster's bio.
-Click here to read critical praise for KEEPING THE WORLD AWAY.

More about KEEPING THE WORLD AWAY:
From internationally bestselling author Margaret Forster comes an engrossing novel that follows the imagined life of an evocative, actual early-twentieth-century painting as it changes hands and, though the years, affects the lives of a succession of women.  

Gwen, a bold and spirited young English artist, defies convention and sets out to study in Paris, where she has a tumultuous affair with the inspiring, controlling sculptor Rodin. But as the relationship cools, Gwen feels lonely and adrift as she awaits the ever more infrequent visits from her lover. Attempting to restore her artistic vision and recapture her true self, Gwen pours out her soul onto a canvas, creating a small, intimate painting of a quiet corner of her attic room. 

Lost, found, stolen, sold and fought over, the painting enchants all who possess it. First it falls into the hands of Charlotte, a dreamy intellectual with artistic leanings --- though little talent. In turn the work finds its way to the lovely, bright Stella; the destitute but willful Lucasta; self-sufficient Ailsa; and finally young, curious Gillian --- all of whom share an unspoken desire to “keep the world away” and long for a tranquil golden place such as the one depicted in the painting.

Our third featured One to Watch author is Elizabeth Joy Arnold, whose debut novel hits shelves on July 31st. PIECES OF MY SISTER'S LIFE is the story of twins who were inseparable until their 17th birthday, when their lives on Block Island were shattered. Thirteen years later, one sister must put their differences aside to rally behind her twin when she really needs her.

-Click here to see our advance copy winners.
-Click here to read an excerpt from PIECES OF MY SISTER'S LIFE.
-Click here to read Elizabeth Joy Arnold's bio.
-Visit the author's website, www.ElizabethJoyArnold.com.

More about PIECES OF MY SISTER'S LIFE:
Two sisters who shared everything. One unforgivable moment. And a second chance…

There’s something to talk about in every chapter of Elizabeth Joy Arnold’s poignant, insightful debut novel --- the perfect summer read for all those who loved Elisabeth Robinson’s THE TRUE AND OUTSTANDING ADVENTURES OF THE HUNT SISTERS, Judy Blume’s SUMMER SISTERS and Jodi Picoult’s MY SISTER'S KEEPER.

Once, Kerry and Eve Barnard did everything together: sailing the Block Island harbor with their father, listening to their neighbor Justin’s magical fairy tales, and all the while longing for their absent mother. They were twin girls arm in arm, secrets entwined between two hearts. Until the summer of their seventeenth birthday, when their extraordinary bond was shattered. And thirteen years later, it will take all the courage they can summon to put the pieces back together --- at a time when it matters most.…

BLAZE by Richard Bachman (Fiction)
Stephen King pays homage to John Steinbeck in this previously unpublished Richard Bachman novel. BLAZE is the story of Clayton Blaisdell, Jr. --- of the crimes committed against him and the crimes he commits, including his last, the kidnapping of a baby heir worth millions. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

-Click here to read an excerpt from BLAZE.

LOVE KILLS by Edna Buchanan (Mystery)
The murder of a notorious kidnapper. A missing honeymoon couple. These two mysteries intertwine with police reporter Britt Montero's personal life in this fast-paced, sometimes frightening and frequently hilarious thriller complete with several truly startling twists. Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon.

DIRTY MARTINI by J. A. Konrath (Mystery)
Lieutenant Jacqueline (Jack) Daniels, the insomniac Chicago cop with a train wreck of a personal life, has trouble on her hands, and it isn't just because her boyfriend, Latham, wants to get married and she's not sure she's ready. A man in disguise has been visiting restaurants, grocery stores and fast food places, ingeniously spreading a deadly toxin. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

IF TODAY BE SWEET by Thrity Umrigar (Fiction)
Tehmina Sethna's beloved husband has died this past year, and she's visiting her son, Sorab, in his suburban Ohio home. Now Tehmina is being asked to choose between her old, familiar life in India and a new one in Ohio with her son, his American wife and their child. Reviewed by Bethanne Kelly Patrick.

EYE OF THE BEHOLDER by David Ellis (Mystery)
Renowned attorney Paul Riley has built a lucrative career based on his famous prosecution of serial killer Terry Burgos. Now, 15 years later, the police are confronted with a new series of murders and mutilations. Riley is the first to realize that the two cases are connected --- and that the killer seems to be willing to do anything to keep him involved. Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman.

SAFE AND SOUND by J.D. Rhoades (Thriller)
Jack Keller works in fugitive apprehension, and never feels more alive than when he is hunting down a skip. But when a young girl goes missing, and Keller finds out that the father is an AWOL member of the army's elite Delta Force, he knows immediately that this case will be anything but fun and games. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

HEART LIKE WATER: Surviving Katrina and Life in Its Disaster Zone by Joshua Clark (Current Events)
Though we all know, or think we know, what happened in New Orleans during and immediately after Hurricane Katrina due to the round-the-clock television coverage, this behind-the-scenes look by a survivor who chose not to evacuate gives us a graphic, true portrait of a grand city during its very worst days. Reviewed by Carole Turner.

THE LATE BLOOMER'S REVOLUTION: A Memoir by Amy Cohen (Memoir)
In quick succession, Amy Cohen lost her job writing sitcoms, her boyfriend and her mom. In THE LATE BLOOMER'S REVOLUTION, she recounts her (seemingly) never-ending search for love, her evolving relationship with her widowed dad, and her own almost unintentional growth as she stumbles through life. Reviewed by Bronwyn Miller.

THE BERLIN WALL: A World Divided, 1961-1989 by Frederick Taylor (History)
The Berlin Wall --- probably the most universally detested manmade structure of modern times --- stood for 28 years, cutting a great city in two, dividing families, choking off freedom of movement and symbolizing the fear of nuclear war that gripped both east and west. Frederick Taylor has made the wall the centerpiece of his masterly history of postwar Germany. Reviewed by Robert Finn.

DOWN THE NILE: Alone in a Fisherman's Skiff by Rosemary Mahoney (Travel)
Rosemary Mahoney was determined to take a solo trip down the Egyptian Nile in a small boat, even though civil unrest and vexing local traditions conspired to create obstacles every step of the way. Her remarkable book recounts a voyage inspired by modern pilgrimage and historical precedents, and blended with sensitivity and insight. Reviewed by Pauline Finch.

Poll:

Where is the most unusual place that you ever read a book?

-Click here to answer our Question of the Week.