Years ago, when I was with Mademoiselle magazine, I traveled the country in the spring and fall doing a promotion called "On Location." We would fly to a city and do store events each evening that included a fashion show, makeovers and the season's fashion and beauty tips. It was a great way to see America, and I loved the travel to both the large cities and small towns. The camaraderie of the team that traveled --- editors, makeup artists, photographers and hairstylists --- made these events memorable. 

Last weekend I felt that same spirit when I was on Grand Cayman and in Coral Gables doing book club events. You can read my blogs about these adventures here and here on ReadingGroupGuides.com. This time, the team was made up of the store's book club coordinator, Debra Linn; authors Lisa See (Grand Cayman) and Kristy Kiernan (Coral Gables) and myself. It brought back a flood of memories as well as created a host of new ones. It's really fun getting out to meet readers like this. I even met an author on Grand Cayman, Helen Tse, who has a book coming out in July called SWEET MANDARIN, a memoir that recounts the lives of three generations of remarkable Chinese women. Great fun when moments like this happen. I would love to create an "On Location" kind of event where we travel the country meeting readers following the format of last weekend. Hmmmm I need to think about this one!

I confess that those years of doing fashion events had a huge influence on me. No matter where I am asked to speak or show up, my first thought always is "What am I going to wear?" The other night I realized that my summer shoes were looking sad. I hit the shoe sale at Nordstrom (how lucky was I that my shoe crisis overlapped with their sale?), and let's just say I stocked up. The shoe crisis has been averted with a power shopping half hour. I think there is a salesperson left in my wake who still is wondering what hit. Ummm....six pairs. Less than $280.

I can do the same thing in a bookstore. Last weekend everyone was teasing me about the size of my bag for three nights of travel. Ha, you readers know ALL about this; I cannot pack light. Well, I left with 42 pounds, and by the time I flew back I was "negotiating" with the skycap when I had 53 pounds. The 11 additional pounds: BOOKS!!!

Our second weekend of the Beach Bag of Books promotion is here, and the book, DYING BREATH by Wendy Corsi Staub, is set in a place that I know very well, Long Beach Island (LBI), an island of beaches at the Jersey Shore. I spent MANY a weekend at the beach there over the years, so this book conjured up just a few memories. In this thriller, a serial killer turns this serene getaway into his hunting ground. Our beach bag prize includes an underwater skateboard. I kid you not. I bought one for myself last weekend (in blue) and decided it needs to go in the bag as well. I have not tried it out yet since our pool still is sooooo cold, but I have to say the kid in me really wants to try this out. I can see my boys howling about this now.

Our Father's Day promotion kicks off this week. These prizes are over the top: We are awarding five bags, each worth $500, that include 18 books and prizes. This is one very seriously amazing way to tell dad how much you care! See details further down the page.

We are launching a new Romantic Suspense feature for New York Times bestselling author Mariah Stewart, whose new romantic suspense, MERCY STREET, is now in stores. In this gripping story, the mysterious murders of local high school students spark an intense investigation in a Pennsylvania town. We have 10 copies of MERCY STREET 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, May 30th.

We are hosting a special contest celebrating the release of NOVEL DESTINATIONS: Literary Landmarks from Jane Austen's Bath to Ernest Hemingway's Key West by Shannon McKenna Schmidt (our ReadingGroupGuides.com Contributing Editor, who manages our blog there) and Joni Rendon, who has been a longtime friend of the company. Readers who answer a question correctly by reading an excerpt from the book automatically will be entered to win. This book is an ideal companion for someone who wants to learn more about the places favorite novelists have made their own. Click here to find out more about the book and read all the contest details. I am having a lot of enjoyment seeing this book come out, as a few years ago I introduced Joni to Shannon when they both were freelancing. Watching their friendship --- and their writing partnership --- grow has been a wonderful experience. Read on to see an interview with these two authors.

This week, we are also featuring comments for THE STEEL WAVE by Jeff Shaara and A COLD DARK PLACE by Gregg Olsen, both of which our readers really enjoyed. You can read their responses for THE STEEL WAVE here and A COLD DARK PLACE here. You may remember the great feedback we received last week for MRS. PERFECT by Jane Porter. We have received Jane’s responses to our advance readers’ questions, which you can read here.

Here's to a nice long Memorial Day weekend and lots of reading. Along the way, please keep in mind the true meaning of the holiday and remember those who died in service to our country. Each year we attend the town parade on Memorial Day, and I confess that I do get a tear in my eye when the older veterans walk past in their uniforms saluting the crowd. Each year there are fewer and fewer of them, and this does not go unnoticed. At the same time, there are new veterans joining in. There is something very moving about this.

Next Wednesday I am off to L.A. for BookExpo America, the book industry's annual trade show where we will get a look at the books for fall/winter 2008. It's a busy and way overscheduled weekend for me...jetlag here it comes.

Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)

Freelance writers and bibliophiles Shannon McKenna Schmidt and Joni Rendon recently published NOVEL DESTINATIONS, a literary-inspired travel guide that covers over 500 book- and author-related landmarks in the U.S. and Europe. In this interview, the authors describe how their shared interests and mutual backgrounds prompted this collaborative effort, and explain why they chose to focus on sites linked to classics instead of more contemporary works. They also share their personal favorite literary hotspots, highlight some of the behind-the-scenes anecdotes covered in the book, and discuss ideas for future joint projects.

NOVEL DESTINATIONS: Literary Landmarks From Jane Austen’s Bath to Ernest Hemingway’s Key West by Shannon McKenna Schmidt and Joni Rendon (Travel)
In a world saturated with every kind of travel guide, Shannon McKenna Schmidt and Joni Rendon have created an entertaining and informative companion for book lovers eager to travel to sites frequented by classic writers and to the settings of their beloved works. And there’s lots of good food, drink and fun along the way. Reviewed by Harvey Freedenberg.

-Click here to read a review of NOVEL DESTINATIONS.
-Click here to read an excerpt from NOVEL DESTINATIONS.
-Click here for all the details of the NOVEL DESTINATIONS Contest.

Whether your "beach" is on sand, your backyard deck or a grassy meadow in the country, the summer months mean it's time for "beach reading." Bookreporter.com is celebrating the lazy days of summer reading with our Fourth Annual "Bookreporter.com Beach Bag of Books."

Every week from May 16th through August 29th, a different title or collection of titles will be featured with a review and contest prize --- a beach bag stocked with the featured book(s), plus summertime essentials that tie in to the weekly theme. Five FABULOUS beach bags will be given away each week, as well as five copies of the featured book(s) to additional winners.

This week, we’re spotlighting DYING BREATH, Wendy Corsi Staub’s newest thriller, in which a seaside retreat becomes a killer’s playground. In a pink and bronze floral bag, winners will find a red towel with white nautical rope design, a bottle of Banana Boat suntan lotion, a SubSkate underwater skateboard, a red EZ-Freeze water bottle, Altoids mints and a red nine-can cooler with a rope design, as well as a copy of DYING BREATH. We have five to give away, as well as five additional prizes of copies of DYING BREATH.

To enter, fill out this form and answer the following question by Thursday, May 29th at 11:59PM. You can find the answer by reading the excerpt here.

Where did Cam’s sister attend college?

DYING BREATH by Wendy Corsi Staub (Thriller)
It’s summer on the Jersey Shore. Children play on the beach. Husbands are off working in the city. And the surf echoes in the night. Here, in this perfect place, a serial killer has no worries in the world --- except choosing the next victim… Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

-Read more about Wendy Corsi Staub and DYING BREATH here.

Julia Spencer-Fleming’s debut novel, IN THE BLEAK MIDWINTER, was the recipient of multiple awards, including the Anthony Award, the Agatha Award and the Macavity Award. In I SHALL NOT WANT, the latest installment in her bestselling mystery series that releases on June 10th, the Reverend Clare Fergusson and Police Chief Russ Van Alstyne find themselves sucked into a murder investigation in Clare's small Adirondack town.

-Click here to read an excerpt from I SHALL NOT WANT.
-Click here to read Julia Spencer-Fleming’s bio.
-Click here to see Julia Spencer-Fleming's backlist.
-Click here to read critical praise for I SHALL NOT WANT.
-Visit the author’s official website, www.JuliaSpencerFleming.com.
-Click here to see our advance copy winners.

More about I SHALL NOT WANT:
In the small Adirondack town of Millers Kill, New York, life doesn’t stop for heartbreak. But when a farmhand stumbles over a Latino man killed with a single shot to the back of his head, an Episcopal priest is sucked into the investigation through her involvement in the migrant community.

In her debut novel, THE HOUSE AT MIDNIGHT, Lucie Whitehouse delivers a captivating and gripping psychological story. After a death in the family, Lucas Heathfield inherits his uncle’s manor in the English countryside. But within the confines of the manor, the lives of a circle of friends are changed forever. THE HOUSE AT MIDNIGHT will be available in stores on June 3rd.

-Click here to read an excerpt from THE HOUSE AT MIDNIGHT.
-Click here to read Lucie Whitehouse’s bio.
-Click here to read critical praise for THE HOUSE AT MIDNIGHT.
-Click here to see our advance copy winners.

More about THE HOUSE AT MIDNIGHT:
After the suicide of his uncle, Lucas Heathfield inherits Stoneborough Manor, in the English countryside. Lucas’s best friend, Joanna, imagines it as a place where their close-knit group can escape to London and rekindle the revelry of their college days. But from the beginning, the house has a strange effect on everyone who stays in it.

Victoria Lustbader’s first book, HIDDEN, received much critical praise when it was released in 2006. In STONE CREEK, her second work of fiction releasing on May 27th, Lustbader weaves an unforgettable novel of tremendous emotional heft and brilliantly illuminates how the powers of love and loss transform the human heart.

-Click here to read the first EIGHT chapters of STONE CREEK.
-Click here to read Victoria Lustbader’s bio.
-Click here to see Victoria Lustbader's backlist.
-Click here to read critical praise for STONE CREEK.
-Visit the author’s official website, www.VictoriaLustbader.com.
-Click here to see our advance copy winners.

More about STONE CREEK:
In the small town of Stone Creek, a random encounter offers two lonely people a chance at happiness. When Lily and Danny meet, something immediate and undeniable happens between them. Neither one can ignore that Lily is married and 10 years older than Danny, but it is Danny's son, Caleb, who continues to bring them together.

THE MIRACLE AT SPEEDY MOTORS by Alexander McCall Smith (Mystery)
We welcome Precious Ramotswe with open arms as she continues to solve the personal and often deceptively simple problems of her fellow Botswanians. Miracles, it seems, can happen in unexpected and often unrecognized ways, as she and her Associate Detective Mma Makutsi discover. Reviewed by Roz Shea.

-Click here to read an excerpt from THE MIRACLE AT SPEEDY MOTORS.

SKELETONS AT THE FEAST by Chris Bohjalian (Historical Fiction)
SKELETONS AT THE FEAST tells the story of the final months of World War II from the point of view of a German family fleeing East Prussia and heading west in an effort to escape the oncoming Russian army. They are accompanied in their journey by a Jewish refugee (posing as a German officer) and a Scottish POW. Reviewed by Ray Palen.

-Click here to read an excerpt from SKELETONS AT THE FEAST.

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