THE STORY OF EDGAR SAWTELLE by David Wroblewski (Fiction)
Edgar Sawtelle leads an idyllic life with his parents on their farm in remote northern Wisconsin. For generations, the Sawtelles have raised and trained a fictional breed of dog whose thoughtful companionship is epitomized by Almondine, Edgar's lifelong friend and ally. But with the unexpected return of Claude, Edgar's paternal uncle, turmoil consumes the Sawtelles' once peaceful home. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

-Click here to read an excerpt from THE STORY OF EDGAR SAWTELLE.

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 SISTER MINE by Tawni O’Dell, a story about a woman forced to take on past demons and all-too-present dangers in a Pennsylvania coal mining town. In a lime green and turquoise beach bag, winners will find an oversized pink towel with a flip-flop pattern, a floating hammock, a set of beach bag-shaped candles, dive sticks, a lime green and turquoise beach blanket that is great for picnics and a blue EZ-Freeze water bottle, as well as a copy of SISTER MINE. We have five to give away, as well as five additional prizes of copies of SISTER MINE.

To enter, fill out this form and answer the following question by Thursday, July 10th at 11:59PM. You can find the answer by reading the excerpt here.

What is the name of the young girl in the narrator’s cab?

SISTER MINE by Tawni O’Dell (Fiction)
Set in the heart of Pennsylvania's coal country, Tawni O'Dell's third novel is simultaneously a study of a community in crisis and a portrait of a tough-as-nails female taxi cab driver who really has her act together --- at least on the outside. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.

-Read more about Tawni O'Dell and SISTER MINE here.

C. W. Gortner has a master’s degree in writing with an emphasis on historical studies. In THE LAST QUEEN, which will be available on July 29th, Gortner tells the story of a Spanish queen, her tumultuous marriage into the Habsburg Empire, her dynamic relationship with her parents Ferdinand and Isabella, and her determination to hold on to the throne that is rightfully hers.

We have 10 copies of THE LAST QUEEN 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, July 11th.

-Click here to read C. W. Gortner’s bio.
-Visit the author's official website, www.CWGortner.com.

More about THE LAST QUEEN:
Juana of Castile, the last queen of Spanish blood to inherit her country’s throne, has been for centuries an enigmatic figure shrouded in lurid myth. Was she the bereft widow of legend who was driven mad by her loss, or has history misjudged a woman who was ahead of her time? In his stunning new novel, C. W. Gortner challenges the myths about Queen Juana, unraveling the mystery surrounding her to reveal a brave, determined woman we can only now begin to fully understand.

In 2000, Brandon Massey won the Black Writers Alliance’s Gold Pen Award for Best Thriller for his first book, THUNDERLAND. He has since published nine more suspense novels and short story collections. In DON’T EVER TELL, his newest thriller now in stores, a woman’s dark secrets have a way of coming back with a vengeance.

-Click here to read an excerpt from DON'T EVER TELL.
-Click here to read Brandon Massey’s bio.
-Visit the author’s official website, www.BrandonMassey.com.

More about DON’T EVER TELL:
With a new identity, a new city to live in and a wonderful new husband, Rachel Moore believes she's finally free of the demons in her past. But nothing could be farther from the truth. For the deadly secrets she thought were long buried are now on the brink of being exposed...

Christopher Reich is the New York Times bestselling author of NUMBERED ACCOUNT and THE PATRIOTS CLUB, the latter of which won the International Thriller Writers Award for Best Novel in 2006. In RULES OF DECEPTION, his new thriller releasing on July 15th, a man finds himself the subject of an international manhunt and the target of a master assassin after his wife's death.

-Click here to read a second excerpt from RULES OF DECEPTION.
-Click here to read fast facts about Christopher Reich.
-Click here to read Christopher Reich’s bio.
-Click here to see Christopher Reich's backlist.
-Click here to read critical praise for RULES OF DECEPTION.
-Visit the author’s official website, www.ChristopherReich.com.
-Click here to see our advance copy winners.

More about RULES OF DECEPTION:
Dr. Jonathan Ransom, world-class mountaineer and surgeon for Doctors Without Borders, is climbing in the Swiss Alps with his wife, Emma, when a blizzard sets in. In their bid to escape the storm, Emma is killed when she falls into a hidden crevasse.

Twenty-four hours later, Jonathan receives an envelope addressed to his wife containing two baggage-claim tickets. So begins a journey that will draw him deeper into a world of spies, high-tech weaponry and global terrorism --- a world where no one is who they appear to be and where the end always justifies the means.

LA PERDIDA by Jessica Abel
When she leaves her comfortable surroundings in America to live an artistic life as an expatriate in Mexico City, Carla becomes entangled in a life she never expected. Naively thinking herself part of a culture that she doesn’t truly understand, she finds herself in deep in a dark and dangerous world. Reviewed by John Hogan.

THE NUMBER 73304-23-4153-6-96-8 by Thomas Ott
Strange occurrences and patterns follow a man’s discovery of an odd sequence of numbers after a prisoner’s execution. Not knowing what the numbers mean or why they have significance, he soon finds they have formed a definite pattern in his life, leading to a mysterious twist of circumstances. Reviewed by John Hogan.

We at Teenreads.com are THRILLED with the response we’ve been getting to our brand new Grab Bag of Books contest. Every month five readers will be awarded a Teenreads.com signature tote bag filled with some of the hottest books --- and may even include a sneak peak at titles that haven’t been released yet.

This contest period’s winners will each receive a copy of BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO by Niki Burnham, Terri Clark, Ellen Hopkins and Lynda Sandoval, CRUEL SUMMER by Alyson Noël, THE DEAD & THE GONE by Susan Beth Pfeffer, MARLEY Z AND THE BLOODSTAINED VIOLIN by Jim Fusilli and an advance reading copy of VIBES by Amy Kathleen Ryan (which releases October 6th).

-Click here for previous winners.

Poll:

If you are going away for a week of vacation, how many books do you bring?

1
2-3
4-5
6-10
More than 10
None

-Click here to answer our poll.


Question:

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

-Click here to answer our question.