By the time we returned the rental car at Hertz last Sunday night, we had logged 1,002 miles. Every time I say 1,000, the boys say 1,002, which reminds me of when they were 6 ½ or 6 ¾ and every little fraction mattered. I keep playing the refrain of that song in my head, "99 Miles From LA." For the record, I cannot even measure how many switchbacks I drove last week. We did Lombard Street twice, but Cory literally said "ho hum" in the back of the car and this line, "This clearly is overrated!" I drove it the second time hoping he would appreciate it more. No dice. Hah, I guess the turns on Big Sur were his comparison point.

Confession: the hills of San Francisco almost did me in. There was a time where I was perched at a stop sign on one hill (cliff!) and I was accelerating with my foot still on the brake. I was breaking into a cold sweat at the concept of my driving a car with a clutch. Keep in mind I cannot drive a car with a clutch so there is no chance of this happening, but I could not shake that idea. A friend told me he was not sure whether it was scarier to be stopped at a stop sign facing uphill or to be perched heading downhill seeing pedestrians in front of you. I think it’s easily a toss-up.

Speaking of turns, I forgot to share that when we were in San Diego I rode a rollercoaster, the old wooden one at Mission Beach. Now I am the original rollercoaster chicken. The boys talked me into this saying that it only went 45 mph and we could see all the turns. So away we went. I was in full-bore terror at the second or third turn, so I closed my eyes. Um, not a good idea. Now instead of anticipating the next turn I was going into it blind. I was tossed around and was weakly yelling "yeahhhhhh!" and throwing my arms in the air. No, actually I threw my arms up ONCE. The rest of the time they were locked on the safety bar. Greg looked over and saw my eyes closed and thought I was euphoric about the ride. I got off and realized I had managed to get a HUGE shiner on my shin sometime during this experience. Probably from being thrown around since I never could anticipate any turn with my eyes closed. My shiner was a topic of discussion at the Romance Writers of America Convention. There was no hiding it with a skirt.

Last Friday night was a full night of parties, which was endlessly fun. The Random House soiree was held at Water Bar overlooking the Bay and I loved the view. I got to see Lisa Gardner, Suzanne Brockmann, Cherry Adair and my publishing pals, Kim Hovey and Libby McGuire, and a host of others while sipping drinks. I ran into thriller author Barry Eisler, who lives in northern California. I love moments like this when an author who I did not expect to see is at an event. We joked about whether he would attend the Harlequin party, also known as “the prom” later in the evening. Before going to that I slipped into the St. Martin's "San Martini" event at the E & O Trading Company, which was terrific. I got to catch up with Kristin Hannah, too many other authors to note here, agent pals --- and my publishing friends Jennifer Enderlin, Matt Shear and Anne Marie Tallberg.

I swung back to the hotel to get Greg before I went to “the prom.” He brought a suit for this party, which he has now been to three times at the generous invitation of KO, Harlequin’s PR Queen. The first year when he line danced behind Nora Roberts he learned this was pretty cool! At one point I turned and six women had swept him onto the floor and he was dancing away while staring at me with a look of abject terror. No wonder he cut his own prom in favor of a great dinner out in the city. Truly nothing gets bigger than THIS! He quickly got caught up in the music that was played by a really killer DJ.

Saturday morning we were up and out by 10 for a tour of the Palace Hotel conducted by Rob Spoor of City Guides, which was terrific and made me wish we had time for more of these tours. Two bookish moments occured as we made our way through the hotel. The first was in Maxwell’s where a painting of The Pied Piper graced one wall. The second was in another painting where Mark Twain had been featured along with a frog that referenced "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County and Other Sketches." I love moments like that. I got a big kick out of saying that I was staying at The Palace all week. "Take me to the Palace, please." 

Saturday afternoon we went to Corte Madera so I could visit Book Passage, a store where many of my author friends have appeared when they are in the Bay Area. Sure enough Tana French was scheduled for that evening, and we saw signage for Daniel Silva’s upcoming MOSCOW RULES tour stop (August 12th) publicized. (Big news: Silva debuts this Sunday at number one on the New York Times list, the first time he ever has done that --- and we saw next week’s numbers and know he stays in that slot, which is great news!) At Book Passage, I had such fun talking to Janel Feierabend, the Director of Retail there. We literally walked the store and chatted about books we loved on each table. She is excited that they will be having Annie Barrows, one of the authors of THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY at the store on August 10th. We both loved this book!

I only read one page the entire trip. But I read it six times, if that counts. With Hertz’s rule that my son could not drive, every one of those 1,002 miles was MY responsibility. By the time I hit the hotel room each night I was banging out emails so there was no read time. Exhausted, I read the same page six times before I fell asleep. UGH! I was in serious reading deprivation. We flew back on the last redeye from San Francisco to give the boys this experience. I hope that this flight will bring sympathy for me the next time I fly the redeye since they now know what sleep deprivation feels like. I napped and then did a walk down the aisle where the number of people sleeping with their mouths open amused me.

The redeye was to land at 8AM; college registration (online of course) at Fordham for Greg started at 7AM. Now I realized that this was a BIG deal since I know how fast classes close out; he was not taking it quite so seriously. Sooooo as the wheels hit the tarmac I had him boot up my laptop, connect my Verizon Air Card and get registering. I am not sure how many kids registered as they were hurling down the tarmac like he did. Five classes to click…and he got four of the ones he wanted and then went to a second choice for the fifth before we hit the gate. Pretty amazing. In my day we waited on line for hours. I got home and, after doing email again, proceeded to sleep in the pool, on the hammock and on the couch. I still was on the same page in my book…wanting sooooo badly to get to the next page.

Our Summer Beach Bag of Books Contest this week features four titles that are perfect for summer reading: LOVING FRANK by Nancy Horan, PEONY IN LOVE by Lisa See, AWAY by Amy Bloom and KABUL BEAUTY SCHOOL by Deborah Rodriguez. Included in our red woven beach bag is an oversized colorful towel that I love and some really fun outdoor colored lights. We have another terrific opportunity for you to take advantage of. Katherine Neville's book THE EIGHT became an international bestseller when it was released 20 years ago. The looooong anticipated follow-up, THE FIRE, will be in stores on October 14th. To give readers a chance to read THE EIGHT, the publisher is offering a free PDF download of the book until August 18th, beginning today. Since this is a limited time offer, we've added a countdown to the ad on the website so you can see just how much time you have left to take advantage of this free download!

We also are bringing you a review of a memoir that I just love called THE GEOGRAPHY OF LOVE by Glenda Burgess, which is done by Pat Morris. This book is an emotional read and the story is beautifully done. I am delighted to share that our Coming Soon feature has been updated with titles being published through December. It's one of our most-read features so it's nice to have this available. We also received some great feedback from our advance readers of THE LAST QUEEN by C. W. Gortner, which you can read here.

For those of you who are wondering, my rescue of the boys on the Golden Gate Bridge last Friday had a happy ending. No, that was not the fact that I was able to find them and return them to the hotel. It’s that we did not have to pay the $5 toll since we had three people in the car during rush hour. Imagine that my rescue effort was considered carpooling! Greg got us to a number of terrific locations during the week, many off the beaten track. In a moment that we will long remember, we did a sunset tour at the Point Reyes Lighthouse, which is located at the end of a walkway with 300 steps. By the time we headed back up the stairs, it was getting dark. We walked by the light --- the green light --- of the Artemis Fowl flashlight that I picked up for Cory at Comic-Con. Somehow, given our journey, it was pretty fitting.

I spent yesterday at the Jersey Shore (never the beach in New Jersey, it's the shore) seeing my sister and her family. This weekend I am venturing nowhere. I am determined to turn the page in my book…and I want to get to a few other books too! Oh, the book? AMERICAN WIFE by Curtis Sittenfeld, which will be out September 2nd. What's next? There's an advance reading copy of Nelson DeMille's THE GATEHOUSE, which will be out on October 28th. It's a follow-up to THE GOLD COAST, so for those of you who have not yet read that one, the time to start is NOW. Have a great weekend.

Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)

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 a collection of titles from The Random House Publishing Group, including LOVING FRANK by Nancy Horan, PEONY IN LOVE by Lisa See, AWAY by Amy Bloom and KABUL BEAUTY SCHOOL by Deborah Rodriguez. In a red woven bag, winners will find a multi-colored checked towel, flip-flop-shaped towel anchors, a red martini shaker, a red EZ-Freeze water bottle, multi-colored string lights, green candles shaped like sand pails, H20+ Citrus Squeeze Moisture Boosting Body Balm and Bath Gel, pink striped flip-flops and a novelty cookie with a summer theme, as well as a copy of LOVING FRANK, PEONY IN LOVE, AWAY and KABUL BEAUTY SCHOOL. We have five to give away, as well as five additional prizes of copies of LOVING FRANK, PEONY IN LOVE, AWAY and KABUL BEAUTY SCHOOL.

To enter, fill out this form and answer the following question by Thursday, August 14th at 11:59PM. You can find the answer by reading an excerpt from LOVING FRANK here.

To what city is Edwin traveling?

LOVING FRANK by Nancy Horan (Fiction)
Nancy Horan's debut novel is a fictionalized account of Frank Lloyd Wright's relationship with Mamah Borthwick Cheney, who commissions the renowned architect to design a new home for her. During the construction of the house, a powerful attraction develops between Mamah and Frank; the two become lovers, even though they are each married with children. Reviewed by Bronwyn Miller.

-Read more about Nancy Horan and LOVING FRANK here.

PEONY IN LOVE by Lisa See (Fiction)
PEONY IN LOVE --- the extraordinary new novel from the author of SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN --- tells of three women in 17th-century China who become emotionally involved with a famous opera called The Peony Pavilion, which was known to cause lovesickness and even death. Reviewed by Jamie Layton.

-Read more about Lisa See and PEONY IN LOVE here.

AWAY by Amy Bloom (Fiction)
Amy Bloom’s second novel offers a frank portrayal of the underside of American life in the Roaring Twenties. Told through the eyes of a young Jewish immigrant starting out life in a new land, AWAY is also a heartrending and uplifting story of the power of one mother’s love. Reviewed by Harvey Freedenberg.

-Read more about Amy Bloom and AWAY here.

KABUL BEAUTY SCHOOL: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil by Deborah Rodriguez (Memoir)
Deborah Rodriguez, a hairdresser and mother of two from Michigan, moves to Afghanistan and opens up a beauty school that changes the lives of those living in this war-torn nation for the better. With warmth and humor, she details the lushness of a seemingly desolate region and reveals the magnificence behind the burqa. Reviewed by Jana Siciliano.

-Read more about Deborah Rodriguez and KABUL BEAUTY SCHOOL here.

Louis Bayard is the author of THE PALE BLUE EYE, a national bestseller nominated for both the Edgar and Dagger awards, and MR. TIMOTHY, a New York Times Notable Book and one of People magazine's 10 best books of 2003. In THE BLACK TOWER, which releases on August 26th, Bayard weaves a suspenseful historical novel about a lost king and the real-life convict who transformed himself into the world’s first modern detective.

-Click here to read an excerpt from THE BLACK TOWER.
-Click here to read Louis Bayard’s bio.
-Click here to see Louis Bayard's backlist.
-Click here to read critical praise for THE BLACK TOWER.
-Visit the author’s official website, www.LouisBayard.com.
-Click here to see our advance copy winners.

More about THE BLACK TOWER:
1818. Hector Carpentier, a medical student, lives with his widowed mother in Paris’s Latin Quarter. When his name is found in the pocket of a murdered man, the case is turned over to Eugène François Vidocq, the most feared man in the Paris police. At first suspicious of Hector’s role in the murder, Vidocq gradually draws him into an exhilarating --- and dangerous --- search that leads them to the true story of what happened to the son of the murdered royal family.

In his debut memoir, DUMBFOUNDED, Matt Rothschild writes a laugh-out-loud narrative of a precocious and sexually confused boy raised by his grandparents --- the only Jews in an elite Manhattan apartment building. DUMBFOUNDED will be available in stores on August 12th.

-Click here to read a third excerpt from DUMBFOUNDED.
-Click here to read Matt Rothschild’s bio.
-Click here to read critical praise for DUMBFOUNDED.
-Visit the author’s official website, www.MattRothschild.com.
-Click here to see our advance copy winners.

More about DUMBFOUNDED:
The only Jewish family in a luxury Fifth Avenue building of WASPs, the senior Rothschilds took over the responsibility of raising their grandson, Matt, after his mother left him for Italy and a fourth husband. But rearing Matt was no small task --- even for his sharp-tongued grandmother, a cross between Lauren Bacall and Bea Arthur, and a lady who Matt grew to love deeply.

Poll:

Will the Olympics and political convention coverage take away from your reading time? (Check as many as apply.)

NOTHING takes me away from my reading time.
The Olympics coverage may keep me from my usual reading.
The Democratic Convention may keep me from my usual reading.
The Republican Convention may keep me from my usual reading.
I am not sure about this.

-Click here to answer our poll.


Question:

What book have you ever faked reading to look smart? Okay, you can name up to three.

-Click here to answer our question.