The leaves are falling on the front lawn, making it look like a very colorful carpet. Doesn't that line sound like it belongs in a book? Of course that very colorful carpet needs to get raked up or blown away at some point, which definitely kills the lovely feeling pretty quickly!

It's been a busy week beginning with last weekend's Bouchercon events. While there were many terrific panels (often starting at the ungodly hour of 8:30 AM), one that I just loved was called "Books We Love That You Should Too." It was brilliantly moderated by Dana Kaye and featured Patti Abbott, Lee Child, Bill Crider, Rae Helmsworth and Ali Karim. They each spoke passionately about the crime, mystery/thriller and suspense titles that they personally love. I found myself unable to take notes quickly enough.

Lee Child often has told me that he is a huge fan of the genre as well as a writer of it. Hearing him talk about book after book in huge detail made me realize he was not kidding when he said this. Ali Karim was wild wild wild about THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO by Stieg Larsson. He also has read the follow-up, which will be coming out in England before it hits here in the States, and could not rave about it more! I love passion like that. Another book that more than a few people mentioned all weekend was TRIGGER CITY by Sean Chercover. Sean won the Shamus Award for BIG CITY, BAD BLOOD on Friday night. Needless to say, both are on my bedside stack now. Bill is an author as well as a reader, and Dana and Rae both review for Crime Spree magazine. Patti has a blog about Forgotten Books that you can visit here. I found myself wishing I had had time to talk to ALL of them more and will make a point to do that next year. And I wish they had posted somewhere all the titles that they talked about so I could share them with you.

I have not read the old hard-boiled masters of the genre --- Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and Ross Macdonald. I have not read many of the names that were shared. And I always think I am well-read. One of the fun things about Bouchercon each year is that a number of British authors and fans make their way to the convention, bringing along their brilliant accents and their own way of speaking English. Such fun. At dinner on Friday night I was seated between the always amusingly fun Jonathan Santlofer, author of THE MURDER NOTEBOOK, and Jim Huang, who is organizing Bouchercon 2009 in Indianapolis. It was fun to hear his early ideas for next year.

On Saturday night folks gathered in the conference hotel bar and I found myself sitting with Gayle Lynds, William (Bill) Lashner and Joseph Finder, chatting books and life. Gayle is working on a new book, Bill's BLOOD AND BONE comes out in February and Finder's new series will be out next year. We were in Shula's Bar, one of those places where there are TVs everywhere and they are each tuned to a different game. Bill loves the Philadelphia Phillies and Joe is a Boston Red Sox fan, so there was lots of playoff chatter. Really fun when an evening just falls together like that.

Lots of awards announced last weekend, so click here for the Anthony, Barry and Macavity Award winners. Also, the 2008 National Book Award nominees were announced on Wednesday, and we have those titles here.

On Wednesday night I went to a screening of the film adaptation of THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES, which you can read more about in my blog post here. I really enjoyed it, and if you are looking to see a really beautifully shot and wonderfully done movie this weekend, I do suggest it. I rented Gone Baby Gone from Netflix and am looking forward to watching that.

This week we are launching two new features for authors many of you will be familiar with. Our first is for Marie Bostwick, whose new novel, A SINGLE THREAD, weaves a beautiful story of friendship and sisterhood. We have 10 copies of A SINGLE THREAD 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, October 24th.

We are also launching a new suspense/thriller feature for award-winning and New York Times bestselling author John Lutz. In NIGHT KILLS, his newest thriller, a former detective is called back to duty when in pursuit of a cold-blooded killer. We have 10 copies of NIGHT KILLS 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, October 24th.

Our readers had some nice things to say about DANCING IN THE LOWCOUNTRY by James Villas. You may read their responses here.

Yesterday, Greg, my older son, met up with all of his QE2 friends who he affectionately calls his ship geek buddies to bid farewell to the QE2 as she sailed off from New York Harbor for the last time, and he invited me to come over to South Street Seaport to say hi to them. He's very active on an online forum where they chat about staterooms, history and all things ship! I confess that they lose me on most of this. Greg is doing the coolest thing. When we sailed on the ship in April, he left a book in the ship's library and asked the librarian there to allow folks on the final crossings to sign it. The plan is that, once the ship is anchored in Dubai, the book will be returned to him so he can scan it and share it with his friends, and at some point find a historical resting place for it. Someone had brought it to the event yesterday, and it was wonderful to see how many people have participated and written these past six months. I was really proud of him seeing this. And it was just wonderful to meet his friends.

The weekend will be all about getting the Halloween decorations out. My younger son is enlisting friends to help with this as we do go a bit...um....over the top about this every year. Here's wishing you a lovely fall weekend with lots of reading time. Oh, I am off to San Jose next Friday for Book Group Expo. Be sure to let me know if you are planning to be there.

Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)

THE BRASS VERDICT by Michael Connelly (Legal Thriller)
THE BRASS VERDICT is an exciting departure for Michael Connelly. Here he brings criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller, the protagonist of THE LINCOLN LAWYER, into a case that has caught LAPD Detective Harry Bosch’s interest. The story is masterfully plotted, highly suspenseful and offers insights into human nature and the machinations of the jury/judicial system. Reviewed by Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum.

-Click here to read an excerpt from THE BRASS VERDICT.

A multiple Edgar and Shamus Award winner, John Lutz is the author of over 40 books, including SWF SEEKS SAME, which became the film Single White Female, and THE EX, a critically acclaimed feature for HBO. In NIGHT KILLS, his terrifying new thriller now available in stores, former NYPD detective Frank Quinn and his team of brilliant law enforcement misfits return to hunt down a cold-blooded killer.

We have 10 copies of NIGHT KILLS 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, October 24th.

-Click here to read John Lutz’s bio.
-Visit John Lutz's official website, www.JohnLutzOnline.com.

More about NIGHT KILLS:
New York Times bestselling author John Lutz returns with a gruesome, page-turning psychological thriller. A former NYPD detective is hunting for a madman: someone is shooting young women in the heart, defiling their bodies, and only leaving their torsos to be found. No one knows the true motives behind a rampage of cold-blooded murders…or how much more terrifying it’s going to get.

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