As I was gathering notes for this newsletter last night, a close friend sent word that my very first boss, Nonnie Moore, the fashion director when I was at Mademoiselle magazine, had passed away at the age of 87. Nonnie was a legend in the fashion business and worked at Harper's Bazaar and GQ as well as Mademoiselle. She was so much fun to be around as she had this marvelous energy that surrounded her, an enthusiasm for life that was contagious and a smile that lit up the room. Now I was not a fashionista --- unlike most of the women in the fashion department --- so when I started there I had a very funny epiphany. In many conversations, Nonnie, Edith Raymond Locke, the editor in chief, and Sandy Horvitz, the senior fashion editor, would talk about Willi, Perry and Ralph. I thought these were their husbands. No, they were designers Willi Smith, Perry Ellis and Ralph Lauren. And, oh, sometimes they threw in Calvin, you know Klein, in there just to mix things up.

Nonnie always had wonderful coffee table books about fashion in her office and art books (when she retired, she did so to have time to paint, a true passion of hers). She would share a picture that meant something to her or show me where a designer had gotten an inspiration for a line from a photo or a piece of art. She was one of those people who embraced life and had an endless curiosity about things that just energized everyone. I realize now that in that time of my life while I was a reader, I was not talking books in quite the same way. I was buying a ton of books, reading on my commute and loving reading, but I was not talking books with anyone. Instead, I was trying to keep designers straight, which is pretty tough when every white blouse looks the same to you.

Nonnie loved fashion, but, as someone who was quoted in her obit said, she never got caught up in the “silliness” of it. To her, fashion was an art that had its own special inspiration, and those books that were always around were a way that she shared her love of art and fashion. We would talk for hours, and she taught me a ton about fashion, the business --- and life. She was crazy about her husband and her boys, and she never let the insane fashion world compromise her life with them.

Thinking about Nonnie last night, I went back and read a piece in the Times about her son, Peter, who is an architect, that had run last summer. He built four loft spaces in a building downtown where Nonnie had a space as well as his family, a nice way for them to once again share a home. The piece talked about how he had built walls for his books...."thousands of them including rows and rows of Penguin Classics, their pages toast-colored and crumbly, books being the only possessions worth carting around he said, besides a good pair of shoes and his wife's paintings." Reading that made me smile since I could picture the space. And knowing those books were in his space gave me a bridge between the mother and the son in a way I might not have thought about. Yes, the world will be a lot less fun with Nonnie gone. While we had not seen each other in a few years, I have the most marvelous memories of her. And that is a really nice gift. I wish I had done one more lunch with her.

I contrast those days with my world now. Books and bookish conversation so define my world now that I am always asking people what they are reading. Last Saturday I was at a dinner party where the hostess was someone to whom I feed books. She just finished AMERICAN WIFE, which is just out in paperback, and she was chatting it up. I loved hearing her talk about what she enjoyed about it. Another woman said she was not a reader, but then talked about two Emily Giffin books she had read and enjoyed last summer. Another is addicted to her Kindle and was counting the days until her new one comes and was chronicling what she had on hers already. 
 
By the way, I enjoyed the many notes you sent about why you agreed with my thoughts about not wanting a Kindle. Two other things I have realized. My office in New York and most rooms in my house are decorated with books. Seriously. Those would be missing if all my books were on a Kindle, and I might have to shop for things to put on them! Also, when you walk down the aisle of an airplane or walk along a beach, you never get to see what others are reading if they are reading on a Kindle, thus missing the moment of finding a compatriot just by seeing what they are holding in their hands. Just a point to ponder.

Reading through this week’s reviews, I enjoyed seeing the enthusiasm that our reviewers are expressing about the titles they are sharing with you. From Jamie Layton on CUTTING FOR STONE to Joe Hartlaub on both THE SILENT MAN and RUN FOR YOUR LIFE to Norah Piehl on THE SWEET BY AND BY and, well, read on for the rest --- it’s quite a wonderful lineup. May you find something you love that takes you somewhere.

I wanted to remind you that Linda Fairstein’s newest thriller, LETHAL LEGACY, is now available in stores. We received some great feedback from our advance readers, which you may see here. I am reading an upcoming book by Jilliane Hoffman, whose debut novel, RETRIBUTION, was a favorite of many of yours. PLEA OF INSANITY will be in stores in April, and reading it I am loving the way she sets up a story and writes her protagonist. 

One more funny note. I made a shawl two weeks ago with some big chunky yarn. I play with color and yarn like it’s art...since I cannot paint worth a whit. It looked cool, but I got an idea to make it into a poncho by knitting a back on it, which even the gals at the yarn store thought was a good idea. I finished it and decided to use leather laces to close the sides. Sounds great, looked AWFUL. The boys both told me in their oh so blunt way that it was "not working." They were not wrong. Every time I looked at myself in the mirror I saw myself looking like an explorer heading out to hunt whales for their blubber since I looked like I should be leading the expedition. Sometimes things just do not work out. The poncho is now a shawl again. Luckily I am not allergic to ripping out. I just consider it a form of editing. 

Here’s to a great week. Do something that inspires you…and read something that makes you think, laugh or just plain relax.

Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)

Jacqueline Winspear's most recent publication, AMONG THE MAD, is the sixth novel in her award-winning and bestselling Maisie Dobbs series about a female psychologist and investigator in post-World War I London. In this interview, Winspear recalls some of her first-hand experiences with psychiatric disorders, which figure greatly in the book, and discusses her fascination with the fine line that separates madness from "normal" everyday behavior. She also draws parallels between 1930s England and today's political and economic climate, reveals surprising statistics about women during the early decades of the 20th century, and hints at what's in store for Maisie in the next installment of the series.

AMONG THE MAD: A Maisie Dobbs Novel by Jacqueline Winspear (Historical Mystery)
Jacqueline Winspear has created an indomitable and unique sleuth in Maisie Dobbs. Her combined professions of psychologist and detective surely precede what would now be called a psychological profiler. Maisie uses her hard-wired intelligence and highly developed intuition to aid her in solving cases between World War I and World War II England. AMONG THE MAD, the sixth book in Winspear's historical mystery series, is set in London during Christmas 1931 through New Year’s 1932. Reviewed by Jennifer McCord.

-Click here to read a review of AMONG THE MAD.
-Click here to read an excerpt from AMONG THE MAD.

CIA agent-turned-novelist Barry Eisler is the bestselling author of the John Rain novels, which have won the Barry and Gumshoe Awards and have been translated into nearly 20 languages. In his first stand-alone thriller, FAULT LINE, Eisler delivers a fast-paced story in which two estranged brothers --- one a Silicon Valley lawyer, the other an undercover military operative --- must put aside decades of resentment and hurt to thwart a deadly techno-conspiracy. FAULT LINE will be available in stores on March 10th.

-Click here to read an excerpt from FAULT LINE.
-Click here to read Barry Eisler’s bio.
-Click here to read Barry Eisler's backlist.
-Click here to read critical praise for FAULT LINE.
-Visit Barry Eisler’s official website, www.BarryEisler.com.
-Click here to see our advance copy winners.

More about FAULT LINE:
Silicon Valley: the inventor of a new encryption application is murdered in what seems to be a drug deal gone wrong. Istanbul: a cynical undercover operative receives a frantic e-mail from his estranged brother, a patent lawyer who believes that he’ll be the next victim.

A full-throttle thriller that is both emotionally and politically charged, FAULT LINE centers on a conspiracy that has spun out of the shadows and onto the streets of America, a conspiracy that can be stopped by only three people --- three people with different worldviews, different grievances, different motives. To survive the forces arrayed against them, they’ll first have to survive one another.

A New York Times bestselling author, Gregg Olsen has written seven nonfiction books, three novels and contributed a short story to a collection edited by Lee Child. As a journalist and true crime author, Olsen has received numerous awards and much critical acclaim for his writing. In HEART OF ICE, his new thriller releasing on February 24th, Sherriff Emily Kenyon must stop a serial killer who is targeting young women.

-Click here to read an excerpt from HEART OF ICE.
-Click here to read Gregg Olsen’s bio.
-Click here to read Gregg Olsen's backlist.
-Click here to read critical praise for HEART OF ICE.
-Visit Gregg Olsen’s official website, www.GreggOlsen.com.
-Click here to see our advance copy winners.

More about HEART OF ICE:
Cherrystone, Washington is the kind of small town where strangers are few and gossip is plentiful. Sheriff Emily Kenyon is investigating the murder of a pregnant young woman whose husband is the prime suspect, yet nagging doubts remain. Immersed in uncovering the truth, Emily doesn’t realize she’s become involved in something much bigger --- a case both dark and horrifying, one that will pit her against a killer whose vengeance knows no limits, and whose next target is chillingly close.

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