March 18, 2016

I started the week with daylight saving jet lag but was perked up by an unexpected visit with Mary Kay Andrews. The New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA) hosted an industry event at Watchung Booksellers in Montclair, New Jersey, and MKA (as we call her around the office) was on hand to talk to booksellers about her writing and her upcoming book, THE WEEKENDERS (coming May 17th). You may recall that my plan for the weekend was to kick back a notch, read it and think warm summer thoughts. I was 200 pages in on Sunday (and completely wrapped up in the story of this barrier island resort town) when I headed to Montclair.

I had not been to Watchung Booksellers before, though I have had the pleasure of spending time with its owner, Margot, and store manager, Carolyn, at other industry events. I grew up in the two towns that surround Montclair and went to a private high school in that town, so the area has a lot of history for me. It made me long for a store like this in my town, where community clearly thrives. I loved looking at their clever displays and reading their recommendations. We got to talk the biz a bit and shared some terrific treats from Tiny Elephant, which is adjacent to the bookstore. MKA shared more about her love of writing beach books; her goal is for her readers to escape with her and enjoy a good story. She’s not solving world problems, but rather giving readers a chance to escape and be entertained. Her roots as a mystery writer (her real name is Kathy Trocheck, and she wrote mysteries for years) often crop up in her books; THE WEEKENDERS is no exception. At the start of the novel, Riley learns that her estranged husband is dead, and it looks like murder. Set on an island where life is always kicked back a notch, the book is steeped in traditions, and the action is both beachy and page-turning. I think it’s her best book yet.

Now let’s talk about this week’s update!

James Patterson and Mark Sullivan are back with another exhilarating installment in the Private series. PRIVATE PARIS takes us to France, where Jack Morgan expects a relaxing break from his hectic life. After stopping by the office for a quick hello, though, he is quickly pressed into service when his client, Sherman Wilkerson, asks him to track down his granddaughter, who is on the run from a drug dealer. Before Jack can find her, several members of France’s elite are found murdered in stunning, symbolic fashion. He and his team must connect the dots before the religious and ethnic tensions come to a head in the City of Lights.

Joe Hartlaub has our review and calls PRIVATE PARIS “a heck of an entertaining story that moves readers rapidly from page to page while also providing a bit of a triptych tour of Paris and its culture…. Sullivan, a highly regarded thriller author in his own right, has his considerable action writing chops on full display here while managing to intersperse descriptions of interesting and offbeat street scenery with explosions and bloodshed.”

As promised, we have our review of SISI: Empress on Her Own, Allison Pataki’s third novel and her second to feature Empress Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary, affectionately known as Sisi. Newly married to Emperor Franz Joseph, Sisi has captured the hearts of her people as the “fairy queen.” But beneath this graceful and stunning persona, Sisi grows restless under the strict protocols of her royal marriage. A free-spirited wanderer at heart, she escapes to her estate outside Budapest where she rides horses and enjoys visits from a handsome Hungarian statesman. But tragic news brings Sisi out of her seclusion, and she must return to the world of court gossip and envy where a dangerous fate lurks in the shadows.

We’re happy to share Amy Gwiazdowski’s rave review. Here’s a preview: “Historical fiction loaded with court intrigue featuring a strong female lead is right in my wheelhouse. SISI was all that and more for me. I fell in love on page one and was heartbroken at the end. I’ve never been happier with a book…. It’s so easy to be swept away emotionally and feel utterly devastated at the end, but I’m so happy to have experienced it all.” You can see Allison's appearance on the "Today" show here.

Leaving behind the childhood she described in CHANEL BONFIRE, Wendy Lawless examines her misguided 20s in her follow-up memoir, HEART OF GLASS. Running from an unstable childhood with a volatile mother, Lawless ended up in the heart of 1980s New York City, before downtown Manhattan was scrubbed clean, gentrified and overrun with designer boutiques. With an open heart and a thrift store wardrobe, Lawless navigated this demi-monde of jaded punk rockers, desperate actors, pulsing parties and unexpected run-ins with her own past as she made every mistake of youth, looked for love in all the wrong places, and eventually learned how to grow up on her own.

According to reviewer Barbara Bamberger Scott, “HEART OF GLASS is deftly designed, vividly frank and often very funny, though the situations Lawless describes are not always the usual stuff of humor…. It’s impossible to read about Lawless’ earnestly misspent youth without feeling a slight touch of vertigo from all the ups, downs, twists and turns.”

HEART OF GLASS was the first book we gave away this week in this year’s Spring Preview contests; the others were ON FIRE: The 7 Choices to Ignite a Radically Inspired Life by John O'Leary (I met John a few months ago, and he and his story were so inspiring) and SAVING ALEX: When I Was Fifteen I Told My Mormon Parents I Was Gay, and That's When My Nightmare Began (what a story!) by Alex Cooper with Joanna Brooks. Next week’s prize books will be DIMESTORE: A Writer's Life by Lee Smith, her first nonfiction title, and THE SUMMER BEFORE THE WAR by Helen Simonson, which I am loving and is a future Bookreporter.com Bets On selection.

I have two Bets On selections for you this week: FAR FROM TRUE by Linwood Barclay and ALL THINGS CEASE TO APPEAR by Elizabeth Brundage. As I was writing them, I realized that both are set in upstate New York, though the tales told in them are very different stories. Also, we have more reader comments about both titles in Linwood’s Promise Falls trilogy: BROKEN PROMISE and FAR FROM TRUE.

We’ve updated our History Books roundup for March. We have books about the Lusitania (DEAD WAKE), FDR (RIGHTFUL HERITAGE), Charlotte Brontë (CHARLOTTE BRONTE: A Fiery Heart), baseball (THE SELLING OF THE BABE and STEALING GAMES) and much more.

We have a new poll question for you, something that has us curious. If you are not enjoying a book, are you more likely to stop reading it if you haven’t paid for it? Let us know! In our previous poll, we asked where you go online to find information about authors. Your top go-to places are author websites, Bookreporter.com (we LOVE seeing that!), Goodreads, Google and Amazon author pages. Click here for all the results.

We have a new Word of Mouth contest to tell you about this week. Let us know by Friday, April 1st at noon ET what books you’ve finished reading for your chance to win THE CHARM BRACELET by Viola Shipman, FOOL ME ONCE by Harlan Coben, and the aforementioned THE SUMMER BEFORE THE WAR by Helen Simonson. Trending this week on Word of Mouth are THE READERS OF BROKEN WHEEL RECOMMEND by Katarina Bivald; ANNA AND THE SWALLOW MAN by Gavriel Savit, a YA title that we shared with you here; and Linwood Barclay's aforementioned FAR FROM TRUE.

Don’t forget to enter this month’s Sounding Off on Audio contest. Submit your comments about the audiobooks you’ve finished listening to, and you’ll be in the running to win the audio versions of A MOTHER'S RECKONING: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy, written and read by Sue Klebold, and Chris Pavone's THE TRAVELERS, read by Paul Michael. The deadline for your entries is also Friday, April 1st at noon ET. No fooling!

Speaking of audiobooks, I’ve been listening to NO ONE KNOWS by J.T. Ellison, a psychological thriller that will be in stores on Tuesday. I’m loving the interplay of the voices on this one! We plan to have our review of the hardcover next week.

We were saddened to hear this week of another author passing: Anita Brookner, who died at the age of 87. Becoming a prolific writer after establishing herself as an art historian, Brookner wrote a book almost every year from 1981 --- when her first novel, A START IN LIFE, was published --- until 2011, with the release of the novella AT THE HAIRDRESSER’S. Her fourth novel, HOTEL DU LAC, won the Booker Prize in 1984. Brookner is mourned by friends, fellow writers and fans of her poignant, if melancholy, prose.

Otessa Moshfegh has won the PEN/Hemingway Award for her debut novel, EILEEN, and the winners of the National Book Critics Circle Awards were announced yesterday. This week also saw the announcement of the finalists for the Barry Award and the Indies Choice/E.B. White Read-Aloud Awards; click on the award names for all the nominees.

News and Pop Culture:

Reader mail was slower than usual this week --- symptoms of spring break and daylight saving jet lag! But proving that some of our best ideas come from our readers, Virginia wrote and asked, “Would you consider including the Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other links in your ‘On Sale This Week’ newsletter? There are two books I'd like to order that were released today, and I'd like to support Bookreporter! Having the links at the beginning of the newsletter would be very convenient.” Consider this done for next week with us thinking, WHY did we not do this?

By the way, if you have not signed up for the “On Sale This Week” newsletter, you can do so here. Circulation for this newsletter is steadily climbing, which we love to see. The newsletter tells you what is on sale that week and the following week in both hardcover and paperback. And we have been including some bonus features there too, including contest previews!

My cousin, Maryann, is one of our readers, which I love! She wrote to share that she “is going to see Allison Pataki at a country club in New Jersey on May 19th and is looking forward to our review of SISI.” She also mentioned that she loves hearing about my boys and said, “You have to post a photo of Cory's new look.” Readers may recall that Cory shaved his head for a fundraiser for pediatric cancer a few weeks ago. Since a few of you have asked, see the photo above.

Nora Ephron: A new documentary about her called Everything Is Copy debuts on HBO on Monday, March 21st at 9pm ET and will be available On Demand on March 22nd. It is written and directed by her son, Jacob Bernstein. You can see a trailer for it here.

Liane Moriarty: Know you are waiting for her new book; it’s coming on July 26th. The cover was revealed this week for TRULY MADLY GUILTY. Check it out here.

“House of Cards”: Really enjoyed season four, but I think the wrap on the final episode could have been better. Cory has one episode left; I will rewatch with him tomorrow night.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children: We have the trailer starring Eva Green and directed by Tim Burton.

San Andreas: I am going to admit that I watched the movie San Andreas last Friday night (Tom did not think I would admit to it) for a couple of reasons: 1) The week before, we watched Straight Outta Compton with Paul Giammati. Then I watched him in “Billions” during the week, and then he was in San Andreas. So I feel like I should ask him what he wants for dinner tonight. 2) Tom has degrees in engineering AND geology. So during the entire movie, I had a play-by-play on every fact that was wrong (why there would not have been a tsunami, etc.), which is payback for every thriller we ever watched where I guessed the ending. For the record, he would have been as good as Dwayne Johnson at rescuing us, and I would have been just as terrified as the wife!

NCAA Tournament: Lots of basketball and bracket talk around our house this weekend. For me, the best part of the tournament is the commentary from Charles Barkley and the crew in the booth. Standup comedy!

For those of you who have attended the Book Group Speed Dating sessions at BookExpo America (BEA) in New York the past few years, please note that we will be taking the event on the road to Chicago where the BEA show is this year. The event will be held on Friday, May 13th. We already have a fantastic lineup of publishers confirmed to join us, and we’re working on putting together a great program for our readers who can make it out to the Windy City. Registration for our event is now open; click here to sign up before May 3rd at noon ET. Please note that to attend this event, you must be registered to attend BEA on Friday, May 13th and have a badge. Click here for more information.

We know that some of you who typically attend our ReadingGroupGuides.com Annual Book Group Speed Dating Event will not be heading to Chicago. We are gauging interest in a similar Manhattan-based event in late May or June. If you are interested in this event, please fill out this form. Bear in mind that there are no firm plans for this event at this time --- we are merely exploring level of interest.

I am headed to Denver from April 5-7 for the Public Library Association’s conference. I have heard from a few of you that you will be there. I have been invited by the Penguin Random House Library team to present at their pre-PLA Lunch & Learn and talk about the current trends in book groups on Wednesday, April 6th from 12:30-1:30. Also, special guest author Ariel Lawhon will be signing copies of her Library Reads pick, FLIGHT OF DREAMS. If you are registered for the conference and would like to RSVP to attend, click here.

Cory has been in and out of the house all week as he is on spring break, and it has been so nice to have him around. He and Tom worked on some new projects; Tom is planning to market and sell the fabulous outdoor light that he made for me a few years ago so I can read outdoors at night. There is no quality outdoor lighting that can stand up to the elements. He does beautiful woodwork, thus I am so happy to see him heading in this new direction.

Yesterday morning, I saw a basket full of Cory’s laundry, so I washed it. Last night, he wandered in the laundry room as I was headed to do the second basket of laundry. He said, "Mom, why are you washing the clean clothes?" It ends up those were clean clothes that morning, waiting to be folded...or stuffed in his suitcase as he is wont to do! He is so independent; he has not brought home one load of laundry for me to do since he headed to college.

Greg’s plans for the weekend keep shifting; when he walks out the door, I may know where he is going...or maybe he will!

Spring arrives Sunday, and it can’t happen a moment too soon! But I am seeing a prediction for snow in the New York area for Sunday into Monday. HUGE growl on that! Well, we will have an extra hour of light in the evening to watch it fall.

I have a LOT of reading to do. Between the end of April and the second week in May, I am interviewing 11 authors! I wonder if the trick where you put a book under your pillow works. I also wonder if I will absorb a plotline if I listen to the audiobook as I sleep; I'll let you know how that works out!

Read on, and have a great week.

Carol Fitzgerald ([email protected])

P.S. For those of you who are doing online shopping, if you use the store links below, Bookreporter.com gets a small affiliate fee on your purchases. We would appreciate your considering this!

• THE ATOMIC WEIGHT OF LOVE by Elizabeth J. Church
• A CERTAIN AGE by Beatriz Williams
• DESIGN FOR DYING: A Lillian Frost & Edith Head Novel by Renee Patrick
• DIMESTORE: A Writer's Life by Lee Smith
• FEVER AT DAWN by Péter Gárdos
• HEART OF GLASS: A Memoir by Wendy Lawless
• HEX by Thomas Olde Heuvelt
• THE INHERITANCE: Secrets of the Shetlands, Book 1 by Michael Phillips
• LILAC GIRLS by Martha Hall Kelly
• MAESTRA by L. S. Hilton
• MY SUNSHINE AWAY by M.O. Walsh
• NIGHT WORK: A Michael Cassidy Novel by David C. Taylor
• ON FIRE: The 7 Choices to Ignite a Radically Inspired Life by John O'Leary
• THE ONE-IN-A-MILLION BOY by Monica Wood
• ONLY BELOVED: A Survivors' Club Novel by Mary Balogh
• SAVING ALEX: When I Was Fifteen I Told My Mormon Parents I Was Gay, and That's When My Nightmare Began by Alex Cooper with Joanna Brooks
• THE SPACE BETWEEN SISTERS: A Butternut Lake Novel by Mary McNear
• THE SUMMER BEFORE THE WAR by Helen Simonson

• Yes, I do this with library books.
• Yes, I do this with books I download for free.
• Yes, I do this with books I receive as gifts.
• Yes, I do this with books I win in contests.
• Yes, I do this with advance reading copies.
• No, that does not have any influence on my finishing a book.
• I buy all my books.
• I finish every book I start.