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| A Favorite Author Has A New One.... |
| Over last weekend I spent four whirlwind days in LA at BEA (Book Expo America) looking at fall books. On the flight out I read THE DISTANCE FROM NORMANDY by Jonathan Hull, which is due in early September. Jonathan's LOSING JULIA is one of my all-time favorite books. Many of you have written to say the same and I am happy to say that this new book is just as brilliant. As much as I wish that Jonathan wrote faster, his books are so worth waiting for. We are looking for 5 readers who read LOSING JULIA who would like to read an advance copy of this new one. Interested? Drop me a line at Carol@bookreporter.com.
For all of you who has been asking, we finally have a guide for A PAINTED HOUSE by John Grisham. So schedule your meetings to talk about it. When I was in LA, I heard that Grisham will have a new standalone title called BLEACHERS in September. Will keep you posted on that one.
As many of you are heading off on vacation in the upcoming months, I wanted to share info about a reading light I am loving called LightWedge. You can see details about it by clicking the link at the right. I wish I had carried mine on my flight. Ever notice that those airplane lights shine everywhere but where you need them?
By the way, if you are looking for Beach Reads, check out the other site in our Network, Bookreporter.com where we have listed our Best of Summer Reading Lists. There is also a contest where you can win all the titles on our lists --- and a LightWedge reading light!
For all you NPR listeners I am scheduled to be interviewed for a segment on TALK OF THE NATION on Monday at 3:30ish about children's book clubs. If any of you have children involved in a book club with their friends, can you drop me a note?
Lots to share this month including a program with some lighter reads in it. We now have more than 1150 guides here and new readers joining us every month! We are answering your guide requests as quickly as we can. Please note that there is no guide for JOHN ADAMS available at this time, but we are talking to the publisher about one.
Have a great month. We look forward to hearing from you!
Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)
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Read more about the LightWedge reading light here.
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| THE REAL MCCOY by Darin Strauss |
Loosely based on the real life of an enigmatic turn-of-the-century icon and charlatan, The Real McCoy introduces a character like no other in recent contemporary fiction. "Kid" McCoy was a man of many talents and faces: championship boxer, jewel thief, scam artist, and one of the most married men in America. Unfolding against the tumultuous backdrop of history, his story is a fascinating mirror of the times as he becomes a legend and a symbol of all that's true in America. The Real McCoy is an audacious and unforgettable novel about identity, illusion, and the pursuit of life long love.
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Read the guide for THE REAL MCCOY here.
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| A PAINTED HOUSE by John Grisham |
Until that September of 1952, Luke Chandler had never kept a secret or told a single lie. But in the long, hot summer of his seventh year, two groups of migrant workers - and two very dangerous men - came through the Arkansas Delta to work the Chandler cotton farm. And suddenly mysteries are flooding Luke's world.
A brutal murder leaves the town seething in gossip and suspicion. A beautiful young woman ignites forbidden passions. A fatherless baby is born ... and someone has begun furtively painting the bare clapboards of the Chandler farmhouse, slowly, painstakingly, bathing the run-down structure in gleaming white. And as young Luke watches the world around him, he unravels secrets that could shatter lives - and change his family and his town forever....
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Read a guide for A PAINTED HOUSE
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| HIMALAYAN DHABA by Craig Joseph Danner |
Mary, a newly widowed American doctor, travels to a remote hospital high in the Indian Himalayas to work with a colleague of her late husband. She arrives to find this other doctor missing, the hospital abandoned, and herself the only medical provider within a hundred miles.
Caught between shattering loneliness and harrowing self-doubt, she struggles to overcome daunting medical and cultural obstacles in a yearlong odyssey of healing and redemption that connects her with a cast of unexpected characters.
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Read a guide for HIMALAYAN DHABA here.
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| ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell |
It has been said that Animal Farm is a byproduct of George Orwell's long-held hatred of totalitarianism. Clearly, in reading Animal Farm, those familiar with history will find pointed parallels to Stalin's dictatorship and reign of terror. In this case, however, the principal characters are indeed animals who, possessed of human or near-human traits and abilities, set out to create a Utopian society devoid of human influence.
With biting irony and sharp insight into human nature, Orwell illustrates the dangers inherent in a complacent citizenry and the consequences of unchecked power. To this day, Animal Farm remains a haunting vision-the lessons of which might be heeded by all concerned with issues of self-determination and political process.
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Read a guide for ANIMAL FARM here.
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| Summer Share: A Terrific Summer Reading Program |
The Summer Share Reads program has five new books for 2003 by extraordinary authors you'll want to know. Spend quality time with friends and fiction worth sharing including the titles noted above, THE ELEGANT GATHERING OF WHITE SNOWS, LOST IN TRANSLATION and PINK SLIP.
Here's the idea behind the program --- "When I read a book this good, I need to share it with friends!" Want to know more? Explore their site: it is packed with interviews, readers' guides, and more to make the most of Summer Share. And may we share that all are affordably priced paperbacks?
Looking for summer ideas for your book club? Why not try one of these titles. Or, if your regular club takes summers off, why not gather a group at the beach or another vacation spot and read one of these books together! Everything you need to get started is on the website.
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For more information about the Summer Share program, go here.
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| Book Club Interviews |
This month we are sharing interviews with three book clubs with you. Read on to see what they had to say about how their groups and their discussions.
Lynn Ketelsen of "The Lunch Bunch: Food for Thought" from Coon Rapids, MN
Pat Shepich of "The Book Club" from Troy, MI
Lisa Klebba of "The Happy Bookers" from Linn, MO
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Read our Book Club interviews here.
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| Poll: Does your group read "lighter" books during the summer? |
Does your group read "lighter" books during the summer?
Yes, we try to include "lighter" titles during the summer months.
No, but this might be a nice idea.
No, we do not alter our schedule in the summer months.
We do not meet during the summer.
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Answer our poll questions here.
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| This Month's Contest: Win EASTER ISLAND by Jennifer Vanderbes |
A subscription to our newsletter is all you need to be entered in our monthly contest. This month, one lucky reader will win enough copies of EASTER ISLAND by Jennifer Vanderbes for his or her entire reading group.
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Read contest details and more about EASTER ISLAND here.
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Do you like what you see here, and want to forward it to a friend? Then click our link on the bottom of the page to do just that!
Happy reading. We'll see you next month.
Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)
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