Every month, one subscriber to the Bookreporter.com newsletter wins 5 free hardcover books! This month's selection includes ALL HE EVER WANTED by Anita Shreve, MONEY FOR NOTHING by Donald E. Westlake, NO SECOND CHANCE by Harlan Coben, ORYX AND CRAKE by Margaret Atwood, A SHORT HISTORY OF NEARLY EVERYTHING by Bill Bryson. (See the complete contest rules.)

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Bookreporter.com Newsletter	May 16, 2003
This Week on Bookreporter.com Spring Has Not Sprung! Author Talk: Margaret Atwood, Author of ORYX and CRAKE and Five Bookreporter.com Reviewers Weigh In With Their Thoughts Suspense/Thriller Author Spotlight: New Interview with Buffa, A STAR WITNESS Trivia Game and A Review of Gardner's New Paperback NAKED PREY by John Sandford PERSUADER: A Jack Reacher Novel by Lee Child Books Into Movies This Week's Book Reviews Poll: Is there one day of the week when you buy most of your books? Question of the Week Word of Mouth: Tell Us What You're Reading	On The Book Report Network Bookreporter.com Past Reviews Past Poll: Which of the following May books are you most looking forward to reading? Who are some of your "favorite mothers" in books that you have read?
Spring Has Not Sprung! Those of us who live in the New York area are having the coolest spring that I can remember. It's been danky and grey, and there are many days without much sun. In the office we have been lining up our Summer Beach Read titles, which we will announce next week. So many of these covers have bright colors that it is helping us kick the funk we all are feeling! This week we have five of our reviewers reading ORYX AND CRAKE, the new book from Margaret Atwood. I am not sure if you know that our reviewers live all over the country, and that we have not met most of them. Thus there is a real appeal to me in doing a feature like this where we have five voices weighing in on one book. I hope you enjoy it as well. I have spent the week reading a number of Young Adult books in anticipation of doing an interview with seven authors on Monday. The sophistication of the writing in this genre always intrigues me and once I start reading in it, I always want to do more. Since many of these books are shorter than adult novels there's an urgency to write tight prose and sharp dialogue. Very interesting. For any of you who either have teenage children, or know teens, please forward this newsletter to them and ask them to answer the Teenreads.com Reader Survey listed above. Please note that we are looking for replies from teens who are 12-17. One more program for younger readers to let you know about. Sammy Keyes is a terrific series for kids who are 10 and up. We are running a special feature about the latest book in this series --- as well as a contest --- on Kidsreads.com. If you know a child this age, click on the Sammy Keyes art at the top of this newsletter. Contest prizes include: A personal letter from the author and two sets of signed books --- one for the child and one for his or her classroom. We love watching young readers explore books as we know at some point they also will be Bookreporter.com readers! Have a great week. Let's hope spring gets sprung soon. Mercury moves out of retrograde on Tuesday, the 20th (see my newsletter from May 2nd if you are wondering what I am talking about). I hold great hope! -- Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)
Author Talk: Margaret Atwood, Author of ORYX and CRAKE and Five Bookreporter.com Reviewers Weigh In With Their Thoughts Margaret Atwood has written more than thirty books of fiction, poetry and critical essays. Her latest novel is the stunning and provocative ORYX AND CRAKE. In this interview Atwood talks about her decision to include a male protagonist in ORYX AND CRAKE, her own spiritual philosophy and the application of humor in the novel's serious premise. ORYX AND CRAKE by Margaret Atwood (Fiction) Reviewed by Shannon Bloomstran, Kate Ayers, Kathy Weissman, Rob Cline, and Jen Robbins Margaret Atwood invites readers to enter the future of our own world. It's a catastrophic future indeed, a bleak and terrifying place that has been destroyed in the wake of ecological and scientific disaster. Read an interview with Margaret Atwood and four reviews of ORYX AND CRAKE
Suspense/Thriller Author Spotlight: New Interview with Buffa, A STAR WITNESS Trivia Game and A Review of Gardner's New Paperback D.W. Buffa New This Week: -A new interview with Buffa where he talks in depth about his new book,STAR WITNESS -A STAR WITNESS TRIVIA GAME -Enter our D.W. Buffa Contest Lisa Gardner: THE SURVIVORS CLUB is now out in paperback and THE KILLING HOUR will be in stores on July 15th. -Read our review of THE SURVIVORS CLUB by Lisa Gardner (Suspense) Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub Three brave women, who survived a serial rapist's sexual assaults, form the Survivors Club and help catch their attacker, Eddie Como. But when Como is shot down outside a packed courthouse moments before his trial is about to begin, all three women become prime suspects in his murder. -Read our third excerpt of THE SURVIVORS CLUB -Have a question for Gardner? Be sure to submit it at our Suspense/Thriller mailbox -See Gardner's Author Bibliography -Visit: LisaGardner.com -Read About THE SURVIVORS CLUB -Read About THE KILLING HOUR -Read Gardner's bio Read our Suspense/Thriller feature here.
NAKED PREY by John Sandford NAKED PREY by John Sandford (Suspense) Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub In John Sandford's thirteenth Lucas Davenport mystery, the Minnesota police investigator is examining the murder of a black man and white woman, who are found naked, hanging from a tree in the woods. The media labels the incident a lynching, but Davenport soon discovers that the murders are not what they appear to be. Read our review of NAKED PREY and an excerpt here.
PERSUADER: A Jack Reacher Novel by Lee Child PERSUADER: A Jack Reacher Novel by Lee Child (Thriller) Reviewed by David Exum Award-winning author Lee Child continues his popular series of books featuring ex-military cop Jack Reacher. In this seventh installment, Reacher has the opportunity to settle a score with an old nemesis, a renegade army intelligence officer named Francis Xavier Quinn, whom Reacher believed was dead until a chance encounter on a Boston street. See details on how to win one of 20 copies of this book below! Read a review of PERSUADER and an excerpt.
Books Into Movies The highly anticipated sequel to the 1999 film The Matrix, winner of four Academy Awards, is finally in theaters. In The Matrix: Reloaded, Neo, Morpheus, Trinity and the rest of the crew continue to battle the machines that have enslaved the human race in the Matrix. Now, humans are waking up out of the matrix and trying to live in the real world. The film stars Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne and Jada Pinkett-Smith. If you're a fan of The Matrix and want to learn more about this first film, then THE ART OF THE MATRIX, published by Newmarket Press, should be required reading. For those of you who can't seem to get enough of the X-Men, or if you'd like to know more about the sequel, then you must check out two books from Newmarket Press. THE ART OF X2: THE COLLECTOR'S EDITION contains over 375 stills and drawings, as well as the film's complete script. It reveals some amazing behind-the-scenes details about the film and a 16-page section of special effects art from the first movie. The perfect companion to this outstanding hardcover edition is THE ART OF X2: THE MAKING OF A BLOCKBUSTER MOVIE, which is available in two different paperback covers (one blue and one red) each featuring different poster art of X-Men characters. It includes over 300 full-color images of stills and drawings, set designs and photos, and costume sketches. Fans will especially enjoy reading the sections that feature 11 X2 characters and the thoughts of individual cast members on their roles in this action-packed film. Read Books Into Movies here.
This Week's Book Reviews GOOD MORNING, KILLER by April Smith (Mystery) Reviewed by Judy Gigstad FBI Special Agent Ana Grey is teamed with her lover, Detective Andrew Berringer, to work on a kidnapping case involving a 15-year-old girl, Juliana Meyer-Murphy. When Juliana is found, alive but physically and psychologically devastated, the case becomes very personal for Ana. WILD ORCHIDS by Jude Deveraux (Fiction) Reviewed by Brandon Stickney Six years after the death of his beloved wife, famed mystery writer Ford Newcombe teams up with university researcher Jackie Maxwell to investigate the fascinating story of a woman who was murdered because she loved the devil. THE OTHER WOMAN by Eric Jerome Dickey (Fiction) Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub Husband and wife Freckles and Charles seem to be drifting slowly apart from each other. When she finds out that he's having an affair --- and then starts her own --- their marriage appears to have ended. Or has it? A MOUTHFUL OF AIR by Amy Koppelman (Fiction) Reviewed by David Exum To the outside world Julie Davis has it all: wealth, a loving husband, an apartment on the Upper West Side, and an adorable new baby boy. But underneath this perfect exterior, Julie is suffering from depression, paralyzed by an overwhelming sense of shame and inadequacy. THE WANDERING HILL by Larry McMurtry (Western) Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub The second volume in Larry McMurtry's THE BERRYBENDER NARRATIVES finds a pregnant Tasmin Berrybender discovering for the first time that her rugged frontiersman husband has an Indian family. Meanwhile, Tasmin's family goes to pieces as they become stranded in the hostile wilderness. THE PROTECTOR by David Morrell (Thriller) Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub Cavanaugh, a former Delta Force operator who now works as a protector for those rich enough to afford him and his team, is hired by a brilliant scientist who needs protection from a powerful drug lord seeking the highly addictive drug he has invented --- at least that is what Cavanaugh is led to believe. TIDAL WAVE: How Women Changed America at Century's End by Sara M. Evans (Women's Studies/Social Science) Reviewed by Toni Fitzgerald Sara M. Evans has written an informative chronicle of the so-called "second wave" of feminism in America, starting with the movement in the late 1960s and leading all the way up to the present. DARWIN'S CHILDREN by Greg Bear (Science Fiction) Reviewed by Pauline Finch Greg Bear's Nebula Award-winning novel DARWIN'S RADIO painted a chilling portrait of humankind on the threshold of a radical leap in evolution --- one that would alter our species forever. Now, Bear continues his provocative tale of the human race confronted by an uncertain future, where "survival of the fittest" takes on astonishing and controversial new dimensions. THE DISCRETE CHARM OF CHARLIE MONK by David Ambrose (Thriller) Reviewed by Kate Ayers Charlie Monk is a spy who remembers minute details of his past assignments and has vivid recollections of parts of his childhood. But are these memories real? As he makes some chilling discoveries about himself, Charlie begins to seriously question who he really is. ON THIS DAY by Nathaniel Bellows (Fiction) Reviewed by Tanya Corrin First-time novelist Nathaniel Bellows relates the tender story of a brother and sister who struggle to rebuild their shattered lives after the successive deaths of their parents. Read this week's reviews and features here.
Poll: Is there one day of the week when you buy most of your books? Is there one day of the week when you buy most of your books? Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday There is no particular day. Answer the Poll here.
Question of the Week Here's our question of the week: Is there a book that you are just relentless about telling people about because you like it so much? If so, what is it? Answer the Question of the Week.
Word of Mouth: Tell Us What You're Reading Tell us what books YOU are reading and loving --- or even those you don't. TWENTY lucky readers will win one of 20 copies of PERSUADER by Lee Child. Please note that our next Word of Mouth update will be in three weeks, on June 6th. Need more details about Word of Mouth? Click here.
As always, here are a few housekeeping notes. If you are seeing this newsletter in a text version, and would prefer to see the graphics, you can either read it online (see the link on the upper right) or change your preferences below. Those of you who wish to send mail to the general mailbox at Bookreporter.com, please write to: Mail@bookreporter.com. If you would like to reach me, please write Carol@bookreporter.com. Writing any of the respond buttons below will not get to us. Quick observation --- we have noticed that many of you have been changing your Internet providers in the past month. If you do, please be sure to "take us along" by signing up for the newsletter in your new name! Happy reading....and don't forget to forward this newsletter to a friend. --- Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com) Back to top.