I am writing from Toronto where I am speaking at the Book Expo Canada conference today. It's a very quick trip where I am not seeing much more than the CN Tower out the window of my hotel and the swimming pool at the health club (which is one of my favorites). At this conference I look forward to hearing more about what is happening with books and readers in Canada.
 
I finished reading this week's beach bag book, THE SECOND WIVES CLUB by Jane Moore, on the flight up here yesterday. It's a great summer read that explores the lives of four women who are second wives and their trials and tribulations. As you know the beach bags are themed around the book and I try to push my limits of being clever each week. I had fun pulling together the beach bag for this one and you can see details about it later in the newsletter.
 
Our latest One to Watch author is Robyn Young, whose book BRETHREN is about the Templars and culminates on the eve of the last Crusade. It will be in stores on July 11th. Knowing how many of you have enjoyed anything Templar, we are happy to tell you that we have 10 advance reading copies to share. Interested in being selected? Then send your name and mailing address to OnetoWatch@bookreporter.com by Friday, June 16th to be eligible.
 
For the golfers --- and those who love golf --- among our readers, we bring you our annual Golf feature written by Stuart Shiffman. There's lots of great armchair reading here for inspiration.
 
Also, this week we have advance reader comments on two of the books that we recently featured --- QUEEN OF BABBLE by Meg Cabot and THE LAST SPYMASTER by Gayle Lynds. I enjoyed reading these as I liked both books. Sometimes reading our advance reader comments I feel like I was at a book club discussion about them.
 
In our post-9/11 world I am anticipating all kinds of fun and games tonight at the airport when I fly home since I have an expired passport (more than 10 years expired) and my driver's license as ID. I had my birth certificate and marriage license FAXed up to me last night since I left them behind --- the official immigration website did not make it sound like I needed them. Do note that valid non-expired passports are required as of December 1st. I am practicing singing "Oh Canada" in case I cannot cross the border.
 
Have a great week. Get your Father's Day shopping done....see our feature for some great book suggestions.
 
PS...for those who read the entry about THE SECOND WIVES CLUB and now are wracking your brains trying to remember who wrote THE FIRST WIVES CLUB, it was the late Olivia Goldsmith. Every time I mentioned Moore's book this week someone would remember Goldsmith's title, but not her name. 
 
Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)

List of titles reviewed and featured on June 9th.

List of titles reviewed and featured on June 2nd.

Daniel Judson, author of the award-winning THE BONE ORCHARD and THE POISONED ROSE, has released THE DARKEST PLACE, his first book in four years. In this interview with Bookreporter.com's Joe Hartlaub, Judson describes the time he spent living in Southampton, and the impact of its winter landscape on his imagination and unconscious mind. He also discusses the recurring theme of loss in his latest novel, elaborates on his recent career struggles, and reveals how writing from a woman's point of view in an upcoming novel is actually a welcome change from the masculine "Hero's Journey" he's explored in his previous work.

THE DARKEST PLACE by Daniel Judson (Thriller)
Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
From Daniel Judson, Shamus Award winner and emerging master of the modern literary thriller, comes a riveting and accomplished crime novel set in the seedy underside of a celebrated beach town. During a bone-chilling snap of record cold, a series of enigmatic drowning deaths plays out in a small Hamptons community on Long Island's Shinnecock Bay.

Robyn Young, author of BRETHREN --- an epic and atmospheric historical tale --- is our newest One to Watch Author. Loaded with adventure, intrigue, politics and romance, BRETHREN, which hits stores on July 11th, is already garnering praise from critics and fellow authors.

We have 10 Advance Copies of BRETHREN to share with readers who would like to read the book and comment on it. Interested? Then send your name and mailing address to OnetoWatch@bookreporter.com by Friday, June 16th.

More about BRETHREN:
When Will Campbell joins the most powerful organization in Europe, the Order of the Knights Templar, he is thrown into a world of intrigue. Apprenticed to the foul-tempered scholar Everard, he must try to make sense of many things: his own past, the dangerous mystery that surrounds Everard, and his feelings for Elwen, the strong-willed young woman whose path seems linked with his own.

From the filthy backstreets of Paris and London to the burning plains of Syria, BRETHREN culminates on the eve of the last Crusade. With page-turning suspense and breathtaking battle scenes, Robyn Young portrays a rich cast of characters, reflecting on each side greed, ambition and religious fanaticism, as well as courage, love and faith.

Every week from May 19th through August 25th a different title in the Bookreporter.com's Second Annual Beach Bag of Books promotion will be featured with a review and contest prize --- a beach bag stocked with that book, plus summertime essentials that tie in to its theme. Five FABULOUS beach bags will be given away each week, as well as five copies of the book to additional winners.

Our fourth spotlighted title is THE SECOND WIVES CLUB by Jane Moore, a sexy tale of modern (re)marriage, packed with razor-sharp wit, female-bonding and high-stakes drama. In an orange drawstring beach tote, winners will find a Margarita party set with three bottles of flavored mixers and salt and flip-flip floating candles --- the essentials for throwing your very own party with the girls. For a little pre-party pampering and relaxation we also have a sea-green cucumber melon sponge and a brightly-colored towel. Since second wives often inherit children, we have bright pink dominoes that will provide hours of enjoyment --- as well as a copy of THE SECOND WIVES CLUB. We have five to give away, as well as five additional prizes of copies of THE SECOND WIVES CLUB. To enter to win answer the question below:

What is the name of the band at Allison's wedding?

You can find the answer by reading an excerpt here:

THE SECOND WIVES CLUB by Jane Moore (Fiction)
Reviewed by Amie Taylor
Being a second wife is synonymous with being second best for Alison, Fiona, Julia and Susan --- but don't think they'll take it laying down. They form the Second Wives Club and show everyone that being a second wife doesn't mean they have to settle for anything less than the best that life and marriage have to offer.

We are spotlighting Elisabeth Hyde as one of our One to Watch Authors. The author of three previous novels, including CRAZY AS CHOCOLATE, her newest work, THE ABORTIONIST'S DAUGHTER, is a compelling and provocative tale that comes out June 20th and is already garnering advance praise from readers.

-Click here to read an excerpt from THE ABORTIONIST'S DAUGHTER.
-Click here to see the winners of our Advance Reader Copies.
-Click here to read Elisabeth Hyde's Backlist.
-Click here to read Critical Praise for THE ABORTIONIST'S DAUGHTER.

More about THE ABORTIONIST'S DAUGHTER:
Elisabeth Hyde has taken a powerful moral predicament and constructed around it a richly layered, compulsively readable novel about a murder in a small Colorado town, about the choices we make and the way their unintended consequences ripple through our lives.

It's a riveting and provocative page-turner: a novel of stunning economy and momentum by a writer poised for wide discovery.

Our Father's Day Duffel Bag of Books contest may be over, but if you're still not sure of the perfect gift for Dad, may we suggest one of our featured titles?

KILLER INSTINCT by Joseph Finder
MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN by Bob Mitchell
MEXICAN DAYS by Tony Cohan
THE MILLIONAIRES' UNIT by Marc Wortman
POP CULTURE by Christopher Healy
THE RABBIT FACTORY by Marshall Karp

The following guides are now available on ReadingGroupGuides.com:

ALL THIS HEAVENLY GLORY by Elizabeth Crane
THE ASSASIN'S GATE by George Packer
BLUE PENINSULA by Madge McKeithen
THE BOOK OF BRIGHT IDEAS by Sandra Kring
THE BREAKDOWN LANE by Jacquelyn Mitchard
CAGE OF STARS by Jacquelyn Mitchard
CHRISTMAS, PRESENT by Jacquelyn Mitchard
CLAIRE KNOWS BEST by Tracey Bateman
EYE CONTACT by Cammie McGovern
FORGIVIN' AIN'T FORGOTTEN' by Mata Elliott
FAMILY AND OTHER ACCIDENTS by Shari Goldhagen (Hardcover)
FAMILY AND OTHER ACCIDENTS by Shari Goldhagen (Paperback)
FINISHING TOUCHES by Deanna Kizis
THE FRIEND WHO GOT AWAY by Jenny Offill and
Elissa Schappell
THE GIRL IN THE GREEN GLASS MIRROR by Elizabeth McGregor
GODS IN ALABAMA by Joshilyn Jackson
THE LAST SONG OF DUSK by Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi
LIKE DANDELION DUST by Karen Kingsbury
LIPSTICK JIHAD by Azadeh Moaveni
LIVING ON AIR by Anna Shapiro
LOVE IN THE PRESENT TENSE by Catherine Ryan Hyde
LUCKY STRIKE by Nancy Zafris
THE MEMORY KEEPER'S DAUGHTER by Kim Edwards
1906: A Novel by James Dalessandro
NOTHING BUT THE RIGHT THING by Stacy Hawkins Adams
THE ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL by Betsy Carter
THE OTHER WOMAN by Jane Green
THE POTLUCK CLUB: Trouble's Brewing by Linda Evans Shepherd and Eva Marie Everson
THE PRINCE OF POISON by Pamela Kaufman
THE RED CARPET by Lavanya Sankaran
ROLLING DOWN BLACK STOCKINGS by Esther Royer Ayers
RULES FOR OLD MEN WAITING by Peter Pouncey
SHOOTING WATER by Devyani Saltzman
SKELLS by F. P. Lione
THE SISTERHOOD OF BLACKBERRY CORNER by Andrea Smith
A SOUNDING BRASS by Shelley Bates
SPEAK TO MY HEART by Stacy Hawkins Adams
A THEORY OF RELATIVITY by Jacquelyn Mitchard
TRIANGLE: A Novel by Katharine Weber
TWELVE TIMES BLESSED by Jacquelyn Mitchard
WHEN LIGHT BREAKS by Patti Callahan Henry

Please note that these titles, for which we already had guides when they appeared in hardcover, are now available in paperback:

CAST OF SHADOWS by Kevin Guilfoile
THE DIVIDE by Nicholas Evans
MAYBE A MIRACLE by Brian Strause

Each year, between professional golf's first two major championships, the Masters and the U.S. Open, publishers present avid golfers and equally avid readers with a broad panoply of books --- instructional, inspirational, educational and sometimes simply enjoyable. This season's range of books offers any enthusiastic golfer many noteworthy volumes for vacation and travel reading. Bookreporter.com's Stuart Shiffman takes a look at eight of these works, including a homage to the most famous golf course in the world and a celebration of quite possibly one of the greatest achievements in all of sports.

TERRORIST by John Updike (Fiction)
Reviewed by Roz Shea
The ever-surprising John Updike's 22nd novel is a brilliant contemporary fiction that will surely be counted as one of his most powerful. It tells of 18-year-old Ahmad Ashmawy Mulloy and his devotion to Allah and the words of the Holy Qur'an, as expounded to him by a local mosque's imam.

-Click here to read an excerpt from TERRORIST.

MAYFLOWER: A Story of Courage, Community, and War by Nathaniel Philbrick (History)
Reviewed by Colleen Quinn
In Nathaniel Philbrick's spellbinding new book, the Pilgrims fight the elements, the natives, and their own assumptions while carving out their place in the New World. The true story of the Pilgrims is much more than the well-known tale of piety and sacrifice; it is a 55-year epic that is at once tragic, heroic, exhilarating and profound.

SUSANNAH'S GARDEN by Debbie Macomber (Fiction)
Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon
Susannah is 50 years old and content, yet recently she finds herself dreaming about her high school boyfriend who mysteriously disappeared. When she goes home to help her increasingly fragile elderly mother, Susannah confronts those long-ago mysteries that changed her life once --- and may have the power to transform her again.

WISDOM OF OUR FATHERS: Lessons and Letters from Daughters and Sons by Tim Russert (Biography/Memoir)
Reviewed by Carole Turner
After the publication of Tim Russert's number one New York Times bestseller about his father, BIG RUSS & ME, he received an avalanche of letters from daughters and sons who wanted to tell him about their own fathers. The result of this huge outpouring is WISDOM OF OUR FATHERS, which examines and explains fatherhood from every possible aspect.

BLUE NUDE by Elizabeth Rosner (Fiction)
Reviewed by Alexis Burling
Prizewinning poet and bestselling author Elizabeth Rosner's second novel (following THE SPEED OF LIGHT) is a rousing tour-de-force that tells the engrossing and timely story of an artist and his model, and the moral and political implications of their relationship.

THE ART OF DETECTION by Laurie R. King (Mystery)
Reviewed by Kate Ayers
Homicide detective Kate Martinelli lands a case in modern-day San Francisco that seems to mirror a fictional one in the same city in the 1920s. What possible connection could the two have? The only link she can see is Sherlock Holmes.

TAKEDOWN by Brad Thor (Thriller)
Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
After years without a terrorist attack on American soil, one group has picked the 4th of July weekend to pull out all the stops. With domestic efforts focused on search and rescue, a deadly team of highly trained foreign soldiers methodically makes its way through New York City with the singular objective of locating one of their own --- a man so powerful that America will do anything to keep him hidden.

AMERICA'S BOY by Wade Rouse (Memoir)
Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman
Born in 1965 into a small town in the heartland of America, Wade Rouse doesn't quite fit in. As a teenager, he finds comfort with his family until a tragic accident takes his brother's life and, afraid of losing the love of the remaining family, swears that he will never allow them to mourn the loss of their only remaining son.

ACADEMY X by Andrew Trees (Fiction)
Reviewed by Curtis Edmonds
John Spencer, an English teacher at the elite Academy X, is struggling through the final weeks of the spring semester. But encouraging his students to focus on the genius and wit of Jane Austen is the least of his problems. With each bumbling effort to keep everyone happy (and get his girl!), John digs himself deeper into trouble, until his very career is at stake.

BRANDENBURG GATE by Henry Porter (Thriller)
Reviewed by Judy Gigstad
Middle-aged Dr. Rudi Rosenharte is about to see his former life as a Stasi foreign agent turn his present life as a renowned art historian upside down. In this multilayered espionage thriller, the 2005 Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award winner Henry Porter captures the tense final moments before the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Question: Where is your favorite place to read during the summer?

Please note our Question of the Week will update June 23rd.

Tell us what books YOU are reading and loving --- or even those you don't.

This week we have two great prizes: FIVE readers each will win a copy of TERRORIST by John Updike and TWELVE SHARP by Janet Evanovich.

Please note that our next Word of Mouth update will be on June 23rd.