10th Anniversary Page and Pictures

A three-day weekend like this one so soon after the holidays is just grand, especially when it is has no obligatory event strings attached. No special dinner. No special presents. The way I see it this holiday weekend is for two things --- skiing or shopping. And with the warm weather at least here in the northeast, I think shopping may be more on the calendar than schussing.
 
And what kind of shopping do I envision for this bonus 24 hours with no plot and no plan? Book shopping with lots of time for browsing. Think about checking out the books of fall that you never read. Or take a look at what's just arrived. Spend the gift cards you got for the holidays and get yourself a gift you KNOW you'll love. In fact, here's something I want you to do in the bookstore. Browse a section that you have not explored before. Just look around. See what is there and what sparks your imagination. One of the true joys of wandering in a bookstore is the ideas that are inspired and the things you can learn just by strolling the aisles. Pluck something from the shelves, read the jacket copy and have yourself a little adventure while standing still. I love those moments.
 
Want to play couch potato for the weekend? Then sit and read Bookreporter.com in a leisurely fashion and make a list for your next shopping trip, or click onto Amazon.com and indulge your bookish buying desires virtually.
 
Another great way to spend this weekend? Hitting the movies. Be sure to check out our January Books Into Movies feature for our resident movie maven Jen Krieger's ideas on books that were made into films. 
 
We have advance reader comments for our recently featured One to Watch titles --- RED RIVER by Lalita Tademy, THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE HOLY SHROUD by Julia Navarro and SCAR NIGHT by Alan Campbell. We are also bringing attention back to one of our previous Debut Suspense/Thriller features --- ISOLATION WARD by Joshua Spanogle --- which is now available in paperback.
 
My story about GPS last week had many of you writing with your own GPS musings. The best one came in from my business partner, Jesse Kornbluth, who shared this piece from Andy Tobias' blog on "Money and Other Subjects." See the piece called "The Hertz Lady" if you really want a good laugh. I do love laughing and everyone I know who has read this one has had the same reaction. And for the record, we have not yet named Miss Tom Tom.
 
Oh, and one more weekend idea. Sunday and Monday nights I will be plastered in front of the TV watching the opening episodes of "24" and knitting at the warp speed that this show seems to inspire me to do. Jack Bauer is back in Season Six and I am ready for his latest hyper 24-hour adventure. See, people tell me that my life is really full and marvel at the balls I juggle, but watching Jack makes ME feel like I am slacker. Seriously, I thought my days were busy 'til I watched Jack juggle terrorism, save the world and, oh yeah, romance in HIS 24-hour day.  If you have never watched and love reading thriller and suspense, this IS worth checking out.

Have a great week --- read and browse on.


Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)

List of titles reviewed and featured on January 12th.

List of titles reviewed and featured on January 5th.

KOCKROACH by Tyler Knox (Fiction)
Reviewed by Norah Piehl
Tyler Knox starts with a send-up of Franz Kafka, but KOCKROACH is no mere homage or satire. Instead, it metamorphoses into a diabolically clever noir novel packed with love, violence and a perverse sense of humor that has plenty to say about power, betrayal and the peculiar human species.

-Click here to read an excerpt from KOCKROACH.
-For more, visit Tyler Knox's website, Kockroach.com.

Steve Berry truly needs no introduction. An established master of the suspense/thriller genre, Berry is the author of such bestsellers as THE TEMPLAR LEGACY, THE THIRD SECRET and THE ROMANOV PROPHECY. His newest page-turner, THE ALEXANDRIA LINK, hits stores January 30th and will satisfy fans of Berry's distinctive brand of historically-inflected thrills.

-Click here to read an excerpt from THE ALEXANDRIA LINK.
-Click here to see our advance reader copy winners
-Click here to see Steve Berry's backlist.
-Click here to read fast facts about Steve Berry.

More about THE ALEXANDRIA LINK:
Cotton Malone retired from the high-risk world of elite operatives for the U.S. State Department to lead the low-key life of a rare-book dealer. But his quiet existence is shattered when he receives an anonymous e-mail: "You have something I want. You're the only person on earth who knows where to find it. Go get it. You have 72 hours. If I don't hear from you, you will be childless." His horrified ex-wife confirms that the threat is real: Their teenage son has been kidnapped. When Malone's Copenhagen bookshop is burned to the ground, it becomes brutally clear that those responsible will stop at nothing to get what they want. And what they want is nothing less than the lost Library of Alexandria.

One of our featured Suspense/Thriller authors is Frank Turner Hollon, who has written THE GOD FILE, THE PAINS OF APRIL, LIFE IS A STRANGE PLACE and A THIN DIFFERENCE. His latest fascinating and frightening medical thriller is BLOOD AND CIRCUMSTANCE --- available in stores on January 16th --- a chilling tale that unfolds in the most unexpected way.

-Click here to see our advance copy winners
-Click here to read a new excerpt from BLOOD AND CIRCUMSTANCE.
-Click here to see Frank Turner Hollon's backlist.

More about BLOOD AND CIRCUMSTANCE:
The pretrial interview sessions between a killer and a doctor create an intricate tale of murder, mercy, and madness.

Joel Stabler takes the life of his beloved brother Danny in what appears to be a mercy killing. When Joel's lawyers assign a psychologist to determine his sanity at the time of the shooting, the full story of the brothers' past --- and long family history of mental illness --- begins to unfold.

ISOLATION WARD by Joshua Spanogle (Thriller)
Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
When three residents of group homes for the mentally impaired are admitted to a Baltimore hospital with flu-like symptoms --- and an individual linked to these patients is found brutally murdered --- Dr. Nathaniel McCormick, a young investigator from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, not only uncovers the origin of this mystery disease, but is also forced to confront issues from his own past.

-Click here to read a review of ISOLATION WARD.
-Click here to read an interview with Joshua Spanogle.
-Click here to read an excerpt from ISOLATION WARD.
-Click here to read critical praise for ISOLATION WARD.

Our newest featured Mystery Mayhem author is Deanna Raybourn, whose compelling blend of historical suspense and intelligent prose puts her in the Jacqueline Winspear category of smart thrills and chills. SILENT IN THE GRAVE is Raybourn's debut novel, and it hit shelves January 1st.

-Click here to read a new excerpt from SILENT IN THE GRAVE.
-Click here to see our advance copy winners.
-Click here to read critical praise for SILENT IN THE GRAVE.

More about SILENT IN THE GRAVE:
A psychotic murderer is about to make his one mistake.

Underestimating Lady Julia.

To say that Lady Julia met Nicholas Brisbane over her husband's dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward -- it should be noted -- was still twitching upon the floor.

Lady Julia Grey is a London aristocrat with a wildly eccentric family and a husband she does not love. When her husband dies, she discovers that Edward was the target of menacing notes. Enlisting the help of detective Nicholas Brisbane, Julia begins to sleuth for clues to unravel the mystery of Edward's death. As she does so, she discovers that she has more in common with her unconventional family than she would like to admit, and also finds herself increasingly attracted to Nicholas, a man with a few mysteries of his own.

We are THRILLED to be featuring MOST LIKELY TO DIE as our newest Romantic Suspense title. A collaborative effort by three New York Times bestselling authors and mistresses of the genre --- Lisa Jackson, Beverly Barton and Wendy Corsi Staub --- MOST LIKELY TO DIE (available January 30th) is a thrilling novel about love, revenge and the dark secrets three women hold to a terrifying murder.

-Click here to read an excerpt from MOST LIKELY TO DIE.
-Click here to see our advance copy winners.
-Click here to read fast facts about Lisa Jackson, Beverly Barton and Wendy Corsi Staub.

More About MOST LIKELY TO DIE:
A Killer Who Gets Away With Murder Once...

It's been twenty years since the night Jake Marcott was brutally murdered at St. Elizabeth High School. It's a night that shattered the lives of Lindsay Farrell, Kirsten Daniels, and Rachel Alsace. It's a night they'll never forget. A killer will make sure of that...

Finds It Easier To Kill Again...

A 20-year reunion has been scheduled for St. Elizabeth's. For some alumni, very special invitations have been sent: their smiling senior pictures slashed by an angry red line...

And Again...And Again...

Three women have been marked for death. Tonight, as the music plays, and the doors of St. Elizabeth are sealed, a killer will finish what was started long ago, and the sins of the past will be paid for in blood...
 
Click here to read more about Lisa Jackson, Beverly Barton, Wendy Corsi Staub and MOST LIKELY TO DIE. 

One of our featured One to Watch authors is Hisham Matar, whose poignant and breathtaking debut novel, IN THE COUNTRY OF MEN, comes out on January 30th.

-Click here to read an excerpt from IN THE COUNTRY OF MEN.
-Click here to see our advance copy winners for IN THE COUNTRY OF MEN.

More about IN THE COUNTRY OF MEN:
Libya, 1979. Nine-year-old Suleiman's days are circumscribed by the narrow rituals of childhood: outings to the ruins surrounding Tripoli, games with friends played under the burning sun, exotic gifts from his father's constant business trips abroad. But his nights have come to revolve around his mother's increasingly disturbing bedside stories full of old family bitterness. And then one day Suleiman sees his father across the square of a busy marketplace, his face wrapped in a pair of dark sunglasses. Wasn't he supposed to be away on business yet again? Why is he going into that strange building with the green shutters? Why did he lie?

IN THE COUNTRY OF MEN is a stunning depiction of a child confronted with the private fallout of a public nightmare. But above all, it is a debut of rare insight and literary grace.

One of our featured One to Watch authors is J.G. Sandom, winner of the Academy of American Poets Prize. With GOSPEL TRUTHS, coming out January 30th, Sandom weaves a compelling tale of corruption, greed and deception.

-Click here to read an excerpt from GOSPEL TRUTHS.
-Click here to see our advance copy winners.

More About GOSPEL TRUTHS:
They have been drawn into a plot more insidious than anything they could have imagined --- a battle to control one of religion's greatest secrets. For English detective Nigel Lyman, it begins with the suspicious suicide of a corrupt Italian banker in London. For French-born Mariane Soury-Fontaine, it starts with the mysterious disappearance of her lover. And for American mathematician Joseph Koster, the search leads through France's soaring cathedrals to the baffling labyrinths that masons once carefully inscribed in their floors.

These strangers are about to crack a code that dozens have died for, a puzzle whose power reaches back to the birth of the Christian faith, through the echoing halls of the Vatican, and to the dark, corrupt realms of organized crime. Now staying alive is the ultimate challenge. Because the next revelation is the most forbidden of all...

One of our featured One to Watch authors is Gayle Brandeis, a skilled and compelling writer whose wry meditation on love, marriage and friendship --- SELF STORAGE --- comes out January 23rd.

-Click here to see our advance copy winners.
-Click here to read a new excerpt from SELF STORAGE.
-Click here to read critical praise for SELF STORAGE.

More About SELF STORAGE:
Set during the year following the September 11 attacks, SELF STORAGE explores the raw insecurities of a changed society. With lush writing, great humor, and a genuine heart, Gayle Brandeis takes a peek into the souls of a woman and a community-and reveals that it is not our differences that drive us apart but our willful concealment of the qualities that connect us all.

PLUM LOVIN': A Stephanie Plum Between the Numbers Novel by Janet Evanovich (Fiction)
Reviewed by Roz Shea Stephanie Plum needs to find Annie Hart, a "relationship expert" who is wanted for armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon, as quickly as possible. Diesel knows where Annie is, so they make a deal: He'll help her get Annie if Stephanie plays matchmaker to several of Annie's most difficult clients. But someone with a nasty temper and "unmentionable" skills wants to find Annie even more than Diesel and Stephanie.

-Click here to read an excerpt from PLUM LOVIN'.

EXILE by Richard North Patterson (Thriller)
Reviewed by Marge Fletcher
A Palestinian woman named Hana Arif stands accused of being the mastermind behind the assassination of Israel's prime minister. David Wolfe, a successful Jewish lawyer on the verge of a congressional campaign, faces an agonizing choice: Will he represent Hana --- who may well be guilty --- or will he turn away the one woman he can never forget?

-Click here to read an excerpt from EXILE.
-Click here to read an Author Talk with Richard North Patterson.

STALEMATE by Iris Johansen (Thriller)
Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
Eve Duncan's skill and devotion in identifying murder victims and helping bring their killers to justice may be world-renowned. But Eve works exclusively for law enforcement and the families of the innocent, and the man on the other end of the phone is many things --- none of them law-abiding or innocent.

SHADOW DANCE by Julie Garwood (Romantic Suspense)
Reviewed by Hillary Wagy
A handsome womanizer who makes hearts melt and passions rise is at the center of SHADOW DANCE, by New York Times bestselling author Julie Garwood. The strength of her male characters feeds romantic fantasies and promises love to the lucky heroines.

THE RAVENSCAR DYNASTY by Barbara Taylor Bradford (Historical Fiction)
Reviewed by Amie Taylor
Family triumphs and tragedies abound in this thrilling new series about the Deravenels of Yorkshire courtesy of Barbara Taylor Bradford, who enthralled readers with A WOMAN OF SUBSTANCE and the Harte family saga.

THE BLADE ITSELF by Marcus Sakey (Thriller)
Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
This highly anticipated debut novel is a riveting exploration of class, identity and the demons that shape us, where every effort to do the right thing leads to terrifying consequences and one inevitable conclusion: The more you have, the more you have to lose.

A DEEPER SLEEP: A Kate Shugak Novel by Dana Stabenow (Mystery)
Reviewed by Maggie Harding
P.I. Kate Shugak is working on a case for the Anchorage D.A. involving the murder of a woman by her husband. Louis Deem has been the subject of investigations before, though he's never been convicted. But Kate and state trooper Jim Chopin are convinced that this time he'll be punished for his actions.

WHITE BLOOD by James Fleming (Historical Thriller)
Reviewed by Kate Ayers
As World War I looms on the horizon, naturalist Charlie Doig returns from his research to Mother Russia, where he resumes his pursuit of cousin Elizaveta, the woman of his dreams. What he sees as his good fortune becomes in reality his unraveling in this chilling historical thriller.

MOTHERS AND SONS: Stories by Colm Tóibín (Fiction/Short Stories)
Reviewed by Harvey Freedenberg
In his first collection of short stories, esteemed Irish novelist Colm Tóibín offers a diverse set of perspectives on the relationships between mothers and sons. Emotionally rich and beautifully written, these stories will appeal to thoughtful readers of serious fiction.

MOZART AND THE WHALE: An Asperger's Love Story by Jerry and Mary Newport with Johnny Dodd (Memoir)
Reviewed by Barbara Bamberger Scott
MOZART AND THE WHALE is a riveting and inspiring memoir centered on Jerry and Mary Newport, a couple who fell in love, fell apart, and finally overcame the pressures of fame, family and Asperger's syndrome to build a life together.

A GOOD DOG: The Story of Orson, Who Changed My Life by Jon Katz (Memoir)
Reviewed by Judy Gigstad
"Lifetime dogs are dogs we love in especially powerful, sometimes inexplicable ways." In this gripping and deeply touching book, bestselling author Jon Katz tells the story of his lifetime dog, Orson: a beautiful border collie who is intense, smart, crazy --- and unforgettable.

Poll:

Did you receive books this holiday season?

-Yes
-Yes, but I never receive enough thus I am headed out shopping.
-No, but I wish I did.
-No

-Click here to answer our Poll.


Question:

-Click here to answer our Question of the Week.

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 BAD BLOOD by Linda Fairstein and PLUM LOVIN' by Janet Evanovich.

Please note that our next Word of Mouth update will be on January 19th.