10th Anniversary Page and Pictures

Cold weekend ahead thus the fire in the fireplace will be accompanied by the new Lee Child book, which I am very much enjoying, called BAD LUCK AND TROUBLE. It will be out in May. I love the menu at Tabla, a restaurant that has Indian-fused American cuisine here in the city. Thus I am very excited about cooking from ONE SPICE TWO SPICE, the cookbook created by the restaurant's chef, Floyd Cardoz. I have been marking up a menu I want to try all week. Last week when I ate at Tabla I was trying things with the * marking that they were in the book so I had a reference point on making them. Should be fun. Have a great week. Stay warm.

Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)

List of titles reviewed and featured on January 26th

List of titles reviewed and featured on January 19th.

Frank Turner Hollon has written numerous short stories and is the author of THE GOD FILE, THE PAINS OF APRIL, LIFE IS A STRANGE PLACE, A THIN DIFFERENCE and THE POINT OF FRACTURE. In this interview with Bookreporter.com's Joe Hartlaub, Hollon discusses how the "lost art of one-on-one conversation" drove the plot of his latest novel, BLOOD AND CIRCUMSTANCE, and explains how his experiences practicing law allowed him to accurately portray both legal and psychological matters in his writing. He also describes his meticulous writing process, reveals the motivation behind his foray into the world of children's literature, and shares details about the possibility of a movie adaptation of his previous work.

BLOOD AND CIRCUMSTANCE by Frank Turner Hollon (Thriller)
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 his brothers' past --- and long family history of mental illness --- begins to unfold. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

Gayle Brandeis is the acclaimed and award-winning author of several novels, essays, and volumes of poetry, such as THE BOOK OF DEAD BIRDS and FRUITFLESH. The idea for her latest work of fiction, SELF STORAGE, arose from both a personal loss and a conversation with a stranger on an airplane. In this interview with Bookreporter.com's Alexis Burling, Brandeis describes how she stumbled upon the unusual plot and elaborates on its themes of self discovery and cultural difference. She also discusses how the work of Walt Whitman has impacted both her writing and her personal life, touches upon how people define themselves through their physical appearances and addresses the controversial topic of the war in the Middle East.

SELF STORAGE by Gayle Brandeis (Fiction)
Set during the year following the September 11th attacks, SELF STORAGE explores the raw insecurities of a changed society. 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. Reviewed by Alexis Burling.

One of our Suspense/Thriller authors is William Landay, whose highly acclaimed MISSION FLATS was awarded the John Creasey Memorial Dagger as the best debut crime novel of 2003. Now, with THE STRANGLER --- hitting stores January 30th --- Landay proves himself a fascinating and complex writer whose terrifying novel will leave readers breathless.

-Click here to read a new excerpt from THE STRANGLER.
-Click here to see our advance copy winners.
-Click here to read fast facts about William Landay.
-Click here to read critical praise for THE STRANGLER.

More about THE STRANGLER:
Boston, 1963. A city on edge. On street corners, newsboys hawk the shocking headline: KENNEDY IS DEAD. In the city's underworld, a mob war rages. But what terrifies Bostonians most is the mysterious killer who has already claimed a dozen victims, a murderer whose name is indelibly linked to their city: the Boston Strangler. This is the electrifying backdrop of William Landay's magnificent new novel, a story of one Irish-American family, a city under siege, and the long shadow cast by the most infamous killer of his day...

Robert Dugoni, one of our featured Suspense/Thriller authors, has graduated from his Debut Suspense/Thriller status --- where we last featured him for THE JURY MASTER --- and established himself as as a top contender in the genre. His newest work is DAMAGE CONTROL, a thriller about a gifted attorney whose perfect world is torn apart by secrets and a crime only she can solve --- if she can stay alive. The book hits shelves on February 14th.

-Click here to read an excerpt from DAMAGE CONTROL.
-Click here to see our advance reader copy winners.
-Click here to read fast facts about Robert Dugoni.

More about DAMAGE CONTROL:
A rising star at her prestigious Seattle law firm, Dana Hill knows all about stress. She pours herself into her work and family with all the energy she has. But her carefully balanced life is about to be turned upside down. First a frightening medical diagnosis forces her to reassess her roles as a lawyer, mother, and wife to a man she suddenly no longer trusts. Then her life is rocked further by the shocking and brutal murder of her twin brother.

As Dana and Logan chase the faint trail of evidence from Seattle to Maui, they threaten the reputation, career, and future of a powerful man who will stop at nothing to protect what he considers his. But for Dana, for whom time has a special meaning, nothing --- not even her own life --- is more important than finding the truth. She has moved beyond fear and beyond anyone's attempts at damage control.

SLIVER OF TRUTH by Lisa Unger (Thriller)
Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon
Ridley Jones is swept into a whirlpool of deceit and danger as she struggles to discover the truth about her dead (or is he?) father and herself in this irresistible and intelligent thriller, a sequel to Lisa Unger's sensational debut novel, BEAUTIFUL LIES.

-Click here to read an excerpt from SLIVER OF TRUTH.
-Click here to read our review of SLIVER OF TRUTH.

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 a new 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...

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 a new 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 a new 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...

SKYLIGHT CONFESSIONS by Alice Hoffman (Fiction)
The bestselling author of 18 acclaimed novels, Alice Hoffman continues to outshine herself with SKYLIGHT CONFESSIONS, her brilliant, achingly beautiful new work of fiction that explores family secrets, betrayals and whether it's possible to escape our destinies --- or our pasts. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.

-Click here to read an excerpt from SKYLIGHT CONFESSIONS.

ABOUT ALICE by Calvin Trillin (Memoir)
This brief, beautiful book is a tribute to Alice Stewart Trillin, the author's wife, who died in New York City after a long battle with cancer on September 11, 2001. Calvin Trillin's memories of Alice are at once inspiring, heartwarming, clever and sad in this moving series of essays about a life tragically cut short. Reviewed by Eileen Zimmerman Nicol.

-Click here to read an excerpt from ABOUT ALICE.

DANCING IN THE STREETS: A History of Collective Joy by Barbara Ehrenreich (History)
In BLOOD RITES, Barbara Ehrenreich delved into the origins of our species' attraction to war. Here, she explores the opposite impulse, one that has been so effectively suppressed that we lack even a term for it: the desire for collective joy, historically expressed in ecstatic revels of feasting, costuming and dancing. Reviewed by Carole Turner.

-Click here to read an excerpt from DANCING IN THE STREETS.

KILLING JOHNNY FRY: A Sexistential Novel by Walter Mosley (Fiction)
Following a hurtful betrayal, a man embarks on an explicit sexual odyssey through New York. Walter Mosley, author of the Easy Rawlins mystery series, takes his work in a new and controversial direction in this latest novel, which he describes as a "sexisential noir." Reviewed by Tom Callahan.

THE SUSPECT by John Lescroart (Legal Thriller)
Stuart Gorman stands accused of murdering his wife, Dr. Caryn Dryden. Gina Roake, a partner in Dismas Hardy's law firm, is eager to take on such a high-profile case. But the more time she spends with Stuart, the more complicated her feelings become; she feels strangely drawn to him at first, then has to confront the possibility of a dark history lurking in his past. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

THE SUCCESSOR by Stephen Frey (Thriller)
Make-or-break decisions involving millions of dollars are all in a day's work for Christian Gillette, chairman of Everest Capital, New York's most renowned private equity firm. He has taken on the toughest, most powerful and often most dangerous adversaries and prevailed. But now Gillette will be put to the ultimate test. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

TRAVELS IN THE SCRIPTORIUM by Paul Auster (Fiction)
In his most existential novel to date, Paul Auster sentences readers to spend one claustrophobic day alongside the enigmatic Mr. Blank. Along the way, Auster explores memory, identity and the essential nature of the soul. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.

MATTERS OF HONOR by Louis Begley (Fiction)
In his eighth novel, Louis Begley (WARTIME LIES, ABOUT SCHMIDT) paints a compelling portrait of three college friends whose youthful ambitions play out in both expected and unpredictable ways over the last half of the 20th century. Reviewed by Harvey Freedenberg.

I'M NOT JULIA ROBERTS by Laura Ruby (Fiction/Short Stories)
In her first novel for adults --- a tightly interconnected collection of 10 short stories --- Laura Ruby chronicles the progress of Lu, Beatrix, Roxie and their various stepchildren and exes as they take the perilous plunge into the maelstrom of the so-called "blended family." Reviewed by Maggie Harding.

CHILDE MORGAN by Katherine Kurtz (Fantasy)
Alaric Morgan has been pledged to the king's service, for his Deryni blood makes him ideal to safeguard the Haldane kings and ensure that Prince Brion shall have protection of his hereditary magic. But first, Alaric needs his own protecting from enemies on all fronts as a siege is being prepared for the throne of Gwynedd. Reviewed by Stephen Hubbard.

Poll:
 
How many authors have you met?
 
-Too many to count
-15-25
-10-14
-5-9
-Less than 5
-None

-Click here to answer our Poll.

Question:

Name the 3 authors you most would like to meet.

-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 THE CASTLE IN THE FOREST by Norman Mailer and HIDE by Lisa Gardner.

Please note that our next Word of Mouth update will be on February 2nd.