Summer Beach Bag of Books Promotion

Our staff again pulled together a remote update, but once again you will not detect a missed note or beat. Our new featured One to Watch author is Gail Tsukiyama, whose new book THE STREET OF A THOUSAND BLOSSOMS will be in stores on September 4th. I love novels that take place over a long period of time, thus giving you time to truly get to know the characters. Here, the characters are two brothers and the women they come to love. It's set in Tokyo, and it opens before the war and rolls on from there.

If you enjoy books that are rife with history, information about another culture and strong interpersonal relationships, like Khaled Hosseini's A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS, Lisa See's PEONY IN LOVE or Anita Amirrezvani's THE BLOOD OF FLOWERS, then you will enjoy reading Tsukiyama's work. Many book clubs love discussing her books, which include DREAMING WATER, THE LANGUAGE OF THREADS and NIGHT OF MANY DREAMS. We have 10 copies to give away to readers who are interested in an early read. Fill out the form here by Friday, August 17th to enter your name in this week's contest. A note to our Canadian readers. The signup form has been tweaked to accommodate your entries. Thanks for your patience with this.

Notation here. For folks like me where title fusion is a weakness, meaning I have the ability to completely mix up titles and author names, note that it helps to picture this title in your head as a street with many blossoms lest you confuse it with A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS by Khaled Hosseini, for which you must see multiple suns in your head. For the record, it's well known around our office that any title I write that has more than two words needs to be triple-checked during fact-checking. I have made up some riveting titles only to learn later that they were not even close to what the actual title is!

I know I am not alone on this. A woman I sat next to the other day at lunch told me that she was reading "The Story of Many Sunsets" by the author of THE KITE RUNNER. The scary thing is that I knew what she was talking about when she said the wrong title even before she said the author's name!

I hope you enjoy this week's interview with Nancy Horan, the author of LOVING FRANK. I loved this book. I had the pleasure of meeting Nancy back in June and the opportunity to talk about the book with her. Reading this interview was a nice bonus that gave me even more insight into her work.

Our Beach Bag book this week is HARMONY by Joanna Goodman, the story of a young mother learning to cope with her baby's club feet as she also comes to grips with other parts of her life. Cindy Crosby reviews it for us, and we have a beach bag filled with relaxing and soothing goodies, which you can enter to win here. The answer to the question you need to answer for your entry will give you some interesting trivia. Curious? Read on. For next week's contest we will have a collection of books for you to win. What titles are in this collection? Well, you'll just have to check back to see what's included! Note to our Canadian and other foreign readers. As customs costs are cost-prohibitive, we cannot ship the contents of beach bags to Canadian readers, thus we are limiting this entry form to only U.S. readers. Our apologies.

This week we have a review of a book that I enjoyed on my North Carolina trip, THE REST OF HER LIFE, by Laura Moriarty, as well as an interview with Laura. We sat together at the Booksense Lunch at BEA back in June, and I found her to be such fun to talk to. I was late to the lunch due to another engagement, and I slipped into the one open chair not knowing the author guest from the table was seated next to me. My seatmate's opening line? A rushed whisper, "Oh no, I did not think you were coming. I ate your butter." I whispered back, "No problem. You saved me the calories, but stay away from my cheesecake." When I later figured out she was the author of this new title and I knew her work from THE CENTER OF EVERYTHING, we both had a good laugh and some terrific conversation.

THE REST OF HER LIFE is the story of one of my own worst fears. A young girl accidently kills someone while driving, and the impact of her action haunts her and her family as they try to rebuild themselves after the horror of this tragedy. I always think about how someone might make just one fatal mistake and how it will impact his or her life. This story will give you pause. We think that teens may enjoy this as much as adults, thus it could be a good bonding kind of mother-daughter read.

Last weekend I read GETTING RID OF MATTHEW by Jane Fallon. She's a British author whose very witty book is a great hammock read. The story goes like this. An unmarried young woman has had a passionate affair with an older man for four years. She always fantasizes a life with him, and then one night he shows up at her door telling her he has left his wife for her. She is daunted by this prospect, and as he crowds his way into her life all she can think about is how she wants him GONE...NOW. The twists and turns of this story will make you laugh at each one.

In a book group and looking for some great reading suggestions for your book club? Our ReadingGroupGuides.com website has been updated with some terrific new selections for you to explore. In the newsletter there I share some thoughts about the classics, as well as my fun afternoon at a charity lunch this week where Adriana Trigiani was the speaker. This escape from the furniture dance came as I was ordered out of the office for carpeting installation. What better way to celebrate this than with a favorite author?

There was time for maybe three rows of knitting this week with the one box, two box, three box shuffle. My latest project is a Ruana, which is a shawl that drapes like a jacket. I am having fun with this project, which I am using this wild Prism yarn to create. May there be knitting and reading time this weekend! Actually, I fear that when I hit the couch or the hammock or the pool float this weekend, I may just fall asleep. Thus, maybe I should just remain standing at the table in my office from which I had such success this week! Have a great summer weekend and a terrific week.

Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)

Gail Tsukiyama, who has written such bestsellers as WOMEN OF THE SILK and THE SAMURAI'S GARDEN, is our newest One to Watch author. Her latest novel, THE STREET OF A THOUSAND BLOSSOMS, takes place in Tokyo, where two orphaned brothers are growing up with their loving grandparents. Life seems full of promise for these ambitious young men --- but then the attack on Pearl Harbor changes everything. This incredibly moving story that spans almost 30 years will be available in stores on September 4th.

We have 10 advance reading copies of THE STREET OF A THOUSAND BLOSSOMS to give away to readers who would like to preview the book and comment about it. If you are interested, please fill out this form by Friday, August 17th.

More about THE STREET OF A THOUSAND BLOSSOMS:
It is Tokyo in 1939. On the Street of a Thousand Blossoms, two orphaned brothers are growing up with their loving grandparents, who inspire them to dream of a future firmly rooted in tradition. The older boy, Hiroshi, shows unusual skill at the national obsession of sumo wrestling, while Kenji is fascinated by the art of creating hand-carved masks for actors in the Noh theater.

Across town, a renowned sumo master, Sho Tanaka, lives with his wife and their two young daughters: the delicate, daydreaming Aki and her independent sister, Haru. Life seems full of promise as Kenji begins an informal apprenticeship with the most famous mask-maker in Japan and Hiroshi receives a coveted invitation to train with Tanaka. But then Pearl Harbor changes everything. As the ripples of war spread to both families’ quiet neighborhoods, all of the generations must put their dreams on hold --- and then find their way in a new Japan.

In an exquisitely moving story that spans almost thirty years, Gail Tsukiyama draws us irresistibly into the world of the brothers and the women who love them. It is a world of tradition and change, of heartbreaking loss and surprising hope, and of the impact of events beyond their control on ordinary, decent men and women. Above all, THE STREET OF A THOUSAND BLOSSOMS is a masterpiece about love and family from a glorious storyteller at the height of her powers.

Every week from May 18th through August 24th a different title in the Bookreporter.com 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 second featured One to Watch author is Sarah Addison Allen, whose debut novel, GARDEN SPELLS, hits stores on August 28th. In a garden surrounded by a tall fence, tucked away behind a small, quiet house in an even smaller town, is an apple tree that is rumored to bear a very special sort of fruit. Sarah Addison Allen tells the story of that enchanted tree, and the extraordinary people who tend it.

-Click here to read an excerpt from GARDEN SPELLS.
-Click here to read Sarah Addison Allen's bio.
-Click here to see our advance copy winners.

More about GARDEN SPELLS:
The Waverleys have always been a curious family, endowed with peculiar gifts that make them outsiders even in their hometown of Bascom, North Carolina. Even their garden has a reputation, famous for its feisty apple tree that bears prophetic fruit, and its edible flowers, imbued with special powers. Generations of Waverleys tended this garden. Their history was in the soil. But so were their futures.

A successful caterer, Claire Waverley prepares dishes made with her mystical plants --- from the nasturtiums that aid in keeping secrets and the pansies that make children thoughtful, to the snapdragons intended to discourage the attentions of her amorous neighbor. Meanwhile, her elderly cousin, Evanelle, is known for distributing unexpected gifts whose uses become uncannily clear. They are the last of the Waverleys --- except for Claire’s rebellious sister, Sydney, who fled Bascom the moment she could, abandoning Claire, as their own mother had years before.

When Sydney suddenly returns home with a young daughter of her own, Claire’s quiet life is turned upside down --- along with the protective boundary she has so carefully constructed around her heart. Together again in the house they grew up in, Sydney takes stock of all she left behind, as Claire struggles to heal the wounds of the past. And soon the sisters realize they must deal with their common legacy --- if they are ever to feel at home in Bascom --- or with each other.

Enchanting and heartfelt, this captivating novel is sure to cast a spell with a style all its own….

Our third featured One to Watch author is Elizabeth Joy Arnold, whose debut novel hit shelves on July 31st. PIECES OF MY SISTER'S LIFE is the story of twins who were inseparable until their 17th birthday, when their lives on Block Island were shattered. Thirteen years later, one sister must put their differences aside to rally behind her twin when she really needs her.

-Click here to read a third excerpt from PIECES OF MY SISTER'S LIFE.
-Click here to see the reading group guide for PIECES OF MY SISTER'S LIFE.
-Click here to read Elizabeth Joy Arnold's bio.
-Visit the author's website, www.ElizabethJoyArnold.com.
-Click here to see our advance copy winners.

More about PIECES OF MY SISTER'S LIFE:
Two sisters who shared everything. One unforgivable moment. And a second chance…

There’s something to talk about in every chapter of Elizabeth Joy Arnold’s poignant, insightful debut novel --- the perfect summer read for all those who loved Elisabeth Robinson’s THE TRUE AND OUTSTANDING ADVENTURES OF THE HUNT SISTERS, Judy Blume’s SUMMER SISTERS and Jodi Picoult’s MY SISTER'S KEEPER.

Once, Kerry and Eve Barnard did everything together: sailing the Block Island harbor with their father, listening to their neighbor Justin’s magical fairy tales, and all the while longing for their absent mother. They were twin girls arm in arm, secrets entwined between two hearts. Until the summer of their seventeenth birthday, when their extraordinary bond was shattered. And thirteen years later, it will take all the courage they can summon to put the pieces back together --- at a time when it matters most.…

M.J. Rose is the international bestselling author of nine novels, including LIP SERVICE and three titles in the Butterfield Institute series: THE HALO EFFECT, THE DELILAH COMPLEX and THE VENUS FIX. Her latest, THE REINCARNATIONIST, is a spellbinding, psychologically riveting epic thriller of secrets, history and murder that will challenge the way we think about who we are and who we were. It will be available in stores on August 28th.

-Click here to read an excerpt from THE REINCARNATIONIST.
-Click here to read fast facts about M.J. Rose.
-Click here to read M.J. Rose's bio.
-Click here to see M.J. Rose's backlist.
-Visit the author's website, www.MJRose.com.
-Click here to see our advance copy winners.

More about THE REINCARNATIONIST:
A bomb in Rome, a flash of bluish-white light and photojournalist Josh Ryder's world exploded. From that instant nothing would ever be the same.

As Josh recovers, his mind is increasingly invaded with thoughts that have the emotion, the intensity, the intimacy of memories. But they are not his memories. They are ancient...and violent. A battery of medical and psychological tests can't explain Josh's baffling symptoms. And the memories have an urgency he can't ignore --- pulling him to save a woman named Sabina...and the treasures she is protecting.

But who is Sabina?

We are pleased to announce that Chelsea Cain is our newest featured Debut Suspense/Thriller author. In her first novel, HEARTSICK, which releases on September 4th, Portland detective Archie Sheridan is finding it difficult to stay away from the beautiful serial killer who tortured him for 10 days before turning herself in. When another killer begins snatching teenage girls off the streets of Portland, Archie has to pull himself together enough to lead the new task force investigating the murders.

-Click