Win ISLAND APART by Steven Raichlen

From the celebrated author of Planet Barbecue and How to Grill comes a surprising story of love, loss, redemption, and really good food.   

Claire Doheney, recovering from a serious illness, agrees to house-sit in an oceanfront mansion on Chappaquiddick island in Martha’s Vineyard. The New York book editor hopes to find solace, strength, and sufficient calm to finish her biography of the iconoclastic psychotherapist, Wilhelm Reich.

The last thing she expects to find is love. 

Then she meets a mysterious man the locals call the Hermit. No one knows his real name or where he lives. To their mutual surprise, Claire and the stranger discover that they share a passion for cooking that soon sparks something more.

But Claire’s new friend has a terrible secret that threatens to drive them apart forever. The clock is ticking. Can Claire let love into her life once more before it's too late?

Told by a New York Times bestselling author and international TV host with a keen eye for Chappaquiddick's extraordinary natural beauty, Island Apart has it all—romance, history, travel, crime, lovemaking of exquisite intensity, and cooking scenes so vivid, they'll make your taste buds ache with hunger. Steven Raichlen's novel is a smart love story—not to mention a terrific beach read. Think The Bridges of Madison County with better food.

Too often, Lawrence-Lightfoot believes, we exalt new beginnings t the expense of learning from our goodbyes. Exit finds isdom and perspective in the possibility of moving on and marks the start of a new conversation, to help us discover how we might make our exits with purpose and dignity.


Steve Raichlen will be appearing June 24th at 7:00 PM at Books & Books, 265 Aragon Ave, Coral Gables, FL. Please call 305-442-4408 for more information.

To win a copy of Island Apart by Steven Raichlen, send an email to contest@gmail.com, with "ISLAND APART" as the subject. Make sure to include your name and mailing address in the US only. This contest is open to all adults over 18 years of age. One entry per email address, please. Your email address will not be shared or sold to anyone. All entries, including names, email addresses and mailing addresses, will be purged after winner is notified. This contest ends June 25, 2012. Good luck!

Win Exit: The Endings That Set Us Free by Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot

From a renowned sociologist, the wisdom of saying goodbye

Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot is enthralled by exits: long farewells, quick goodbyes, sudden endings, the ordinary and the extraordinary. There’s a relationship, she attests, between small goodbyes and our ability “to master and mark the larger farewells.”

In Exit, her tenth book, she explores the ways we leave one thing and move on to the next; how we anticipate, define, and reflect on our departures; our epiphanies that something is over and done with. The result is an enthusiastic, uplifting lesson about ourselves and the role of transition in our lives.

Lawrence-Lightfoot, a sociologist and a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, has interviewed more than a dozen women and men in states of major change, and she paints their portraits with sympathy and insight: a gay man who finds home and wholeness after coming out; a sixteen-year-old boy forced to leave Iran in the midst of the violent civil war; a Catholic priest who leaves the church he has always been devoted to, he life he has loved, and the work that has been deeply fulfilling; an anthropologist who carefully stages her departure from he “field” after four years of research; and many more.

Too often, Lawrence-Lightfoot believes, we exalt new beginnings t the expense of learning from our goodbyes. Exit finds isdom and perspective in the possibility of moving on and marks the start of a new conversation, to help us discover how we might make our exits with purpose and dignity.

To win a copy of Exit: The Endings That Set Us Free by Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, send an email to contest@gmail.com, with "EXIT" as the subject. Make sure to include your name  and mailing address in the US only. This contest is open to all adults over 18 years of age. One entry per email address, please. Your email address will not be shared or sold to anyone. All entries, including names, email addresses and mailing addresses, will be purged after winner is notified. This contest ends June 18, 2012. Good luck!

Win WHAT WE LEAVE BEHIND by Rochelle Weinstein

For any woman who has loved and lost and wondered what could have been....What We Leave Behind by Rochelle B. Weinstein chronicles the life and emotional growth of Jessica Parker as she frees herself from the past and moves forward with her future. 

At sixteen, Jessica is managing the emotional trauma of her father’s death while surrendering to the profound pain of a failed first love. Jonas Levy, a twenty-two-year-old medical student, has abruptly walked out of Jessica’s life after an intense summer romance, and the wounds are still raw. Is it possible to ever forget the boy you first gave your heart to?

Jessica eventually moves on, and in her twenties, becomes a successful music supervisor in Los Angeles. She marries film producer, Marty Tauber, starts a family, and appears to have it all, until things slowly begin to unravel. The marriage struggles through a miscarriage and becomes harder and harder to sustain.

With an unexpected phone call from New York, a secret from Jessica’s past comes to light. As the rippling effects of her betrayal emerge, Jessica finds herself caught in the firestorm of long-hidden emotional trauma. 

Thrust into a modern day moral and ethical dilemma, Jessica must face the pain of her past or lose everything she holds dear. Will she be able to reconcile old feelings in time to salvage her marriage? An honest, tender, and poignant portrayal of love in its many forms, this heart wrenching novel will resonate with any woman who has questioned her past and wondered what could have been.

To win a copy of WHAT WE LEAVE BEHIND by Rochelle Weinstein, send an email to contest@gmail.com, with "WHAT WE LEAVE BEHIND" as the subject. Make sure to include your name  and mailing address in the US only. This contest is open to all adults over 18 years of age. One entry per email address, please. Your email address will not be shared or sold to anyone. All entries, including names, email addresses and mailing addresses, will be purged after winner is notified. This contest ends June 17, 2012. Good luck!

Win SHADOW OF NIGHT by Deborah Harkness!

I am delighted to offer a copy of SHADOW OF NIGHT by Deborah Harkness to one lucky reader!

"Together we lifted our feet and stepped into the unknown"—the thrilling sequel to the New York Times bestseller A Discovery of Witches

Deborah Harkness exploded onto the literary scene with her debut novel, A Discovery of Witches, Book One of the magical All Souls Trilogy and an international publishing phenomenon. The novel introduced Diana Bishop, Oxford scholar and reluctant witch, and the handsome geneticist and vampire Matthew Clairmont; together they found themselves at the center of a supernatural battle over an enchanted manuscript known as Ashmole 782.

Now, picking up from A Discovery of Witches’ cliffhanger ending, Shadow of Night plunges Diana and Matthew into Elizabethan London, a world of spies, subterfuge, and a coterie of Matthew’s old friends, the mysterious School of Night that includes Christopher Marlowe and Walter Raleigh. Here, Diana must locate a witch to tutor her in magic, Matthew is forced to confront a past he thought he had put to rest, and the mystery of Ashmole 782 deepens.

Deborah Harkness has crafted a gripping journey through a world of alchemy, time travel, and magical discoveries, delivering one of the most hotly anticipated novels of the season.

If you haven’t gotten around to A Discovery of Witches, Amazon is offering the e-book as their “Deal of the Day” on June 10^th - readers will be able to buy it for just $2.99 on that day only.

Plus, whoever wins the new book, SHADOW OF NIGHT, will also receive a specially designed “Ashmole 782” temporary tattoo and a set of 6 buttons!  The buttons each display a different alchemical symbol; readers will discover their meaning as they read the new novel. 

Finally, on Deborah’s Facebook page, there is a contest leading up to the book’s publication.  Every Friday from June 1st to July 6th, four winners will be selected to receive an advance copy of SHADOW OF NIGHT signed by Deborah and sample bottles of two perfumes specially selected to represent the scents of Matthew and Diana. To enter, readers can click on this link to the contest page starting today

To win a copy of SHADOW OF NIGHT by Deborah Harkness, send an email to contest@gmail.com, with "SHADOW OF NIGHT" as the subject. Make sure to include your name and mailing address in the US only. This contest is open to all adults over 18 years of age. One entry per email address, please. Your email address will not be shared or sold to anyone. All entries, including names, email addresses and mailing addresses, will be purged after winner is notified. This contest ends June 15, 2012. Good luck!

Win TWILIGHT OF THE ELITES by Chris Hayes!

I am thrilled to offer a free copy of Chris Hayes’ upcoming book, TWILIGHT OF THE ELITES.

In TWILIGHT OF THE ELITES: America After Meritocracy  (on sale June 12, 2012), MSNBC host and The Nation editor-at-large Chris Hayes rethinks some of the fundamental ideas about the way our society works, offering an original theory about how we have gotten here. He persuasively concludes that the meritocratic system upon which we depend to select the country’s best and brightest is fatally flawed, creating a ruling elite that is no longer functional. Provocative and forcefully written, TWILIGHT OF THE ELITES maps out how the crisis of authority came to define our public life, our political debates, and our understanding of our trajectory as a society. Employing original reporting and social science, Hayes moves beyond the standard explanations of our post-bailout society and introduces new ways of understanding the anger, frustration, and bewilderment that accelerating inequality has produced. TWILIGHT OF THE ELITES challenges us to imagine a different social order, to construct coalitions, institutions, and constituencies that militate not only against the status quo, but for equality. “This is the cycle of a dynamic society,” Hayes writes.

For more visit, www.facebook.com/twilightoftheelites and read an excerpt at Scribd.com. 

 “This is the Next Big Thing that we have been waiting for.  Twilight of the Elites is the fully reported, detailed, true story of a 21st century America beyond the reach of authority.  It’s new, and true, and beautifully told -- Hayes is the young left’s most erudite and urgent interpreter. Brilliant book.” – Rachel Maddow, host of The Rachel Maddow Show and author of Drift 

"A provocation; a challenge; and a major contribution to the great debate over how the American dream can be restored." – David Frum, contributing editor, DailyBeast/Newsweek

To win a signed copy of  TWILIGHT OF THE ELITES by  Chris Hayes, send an email to contest@gmail.com, with "TWILIGHT OF THE ELITES" as the subject by June 12, 2012. Make sure to include your name and mailing address in the US only. This contest is open to all adults over 18 years of age. One entry per email address, please. Your email address will not be shared or sold to anyone. All entries, including names, email addresses, and mailing addresses, will be purged after winner is notified.

Armchair BEA

Going to BEA is near the top of my bucket list. I dream big?! Since I can’t do anything but hobble around these days, I decided to participate in Armchair BEA. Armchairs I’m good at.

“Any good event requires introducing yourself and getting to know your fellow attendees. Instead of NYC, we may be in our armchairs and pajamas this week, but that does not mean we cannot network right along side those heading to the Javits Center...This year's theme is all about community, and our main goal is to encourage visiting and getting to know the vast number of bloggers/participants. In order to do so, we decided to shake things up a bit with our interviews.” -- THE ARMCHAIR BEA BLOG TEAM

So here goes…

1.            Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging?

Who am I? I am the BookBitch. The first question I’m usually asked is how I came up with that name, which ties into the rest of the question so here’s the story.

I used to be a bookseller for Borders. Remember Borders? Big bookstore chain, then the CEO, Rich Flanagan retired, and everything went to hell. Now they are just a footnote in the decline of the book business.

Anyway, I started there when my daughter started kindergarden, back in 1997. I worked these crazy hours around my kids’ schedules – one of the only benefits of working retail is flexibility in scheduling. I worked my 40 hours in four days, including Friday and Saturday nights, the busiest times in the store. Booksellers literally ran for their eight hour shift, from one end of the store to the other, nonstop. If a customer had to wait more than a minute at the Information Desk for me to get back from helping my last customer, and if heaven forbid we didn’t have the book they waited ALL THAT TIME for, well, let’s just say I was called a bitch more than once.  If you want to learn about human nature, work retail. Or in the food industry.

Spring forward a year or so and the Internet starts getting more interesting. There were companies offering free web space for anyone who wanted it, with cool little programs that helped you create a website – think apps, before there was such a thing.  I embraced the bookselling world with arms wide open, and devoured as many books as I could, reading late into the night, usually a book a day. But there were so many more books I wanted to read!

I decided to sign up for one of the free websites, that way I could keep track of the books I read and better yet, I could keep track of the books I wanted to read. So I did it, using Geocities, a behemoth in the free web golden days, now long since forgotten.  It was fun! I loved it. I even made a website for my Borders, Store 13 in Boca Raton. I posted pictures of all the staff. I did a photo journal of a day in the life of a bookseller. It was awesome. Unfortunately, Geocities shut down with little fanfare and those pages are gone forever. Even the Wayback Machine can’t find them.

But I digress. There were book websites springing up and I wanted something that would stand out from the crowd and be memorable. Another crazy weekend at the store, another pissed off customer calling me a bitch because I wouldn’t let her darling child color in the coloring books we had for sale unless she actually bought one.  And in that moment, it hit me – I would be the BookBitch! Later that year my husband bought me the domain name, where I've been happily parked ever since.

2.            What are you currently reading, or what is your favorite book you have read so far in 2012?

I read several books at a time. I’m reading a fabulous manuscript, a thriller set in Chicago, for an author friend. Once We Were Brothers by Ronald Balson, a self published Holocaust legal story which was recommended by some of my favorite library patrons. Calling Invisible Women by Jeanne Ray, because she is one of my favorite authors, but I’m having a hard time getting into this one.  Don’t Ever Get Old by Daniel Friedman, humorous suspense featuring an octogenarian Holocaust survivor ex-cop that I thought would probably appeal to my patrons.  I just started The Lost Wife by Alyson Richman, because I kept having to place reserves on it so I got curious. And I’m always looking at cook books, and if you don’t think that is reading let me correct you right now. A lot of the new cookbooks that have been coming out over the past year or two are filled with stories alongside the recipes, but I read the recipes too.  Right now I have Brunetti’s Cookbook by Roberta Pianaro, which is based on Donna Leon’s Commissario Guido Brunetti Mysteries. I’m also reading Cooking Without Borders by Anita Lo, a chef I’ve come to like and respect after seeing her on several cooking competitions, both as contestant and judge, and I’m happy to say that this book is definitely for home cooks like me. 

My favorite book so far this year is probably Defending Jacob by William Landay.

3.            Tell us one non-book-related thing that everyone reading your blog may not know about you.

I ‘m a foodie.

4.            What is your favorite feature on your blog (i.e. author interviews, memes, something specific to your blog)?

My favorite feature is definitely the book giveaways. When I first started working at Borders and found out that we got advance reader copies of books for free, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven! Shortly after I started my website, I was contacted by a publicist at the former incantation of Hachette Books, asking me if I’d like to give away some of their books to my readers. I figured if I liked getting free books, other readers would like that too and I’ve been doing it ever since. I’ve never stopped to count but I bet I’ve given away thousands of books by now.

5.            Where do you see your blog in five years?

I debated whether to answer this one because I am in the midst of planning some big changes, but here goes.

For the past several years I’ve been extremely busy. I work full time, was very involved in my kids' activities, sports, marching band, etc. I was in school. It took me over 30 years to earn my Bachelor’s degree in English Literature, then close to five years to earn my Masters in Library and Information Science. I toyed with the idea of going for my doctorate in either library science or literature, but put that off, at least for now. I’ve been working on my website and the blog, and writing reviews for Library Journal as well.

My kids are all grown up. I’m done with school, at least for now. That leaves me with a bit of free time that I will be devoting to my website and blog, incorporating the two entities into one, with a new, more mainstream name. I’ve hired a web designer and she is so fabulous that I know she will come through for me, despite my procrastinating in making design decisions.

One of my main goals is to create a searchable database of all the reviews now on the site. It has become too unwieldy, and needs a better layout and organization. It may take me five years to incorporate all the changes I want to make, but I promise, it will be worth it!

Win DOG ON THE ROOF!: On the Road with Mitt and Mutt

From political satirists Bruce Kluger and David Slavin, the ultimate humor book for this election season, DOG ON THE ROOF!: On the Road with Mitt and Mutt lampoons the now infamous Romney family adventure with their dog Seamus tied firmly to the roof of the car.

They were the typical American family on a typical American road trip – Dad behind the wheel, Mom in the passenger seat, their five adorable kids piled in the back seat. And, of course, their beloved dog strapped to the roof.

Wait…what?

Now for the first time, here is the completely true – and only mildly embellished – shaggy-dog story of Seamus Romney, the famously fetching Irish setter whose master, future presidential candidate Mitt Romney, plopped atop the family station wagon for that infamous 1983 car trip. From the majesty of Mount Rushmore to the fabulousness of San Francisco, from the sacred temple of Salt Lake City to the hallowed halls of Washington, D.C., here at last is Seamus’s rooftop account of that headline-grabbing journey…unleashed.

Doggedly chronicled by authors Bruce Kluger and David Slavin, and cleverly illustrated by Colleen Clapp, DOG ON THE ROOF! is more than just the story of a dog hot on the roof. It is the inside (well…overhead) look at the Man Who Would Be President and the wild ride that’s sweeping – and bewildering – the nation.

Bruce Kluger and David Slavin write and produce for National Public Radio’s All Things Considered. Their cultural and political commentary has appeared in countless publications across the country, including The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and The Chicago Tribune. They are recurring bloggers for The Huffington Post and Salon.com. Both live in New York City with their families.

Colleen Clapp is an award-winning artist and illustrator whose diverse career has spanned 30 years. She has created graphic and presentational art for, among others, The Smithsonian Institution, NBC News, ABC News, The Chris Matthews Show, WTTG News, The Philadelphia Zoo, and Polo magazine. Colleen lives in Frederick, Maryland, with her husband and two daughters.

About the Authors & Illustrator of DOG ON THE ROOF!

Bruce Kluger and David Slavin began writing and producing satire for National Public Radio’s All Things Considered in 2002. Their cultural and political commentary has appeared in countless publications across the country, including The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune and dozens of newspapers in the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service. Their work has also been featured prominently on The Huffington Post, where they are recurring bloggers, and Salon.com, which ran their acclaimed “Memo to George” series during the Bush II administration. Their previous books include the satirical children’s biography Young Dick Cheney: Great American and ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas: 21st Century Edition.

Bruce and David live one block from each other in New York City. Both are married, and both have two daughters.

Colleen Clapp is an award-winning artist and illustrator whose diverse career has spanned 30 years. She has created graphic and presentational art for, among others, The Smithsonian Institution, NBC News, ABC News, The Chris Matthews Show, WTTG News, The Philadelphia Zoo, and Polo magazine. Her ongoing commissions include public murals, magazine and book illustrations, and portraits and paintings in a variety of media. In recent years she has again surrendered to the call of the fine arts, exhibiting her oil paintings in the Baltimore-Washington D.C. metropolitan area.

Colleen lives in Frederick, Maryland, with her husband; the couple has two daughters—one a recent graduate from Savannah College of Art and Design, another currently attending the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

Touchstone Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, will release DOG ON THE ROOF!: On the Road with Mitt and Mutt in June 2012.  Please visit: http://www.simonandschuster.com for more information.

Two copies of Dog on the Roof: On the Road with Mitt and Mutt by Bruce Kluger and David Slavin, illustrated by Colleen Slapp are up for grabs!

To win a copy of  DOG ON THE ROOF!: On the Road with Mitt and Mutt  by  Bruce Kluger and David Slavin, send an email to contest@gmail.com, with "DOG ON THE ROOF" as the subject by June 18, 2012. Make sure to include your name and mailing address in the US only. This contest is open to all adults over 18 years of age. One entry per email address, please. Your email address will not be shared or sold to anyone. All entries, including names, email addresses, and mailing addresses, will be purged after winner is notified.

Books like 50 SHADES OF GREY

No, there probably aren't any books exactly like the E.L. James runaway bestselling trilogy; even the Twilight books they were culled from are different. My library has almost 2700 people waiting for a copy, and the lucky ones that have already read the trilogy are now panting for more. So I trolled the internet, quizzed knowledgeable romance readers and have come up with a surprisingly lengthy list:

NOT QUITE 50 SHADES

Debra Anastasia, Poughkeepsie

Gillian Archer, Wicked Weekend

Shayla Black, Wicked Ties

Samantha Blair, Generational Sins

Louisa Burton, Bound in Moonlight 

Anne Calhoun, Liberating Lucy

Opal Carew, Secret Ties

Mari Carr, Shugar and Spice

Victoria Dahl, The Wicked West

Tymber Dalton, The Reluctant Dom

Cameron Dane, Something New

Lauren Dane, Second Chances

Barbara Elsborg, An Ordinary Girl

Lori Foster, Too Much Temptation

Vonna Harper, Surrender

Megan Hart, Broken

Megan Hart, Switch

Jasmine Haynes, The Principal’s Office

Joey W. Hill, Ice Queen

Joey W. Hill, Mirror of My Soul

Joey W. Hill, Natural Law

Emma Holly, Top of Her Game

Beth Kery, Explosive

Lora Leigh, Surrender to Fire

Annabel Joseph, Mercy

 Laura Kaye, Hearts in Darkness

Inez Kelley, Sweet as Sin

Cherrie Lynn, Rock Me

Sarah McCarty, Promises Linger

Cheyenne McCray

Jamie McGuire, Beautiful Disaster

Mackenzie McKade, A Tall, Dark, Cowboy

Cara McKenna, Curio

Cara McKenna, Willing Victim

Elizabeth McNeill, Nine and Half Weeks

Susanna Moore, In the Cut

Kate Pearce, Raw Desires

Cari Quinn, Provoke Me

Sylvain Reynard, Gabriel’s Inferno

Robin Schone, The Lady’s Tutor

Cherise Sinclair, Make Me, Sir

Cherise Sinclair, Masters of the Shadowlands series

Z Stefani, Insufferable Proximity

Molly Weatherfield, Carrie’s Story

Molly Weatherfield, Safe Word

Tracy Wolff, Tie Me Down

Susan Wright, To Serve and Submit

KC Youngblood, Lethal Choices

SERIES 

Harlequin Presents – Caitlin Crews;Lynn Graham; Jane Porter; Carol Marinelli; Sarah Morgan

Maya Banks, Sweet series

Shayla Black, The Wicked Lovers Series 

Selena Blake, Stormy Weather series

Jaci Burton, Wild Riders series  & Play-by-Play series

Lora Leigh, Pleasure books (Dangerous Pleasure, Only Pleasure, Guilty Pleasure, Shameless Embraces)

Megan Hart, Broken; Dirty; Stranger 
Kathryn Harvey, Butterfly trilogy

Morgan Hawkes, Star series

Ann Jacobs, Heart of the West series 

Lorelei James

Kele Moon, Eden series

Lisa Marie Rice, Protectors Series

A.N. Roqueluare,  Sleeping Beauty trilogy

NEW:

July, 2012 Harlequin will release The Siren, the first book in Tiffany Reisz’s trilogy of BDSM novels, a direct comparison to 50 Shades

RT Book Reviews created their own list, RT’s Fifty Red Hot Reads

Bared to You by Sylvia Day

Win THE AGE OF DOUBT by Andrea Camilleri & more!

I am really excited to offer a copy of the newest novel in the New York Times bestselling Inspector Montalbano series, THE AGE OF DOUBT, by Andrea Camilleri.

With their dark sophistication and dry humor, Andrea Camilleri's hugely popular Sicilian crime novels continue to win more and more fans in America. The day after a storm, Inspector Montalbano encounters a strange woman who expresses interest in a certain yacht scheduled to dock that afternoon. Not long after she's gone, the yacht's crew reports finding a disfigured corpse. Also at anchor is a luxury vessel with a somewhat shady crew. Both boats will have to stay in Vigàta until the investigation is over and, based on information from the woman, Montalbano begins to think the occupants of the yacht might know more about the man's death than they're letting on.

“As with Camilleri's other Montalbano novels, familiar personalities and settings don't fail to delight. The inspector and his colorful crew remain quirky and unpredictable, and the mysteries continue to entertain. This esteemed series is a great example of local color and characters who will appeal to fans of mysteries set in international locales.” –Library Journal

''This series is distinguished by Camilleri's remarkable feel for tragicomedy, expertly mixing light and dark in the course of producing novels that are both comforting and disturbing.'' –Booklist


“The awkward humanity and everyday sadness of Camilleri’s characters make them instantly sympathetic, while wry commentary on language, food, and local customs lend color.” –Publisher’s Weekly

“In Sicily, where people do things as they please, Inspector Montalbano is a bona fide folk hero.” –The New York Times Book Review

Additionally, there is a limited-time opportunity to enter into the Inspector Montalbano Gift Basket Giveaway! With all 14 Inspector Montalbano novels as well as a selection of Italian foods, including pasta, sauce, olives, Italian desserts, roasted red peppers, olive oil, and cheese from Mario Batali’s Eataly, the gift basket is valued at $500! Simply follow the Facebook link and click the App button to enter before the June 5th deadline.

To win a copy of THE AGE OF DOUBT, by Andrea Camilleri, send an email to contest@gmail.com, with "AGE OF DOUBT" as the subject. Make sure to include your name and mailing address in the US only. This contest is open to all adults over 18 years of age. One entry per email address, please. Your email address will not be shared or sold to anyone. All entries, including names, email addresses and mailing addresses, will be purged after winner is notified. This contest ends June 5, 2012. Good luck!

Guest Blogger: JEANNE RAY

Jeanne Ray is one of my favorite authors, as is her daughter, Ann Patchett. Even though it’s been a while, I can still tell you the plots of all of her books, they have really stuck with me. In fact, her first book, Julie and Romeo, is one of my favorite books ever! Her latest, Calling Invisible Women, just came out and I am delighted that Jeanne is my guest blogger today.

A delightfully funny novel packing a clever punch, from the author of the New York Times bestselling Julie and Romeo

   A mom in her early fifties, Clover knows she no longer turns heads the way she used to, and she's only really missed when dinner isn't on the table on time. Then Clover wakes up one morning to discover she's invisible--truly invisible. She panics, but when her husband and son sit down to dinner, nothing is amiss. Even though she's been with her husband, Arthur, since college, her condition goes unnoticed. Her friend Gilda immediately observes that Clover is invisible, which relieves Clover immensely--she's not losing her mind after all!--but she is crushed by the realization that neither her husband nor her children ever truly look at her.  She was invisible even before she knew she was invisible.

   Clover discovers that there are other women like her, women of a certain age who seem to have disappeared.  As she uses her invisibility to get to know her family and her town better, Clover leads the way in helping invisible women become recognized and appreciated no matter what their role.  Smart and hilarious, with indomitable female characters, Calling Invisible Women will appeal to anyone who has ever felt invisible.

From Jeanne Ray:

I wrote Calling Invisible Women for several reasons.  The most important, I’m afraid, is one that many readers will miss.  My fault, I am sure.

            There is the old myth/metaphor about women over the age of menopause are invisible.  I believe you are only “invisible” if you allow yourself to lose your inner glow, your shine if you will.  If you walk down the street with bad posture, your stomach sticking out and your head down, if you stop smiling and greeting others, if you stop giving a darn about the world you live in, you will, more than likely, become invisible.  Unless you are 18 and smashingly beautiful.  I think, as Clover comes to realize in the book, you have to start caring about yourself and about others before your visibility returns.  Go to a homeless shelter and serve meals and talk to the men and women you meet and smile.  Think you’ll be invisible?  No way.

            The second reason I wrote this book is because I’ve always been fascinated by super powers.  I’d love to be able to fly (without an airplane), or be strong enough to lift a freight train, or be REALLY invisible.  Even being Spider Man would be pretty cool.  Though I’d rather be Spider Woman.

            The last reason, is that Clover’s feelings were very hurt because her family didn’t notice she was gone.  And yet, they didn’t notice she was gone because they didn’t love her. They didn’t notice because she had gotten everyone in her family so accustomed to having a clean house, good food, and their laundry on time that they took for granted she was there because IT was there.  Yes, she was under appreciated perhaps.  I agree.  So am I.  So are most other homemakers.  But she was most certainly loved.

If you would like to win a copy of CALLING INVISIBLE WOMEN by Jeanne Ray, send an email to contest@gmail.com, with "Calling Invisible Women" as the subject. Make sure to include your name and mailing address in the US only. This contest is open to all adults over 18 years of age. One entry per email address, please. Your email address will not be shared or sold to anyone. All entries, including names, email addresses and mailing addresses, will be purged after winner is notified. This contest is going to run for a week, so please get your entry in by May 30, 2012. Good luck!

In memoriam: Win The Cat Sitter's Pajamas

I was so sad to hear about the passing of Blaize Clement last summer. She was the author of the wonderful Dixie Hemingway mystery series. Her son, John Clement, will be taking over writing the series, and has kindly offered one lucky reader a copy of his mother's last book, The Cat Sitter's Pajamas. The following are John's thoughts on taking over for his mom...

My mother was a strong proponent of the idea that words feed both the mind and the soul. So even before I was born, she read to me. She started with Rudyard Kipling's Just So stories, reading out loud while I lolled about in the womb. After I was born, it was Mark Twain, Agatha Christie, John Steinbeck. Out loud every day, while I sat in her lap, or the crib, or the playpen. She kept reading to me until the time came that I could read to myself, at which point we took turns.

Me: "'I know some new tricks,' said the cat in the hat."
Her: "'A lot of good tricks. I will show them to you!'"

Words kept us together. When I was a teenager, no matter how obnoxious she thought I was, and no matter how square and boring I thought she was, we still had the grace to tolerate each other long enough for a game of Scrabble a few times a week. Then when I left home for college, we played the Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle over the phone, and for decades after we worked on it together during visits and holidays. Even in her last days, with me sitting in a recliner next to her hospice bed, we played Scrabble on our iPhones and passed the crossword puzzle back and forth between us.

My mother passed away in July, and I can say with absolute certainty that she did so peacefully. It was her intention to "die well," so that's what she did. It also happened that a few weeks before, her friend and editor at St. Martin's Press, Marcia Markland, called with a couple of questions: One, how would she feel about the Dixie Hemingway mystery series continuing after her death? And two, would I write it? I was horrified. My mother was thrilled. The idea that Dixie would live on filled her with joy.

Now, instead of working on the crossword puzzle every morning, I wake up, make some coffee, and sit down to the world my mother created, the world of Dixie Hemingway, the world she created with nothing but words. She left me with three first-draft chapters for the next book and a computer brimming over with notes, random dialogue for future books, and various observations about Dixie and her cohorts. Every day, I lay some more words down. I move them from one chapter to another. I copy and paste a passage here, I change some words there, maybe I change it back. Sometimes the words fit. Sometimes they're rejected--by me, or my mother, or Dixie herself...I'm not sure which.

One thing I know for certain: it feels like a game. In fact it's a word game, and I'm playing it with my mother. We're still passing words back and forth between us. Mulling them over, arguing about them, competing with them. It's the most amazing and unexpected thing, and I feel so lucky. It's got to be one of the best gifts a mother ever left a son.

“Heads of warring nations could learn a lot about how to achieve lasting peace by watching dogs and cats who live in the same house.” 
― Blaize Clement, Raining Cat Sitters and Dogs

To win a copy of THE CAT SITTER'S PAJAMAS by Blaize Clement, send an email to contest@gmail.com, with "Cat Sitter's Pajamas" as the subject. Make sure to include your name and mailing address in the US only. This contest is open to all adults over 18 years of age. One entry peremail address, please. Your email address will not be shared or sold to anyone. All entries, including names, email addresses and mailing addresses, will be purged after winner is notified. This contest is going to run for two weeks, so please get your entry in by June 2, 2012. Good luck!

Win two books by Luanne Rice!

LITTLE NIGHT, the 30^th novel from bestselling author Luanne Rice will be going on-sale on June 5^th.  I am delighted to offer one lucky reader a copy of LITTLE NIGHT, which deals with themes of domestic violence and how it affects the entire family. This book has already garnered fantastic pre-pub buzz including a starred Publishers Weekly review which calls the book “poetic and stirring” and a starred Library Journal review calling it an “outstanding read that both chills and warms the soul.” As an added bonus, the lucky winner will also receive a copy of Luanne’s last book, The Silver Boat. 

In winter 2012, Luanne interviewed women whose lives have been touched by abuse. Three women told their stories on camera, including Luanne, who was in an abusive marriage herself. Between now and June 5th, when LITTLE NIGHT is published, Luanne will be posting the videos to her website, starting with Tamara Edwards’ story. Here is the first video:

To win a copy of  LITTLE NIGHT and THE SILVER BOAT  by Luanne Rice, send an email to contest@gmail.com, with " LITTLE NIGHT" as the subject. Make sure to include your name and mailing address in the US only. This contest is open to all adults over 18 years of age. One entry per email address, please. Your email address will not be shared or sold to anyone. All entries, including names, email addresses, and mailing addresses, will be purged after winner is notified.

This contest is only going to run for two weeks, so your odds of winning are pretty good - if you enter by May 30, 2012! Good luck!

Win STRINDBERG'S STAR by Jan Wallentin

A multilayered international thrill ride at breakneck pace, reminiscent of The Rule of Four

The Arctic, 1897: Nils Strindberg crashes his hydrogen balloon during the mysterious Andrée Expedition to the North Pole.

Germany, 1942: Gruesome and inexplicable experiments are performed on concentration camp prisoners.

Sweden, present-day: Cave diver Erik Hall finds a dead body wearing an ancient ankh, buried deep in an abandoned mine. Religious symbol expert Don Titelman seeks out Erik to study the ankh—but finds Erik dead. Don is the prime suspect, and soon he’s being chased across Europe to escape a secret society that will do anything to get their hands on the ankh. . . .

In this international bestseller, each of these fascinating strands weaves together to create a mind-blowing cross-genre thriller that includes arctic explorers, a secret railroad network, Norse mythology, Nazis, and ancient symbols—and a shocking secret that’s been hidden for centuries.


A conversation with Jan Wallentin, author of STRINDBERG’S STAR

 Q. Strindberg’s Star is a roaring adventure—can you tell us where your very first ideas for the novel came from?
 A. Well, it’s very hard to pinpoint something in particular as the inspiration, writing a book is such a long and winding process I discovered. However, my intention was to create an irresistible story of suspense that would have a strong forward-momentum without using a lot of violence and blood. Instead, I wanted to write something that would be completely unpredictable; where the reader wouldn’t even be able to know what kind of genre he or she was reading. It would take off as your usual crime story, a whodunit with all the common ingredients, and then after about fifty pages, the story would switch into a sort of Hitchcock-thriller—an innocent man being accused of a crime he did not commit, being on the run. After that, it would develop into an adventure story, a search for an ancient artifact, and then again shift into something completely different. I also wanted to write about historical topics where the reader would have a hard time to distinguish between what were facts and what was indeed pure fiction and lies. Getting into the bizarre world of the Nazi esoteric and the Andrée Arctic balloon expedition of 1897 suited this purpose perfectly, I thought.

 Q. Your book is brimming with many ideas, ranging from Nazis and Norse mythology to the Strindberg expedition. Of the plot points in your book, which ones stem from your own personal interests? And which ones required you to do the most research?
 A. The most difficult thing writing this book was to make all these very different ideas and topics come together in a natural way, supporting and enriching each other and keeping the reader’s suspension of disbelief. Personally I have always been very interested in the Arctic balloon expedition of 1897, it has such a romantic quality, being very much like a Jules Verne-novel in real life: three Swedish men trying to sail by the mercy of the winds to the North Pole. The mastermind of this expedition, Andrée, had only piloted a balloon nine times before the take off. Nils Strindberg, a close relative of the great Swedish author August Strindberg, had no arctic experience at all, besides skiing around Djurgården in central Stockholm. The balloon they used had never flown before the actual takeoff, and the technique of steering this craft had never worked out. Yet they went. Researching this and the occult world of the Nazi movement was probably the most time consuming effort, but also very interesting.

 Q. Strindberg’s Star takes the reader to many exotic locales. Have you been to many of those places mentioned in the book? Which destination would be your favorite?
A. Some of the places in the book I have taken many liberties with, the German town and castle of Wewelsburg is one example of that. Other places that I have visited, like the Belgian city of Ieper are very accurate, though I wouldn’t advise a reader to have Strindberg’s star as a travel guide. My favorite research destination would have been a cruise to the North Pole of course, but that was unfortunately quite beyond my budget.

 Q. Are there any authors of works in particular that were influential in your development as a writer or in the early stages of writing Strindberg’s Star? A. I’m very much a film person, and one source of inspiration writing Strindberg’s star was the movies of Quentin Tarrantino. In works like Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction Tarrantino plays around with and is able to transform a lot of worn out clichés in a very elegant fashion, and I find his work inventive and interesting. Among the authors that were important inspiration for writing Strindberg’s Star, Jules Verne, Peter Hoeg, Haruki Murakami … it just goes on and on.

Q. What was your reaction when the book started gaining steam in Sweden, eventually becoming a bestseller? And then when the rights sold in so many other countries?
 A. Basically I didn’t know anything about the book market and I was extremely surprised, because I thought that Strindberg’s Star was a bit too odd and twisted to become a bestseller, and in Sweden especially the readers are extremely fond of traditional crime stories – not wild adventures. Then, when the rights were sold in about twenty countries in a blink of an eye I was suddenly blessed with the opportunity to write full time, and that truly is a wonderful gift.

 Q. Your main protagonist, Don Titelman, is made to cope with some very serious demons. What was the thought process behind giving him such complexity?
 A. I knew from the beginning that writing this book, containing so many references to the Nazi esoteric, I needed a protagonist with a very strong personal connection to the real history of Nazi war crimes and the Holocaust, otherwise the story just wouldn’t work. In addition, I have always been very fond of anti-heroes, and Don Titelman is very much that, he is the anti-Robert Langdon of The Da Vinci Code if you will. He is a guilt ridden, broken character that basically by chance gets drawn into this great conspiracy, triggering a chain of events which to him turns out to be a total nightmare. I really love this character, and I’m so sorry that I had to put him through hell writing this book.

 Q. What’s next for you? Will you be working on a new book anytime soon . . . perhaps featuring Don Titelman?
 A. Sadly, right now I’m working on a new novel with a very different theme, so Don Titelman will have to wait for a while anyway. Actually, I think that Strindberg’s Star contains about everything that I have to say about the Nazi esoteric, the Arctic, the underworld and Mr, Don Titelman … but then again, who knows?

 

 TOUR DATES FOR JAN WALLENTIN:
Tuesday, June 5 / Decatur, GA / Eagle Eye Bookshop @ 7 PM
Wednesday, June 6 / Portland, OR / Powell’s Books (Cedar Hills Crossing) @ 7 PM
Thursday, June 7 / Los Angles, CA / Book Soup @ 7 PM
Friday, June 8 / San Diego, CA / Mysterious Galaxy @ 7 PM
Sunday, June 10 / Chicago, IL / Printer’s Row Book Lit Fest

 To win a copy of STRINDBERG'S STAR by Jan Wallentin, send an email to contest@gmail.com, with "STRINDBERG'S STAR" as the subject. Make sure to include your name and mailing address in the US only. This contest is open to all adults over 18 years of age. One entry per email address, please. Your email address will not be shared or sold to anyone. All entries, including names, email addresses, and mailing addresses, will be purged after winner is notified. This contest is only going to run for two weeks so get your entry in by May 24th, 2012. Good luck!

2012 James Beard Foundation Book Awards Winners

Winners of the 2012 James Beard Foundation Book Awards:

Cookbook of the Year: Modernist Cuisine by Nathan Myhrvold with Chris Young & Maxime Bilet (the Cooking Lab)
American Cooking: A New Turn in the South: Southern Flavors Reinvented for Your Kitchen by Hugh Acheson (Clarkson Potter)
Baking and Dessert: Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer (Artisan)
Beverage: Bitters: A Spirited History of a Classic Cure-All, with Cocktails, Recipes, & Formulas by Brad Thomas Parsons (Ten Speed)
Cooking from a professional point of view: Modernist Cuisine by Nathan Myhrvold with Chris Young and Maxime Bilet (the Cooking Lab)
General cooking: Ruhlman's Twenty by Michael Ruhlman (Chronicle)
Focus on health: Super Natural Every Day: Well-Loved Recipes from My Natural Foods Kitchen by Heidi Swanson (Ten Speed)
International: The Food of Morocco by Paula Wolfert (Ecco)
Photography: Notes from a Kitchen: A Journey Inside Culinary Obsession by Jeff Scott and Blake Beshore (Tatroux)
Reference & scholarship: Turning the Tables: Restaurants and the Rise of the American Middle Class, 1880-1920 by Andrew P. Haley (University of North Carolina Press)
Single subject: All About Roasting by Molly Stevens (Norton)
Writing and literature: Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton (Random House)
Cookbook hall of fame: Home Cooking and More Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin

James Beard award–winning chefs and restaurants will be named tonight. The complete list of award winners in all categories will be available on the James Beard Foundation website.


Courtesy of Shelf Awareness, 5/07/12