READ IT FIRST!
What could be better than learning about great new reads? Getting FREE ADVANCE COPIES OF GREAT NEW READS!
Email us to request a copy of How Far is the Ocean from Here, Nefertiti, or Tethered — see links below. The first 200 readers to write in will receive the book of their choice. No purchase necessary. While supplies last.
Charles Baxter sings Amy Shearn's praises (see “Meet the Authors” below) , but if that’s not enough, check out what other readers have to say about Amy’s debut novel at BookBrowse.
Creative Idea for Your Book Group
Charles Baxter, Wally Lamb, and Nicole Krauss have written stories that share a similar quirky humor and quiet power. Choose a novel by one of these authors and read it in back-to-back sessions with Amy Shearn’s novel. Your discussion will be deepened as you compare how both love stories go far beyond the typical definitions of romantic love.
To request a copy of this book, email us here and include your mailing address.
This is historical fiction at its sexy, smart, surprising best (see “Meet the Authors” below).
Creative Idea for Your Book Group
While both novels stand on their own, you´ll get the full experience if you begin with NEFERTITI (now out in paperback) and continue in your next meeting with HERETIC QUEEN. Click here to download the discussion guide for NEFERTITI.
To request a copy of this book, email us here and include your mailing address.
Booklist calls TETHERED a “haunting, gracefully rendered debut.” Readers are saying “I was hooked from the first sentence” and “TETHERED keeps readers roped in” and “From the start of this book I was drawn in by Mackinnon's vivid language” and “Once I started reading, I did not want to put it down.” Click here to check out more rave reader reviews
at BookBrowse. This is one you won’t want to miss, a psychological thriller like you’ve never read before.
Creative Idea for Your Book Group
Amy drew from her own life in writing TETHERED, basing one character (a kindly old mortician) on her beloved uncle. She even created a character out of her bull dog, Babe! Read about it on Galleycat.
What people (or animals!) in your life would provide inspiration if you were going to write a novel, and why? Talking about the “characters” in your own life will make for a lively discussion with your group.
To request a copy of this book, email us here and include your mailing address.
|
BOOK GROUP OF THE MONTH
How did your book group get together (or fall apart)? What makes for exceptionally good discussions? For discussions that go terribly wrong? What’s the most creative thing you’ve done to make a book group meeting really special? All amusing and inspiring anecdotes welcome!
Share your favorite book group story by emailing us here – if we feature your group in an upcoming newsletter, you’ll receive a Book Group in a Box.
BLOGGERS WANTED
Are you a voracious reader and prolific blogger? Have you blogged about a Crown, Shaye Areheart Books, Harmony Books, Clarkson Potter, or Three Rivers Press title? (Click here to see which of your favorite books we publish.) Let us know by sending an email here and we'll add you to our mailing list for advance readers copies of great books. Your blog may even be featured in an upcoming issue of READ IT FORWARD!
Thank you, bloggers, for helping us spread the word about READ IT FORWARD!
• The Printed Page
• Au Courant
• Literate Housewife Review
• So Many Books, So Little Time?
• Bermudaonion’s Weblog
FAN FAVORITES
My Lobotomy
|
“The value of the book is in the indomitable spirit Dully displays throughout his grueling saga… Dully shows that regardless of what happened to his brain, his heart and soul are ferociously strong.”
—Chicago-Sun Times
At age 12, Howard Dully was guilty of the same crimes as other boy's his age: he was moody and messy, rambunctious and contrary, and often at odds with his parents. Yet somehow this normal boy became one of the youngest people on whom Dr. Walter Freeman performed his barbaric transorbital-or ice pick-lobotomy. My Lobotomy is the story of one man's search for answers that also exposes a shameful chapter in the history of the treatment of mental illness. Ultimately, it is a powerful and moving chronicle of redemption.
BLOGGER REVIEWS
• Book-Club-Queen — Leaving No Page Unturned!
• Have You Read Any Good Books Lately?
|
Look Me in the Eye
|
“As sweet and funny and sad and true as heartfelt a memoir as one could find.”
—Augusten Burroughs, author of Running with Scissors
This is a story for fans of Oliver Sacks, parents of children on the autism spectrum, and anyone interested in the workings of the human mind—the moving, slyly funny story of growing up with Asperger’s syndrome at a time when the diagnosis didn’t exist and of Robison’s journey from his world into ours.
Click here to read the author’s new Postscript.
Click here to download the discussion guide.
BLOGGER REVIEWS
• Visit the author on his blog at www.jerobison.blogspot.com
• Loaded Shelf reader's blog
• Pulitzer winner James Mulvaney's blog
|
Confessions of a Prep School Mommy Handler
|
David Sedaris meets The Nanny Diaries in this hilarious chronicle of critically acclaimed author Wade Rouse’s year-long tenure as the director of publicity at a prestigious prep school where his job was to make the very pretty, very rich, very mean mommies of the elite students very happy. Confessions of a Prep School Mommy Handler is hilarious, heartbreaking, and deliciously catty.
BLOGGER REVIEWS
• Visit the author on his blog at www.WadeRouse.com
• Momsational
|
Mad Dash
|
“Gaffney’s books are always heartfelt and wise—but most of all, laugh-out-loud funny—and this one is my favorite yet!”
—Janet Evanovich
This is a strong, poignant, and hilarious story by New York Times bestselling author Patricia Gaffney about what happens when opposites don?t attract anymore and a long married couple must find their way back to each other.
Download the discussion guide here.
BLOGGER REVIEWS
• Dear Author
• Winsdor Locks Public Library
|
GET CRAFTY
SIMPLY SUBLIME BAGS will show you how to sew, duct tape, staple, and otherwise manipulate easy-to-find materials into stylish, unique bags of all shapes and sizes, from makeup cases to tote bags to a picnic basket.
FREE PATTERN!
Click here to download a pattern for the Place Mat Tote—a book bag that’s so darling and so easy to create, you’ll want to make one for every member of your book group.
Click here to read more about Jodi Kahn and her love of fun, easy projects made of “what were you thinking?” materials. |
|
RECIPES FOR YOUR BOOK GROUP
|
Who can resist comfort food, Southern cooking, and family dishes with lots of heart and soul? The recipes in SCREEN DOORS & SWEET TEA come with a delightful personal touch and a contemporary twist.
FREE RECIPE!
Click here for a recipe for the Mailbox Cocktail, a perfect summery treat. Let’s just say that once your book group enjoys a round of these delicious drinks, it may be hard to go back to wine!
|
MEET THE AUTHOR
Amy Shearn
|
Called a “hugely auspicious debut” by Charles Baxter, HOW FAR IS THE OCEAN FROM HERE is a beautifully written novel that tells the story of a young unmarried surrogate mother, who flees her Chicago home and lands at a bleak motel in the Southwest, where she encounters a band of quirky misfits, only to discover the strangeness and unpredictability of love. Click here to download the discussion guide. Visit Amy and arrange your chat at at www.amyshearn.com.
|
Michelle Moran
|
Michelle Moran’s nationally bestselling debut novel NEFERTITI transformed dusty hieroglyphs into a flesh-and-blood world filled with magic, intrigue, and unforgettable characters. In THE HERETIC QUEEN, Michelle takes us back to Egypt and follows the descendents of Nefertiti and transports us to the era that saw the most powerful pharoah in history — and the exodus that was led by a man named Moses. Visit Michelle and arrange your chat at www.michellemoran.com. |
Sidura Ludwig
|
A poignant coming-of-age tale told from the point of view of the very precocious Beth Levy and set in a household of strong Jewish women in post-World War II Canada. Perfect for fans of Sue Monk Kidd and Allegra Goodman, HOLDING MY BREATH is full of complicated, compelling female characters that will inspire lively discussion. Click here to read an engaging interview in which Sidura answers questions about the book. Visit Sidura and arrange your chat at www.sidura.com. |
|
