Book Club Giveaways

October 1- October 15, 2007

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Check out the most recently reviewed books by book clubs and the newest book selections of your fellow members.

Matrimony by Joshua Henkin

Article by Joshua Henkin

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When I began to write Matrimony, I was thirty-three and living in Ann Arbor, where I had gone to graduate school; my first novel, Swimming Across the Hudson, had recently been published. I had also just met the woman I would eventually marry, and though our relationship would be long-distance for the first two years and we wouldn't get married for several years after that, I knew from the start that this was the person I would spend my life with. And I sensed, in knowing this, that big changes lay ahead, changes I couldn't yet comprehend.

I had also recently attended my tenth-year college reunion, and so I suppose I had reunions on the brain. When I started the novel, I wasn't sure what I was going to write about. Hardly any novelist I know does; you just put your characters in a situation where something will happen, and you hope that over time you figure it out. I had this image of a couple attending their college reunion. That was all I knew-the beginning of the book. As it turns out, I didn't know even that. Yes, there's a college reunion in Matrimony, but it comes 250 pages and twenty years into the novel and it's a relatively short scene.

Matrimony took me ten years to write, and I threw out literally thousands of pages. Although I didn't realize it at the time, I was writing about the history of a marriage-what happens when a couple meet in college and end up marrying earlier than they expected and the ways that their choices (faithlessness, failed ambition, the decision whether to have a child) and things out of their control (health and sickness, the death of parent) test the endurance of their relationship.

Beyond that, I was writing about what it's like to be in your twenties and thirties-even your forties, in some cases-when you're waiting for your life to begin and you find to your surprise that it already has begun and that the decisions you make have consequences you're not even aware of yet.

In the end, though Matrimony isn't about my marriage, the process of writing it tracked my own marriage, and it's hard to believe that that's simply a coincidence. Like Julian, my protagonist, I've ended up in New York City, where I was raised, and like Julian, I've spent close to half my life in college towns. There's something about college towns that perpetuates the myth of eternal youth. There are the familiar signposts-football Saturdays, homecoming, Thanksgiving, spring break, finals-and then the process starts over again with a new group of students. In the meantime, another year has passed and you're getting older.

My characters have this idea (for a long time I had this idea, too) that someday they would become adults, that there would be a watershed moment. But there is no watershed moment. Adulthood catches you by surprise. You make decisions-what town you move to, what job you take, whom you live with and love-and those decisions ramify out in ways you hadn't anticipated. Life is what happens when you're not paying attention. This is what I started to understand as I wrote Matrimony, and what I've tried to capture in its pages.

Author Bio

Joshua would be delighted to call-in to your club via speakerphone and visit clubs in the NY, NJ & Philadelphia area. Email him to set up a date and time.

The Secret Cardinal by Tom Grace

Article by Tom Grace

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At its core, The Secret Cardinal is a thriller about a jailbreak. The jail in question is in China, the prisoner is the Roman Catholic bishop of Shanghai, and the architect of the audacious plan is acting at the behest of the pope himself.

My fifth Nolan Kilkenny adventure is an incredible tale set amid the real and often ugly church-state conflict between the Vatican and China. Recent diplomacy between these two nations has included accusations of hostile acts against the Chinese government and calls for excommunication-a real situation that inspired a story about honor, loyalty and faith.

A tribute by Senator Lieberman after the death of a real secret cardinal, provided the seed for my novel. In this tribute, I discovered an international political drama that affects millions of people at a deeply personal level and the story of an incredible man who stood at the center of that storm for decades.

I want my readers to feel I've taken them inside the highest levels of power to wrestle with a real political problem with no end in sight. My novel offers a thrilling solution in liberating the most dangerous man in China: The Secret Cardinal.

Author Bio

Tom would be happy to call in to your book club via speakerphone as well as meet with clubs in the Michigan/Ohio/Indiana/

Chicago area. Email him to request a call or visit.

Ultraviolet (Jane Kelley Mysteries) by Nancy Bush
Article by Nancy Bush Enter to win this book for your club I've heard over and over how much readers love the character of Jane Kelly. It's probably the most universal comment I receive on the series. Jane is what drives the stories. She's imperfect but smart and can step up to a task, even if she's reluctant to do so. Her recognition of her own faults-and thinking she's more than okay anyway (and luckily her pug, The Binkster, thinks she's perfect!)-seems to be the feature everyone responds to. People want to know her. They wish they could meet her and be her friend. I want readers to keep liking Jane and keep wanting to see more of her. The truth is, I like Jane, too. She makes me laugh as I'm writing her. In Ultraviolet she gets to strut her stuff and show her off her mad skills! I many ways, it's all about Jane. I had a blast writing the second in the series, Electric Blue, which is the book that introduced the crazy Purcell family. Violet was always in the back of my mind as a central figure/possible villain. When Violet showed up Electric Blue, she seemed to leap off the page. She's such a morally ambivalent character, and anything can happen when she's around. I actually fitted the main plot of Ultraviolet around her. The secondary plot, which involves Dwayne's spying across the lake, also came out of Electric Blue, since that's where he became injured. This setup gave Jane a chance to be the lead investigator in Ultraviolet, which was critical to her development as a true private detective. Author Bio Nancy would be delighted to call-in via speakerphone Email her to set up a chat.

Crazy Aunt Purl's Drunk, Divorced & Covered in Cat Hair by Laurie Perry

Article by Laurie Perry

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My book "Drunk, Divorced & Covered in cat Hair" is the true story of how someone, I cannot imagine who, got dumped by her husband and cried and ate Cheetos off her chest and somehow, somewhere along the way she actually figured out how to live life. And love life. Also, there is knitting. And dating. And hair removal. And made-up Southernisms that drove the copyeditor insane.

This novel also features a whole mess of knitting patterns! One of the ways I made it through the worst of my divorce was to take up a hobby other than eating. A girlfriend dragged me off to a knitting class and I took to yarn and needles like nobody's business. It got my mind off things when I was unable to sleep, and kept the embarrassing drunk dialing to a minimum.

I decided to write this book because my divorce made me crazy. None of my friends could relate, my family was worried about me, and it seemed like everyone else in the world got divorced just pain-free and easy as pie. Celebrities get divorced and remarried every five minutes! And here I felt like I was losing my mind half the time, about three minutes from crazy. I had wished desperately when I was puddled up on the floor heartbroken and smelly that someone, anyone, could tell me I wasn't alone. So that is why I wrote this book -- maybe another woman out there going through a crappy breakup will read it and feel less insane, less fogged-up with despair. And the truth is that my life has gotten better in ways I could have never imagined, and in the end my divorce was probably the best thing that could have happened. But I didn't get there overnight, it took three years. Sometimes I still want to eat Cheetos off my chest.

Laurie Perry

Author Bio

Laurie is happy to call-in to your club via speakerphone and will visit clubs in the Los Angeles and Southern California area. Email her to set up a phone call or visit.

Singled Out: How Singles are Stereotyped, Stigmatized and Ignored, and Still Live Happily Ever After by Bella DePaulo

Article by Bella DePaulo

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Writing Singled Out was an absolutely exhilarating experience. I am passionate about the topic. Even though I had lived as a singleton my entire life, the study of singlehood was entirely new to me. I read voraciously, on topics I knew nothing about previously. I constantly examined the claims that were made about singles in the media, and even in scientific journals, and again and again found them misleading or totally inaccurate. I thought about why this was happening, talked to lots of people, and read some more.

The cultural conversation on singlehood is stuck in a rut, and has been for decades. In writing Singled Out, I was blasting my way outside of that narrow box, and loving every step of the way.

OK, not every step. There were times when people read what I had written and did not exactly bubble over with enthusiasm. Those were difficult times. But now, even some of the very negative reactions are heartening. For example, when people totally disagree with my point of view, and are angered by my position, I know I have struck a nerve. I do not enjoy their ire - effusive praise is much more fun - but I love it when they are engaged by my arguments and examples. More than just about anything else, I want people to think - no, to rethink what they thought they already knew. Even if they cycle back to their original position, it will be a more informed position.

Author Bio

Bella would be delighted to call-in to your club via speakerphone and visit clubs in the Santa Barbara, CA area. Email her to request a phone chat or visit.

From the Last Newsletter...in case you missed it
The View From Mount Joy Enter to Win this Book for your Club Butcher of Dreams Enter to Win this Book for Your Club Catnapped Enter to Win this Book for your Club The Abduction Enter to Win this Book for Your Club Listen to the Mockingbird Enter to Win this Book for Your Club