Greetings!

Chris Cleave at Boswell on Monday, July 16, 7 pm, a Fundraiser for The Pablove Foundation. $5 Tickets Now On Sale.

Speaking of bicycle races, I've got to tell you about Chris Cleave's new novel, Gold, which comes out on Tuesday, July 3. It's the story of two competitive cyclists, best friends who nonetheless find themselves competing head to head. Kate has managed to balance her life. She's married to Tom, another cyclist, and together they have a young girl, Sophie. Zoe, on the other hand, has not let love interfere with her pursuit of the win. She's single, with some dalliances, no, a lot of dalliances.

So here's the problem. There's only one spot between the two of them on the Olympic team. And I should say another thing--Sophie has leukemia, and must undergo constant treatment and care. And how does Sophie cope? By pretending she is fighting battles as a Star Wars character.

There's no question, Cleave has done it again, matched the emotional wallop of Little Bee with a story that once again asks the serious questions. What would you give up to win? And what would you give up for a child?  The astute bookseller Valerie Koehler of Houston's Blue Willow wrote "Cleave has ripped my heart out again" and Ed Conklin of Santa Barbara's Chaucers raved that Gold "made me gasp, smile, and cheer."

I admit, I can sometimes be a jaded person. And I worried that Cleave's juxtaposition of competitive sports and caregiving for a child with cancer might not work. But this is the kind of book where you give your brain a little slack and go with your heart. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Two more things to tell you. One, we're hosting this event as a fundraiser for The Pablove Foundation, which helps kids with cancer and their caregivers. Tickets for the event are $5 and we'll donate the entire $5 to the cause. In addition, ticketholders will get 20% off any copies of Gold that they purchase.

Secondly, this is a very important event for me, as Little Bee was the last event I worked with at Schwartz, and the first that I helped shepherd as if I might one day have a store where I was hosting Boswellish events. And it still ranks as one of the most wonderful events I have ever attended. Chris Cleave is not to be missed. He's truly an amazing guy. If you've never seen the winter in Milwaukee video he made, you must watch it now.

Win a Book Club Date with Robert Goolrick on Monday, July 30, Plus Everyone's Invited to His Boswell Appearance at 7 pm.

What a coincidence that we are hosting Robert Goolrick and Chris Cleave in the same month. In the winter of 2010, A Reliable Wife was fighting it out with Little Bee as the book club book of the moment. Most people I know read both. We're so excited to be hosting Mr. Goolrick for his new novel, Heading Out to Wonderful.

Stacie wrote a wonderful review, which I'd like to quote here: "This star-crossed story unfolds before us in slow motion, allowing us to fall quietly, deeply in love with the hypnotic former country bumpkin Sylvan Glass, alongside the mysterious stranger, Charlie Beale, as well as Sam Haislitt and Jackie Robinson (the dog), and the entire cast of characters who populate the small town of Brownsburg, Virginia. Post-WWII peace has settled over this sleepy community, and life has returned to a settled sense of normal, even as it's been slightly altered. Change isn't seen as a bad thing, though it is eyed with suspicion. Neighbors are still nosy and observant, but respect each others' privacy. This reserved nature, however, may be precisely what paves the way for tragedy to strike. And when it does, nothing will be the same for anyone in Brownsburg, least of all young Sam. Goolrick's new novel is a powerfully refined, sublimely memorable tale with language as beautiful as the romance is tragic. And it's, oh, so tragic."

We certainly want as many of you as possible to come to our event on Monday, July 30, 7 pm (or if not ours, then the ones at Next Chapter or Books and Company). But what I mostly want to tell you about here is our win-a-book-club-date-with-Robert-Goolrick contest, going on right now.

Yes, your book club could meet with Goolrick 6 pm, an hour before our public event. Just email [email protected] with the question you'd most like to ask Mr. Goolrick. No purchase necessary. Since it will be hard to choose the best question, we'll take all the entries with good questions and have a drawing. If you don't give us a good question, however, you won't qualify for the drawing. Here are three questions that are off the table:

1. When do you write?
2. Will there be a sequel to A Reliable Wife?
3. Is there going to be a movie?

I'm actually a sucker for authors recommending other authors so I'll let the "who do you like to read?" question stand. Entries due on July 15.