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July 1, 2010
Greetings:
We're thrilled to introduce Buzzing About Books, a newsletter for curious readers. In Buzzing About Books, you'll find:
*Information about newly released and upcoming books
*A letter from the author
*Book giveaways
*Links to author websites, blogs, and more
*Call-in information for authors willing to speak to your book club
In short, everything to connect you with authors and exciting new books.
In this issue:
-Julie Metz shares her compelling story of rebuilding both a life and an identity after
betrayal and widowhood, in her memoir Perfection
-Jenna Blum tells the tale of twins forced to confront a
violent secret from their past in The Stormchasers, her first novel since her runaway
bestseller, Those Who Save Us
-Emily Gray
Tedrowe writes of lives profoundly changed by the repercussions of one marriage
and by the complex intertwining of love, money, and family in her debut novel, Commuters
-A. Manette Ansay, acclaimed author of Vinegar Hill and Midnight Champagne writes of two summer romances separated
in time by over one hundred and fifty years in Good Things I Wish You
-Heather Barbieri takes us to an Irish village with her
tale of a fashion designer who flees to Ireland and develops a
bond with a village lacemaking society in The Lace Makers of Glenmara
We hope you enjoy Buzzing About Books. Please let us know what you think!
Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp
info@bookclubcookbook.com
bookclubcookbook.com
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Pe rfection: A Memoir of Betrayal
and Renewal by Julie Metz
Memoir / 346 pages / Paperback Voice/Hyperion / May, 2010
Dear
Reader:
I am the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir Perfection. My memoir tells the stranger-than-fiction story of the events that followed the sudden death of my husband in January 2003. His death and the revelations of infidelity that followed were a wakeup call that upended my life. As the suddenly single mother of a six-year-old daughter, I found myself having to start all over from zero.
I titled my book Perfection because so many of us are
struggling with this idea of perfection. We want perfect bodies,
perfect kids, perfect houses, and perfect careers. When we insist on
perfection, we often try to hide the parts of ourselves that feel less
than perfect. We make choices that might create a surface impression of
perfection but underneath that is a deep-seated unhappiness and
somewhere an understanding that we are photo: Sigrid Estrada  | living an inauthentic life.
I hope that my book will provide comfort for those who have experienced
loss and a few ideas for how you can remake life in the
aftermath.
With very best wishes,
Julie
Metz
www.perfectionbook.com
JULIE METZ IS GIVING AWAY 5 COPIES OF PERFECTION. ENTER TO WIN A COPY.
About Perfection:
Julie Metz had seemingly the perfect life -- an adoring
husband, a happy, spirited daughter, a lovely old house in a quaint suburban
town -- but it was all a lie.
Perfection is her story of rebuilding both a life
and an identity after betrayal and widowhood. It is a story of rebirth and
happiness -- if not perfection.
Reviews for Perfection:
"We've
all endured sudden, life-changing, before-and-after moments of loss, but few of
us have then had to endure the aftershocks that buffeted Julie Metz. Her memoir of the year after her
husband abruptly died is poignant, powerful, and absolutely riveting."
-Chris
Bohjalian, author of Secrets of Eden, Midwives, and The Double Bind
"It is impossible to put Perfection down as we follow Julie Metz through her true story of love, lies, loss and moving forward. Her
raw and brave writing makes you want to cheer Metz on as she pieces her life
back together, one beautiful sentence at a time."
-Marian Fontana, author of Widow's Walk
For more information about Julie, visit her website and Every Woman's Voice, and follow her on Facebook and Twitter.
Julie Metz is available to Skype with your book club. Please contact her by email.
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The Stormchasers by Jenna Blum
Fiction / 384 pages / Hardcover
Dutton / May, 2010
Dear Reader:
Greetings from my tour for my second novel, The Stormchasers. It's a fantastic
experience for a writer who otherwise stays home in ancient yoga pants, to get
out and meet readers. And it's
fascinating to hear your questions. In Q&A there are always curveballs -- "What's your novel's
soundtrack?" -- and a # 1 FAQ, which is:
"How different is The Stormchasers from Those Who Save Us?"
Not much. Those Who Save Us asks, "What would you do to protect your child?" The Stormchasers asks, "How would you
protect a sibling who's dangerous to himself and others, including you?" Both are about people whose lives are
rearranged by huge uncontrollable forces. And both explore how people rebuild in devastation's
aftermath.
I hope you'll enjoy this story of a sister trying to help
her brother -- and The Stormchasers' soundtrack, which is on my blog so you can
sing along.
xoxo,
Jenna Blum
JENNA BLUM IS GIVING
AWAY 1 COPY OF THE STORMCHASERS. ENTER TO WIN.
About The Stormchasers:
How far would you go to protect a sibling -- and at what cost to yourself?
Twins are forced to confront a violent secret from their past in Jenna Blum's powerful and provocative second novel set in the thrilling and majestic world of extreme weather.
Karena Jorge hasn't seen or spoken to her twin brother Charles for twenty years when she gets a call from a psychiatric ward to come pick him up. She soon discovers that Charles, who suffers from bipolar disorder, has lied to the doctors, taken medication that could make him dangerously manic, and has disappeared again. Karena realizes her best chance of finding Charles, an avid stormchaser, is by following the storms herself. She joins a team of professional stormchasers -- passionate adventurers who will transform her life and offer her a chance at love and redemption -- and embarks on an odyssey to find her brother before he does more damage to himself -- or to somebody else.
Reviews for The
Stormchasers:
"[A] vivid novel about a set of twins with a dark history...Blum renders the stormy backdrop as richly as she does her nuanced characters."
-Publishers Weekly
"A somber, effective portrait of twins [and] a meticulous portrait of bipolar disorder and the heartbreaking damage it does to those it affects...Beautifully rendered...A strong second novel."
-Kirkus Reviews
For more information about Jenna, visit her website, her Facebook page or The Stormchasers Facebook page, or on Twitter.
Jenna Blum is
available to speak your book club via phone or Skype. Please contact her via her website.
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 Commuters by Emily Gray Tedrowe Fiction / 400 pages / Paperback
Harper Perennial / June, 2010
Dear Reader:
Commuters, my first novel, grew directly out of my fascination with families -- how they function, when they struggle, what they celebrate. Maybe you've also noticed that occasionally there comes a time in a family when one big event creates a ripple effect, spreading outward in wider and wider rings, until it seems that everyone is caught up in its wake.
It's this sort of season for the characters in Commuters. One of my main goals -- and challenges -- in writing this book was to discover how one seventy-eight-year-old's sudden marriage could upend several other people's lives, from a financially-strapped suburban mom to a 20-something ex-addict chef.
I hope their story resonates with your own experience of family -- that group of people who continually sustain and infuriate and love us. Please let me know! I'm at www.emilygraytedrowe.com.
Emily
EMILY GRAY TEDROWE IS GIVING AWAY 5 COPIES OF COMMUTERS. ENTER TO WIN A COPY.
About Commuters:
At
seventy-eight, Winnie Easton has finally found love again with Jerry Trevis, a
wealthy Chicago businessman who has moved to the small, upstate town of
Hartfield, New York, to begin his life anew. But their decision to buy one of
the town's biggest houses ignites anger and skepticism -- as children and
grandchildren take drastic actions to secure their own futures and endangered
inheritances. With so much riding on Jerry's wealth, a decline in his physical
health forces hard decisions on the family, renewing old loyalties while
creating surprising alliances.
A powerfully moving novel told from
alternating perspectives, Commuters is an intensely human story of lives
profoundly changed by the repercussions of one marriage, and by the complex
intertwining of love, money, and family.
Reviews for Commuters:
"In her
wonderfully cohesive debut novel, short-story writer Tedrowe graduates to
elegant novelist with a winding, convincing familial drama about the ties that
bind and the bonds that bend to the breaking point. . . . A lovely and literate
family drama that wins bonus points for its sincerity and open-hearted
delivery."
-Kirkus Reviews
"In her wonderful and original novel Commuters, Emily Tedrowe explores the reconfigurations of a
family and the strange alliances that can occur between young and old, love and
work. And she writes brilliantly about money. . . . A deeply satisfying debut."
-Margot Livesey, author of The House on Fortune Street
For more information about Emily, visit her website.
Emily is available to speak with your book club on the phone or through Skype. Please email Emily to submit your request.
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Good  Things I Wish You
by A. Manette Ansay
Fiction / 272 pages / Paperback
Harper Perennial / June, 2010
Dear Reader:
Good Things I Wish You began in 1997 as a historical novel about the famous love triangle between composers Clara and Robert Schumann and their young protégé, Johannes Brahms. Actually, it began as a series of poems in 1993. No wait, it began as a screenplay I co-wrote with novelist Stewart O'Nan in 1989.
My point: this particular journey was no neatly landscaped path.
In 1998, I sold the book to my editor, but in 1999, I took it back. In 2007, I started calling it a "historical memoir," particularly after a contemporary voice -- mine and yet not mine -- appeared with a story of her own, one which paralleled Clara's struggle as a wife and mother -- and possibly a lover -- to make time for her true passion: the piano. Next I referred to it as my "hysterical novel" after photos I'd imported into Word as memory-joggers, temporary place-holders, decided to take root and demand their own space. Footnotes appeared. Short chapters the length of a paragraph. What was going on?
Each book I've written has come to me differently. This one arrived in pieces, like bright sparks in the dark. The result is a literary mosaic, a 150-year-old love story "collaged" with a contemporary writer's own romantic muddle as she, like Clara -- and very possibly like you -- struggles to balance the demands of art and life, of motherhood and marriage, of head and of heart.
I would love to hear what you think about Good Things. If it's on your book club's reading list, may I chime in at the end of your discussion? Email me to set up a Skype conversation or live Facebook chat.
Wishing you all good things!
Manette Ansay
A. MANETTE ANSAY IS GIVING AWAY 5 COPIES OF GOOD THINGS I WISH YOU. ENTER TO WIN A COPY.
About Good Things I Wish You:
From
the critically acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of Vinegar
Hill and Midnight Champagne comes a beautifully written story of
two summer romances -- one of a brilliant pianist, one of a struggling
novelist - separated in time by nearly two centuries. Accompanied by photographs,
sketches, and notes from past and present, A. Manette Ansay's original blend of
fiction and history captures the timeless nature of love and friendship between
women and men.
Reviews for Good Things I Wish You:
"A poignant and arresting duet of the historic and
the contemporary. . . . Ansay sprinkles bits of letters, photographs, and
drawings throughout the novel, a deft touch that adds to the book's evocative
moods of past and present."
-Miami Herald
"Good Things I Wish You employs a rich and daring metafictional spin on one of the great
romances in history to investigate passion and love -- and what doesn't change
between women and men. Manette Ansay takes great risks to deliver great
rewards."
-Author Stewart O'Nan
For more information about A. Manette Ansay, visit her website, or follow her on Facebook or Twitter.
A. Manette Ansay is available to speak with your book club in person, on the phone or through Skype. Please email Manette to submit your request.
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The La ce Makers of Glenmara
by Heather Barbieri
Fiction / 304 pages / Paperback /
Harper Perennial / June, 2010
Dear
Reader:
Driving through the Irish countryside near Galway one
summer, I wasn't necessarily looking for inspiration, but in the painterly
greens and blues of the landscape, the music of the Gaelic language, and the
intricacy of traditional crafts, it found me and wouldn't let me go. The
characters of Glenmara emerged from the mists of imagination, including the
women at the heart of the story, a group of lace makers who join with a lost,
aspiring fashion designer to create a line of exquisite lingerie, transforming themselves
and saving their struggling village in the process.
When you curl up with The Lace Makers of Glenmara, I hope  you find yourself transported to the Ireland
of your dreams, as I was that year -- that
you breathe in the scent of peat and
salt air, and find a sense of possibility and deeper friendships beyond the
page.
Happy reading,
Heather Barbieri
HEATHER BARBIERI IS GIVING AWAY 5 COPIES OF THE LACEMAKERS OF GLENMARA. ENTER TO WIN A COPY.
About The Lacemakers of Glenmara:
"You
can always start again," Kate Robinson's mother once told her. "All
it takes is a new thread." Overwhelmed by heartbreak and loss, Kate follows
her mother's advice and flees to Ireland, her ancestral homeland, hoping to
reinvent herself. In the seaside hamlet of Glenmara, the struggling
twenty-six-year-old fashion designer quickly develops a bond with members of the
local lace-making society -- and soon she and the lace makers are creating a line
of exquisite lingerie, their skilled hands bringing flowers, Celtic dragons,
nymphs, saints, kings, and queens to life with painterly skill. The circle also
offers them something more: the strength to face their desires and fears. But
not everyone in this charming, fading Gaelic village welcomes Kate, and a
series of unexpected events threatens to unravel everything the women have
worked so hard for.
Reviews of The Lacemakers of Glenmara:
"Barbieri's deft
writing style is charmingly wry yet evocative, with details and descriptions
both telling and vivid. . . . . A sweet summertime yarn [that] . . . provides a
lovely, leisurely escape to the bucolic charms of the Emerald Isle."
-Karen Campbell, Boston Globe
"The novel is steeped in folklore and tradition, and
Barbieri writes with a sweet, lilting tone that serves the subject matter well.
. . . This hopeful, comforting novel is a testament to the power of taking
changes and starting fresh and a reminder that life can bring joy after
sorrow."
-Hannah Sampson, Miami Herald
For more information about Heather visit her website or Facebook page.
Heather is available to speak with your book club in person, on the phone or through Skype. Please email Heather to submit your request.
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