Cara Black at the RBC

We had national best-selling author Cara Black at our RBC meeting last night.  She was super interesting.  Here are a few things we learned:

1.  It took Cara about 3.5 years to write book #1 in the Aimee Leduc series.  The book we read, Murder on the Champ de Mars, is #15!  And #16 will be coming out this summer.

2.  She wasn't able to find an agent for her 1st book.  So she sent it to a publisher, Soho Press, that actually asked for unagented authors.  They bought it and are still her publisher today (she does have an agent now).

3.  Cara got the idea for book #1, Murder on the Marais, from the German occupation of Paris during WWII.

4.  Cara makes 1-2 trips to Paris a year for research.  Tough gig, right?

5.  Her books have been translated into 7 or 8 languages.

6.  Cara has a companion to her series that you can download from Amazon for free. Here's the link:  http://www.amazon.com/Aimee-Leduc-Companion-Phil-Gaskill-ebook/dp/B004Q3RMR6.

We also had another great turnout last night.  There were 18 of us there, including 5 first-timers.  I think everybody enjoyed Cara and the background she gave us on her Aimee Leduc series.

Our next RBC meeting is Thursday, April 28.  Vanessa Diffenbaugh will be coming to talk about The Language of Flowers and the foster care system.  And, believe me, she knows a lot about that.  Her story is an amazing one.

Harlan Coben At Book Passage - AND A Special Treat

This past Friday night, we went to see Harlan Coben at Book Passage in Corte Madera. This was his only Northern California appearance to promote his latest, Fool Me Once.  He was scheduled to address us all at 7:00, and we could save seats as of 5:30.  Since we were over an hour away for the ride home (it took us 2+ hours to get there!), we went over at 5:30 to get seats that would enable us to get the book signed quickly at the end of his talk and hit the road.  And this is when the coolest thing happened.  Katherine (seen below in the 1st picture), who is the event and conference coordinator for Book Passage, invited us (along with about 15 others) to a private room for a meet and greet with Coben at 6:00. We not only got to meet him (see the 3rd picture below) and avoid a long line after his presentation, but we also got wine and cheese.  Most importantly, though, we felt like big shots (even though we weren't/aren't).  A big thank you to Katherine for including us.  It was a special moment.  

And, as usual, his presentation was great.  He's very funny and extremely forthcoming about his writing and his career.  When asked what he would have done if he did not become an author, he said that he would have been a duvet cover.  I mean, come on, that's funny.  He also said that a writer without a reader is like a one-handed clap.

Here are some facts about Coben that you may not have known:

1.  His new book, Fool Me Once, is his 28th book.

2.  This book also has his very 1st female protagonist.  He said he was tired of the female in every book going to a secluded cabin in the woods by herself.  As you know from my review on the 17th, Maya is a very strong character.

3.  Coben has 60 MILLION BOOKS in print!  That is nuts.

4.  For those of you have always enjoyed his Myron Bolitar/Winn books, he's working on the next one now.  That is really good news for us fans (I'm one!) of this series.

5.  Myron's parents are somewhat patterned after Coben's own parents.

6.  He explained that the scariest noise imaginable when you are alone is a flushed toilet that you didn't flush!  Not surprisingly, he calls this a "flushed toilet moment."

I've told you this many times in the past.  This is someone you really want to see in person, if you get the chance.  And make sure you read his books.  They are, without exception, entertaining.  It seems he gets better with each book.

Katherine Petrocelli, event and conference coordinator

Elaine Petrocelli, owner

Harlan and yours truly

Harlan during his presentation

Yep, wine and beer

Partition in their meet and greet room - isn't it cool?

FFTNFR, Volume VIII

Well, it's that time again.  It's been over 13 months since I posted Volume VII.  For those of you who started reading my blog after 2/16/15, FFTNFR stands for Fiction for the Non-Fiction Reader.  These are books that I think everybody would like, even those who typically only read non-fiction.  And I've got some beauties for you.  One of them is even in my top 25 all-time (4.25/4), and a 2nd one came in right below (4+/4).  I also snuck in one non-fiction, although it's very different from the non-fiction I normally read.

Let us begin.  They are in the order that I read them:

Jeffrey Archer - Be Careful What You Wish For.  This is book 4 in the Clifton Chronicles. Every book is at least as good, if not better, than the one before it.  A friend of mine just read #6 and said that it annoyed him that every book ended with a cliffhanger.  I guess that's one of the appeals for me.  Some series are episodic, where each book wraps up. Those are good too.  But I love the way Archer makes me hunger for the next one.

Dennis Lehane - The Given Day.  I had never read any Lehanes until last Spring.  And the only reason I read it is because I made a deal with somebody who came to my rec table at Recycle Books.  She agreed to read The Source, and I said I would read The Given Day. It's about 2 generations of Boston Police in 1917.  There is one policeman in the book that is so loathsome that I actually felt my blood boil when he committed a super heinous act.

Jeffrey Archer - Mightier than the Sword.  Yep, you guessed it.  It's book 5.  And it is as good as 4, which is definitely saying something.

Bella Andre/Jennifer Skully - Breathless in Love.  This is - get ready - a romance!  It's my 88th book in the FFTNFR lists.  And it's my 1st romance.  It's just that darn good.  The series is called The Billionaires.  There are 5 buddies in their mid-30s who all (except for one) started out with rough childhoods and who have become self-made billionaires.  In this one, the romance is between one of the 5 and a woman who has an 18-year old brother with special needs and who she takes care of.  There's a lot of heart in this story.  In fact, there is even a life lesson I took from this book and am trying to live by.  And I thought I was already perfect!  Go figure!

Sarah Jio - Goodnight June.  This is the 4+/4 that I mentioned earlier.  I loved this book.  It's the story of a 35-year old banker in New York whose sole function is to foreclose on small businesses that fall behind in their payments.  Nice, right?  It turns out that she has to come back to Seattle and sell the children's bookstore of her great-aunt, who has just passed away.  She does not count on what she finds when she gets there.  BTW, it's no coincidence that Goodnight June sounds a lot like Goodnight Moon.  That's all I'm saying about that.

Ken Follett - Edge of Eternity.  This is book 3 in the Century Trilogy.  1 & 2 are both in my top 25, and this one makes it too.  Edge focuses a lot on the '60s.  So we get a bunch of JFK, Bobby Kennedy, and MLK.  Nobody combines historical figures with fictional characters better than Follett. And let's not forget that Pillars of the Earth is in my top 3 all-time (along with The Source and Shogun).

Kristin Hannah - The Nightingale.  This one is all about the German occupation of France during WWII.  The focus is on the French women and families left behind when their men went off to fight.  It's a unique and largely untold part of the war.

JoJo Moyes - After You.  You all know what I thought about Me Before You.  It's in my FFTNFR, Volume 6 (and it's coming to the big screen in June).  Well, this one is the sequel. And it's almost as good.

Atul Gawande - Being Mortal.  I've had non-fiction in my FFTNFR volumes before.  But never have I had one like this.  The premise for Being Mortal, which was written by a neurosurgeon, is that modern medicine has done a great job of extending lives and a lousy job of giving those extended lives meaning.  This is a fascinating look at that phenomenon. It even prompted me to have a conversation with my adult children about my end-of-life wishes (I'm not that old...but I'm not that young either!).

Bella Andre/Jennifer Skully - Reckless in Love.  Being as smart as you all are, you have correctly figured out that this is the romantic story of one of the other billonaires.  And it's just about as good.

Barry Eisler - The God's Eye View.  This is 1 of 2 books on the list that come from 2016. I've always liked Barry's books.  His John Rain series is one of my favorites.  This is a standalone, though, that fictionalizes what it must really be like behind the scenes at the NSA.  Barry was in covert operations with the CIA for 3 years.  And this feels very non-fiction-like - and pretty darn scary.

Harlan Coben - Fool Me Once.  I know, I know.  He's always on my lists.  But here's a news flash - this might be his best standalone yet.  It's hard to believe, but true.  A special ops war veteran marries, has a child,  and then watches as her husband is murdered.  There is absolutely NOTHING about this book that is figure-out-able (at least for me).  I was surprised every step of the way.  And did I cry a lot at the end?  Uh, that would be a big YEP.

There you have it, people.  Volume VIII is now complete.  As many/most of you know, there are reviews on my blog for each of these books.  If you want any of the dates, let me know. I will be happy to provide them.  And try to get your hands on some of these books.  I wouldn't steer you wrong.

Murder on the Champ de Mars - Cara Black's 15th Aimee Leduc Mystery

You read that right.  This is Cara's 15th book in the series.  And #16 will be out in June of this year.  That is a crazy amount of books, period; let alone all in the same series.  And I have to make a confession right now - I read #1, Murder in the Marais, a few years ago. But I haven't read any since.  I admit to being a bit embarrassed by that.  And why did I decide to skip 2-14?  I'll tell you...I don't know.  But, fortunately, Cara is our RBC author for this month.  She's coming to Recycle Books next Tuesday, the 29th.  So I had to read it. And I'm really glad I did.  I can't say that I will read any of the older ones.  But I will definitely be reading #16 in a few months, and all subsequent Cara Black books.

For those of you who don't know, the protagonist in this series is Aimee Leduc.  She is a private investigator in Paris.  The blurb for this specific book is not really that important.  But Aimee is definitely a well-developed character.  With her partner, Rene, who is a little person, they (not surprisingly) solve crimes.

It's interesting that I connected with Aimee right away, even though I missed 13 books.  It doesn't hurt that Aimee has a baby that provides a certain amount of humor ("With her fingernail she scraped off the splattered souvenir her six-month old daughter, Chloe, had left on her clutch.") and poignancy.  And Cara definitely knows how to bring tears and laughter to her reading audience.

She mixes in a lot of French words in her story.  Since I took 4 quarters of French in college, it's kind of fun to see these words and pronounce them in my mind.  Speaking of France (was I?), there is a scene that takes place in the garden of the Rodin Musee.  I was there!  That was very cool to relate to a specific attraction in Paris (not counting the Eiffel Tower or the Seine).  She also gives us a great quote from Oscar Wilde:  "Be yourself; everyone else is already taken."

Finally, late in the book, I was completely caught of guard by a scene in which I got chills, cried a bunch, and exhaled mightily at the end.  I love getting caught up in a story like that.

RANDOM NOTES:
1.  I will be seeing Harlan Coben this Friday night at Book Passage in Corte Madera.  It's the 4th time I've seen him in person and still can't wait!
2.  Got my ARC of Redemption Road from John Hart's publisher yesterday and started it today.  No surprise that it starts out great.  But, more importantly, John is someone that actually responds to his readers.  I told him that I would see him at Book Passage on June 4 and asked him if he could get me an ARC.  He said yes and got it sent right away.  Nice.
3.  I'm sorry to report that BookBuyers on Castro Street in Mt. View has lost its lease. They're looking for a new spot but not having much success so far.  I will keep you up-to-date.

A Repost of A Blog about Recycle Books from 11/12/11

I have been writing my blog since early 2011.  And I wrote about Recycle Books (see below) on November 12, 2011.  However, I wanted to repost it for 2 reasons.  First, I have a number of people reading this blog that started following after 11/12/11.  And, second, Recycle Books has taken on new meaning for me since I wrote this.  Let me just quickly tell you why. 

1.  On Sunday mornings, during the Farmers Market, I often man a table (I can say "man" because I am one!) and recommend books to passersby.  I've been doing this for a couple of years.  And Stacy, the store manager, buys any books I want to put on my table.  A big thank you to Stacy and her staff.

2.  Back in September, 2014, we started the RBC, Recycle Book Club.  We've just hit a year and a half at the store.  As you all know, our book club is unique among book clubs because the author comes to the store to answer questions and sign books.  We couldn't have done it without Stacy buying the books and providing the space to hold our meetings.  And whoever is working on a RBC night always makes sure that we get set up properly.  Again, thanks.

Take a look at what got me hooked on Recycle Books over 4 years ago.

  

My new favorite bookstore is - Recycle Books in Campbell (also in San Jose).  This is, primarily, a used bookstore (hence, "recycle").  They will buy new books if there is a great demand, and they sell those with a little bit of a discount.  But if you want used books at a good price, this is the place to go.  They keep the inventory large (with all genres represented) by buying books from the public.  They will take most paperbacks as long as they don't have too many of that book already in stock and as long as the book is in decent shape.  They will only take hardcovers if the paperback version hasn't hit the stores yet.  There are exceptions to this rule - e.g. George RR Martin's Game of Thrones series and Stieg Larsson's Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy. 

When they buy your books, they give you an option of taking cash or store credit.  You will get more money for store credit.  When I decided to get rid of my several hundred books a few months ago (with all of the ereaders, there isn't anybody left to loan books to), I went to them first.  I ended up with about $160 in store credit.  The rest I took to the public library.  Now, when I finish a book, even if I've gotten it from Recycle, I go to them first to see if they'll buy it.  They take most of them. 

As for price, you typically pay half of the published price.  If you can get one of the hardcover best sellers there, you can pay $12-$14.  That sure beats the $24-$28 that most of them cost retail.  Even the more expensive paperbacks are only $6-$8 instead of $12-$16.  It makes quite a difference in the wallet.  The nice thing about buying the latest books at Recycle is that they usually look new.  They might have been read only once before they were unloaded.  If you're buying mass market paperbacks, then you will pay only $3-$4.  That's another heckuva deal.

I have bought a ton of books from Barnes & Noble and Borders through the years.  If I was lucky, I got a 40% discount off the cover price.  Most of the time, it was 20%-30%.  That's still going to cost me a little over or a little under $20 for a hardcover.  At Recycle, I won't have to pay more than $13 or $14.  That's kind of a no-brainer.

If you don't like to buy or read books that someone else has already handled, then ignore Recycle.  It's not for you.  But, on the other hand, if you're looking to save those hard-earned dollars, then give Recycle a try.  I don't think you will be disappointed.

2 ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1.  I forgot to tell you that when I saw Alina Sayre at Litquake last Sunday, she gave me some GREAT news.  Book 3 of The Voyages of the Legend will be out this summer!  I can't wait.  Even though Alina's books are geared for middle graders (8-14), I enjoyed the heck out of the first 2.  If you want to see my reviews, I posted them on 6/2/14 (The Illuminator's Gift) and 11/24/14 (The Illuminator's Test).  Do yourself a favor and either read these books or give them to someone in that target audience - or both.

2.  More good news:  Publisher's Weekly has picked Books, Inc. as the #1 independent bookstore in the country for 2016.  Is that great or what?

Harlan Coben Aces His Latest

I have long held that Harlan Coben is at the top of the mystery/suspense/thriller genre.  He has written 24 adult books.  And I have read every one of them.  I've come to expect at least very good and sometimes really really good.  This new one, Fool Me Once (which hits stores next Tuesday, March 22) is right at the top.  It's a 4/4 for me, and I just don't have one negative or slightly negative thing to say about it.  Here is the back cover synopsis:

Former special-ops pilot, Maya, home from the war, sees an unthinkable image captured by her nanny cam while she is at work:  Her two-year old daughter playing with Maya's husband, Joe - who was brutally murdered two weeks earlier.  The provocative question at the heart of the mystery:  Can you believe everything you see with your own eyes, even when you desperately want to?  To find the answer, Maya must finally come to terms with deep secrets and deceit in her own past before she can face the unbelievable truth about her husband - and herself.

What did I love about this book?  Really, everything.  Here are just a few examples:

1.  I enjoyed the pop cultural references.  He compared a fancy library to the one in the Beast's house.
2.  I did not figure out any of the plot endings.  That could, in part, be on me!
3.  I was actually crying real tears over the last 4 pages.  I tear up pretty easily.  But these were drop-down tears.
4.  I connected big-time with the characters.  In fact, do you remember what I said about one of the main characters in Pat Conroy's South of Broad?  Well, I had a similar reaction in this one.
5.  I really like a couple of descriptions in the book related to combat and war veterans.  These are worth quoting in full:

    a.  "But the unspoken truth was, a part of you joneses for the danger.  You didn't want that.  You didn't like what it said about you.  Liking it means you are prenatally violent or lack empathy or some such nonsense.  But there was an addictive element to fear.  At home, you live relatively calm, placid, mundane lives.  You go over there and live in mortal fear and then you're supposed to come back home and be calm, placid, and mundane again.  Human being don't work that way."
     b.  "Newsflash: War messes up your relationships at home.  It was a cheap copout for a soldier to say that nobody at home understands what he goes through, but it was also too damned apt.  After you serve in some hellhole, you just see things differently.  Sometimes it's in obvious ways, but more often, it's just about textures and hues and scents.  Things that used to matter don't and vice versa.  Relationships and marriages are hard enough, but you add war into the mix and small fissures become gaping wounds.  No one sees what you're seeing - again that clear-eyed unbiased things - except your fellow soldiers.  It's like one of those movies where only the hero can see the ghosts and everyone else thinks the hero is crazy."

Plus, some of Coben's comparisons are just right on:

1.  "He grabbed his suit coat and threw it over his shoulder like Sinatra playing the Sands."
2.  "Two women danced on stage with the enthusiasm of middle-schoolers waking up for a math test.  They couldn't have looked more bored without prescribed sedation.  Forget your morals, this was Maya's real problem with clubs like this.  They had all the eroticism of a stool sample."
3.  "Telling someone who was clinically depressed, for example, to shake it off and get out of the house was tantamount to telling a man with two broken legs to sprint across the room.  That was all well and good in theory, but in practice, the stigma continued."

Whether you like Coben or not; whether you like mystery/suspense thriller novels or not; or whether you read fiction or not - read Fool Me Once.

UPCOMING EVENT:

MEDIA ALERT

Love at First Sight – Love to Read Again with Dr. Bindi of Laser Eye Center of Silicon Valley  and Village House of Books in Los Gatos

WHO: Dr. Craig S. Bindi of Laser Eye Center of Silicon Valley is joining up with Village House of Books to help you fall in love with reading again.

WHAT: As we get into our 40s, we all start to understand what a hassle wearing reading glasses can be, not to mention trying to find them when you actually want to read something.

Dr. Bindi and the Laser Eye Center of Silicon Valley are inviting folks over 40 who are frustrated with reading glasses to learn about how they can love to read again while also taking a short quiz and being matched with their new favorite book at Village House of Books.

The first 100 guests will receive a $10 gift card at Village House of Books and refreshments will be served. Gifts cards are limited to one per family.

https://www.facebook.com/events/969746173102206/

http://villagehouseofbooks.com/upcoming-events/

When: Saturday, March 19 from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Where: Village House of Books 21 W Main St, Los Gatos, CA 95030

For more information: contact Shelle Murach at (714) 206 4138 or smurach@gmail.com

Litquake Does It Again

You all know how much I enjoy Litquake.  Well, it took place this past Sunday at the JCC in Palo Alto.  And it had its usual mix of big name authors, interesting salons/panel discussions, and meet and greets. Here are just a few pics of authors of interest.

Keith Raffel 

Joyce Maynard

Alina Sayre 

J. Kenji-Lopez Alt

Keith and Alina are RBC authors.  Kenji-Lopez Alt is a food scientist.  He's got an amazing cookbook.  And Joyce is a nationally prominent author who has written 8 fiction, 4 non-fiction, and has been part of 4 anthologies.  AND, her novel Labor Day is a movie from 2013 starring Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin.  BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, Joyce lives in the East Bay.  I spoke to her Sunday about the RBC.  She didn't make a commitment, BUT I know she will consider it.  It may come down to how many people I can commit to being there.  We may need to do an RSVP for that one.

In addition to these authors, I also met Linda Gray Sexton.  She has written several books, but the one I picked up is Searching for Mercy Street:  My Journey Back to My Mother. Some of you might remember that we had Katie Hafner for our book club.  Her book, Mother, Daughter, Me, was a memoir too.  But that was over a year and a half ago.  It might be time for another one.  I'll keep you posted. 

NOTE1:  Henry Winkler (The "Fonz") will be at Montclair Presbyterian church in Oakland, sponsored by A Great Good Place for Books.  He'll be there Friday, March 18, at 7:00.  In case you don't know, Winkler is ALSO a children's book author.

NOTE2:  And speaking of children's books, check this out.  Hicklebee's, a renowned children's book bookstore in Willow Glen, San Jose, will have an adult story time!  You may want to pop in.  It's Tuesday, March 29, at 7:00.