Sneak Peak: Lee Child’s PERSONAL

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Today we sat down with Lee Child, the bestselling author of the sensational thriller series about a former military policeman Jack Reacher. Child has had tremendous success with this suspenseful thriller series. The mysterious and intriguing nature of Jack’s sharp analytical intellect and physical strength has been captivating readers for the past seventeen years. The latest installment, PERSONAL was published on August 28th 2014.

Lee Child shared with us the surprising story of how he came up with the main character’s name. In the beginning of his writing career, Child was struggling to find a name for his leading character, and looked for inspiration everywhere. One day, while grocery shopping with his wife, he was approached by an elderly woman, who asked him to reach for a can of beans off the top shelf. The two started talking, and the woman suggested he become a reacher in a grocery store in case his writing career falls through. Haunted by the idea, Child named his leading man Jack Reacher.

Check out this behind-the-scene photo, and stay tuned for the whole interview with Child, where he talks about PERSONAL, Jack Reacher and much more.

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Veronica Roth releases FOUR: A DIVERGENT COLLECTION

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Veronica Roth’s debut novel Divergent (2011) was an instant bestseller, immediately embraced by both teen readers and adults alike. Buzz of this new series spread quickly and the release of Insurgent in May 2012 solidified Veronica Roth as a new voice in Young Adult fiction; the book debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller’s list where the series has remained ever since. With massive critical and commercial appeal and unstoppable international buzz, the series skyrocketed in popularity. As fans geared up for the release of Veronica Roth’s highly-anticipated Allegiant in October 2013, SUMMIT Entertainment announced plans to make the popular series into a major motion picture much to delight of Veronica Roth’s loyal fan base. The DIVERGENT film starring Shailene Woodley, Theo James, and Academy Award-winner Kate Winslet debuted on March 21, 2014, and grossed $56 million in its opening weekend. Wowing audiences across the country and enchanting fans of Roth’s action-packed series, the subsequent movies based on the books are set to release in coming years.

The DIVERGENT trilogy has become a major pop culture phenomenon and now fans have a chance to go back to the beginning with Tobias “Four” Eaton. With the release of FOUR: A DIVERGENT COLLECTION, readers and movie-goers can finally get inside of Four’s head and find out what makes him tick. FOUR is a collection of short stories set in Roth’s dystopian Chicago told from Tobias “Four” Eaton’s point of view. Each story gives readers a glimpse into Four’s past, his deepest thoughts and most profound moments, and the decisions of loyalty-and love- that he makes in the weeks after he meets Tris Prior. Also included are 3 exclusive scenes from DIVERGENT, except this time, they are told by Four.

Here, Veronica talks to us, during her integrated media tour in Boston, about her inspiration for DIVERGENT and how she was able to turn that small idea into a phenomenon.

 

Check out her interview here!

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Audio Books By Lisa Scottoline and daughter Francesca Serritella

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Join New York Times best-selling author LISA SCOTTOLINE and daughter, author/columnist Francesca Serritella, as they discuss their careers, recent works and the joy of audio books

Thanksgiving is the biggest travel holiday of the year with millions of Americans anticipating hours of unavoidable traffic, gridlock, and delays. Audio books are the perfect way to transform time that would otherwise be wasted into the most entertaining part of your trip!  Nearly all of today’s biggest books are available in audio. Read by polished actors, passionate authors, and even celebrities, these CD’s and digital downloads are the perfect way to sit back, relax, and make the time fly by on what would otherwise be an agonizingly wasteful commute. Authors Lisa Scottoline and Francesca Serritella are no strangers to audio books.  All of Lisa’s novels have been released in audio format.  In fact, Lisa has even narrated four of them with her daughter, fellow writer and columnist, Francesca Serritella.

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Foul Trouble By John Feinstein

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Terrell Jamerson is the #1 high school basketball player in the country. His team is poised to win the state championship. He’s got top colleges lined up to offer him scholarships. Press coverage at every game. Everyone says he could play in the NBA tomorrow. From all outward appearances, Terrell is living the dream.  But his best friend, Danny Wilcox, would tell you a different story. Danny is his teammate, and a top prospect himself. But he sees that not all of the people buzzing around Terrell have his best interests at heart. The sneaker guys, the money managers, the college boosters–they’re all so eager to help. But their kind of help comes with strings attached, and could get Terrell investigated by the NCAA.  In between exciting play-by-play scenes of a tension-filled, high-stakes basketball season, there’s an equally tense gamesmanship happening off the court. It’s a dirty game, but Terrell will have to learn to play if he wants his chance at a slam dunk.

FOUL TROUBLE takes readers deep inside the seedy underbelly of big time college basketball recruiting, where nothing is as it seems . . . and everyone is playing to win. School Library Journal calls it “A riveting, cautionary tale about behind-the-scenes, big-money pressures confronting talented high school athletes” and goes on to say, “Readers will breathlessly await Terrell’s final decision.”

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Finding The Next Steve Jobs By Nolan Bushnell

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Nolan Bushnell founded the groundbreaking gaming company Atari, the restaurant chain Chuck E. Cheese’s, and two dozen other companies. Widely regarded as the father of video games, Bushnell is one of the most creative and prolific innovators of our time. He also launched the career of Steve Jobs along with many other brilliant creatives over the course of his five decades in business. In his eagerly awaited first book, Finding the Next Steve Jobs: How to Find, Keep and Nurture Talent, Bushnell uses his long-time friendship and mentor-employee relationship with Jobs as an example of how to identify and foster excellent work in brilliant employees. With 52 lessons—or Pongs—and written in Bushnell’s inimitable voice, Finding the Next Steve Jobs offers practical, unique, first-hand  advice to hiring the kind of talent that could make any business a creative powerhouse like Apple, AirBnb, and Amazon, or like Atari, or Chuck E. Cheese’s in their day.

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“An absolutely invaluable book by the founder of Atari and the man who launched Steve Jobs’s career.”

—Walter Isaacson, author of Steve Jobs

 

King and Maxwell By David Baldacci

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From #1 New York Times bestselling author and one of the world’s most popular, widely read storytellers

Called a “master craftsman” by the Associated Press and “one of the greatest thriller writers of the last decade” by Strand Magazine, Baldacci is once again at the top of his game in KING AND MAXWELL, bringing back former Secret Service agents turned private investigators Sean King and Michelle Maxwell.  When a teenage boy asks for their help, Sean and Michelle begin their most surprising, personal, and dangerous case ever.

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It seems at first like a simple, tragic story. Tyler Wingo, age 16, learns the awful news that his father, a soldier, was killed in action in Afghanistan. Then the extraordinary happens: Tyler receives an email from his father…after his supposed death.  Tyler hires Sean and Michelle to solve the mystery surrounding his father. But their investigation quickly leads to deeper, more troubling questions. Sean and Michelle realize they’ve stumbled onto something bigger and more treacherous than anyone could have imagined. And as their hunt for the truth leads them relentlessly to the highest levels of power and to uncovering the most clandestine of secrets, Sean and Michelle are determined to help and protect Tyler—though they may pay for it with their lives.

 

The 3-1-2-1 Diet Eat AND Cheat Your Way To Weight Loss- Up To 10 Pounds In 21 Days By Dolvett Quince

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Losing weight and keeping it off permanently can only happen when you eat what you love, don’t feel deprived, and stay motivated.  THE 3-1-2-1 DIET capitalizes on this, allowing readers to eat and cheat their way to weight loss.  For years, Dolvett Quince, celebrity trainer on NBC’s hit reality TV show The Biggest Loser has been helping people transform their minds, bodies, and souls for over 20 years with his successful THE 3-1-2-1 DIET and fitness program.  He has been using this highly successful diet program with his clients including Angela Bassett and Baltimore Ravens tight-end Daniel Wilcox. With his signature style and moving personal stories, Dolvett inspires readers to follow his delicious, clean eating plan for three days, followed by one cheat day; then, eat clean again for just two days, and reward yourself with another cheat meal the next day. There are no foods that are off-limits, which allows the THE 3-1-2-1 DIET to fit into any lifestyle, and includes meal plans, workouts, tips, advice, and affirmations—everything readers need to truly succeed.

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Cookies, gingerbread men, desserts, delicious appetizers and tasty cocktails. The holiday season is upon us.  Don’t start packing the pounds now just to try to lose them in the new year.

 

Stella Bain By Anita Shreve

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It is 1916, and a woman awakens, wounded, in a field hospital in northern France. She wears the uniform of a British nurse’s aide, but has an American accent. With no memory of her past or what brought her to the battlefields of World War One, she knows only that she can drive an ambulance, and that her name is Stella Bain. Suffering from severe shell shock, Stella ends up in London with no family or friends and, worst of all, no memory of her life before the war. With the help of Dr. August Bridge, a surgeon who takes an interest in her case, Stella must piece together her story and, in doing so, contend with some gut-wrenching truths about the life she left behind.

 

Crafted with care and woven by a master storyteller, STELLA BAIN brings back the complex, layered narrative Anita’s readers have loved in such beloved books as The Pilot’s Wife and Fortune’s Rocks.

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The Tell by Matthew Hertenstein

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Just as expert poker players use their opponents’ tells to see through their bluffs, Hertenstein shows that we can likewise train ourselves to read physical cues to significantly increase our powers of prediction. By looking for certain clues, we can accurately call everything from election results to the likelihood of marital success, IQ scores to sexual orientation—even from flimsy evidence, such as an old yearbook photo or a silent one-minute video. Moreover, by understanding how people read our body language, we can adjust our own behavior so as to face our next job interview or snag a date.

Drawing on rigorous research in psychology and brain science, Hertenstein shows us how to hone our powers of observation to increase our predictive capacities. A testament to the power of the human mind, The Tell, to paraphrase Sherlock Holmes, shows us how to observe what we see.

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Mennonite Meets Mr. Right By Rhoda Janzen

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Rhoda Janzen, author of the # 1 New York Times bestselling Mennonite in a Little Black Dress, is back with MENNONITE MEETS MR. RIGHT: A Memoir of Faith, Hope and Love, a hilarious and heartfelt memoir about her return to faith and love, all while facing some serious Lady Problems.

What does it mean to give church a try when you haven’t really tried since you were twelve?  At the end of Mennonite in a Little Black Dress, Rhoda Janzen had reconnected with her family and her roots, though her future felt uncertain.  But when she starts dating a churchgoer, this skeptic begins a surprising journey to faith and love.  Instead of returning to the dignified simplicity of the Mennonites, she finds herself hanging with the Pentecostals, who know how to get down with sparkler pom-poms.  Amid the hand waving and hallelujahs Rhoda finds a faith richly practical for life – just in time to stare down breast cancer, embrace an unexpected romance and fall in love with a quirky new family.

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