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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Where Nobody Knows Your Name by John Feinstein

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Mariano Rivera was there… Derek Jeter was there…

WHERE NOBODY KNOWS YOUR NAME, acclaimed author and sportswriter John Feinstein reveals the paradox that is baseball’s minor leagues and gives readers an intimate look at a world rarely if ever seen by fans.

For some players, the minors are a launching pad toward years of fame and fortune; for others, a crash-landing pad when injury or poor play forces a big leaguer back to a life of obscure ballparks and cramped buses instead of Fenway Park and charter planes.

Focusing exclusively on the Triple-A level, a step beneath Major League Baseball, Feinstein introduces readers to nine unique men. Through their compelling stories, Feinstein pulls back the veil on a league that is chock-full of gifted baseball players, managers and umpires who are all one moment away from getting called up—or back—to the majors

John Feinstein is a columnist for the Washington Post, Golf World and Golf Digest. He also hosts a daily radio show on the CBS Sports Radio Network, is a contributor to the Golf Channel, and an essayist for CBS Sports Television. He has written for Sports Illustrated, National Sports Daily, Golf Digest, and contributes a column for AOL Sports.

 

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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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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The Bully Pulpit Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism BY Doris Kearns Goodwin

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The gap between rich and poor has never been wider . . . legislative stalemate paralyzes the country . . . corporations resist federal regulations . . . spectacular mergers produce giant companies . . . the influence of money in politics deepens . . . bombs explode in crowded streets . . . small wars proliferate far from our shores . . . a dizzying array of inventions speeds the pace of daily life.

Fall Books PreviewThese unnervingly familiar headlines serve as the backdrop for bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin’s highly anticipated THE BULLY PULPIT—a dynamic history of the first decade of the Progressive era, that tumultuous time when the nation was coming unseamed and reform was in the air.

The Bully Pulpit is also the story of the muckraking press, which arouses the spirit of reform that helps Roosevelt push the government to shed its laissez-faire attitude toward robber barons, corrupt politicians, and corporate exploiters of our natural resources. The muckrakers are portrayed through the greatest group of journalists ever assembled at one magazine—Ida Tarbell, Ray Stannard Baker, Lincoln Steffens, and William Allen White—teamed under the mercurial genius of publisher S. S. McClure.

The Bully Pulpit, like Goodwin’s brilliant chronicles of the Civil War and World War II, exquisitely demonstrates her distinctive ability to combine scholarly rigor with accessibility. It is a major work of history—an examination of leadership in a rare moment of activism and reform that brought the country closer to its founding ideals.

Johnny Cash: The Life By Robert Hilburn

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The life of Johnny Cash has always been one to follow, but this book will make you feel like an insider!   

johnnycashIn JOHNNY CASH, Hilburn tells the complete story of Johnny Cash for the first time. He covers Cash’s artistic career and turbulent life, from his days growing up poor in Depression-era rural Arkansas, working the cotton fields of his family’s farm, to becoming one of the true icons of 20th-century popular music. Of the many great rock and country arrivals in the 1950s, Cash was one of the few who approached his music as more than hits for the jukebox. He wanted to inspire and uplift people. As Hilburn shows, Cash was the crucial link between Woody Guthrie’s music of social idealism in the 1930s and 1940s and Bob Dylan’s music of revolution in the 1960s and beyond. Singing of love, loss, hardship, and faith, Cash was one of the first artists to recognize that he could use his music and fame to affect social attitudes, and offer hope to those downtrodden by society.

 “A definitive biography of my father that is excruciatingly honest, rigorously researched, and has the depth and integrity that the subject demands.”
—Rosanne Cash

Rob Delaney Mother. Wife. Sister. Human. Warrior. Falcon. Yardstick. Turban. Cabbage

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“Twitter’s most outrageous voice goes big with hilarious, raw memoir…Delaney writes harrowingly and hilariously about his plunge into alcoholism as a teenager and his rehabilitation during his twenties.” —Rolling Stone

“A book as funny, sincere, weird, wet, and wonderful as Rob Delaney himself.”  —Jimmy Kimmel

robdelaneyRob Delaney has been named the “Funniest Person on Twitter” by Comedy Central and one of the “50 Funniest People” by Rolling Stone.  His new collection of autobiographical essays about childhood, fatherhood, sex, addiction and recovery, make him a writer worth watching.

 

“Rob’s transition from Tweets to book is like a gold medal sprinter winning the marathon the next day.
I am jealous and angry.” —Seth Meyers

THE EVERYTHING STORE JEFF BEZOS AND THE AGE OF AMAZON BY BRAD STONE

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“Jeff Bezos is one of the most visionary, focused, and tenacious innovators of or era, and like Steve Jobs he transforms and invents industries. Brad Stone captures his passion and brilliance in this well-reported and compelling narrative.” – Walter Isaacson, author of Steve Jobs.

Amazon.com started off delivering books through the mail. But its visionary founder wasn’t content with being a bookseller. He wanted Amazon to become the everything store, offering limitless selection and seductive convenience at disruptive low prices. To do so, he developed a corporate culture of  relentless ambition and secrecy thats never been cracked. Until now.

Brad Stone enjoyed unprecedented access to current and former Amazon employees and Bezos family members, giving readers the first in-depth, fly-on-the-wall account of life at the largest online retailer. Compared to tech’s other elite innovators- Jobs, Gates, Zuckerberg- Bezos is a private man. But he stands out for his restless pursuit of new markets, leading Amazon into risky new ventures like the Kindle and cloud computing, and transforming retail in the same way Henry Ford revolutionized manufacturing.

Given his research and direct contact with Amazon insiders, Stone offers keen insights into the history and remarkable growth of a company widely regarded as uniquely innovative, disruptive, and often polarizing. In The Everything Store, Stone’s reporting reveals many heretofore unknown stories about Amazon, and how the company has affected us all. This revelatory portrait is esstantial reading for anyone who wants to know more about Jeff Bezos and the company that placed one of the first and largest bets on the Internet and forever changed the way we shop and read.  EVERYTHING