Dear Reader

Dear Reader Column 05-13-08

Join my email book club. Over 350,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

Adrienne Wilson and the students of Room 227 read March's Classic. They were inspired. You'll be inspired to sample this month's Classic after you read their letter.

Dear Mrs. Suzanne,

I always enjoy reading your emails where you share your triumphs, tragedies and upsets. I have always wanted to write to you, but yesterday I realized that I 'had' to write to you. I am an instructional assistant in a Learning Disabled Class in an urban community. Most of our students are socio-economic disadvantaged and all face the reality of gangs and drugs. But Mrs. Suzanne, we are very passionate about their education and despite their struggles, everyday we find something to celebrate.

Take for example our Novel study. As the school year is winding down, I wanted to give them a learning experience they would treasure--that's where it got complicated. What in the world could we read? The choices were vast and the time frame short. Then I remembered the Classics Book Club and March's Classic, The Outsiders. Of course!

I wish you could see their faces as the characters and situations mirror their reality. One boy said, 'This book was written about us!' Plus all the references to Elvis and the Beatles are expanding their musical horizons as well. I asked them to write a five sentence summary and one girl filled the page and spilled over onto the next.

Having grown up in the same neighborhood and a graduate myself of the same school, I know that words on paper can save, understand and compel any student--anywhere--to do wondrous things. So I write to thank you, Mrs. Suzanne because your book club is so much bigger than you. It's the power of literature in a community that has yet to give up on itself.

Thanks for reading with us!

Adrienne Wilson and the students of Room 227

To sample this month's Classic, Dangerous Liaisons by Choderlos De Laclos go to: http://tinyurl.com/575jjp

Thanks for reading with me. (A special thank you to Adrienne and the students of Room 227)
It's so good to read with friends.

Warmest regards,
Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com 
http://www.DearReader.com

READ THE CLASSICS: Dangerous Liaisons by Choderlos De Laclos and enter the free Penguin Classic's Drawing. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/575jjp

Dear Reader Column 05-12-08

Join my email book club. Over 350,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

Steve Lopez is a weekly columnist for the L.A. Times. His job is to find a story and write about it. Three years ago he met up with Nathaniel Ayers, a homeless musician who was playing enchanting violin music on the street corner during the day and sleeping near Skid Row at night. After doing a little digging Lopez discovered that Nathaniel was a musical prodigy who developed schizophrenia while he was studying at Julliard. Lopez wrote a 5-part series of columns about Nathaniel and readers fell in love with the story.

"So why did you decide to write a book about Nathaniel?" I asked Lopez when I talked to him on the phone the other day at the Times.

"Because in my columns all I could write about was Nathaniel, the Violin Man, but there was so much more to the story--there was the part about what meeting Nathaniel had done for me."

I highly recommend sampling this week's bonus book, The Soloist by Steve Lopez. And to entice you even more, let's begin right now.

THE SOLOIST...PREFACE

I'm on foot in downtown Los Angeles, hustling back to the office with another deadline looming. That's when I see him. He's dressed in rags on a busy downtown street corner, playing Beethoven on a battered violin that looks like it's been pulled from a dumpster.

"That sounded pretty good," I say when he finishes.

He jumps back three steps, eyeing me with suspicion. I see the name Stevie Wonder carved into the face of the violin, along with felt-pen doodles.

"Oh, thank you very much," he says, obviously flattered. "Are you serious?"

"I'm not a musician," I answer. "But yes. It sounded good to me."

He is black, just beyond fifty, with butterscotch eyes that warm to the compliment. He is standing next to a shopping cart heaped over with all his belongings, and yet despite grubby, soiled clothing, there's a rumpled elegance about him. He speaks with a slight regional accent I can't place. Maybe he's from the Midwest or up near the Great Lakes, and he seems to have been told to always stand up straight, enunciate, carry himself with pride and respect others.

"I'm trying to get back in shape," he says. "But I'm going to get back in there, playing better. I just need to keep practicing."

"So you like Stevie Wonder?" I ask.

"Oh, yes, certainly. 'You Are the Sunshine of My Life.' 'My Cherie Amour.' I guess I shouldn't have written his name on my violin, though."

I write a column for the Los Angeles Times. The job is a little like fishing. You go out and drop a line, cast a net. I'm figuring this vagrant violinist is a column. Has to be.

"I'm in a hurry at the moment," I tell him, "but I'd like to come back and hear you play again."

"Oh, all right," he says, smiling appreciatively but with trepidation. He looks like a man who has learned to trust no one.

"Do you always play in this spot?" I ask.

"Yes," he says, pointing across the street with his bow to Pershing Square, in the heart of downtown Los Angeles. "I like to be near the Beethoven statue for inspiration."

This guy could turn out to be a rare find in a city of undiscovered gems, fiddling away in the company of Beethoven. I would drop everything if I could, and spend a few hours pulling the story out of him, but that will have to wait for another day. I've got another column lined up and not much time to shape it. The deadlines come at you without mercy, even in your dreams.

"I'll be back," I say.

He nods indifferently.

Back at the office I sweat out another column, scan the mail and clear the answering machine. I make a note on the yellow legal pad where I keep a list of possibilities.

Violin Man.

It's got potential. Who knows where it will go?

*To continue the read and to enter a drawing for a copy of the book (I have several to give away to readers) go to: http://tinyurl.com/4jafpv

Please do email and tell me what you thought of the sample read. I'll be sharing all of your comments with the author. It's a wonderful book, I couldn't stop reading it, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. (A movie about the book will be released this November.)

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com 
http://www.DearReader.com

AUTHORBUZZ: Win free copies of books you'll read and never forget from these terrific authors: Vincent Louis Carrella, Serpent Box; J. L. Miles, Divorcing Dwayne; Pamela Binnings Ewen, The Moon in the Mango Tree; and Tobsha Learner, Soul. Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

READ THE CLASSICS: Dangerous Liaisons by Choderlos De Laclos and enter the free Penguin Classic's Drawing. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/575jjp

Dear Reader Column 03-11-08

Join my email book club. Over 350,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

"When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home. I was wishing I looked like Paul Newman--he looks tough and I don't--but I guess my own looks aren't so bad. I have light-brown, almost-red hair and greenish-gray eyes. I wish they were more gray, because I hate most guys that have green eyes, but I have to be content with what I have. My hair is longer than a lot of boys wear theirs, squared off in back and long at the front and sides, but I am a greaser and most of my neighborhood rarely bothers to get a haircut. Besides, I look better with long hair.

I had a long walk home and no company, but I usually lone it anyway, for no reason except that I like to watch movies undisturbed so I can get into them and live them with the actors. When I see a movie with someone it's kind of uncomfortable, like having someone read your book over your shoulder. I'm different that way."

Those weren't my words, they're from this month's Classic The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton. It's a different kind of read and I think you'll enjoy it.

The Classics are featured every other month this year. Go ahead, give The Outsiders a try. And after you've sampled the read, enter the giveaway and let me know what you thought. Are you a Classic kind of reader, too?

The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton, go to: http://tinyurl.com/3a2qs2

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Warm regards,

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com 
http://www.DearReader.com

Dear Reader Column 03-12-07

Join my email book club. Over 330,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

Meet author Blaize Clement: Blaize lives down the road a ways from me in Sarasota, Florida; she's a huge Tex-Mex fan, (we had dinner together the other night); her first book, Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter, is being made into a movie; and you can sample her latest book, Duplicity Dogged the Dachshund, today. It's a light mystery read and it's my bonus book this week.

I have 20 free copies to give away to readers and if you belong to a book club, that meets in person, Blaize would love to do a telephone Author Chat with your group.

To sample Duplicity Dogged the Dachshund and to enter the giveaways, go to:

http://tinyurl.com/ysqt3y

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
http://www.DearReader.com

AUTHORBUZZ: Amazing contests this week! Win a trip to San Francisco to learn how to be a Private Investigator and of course signed free books from these terrific authors: Lisa Lutz, The Spellman Files; Tim Maleeny, Stealing the Dragon; Christi Phillips, The Rossetti Letter; and David Morrell, Scavenger. Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

Dear Reader Column 10-19-06

Join my email book club. Over 330,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

If you missed Monday's birthday column be sure to join in the fun today!

AuthorBuzz made its debut in the online book clubs one year ago and we're celebrating all this week!

Happy Birthday to AuthorBuzz!

If you've never visited AuthorBuzz, the link appears right after my column every Monday and Thursday. Each week click on the link and you'll be introduced to new authors and they're always giving away fun and sometimes unusual things.

Book club readers have won over 1500 signed books, a trench coat, boxes of chocolates, Starbucks gift certificates, jewelry, and Sandy Hall and her grandson, Tyler Dalton won author Alex Kava's Crime Lab Tour Contest. Their prize included airfare from Spartanburg, South Carolina to Omaha, Nebraska where Alex's latest novel, A Necessary Evil takes place and they toured the crime lab.

Author, Ad Hudler, flew to Denver to meet book club reader and winner, Dorie Furman. Ad cooked dinner for Dorie and her friends and then they discussed Ad's book, Househusband, in the charming Virginia Village library.

Jane Cleland, author of Consigned to Death, gave away copies of her book and free appraisals for antiques. "The coolest thing that's happened so far," Jane said, "is that we 'found' a $30,000 watercolor--a Thomas Moran--thrilling to the owner and worthy of some buzz in arty circles!"

Authors have received more than a quarter of a million emails from book club readers. If you haven't joined the fun, be sure to visit AuthorBuzz today. Take a look around, send this week's authors an email and then join the party.

As part of the birthday celebration I'm giving away 100 books to readers! Visit AuthorBuzz, then enter the drawing by going to:

http://www.emailbookclub.com/photo/give2.html

Happy Birthday AuthorBuzz!

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com 
http://www.DearReader.com

AUTHORBUZZ: This week brings lots of signed free books and short stories from these terrific authors: Martha Powers, Death Angel; Lise Haines, Small Acts of Sex and Electricity; Connie Brockway, Hot Dish; Diane Setterfield, The Thirteenth Tale; and Mark Terry, The Devil's Pitchfork. Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

READ THE CLASSICS: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriet Jacobs, and enter the free Penguin Classic's Drawing. Go to: http://www.supportlibrary.com/nl/path_go.cfm?x=815&site=23

Dear Reader Column 10-02-06

Join my email book club. Over 330,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

He's a family man, and a full-time independent marketing consultant, and every morning from 6:30 a.m. to 7:45 a.m. he sits down and writes. It might not sound like he devotes much time to writing, but it's been a very successful formula for Seth Margolis, the author of this week's fiction book, Closing Costs. Seth gets two pages of copy written every day and because he adheres to his strict writing routine, by the end of the year he's written a book. Can't argue with success. He's written several books, including Losing Isaiah that was made into a movie.

Seth says he's one of the best when it comes to solving crossword puzzles, and his kids can vouch for him. They've timed him and he can solve the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday New York Times crossword puzzles in under four minutes. But the stopwatch ticks a little longer on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday because the puzzles get tougher as the week goes on. And he's a master at solving the London Times crossword puzzle, too.

When Seth heard that his book was going to be featured at the book clubs, he emailed saying, "This is thrilling news to me," and he offered to call and talk to some book club readers in person, to give away some signed copies of Closing Costs, or to personally give one lucky book club reader a twenty-minute foot rub. Okay, so I made up the foot rub thing, but I did take him up on his offer of signed books and a personal phone call to a reader.

If you don't read at the Fiction Book Club and you'd like to sample Closing Costs this week, you'll find each day's read at the Missing Read Link:

http://www.emailbookclub.com/miss

To enter the signed book giveaway and to have a chance to talk to Seth over the phone, send me an email, tell me what you think about Closing Costs, and you'll be entered in the drawing. If you're a member of a book club in your community, this would be a great opportunity to have an author "visit" your club. To enter the drawing, send your email to:

enter-to-win2@emailbookclub.com

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@EmailBookClub.com 
http://www.DearReader.com

AUTHORBUZZ: Dozens and dozens of signed free books from these terrific authors: Nate Blakeslee, Tulia; Linda Mercadante, Bloomfield Avenue: A Jewish-Catholic Jersey Girl's Spiritual Journey; Michael Largo, Final Exits: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of How We Die; Taylor Holden, The Sense of Paper; and Stephen R. Lawhead, Hood. Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

READ THE CLASSICS: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain, and enter the free Penguin Classic's Drawing. Go to:
http://www.supportlibrary.com/nl/path_go.cfm?x=815&site=22

Dear Reader Column 08-10-06

Join my email book club. Over 330,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

It's become a tradition. My husband and I go on vacation and when we return home, we buy something new for our house. Last year's "vacation souvenirs" were a flat screen TV and a fireplace insert. We'd spent two weeks in a fancy, high tech cabin, with--yes, you guessed it--a flat screen television perched high up on the fireplace mantel and a fire that was always burning as long as I had the switch on the wall turned to "on".

So as soon as we returned home, we duplicated those good vacation feelings and we now own a flat screen TV that sits on top of our fireplace mantel and the fireplace--well, even though we live in Florida, our fireplace is always turned on. The flame is produced by a 40 watt light bulb. Sounds a little wimpy I know, but you'd swear it was the real thing.

This year's vacation inspired us to buy a couch. We've been a sofa-less couple for quite a while now. Three years ago we sold our purple leather sofa and replaced it with his and her reclining chairs. Two chairs, no sofa--it didn't look strange, but it felt strange. We missed being able to sit together side-by-side. Watching television or a movie just isn't the same when you can't snuggle up.

And my husband and I were reminded of those fond memories when we were on this year's vacation. Our cabin had the perfect snuggling sofa, so of course we had to buy a sofa as soon as we got home.

I'm happy to report we're back to our snuggling routine and my husband has even reinstated my nightly foot rub. New furniture, nightly foot rubs, I really should take more vacations.

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com 
http://www.DearReader.com

AUTHORBUZZ: Exciting contests this week! Win your very own custom designed sterling silver Druid pendant, read free short stories, excerpts and of course signed free books from these wonderful authors: Joy Nash, The Grail King; Kathleen Givens, On A Highland Shore; Jay Lillie, Havana Passage; and HelenKay Dimon, Viva Las Bad Boys. Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader