Dear Reader

Dear Reader Column 10-17-07

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,

There's a new Classic waiting for you to sample: The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov.

I have to admit that I never used to read the Classics until I started offering them at the book clubs. But now I'm hooked. If you've never sampled the Classics, give this month's selection a try and then send me an email. The folks at Penguin would like to hear your feedback and so would I. And don't forget to enter the Classic giveaway--free books, Penguin mouse pads and pins.

Go to: http://tinyurl.com/yu9uk7

If you don't get to the Classics today, read the sample, tomorrow or any day--you'll find the Classic Link below my column.

Thanks so much for taking the time to write. Your schedule is busy and I appreciate it. You read my column and then you send a story back to me. This is a cool book club!

From my Email Bag:

"Suzanne, I had to laugh about your latest column and the party line entertainment. I grew up in a small town and all the phones were party lines with 2 or 3 phones connected. We had an elderly woman in the neighborhood who everyone knew listened in to everyone's conversations. My mother discovered it one day when she was talking to another friend and all of a sudden the elderly woman blurted out something joining in the conversation my mom and her friend were having. They were both a little surprised, but everyone in the town knew about the eavesdropping woman and just tried not to say anything on the phone they didn't want anyone else to hear. In retrospect the elderly woman didn't hurt anyone, and now 50 years later she just makes a good story!"--Mary K.

"Dear Suzanne, I thoroughly enjoyed today's column. You're so right --we all enjoy a jolly good gossip, and if we can't gossip--then listening in to someone else's gossip is the next best thing. As a child, I remember standing beside my mum as she gossiped over the garden fence with our neighbor--a younger woman whose life was incredibly scandalous. The good thing was, they didn't seem to be aware that I was there. I could stand, leaning against my mum for hours on end, and never get tired! I didn't need formal lesson in the birds and the bees at grammar school--I'd already heard it all, age nine, against the garden fence.

So carry on eavesdropping, Suzanne--you're only doing what comes naturally."--Rose

If you missed last week's "Party-line" column you'll find it at: http://tinyurl.com/ys77gm

The Classic Link: http://tinyurl.com/yu9uk7

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

Warmest regards,

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

Dear Reader Column 10-16-07

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,

I think my Grandma Hale wore an apron every day of her life. In fact she used to wear two at a time. Her apron on the outside was for cooking and the apron underneath was for company. Whenever Grandma heard a knock at the door, on her way to answer it, she'd take off her outside apron; toss it on the dining room chair as she walked by, so when she opened the door to greet unexpected guests, they would see her in a crisp, just-pressed "company" apron.

Grandma wore aprons for practical reasons--she did a lot of cooking and berry picking. The back forty behind her house was filled with red raspberry bushes. A pot roast with potatoes and carrots with a little gravy on the side, a slice of apple pie with a scoop of New York Vanilla ice cream. (I'm inhaling the sweet cinnamon from Grandma's pie this very moment.) Every Sunday my folks and I would go to her house for dinner. And even though she made everything from scratch, she did it with ease.

I take after my grandma, because most days, I wear an apron too. But I wear an apron to comfort me, and to slow down the pace. When I put on an apron for gardening, cleaning, cooking, or when I'm just sitting on the sofa--wearing an apron takes me back to the comfort and slow pace of grandma's kitchen. It feels good and I'd like to share the good feelings with you, so today I'm giving away aprons.

There are too many aprons in my closet--in case you don't remember, I got a bit carried away bidding on vintage aprons on Ebay a while back. So if you'd like to take a trip back to your grandma's kitchen, and you need a little inspiration, be sure to send me an email and I'll send you an apron to help you make the journey.

To enter the apron giveaway, go to:

http://tinyurl.com/346hg3

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

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

P.S. Father Knows Less Or: 'Can I Cook My Sister?' by Wendell Jamieson is the title of our bonus book this week. Enjoy the sample read and enter the drawing. Send me an email with your comments about the book and you're automatically entered in the free book giveaway. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/ysaumm

READ THE CLASSICS: The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov and enter the free Penguin Classic's Drawing. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/yu9uk7

Dear Reader Column 10-15-07

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,

Father Knows Less Or: Can I Cook My Sister? by Wendell Jamieson is the title of our bonus book this week. "Why is 'red' for stop and 'green' for go?"or "Do nose hairs turn gray?" and "How many hours of TV does it take to turn your brain into mush?"

Author Wendell Jamieson's son kept asking question after question. But Dad didn't always know the answers, so once-and-for-all he decided to find out. Father Knows Less is a delightful book that will tug at your childlike curiosity. At least that's what happened to me. Okay now, so tell me again, why all of a sudden are there long strands of hair growing on my big toe?

Enjoy the sample read and enter the drawing. Send me an email with your comments about the book and you're automatically entered in the free book giveaway. I have 20 books to give away to readers and I'll forward your comments on to the author.

To sample and enter, go to:
http://tinyurl.com/ysaumm

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

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

AUTHORBUZZ: With so many new books out every week, we promise these are five that deserve your attention: Sam Barone, Empire Rising; Angela Hunt, Doesn't She Look Natural; Mike Esposito, M.D., Locked In; Jerry Camery-Hoggatt, Giver of Gifts; and Laurie Perry, Drunk, Divorced & Covered in Cat Hair. Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

READ THE CLASSICS: The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov and enter the free Penguin Classic's Drawing. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/yu9uk7

Dear Reader Column 10-12-07

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,

My daily life is email, but I still love talking on the phone. Maybe because when I was a kid we had a party line and sometimes--a party it was! Grab a bag of Cheetos, pick up the phone any time of day, cover the receiver with a dishtowel and listen in on other people's conversations. Three other households shared our party line and lucky for me, some of those people lead very sensational lives, and they freely talked about them. Listening in was always more exciting and cheaper than a movie. (I didn't know any better. I was just a kid. What can I say?)

Party lines used to be a thing of the past, but I think they're making a comeback. Only now they're referred to as the "speaker" function on a cell phone. The other day when I was in Target, a woman was holding her cell phone while she was shopping and her phone was on speaker. I couldn't help but listen in, because the woman's voice on the other end of the line was coming through loud and clear. In her words, she was "having man trouble" and was describing in detail her date the previous night. It was an amplified party line--and no dishtowel needed!

The woman next to me in Target was gasping every few minutes, because the "man trouble" story on the other end of the line was really starting to heat up. I was thinking maybe I should ask my fellow shopper to turn it down, or change the channel, because we were getting near the children's section and the story had definitely become R rated.

Okay, so I suppose you noticed that I said, "we" were getting near the children's section...(Yes, I am an adult and I know better than to listen in, but old habits are hard to break. What can I say?)

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

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

P.S. Meet Joshua Henkin author of Matrimony and enter his book giveaway. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/2lzgkk

Dear Reader Column 10-11-07

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,

Joe, a book club reader, sent me a thank you note the other day, with a Starbucks Card tucked inside. (He knows what this girl likes.) I was touched by the kind gesture, but I was even more moved by his note.

"I'm afraid that my grandmother would be more than a little disappointed in me right now. I was taught at a very early age to always send a thank you note when someone did something nice for me." It was Joe's way of apologizing, because he felt his thank you was too tardy.

Guilt and my mother taught me, at a very early age, to always send a thank you. As soon as I finished opening the handmade cross-stitch gift that Donna, a book club reader, sent to me, I could hear my mother, "Suzanne, sit down and write a thank you note and do it right now, or you'll forget."

A thank you was an assignment in my house when I was growing up. It was supposed to be at least 28 words and had to include adjectives and sincerity. Not that I had to fake being genuinely grateful when someone gave me a gift, but when you're a kid, writing a thank you note interferes with actually playing with the gift you're so thankful for. So it always seemed to me like a simple thank you would suffice. "Thank you for the new doll. As soon as I finish this thank you note I'm going to play with it, so...gotta go...thank you. Suzanne Beecher." There it was--28 words including my name.

It was an even tougher assignment writing a thank you note for the white socks that my aunt sent to me every year for Christmas. I realize it was the thought that counted; my mother had drilled that into me, but what could you say about a pair of white socks, year after year? At least "white" counted as one of my required adjectives.

"Thank you for the great white socks. I've never seen such bright, white socks. Those white socks will go with anything and the handy thing about white socks is that you don't have to worry about matches. One white sock is pretty much like the next white sock. And if I forget to put my shoes on and run outside with my white socks on, Mom has a new bleach that will get the dirt out and the socks will be white again. Thank you for the white socks." There it was, 89 words, more than I needed and apparently the extra words were too encouraging and heartfelt because my aunt kept sending those darn white socks.

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

(That's only a 12 word thank you, but I really mean it from the bottom of my heart.)

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: Kathleen Morgan, A Fire Within; Leisha Kelly, Till Morning is Nigh; Emily Listfield, Waiting to Surface; Diane Setterfield, The Thirteenth Tale; and Mia Zachary, Another Side of Midnight. Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

Dear Reader Column 10-10-07

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,

I was feeling like a loser for a few days. Couldn't seem to shake the feeling and I couldn't figure out what was at the root of my distress. It wasn't a new feeling for me. There are things that haunt a person periodically--feeling like a loser is one of mine. Loser: out of my league, losing my edge, feeling like a failure, these are my personalized definitions.

Whenever loser becomes part of my identity I work hard to hide it--even from my husband. Because if I tell my husband, he tries to cheer me up--that part would be okay--but when I'm feeling bad, then my husband feels bad, too. He worries about me. I figure why have two of us feeling miserable, "This too shall pass," so instead, I walk hand-in-hand, alone with Suzanne, trying not to let anyone else know.

"I feel like a loser." It's really not an opening line that leaves a very good impression on people anyway. Looking back, I can't think of one single time when it would have been in my best interest to have extended my hand and said, "Hello, I'm Suzanne Beecher, nice to meet you. I feel like a loser today."

On the other hand, over the weekend I watched a movie and in one of the scenes there was an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting, and it got me to thinking that maybe hiding something makes a person feel worse. If you're not familiar with the AA meeting format, whenever anyone stands up to speak, the first line they deliver is, "Hello, I'm (Joe, Jane, or Julie, whatever their name) and I'm an alcoholic." I'm not sure why that protocol is followed in the meetings, but it felt inviting. So when I got up in the morning and looked in the mirror, the first thing I said to myself was, "Hello, I'm Suzanne Beecher and I feel like a loser."

Hearing the words, suddenly my "loser" line wasn't as powerful as when I'd kept it hidden away. Saying the words out loud took the sting out of them and surprisingly my self-proclamation didn't set a negative tone for the day, instead it made my day easier. In fact, by the time I went to bed, the reflection in the mirror felt different and I was so relieved,

"Hello, I'm Suzanne Beecher and I don't feel like a loser anymore."

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

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

P.S. Meet Joshua Henkin author of Matrimony and enter his book giveaway. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/2lzgkk

Dear Reader Column 10-09-07

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,

Photos, winners, and free books!

Congratulations to the September Chocolate Chip Cookie winners: Faye Durant, Marilyn Humphrey, Dot Lechmanick and Lisa Juneau.

Thanks so much for taking the time to send me a photo when you win cookies, books, bubble machines, or whatever other crazy thing I gave away. I realize it adds another "to-do" thing on your list, but I sure do enjoy the photos and other book club readers do, too.

Today's photo gallery has a cookie winner, a Write a Dear Reader winner and Joshua Henkin, an author I met in New York City--and he's giving away 20 copies of his book Matrimony.

August Chocolate Chip Cookie winner go to: http://tinyurl.com/2nptsm

Write a Dear Reader winner, go to: http://tinyurl.com/3y5on9

Meet author Joshua Henkin and enter his book giveaway. Go to:
http://tinyurl.com/2lzgkk

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 10-08-07

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,

Okay so I'm a grown-up girl now. But some days, most days I really need a 20 minute recess from my grown-up job. I want to go back and do things I did when I was a kid. Silly stuff: make a potholder, blow bubbles, crank up the music and pretend: Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for the Cookie Woman, Suzanne Beecher and her group The Chocolate Chip Bits singing their number one hit, "You Make Me Want to Melt."

My husband is used to my nonsense and doesn't even look twice anymore. But the housekeeper, at the New York hotel where I was staying, I think she thought I was a nut.

I was killing time in my hotel room before an appointment, had my headset on and a good tune was playing on my IPod. There was a full-length mirror in front of me, my hips started swaying and the next thing I knew I'd picked up a water bottle and started singing into it--a girl needs a microphone.

My headset was on so I didn't hear the hotel housekeeper when she knocked on the door and announced, "Housekeeping." And she didn't hear me, because I was silently lip-synching the words to Flashdance and admiring my performance in that full-length mirror. When the door opened, I was right in the middle of my standing ovation bow. It was embarrassing because the housekeeper obviously knew I was singing in front of the mirror, but it was even more embarrassing because in the middle of my low, sweeping bow, I realized I'd forgotten to twist the cap shut on my microphone--so water was running down my leg onto my shoe. And there I stood.

Okay it was time to be a grown-up girl again--recess was over!

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: Kathleen Morgan, A Fire Within; Leisha Kelly, Till Morning is Nigh; Emily Listfield, Waiting to Surface; Diane Setterfield, The Thirteenth Tale; and Mia Zachary, Another Side of Midnight. Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

Dear Reader Column 10-05-07

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,

It took two days for my husband and me to drive from Sarasota, Florida to the Smoky Mountains in North Carolina. We like taking our time getting to our vacation destination, because we figure it takes at least two days just to get in a "vacation" frame of mind. And it worked. So we planned on taking two days to drive back home at the end of our vacation, to ease back into our normal routine.

But you know how excited you are to go on vacation, to get packed up, and hit the road? Well, we were just as excited about packing up, hitting the road and getting back home. So we decided to do the getting back home part, in one long day. It would take us ten and a half hours of driving--not including breaks for nourishment and stretching our legs.

Maximize our resources, get home quickly, yet safely. Our plan was to change drivers every hour, whether we felt tired or not. And I suggested drafting--every chance we had to get behind a semi we should get in the "zone" and draft. The semi-truck would cut the wind, we'd save gas and we wouldn't have to stop as often to fill up. That was my theory anyway. Granted, it was based on nothing but a slight recollection of something about race car drivers, or was it that drafting helped drivers zip around a car? Or maybe too close and the semi would suck our car right under the truck? Never mind, minor details. It felt good to know I had a backup plan.

Once I got the wheel away from my husband after his first hour of driving--it must be a guy thing--we changed drivers every hour which was a good plan. But the thing I forgot to calculate into our driving time was that when I'm riding in the car, I drink a lot of water and you know what that means.

"Not to worry," I told my husband, "just pull up in front of the station and keep the motor running."

"Bathroom Closed for Repairs," that's what the sign read at our first stop. They did offer a very used port-a-potty in the parking lot. It didn't look inviting. So we drove on.

On my next attempt at making a pit stop, when I was walking into the bathroom, the woman exiting, leaned in and whispered to me, "There's a man in the bathroom." And she was right. There was a man standing in the bathroom and he appeared to be talking to someone in the stall.

"Look buddy," I told him, "I don't know what you're doing in here, but I really have to go. So get out." And he left.

The woman in the stall next to me thanked me for asking the guy to leave. She didn't know the man. Apparently he was a complete stranger, who just admired her in the store, and decided he'd follow her into the bathroom and try to woo her, and ask her for a date.

What ever happened to flowers and candy?

My husband and I made it home late that night and our three cats were waiting in the window, and I'm happy to report that my final pit stop--in my own bathroom--was uneventful.

Ah, there's no place like home.

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

* The last of my vacation photos, go to:
http://tinyurl.com/2hy94w

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

P.S. Congratulations to the winners of my pottery giveaway: Kathran Cintron, Barbara Arnett, Noreen Mong, Christine Nihan and Lori Biamonte.

READ THE CLASSICS: The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck and enter the free Penguin Classic's Drawing. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/25vbsy

Dear Reader Column 10-04-07

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,

Thanks for taking the time to write and for lending a hand at the book club.

From my Email Bag:

"Hello Suzanne-, I'm so glad you're back from vacation, not that I minded your guest writers. They were all great, and I even won a free book! YIPPEE!

My question for you, and I'm sure it's one some of your other readers may have. I frequently order from BAMM, I love their service, prices and most of all your book club. I also know that it helps you and the book club if folks click on your pic when they are ordering. I usually try to do that, but....I spend a lot of time scouting around the site to find your picture. Usually I don't see it till my order is placed and you pop up at the end. I click on you then, but I think that's too late.

Please if there's a shortcut way to find you and the book club before I order, I'd love to hear it, as I'm sure many of your other readers would.

Thanks so much & keep up the great work!"--Katie Ann

(Suzanne replies)

Katie Ann, thanks for your email and for asking about clicking on my photo. Yes, my work is funded through readers who click on my photo before they go shopping for books. The books don't have to be ones that I've featured at the book clubs, they can be any books. Heck, your friends could even click on my photo and it would help the book club cause.

At the Books-a-Million home page, if you scroll down just a tad, you'll see my photo on the left-hand side and the words, Join Our Popular Book Preview Clubs. Click on that photo first--every time you go to Books-a-Million--even if you're just browsing, then if you decide to buy, your purchases will show up on the book club account. When you click on my photo first, a code is attached to the order and it will take you to the book club page, but you can just start shopping and looking around the site like you normally would do.

You can't click on my photo at the end. It needs to be ahead of time. I've lobbied for something easier, but alas, for now this is my only option for readers.

I really appreciate it that you're concerned about me and the book club receiving credit. Customer loyalty is a wonderful gift and I thank you very much.

If you have any other questions about the click-through buying process, be sure to let me know.

Thanks for reading with me every day, too. It's a pleasure to know I'm reading with someone like you.

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

P.S. I have a free book for Katie and for the first 25 readers who click on my photo before they buy. Just send me an email and let me know you "clicked" and include your mailing address and I'll get a free book right out to you.

AUTHORBUZZ: So many great books, so many great authors! Don't miss a single one: Joshua Henkin, Matrimony; Robert Greer, The Mongoose Deception; Paul Pearsall, Ph.D, Awe; John Fulton, The Animal Girl; and Sherryl Woods, Mending Fences. Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

READ THE CLASSICS: The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck and enter the free Penguin Classic's Drawing. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/25vbsy