Dear Reader

Dear Reader Column 05-31-19

KIDSBUZZ: Click here to discover new books,
"meet" the authors and enter to win.

Dear Reader,

There's an art to telling a story in 350 to 450 words (the ideal number to use in my daily column). But what if you had to tell a story using only one word? Which got me to thinking, if I had to describe myself in one word, what would that word be?

How about you? What one word would best describe who you are? Settle back in your chair, because it's a tough question to answer quickly. I thought about it all night long and finally I decided on the word--approachable. I want people to feel joyful and at ease around me. If someone needs help, I want them to feel comfortable asking.

I emailed some folks on staff asking the, "What word would best describe you?" question. Only I didn't give them overnight to answer. I was a bit of a fiend, because I included a little note indicating, "I'm on deadline, so could you answer right away?" I was surprised at how quickly one reply showed up in my box, "Wow, Suzanne, nothing like a hard question before my morning coffee. I guess it would be devoted or faithful." (That's two words, but she did reply right away.)

While I was waiting for more replies I asked my husband the one word question. A painful look came over his face, as he was shaking his head. So I've answered the question for him. If I chose one word to describe him it would be--superman.

Beep, another staff reply showed up in my mailbox. "I struggled with this. I wanted to say so many things, but if I'm honest with myself, it would be--responsible."

Another person on staff had to "phone a friend". "Suzanne, I couldn't think of a word, my mind went blank, so I called my husband at work and asked him. He said, 'Devoted.' And then he said, 'Approachable.'"

Two "devoted" replies, two "approachable" answers and one "responsible." Maybe that's the reason we all work so well together.

So what's the one word that best describes you? I'd love to know.

* Today's column all wrapped up in 360 words!

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

KIDSBUZZ: In our busy world, it's refreshing to take some time to spend with family and to connect. Experience the delight, the joy and exhilaration mindful moments can bring with Jen Butenas' picture book for children, A FAMILY WALK. For a chance to win a free copy and learn more, see KIDSBUZZ.

This month's Penguin Classics book is THE STONEWALL READER, by the New York Public Library, and including a foreword by Edmund White. I have a copy of the book to share with a lucky reader, so start reading today and enter for your chance to win.

Dear Reader Column 05-30-19

KIDSBUZZ: Click here to discover new books,
"meet" the authors and enter to win.

Dear Reader,

It was the best birthday I've ever had! What a day to remember.

To celebrate my 65th birthday, I wanted to do something fun, yet something that would take me a little outside of my comfort zone. So I booked an hour helicopter ride on my birthday. Just me and the pilot (Katie) flying over Sarasota beaches, following along side a group of stingrays in the ocean, then heading to St. Petersburg, and finally flying over the Tampa Sunshine Skyway Bridge and the pelicans, before heading back to Sarasota.

Katie, my pilot, had originally booked a two seater helicopter, with no doors on the side, for our trip. I was game, but she decided at the last minute we'd fly in a four seater helicopter with doors firmly attached, instead. (No complaints from me.) Extra seats meant two people from my family could have ridden along, but for some reason it was important for me to take the journey alone.

Ready for take-off Katie checked with the tower and we waited for instructions. Finally it was our turn and we had a gentle lift-off, but I will say the first sharp turn in the sky made me a little nervous. 'Yikes, I'm really doing this.' But soon I was captivated by the surrounding view. It was heavenly.

Katie and her husband own the helicopter company and in addition to flying tourists over Sarasota, she has a full schedule teaching students who want to learn to fly. Since I've lived in Sarasota for almost 30 years, instead of Katie's tour guide conversation, the two of us ended up chatting like two friends relaxing over a cup of tea. Of course I talked about my family, the book club, my bubbles and chocolate chip cookies. I told Katie my plan had been to bake some cookies to give to her after our flight, but unfortunately time got away from me. She assured me that if I felt the urge to bake, she was available any day to sample my chocolate chip cookies. (Indeed Katie is on my cookie list.)

Yes, it was the best birthday ever! To see photos, click here.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

This month's Penguin Classics book is THE STONEWALL READER, by the New York Public Library, and including a foreword by Edmund White. I have a copy of the book to share with a lucky reader, so start reading today and enter for your chance to win.

Dear Reader Column 05-29-19

KIDSBUZZ: Click here to discover new books,
"meet" the authors and enter to win.

Dear Reader,

When I opened my Daytimer and thumbed through the pages reviewing the upcoming week, I felt exhausted and stressed. There wasn't one single blank page. The next seven days were filled with appointments. I've always been the sort of person who takes the approach if I have to get something done, why wait? Do it today, or as soon as possible. But yesterday, after reviewing my commitments for the week, I had a little discussion with myself about my "getting things done right away" approach--maybe there was a better way?

So I decided to say no to things I had said yes to, and I started making phone calls and moving appointments further into my Daytimer. Lucky me, I used my erasable pen to write those appointments down with, so when I erased them the pages were really blank. Clean white spaces in front of me. Nothing I absolutely had to do for any of the days--except one. What a relief!

Who would have dreamed that a blank page could be so exciting--especially to a writer!

Thanks to everyone who sent birthday wishes. My birthday and the helicopter ride were fabulous. Story and photos tomorrow.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

KIDSBUZZ: In our busy world, it's refreshing to take some time to spend with family and to connect. Experience the delight, the joy and exhilaration mindful moments can bring with Jen Butenas' picture book for children, A FAMILY WALK. For a chance to win a free copy and learn more, see KIDSBUZZ.

This month's Penguin Classics book is THE STONEWALL READER, by the New York Public Library, and including a foreword by Edmund White. I have a copy of the book to share with a lucky reader, so start reading today and enter for your chance to win.

Dear Reader Column 05-28-19

KIDSBUZZ: Click here to discover new books,
"meet" the authors and enter to win.

Dear Reader,

This week's author, Kylie Logan, says she's been reading and writing as long as she can remember. Her first book in the Jazz Ramsey mystery series, The Scent of Murder, features Jazz Ramsey, who lives in Cleveland and volunteers training and handling cadaver dogs.

Kylie has also written Ethnic Eats and the League of Literary Ladies mysteries. Under the nom de plume, Casey Daniels, Kylie wrote the Pepper Martin mysteries, about a cemetery tour guide who solves mysteries for the ghosts she meets on the job.

Under the nom de plume, Casey Daniels, Kylie wrote the Pepper Martin mysteries, about a cemetery tour guide who solves mysteries for the ghosts she meets on the job.

Kylie says she's "owned" by her two dogs: a rescue named Lucy who grew up in an Ohio prison program, and a one-year-old Airedale, Eliot, who has never met anything that fits in his mouth that he doesn't try to eat.

Please send an email and welcome author Kylie Logan to the book club. She has three copies of her book to giveaway to book club readers. Email: Kylie@kylielogan.com

Thanks for visiting our book club Kylie...

It was small and made from heavy pink cardstock and like it was yesterday, I can still feel the tingle of excitement that raced through me when I first held it in my hands. Dad was the one who took me to get it, and I bet I'd bugged him for days about it. Dad was a cop and his schedule was crazy, but he made the time.

What I remember most is racing into the house with it clenched in one hand. It was a drizzly day, the windows were steamed. Mom was in the kitchen when I slapped through the door and made a scene.

"I got it! I got one!"

And I jumped up and down with my library card.

The first book I took out was, Horton Hatches the Egg. By the time I was a bit older, I was reading the classics. I remember pulling Island of the Blue Dolphins off the shelf in the school library. I recall searching high and low for Scaramouche after I watched dreamy Stewart Granger star in the movie. When I wasn't in school, I was reading. So much so that my mother purchased a (cheap!) print of the painting, A Young Girl Reading, by Jean-Honore Fragonard. She said it reminded her of me. I'm not too sure about that. The girl in the painting is elegant and composed as she reads. Me? I was sprawled on the couch, draped over the back porch steps, or spread out on the porch swing, book in hand and imagination a million miles away.

Our closest library, a branch of Cleveland Public, was our destination every Friday after school, and rain or shine we made the twenty-minute trek. Heaven forbid a library book was ever returned late! The Fleet Avenue Branch had a children's room up front and an adult room in back and being allowed there was a rite of passage that opened up a whole new world. In high school, I read and re-read Dorothy Dunnett's amazing The Game of Kings and the books that followed in that series. I devoured anything about King Arthur and of course, there was Conan Doyle.

Back then, I fumbled with my own poorly written short stories, but fifty-eight published novels later, I'm happy to say I've emulated my writer heroes.

All thanks to that little pink library card.

Do you remember your first experience with books? Send me an email and let me know, I love to hear from readers. Kylie@kylielogan.com

-- Kylie Logan

Email Kylie, Kylie@kylielogan.com, and when you do, you'll be entered in the drawing for a copy of her new book, The Scent of Murder.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

This month's Penguin Classics book is THE STONEWALL READER, by the New York Public Library, and including a foreword by Edmund White. I have a copy of the book to share with a lucky reader, so start reading today and enter for your chance to win.

Dear Reader Column 05-27-19

KIDSBUZZ: Click here to discover new books,
"meet" the authors and enter to win.

Dear Reader,

I am enjoying the Memorial Day holiday with my family. My column will return on Tuesday.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

This month's Penguin Classics book is THE STONEWALL READER, by the New York Public Library, and including a foreword by Edmund White. I have a copy of the book to share with a lucky reader, so start reading today and enter for your chance to win.

Dear Reader Column 05-24-19

AUTHORBUZZ: Click here to discover new books,
"meet" the authors and enter to win.

KIDSBUZZ: Click here to discover new books,
"meet" the authors and enter to win.

Dear Reader,

At 2 p.m. this coming Sunday, May 26th, I'll be waving good-bye to my family, as I'm lifting off the ground in a helicopter. Happy Birthday to me!

When a member of our family has a birthday, I'm the party organizer, and if I do say so myself, I give fun, memorable parties. This year I'm organizing my own party-to-remember--and a 65th birthday present to me. An hour long helicopter ride over Sarasota and its beaches, a scenic look down Tampa Bay and all around as I fly over St. Petersburg, and up and over the huge SkyWay Bridge on the way back to Sarasota.

Yes, I'll be flying alone (well, the pilot and me). I don't know why, but it was important that I take this journey alone. I'm surprised that turning 65 is such a big deal to me. Because counting off the years leading up to 65 I've always told people that I was a year older than I really was, so there wouldn't be any adjustment when my birthday rolled around. But turning 65, I find that I'm reviewing my life's adventures, good and bad, happy and challenging.
Looking back, yes, there are some things I would have done differently, but all in all, I'm proud of myself, and at this point in my life, I enjoy being me more than I ever have.

So I'm ready for take-off--a journey in a helicopter and a new adventure in my life.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

*Photos next week and even though 65 is retirement age for some--not me. I'll be writing my column every day.

KIDSBUZZ: Two must-have reads for your kids and teens. NYT bestseller and Mathical Prize winner Robie H. Harris--and a puppy--help preschoolers problem-solve and discover math concepts in NOW WHAT?: A Math Tale; and THE BONE CHARMER, a YA novel by Breeana Shields, full of twists and turns, magic, and unimaginable choices. "I was absolutely swept away by the world of THE BONE CHARMER," Kendare Blake, #1 NYT Bestselling author of Three Dark Crowns. Maybe you will be too! For a chance to win a free copy and learn more, see KIDSBUZZ.

This month's Penguin Classics book is THE STONEWALL READER, by the New York Public Library, and including a foreword by Edmund White. I have a copy of the book to share with a lucky reader, so start reading today and enter for your chance to win.

 

Dear Reader Column 05-23-19

AUTHORBUZZ: Click here to discover new books,
"meet" the authors and enter to win.

KIDSBUZZ: Click here to discover new books,
"meet" the authors and enter to win.

Dear Reader,

I write for readers every day. Today, readers wrote the column for me. Thanks so much for sending your stories. Reading emails from book club readers is the best part of my day.

"Suzanne, several years ago, just before Christmas, in the grocery checkout, my debit card could not be read by the electronic device. Like you, I knew there was money available, but, again, like you, I felt as if the people in the line behind me could read 'LOSER' stenciled on my head. I did not have the cash to pay the bill nor another card. The store would hold my groceries until I came back with a payment.

My bank was about a 20 minute round trip, so I pushed the cart of groceries aside and walked toward my car to go to the bank.

Just as I'm ready to step into the van a customer flagged me down and told me the clerk in the grocery wanted me to come back. I went in to find out that someone, probably the woman who flagged me down, had paid for my groceries.

This brought me to tears. I took my groceries, left the store and came across a friend about to go into the grocery store. I tearfully told him what happened and how embarrassed I was that someone else paid for my groceries, and I didn't know how or who to pay back.

He had the perfect answer. 'Just pay it forward.'

Which is exactly what I did." -- Linda J.

"Your [column] about inscriptions reminded me of an interesting one in a book I purchased for a couple dollars at an estate sale in NE Texas a few years ago along with an old hymn psalter. This is a complete Old and New Testament, dated 1869, including a section in the back with the Psalms in meter and rhyme, something I had never seen before. The book is very small, measuring 3 x 4.5 inches and 1.25 inches thick with almost microscopic print for which I need readers for my readers!

The inscription, in elegant writing is:

Chas. Brundrett
Dec. 25, 1883
Have courage to Say No (with NO underlined twice)

I found his name online as having been born in England in 1864, so he would have been 19 when given this Bible. This was given to him for Christmas at the age at which he was embarking on his adult life, with a heartfelt warning. I learned of his wife's name and birth date, that her father was born in Ireland, dates of death and burial in a family plot in Texas, a little glimpse into two families who would have come through Ellis Island, a very special bonus not noticed when I purchased the book." -- Carole F.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

AUTHORBUZZ: With so many new books out every week, we promise these titles deserve your attention:

(Fiction)
EVERMORE by Corinne Michaels

(Fiction)
WAISTED by Randy Susan Meyers

Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader

This month's Penguin Classics book is THE STONEWALL READER, by the New York Public Library, and including a foreword by Edmund White. I have a copy of the book to share with a lucky reader, so start reading today and enter for your chance to win.

Dear Reader Column 05-22-19

AUTHORBUZZ: Click here to discover new books,
"meet" the authors and enter to win.

KIDSBUZZ: Click here to discover new books,
"meet" the authors and enter to win.

Dear Reader,

It happened again...

I hate it when it happens. I'm in the checkout line, my groceries are bagged, the clerk tells me to insert my credit card into the machine and the clerk and I wait, and we wait. The line behind me is getting longer, the clerk is tapping her pen waiting for the "approved" response, but instead "DEADBEAT" flashes across the screen. Well, that's not really what the message says, but that's what I feel like it says.

"This card is declined." The clerk is looking at the long line behind me. "Do you have another credit card I could try?"

"No, I don't. But really," I tell her, "there is money on my card. Believe me--I pay it off every month. The credit card company has obviously made a mistake. They even sent me a letter last week wanting to increase my credit line. There's plenty of money. Really there is."

But I can tell from the look on the cashier's face, she's not sold. Reality sets in and I retreat a bit, "I bet that's what everyone says to you, don't they?" She nods.

By now everyone in line and within 10 feet of me has taken a shopping respite, quite entertained by my pleas of innocence, delivering a stellar performance, ratcheting each line up a notch, without going over the top. (Somehow I think that volume increases believability--it doesn't.)

My purchase is voided and I'm led away to the service desk, so I can contact my credit card company. Twenty minutes later--ten minutes of that time on hold--I'm proven innocent. All charges are dropped. But by this time the original "jurors" have all left the store, even the cashier went home for the day, so there are no witnesses to hear about being innocent.

So the "Not guilty" verdict is a bit of letdown, because I was really looking forward to making an official announcement to somebody, so maybe that's why I'm writing about it today, proclaiming...

"I am innocent. There is plenty of money available on my credit card."

Ah, that felt good...thanks for listening.

* Congratulations to Sarah J., the winner of Forgotten Bookmarks: A Bookseller's Collection of Odd Things Lost Between the Pages by Michael Popek.

And the winners of a signed copy of The King's Mercy by Guest Author Lori Benton are: Merrill H., Brenda B. and Dorine D. Your books will be in the mail soon.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

KIDSBUZZ: Two must-have reads for your kids and teens. NYT bestseller and Mathical Prize winner Robie H. Harris--and a puppy--help preschoolers problem-solve and discover math concepts in NOW WHAT?: A Math Tale; and THE BONE CHARMER, a YA novel by Breeana Shields, full of twists and turns, magic, and unimaginable choices. "I was absolutely swept away by the world of THE BONE CHARMER," Kendare Blake, #1 NYT Bestselling author of Three Dark Crowns. Maybe you will be too! For a chance to win a free copy and learn more, see KIDSBUZZ.

This month's Penguin Classics book is THE STONEWALL READER, by the New York Public Library, and including a foreword by Edmund White. I have a copy of the book to share with a lucky reader, so start reading today and enter for your chance to win.

Dear Reader Column 05-21-19

AUTHORBUZZ: Click here to discover new books,
"meet" the authors and enter to win.

KIDSBUZZ: Click here to discover new books,
"meet" the authors and enter to win.

Dear Reader,

Anita Agers-Brooks motivates people to dynamic breakthroughs as an inspirational business/life coach, international speaker, and certified personality trainer.

Anita also hosts the globally popular podcast, Tending Your Dreams. As much as Anita loves traveling, speaking, coaching, and writing, her favorite pastime is dipping her toes in a Missouri lake and laughing with family. Anita doesn't mind a good latte either. An award-winning author, from the page and stage, she educates and inspires people to make a difference and influence well.

Anita's latest books are Getting Through What You Can't Get Over: Stories, Tips, and Inspiration to Help You Move Past Your Pain into Lasting Freedom and Exceedingly: Spiritual Strategies for Living on Purpose, with Purpose, and for an Abundant Purpose.

Five copies of Exceedingly are waiting to be sent to readers. To enter the drawing, simply email: anita@anitabrooks.com

Please welcome Anita Agers-Brooks to the book club...

My toes curled deep into the soft, green moss. I breathed in the perfume of honeysuckles, naked earth, and crisp summer air beneath my Thinking Tree, a massive oak standing guard behind my childhood home. I simultaneously reveled in the moment while I mentally traveled into the future. This was the place and time, where I first learned how to tend my dreams.

I looked toward the sapphire sky dotted with cotton balls and imagined an adult me. I wondered about the Maker of this amazing universe and asked a series of questions.

Why did you create me?
What am I supposed to do with my life?
Where will I live when I grow up?
Who will I marry, if I find a mate at all?
When will I make my mark on the world?
Why do I exist?

I listened for several long minutes, but only the birds responded right away, their bright chirps wafting from the trees, along with an occasional dropping. (I was grateful for the canopy protecting my head.) I did not receive instantaneous results, though through the years, the answers would eventually come.

As children, many people allow themselves the wonder of purpose and dreams. Sadly, by the time they reach adulthood, most let the hurried and harried pace of "just getting by" smother their deepest desires. It's a travesty I hope to change by sharing a reminder. This is a message I believe every human being should consider and allow to resonate in their soul. If you are reading this now, this message is meant for you.

You, dear reader, were created on purpose, with purpose, and for an abundant purpose.

Regardless of how you were conceived, or what anyone else may have told you, you are not a cosmic accident and you are not a mistake. You have special abilities, giftings, and talents that the world needs you to discover, cultivate, and share. You have dreams you are made to tend. Don't worry if you haven't figured out what they are yet, that's part of the adventure of being alive. You will find your purpose--if you seek it.

If you don't know where to start, get outside, like I did as a girl sitting under my Thinking Tree. Go for a walk and get alone with your thoughts. Spread a blanket on the grass, lay down, and imagine. Take your shoes off and curl your toes into the soft soil, let your ideas run wild. Because, tending your dreams best happens in the creative arms of nature.

-- Anita Agers-Brooks
Email Anita at: anita@anitabrooks.com and you'll be entered in a drawing for a chance to win a copy of Exceedingly.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

** AUTHORBUZZ **

WAISTED (Fiction) by Randy Susan Meyers

Did your mother hide the cookies? (Mine hid everything sweet and my aunt's scale lived in the kitchen entryway). Naturally, food ruled my life. Alice and Daphne harbor the same secret: obsession with their weight overshadows concerns about their children, husbands, work--and everything else of importance in their lives. Scales terrify them. But when they're chosen for a documentary about women and their bodies--an endeavor that promises healing--they instead find themselves in a terrifying lock-down.

Go to: AUTHORBUZZ click on WAISTED to read more and to email author Susan Meyers, you'll get a reply.

* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE STONEWALL READER, by the New York Public Library, and including a foreword by Edmund White. I have a copy of the book to share with a lucky reader, so start reading today and enter for your chance to win.

Dear Reader Column 05-20-19

AUTHORBUZZ: Click here to discover new books,
"meet" the authors and enter to win.

KIDSBUZZ: Click here to discover new books,
"meet" the authors and enter to win.

Dear Reader,

Experts say it's only a myth, but my parents lived by the 5-second rule when I was growing up, and apparently book club reader Sue M.'s parents did, too--and she's still alive to tell the tale.

"Suzanne, love your column and your (Skunk Bean) recipe is the best. One of my mom's friends used to make them, but browned up hamburger and added that to the beans so it was a meal. I made them myself that way when my kids were young. They ate it, but didn't love it. But I still do! Funny story...

The neighbor was carrying a dish of beans and hamburger over to our house one Sunday afternoon for a cookout, and dropped the beans on the driveway...where she and my mom proceeded to scoop them back into the dish, and we ate them up! I'm going to buy the ingredients and make them. We always called it the Fisherman's Special, not sure why. Anyway just love this column."

Who knows what you'll find in the next used book you read. Book club reader Barbara N., writes...

"Suzanne, just read your column about things left in books. Each year our local library, Bernards Twp. Library has a display of items found in books in the past year. Money, pictures, postcards, birthday cards, tickets to the theater. Most interesting. Your book offer sounds like a really interesting read. Thanks for your column and book suggestions."

This is the last day to enter the drawing for a free copy of Forgotten Bookmarks: A Bookseller's Collection of Odd Things Lost Between the Pages, by Michael Popek, click here.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

** AUTHORBUZZ **

EVERMORE (Fiction) by Corinne Michaels

I receive emails regularly from readers who love the dynamic between my heroines and their friends. I've been blessed to have a tribe of women who inspire these supporting characters, making them a huge part of the subplots. This has led to them demanding stories of their own and Gretchen has been screaming for hers for a long while. I'm so incredibly excited for you to read her story as it's been a long time coming.

Go to: AUTHORBUZZ click on EVERMORE to read more and to email author Corinne Michaels, you'll get a reply.

* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE STONEWALL READER, by the New York Public Library, and including a foreword by Edmund White. I have a copy of the book to share with a lucky reader, so start reading today and enter for your chance to win.