Dear Reader

Dear Reader Column 05-17-19

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

Dear Reader,

You can't give away what you don't have.

Some folks are constantly doing for others, but they find it very difficult to put themselves first. It's not a selfish thing, putting yourself first, because you can't give away what you don't have.

Preparing for takeoff, the flight attendant points out the exit doors, emphasizing the closest exit might be behind me, and then I'm told, "In case of emergency, air masks will drop from the ceiling. If you are traveling with a minor, put on your own mask before helping the minor." That's because passengers have just seconds to put on their oxygen masks before oxygen-saturation levels drop to a perilous point. If you help someone else first, you'll begin to lose the ability to recognize faces and shapes and eventually pass out.

You can't give away what you don't have.

Looking out for number one--which is me--I've accepted that it has to be that way. It's a good thing; I'm being responsible. Because if I don't set aside time to do something special for myself, to relax and refresh, I don't have any energy to do things for others. So it's my duty to take the time to experience joy in my own life,

Yes, it's true (and I frequently have to remind myself), I can't give away what I don't have.

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 05-16-19

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

Dear Reader,

Have you ever come across any interesting inscriptions inside old, used books? Last week I asked readers, and below are some of their replies...

"I found a copy of Mitch Albom's book, The Five People You Meet in Heaven at a used book store and someone had inscribed, 'Dear John, I do sincerely hope you're one of my five..." -- Toni R.

"Suzanne wait until you read this--it's true. My friend found a photo of an inscription found in an old book. 'Note to the new owner of this book: This is a really terrible book, but I paid a lot of money for it and so I thought it should be donated for a chance to make some money for the cancer charity--so some good will come of my ridiculous and foolish purchase. I am sorry to say you are the unlucky one, having spent money on this book. But when you discover how horrible this book is, please think of the good your purchase price may do for the charity.' Unfortunately, I don't know the title of the book that was so hated, but maybe that's a good thing! Love reading with you!" -- Margaret P.

"Before my weekly Star Base Andromeda science fiction club meeting, I swung by a used bookstore and found four free boxes of old SF paperbacks on the sidewalk outside of the store. I consolidated most of those into two boxes, and I brought them to the meeting. As a group, those of us in attendance that night we went through the books and selected those we each wanted to keep. Most of us had passed on The Survival of Freedom, an anthology edited by Jerry Pournelle, but my friend Mike took it, then afterwards discovered it was signed by three of the contributing authors--Jerry Pournelle, Poul Anderson and the late, great Robert Heinlein. Quite the find!!" -- Scott C., Lincoln City Libraries

"Hi Suzanne, I just read today's email concerning messages found in books by other people. Though I haven't found messages, I have found different things people have used for bookmarks. And there's a book written by Michael Popek, called Forgotten Bookmarks: A Bookseller's Collection of Odd Things Lost Between the Pages that I just discovered and asked my son to get it for me for Mother's Day." -- Marjorie A.

(Suzanne replies:) Marjorie, I hope your hint inspired your son to buy a copy of Forgotten Bookmarks: A Bookseller's Collection of Odd Things Lost Between the Pages for you for Mother's Day. Your email has inspired me to make today's giveaway for readers, a copy of Forgotten Bookmarks. To enter the drawing, click here.

Congratulations to the May Chocolate Chip Cookie winners, I'm baking over the weekend and your cookies will be boxed up and shipped on Monday. Lolita M., Robeson County Public Library; Gayle H., Tamaqua Public Library and Dorothy M., Hurst Library, get ready to dunk and munch!

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) LIES WE KEEP by Danielle Rose

(Fiction) NO IVORY TOWER by Stephen Davenport

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 05-15-19

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

Dear Reader,

Today's guest author, Mariah Fredericks, titles her column "The Books I'll Never Read and Never Give Away." Now that's a heading that draws you in. Born and raised in New York and still living with her family there, in addition to writing several YA novels, Mariah is the author of a new mystery series featuring ladies' maid Jane Prescott. Death of No Importance and Death of a New American, are the first two titles in the series.

Mariah loves to communicate with readers, contact her through her website

Please welcome to the book club, Mariah Fredericks...

The Books I'll Never Read and Never Give Away

I am a re-reader, a condition that dooms me to crowded shelves and a decorating style to accommodate them. The cherished re-reads sit beside books I've read and will not read again, like the Penguin Oliver Twist I bought in London as a teenager. The type is now too small and faded to be read comfortably, but I can't give it away. And of course, there are the major books I should read, but haven't quite got to yet. (One day, The Power Broker, one day!)

Then there are the books I haven't read, will never read, but will keep forever. Books like Harris On the Pig, a handsome little volume that offers "practical hints for the pig farmer." This "classic of American ingenuity" was first published in 1883 and repackaged in 1999 by Lyons Press. Illustrated with drawings of various breeds and types of piggeries, it is full of delightful information such as a table that shows "the average composition of different articles of food, together with the relative value of the manure made from the consumption of one ton of each food." (Linseed cake seems to give the best value.) Harris urges kindness to pigs; they are sensitive and their keepers must love them. I live in New York City. I will never keep pigs, sadly. But I will keep Harris On the Pig.

Another book I'll never give away is my mother's copy of The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Originally, I kept it because I knew she loved the book and I liked seeing her careful inscription claiming it as her own: Joan Bundy, 8-7-52. Only years later, when I was flipping through to see if it was worth a read, did I notice another inscription. "For Joan, with all the best wishes of a fellow Laurentian."--Thornton Wilder.

The last book that comes to mind is not beautiful or signed. It's a 75 cent paperback called Harry of Monmouth by A.M. Maughan. The cover announces that it is "a magnificent novel of war and conquest." Also "the unforgettable story of Henry V, soldier-king." A quick look at the prose suggests that it's actually pretty forgettable. My father bought this book for me when he and my mother were on vacation in Cape Cod. I was in college and too grown up for family holidays. But my dad knew I loved historical fiction and that the story of Henry V was one of my early favorites. I imagine he found it in a second hand shop and thought, Why not? I have to imagine, because I never got to ask him. A few days later, he died of a heart attack. Harry of Monmouth came back in his suitcase. And it has stayed on my shelf ever since.

-- Mariah Fredericks

Send Mariah a message welcoming her to the book club.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

Dear Reader Column 05-14-19

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

Dear Reader,

I have a copy of this month's Penguin Classics book up for grabs for one lucky reader, so be sure to enter the drawing and click on the link to sample this month's title, The Stonewall Reader, by the New York Public Library (Editor), and Edmund White (Foreword). Start reading today and enter for your chance to win

Memorial Day is less than two weeks away, so if you're going to a potluck or need a dish for a summer picnic, I would like to suggest a guaranteed winner. There's never anything left in the casserole dish when I take it to a picnic. It's a family favorite.

My Skunk Bean recipe is one of my all-time favorites, but I never knew the story behind the beans until I was looking through some old recipes I'd found in my mother's kitchen cupboard after she passed away. I discovered a folded piece of paper with the heading, "Beans for Skunk Party." Instantly I was smiling, because I realized how the Skunk Beans got their name.

Almost every other Sunday evening the Tindell clan (including my dad, his four sisters, and Grandma and Grandpa Tindell) got together to play some serious Euchre. The kitchen in Grandma Tindell's house was so small that when the table was pulled open to seat everyone, you could barely walk around it. But that didn't matter. Get out the blue and red chips, which represented pennies--it wasn't about the money--it was all about winning the game and could you "skunk" your opponents in the process.

Euchre isn't a complicated game, but until you've played awhile, the table talk can sound like a foreign language. "Fishing out, dead-set legend, the ribbit, farm hand or no ace/no face, follow suit, trump, and skunked--which means that you and your partner lost the game without scoring one single point. Rumor has it that in some Euchre circles a team that gets skunked, also gets a "bum run." (If you and your partner get skunked you must run about a predetermined route--naked!)

I was just a kid, who sat by herself in the living room watching The Wonderful World of Disney alone, because none of my dad's sisters brought their children along, and there was a wall between the kitchen and me, so as far as I know no one ever did a bum run. But I do remember my mother frequently taking Skunk Beans to the Sunday evening Euchre party.

SKUNK BEANS

8 bacon strips - very crisp
1 onion, chopped & sauteed
1/2 cup vinegar
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard Dash garlic salt
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 can kidney beans (drained)
1 can lima beans (drained)
1 #2 can pork and beans (drained) (#2 can = 20 oz can or 2 1/2 cups)

Cover and bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Uncover and bake for another 1/2 hour.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

** AUTHORBUZZ **

NO IVORY TOWER by Stephen Davenport

Everything that can possibly happen to humans, happens in schools, usually in the compressed period of one academic year. Boarding schools are especially intense, hermetic, mission-driven communities. As a retired teacher and headmaster, I couldn't have asked for better writing material. In my second novel, Rachel Bickham, a young teacher, has just been appointed head and is confident of success. But when an enraged talk show broadcasts a sex scandal involving a student, Rachel has to come up with a daring, go-for-broke strategy, and the battle begins. For a chance to win one of five copies, email stevdav@comcast.net

Go to: AUTHORBUZZ click on NO IVORY TOWER to read more and to email author Stephen Davenport, you'll get a reply.

Dear Reader Column 05-13-19

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

Dear Reader,

Yes, I tell you about it every year. I just can't help myself...

It's that time of year again. Love is in the air--literally.

Twenty-seven years ago, when my husband and I moved from Madison, Wisconsin to Sarasota, Florida, bugs were one of my biggest concerns. I envisioned creepy crawlers that had grown to B-movie proportions, "The Killer-Bugs That Ate Sarasota."

But other than an alligator taking a dip in my neighbor's swimming pool, lizards scurrying back and forth across the sidewalk, and occasional black snakes (which are harmless), the two most annoying natives are invisible biting flies--appropriately called no-see-ums--and love bugs.

Twice a year it's mating season for love bugs. Thousands of females emerge from their larvae and are looking for an acceptable male suitor and when they find one, they latch on to each other in mid-air, but instead of rolling over and going to sleep afterwards, the two lovers fall to the ground in the heat of passion. Frequently they fall into the path of a moving vehicle. 'Splat, splat.' (What a price to pay for love.)

My windshield, everybody else's windshield, and sometimes the entire front-end of every single car in Sarasota is covered with a sticky adhesive-like love bug mess. Superglue should be so strong. And the worst part is, if the aftermath doesn't get cleaned off immediately, the love bug leftovers will eat right through the paint on your car.

Yes, at this very moment love is in the air, hanging in the trees, attached to storefront windows, on my car, and inside of my car--because even love bugs appreciate a little backseat romance!

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

** AUTHORBUZZ **

LIES WE KEEP by Danielle Rose

Jezebel has an obsessed fan. James has been hired to protect her. They're both broken and running from danger and their pasts. Can they put each other back together and find their escape? I'm so excited to share Jezebel and James's steamy, emotional ride with you on May 14th that I'm giving away 20 signed advance paperback copies!

Go to: AUTHORBUZZ click on LIES WE KEEP to read more and to email author Danielle Rose, you'll get a reply.

Dear Reader Column 05-10-19

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

Dear Reader,

Give a friend the gift of fun. Tell a friend about the book club. Email, text or post on social media this link to make it easy for them to sign up: http://obc.dailybookclubs.com/

An interesting email from a reader...

"Good morning Suzanne. I often buy books at places like consignment stores and tag sales. Sometimes they have interesting or unusual inscriptions in them. I often wonder about the person who gave up the book, or the situation in which the book was donated. Don't you?

[Inscriptions such as] 'Happy 10th anniversary to my wonderful wife! I hope we have 100 more!' What happened? Did he cheat? Did she? A divorce? Did one of them die? Did the book get left behind by someone accidentally? Family recipe books often have loving inscriptions to a future bride or daughter-in-law.

I have one inscription that I treasure. Bob Keeshan (Captain Kangaroo) wrote a book called Growing Up Happy. It is autographed with both of his names. He made a comment about how that sounded like a good idea at the time, until he realized he would be doing twice the work!

I thought it might be fun to ask the readers to email unusual or interesting inscriptions they have found in second-hand books." -- Linda F.

Linda, I think it's an interesting idea too. And oh my gosh! Captain Kangaroo, Mr. Green Jeans, Bunny Rabbit and Mr. Moose, who loved to tell knock-knock jokes, I'm humming the show's jingle right now, and picturing Captain Kangaroo putting his keys on the hook. It was my favorite show when I was little.

I'd love to hear from readers. Have you discovered any interesting inscriptions in second-hand books?

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

Suzanne Beecher

P. S. Tell a friend about the book club, here's the link, http://obc.dailybookclubs.com/ And today's the last day to enter the Chocolate Chip Cookie Giveaway. To see photos and to enter, click here.

Dear Reader Column 05-09-19

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

Dear Reader,

I goofed and forgot to include a book giveaway for this week's Guest Author, Lori Benton. She's giving away three copies of her highly anticipated, soon to be released title, The King's Mercy. Be sure to read about her new book and enter her giveaway below.

Karen G., a reader at the book club sent me an email about my column last Friday talking about cracks in my personality, and that's how the light (the good stuff) gets in. Thanks so much for sharing this story Karen.

"Suzanne, your column today reminded me of this old story..."

The Story of the Cracked Pot

An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walks from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream.'I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house.'

The old woman smiled, 'Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them.

For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house.' -- Author Unknown

It's Tell a Friend week at the bookclub. Share our daily read, giveaways and chocolate chip cookies. Send an email, post on social media and give them this link: http://obc.dailybookclubs.com/

* Enter this month's Chocolate Chip Cookie Giveaway. It's the last one until September. To see past winners and their smiling cookie faces, and to enter May's cookie giveaway, click here.

Enter Lori Benton's book giveaway. Transporting readers to the 18th century, Lori brings to life the colonial period of American history...

Transporting readers to the 18th century, Lori brings to life the colonial period of American history...

When captured rebel Scotsman Alex MacKinnon is granted the king's mercy--transport across the Atlantic and exile to the colony of North Carolina--he's indentured as a blacksmith to Edmund Carey, prosperous owner of Severn Plantation. Alex is drawn into the plight of Carey's slaves, particularly those connected to Carey's stepdaughter, Joanna, with whom an unlikely romance blooms.

Lori would love to hear from you. Welcome her to the book club and enter the drawing for a copy of The King's Mercy. Email: lori_benton26@hotmail.com

If you missed Lori's guest post on Tuesday, click here.

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 this title deserves your attention:

(Fiction)
ENSNARED by Elisabeth Naughton

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

Dear Reader Column 05-08-19

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

Dear Reader,

Thanks for telling your friends about the book club. Remember, not only can you share with them the great books we read, my daily column, the crazy things you can win, but you can also tempt them to join with the possibility of winning homemade chocolate chip cookies. This is the link you can share with your friends or post on social media: http://obc.dailybookclubs.com/

Be sure you enter today's Chocolate Chip Cookie Giveaway, because the next cookie giveaway won't be until September. I bake every month for book club readers, but June, July and August are too warm for cookies. I learned that years ago when UPS delivered a reader's cookies, but then the cookie box sat on their front stoop until after five when they got home from work--the sun and chocolate were not a good match.

An email from book club reader Jill W.,

"I've been reading for about eight months now. You were recommended by another member of my book club, and I've been enjoying reading about all of your adventures as well as the great previews of books. It's a great resource, because I can normally tell within the week if I'm interested in the book or not."

Joyce R., a reader at the book club, writes...

"Hi Suzanne, I joined the book club after reading an article about it in a Florida newspaper while on a visit to my father. I think that was about the time you started. I have enjoyed reading several of the featured books.

I love the idea of your bubble machine and I carry on your bubble mission here in Indianapolis. The street I live on is quiet with little traffic, so I don't have a bubble machine like yours. But I volunteer at a busy food pantry and I take small bottles of bubbles in to share with the kids (and a few adults). Boy, do their eyes light up when they have a bottle of bubbles! Thanks for giving me the idea of sharing bubbles. All the best."

Enter this month's Chocolate Chip Cookie Giveaway. Remember, it's the last one until September. To see past winners and their smiling cookie faces, and to enter May's cookie giveaway, click here.

It's Tell a Friend week at the book club. Share our daily read, giveaways and chocolate chip cookies. Send an email, post on social media and give them this link: http://obc.dailybookclubs.com/

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

I'm ready to bake,

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

Dear Reader Column 05-07-19

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

Dear Reader,

Today's guest author, Lori Benton, recipient of three Christy Awards, transports readers to the 18th century in her many novels, including Burning Sky, Many Sparrows and soon to be released, The King's Mercy. Lori's books bring life to the colonial and early federal periods of American history.

Please welcome author Lori Benton...

I Blame Kipling (or Childhood Influences on Themes that Resonate)

After publishing six historical novels set mainly on the 18th century North American frontier, it's become apparent that certain literary themes strike a deep chord with me: cultural displacement, adoption, and assimilation; lost or orphaned children; fish-out-of-water experiences; the rebuilding of a fractured identity. You'll find these themes explored by at least one character, usually more, in each of my books.

About a year ago I was asked: why do these themes appeal to you? The question sparked a great deal of thought. I've never set out with the intention of writing a novel about cultural displacement, or a character with a fractured identity struggling to belong. Those themes, or so it always seemed, found me as I fleshed out a character and wrote their story--not the other way around.

It wasn't until I sat down last December to watch Hollywood's latest version of The Jungle Book (Andy Serkis's live-action version, Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle) that the simplest, and truest, answer to that question became clear: It's Rudyard Kipling's fault.

Disney's 1967 animated version of The Jungle Book, my first exposure to Kipling's story of an orphaned Indian boy--raised in the jungle by a bear, a panther, and a wolf pack--forced to face his true identity and choose where he belongs, captured my imagination at a pivotal time in my childhood. I was ten years old, and the desire to be a writer, a storyteller, had recently bloomed.

What fascinated me initially about Mowgli's story, as Disney depicted it, were the wolves--sparking another lifelong interest. But unbeknownst to ten-year-old me, the deeper themes of identity, displacement, and belonging were sinking their roots into my soul. They would begin emerging about the time I turned twenty and became serious enough about novel-writing to start thinking, and dreaming, about publication.

No doubt more stories absorbed after The Jungle Book reinforced my fascination with these particular themes, but Kipling's story of the orphaned Mowgli laid that foundation. It just needed that question about the themes in my novels to still be banging about in my mind when I took in a fresh rendition of the story to connect the two.

What about you? Are there themes that never fail to draw you to certain types of books and films? What resonates most deeply in the stories you read and watch? I'd love to hear from you!

-- Lori Benton
Email Lori at lori_benton26@hotmail.com

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

Dear Reader Column 05-06-19

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

Dear Reader,

Marvin Gaye's, "I heard it through the grapevine" seems to be the most popular way for readers to discover the book club. Almost every reader who sent 20th-year Birthday Wishes to me, learned about the book club from a friend. Or a friend of a friend.

"Suzanne, I've been so fortunate to have been 'introduced' to you about a year ago by my friend, Karylee. What a transformative year it has been, thanks to you and the book club! I've loved getting your daily letters, always full of hope, compassion and good will. Starting each weekday with your 'voice' sets such a positive...I've introduced at least ten friends to you and the book club and have received many thanks!" -- Laurie H.

Why not forward today's email and the sign-up link below to your friends and tell them how much you enjoy the book club? They can sign-up here.

"Dear Suzanne, I've been quietly following you and your book suggestions since you began! I've shared your site with others and everyone appreciates your format and all of the great new 'reads' that you offer. Congratulations on 20 years of sharing! I wish you 20 more years of success. Keep up the awesome work--I'll be here, watching and reading. All the best. (P. S. Every time I put on a kitchen apron, I think of you, especially when I bake chocolate chip cookies!)" -- Mary B.

"I am so happy that I've won a few times over the years...I always tell friends and acquaintances about the book club and how they can not only read a portion of the book (before they decide whether or not to buy or borrow it), but about your various 'giveaways' and your own daily comments and observations. Now if only I could win your cookies! Thank you for being you, bubbles and all!" -- Alice M.

"Dear Suzanne, I am not certain how long I have been reading with you. A friend, Sue, helped me sign up...and said what a great time she has at the book club. I have never won chocolate chip cookies, but once in a while I win something.." -- Barbara Z.

Invite your friends to join the great books and daily antics at our book club. Thanks so much for spreading the word. Friends can sign-up here.

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

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com

** AUTHORBUZZ **

ENSNARED by Elisabeth Naughton

If you've never read the Eternal Guardians series, don't worry, you can start right here with ENSNARED and not be lost. The Eternal Guardians are a paranormal romance series set in modern times, but based on the ancient Greek myths. Each book is sexy, witty, full of action and romance, danger and deception...oh, and of course, a little bit of mythology from those great old stories. My new book introduces Ryder, a new immortal to the Guardian. I don't want to give too much away about Ryder, but I will say this: he is a dream weaver. He can infiltrate the dreams of mortals.

Go to: AUTHORBUZZ click on ENSNARED to read more and to email author Elisabeth Naughton, you'll get a reply.