A Note from Author Maryann McFadden

Last week's book club meeting was a smash! Thank you to all who came! We were chatting about how wonderful authors are and one of our book club favorites just sent me a note for you all. Here's a note from Maryann McFaddeen:
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Happy Holidays!


I can't think of a better way to thank you for your support and enthusiasm than to give away signed and personalized copies of SO HAPPY TOGETHER and THE RICHEST SEASON, along with handcrafted bookmarks to go with them.

I hope you'll visit my website to get the details. Winners will be drawn 12/31 and I hope you're one of them!

Simply go to www.maryannmcfadden.com Details are right on top!


Have a Wonderful Holiday and a Blessed New Year!

Maryann McFadden

Know a Senior Who's Ready to Downsize?

Get yourself to Park Road Books this Friday!

From 12:30 - 2PM, author Jan Robbins Durr will be signing and discussing her book, "De-Stuff: A Step by Step Guide for Seniors Preparing for an Estate Sale & Downsizing." Written particularly for those individuals who don't know what to do with their lifetime accummulation of 'stuff', this book covers how to sort, research, price, advertise, hold the sale, and disposition after the sale.

To learn more about Durr, visit her Web site at: www.robbinsappraisals.com. For Park Road books, visit www.parkroadbooks.com.

Book Club Selection for November 2009: The Receipe Club

Just in time for the holidays and the season of food and family, CWG has chosen a book that celebrates a dynamic relationship between two friends and the sharing of recipes in an inventive new novel, “The Recipe Club” by Andrea Israel and Nancy Garfinkel.

Barnes & Noble writes:

Lilly and Val are lifelong friends, united as much by their differences as by their similarities. Lilly, dramatic and confident, lives in the shadow of her beautiful, wayward mother and craves the attention of her distant, disapproving father. Val, shy and idealistic-and surprisingly ambitious-struggles with her desire to break free from her demanding housebound mother and a father whose dreams never seem to come true.In childhood, "LillyPad" and "Valpal" vow to form an exclusive two-person club. Throughout the decades they write intimate letters in which they share hopes, fears, deepest secrets-and recipes, from Lilly's "Lovelorn Lasagna" to Valerie's "Forgiveness Tapenade."

Readers can cook along as the girls travel through time, facing the challenges of independence; the joys and heartbreaks of first love; and the emotional complexities of family relationships, identity, mortality, and goals deferred.But no matter what different paths they take or what misunderstandings threaten to break them apart, Lilly and Val always find their way back together through their Recipe Club . . . until the fateful day when an act of kindness becomes an unforgivable betrayal.

Now, decades later, while trying to recapture the trust they've lost, Lilly and Val reunite once more-only to uncover a shocking secret. Will it destroy their friendship, or bring them ever closer?

To celebrate, join us Monday, Nov. 30 at a private home in south Charlotte at 7 PM where we’ll chat with the authors live via SKYPE. Bring a dish that has a memory associated with it to share and come delight in great food and conversation. To RSVP, e-mail bookclub@carolinaweeklynewspapers.com.

Brush up your Shakespeare!

I had the most delightful evening Tuesday night at the Booth Theater watching the "Reduced Shakespeare Company here in Charlotte.

All it took was 97 minutes to condense all of the Bard's 37 plays -both tragedies and comedies with some sonnet relief to boot!

Even though some of the material was fairly new to the audience, I have to say it helps if you know the plot of "Romeo and Juliet" or at least the movie, "Shakespeare in Love." You'll get a lot more out of the inside jokes.

For a delightful evening, run, don't walk and get the to the theater!

More info...

Reduced Shakespeare Company: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) plays October 27 through November 1 at the Booth Playhouse (130 North Tryon St., Charlotte, NC, 28202).Tickets start at just $24.50.

For more information and to purchase tickets, call 704-372-1000 or visit BlumenthalCenter.org.

Book Club Pick for October: The Lost Symbol

Dan Brown is at it again! And we're reading the adult version of the Harry Potter mania for October's book club.

Join us Thursday, Oct. 29 at 7 PM at Barnes & Noble at Carolina Place Mall to discuss "The Lost Symbol." Kindly RSVP by e-mailing bookclub@carolinaweeklynewspapers.com.

Happy reading!
Alison

Charlotte Writers' Club Hosts Robert Inman

Charlotte Writers’ Club Hosts Robert Inman
by Jerri Gibson McCloud

The multi-talented journalist turned novelist, screenwriter, and playwright, Robert Inman will be guest speaker at the Charlotte Writers’ Club meeting on October 20th at Joseph-Beth Booksellers, SouthPark, 7 p.m.

Numerous Charlotteans will remember “Bob” Inman as anchor/reporter in 1970 for WBT TV, the #1 station in Charlotte during his 5-year stint. He left WBT in 1975 only to return in 1979 to become one of Charlotte’s most recognized anchor over the next 17 years.

Enamored by his passion for writing, in 1996 he left WBT to pursue a new career of writing.
Success continued for Inman with his first novel Home Fires Burning, followed by Old Dogs and Children, Dairy Queen Days and Captain Saturday. His down-home style and rich sentiment pulls the reader into his stories. He captured the south and brought the reader back to their own experiences in days long forgotten.

Inman crossed over from fiction to non-fiction with Coming Home: Life, Love and All Things Southern, and yet another genre, he wrote his first stage play Crossroads, writing the book, music and lyrics. The author of six motion pictures of which two were presented by Hallmark Hall of Fame, Inman has received many awards for his outstanding work, too numerous to list here. For additional books, plays, awards, education, please visit his website:
www.robert-inman.com.

Charlotte Writers’ Club is all about furthering its members’ writing experiences and encouraging them to soar to greater heights of writing. Robert Inman’s story will please all. Visitors welcome.
Jerri McCloud
President
Charlotte Writers' Club
www.charlottewritersclub.org

September Book Club Meeting

The book club event will go forward on Tuesday, Sept. 29 at 7 PM at Barnes & Noble at Carolina Place Mall as originally scheduled.

Please RSVP at bookclub@carolinaweeklynewspapers.com.

Thanks!
Alison

City at the Cusp: How the Culture of Plenty Demolished the American Economy

Listen to our interview with author J. Allison Brown about her debut nonfiction book.

City at the Cusp: How the Culture of Plenty Demolished the American Economy

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For more, visit www.cityathecusp.com.

Fall sizzles with best-selling authors

The Queen City will host some of the nation’s best-selling and most beloved authors. The following is a list of some of the author visits book lovers can look forward to this fall.

Noted documentary film maker and author Ken Burns will appear at Joseph-Beth at SouthPark on Sept. 14, at Noon, to discuss the companion book to Burns’ newest documentary “The National Parks: America's Best Ideas.” Burns, whose illustrious 25 year of filmmaking includes documentaries on baseball, jazz and the Civil War, wrote the introduction to the book; writer Dayton Duncan wrote the book and co-produced the series.

The series looks at NPS’ span from inception to current status. Now almost 150 years old, there are parks in every state of the nation, except for Delaware. The National Parks System now includes 400 individual sites and 84 million combined acres.

“Parks” is a six-part series that will begin airing on PBS stations around the nation on Sept. 27.
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Dr. Andrew Weil, best-selling author and health guru, will speak on Sept. 29, at 7 p.m. at Queens University of Charlotte. The Harvard-trained physician will discuss this and other topics included in his newest book, "Why Our Health Matters: A Vision of Medicine That Can Transform Our Future. The book shares his analysis of where he believes the American healthcare system has gotten off track and he offers suggestions for new wellness-based models.
Weil’s other 10 books include "Healthy Aging," "Spontaneous Healing" and "8 Weeks to Optimum Health.”

Tickets are $40. The event will take place at the Dana Auditorium. To purchase, click here.

The visit is being sponsored by The Learning Society of Queens.
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Elizabeth Gilbert, author of mega best-seller and our own book club favorite, “Eat, Pray, Love” will speak with her sister, Catherine Gilbert Murdock, Oct. 26, at 8 p.m. at Davidson College’s Duke Family Performance Hall.

The New York Times named “Love” as one of the top 10 books of 2006; filming is currently underway for the movie version starring Julia Roberts. Gilbert is putting the final touches on her new book, “Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage,” which is due out early next year.

Gilbert’s sister, Catherine Gilbert Murdock is the author of young adult novel “Dairy Queen” -- the story of a girl who runs her father’s struggling dairy farm and tries out for the high school football team. Its sequel (and third book in the series) “The Off Season” will be published this fall.

Tickets are free, and are available at Davidson’s College Union from 10-4 weekdays, and will be distributed at the door beginning an hour before the presentation.

September and October selections

Hi all!

Thanks to everyone who came last Monday to our book club discussion. It was a wonderful, ecclectic mix of women from 20-80 about the wonderful book, "Gift from the Sea."

For September, we'll be reading, "The Shadow of the Wind" by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Meeting date is TBA but will most likely be the last Thursday of the month. After getting some feedback from book club members, it looks like Monday is getting a bit difficult. And who wants to miss Dancing with the Stars!

For October, we may has well join the mayhem and find out if Dan Brown's newest and much anticipated book, "The Lost Symbol" was worth the wait. We'll be meeting in October to discuss the book that is the adult's version of the latest Harry Potter book. Buy your book early and you can get significant discounts. Look for online specials, too but definitely check in with your favorite bookseller.

As always, please RSVP by sending me an e-mail at bookclub@carolinaweeklynewspapers.com and let me know you'll be there.

See you soon!

Alison

7 Days of Kindle: Day 7: Experimental Features

Kindle offers three new cool features including a basic web browser, the ability to play MP3 files and text to speech. You can also e-mail yourself documents and PDFs and read it on your Kindle. I tried the feature and liked it a lot. It’s perfect for the commuter who doesn’t want to pull out their bulky laptop.

I liked their battery life and be sure to get the leather cover. It kept the Kindle clean and portable. There is the standard black leather but I am groovin for the purple leather cover, available at Amazon, which is delicious looking.

The result:
Would I get the Kindle right now? Maybe.

The portability factor is amazing. This is a HUGE selling point. I have to say that a few days down the line, I really miss it. And the only other piece of tech equipment I feel that way about is my iPod.

Prices just dropped to $299 but if Apple has taught us anything it’s wait for the next generation to get more features at a lower price. I love the convenience and the cool factor of the Kindle. But I really want the color screen and better navigation for the newspaper articles. I’ll be eagerly waiting for those features and then I’ll pounce.

August 2009 Book Selection: Gift of the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh

As we face the peak of summer, we all slow down just a bit more and start to contemplate life and what’s important. This is a time honored tradition of the season. Author Anne Morrow Lindbergh wrote “Gift from the Sea” in the ‘50s but her advice and contemplation rings true for women of every age and at every stage of their lives, including those living in this fast-paced millennium. Lindbergh’s key question: How can a woman blend all her roles of mother, sister, daughter and friend while still having time for herself?

It was a question the author lived her entire life. Lindbergh led a life of adventure. She is the first American woman who earned a first class glider’s pilot license in 1930 and travelled with her husband, Charles Lindbergh around the world. Their son’s kidnapping, the famed Lindbergh baby case, was the scandal of the 30s. She moved to France shortly after the kidnapping trial and went on to raise five other children.

Lindbergh remained a woman of accomplishment for decades and wrote more than a dozen books. In 2001, she died, just four years before “Gift” celebrated its 50th year in print. Join us on Monday, August 17 at Barnes & Noble at Carolina Pineville Mall at 7 PM to discuss what I like to think of as a palate cleanser for the mind and soul. RSVP by e-mailing bookclub@carolinaweeklynewspapers.com.
-Alison Woo

Author Maryann McFadden discusses So Happy Together

Hear book club favorite author Maryann McFadden discuss her newest book, "So Happy Together" during her trip to Charlotte's Park Road Books.

Author Maryann McFadden discusses So Happy Together

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Mortons: The Cookbook

Hear from Tylor Field, co-author of Mortons: The Cookbook to find out how you can bring the delicious flavors of fabulous food from one of the nation's most respected steakhouse restaurants to your home and grill.

Mortons: The Cookbook

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7 Days of Kindle: Day 6: Blogs and Magazines

With over 6,325 blogs and growing, there’s a healthy list but once again you have to subscribe (average price $1.99) and much as I like popular blog Gawker, I don’t love it that much.

The magazine selection is slimmer, with 32 titles which are mostly business and technology. But hey, even Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine (which seems somewhat odd considering the high-techie other selections) are here. At $1.49 a month, Time Magazine’s Kindle version is full-featured at a drastically reduced cost than their paper counterpart.

Green features
By now you realize I'm an avid reader. If you are green conscious at all, you realize that reading both newspapers or magazine causes problems for the environment. Sure we all recycle but I'm surprised more isn't made of the green benefits of using a Kindle. Also, not having to lug those ungainly magazines to the recylable bin is a good thing.

7 Days of Kindle: Day 5: More Books!

Using the Kindle makes reading even more addicting.

I find myself wanting to rush home, or anyplace quiet so I can switch the Kindle on and read more. Discipline is definitely needed. With Kindle's ease of ordering a book at Amazon's site, I find myself buying (or wanting to buy books) at a moment's notice.

For the record, I have bought Chris Anderson's "Free," Coelho's "By the River...," and Julia Cameron's "The Right to Write." I really want to buy Julia Child's "My Life in Paris." The sample was divine! But with only two more days left of the test, I have to pace myself.

Feature I fall in love with today: the gorgeous and whimsical screen savers which depict some of literature's greatest heros and heroines (including Jane Austen!). What a thoughtful touch!

7 Days of Kindle: Day 4: Travel and Portability

Hi everyone!

If you're wondering what happened to my 7 days of blogging, I'm here to say you'll still get them but they won't be successive. It's still going to be great, don't worry.

My blogging bonanza fell right in the middle of a trip to NYC for business. But all my travels has given me an opportunity to take the Kindle 2 out for a run in numerous conditions. I knew that the Kindle was going to save me a lot of space packing my usual books but I have to say that having it ready to read the newspaper and my several books, I think I've fallen in love.

I've taken it with me in a 12-hour car ride from Charlotte to NY, where I read USA Today and my latest Paulo Coehlo book, "By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept." And it was AMAZING and easy reading on the NYC subways. I saw fellow riders admire my easy breezy reader. With its lovely leather cover, it fits easily and discretely in my bag.

I've come to realize that the Kindle is the ultimate travel accessory.

BTW, the feature I fell in love with today: The ability to zoom in on a photo.

7 Days of Kindle: Day 3: Books

And now...what the Kindle was truly created for: BOOKS!

Kindle offers 300,000 titles, which include almost all the NYT best-sellers and some public domain work such as The Art of War, Pride and Prejudice and Shakespeare, which is free.

What I absolutely love is the fact that all books offer a sample, which can range anywhere from three to 30 pages, depending on the publisher. This try before you buy mechanism allows you to get a good feel for the book. Samples that need more pages include Julia Cameron's "The Right to Write." Three pages? Uh, no. But what was amazing was the sample from the book, "Strapless" at over 30 pages.

Prices are far less than their hardcover options and run on average from $4.99 to $9.99 per book. I wish they put the prices on the main navigation bar so you can see them before you have to click in each title. But specials abound and I don’t miss turning the pages the way I thought I would.

Features I love: include the fact I can resize the text in six directions which helps late at night, and I like the fact that the automated voice can read anything on the Kindle to you.
Features I dream of: a color screen, a volume button for the voice (it’s a tad low without earphones).

Feature that is most fabulous: The wonderful buy one get one free offers and all the other special deals Amazon offers for the Kindle. I bought Chris Anderson's new book, "Free" and got "The Long Tail" along with it. It's these kind of deals that make the Kindle the medium of the future.

I also was able to download the No. 1 NYT best-seller free, "Paranoid." It's a thriller, something I don't get a chance to read much of but at free, you can't beat the value. Somehow I already feel that the Kindle is making me a much more varied reader.

7 Days of Kindle: Day 2: Newspapers

At our recent fourth anniversary celebration of “Speaking Volumes” (Carolina Weekly Newspaper Group’s book club which I’ve been running since 2005) I shared with book club member and former librarian Felicia Lee (seen left with fellow book club member Lena Claxton) that I one of the first things I do after I open my eyes is read the New York Times on my BlackBerry. She seemed shocked. And possibly aghast.

My love for the NYT started when a substitute teacher during third grade teacher at P.S. 209 in Brooklyn cracked the code and demystified how to read the front page, pointing out that the top right corner above the fold was the lead story. From thereafter every Saturday night at around 10:45 PM, I remember going to the newsstand with my mom or dad, buying the Times and picking up some freshly made bagels and settling and starting to read the sections. It felt so exotic reading the Sunday paper on Saturday. Watching old school wrestling with the likes of Bruno Samortino added to the fare.

I was most curious what would reading newspapers on the Kindle be like.

Kindle offers 44 newspaper subscriptions with the majority (33) of them U.S. newspapers. National newspapers such as the NYT, USA Today and the Wall Street Journal are here as are many the dailies in major cities but the southeast is sorely underrepresented. The only ones offered are from Atlanta and Richmond. But if you want to read the Shanghai Daily or Le Monde, you are in luck.

I’m in a bit of a sticker shock. To read the papers on the Kindle you have to pay a monthly subscription fee, which ranges from $5.99 for the Orlando Sentinel to a whopping $14.99 for the Wall Street Journal. The Times is $13.99. While there are whole conversations within the media industry to try to monetize their online content, most newspapers (except for the WSJ which started out and continues to offer a fee-based subscription online) are free. I can read the entire Sunday NYT online with my laptop for free. The good news is that they offer a two week trial. I sign up for the NYT, USA Today and WSJ.

Kindle’s electronic ink makes it very easy to read in both direct sunlight and shade. I would love it if they would consider adding a nightlight for easier reading in bed. But with the flexibility of changing the font to six different sizes, reading was easier.

The 6 inch screen is wider than my PDA, which makes reading even swifter. What I’m not crazy about is the way the newspaper publishers display their content. On my PDA, I can swiftly scan all the headlines and choose what I want to read. On the Kindle, the content is broken down into main headlines such as Front Page, National, International, Arts and so on. I use the new five-way toggle to skim the articles and I can clip the ones I want to read later, a handy feature. But I find this lack of navigation has me hitting the “Next Page” button again and again. The effect of this feature has me reading far more than just a few articles. After an hour, I feel like I’m incredibly well read.

7 Days of Kindle: Day 1

As an avid reader, geek and techie I couldn’t resist the offer to take the new Kindle 2, Amazon’s proprietary electronic book reader, for a seven-day spin. Having recently read the book, “Julie & Julia” – where author Julie Powell cooks every recipe from Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” and blogs about it for 365 days, I felt like a week’s worth of blogging was not only doable but sounded like fun. As actress Amy Adams says in the movie version of “Julie & Julia,” ‘I have thoughts!’ And anyone who knows me knows I’m not scared of sharing them.
On Thursday, the package from Amazon arrived and I felt like it was Christmas in July. Though one should not, normally, judge a book by its cover, I like the details. The whimsical phrase on the side of Kindle’s box “Once upon a time…” suggests this will not be any ordinary technical gizmo.

My goal for the next seven days is simple: do all my normal reading on the Kindle and see how it compares. My daily reading diet consists of two daily newspapers, a dozen blogs and an array of four or five books at various stages – in addition to our book club’s monthly selection. To maintain this information influx, I use a combination of laptop, BlackBerry and lug around a duffle bag just for reading material. The idea of swapping those 10-pounds for the sleek convenience of the Kindle, which weighs 10.2 ounces, is exhilarating.

I plug in the Kindle overnight to make sure it’s fully charged and can’t wait until day 2.