For what to read... Book reviews, recommendations, news, opinion, fun, and more from The Book Studio's book reviewers and commentators.
Giveaway: "Role of a Lifetime" by James Brown

We've got ten copies of "Role of a Lifetime: Reflections on Faith, Family, and Significant Living" by James Brown -- yes, THAT James Brown, meaning he of The NFL Today, not he of music.
THIS James Brown continues to grow in the path he's following, so this week's giveaway question is:
What is the next goal you'd like to meet -- personal, professional, or spiritual?
Friday Reads Giveaway: And the Winner Is...
Our winner of last week's #FridayReads giveaway will receive TEN new hardcover books from our major major stash at The Book Studio. (I told you that if we got to comments from 500 unique commenters, that I would do this -- and we reached 503!)
That winner, chosen with the help of Random.org, is...
@WriteMeg!!!!
Congratulations, Meg -- Please email your real name and snailmail addy to me: TheBookMaven at gmail dot com. I'll make sure your box of TEN books is on its way to you quickly.
Thank you all for contributing, participating, and supporting #FridayReads. We'll do more giveaways in the months to come.
Fast Forward: Feb 1-5 round-up
A Conversation with Bethanne Patrick

I think that when we taped this interview I had just finished gaining all of my winter weight. I know that I'd just gotten an unfortunate haircut!
Am I a little preoccupied with myself? Perhaps that's because...I'm interviewing myself! My wonderful, patient, longsuffering producer, Mark Jones, was quite eager to have me subjected to the old Book Studio Treatment the minute he learned I had a book coming out last fall. (For those of you not barraged by my tweets about "An Uncommon History of Common Things," which I co-authored with John Thompson, you can get much more info and buy the book with this linked sentence.)
Read more »DC Events 2/5/10 - 2/11/10
This week in DC, the main thing we're talking about is the copious amounts of snow we're supposed to receive this weekend. But there are still some great author events going on - Ann Mah, Sarah Blake, reality TV star Lauren Conrad, and Dylan Landis are some of the authors that are going to be in the DC area this week!
A Conversation with Therese Borchard

Therese Borchard has written a book that is a fascinating amalgam of memoir and advice. I don't want to call "Beyond Blue: Surviving Depression and Anxiety and Making the Most of Bad Genes" a "self-help" book, because even though Borchard has included lots of ways for people with depression and anxiety to help themselves, she'd be the first to say that anyone with mental illness needs outside help and support.
Borchard built her platform as an author the very hard way: She earned it through years of suffering with manic-depression. She channeled some of her lessons in her popular "Beyond Blue" blog for Beliefnet but in this new book, she also offers hope to those with similar difficulties.
Read more »"The Unbearable Lightness of Scones" by Alexander McCall Smith

The transatlantic cousin to Armistead Maupin’s Tales of a City series returns with an airy update on the eclectic residents of the 44 Scotland Street series. The Unbearable Lightness of Scones is an ideal book for a long flight, a busy schedule or the avid fan. Like a letter from a distant cousin, it can be consumed in one sitting or easily put down and picked back up again without really losing one’s place.
Read more »In the Green Room: Today's Interview Tapings
I've been tweeting for a while about specific interviews I'm about to do, but this a.m. when I mentioned the subjects of the books rather than the authors' names, a Twitter follower asked for a link. I was momentarily flummoxed, thinking "Link? But there isn't one?" Then I remembered: I have the ability to create a link a bout this! What a concept
This blog category will allow me to pull aside the curtain a little and tell you which authors are showing up on the same day. ANY author promotion is good promotion, as far as I'm concerned, after all.
It's funny how bookings work: There are taping days when I have all female novelists, or all memoir writers, or four political books...themes emerge effortlessly. Today, my guests are three nonfiction authors whose books have big themes: Birth, God, and War. Here they are!
Read more »A Conversation with Dolen Perkins-Valdez

To the women who are slaves and mistresses of their owners in "Wench" by Dolen Perkins-Valdez, the merest mark or sign can mean the difference between danger and safety, whether they're inside or outside, with loved ones or alone, above or below the free zone. A letter signals joy, or heartbreak; a pretty gown can be a reminder of lowly status -- even a small kindness may portend a great tragedy.
In other words, Lizzie, Reenie, Teesie, and Mawu walk on eggshells nearly every moment of their lives. While they tread carefully, Perkins-Valdez does not: She has reclaimed the power these women were never allowed to have in a carefully crafted and fiercely honest novel about the hypocrisies that existed during the years the United States of America was a nation that allowed human slavery.
Read more »Friday Reads: Top Ten List
We've been conducting the #FridayReads hashtag crowdsourcing experiment for long enough now that it's no longer an experiment. Friday Reads is here to stay, and Friday Reads has something to say!
Oops, excuse me. I forgot myself for a moment. Back to my point (and I do have one).
My favorite thing about Friday Reads is seeing how many different books are in play at any one time. People are reading frontlist, backlist, borrowed books, ARCs, used books, classic literature, romance novels, YA books for adults, and so forth. However, each week as I track the comments, I do notice that some books get more than one mention. Sometimes a title gets just two shout-outs, sometimes more than a dozen.
Read more »


In reply to Harold S. Kushner, Lonnie B. Williams wrote:
I have read most of your books. I find this one to be a contradiction of some of the (...)
3 days 6 hours ago
In reply to Giveaway: In the Confessional, Raquel wrote:
I'd like to know who really was Jack the ripper
3 days 9 hours ago
In reply to Giveaway: In the Confessional, Here Be Dragons wrote:
I'd love to know all Houdini's secrets!
4 days 2 hours ago