The Sunday Salon... Exciting New Books from Authors I Just Discovered! The Week in Review & a Sneak Peek at The Week Ahead!

It's Sunday Morning... time to sit back, relax and enjoy a nice steaming cup of Joe. Book Bloggers are getting together in that virtual library's reading room today, as they do every sunday, to chat about all things bookish... The Sunday Salon is books, authors, and the sharing of what's happened this week in that ever changing world of publishing. This week we book bloggers didn't just meet virtually, we were able to connect at the largest publishing event in North America, the BEA or BookExpo America! AND The Book Blogger Convention! It was an exciting week in New York! I was able to get a day in at BEA and was thrilled! Meeting favorite authors, discovering new authors, meeting the great people at the publishing houses, meeting bloggers & people who just love books all under one roof! And today's Sunday Salon is about 2 of those authors I "discovered" while at BEA! I am so excited about sitting down and opening the pages of these authors! And ladies, if you love being swept back in time, you are going to love the books I'm going to talk about today!

Jennifer Donnelly was signing copies of her newest book Revolution! She was so nice as we chatted briefly about the book and Chick with Books! The YA book, Revolution, is about 2 girls centuries apart and the diary that brings them together. As part of promoting the book, each book was given with a beautiful lanyard of red silk with a key attached inserted into the book as a bookmark, a reference I'm sure to the diary. And she signed the book, "Turn the Key"! What I discovered was that Jennifer Donnelly wrote 4 books previous to Revolution (one is a children's picture book)! Her previous book, A Northern Light, is the Winner of the Carnegie Medal, the UK’s most prestigious prize for children’s literature! A Northern Light is also a Young Adult (YA) book. Her other 2 novels The Tea Rose and The Winter Rose are part of a historical fiction trilogy that starts in East London in 1888. Now about Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly... Here's how Jennifer Donnelly describes her book, Revolution, on her website...

"As you might expect from the title, the book is about a revolution. On one level, it’s about the French Revolution and one of its smallest victims. On another level, it’s about the revolution inside, about the changes we as human beings go through as we struggle to make sense of our world and its tragedies. Here's how we described the story on the book jacket:

BROOKLYN: Andi Alpers is on the edge. She’s angry at her father for leaving, angry at her mother for not being able to cope, and heartbroken by the loss of her younger brother, Truman. Rage and grief are destroying her. And she’s about to be expelled from Brooklyn Heights’ most prestigious private school when her father intervenes. Now Andi must accompany him to Paris for winter break.

PARIS: Alexandrine Paradis lived over two centuries ago. She dreamed of making her mark on the Paris stage, but a fateful encounter with a doomed prince of France cast her in a tragic role she didn’t want—and couldn’t escape. Two girls, two centuries apart. One never knowing the other. But when Andi finds Alexandrine’s diary, she recognizes something in her words and is moved to the point of obsession. There’s comfort and distraction for Andi in the journal’s antique pages—until, on a midnight journey through the catacombs of Paris, Alexandrine’s words transcend paper and time, and the past becomes suddenly, terrifyingly present."

I am so excited to be able to read this! I love stories that deal with the conflicts of growing up, but the added dimension of being transported to another time centuries before and learning about Alexandrine through her diary and then possibly a shift in time is enticing! Revolution will be officially released in the U.S. October 12th, 2010 by Random House/Delacorte. I'll be reviewing this ASAP here too! Thank you to both Jennifer Donnelly and Random House/Delacorte for receiving the advanced copy of Revolution at BEA!

One of the other authors I met at BEA that I'd like to share today with you was Deanna Raybourn. She was signing her book, The Dead Travel Fast, at the Mystery Writers of America table on thursday. She was also nice and funny, especially when her signing line was held up because Alan Orloff, who was sitting next to her, ran out of books and everyone was waiting for him to try and find more books from his publisher to sign before proceeding to her.

Deanna Raybourn writes mysteries with romance in a time period that is historical rather than contemporary. Her books have been called "British historical thrillers" by Publisher's Weekly. Her newest novel, The Dead Travel Fast, is "the story of Theodora Lestrange, a young Scottish novelist, and her adventures in 1858 Transylvania". Castles, Counts, a decaying castle, superstitions and passions are what we are promised in The Dead Travel Fast! Prior to her newest novel, Deanna Raybourn has written a series called The Lady Julia Grey Mystery Series, in which the first book in the series, Silent in The Grave won a RITA in 2008 for best novel with "strong romantic elements" from the Romance Writers of America! This is the series of books Publishers Weekly referred to as "British historical thrillers". I always love a strong female character, and that is precisely what Lady Julia Grey is! And Kindle lovers... right now you can get The Lady Julia Grey Bundle in the Kindle store at a bargain price of $9.99! That's all 3 of the books in the Lady Julia Grey Mystery Series! The next book in the Lady Julia Grey Mystery series, Dark Road to Darjeeling, will be coming out in October and Lady Julia Grey will be traveling to India. Now getting back to The Dead Travel Fast by Deanna Raybourn, this is what the Back of the Book has to say...

"A husband, a family, a comfortable life: Theodora Lestrange lives in terror of it all. With a modest inheritance and the three gowns that comprise her entire wardrobe, Theodora leaves Edinburgh — and a disappointed suitor — far behind. She is bound for Roumania, where tales of vampires are still whispered, to visit an old friend and write the book that will bring her true independence.

She arrives at a magnificent, decaying castle in the Carpathians replete with eccentric inhabitants: the ailing dowager; the troubled steward; her own fearful friend, Cosmina. But all are outstripped in dark glamour by the castle's master, Count Andrei Dragulescu. Bewildering and bewitching in equal measure, the brooding nobleman ignites Theodora's imagination and awakens passions in her that she can neither deny nor conceal. His allure is superlative, his dominion over the superstitious town, absolute — Theodora may simply be one more person under his sway. Before her sojourn is ended — or her novel completed — Theodora will have encountered things as strange and terrible as they are seductive. For obsession can prove fatal...and she is in danger of falling prey to more than desire."

I love novels set in that gothic time frame. And I can't wait to travel with Theodora in Deanna Raybourn's newest novel! And that's what is wonderful about going to event like BEA, a whole new world is opened up as a result of meeting just one new author! The Dead Travel Fast by Deanna Raybourn is available now at your local bookstore! I want to thank Deanna Raybourn and her publisher MIRA Books for my copy of The Dead Travel Fast I received at BEA!

I'll be talking more about some of the great authors and books from BEA in the coming weeks, but in the meantime you can check out my post, BEA was HOT, from this past week! Also this week I reviewed Sounds Like Crazy by Shana Mahaffey, and wrote about Shana chatting about her book with my Reading Group! It was great getting the authors perspective on her own book and being to interact about how we as a group & individually reacted to her story. Thanks again Shana! And a quick note here, there's still time to enter the GIVEAWAY for The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith, that historical thriller taking place in the brutal Soviet Union in 1956.

A sneak peek ahead... Memoir Monday features an adorable guy from Sleeping Bear Press that you won't want to miss! Mother's in particular will want to make sure they stop by! But I really enjoyed his tale too! Jennifer McMahon is touring the blogosphere and making a stop here on thursday, June 3rd, and I will be reviewing her fabulous book Dismantled. (And it really is FABULOUS!) This weeks audiobook on my iPod is WAR by Sebastian Junger, and what book do I have my nose in? Ape House by Sara Gruen!

How was your week?! And what books have you found this week!? Did you go to BEA?! Share it all here! I'd love to hear about it! In the meantime... Happy Reading! Suzanne