With the Christmas holidays underway I hope you and your families are having a wonderful time. Christmas is also a great time to get new books so I want to tell you about a book that releases this month I think you’ll like.
Author Jane Green’s 16th novel, SAVING GRACE, will be released by St. Martin’s on Dec. 30th. To celebrate this release (thanks to the lovely Meg at Tandem Literary), I have a copy of this intriguing book to giveaway. In addition, the author has a special pre-order promotion. But first, here’s a brief description of the book.
Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Press (December 30, 2014)
ISBN-13: 978-1250047335
Grace and Ted Chapman are widely regarded as the perfect literary power couple. Ted is a successful novelist and Grace, his wife of twenty years, is beautiful, stylish, carefree, and a wonderful homemaker. But what no one sees, what is churning under the surface, is Ted’s rages. His mood swings. And the precarious house of cards that their lifestyle is built upon.
When Ted’s longtime assistant and mainstay leaves, the house of cards begins to crumble and Grace, with dark secrets in her past, is most vulnerable. She finds herself in need of help but with no one to turn to…until the perfect new assistant shows up out of the blue.
To the rescue comes Beth, a competent young woman who can handle Ted and has the calm efficiency to weather the storms that threaten to engulf the Chapman household. Soon, though, it’s clear to Grace that Beth might be too good to be true. This new interloper might be the biggest threat of all, one that could cost Grace her marriage, her reputation, and even her sanity. With everything at stake and no one to confide in, Grace must find a way to save herself before it is too late.
Powerful and riveting, Jane's SAVING GRACE will have you on the edge of your seat as you follow Grace on her harrowing journey to rock bottom and back.
In the meantime, Jane is running a great pre-order promotion for SAVING GRACE, giving away a free copy of her brand new, full-color, e-cookbook, HAPPY FOOD to anyone who orders the new novel by Monday, Dec. 29. To find out more about this fascinating offer, click HERE.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jane Green is the author of fifteen New York Times bestselling novels. Her sixteenth novel, Saving Grace, will be published in the US by St. Martin's Press on December 30, 2014. Originally from London, she now lives in Westport, CT, with her husband, children, and a menagerie of animals.
For more on Jane and her writing, visit her website and connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.
GIVEAWAY DETAILS:
This giveaway is for one print copy of SAVING GRACE. The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only and will end Saturday, Jan. 3.
To enter, just click on the Rafflecopter widget below and following the instructions. The widget may take a few seconds to load, so please be patient. The winner from this giveaway will have 72 hours to respond after being contacted or another winner will be selected. The email will have ‘Thoughts in Progress – Saving Grace’ in the subject line, just so you know what to watch for (in case it goes into your spam folder).
Thanks so much for stopping by today. I hope your week has been filled with fun, family, friends, food and especially happiness. I also hope I’ve tempted you to check out SAVING GRACE a bit more and add it to your reading list. Have you read any of author Jane Green’s prior books? Did you get all the books you were hoping for this Christmas?
*This post contains affiliate links.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
I’m delighted today to share with you that author Jane Green’s TEMPTING FATE, a New York Times bestseller in hardcover this spring, was recently released in paperback.
To celebrate this event, thanks to the author and Meg at Tandem Literary, I have a copy of the book and two sets of custom TEMPTING FATE wine charms. The winner will receive a book plus eight charms (four charms per set). Each set includes a purse, a shoe, sunglasses, and a goblet. Please see the end of the post for more details.
Here’s a brief synopsis of TEMPTING FATE:
When Gabby first met Elliott she knew he was the man for her. In twenty years of marriage she has never doubted her love for him—even when he refused to give her the one thing she still wants most of all. But now their two daughters are growing up Gabby feels that time and her youth are slipping away. For the first time in her life she is restless. And then she meets Matt…
Intoxicated by the way this young, handsome and successful man makes her feel, Gabby is momentarily blind to what she stands to lose on this dangerous path. And in one reckless moment she destroys all that she holds dear.
Consumed by regret, Gabby does everything she can to repair the home she has broken. But are some betrayals too great to forgive?
Here’s what others are saying about the book:
“A scarlet letter for the 21st Century.’ – Kirkus
“Green once more proves her skill at exploring the complexities of the human heart.” – Library Journal, starred review
“Green takes things in interesting directions as she deftly explores the aftermath of Gabby’s rash, impulsive decision, making her latest a captivating cautionary tale.” – Booklist
“Green skillfully depicts a woman trapped between contentment and temptation, crafting an insightful look into married life …” – Publisher’s Weekly
Jane’s sixteenth novel, SAVING GRACE, was just released in the UK and will be released in the US later this month.
Jane is running a great pre-order promotion for SAVING GRACE in which she is giving away a free copy of her brand new, full-color, e-cookbook, HAPPY FOOD to anyone who orders the new novel by Dec. 29. To learn more about the pre-order promotion, visit HERE.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jane Green is the author of fifteen New York Times bestselling novels, including most recently TEMPTING FATE. Her sixteenth novel, SAVING GRACE, will be published in the US by St. Martin's Press on December 30.
Originally from London, Jane now lives in Westport, CT, with her husband, children, and a menagerie of animals.
For more on Jane and her writing, visit her website and connect with her on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.
GIVEAWAY DETAILS:
This giveaway is for one print copy of TEMPTING FATE and two sets of custom TEMPTING FATE wine charms. Each charm set includes a purse, a shoe, sunglasses and a goblet charm. The giveaway is open to residents of the continental U.S. only and will end at 12 a.m. Monday, Dec. 15.
To enter, just click on the Rafflecopter widget below and following the instructions. The widget may take a few seconds to load, so please be patient. The winner from this giveaway will have 72 hours to respond after being contacted or another winner will be selected. The email will have ‘Thoughts in Progress Tempting Fate’ in the subject line, just so you know what to watch for (in case it goes into your spam folder).
Thanks for stopping by today. Hope this Sunday is treating you well and you fine time to relax and enjoy the day. Be sure to check out these two intriguing books by Jane. If you have a book lover on your Christmas list, this giveaway would make a nice gift. It would also make a nice present for yourself too.
As today is Dec. 7th, I also wanted to be sure to remember the many men and women who lost their lives at Pearl Harbor on a Sunday back on Dec. 7, 1941. Many have sacrificed and continue to sacrifice so that we may be free. A special thanks and prayer for them all.
*This post contains affiliate links.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
When it comes to sports, I’m a somewhat typical girl – I don’t really care that much for it. (Sorry for the gender hypothesis.) I can watch the various types of sporting events and sometimes even get interested in it. But, I’m not what you would call a big diehard fan that has to watch every game. Well, maybe that not completely true. I do enjoy football and have been known to follow some teams pretty close.
Anyway, I’m getting away from the topic at hand – baseball and Indy racing. These are two sports that strike fun and pride in many a heart. Fans follow the players and racers with much enthusiasm. Today I have four books I want to tell you about that every sports fan should have in their library. I found the historical aspects of the books quite intriguing.
St. Martin’s Press and Thomas Dunne Books (a division of St. Martin’s Press) are gearing up for the baseball season with three intriguing books dealing with major players and how the game is played. In addition, Thomas Dune Books is offering a fascinating look at a dark day in Indy racing history. Let’s start with that.
The 48th running of the Indianapolis 500 took place 50 years ago on Memorial Day weekend, 1964. It would prove not to be a celebration of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, but rather, the darkest day in the event’s history.
A.J. Foyt was the winner of the race that day, but as acclaimed writer Art Garner details in his terrific narrative history of the events of May 30, 1064, BLACK NOON: The Year They Stopped the Indy 500, tragedy was the tone set early in the race and remained throughout.
A fiery, seven-car crash, along the straight-away on the second lap of the race took the lives of racers Eddie Sachs and Dave MacDonald. The result was that for the first time in the nearly-half century of the race, the Indy 500 was stopped. It was obvious to all that day that this crash was truly horrendous. When the announcement came from the track announcing that Sachs had died in the crash, it inspired an impromptu on-air eulogy from radio announcer Sid Collins. When MacDonald died a few hours later from the terrible burns he suffered, the true magnitude of the day was forever etched in the minds of all in attendance.
BLACK NOON brings readers behind the scenes of the events leading up to that fateful day. Informed by extensive interviews including six of the seven surviving racers, Garner brings to life the greatest names in racing – A.J. Foyt, Johnny Rutherford, Parnelli Jones, Dan Gurney, and Bobby Unser. Readers will learn of the car designs and manufacturers, the race strategy of the teams, and the psyche of the men who lived for a need for speed. MacDonald, for instance, drove a Mickey Thompson designed rear-engine car that other drivers were leery of getting behind the wheel.
The conclusion of the tragic race saw sweeping reforms to all of racing and Indy in particular. In a sport where the specter of death looms on every curve there really is no way to make the race completely free of risk. The events of May 30, 1064, cast a spotlight on how suddenly the tragic side of auto racing can rear its ugly head.
Unique aspects of the 1964 Indianapolis 500
· Winner A.J. Foyt was the last driver to win Indy in a front-engined roadster.
· Foyt went the entire race without once changing tires.
· The 1964 race was the first one shown live, flag-to-flag, on closed circuit TV in theatres around the U.S.
· Since 1965 all Indy race cars are rear-engined formula-style cars.
· The 1964 Indy 500 was the last race before the switch from gasoline to methanol.
BLACK NOON: The Year They Stopped the Indy 500
By Art Garner
On Sale: May 6, 2014
Price: $27.99
Pages: 352 plus 8-pages black and white photo insert
ISBN: 978-1250017772
A THOMAS DUNNE BOOK
From 1955-1977, opponents of the Baltimore Orioles knew that they were at the plate, the crack of the bat and a sharp hit ball down the third baseline, invariably meant … an out. Many a stand-up double died in the vacuum glove and pinpoint arm of third baseman and Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson.
In an era of baseball heroes that truly could be looked up to with respect, Brooks Robinson stood out among the crowd. Doug Wilson, a member of the Society for Baseball Research (SABR), and lifelong fanatic of the game, returns to baseball’s Golden Era to pen what is truly the first complete biography of the Orioles quiet gentleman superstar in BROOKS: The Biography of Brooks Robinson.
Robinson grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas, to a family that instilled a sense of hard work and appreciative accomplishment in him. From the beginning of his career he never took anything for granted and was devoted to improving every facet of his game. He was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles, and played his entire 23 year career with the Orioles retiring as a Baltimore legend. In this day and age of free agency and salary-dump trades, that achievement alone by Robinson may never be seen again. While this loyalty is unheard of today there are so many other accomplishments as well that stand out in one of the great careers in MLB history.
BROOKS covers how the start of Robinson’s illustrious career aligned simultaneously with the birth of a franchise that would become a model of greatness in its own right. Having moved from St. Louis in 1954, the Orioles were in need of identify. When the following season saw them select a young kid from Arkansas in the player draft hopes were high he could become a building block for the franchise. What a building block he became. More than two decades later and 2 world championships (coupled with 18 All Star game appearances, 16 straight Gold Gloves, a league, World Series and All Star MVP award, and the friendly face of a franchise), it’s safe to say the Orioles were well rewarded for picking Robinson.
BROOKS takes readers back to an era when player’s salaries were hardly astronomical, often putting many players in the position of having a second job in the off season. Wilson also takes into account the turbulent 1960s and 1970s, the dawn of free agency, and labor unrest that would change the game and the perception of the fans. Through it all, though, Brooks Robinson remained a model of professional decorum and a player all fans could look up to.
Wilson’s efforts, through the life and career of Brooks Robinson, reminds up there is a right way for a man to go about his job both in the public eye and behind the scenes. Playing the game the right way and honoring what it means to wear a major league team’s uniform has been the hallmark of the life and career of one of the game’s greatest players and greatest gentlemen: Brooks Robinson.
BROOKS: The Biography of Brooks Robinson
By Doug Wilson
On Sale: March 4, 2014
Price: $26.99
Pages: 352
ISBN: 978-1250033048
A Thomas Dunne Book
THROWBACK is an inside look at big-league baseball and how the game is actually played – as opposed to how we think it’s played – from the perspective of three-time All Star major league catcher Jason Kendall.
Written with the Kansas City Star’s Lee Judge, whose website, ‘Judging the Royals,’ has an enormous following, the book shows baseball fans what to look for when they watch a game. In talking with Jason Kendall, Judge discovered that despite a fan most of his life, and covering the game for many years, there are enormous differences in how ballplayers see the game from sportswriters and fans.
Kendall and Judge take the reader through all the details the manager and his coaching staff have to pay attention to including game preparation for pitchers, catchers, infielders, and outfielders. They discuss the strategy of calling pitches, advancing the runner, how hitters and runners have to prepare and focus.
The language of the game vividly comes to life for the reader. Most fans know that coming after a hitter means the pitcher is aggressively throwing fastballs to the batter, but what does squeezing refer to when players say it? Station to station is easy – advancing a base runner one base at a time, but what do the players mean when they say getting big? And then there’s the non-verbal side of the game the players and coaches use like their own foreign language. All the answers and inside tips to this secret signage are all told with great humor, care and respect for the game by the authors.
THROWBACK is loaded with all the insider signs and lingo of the game, as told by one of the straightest straight shooters to play in the majors. After devouring this book you will feel like a major leaguer, even if you might never get the bat head around on a big league curve ball. This is one of the more unique and fun baseball books to come along in ages and fans of all levels of the game will love every page.
THROWBACK: A Big-League Catcher Tells How the Game is Really Played
By Jason Kendall and Lee Judge
On Sale: May 13, 2014
Price: $25.99
Pages: 304
ISBN: 978-1250031839
A St. Martin’s Press Book
When our nation celebrated its 200th birthday in 1976, it marked a year in which the United States hadn’t been involved in an active war for over 12 years, the radio airways saw an overflow of songs dedicated mostly to carnal pleasures, TV comedies started getting a little more daring, clothes became more outrageous with disco on the horizon, and baseball saw a re-birth like it hadn’t experienced in decades. Award-winning journalist and esteemed pop culture chronicler Dan Epstein takes the reader back in time to an amazing year of baseball – amazingly wonderful and amazing crazy – in STARS AND STRIKES: Baseball and America in the Bicentennial Summer of ’76.
By the 1976 season, baseball was beginning to be defined by big afros and long hair, by cookie-cutter multi-purpose stadiums that truly did look exactly alike, and by more than one team donning some of the most hideous looking uniforms the game has ever witnessed. Oh, and Astroturf, way too much Astroturf. The ’76 season also saw a clash between the last feel-good moments and outrageous personalities of the game as well as the looming labor angst and the full onset of wide open free agency. Change had subtly been taking place, but by the end of that 1976 season much of the game’s innocence would be lost forever and baseball would never be the same again.
Each chapter of STARS AND STRIKES is titled for a famous song of that year and the baseball exploits covered therein truly follows the theme of the songs themselves. Along with baseball coverage, Epstein also highlights the events of the world around the game of baseball: Olympic exploits, a new President signaling the end of the Watergate era, busing riots, the trial of heiress Patty Hearst, the tragic Legionnaire’s Disease outbreak in Philadelphia, and so many more.
STARS AND STRIKES: Baseball and American in the Bicentennial Summer of ‘76
By Dan Epstein
On Sale: April 29, 2014
Price: $ 28.99
Pages: 400 plus an 8-page black and white photo insert
ISBN: 978-1250034380
A Thomas Dunne Book
Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you are having a safe and joyous holiday (whether you celebrate Easter or not). If you’re a sports fan, I hope these books grab your attention. If you’re not a sports fan, maybe the history aspect will draw you in. Do you think baseball (and sports in general) has changed for the better or worse?
In the meantime, Jane is running a great pre-order promotion for SAVING GRACE, giving away a free copy of her brand new, full-color, e-cookbook, HAPPY FOOD to anyone who orders the new novel by Monday, Dec. 29. To find out more about this fascinating offer, click HERE.
