What do you know about our Children/Young Adult section?

Did you know that we have books ranging from pre-school bedtime stories to the classics?

We also have reference books, art and science, travel and culture, biographies and true life accounts, as well as animal books, career choices, horror, fantasy, mystery and a large selection of "chapter books."

There is some very interesting, informative and fun reading in this section. And don't forget our Book Buddy program that gives our youngest readers an opportunity to get books free just like mom, dad or the grandparents!

We hope that you will check out this section the next time you are in the store. It is never too late or too young to begin reading and books are always good gifts!

Customers' Hints – take advantage of our free paperback or "half-off" deals to try books written by a new author. It may often be difficult to venture from the tried and true, but when your favorite authors cannot write as fast as you read, it may be time to add someone new.

My own newest find is Jennifer Chiaverini, who writes the Elm Creek Quilts novels. Her stories revolve around quilting and the very real lives of the quilters. I enjoyed the warmth and wit of these stories of friendships, and discovered an interest in quilting.

I also rediscovered Fannie Flagg this year. A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg was my favorite Christmas book this year.

Since my favorite romantic suspense authors don't write fast enough, I've decided to turn my attention to mystery books. I quickly read all the Sue Grafton and Janet Evanovich books, which I found very enjoyable. Then I had to search for some more mystery authors that wrote books that weren't too scary or gory.

I have in fact found some authors I really enjoy…

Robert Crais writes a books featuring Elvis Cole, Private Investigator and Harlan Coben writes books featuring Myron Bolitar, Sports Agent. The books by Crais and Coben offer "who done it" with a touch of humor. Kathy Reichs writes books featuring Dr. Tempe Brennan a forensic anthropologist.

If you are searching for new mystery authors I recommend you try any of the ones I've mentioned above. I think you will enjoy them.

Thanks to your support and recommendations we have a growing number of new Book Again customers.

If you are new to Book Again, you are probably still trying to sort out all the specials and amenities that we offer. For instance, did you know that for every $10.00 you spend you are entitled to a free paperback?

Did you know that for every 15 receipts saved you receive a free paperback? Have you checked into our credit policy?

Have you brought your children in? They can become Book Buddies and receive free books also.

Have you been stumped trying to find a new author or genre? This is where Book Again really shines.

Not only do you have the services of our helpful personnel, but also many of our customers are willing to share their information and preferences.

So, welcome to the store! We know that it won't be long before you, too, will be recommending and steering new customers to further reading enjoyment. And, of course, if you ever have any problems, Barbara, Diana and Sheryl are always on hand to serve you.

Recently I was introduced to some authors who lean toward lighter, more contemporary romance. Romance where the heroine gets to make the decisions leading to romance that is fun and lighthearted but still Spicy!

If you are a take charge woman who enjoys lots of laughs and love along the way then these are some of the authors you might start reading – Valerie Frankel, Lori Devoti, Emma Gold, Carly Phillips, Jennifer Cruise, Hailey North and Lori Foster.

Remember, with books you are only a page away from your familiar authors if you are not delighted with some new ones. And free-bees are a great way to try someone new…

I have some of our customers at Book Again to thank for several hours of great reading. Based on their recommendations, I have found three authors that I really enjoy:

• James Patterson has written dozens of books, but I enjoy his series about Alex Cross, a Washington D.C. Detective, the most.

• The series of books featuring Harry Bosch, a rather unorthodox L.A.P.D. detective, are my favorite Michael Connelly books, although he has written many other great books as well.

• Stuart Woods has written a series of books featuring Stone Barrington, former detective, now attorney/investigator, that are also very good.

As you can see I like reading novels featuring police detectives. I always find it fun to start with the first book in the series and read them all in order. If you enjoy this type of fiction, I would recommend any of these authors.

Reading books by authors I am unfamiliar with can make me feel almost impatient at times. I sometimes find it hard to move away from the comfort I get when reading a familiar author. Nonetheless, I have been trying a number of new authors of late; finding some that I enjoy.

I now will recommend some of these "finds" to you.

For a good fast-paced mystery that is hard to put down, I like books by Julia Spencer-Fleming. I find them very original and unpredictable with clever twists at the end.

For lighter reading, I enjoy the "cozy" mystery, but I want it to have some substance. For this, my choices are the coffeehouse mysteries written by Cleo Coyle and the Lois Meade Mysteries written by Ann Purser. Lois Meade is a housecleaner in an English village as well as a wife and mother of three and becomes involved in solving mysteries in spite of her best efforts. Although similar to other "cozies," I thought this series was well written with excellent characterizations.

My last recommendation is not a mystery but a warm and funny Southern tale – actually several tales – by Dorothea Benton Frank. She wrote Sullivan's Island, Plantation, and Shem Creek.

Mystery writers seem to need more than just their writing skill to survive these days. "Gimmick" writers are becoming more prevalent.

Diane Mott Davidson, Joanne Pence, Joanne Fluke, Nancy Fairbanks feature food with recipes. (Wish I could whip up a meal from freezer to table as rapidly as they do!) Food seems to be the most prevalent of the gimmick topics and the authors I've mentioned are only a few who combine their mystery with food.

Monica Ferris offers needlework patterns, Earlene Fowler involves quilting with her mysteries and Maggie Sefton gives us both knitting and recipes.

Crossword puzzle buffs will enjoy Parnell Hall who writes the Puzzle Lady mysteries.

You don't have to do any of the extracurricular activities. The bad guys will get caught without your participation, but if you enjoy doing any of the projects, this is another source for a bit of fun.

These are only a few of the "gimmicks" popping up in the mysteries.

All are light reading and very entertaining.

"First, let's kill all the lawyers."

Had we done as Shakespeare suggested, there would be no legal thrillers to entertain us. What would we do without the skilled prosecutors and the dedicated defense attorneys dealing with crime? Fortunately there are many great authors in this genre to sample.

Most of us have enjoyed the excellent courtroom dramas of John Grisham and Scott Turow, but are you familiar with the works of Lisa Scottoline? Set in Philadelphia, the all-female law firm of B. Rosato & Associates (Benedetta Rosato, Mary DiNunzio, Anne Murphy, et al) handles a wide variety of cases. The ladies are tough yet softhearted, and the action is fast paced with sharp, witty dialogue.

For local flavor, try Rebecca Forster's "Witness" trilogy. Her protagonist is Josie Bates, volleyball playing defense attorney who resides in Hermosa Beach. Complex characters and unexpected plot twists make for satisfying reading.

William Bernhardt has Tulsa lawyer Ben Kincaid in the "Justice" series involved in cases dealing with environmental issues, hate crimes and media interference. Steve Martini features skilled litigator Paul Madriani and Robert K. Tanenbaum has New York City D.A. Butch Karp.

I recommend all of these authors for complex plots, colorful characters and exciting courtroom scenes. So brush up on your legalese. You just never know when you might be called for jury duty. Enjoy!

A customer once asked me this question, and after some thought I realized the books I personally would describe as "best" are usually found in our literature or "oversize" section. I thought I'd share a few of my favorites with you...

I just finished Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. This book portrayed 19th century China culture so vividly that as I read, it became very real to me (although their culture some 150 years ago couldn't be more different than mine).

As the story develops from a young girl's Milk Years to her Sitting Quietly and the intricacies of relationships, thoughts and ambitions enfold, the differences disappear because now I could understand and see our similarities.

This book held my interest, taught me and was thoroughly enjoyable to the end. Some other titles that I recommend are The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Bel Canto by Ann Patchett, The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, and Miss Maggie's Whole New World by Miriam Kinsey.

Hi, it's Diana and my turn in the review box again. I'm not at all into sci-fi or horror, but I do like stories that sit in the middle. Those tales of the supernatural and terror-filled powers that cause the monsters in our brain to wonder "What if."

Jay Bonansinga's The Killer's Game is about a serial murderer. One who has seemingly crossed the time barrier? The frozen body of a man, found after a landslide, is discovered to have been murdered, several thousand years ago. Police are puzzled at the similarities of this murder to a series of recent murders.

With all evidence pointing to global warming, what if a thawing occurred? In Jeff Rovin's Fatalis a nightmare is about to begin for humankind when one of the most feared predators makes a comeback.

DO NOT read these books before going to bed. Daytime, with all the lights on and the doors locked would be good. Let your imagination go and have fun (?) with these thrillers.

Two wonderful books that I just read and loved are Digging to America by Anne Tyler and Can't Wait to Get to Heaven by Fannie Flagg.

Both books have humor, wonderful characters and much food for thought in these beautifully spun stories.

One is about two adopted Korean children and their respective adopted families who meet first in the airport as they meet their new children. The other book has many surprises as it weaves through the life and mishaps of a town's loved octogenarian. As of the writing both books are at Book Again in hardcover.

Let's be honest. Did you really read every page of Herman Melville's classic novel Moby Dick when it was on your assigned reading list? I admit that I didn't. I might have skimmed through Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities and a few of William Shakespeare's plays as well, but no more!

It's a New Year, and reading the classics has been added to my list of resolutions. I suggest that you add it to yours also. You know that you've always been meaning to read them, so why not start now?

The classics feature adventure, science fiction, mystery, romance...all the genres that we love. Try reading about the adventures of Phileas Fogg in Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days or experience time travel in H.G. Wells' The Time Machine. Ray Bradbury continues to excite us with his science fiction stories, and you can't beat Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes for mystery. There's romance in Jane Austen's Sense & Sensibility, D.H. Lawrence's Women in Love and F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.

All of these books are currently available in our classics section. Pick one up and start 2007 in classic style.

Ever wonder what the first book of your favorite mystery series is? Or what other books your favorite mystery characters appear in? There is a great website that can help you out:
www.stopyourekillingme.com

This great site boasts numerous sections, but by far the most popular are the Author Index and Character Index. You will find these just under the site title. A simple click on the intuitive alphabetical index brings up lists of authors and sub-lists featuring the selected author's mystery books (listed chronologically, separated by character if the author has more than one series).

If you forget the author's name, use the Character Index to search by the character's name.

Clicking on the Read Alikes link (found on the left-hand side of the web page) helps if you are looking for a new author. This section acts as a handy tool, suggesting other authors you may like based on known authors you currently enjoy (along with a similar tool based on book categories). This relatively new section is frequently updated.

The only negative is that this site is only for mysteries – I haven't heard if there is such a resource for other genres. If anyone knows of such, please let us know.

A big thank you to all our wonderful customers who share tidbits of knowledge such as the Stop You're Killing Me website!

Of course your free book stamp is good at any time – it is yet another great benefit of shopping with us! For every $10 you spend at Book Again (in a single purchase) you earn one free book stamp on the back of your receipt – good towards a free "mass-market" sized paperback book (A "mass-market" sized book is simply the traditional paperback size, and not the larger "trade" paperbacks). This program saves you more and is a great way to get introduced to a new author or genre!

So why would I tell you, "No, don't use your free book stamp on that book"? Well, I feel impelled to do so when I see people cheating themselves by using the stamp for a budget book (which is only 50¢) or a book that is half-off (due to a Daily Special or sale). With all of the marvelous incentives offered by Book Again, there's really no way you can lose, but we just want you to get the best value for your dollar.

If you still want to use your free book stamp during a sale or on a budget book, please understand that its perfectly fine to do so. Just don't let Diana know...

I love a great mystery and a good laugh. Put the two together and you'll get my favorite author, Janet Evanovich. Her novels are fast paced action stories with laugh-out-loud moments. Irresistible heroine Stephanie Plum of Trenton, New Jersey, is the Lucy Ricardo of bounty hunters complete with an outrageous cast of colorful characters.

Now I admit that I'm a Jersey girl who went to college with Janet back in the 60's, but you don't have to be from Jersey to enjoy her writing. Start with One For The Money then Two For The Dough, and you'll be hooked. The latest book, Lean Mean Thirteen, involves the disappearance of Dickie, Steph's ex-husband. Since she recently threatened him with bodily harm, she's the #1 suspect. Love interests Joe Morelli, Trenton cop, and Ranger, super bounty hunter, add to the fun and help solve the mystery.

Maddy Hunter and Donna Andrews are two other favorites of mine. Both combine murder with hilarity and oddball characters. Maddy Hunter has Emily Andrews, tour escort for her grandmother's senior group from rural Iowa, discovering murders wherever they go. Begin with Alpine For You and Pasta Imperfect through G'day To Die, and you'll laugh your way through several countries.

Donna Andrews' protagonist, Meg Lanslowe, is a wrought-iron artist who encounters birds and dead bodies in every mystery. In Murder With Peacocks she returns home to be in three weddings. In We'll Always Have Parrots she's at a sci fi convention for her boyfriend's TV show.

On the more serious side, I've recently enjoyed James Patterson's The Fifth Horseman. I love all of his thrillers and think that he's a terrific storyteller. In this book The Women's Murder Club returns dealing with unexpected deaths at the municipal hospital in San Francisco. The Last Victim by Kevin O'Brien is imaginative and suspenseful. A serial killer pursues a senatorial candidate, his twin sister and their high school friends who share a terrible secret from the past. I also liked Tess Gerritsen's Vanish. Dr. Maura Isles discovers a Jane Doe corpse in the morgue who is still alive. This is a tense, powerful story of a hostage situation and multiple murders.

I hope that a few of my favorite authors interest you. I've picked up all of these books at Book Again and hope that you will too. Enjoy!

Fantasticfiction.com is another web site that has been brought to my attention. It is a site for all fiction readers and encompasses all genres of fiction – romance, mystery, science fiction, suspense, fantasy and general. You can access an author by "Browse Author" or "Search Authors" if you know the name, or by "Search Book" if you know the book title or even just the important words in the book title.

If you access by "Browse Author", the listing gives you all authors whose last name begins with whatever letter you click on. It tells you if he/she has a new book out, number of titles published and genres he/she writes in. Click on the name for a listing of titles.

There are asterisks on the left beside some of the authors. I have not figured out what they mean, and have not found a legend on the site that tells me. If you do, please let me know – thanks).

Then, if you have the time and/or inclination, check out the various sections (like "Top Authors" – it lists 250) for some enlightenment.

Romance books are not just for women anymore!

Author Sherrilyn Kenyon has a Dark-Hunter series about vamps and other night creatures – good vs. evil. She also has a bad series about undercover police with lots of action. All her stories are wonderful and very romantic (they are romance books after all).

Suzanne Enoch has authored a five book series about a billionaire and a cat burglar, a fun and romantic read.

Some other favorite authors include Judith McNaught whose books are so enjoyable they are literally hard to put down. Joan Johnston writes western romance and when you read them you feel as if you are in the old west along with the cowboys – yum!

Lorraine Heath writes both regency and western romance – all wonderful reads, but you should always have a hanky ready.

I could go on and on, so stop by on Thursdays or Fridays and I will be happy to help you find that perfect romance novel.

African safaris offer much more than the viewing of the "Big Five." Likewise, Book Again offers much more than it's "Big Five" (Romance, General Fiction, Mystery, Science fiction and Literature). The store has a large selection of Non-Fiction categories that include, Arts & Crafts, Cook Books, History & Military, Travel & Memoirs, Biographies, Animals, Ethnic Studies, Humor, Films and Music.

If your authors are not keeping up with your reading, now is the time to check out some of the books in one of these areas. I defy you to NOT laugh while reading Tim Allen, Erma Bombeck or Dave Barry. You will be touched by the story of "Ishi" a Northern California Indian who makes cautious contact with the "white eyes" after spending several years alone as the last member of his tribe.

True Crimes are often much more suspenseful and full of mystery than what you may already be reading.

So venture out in this New Year to a new genre. Let us know what you find on our shelves at Book Again.

My favorite find – although not a new author – is Jacqueline Winspear, who wrote the Maisie Dobbs novels. I think its important to start with the first in the series, which is titled Maisie Dobbs.

Her books are in our "Mystery Oversize" section (our often-overlooked section which although small in size holds many interesting titles).

Jacqueline Winspear has won many well-deserved awards for her novels, which appeal to those who love a thoughtful and well-written book – not just a mystery.

Another new author that I have enjoyed when I feel like a very light and funny (silly) book is Rita Lakin. Her first book is Getting Old is Murder and is set in a Jewish Florida retirement community.

In this refreshing and fun series, Gladdy Gold and her friends, all in their 70's and 80's, romp through a mystery in each book. Though I love this series, I can only recommend it to those of you harboring a silly streak.

It's officially time for those lazy, hazy days of Summer – so whether you're heading down to the beach or staying at home by the pool, don't forget to take along a good book to relax with. You'll find yourself travelling through a world of adventure, solving complex mysteries or experiencing a hot new romance without having to spend a dime on gas!

New thrillers by Lee Child and Harlan Coben are sure to entertain. Child's latest, Nothing to Lose is the twelfth in the series of books featuring ex-military cop Jack Reacher, while Coben offers Hold Tight and The Woods to keep you on the edge of your seat – and if you're an Alex Cross lover as I am, be sure to pick up a copy of James Patterson's Cross and Double Cross.

You'll find yourself laughing out loud while reading Janet Evanovich's latest entry in the Stephanie Plum mystery series, Fearless Fourteen; or with last year's wonderful Lean Mean Thirteen (now in paperback). Another funny and suspenseful novel is Daddy's Girl by Lisa Scottoline, taking place in a female Philadelphia legal firm.

Always-popular romance writer Danielle Steel's newest paperback Sisters centers on four women returning to New York from all parts of the world to deal with a family tragedy.

Creation in Death by JD Robb follows futuristic police Lt. Eve Dallas as she pursues a ghoulish killer, while Sherrilyn Kenyon's latest dark hunter romance Acheron is set to debut this August.

Hopefully I've given you some good ideas for your Summer reading – or perhaps a good biography of Marilyn, Frank or Bruce will be more to your pleasure. Maybe you prefer Sci-Fi or Westerns. You'll find them all here at Book Again. And students – remember your Summer reading lists and be sure to check out our Classics section.
Whatever genre you choose, I hope you delight in a good read and have a great summer!

Sheryl asked me to write an article about sci-fi/fantasy. I think sci-fi is a mix of science, the future, and possibilities; fantasy is a mix of dreams, different times, and possibilities. Something for all of us. They are for adults and young people alike, whether the adventure is futuristic or fantastic.

My favorite fantasy writer is Mercedes Lackey. Her heroes are regular people, be they female or male. She is prolific, trying to beat Isaac Asimov's total number of books published. Arrows of the Queen was the first I read, and loved them all. This Valdemar premiere novel is about blue-eyed telepathic white horses that selects its rider/partner to work for the queen.

If you want lots of action, check out David Sherman's and Dan Cragg's Starfist series. The authors are former vets with experience and knowledge.

Robert Charles Wilson's Axis and Spin novels are great reading. Axis won the HUGO for best novel. It is recommended you read this trilogy in order. Classic sci-fi.

Our sci-fi fantasy area is well stocked with a variety of authors. Please check out our series and anthology section. Treasures are to be found there. Reading an anthology is an easy way to check-out new and various authors.