….by Karna Small Bodman
This famous book by Dale Carnegie made such an impression on me that I have given copies to members of our family when they reached those impressionable teenage times.
Decades later I remember receiving a copy of an exciting thriller by one of my (now) favorite authors, Nelson DeMille. I became a true fan of his writing when I read his ‘breakthrough” novel written a long time ago, The Charm School. More recently, I was happy to get to know him when we were both signing at the big publishers’ convention, Book Expo, in New York. (Later he graciously gave me a “blurb” for my second thriller, Gambit).
What about this coming Christmas? What books should we give to our own family and friends? And since there are some three million (!) books published every year, how in the world can we figure out which ones to select? Should it be word-of-mouth, marketing ads extolling the virtues of a particular story, appearance on a bestseller list or perhaps personal comments made by other bestselling authors or reviews by well known publications?
When it comes to New York Times bestselling authors, one place to look is our own list of guest bloggers who have been “In the Rogue Limelight.” And one of the best-known, whose latest novel, The Midnight Line, has been on a bestseller list for weeks now is our friend, Lee Child. He loves to collect and read wonderful books — check out this shot of his library:
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| Author Lee Child |
Let’s also check out reviews and comments about particular novels you could consider giving as gifts this year:
“Breath-taking suspense,” — Catherine Coulter on Red Sky by www.ChristineGoff.com
“Authentic settings, non-stop action,” — Steve Berry on Trojan Horse by SLeeManning.com
“You get hooked on page one,” — Nelson DeMille on The Assassins by www.GayleLynds.com
“One of my favorite characters,” — Lisa Gardner on Blood Run by JamieFreveletti.com
“A holiday tour with an ocean view, complete with a murder mystery,” — Publishers Weekly on
Death in Nantucket by FrancineMatthews.com
“Unparalleled story-telling,” — Clive Cussler on The Freedom Broker by www.KJHowe.com
Books are my favorite present, too. How wonderful to get the gift of excitement and imagination. I love that Iceland has a tradition of giving books on Christmas Eve and then spending that night reading.
Karna, what a wonderful list! And I love the Little Golden Book you included! I don't think I've ever celebrated a holiday season without giving and receiving books–not once. (I love my family of nerds.)
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I love the book Christmas tree! We give books every year and my favorite thing to do is to search for books in the bookstore and I must admit, I end up getting one (or two) for myself. Have a wonderful holiday!
PS. Deleted first comment when I saw a typo. Couldn't let it stand and retyped!
I loved the progression of your blog about books as gifts during the holidays, Karna. I have such fond memories of both the Dale Carnegie book and the Nelson DeMille book. And I loved seeing the list of Rogue books, too. You told a great story in the blog, and that's what all of us try to do in our books, too. Merry Holidays to all!