August 4, 2021 | Issue #53 |
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Winter Wonderland Subscription Box
Three of the Fab Five (Mary Kay Patti & Kristy) have new books coming this holiday season! Here is your opportunity to be among the very first to read these books just as they are released—and to obtain loads of exclusive extra swag available only to those who subscribe! This package is available for purchase only through our friends at Nantucket Book Partners.
Books will ship when they release this fall.
For the one-time flat-rate charge of $82, subscribers will receive:
- An autographed first edition copy of each book
- A QR code distributed only to subscribers which grants access to a private recorded presentation together with all three authors discussing their books
- An exclusive Friends & Fiction coffee mug
- A package of Friends & Fiction branded hot chocolate
- A book club kit sent with each book containing discussion questions, a letter from the author, a recipe, and other special content
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Five Facts from Our Friend, Lauren Willig
The one thing you’ve learned you can’t live without during the pandemic:
My coffee machine! When New York locked down early last March, I was approaching deadline on BAND OF SISTERS with a kindergartner who was suddenly tackling remote school and a two year old who didn’t understand why we couldn’t leave the apartment anymore (he kept pulling me to the window to point to the playground). The first thing I ordered when I knew we were going into lockdown? Well, lots of dinosaur nuggets. But after that, the next thing I ordered was a Nespresso machine and pods. And thank goodness for it. BAND OF SISTERS was brought to you by a combination of those blue Nespresso pods and hazelnut flavored creamer.
Your perfect day:
One in which I get to drink tea and read other peoples’ books, preferably while prone.
Your favorite independent bookstore:
Do I really have to pick just one? Some sailors have a girl in every port; I have a bookstore in every city. Some of my favorites include FoxTale in Atlanta, the Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale, Murder by the Book in Houston, Diane’s Books of Greenwich, Vero Beach Book Center in, well, Vero Beach, and Bookmarks in Winston-Salem. My three locals are the Corner Bookstore in NYC (my childhood bookstore!), Shakespeare & Co. on Lexington Avenue (dangerously located en route to nursery school pick-up—sure, I’ll just throw another three books in the stroller basket!), and Split Rock Books in Cold Spring, NY.
The last book you raved about:
Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club: it’s the love child of Midsomer Murders and those old Britcoms like As Time Goes By, an absolutely charming mystery novel with a madcap sense of humor that thoroughly understands human nature and all the quirks thereof.
Your next book in ten words or less:
More forgotten American heroines! Nurses and journalists in the Spanish-American War.
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Bookseller of the Week
Shakespeare & Co.
Our featured independent bookseller of the week is Shakespeare & Co., the iconic Manhattan bookstore founded in 1983. Its Lexington Ave. store has been a staple on the Upper East Side for more than 20 years and now has a café and the patented Espresso Book Machine technology, which can produce on-site bookstore-quality books in minutes from a catalog of over 7-million in-copyright and public domain titles. Get 10% off with code FRIENDSANDFICTION this week on featured titles including BAND OF SISTERS by our guest Lauren Willig as well as on new and recent titles from the Fab Five. Visit the specially curated F&F page on the Shakespeare & Co website to SHOP NOW!
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Latest News From "The Fab Five"
KRISTIN HARMEL is taking the week (mostly) off after a whirlwind month of live and virtual touring. Her son starts kindergarten next week, so this week, they’ll be having plenty of fun adventures together to soak in the final magical days of summer.
PATTI CALLAHAN is in the North Carolina mountains where her phone barely works and she is enjoying the quiet while preparing for this October’s release of Once Upon a Wardrobe. She was honored that BOOKLIST’s review was so beautiful saying, “This is a heartwarming tale...for any reader who enjoys looking at the stories behind our favorite childhood stories.” She also helped her mom download forty years of home videos so prepare for awkward family photos on social media.
What Patti is Reading: Alice Hoffman — all four of The Magic Series!
MARY KAY ANDREWS is winding up a week of vacation/busman’s holiday on Cape Cod and Nantucket where she was thrilled to hang out with fellow authors like Elin Hilderbrand, Nathaniel Philbrick and Nancy Thayer.
What Mary Kay is reading: Second Wind, by Nathaniel Philbrick
KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY is heading to the NC mountains for a few really fun in-person events, some time with her extended family, agent and, hopefully, one Ms. Patti Callahan! She hopes to see lots of F&Fers at her events!
What Kristy is Reading: The Wedding Veil (coming 3.29.22) by an author you might have heard of… Kristy Woodson Harvey! Seriously. Morning, noon and night. It’s all she’s reading.
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An Original Essay by Kristin Harmel
Each week, the Friends & Fiction authors take turns
writing an essay for Parade.com, the online home of
Parade magazine.This week, Kristin wrote a letter to her son, Noah, as he starts kindergarten. In it, she talks about the lessons she hopes he learns—and the kindergarten lesson we can all take with us throughout our lives.
Dear Noah,
Next week, you’ll begin one of the most exciting journeys of your life as you walk through the door of your kindergarten classroom for the very first time. You might see tears in my eyes as you move away from me; you might even see my chin wobble a bit as I try to hold back the emotion. But don’t worry; I’m not sad. I’m proud. I’m so proud of everything you are, and of the enthusiasm with which you’re facing this next big adventure.
This year you’ll learn about reading, writing, coloring, adding, subtracting, and those ever-elusive scissor skills (which I’m still not all that good at myself). But you’ll also learn so many things that can’t be found in a curriculum or in a book—and so many of them are simple lessons that adults sometimes forget along the way. If you can hold tight to the basics, and apply them to every area of your life, I think you’ll find yourself on a path that is strong and true.
Here are some of the things I hope you’ll learn this year—and carry with you always:
To continue reading Kristen's column, click HERE.
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Listen to the F&F Podcast!
Coming soon! Out this Friday, August 6th!—Join Ron Block in conversation with acclaimed memoirists Lisa Donovan (Our Lady of Perpetual Hunger) and Wayetu Moore (The Dragons, The Giant, The Women).
Out Now! WB_S1E8—Join Ron & MKA as they sit down with Jean Hoanff Korelitz, author of the book that the HBO sensation The Undoing was based on, as well as the hot new instant New York Times bestseller and Tonight Show Summer Reads Pick, The Plot, just released this May. LISTEN NOW!
Out Now! WB_S1E7—Celebrate grilling month with Ron & Kristy as they interview Chef and the Farmer restaurateur, cookbook author, and television host Vivian Howard. LISTEN NOW!
Out Now! WB_S1E6—Ron talks to author MJ Rose about her books and former career as an ad exec and to Pauline Hubert, the founder of the popular book club app Book Movement. LISTEN NOW!
Listen, download, subscribe, rate, review & share wherever you get your podcasts!
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News from the F&F Official Book Club
Don’t forget to join us this Friday 8/6 at 7pm ET for Happy Hour with Ron Block on the Official F&F Book Club page!
Have a look at our monthly book club schedule through January 2022! All sessions are at 7 pm ET. Save the dates!
Aug 6: Happy Hour with Ron Block
Aug 16: The Forest of Vanishing Stars with Kristin Harmel
Sept 20: The Bookshop at Water's End with Patti Callahan Henry
Oct 1: Happy Hour with Ron Block
Oct 18: Second Star to the Right with Mary Alice Monroe
Nov 15: Once Upon a Wardrobe with Patti Callahan Henry
Dec 3: Happy Hour with Ron Block
Dec 6: The Santa Suit with Mary Kay Andrews
Dec 20: Christmas in Peachtree Bluff with Kristy Woodson Harvey
Jan 17, 2022: The Sweetness of Forgetting with Kristin Harmel
If you missed our live book club chat on Monday July 19th with Mary Alice Monroe about The Summer of Lost and Found and her middle grade book The Islanders co-written with Angela May click HERE to watch it.
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And Now a Word from our Partners |
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WELCOME STORYPOINT WINES!
It's “The Summer of Storypoint” on Friends & Fiction! Each week through the end of August, the after-show will be called “Sip & Stay with Storypoint” and will be sponsored by Storypoint Wines. This distinctive collection of flavorful wines—Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, and Chardonnay—from California’s best growing regions, seeks to champion stories that inspire. After all, many great stories and ideas unfold over a shared bottle of wine. The experience of a wine—like that of a good book—should tell you something, invite you to discover new things, and surprise you. So, stick around after the show each week all summer long where we will indulge in stories, sips, and surprises!
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Friends & Fiction Merchandise
THE F&F MERCH STORE IS HERE!
Our merch is here!
Cozy cotton with a flattering v-neck and our signature Friends & Fiction logo, these comfy
t-shirts are the perfect way to show your
Friends & Fiction wine sippies are available and shipping now from Oxford Exchange!
But that’s not all! We also have F&F 20oz travel tumblers for on-the-go coffee of drinks!
We can’t wait to see you model your merch!
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CONNECT WITH THE FRIENDS & FICTION HOST AUTHORS! |
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