It was the middle of August this year when I saw the first sign of the end of summer. No, the leaves hadn’t started turning yet. The local supermarket had all its Halloween candy on display. And outside it was ninety degrees in the shade!
Sigh.
Volume 299 of Select Editions, which we’ve just begun shipping to our subscribers, is our first Autumn volume, even though we do date it as August (for those who look at the fine print). In fact, the way we work, we’ll be shipping this volume to readers across the country literally for the next two months. So some readers might receive it the first week of September, while others won’t see it until toward the end of October. At which point that Halloween candy that’s been sitting in the supermarket since August will start looking a little more appropriate, even if it is a little long in the tooth. (And I for one will not care. I will eat a Snickers bar at the drop of a hat no matter how old it is. They keep well enough for me.)
I mention all this timing because, if you get an early shipment, you might be taken aback by the inclusion of a holiday story, Donna VanLiere’s The Christmas Promise. Yes, it is a little early even if you receive it in October, but if do you receive it before the kids have even gone back to school it’s not because we’re nuts, but because we have that long shipment spread. Save it till you start feeling the need for a little seasonal lift. Or read it right away if you want a lift regardless of the season.
The other books in the volume do not have such seeming ties to a particular date. It’s always the right time for a James Patterson blockbuster, and who doesn’t like to drop in on Lisa Scottoline’s entertaining Philadelphia lawyers? And last but far from least, a debut novel, Final Theory by Mark Alpert, a thriller about the ultimate—No. I won’t tell you much about this one. Let it take you for its ride on its own terms.
Happy Autumn!
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3 comments:
I happen to have Select Editions #299, and I am reading it right now. It was a gift from Reader's Digest, for which I want to say thank you once again. I've read the first 3 stories by now -- Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson, Lady Killer by Lisa Scottoline and The Christmas Promise by Donna VanLiere. I liked all the 3 of them. The Christmas Promise was so touching, that it brought tears into my eyes. I am yet to read Mark Alpert's Final Theory, and I sense I will love it too. These authors were not familiar to me until I received this book as a gift, and I am so glad I had the chance to discover them.
Another Select Editions collection which I have in my personal library (also courtesy of Reader's Digest) is #302, from February 2009, with "The Brass Verdict" by Michael Connely, "Crossroads" by Belva Plain, "Guilty" by Karen Robards, "Hannah's Dream" by Dianne Hammond. Looking forward to reading it soon.
I've just read Mark Alpert's "Final Theory", from Select Editions #299. Although I am not a big fan of scientific thrillers, I love thrillers in general, so I enjoyed reading this story too. While reading it, I caught myself thinking that the FBI aren't exactly in their best light in this book. And I couldn't help but wondering if the FBI actually do questionable acts sometimes, just "for the sake of national security"...
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