Holiday Books! How do YOU Choose?

Hank PHILLIPPI RYAN: I was at the bookstore yesterday, signing THE WRONG GIRL (thank you!) and in between customers, and trying to spot what other books people were buying at the same time.

Research, right?

What I saw, over and over, was exactly the same thing.  For those who went to the big display of books in the middle of the store, their procedure became fascinatingly predictable.

1. Pick up book

2. Flip to back cover

3. Open to inside cover

4. Look at first page of book

And then, the critical moment 5: Sometimes they’d put he book down and try another.

Sometimes, they’d put the book into their basket. A sale.

It was all I could do not to say--excuse me? Could you tell me what just went through your mind? It'd be so fascinating to know.

What connects a potential reader with the story? What will clinch the deal?  It’s clear it so different for each individual, right?

When I saw the list of the Girlfriends new books, I had a bit of the same experience...there were some I instantly loved.

Because I am a hard-working novelist, I burst out laughing at:

PURSUING THE TIMES:

Lauren Baratz-Logsted

“All that popular Chick-Lit author Mercury Lauren wants is to have one of her books reviewed by the New York Times Book Review - just one - and she'll do almost anything to get it. In this contemporary romantic comedy, with a nod toward Pride and Prejudice she crosses swords and hearts with the Editor-in-Chief of the NYTBR in a madcap adventure that takes her from her home in Westport to a yoga retreat to a golf course in Florida. Will she get what she wants and will she finally be happy if she does? Only one thing's for certain: nothing will stop her from Pursuing the Times.”

And because I LOVE an original idea, I’m tempted to get this one by Lauren Baratz-Logsted for my grandson:

THE SISTERS 8: “A nine-book series about octuplets whose parents go missing on New Year's Eve leaving the Eights, as they are known, to solve the mystery of what happened to Mom and Dad while keeping the rest of the world from realizing that eight little girls are living home alone.”

Because I love the concept of The Daddy School”—rats, I wish I had thought of it, how about:

FATHER FOUND by Judith Arnold:  “Jamie McCoy's syndicated column, "Guy Stuff," keeps thousands of men in a macho frame of mind. But the day Jamie finds Samantha on his doorstep, his life changes drastically. Samantha is a baby. Jamie knows nothing about babies. He phones Allison Winslow, a nurse who runs the Daddy School, for advice. But when he actually meets Allison, he finds he wants much more than her assistance.”

And finally, because the synopsis tells the story instantly—and you can just picture the whole hilarious thing right?

SECRET CONFESSIONS OF THE APPLEWOOD PTA By Ellen Meister

“When a Hollywood location scout comes to Applewood, Long Island, and announces that the local elementary school might make the perfect backdrop for an upcoming George Clooney movie, the PTA's decorum crumbles like a cookie from last week's bake sale.”

So you can’t go wrong with the Gitlfriends’ books! Check them all out  (click to see a big list) for the ones perfect or you-and your gift recipients!  say it at every event—“A book makes a perfect gift!” 

Happy shopping all…and happy reading.

photo by Iden Ford HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN is the on-air investigative reporter for Boston’s NBC affiliate. She’s won 30 EMMYs, 12 Edward R. Murrow awards and dozens of other honors for her ground-breaking journalism. A bestselling author of six mystery novels, Ryan has won multiple prestigious awards for her crime fiction: the Agatha, Anthony, Macavity, and most recently, the coveted Mary Higgins Clark Award for THE OTHER WOMAN. National reviews have called her a "master at crafting suspenseful mysteries" and "a superb and gifted storyteller." Her newest thriller, THE WRONG GIRL, is a Boston Globe bestseller

and was dubbed "Another winner" in a Booklist starred review. She’s on the national board of Mystery Writers of America and 2013 president of national Sisters in Crime. Visit her online at HankPhillippiRyan.com, on Twitter @hank_phillippi and Facebook/HankPhillippiRyanAuthorPage.