Romancing Tulsa With Best-Selling Author Susan Elizabeth Phillips

If you're a fan of lighthearted romance fiction, then Susan Elizabeth Phillips may be right up your alley. Known for her sense of humor and sexy storylines, Phillips is the only author to win the Romance Writers of America Favorite Book of the Year Award four times. In our store she can be found in the Contemporary Romance section located in the north room of our building, just behind Gatsby's Grill.

SEP, as she's known to her fans, has written over twenty novels, seven of which are part of the Chicago Stars series, including the ever popular Nobody's Baby But Mine, the story of a physics professor pursuing a football player and getting more than she bargained for.

One of her stand alone novels, Ain't She Sweet?, follows the story of an unconventional heroine: Sugar Beth Carey, who was once the "wild child of Parrish, Mississippi" and is now a thrice-divorced woman driven home by poverty. Still as strong and sassy as ever, Sugar Beth is still not the girl she used to be and must face the mistakes of her past.

Phillips' latest novel Call Me Irresistible is the latest in a collection of books that includes Fancy Pants and Lady Be Good. Two days after her new book's release, SEP will be appearing at Hardesty Regional Library, Connors Cove on January 20th, from 7pm to 8pm. Copies of her books will be available for purchase, and there will also be representatives from the Tulsa Night Writers and the Romance Writers Ink to answer questions about local writing groups. For all you fans and budding writers, this event is free and all ages, but seating is limited so don't be late!

Happy Holidays!

The Holidays are in full swing at Gardner's! Come check out our holiday displays for great gift-giving ideas. Do you have any mystery-lovers on your list?





Any cooks or crafters?





Art lovers or film fans?





We've got something for everyone, so be sure to swing by this holiday season! We also have sales going on all the time which you can keep up with via Facebook, Twitter, or even our handy-dandy calendar.

NEW BOOKS IN DECEMBER

Dead or Alive by Tom Clancy 12/7/10

There are terrorists who pose a serious threat to western civilization, and the most dangerous of these is the Emir. Armed with new recruits, Jack Ryan, Jr. & his colleagues at the Campus are going to get him, dead or alive.




Witch and Wizard: The Gift by James Patterson 12/13/10
Once held captive by the totalitarian regime known as the New Order, Whit & Wisty are now leaders of a hidden community called the Resistance. The One wants Wisty because she is “The One Who Has the Gift,” but there’ s just one problem: she doesn’t know what that means.

Dead Zero by Stephen Hunter 12/28/10
The latest book in Hunter's Bob Lee Swagger series. Swagger is recruited by the FBI to stop a man known as the Cruise Missile from reaching his target: a warlord now loved by the State, Administration and the Agency, but who months earlier tried to kill the Missile. Swagger slowly realizes the man he is hunting may just be in the right.




The Outlaws by W.E.B. Griffin 12/28/10
There are many things the intelligence community can't (or won’t) do & that’s where Charlie Castillo comes in. Such is the case when a FedEx package arrives containing photos of barrels of the most dangerous biohazard materials on earth...that had supposedly been destroyed. Who has them?

Don't forget, Gardner's gives more trade credit for new releases than for other books, so be sure to bring them by once you're done!

From the Booksellers' Bookshelves: What are you reading right now?

“I’m on book 30 of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series: an amazing 32 book adventure with trolls, dwarves, witches, wizards, golems, vampires, werewolves and pretty much any other mythological creature you can think of. Each book is hilarious and puts forth a fantastical vision of our modern society and its blunders.” - Charles, Front Counter Supervisor

"Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. It’s very dramatic & well-written, & it’s like everyone who met him had really positive things to say about him.” - Lora, Gatsby’s Waitress

DECEMBER MOVIES (based on books!)



Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Rated PG)

Lucy and Edmund return to Narnia, this time with their cousin Eustace. Prince Caspian is now King Caspian, and they must accompany him on an adventure that will take them to the edge of the world. In theatres December 10th.

Howl (Rated R)

Who knew that writing a poem would cause this much trouble? James Franco stars as Allen Ginsberg in this film that saw limited release earlier this year and is finally coming to Circle Cinema on December 10th.



Pygmalion (Unrated)

Snobbish Henry Higgings makes a bet that he can transform a poor flower-seller into a society lady. Based on the play by Bernard Shaw, this 1938 film is not a musical. Another film brought to us by Circle Cinema as part of their Essential Arthouse program on December 20th.

Gulliver’s Travels (Rated PG)

Gulliver, a hapless travel writer, stumbles upon a land whose inhabitants are only six inches tall. Jack Black stars in this modern reimagining of Jonathan Swift’s satire, due in theatres December 22nd.


"The whole of life is just like watching a film. Only it's as though you always get in 10 minutes after the big picture has started, & no-one will tell you the plot, so you have to work it out all yourself from the clues."
Terry Pratchett



Gatsby's Grill

Gatsby's Grill is having a holiday special during the month of December with $1 off any pie or cake! And with treats like this Reese's peanut butter pie, I don't know what I'm supposed to do with myself.

I'm playing with how often our blog updates, so that's all for now. In the meantime, don't forget to go see Ian McEwan this Saturday at Central Library!

December Sneak Preview - Ian McEwan

Ian McEwan is one of Britain’s most distinguished novelists. A contemporary fiction author, McEwan can most often be found within our bookstore in the Literature and Bestseller sections. He has written eleven novels and two short story collections, over 50% of which have been adapted into films.

His first published work was a collection of short stories entitled First Love, Last Rites (1975) which won the Somerset Maugham Award. One of the stories, “Solid Geometry,” was produced as a play in 1979 and later as a short film in 2002. His first novel was The Cement Garden, a disturbing story about four children who conceal their parents’ deaths to avoid being taken into state custody. After being shortlisted a number of times, in 1998 he won the Booker prize for Amsterdam, a morality tale about the intertwining lives of a newspaper editor and a composer, both of whom become obsessed with revenge. One of his most famous books is Atonement, and in 2007 this story of a young woman’s tragic mistake and her quest for atonement was adapted into a highly acclaimed film starring Keira Knightley, James McAvoy and Vanessa Redgrave. In 2010 he published Solar, a satirical novel whose protagonist is a Nobel-prize winning physicist.

Ian McEwan will be giving a presentation and signing at Central Library downtown on Saturday, Dec 4^th at 10:30am on the second floor. This event is free, open to the public and will have copies of his books available to purchase.