A few weeks ago, we asked RIFers to send in video reviews of their favorite Jean M. Auel book, and we were so excited when the videos started coming in! We’re thrilled that Jean M. Auel and her publisher have made advance copies of the highly anticipated sixth book in Jean M. Auel’s Earth’s Children® series available for the Read It Forward community. Before you enter for a chance to win a copy of The Land of Painted Caves, take a few minutes to watch our RIFer video book reviews. They’re personal and heartfelt and fun – and if you’re a fan of the Earth’s Children® series, you’ll love hearing other readers talk about how much Jean M. Auel’s books mean to them.

My third book, Ever By My Side, germinated from a desire to recognize and celebrate some of the unsung mentors of my life, both on two legs and on four. I’m talking about family – the one I grew up in and the one I have created – and all those animals along the way that I came to think of as my own pets. Ever By My Side is my attempt to share those moments in a lifetime in which the actions of a human or an animal changed my perspective and left me with a lesson I would never forget. In sharing their legacy, I’m really saying “thank you” for all the opportunities that have shaped my life.

I didn’t set out to create a world-class, kick-ass heroine, it sort of just happened. And it wasn’t until feedback started arriving from test readers that I even clued in to how strong – and perhaps unusual – Vanessa Michael Munroe is, or why it was that she is set to take her place within a small constellation of remarkable female characters. With the reviews have come the comparisons: Jason Bourne, Lara Croft, Lisbeth Salander, and Sidney Bristow.

In Bhutan, emadatse is a bit like making red sauce is around my Italian side of the family. Everyone has their own slightly different ’secret,’ and everyone thinks theirs is the best! This recipe comes from my friend Karma Dem of Good Karma Catering, who grew up in the Haa district of Bhutan. Try it only if you dare!

You could call Learning to Swim suspense. You could call it a psychological thriller or literary mystery, or a combination of these. Someone told me this book is a lot of things: a crime novel and a suspense novel; a woman’s book and a love story; the story of a lost child and the story of self-discovery. I like to think of it as a book that will speak to a lot of people.

Calling all fans of Midwives, The Double Bind, and Secrets of Eden! Chris Bohjalian is on tour, and it’s not to be missed: a “rock-and-roll, get your t-shirts” book tour! (We have photographic evidence to prove it!) Check Chris Bohjalian’s calendar of events to see if he’ll be in your area in February.