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A comment about National Coloring Book Day (August 2nd) in the Bookreporter newsletter on July 31st inspired lots of reader feedback. Please find below a selection of the comments that we heard, and see photos of some of our readers coloring and their work. Also, be sure to check out our latest bookshelf, "20 Coloring Books for Adults: Inky Adventures, Stress Relievers, Mandalas and More" and our roundup of some of the best supplies for coloring, "Passion for Coloring: What to Color With?"

Following up on a contest that we ran in March, we reached out to several groups that had read THE POCKET WIFE by Susan Crawford and won a visit from the author. THE POCKET WIFE is a psychological thriller in which Dana Catrell, a woman suffering from bipolar disorder, is shocked to find that her neighbor has been brutally murdered and is even more stricken when she realizes that she was the last to see her neighbor alive. To make matters worse, there are some big gaps in her memory, which begs the question: Could she have done it or is there still a murderer out there? 

On Monday night, in anticipation of the release of Paula McLain's CIRCLING THE SUN, readers enjoyed a lavish spa evening at Elizabeth Arden's The Red Door sponsored by Random House. I had the fortune of attending with a dear friend --- and audiobook lover --- Jamie Carroll, and we had a wonderful time.

This past Saturday, more than a hundred readers trekked up to beautiful Hudson Valley for Random House’s latest reader event, “Off the Page.”  Although Random House has been inviting readers into their headquarters for years, this time they took the party to the stylish Basilica Hudson, a stone’s throw from the Hudson Amtrak train station, where attendees were invited to listen as authors discussed their latest works, participate in workshops and even do a bit of shopping.  I had the fortune of attending Off the Page with former Bookreporter intern Matthew Burbridge, Bookreporter reviewer Vivian Payton and Carol Fitzgerald.

Two things we love here at The Book Report Network are book groups and audiobooks. So when we heard that Andrea DeWerd’s loves to listen to audiobooks of her book group's selections, we couldn’t resist asking her to tell us all about it! Here, Andrea shares some background on her group --- where they meet, how they choose books, some of their best discussions --- and explains why she started listening to books in the first place...and why she's hooked.

A few weeks ago, author Jamie Brickhouse joined Jennifer Ferguson and her group for a discussion of his memoir, DANGEROUS WHEN WET. Jennifer was kind enough to share some of the highlights of the evening, including some of the topics her group discussed with Jamie, how having the author at their meeting changed the conversation (for the better!), and why DANGEROUS WHEN WET works so well for book groups. She even shares tips for making the most of an author visit. And scroll all the way down to see a photo of Jamie and the group.

I'd venture a guess that there's a good chance you text --- a lot. Maybe at lunch or before you go to bed, but probably while you're doing other things, too --- "listening" to your teacher talk about the Civil War, sitting at the office or even walking, biking or driving. In his book A DEADLY WANDERING, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Matt Richtel explores a "texting-while-driving" incident that claimed the lives of two rocket scientists in 2006 and the greater influence of technology on the human mind and society. See his blog post below, where he discusses the book --- it will definitely make you think twice about your own texting behavior.    

In February, ReadingGroupGuides.com ran a special contest in honor of the publication of Deeanne Gist’s TIFFANY GIRL --- where the plot is centered on the construction of Louis Tiffany’s famed Tiffany Chapel. We gave one group the chance to win dinner and a discussion with the bestselling author. The winners were the newly named “Rambunctious Readers,” a small group in Orlando, FL, who seem to live up to their lively name! Book group leader Barbara Leach was kind enough to share some of the highlights of Deeanne’s visit, including an enlightening dinner and a trip to the Tiffany Chapel itself! Barbara also shared lots of wonderful pictures with us, which you can see in the gallery below.

The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books was held on the sunny USC campus over the weekend of April 18-19th. The festival has been taking place for 20 (!) years now, and Bookreporter.com reader Kathy Jund has been going for 12 of them. Here, the seasoned attendee tells us all about the LATFOB (which she humorously refers to as her “Disneyland”) --- including her favorite panels, Billy Idol, and why she’s so pleased that there’s a greater YA presence at the event. Considering the festival took place in Los Angeles, we couldn’t help but ask about its Hollywood visitors, and Kathy was more than happy to indulge us! Scroll all the way down to view our gallery of Kathy's wonderful photos.

“Fun, sun and literary soirées…” The First Annual Palm Beach Book Festival kicked off last weekend in West Palm Beach, Florida. Award-winning author Sandra Balzo --- best known for her Maggy Thorsen mystery series --- was in attendance and was kind enough to do some sleuthing for us. Here, Sandy shares what made the festival such a huge success, her favorite panels and panelists, and what an honor it was to represent her late fiancé, crime writer Jeremiah Healy, who had served on the festival’s advisory board and to whom the mystery panel was dedicated. She also took tons of amazing photos, which you can view in the gallery below.