Suzanne Beecher originally founded her Dear Reader club to help her busy employees squeeze in a bit of reading by sending them bits of books she was reading in her daily emails to them. Now anyone can sign up for this free club at Dear Reader . Each week features one book -- a five-minute read each day that adds up to 2 or 3 chapters by Friday, usually enough to decide if you want to buy the book or check it out of your local library. There are several genres to sign up for. If you don't have a favorite genre, try Pre-Publication since it gives you a mixture of all types of books. And read Suzanne's blogs -- she has periodic giveaways and contests -- I'm dying to win the homemade chocolate chip cookies she gives away each month.

In the mood for free books?

Try Author Buzz , a special service by Dear Reader that spotlights 3 to 6 authors each week. The spotlight that leads to the author's website often offers a contest for free books, author meetings with your book club, or something really unusual (I remember past contests giving away everything from chocolate to weekends at Bed and Breakfasts to T-shirts). You can also check out The Great American Book Giveaway, which gives away different books each week at http://bkgiveaway.gather.com/. You have to click through three pages before you reach the page where you choose your possible prize by clicking on a dot under a book and entering your email address.

My Bookshelf

Well, I've finished To Kill a Mockingbird. I know what I'm supposed to say, "It was a fabulous book … I loved it … It's in my top 10." Isn't that what everyone says? Truthfully … while reading it, I liked it … the characters were well developed … I probably won't read it again. As I type that, I feel like a traitor to American literature. Perhaps a balding little man wearing spectacles and toting around an armful of books will knock on my door and tssk-tssk at me when I open the door. Are some books masterpieces, or is it all subjective? How much is a matter of opinion? How do we decide which books we like and which we don't? The older I get, the more I think that our own lives are as big a factor in how much we like a book as things like plot, subject, and character development. We read through the filter of our own experiences that determine if we "connect" with a book. Several readers have suggested books for me, but I've started with Kris Radish's book The Elegant Gathering of Snows. According to Sara, a big fan, "She's a "chick lit" writer with a twist -- more about empowering women and the importance of female friendships than "young girl moving to a big city" kind of stuff." I'll let you know!

Kris Radish, photo by Deone Jahnke