Rites of Summer

Summer is in full swing here in D.C., and this has been a very family oriented one for us so far. Last weekend, we went to the community pool where my husband spent every summer of his childhood (this is a new concept to me. We didn’t do the community pool thing in Florida). This past weekend, we went to a family reunion on the shore and ate a lot of blue crabs. Mmmmmmmm… I know, I’ve made you jealous already, right? I’m trying to enjoy seafood while it lasts. I’ve got high hopes for the state’s efforts to revive the crab population, but I can’t help but think we’re facing the end of an era. S.B.’s uncle participates in the oyster gardening efforts as well, and it was cool to see those oysters I enjoy at all family holidays growing in the beds he has set up under the dock. You know how most people have a picture from their wedding of the bride and groom feeding each other cake? we have one of us feeding each other oysters. We’ve basically given up eating meat in this house, but I just can’t kick the seafood habit.

Sometimes I wonder if I’ll be an old woman, telling my grandchildren about the amazing things we used to eat that came out of the ocean. Little wonder there’s so much seafood-eating in Rites of Spring (Break).

Speaking of, today is the day of my big signing at the Rockville, Maryland Borders store. Metro accessible, food and fun, see you all there!

In related news, reader reactions and web-based reviews have been popping up all over online (and yes, they have spoilers, so click through at your peril):

• From Bookdaze: “The very fact I’m finding time to post this in the midst of Wimbledon mania is an indication of how much I adored this book.” She goes on to say she stayed up all night reading it and it was one of her favorite books of the year.
• From Liza, who won an early copy (spoiler-free): ” I loved Rites of Spring (Break) and can’t really tell much about the book without giving away great information.”
• From Finny: “Gasping, I snatched the book off the shelves, cast a furitive look over one shoulder to see if any other neurotic book-lover was going to sprint towards me, screaming “Nooooo!” as she tackled me to the floor, ready to wrest the book from my grasp! But since I spotted no one about to do anything of the sort, I clutched the book to my chest and — without caring about appearances, or the fact that I had my $2000 MacBook in my bag, and have never been blessed with an ounce of coordination — I took off in the direction of the register.” Love the enthusiasm!
• After she reads it, she reports back: “I confess: I think she’s terrific. The ’she’ I refer to could be applied to both the author of Rites of Spring (Break), the phenomenal Diana Peterfreund, and to her lead character, Amy “Bugaboo” Haskell. In the third installment of the Ivy League Novels, RoS(b) continues to dish out the intrigue, the developing romance, and a side helping of humor to make a rather satisfying read.”
• Anna K Jarzab writes: “Diana’s new book in the super-fun Secret Society Girl series, Rites of Spring (Break), came out on Tuesday but I cheated and went to the bookstore on Monday hoping they’d already put it out, which they had. I finished it in a two-day gulp.”
• Harriet Klausner is as spoilerific as usual (she gets a few facts wrong, too, but that’s HK for you): “somehow author Diana Peterfreund insures her myriad of secondary players, including a family and another group not mentioned above, have differing traits. Still this is Amy’s tale as she finds her senior year RITES OF SPRING (BREAK) initially prank-filled but soon dangerously deadly. Over the top absolutely, but fun.”
• Finn of The Good, the Bad, and the Unread, admits being lost because she hadn’t read the first two books, but calls it “an intriguing story” and gives it a B grade. [Note: Sorry, Finn! If you’re looking for more inner workings of the society, it’s probably best to read the first one, where they get initiated, since this book they spend most of their time on vacation from all that.]
• Kimberly Swan of Darque Reviews says: “Ms. Peterfreund offers fans a well-detailed world, and packs her latest book with non-stop danger and mystery. There’s a delicious bit of romance added to the mix that will both surprise and delight. Rites of Spring (Break) is a dose of campus life with secret societies that readers won’t soon forget.”
• JenWriter, who is injured (get well soon!), hasn’t read it, but says all kinds of nice things about the series as a whole: “I bought them at the same time, way after their releases, and read both over the course of one weekend. Actually, that’s not quite correct. I didn’t read them. I devoured them.”
• Lisa Baca of Romance Reviews Today says: “RITES OF SPRING (BREAK) is an entertaining quick trip into college life at an elite university. Classes, final papers, applications for grad school, secret societies — all this and the personal and secret society life of the main character are portrayed in clever, witty terms. I find this third installment to be the best of the series that includes SECRET SOCIETY GIRL and UNDER THE ROSE. It gives insight into what Amy learns about life and more is revealed about some of the “seemingly perfect” lives of her fellow knights. Amy is quirky and endearing, her insecurities and shortcomings make her more real to the reader.” She puts it on her list of recommended reads for summer, too.
• Night Owl Romance gives it a “Five Hearts” Top Pick and says: “ I loved this book. Ms Peterfreund’s writing style is easy to read and you just want to see what will happen next. She brings just the right feel to college life, the worry of what next along with the fun of not having any real responsibilities. When Amy’s books are destroyed due to Dragon’s Head and her not wanting to try to explain this to her parents, Rose and Grave members immediately start taking up a collection to replace them. This is truly college life.” And adds: “This is the third book of a series. I haven’t read the previous books and still loved this one. While things that happened in the previous books are mentioned, you don’t really have to know exactly what happened to enjoy this book. In fact, I’d love to go back and read the previous books as this one was so good.”

I loved reading these reviews and am adoring the spoiler thread, which is still going strong. Thank you guys so much for reading! I’ve gathered from there and the emails I’ve gotten that the, um, shower scene is just as popular as it was with my early readers (see acknowledgments). Go figure!  Who would have thought Hitchcock was so right?

Kidding!

Kinda.

See (some of you) at the signing tonight!