Welcome to the Revish newsletter, where this month we're focussing on quality over quantity (that's our excuse for running out of time before the copy deadline, and we're sticking to it). We've got four fabulous books available for review, two of which we can send to readers worldwide, so no matter where you are why not drop us a line if either of them pique your interest? If you want to receive any of the books listed just email team@revish.com with your postal address and we'll do the rest - all you have to do is agree to post a review of the book on Revish within 4 weeks of receiving the book.

We're also delighted to announce a partnership with Yedda to bring an exciting new 'Ask and Answer' feature to Revish. As part of AOL Yedda has an enormous potential community and now you can take advantage of their wisdom by asking anything about books, reading or anything else that takes your fancy. More below.

In this issue:

• Revish Ask and Answer - Q&A in partnership with Yedda
• The Assigned Visit, by Shelley Fraser Mickle
• Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul, by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Debra Poneman
• We Are Now Beginning Our Descent, by James Meek
• The Adagio, by Alan K. Austin
• Site news
• Next issue - more stuff

Revish Ask and Answer in association with Yedda

We've been thinking a lot lately about ways of making Revish a little more engaging, so were thrilled when the opportunity to partner with Yedda presented itself a couple of weeks ago. For those of you who don't know, Yedda is part of AOL and is best described in their own words:

Imagine you could connect with someone who knows the answers to your questions, on any topic, at any time.

In short, if you've got a question which is in any way related to reading, books, writing, or anything else vaguely to do with what we do at Revish, then the 'Ask' bit of Ask and Answer is for you. You get to tap into the combined knowledge of Yedda and AOL's massive user community, straight from Revish.

On the flip-side, if you're well-read and like to help other people out, there are always plenty of questions needing answered. Just browse the list of recently and frequently asked questions on Revish, and answer any that you can.

In time we've got plans to extend the Ask and Answer feature to individual book and author pages, so please send us any feedback you have and suggestions for improving the service.

Visit Ask and Answer at Revish

The Assigned Visit, by Shelley Fraser Mickle

As young, passionate students in the same Harvard writing class, Susan Masters and Caleb Montiel make a pact: if either lives out a story too emotionally intense to handle, they will give it to the other to write. But the turmoil of the Vietnam era separates them, even as their two stories begin to intertwine.

Twenty years later, Susan,now a successful novelist,receives a box of journals, a record of Caleb's social service on the Mississippi Gulf Coast following the devastation of Hurricane Camille--and of his secret, transforming love not only for the people and the place, but for Grayce Chadwick, a beautiful young wife and mother, extraordinary and irresistible to Caleb. Susan embarks on writing Caleb's story - which mirrors the complicated shame the nation suffered during the Vietnam years - only to find it still entwines with her own. The Assigned Visit is a portrait of how deep emotion endures across both time and distance.

We've got copies of this book to send worldwide.

More on The Assigned Visit at the River City Publishing website

Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul, by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Debra Poneman

For anyone who has watched America's best loved television show, here's a collection of captivating stories that take you into the hearts, minds and souls of the Idols, the fans, and the team that makes the show possible: Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul: Stories from the Idols and their Fans that Open Your Heart and Make Your Soul Sing by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Debra Poneman.

Stories from Idols and their fans for everyone who believes in a dream. . . with stories from Carrie Underwood, Clay Aiken, Jordin Sparks, Ruben Studdard, Melinda Doolittle, Blake Lewis, Sanjaya Malakar, and many other top Idols from every season! Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul is a collection of captivating stories that the television cameras don't see - true, uplifting, and entertaining tales told with humor and candor that will leave you laughing, crying, and feeling inspired, whether you are a die-hard Idol watcher or an occasional fan.

Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul is the perfect marriage of the #1 show in television history and the #1 non-fiction book series in publishing history - both dedicated to celebrating the triumph of spirit over adversity, the fulfillment of dreams coming true, and the power of love. In Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul, those closest to the heart of American Idol - from the executive producers to the stylists, from the fans to the judges, from the top finalists to the behind-the-scenes crew - share their moving stories of obstacles overcome, love and support shared, lessons learned and lives touched and changed forever. This is truly the stuff that dreams are made of, and why almost 60 million people faithfully tune in week after week, year after year.

We've copies of this book to send worldwide.

More at the official Chicken Soup site

We Are Now Beginning Our Descent, by James Meek

Like the world around him, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, Adam Kellas's life is showing distinct signs of cracking apart. Against his better judgement, Kellas - divorced, unstable, spurned by his lover and by the world of letters - accepts a war assignment from his newspaper.

It is the beginning of a journey which takes him from the mountains of Afghanistan to the elegant dinner tables of north London, the marshlands of the American South and, ultimately, to the darkest realms of the human imagination. Only the memory of the beautiful, elusive Astrid, a fellow reporter in Afghanistan, offers him the possibility of hope.

With all the explosive drama of The People's Act of Love, James Meek's new novel spans continents and cultures. It is a timeless tale of folly and the pursuit of love, set against the incendiary politics of our time.

We've got copies of the hardback edition of this book to send to UK-based reviewers only.

More on We Are Now Beginning Our Descent at the Canongate website

The Adagio, by Alan K. Austin

While listening to a recording of The Adagio, amateur actor Jack Duncan is disconcerted by a scream he hears embedded in the climactic chord. When he then discovers the bodies of Louise Thompson, with whom he's been having an affair, and her husband, he believes their murders and the recording are somehow connected. Trying to find out just how, he ends up becoming a suspect.

Author Alan K. Austin has reported for PBS, Frontline, Nova and CBS affiliates. It was covering stories about the injustice in the criminal system that inspired him to write the mystery The Adagio.

We've copies of this book to send to reviewers in the US and Canada only.

Site News

This month we've been concentrating on fixing a number of nasty bugs, making some minor tweaks and improving the technical platform on which Revish runs. We've removed those horrible banner adverts from the review pages, we agree with all of you who wrote in to say they were an eyesore: please rest assured they won't be coming back.

We're also working on getting the Revish Connect service in place for late spring, to make it much easier for reviewers to find and apply for books available for review, and for publishers and authors to make books available and keep in touch with reviewers. More on this soon we hope, when we'll be looking for testers.

Finally we've vastly improved the calculation of top-rated books at Revish, so the rankings are based on a combination of a book's ratings, the number of users who have rated it and a secret formula. So please continue to rate books you've read recently or long ago - the more ratings we get the better the calculations work.

Next issue - more stuff

We don't know exactly what we'll have ready for the next issue, but we do know it will contain good stuff.

Happy reading!

The Revish Team