Stephen King gives a shout out to A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick on page 342 of his new novel, 11/23/63. The passage reads: “I’d read a book called ‘A Reliable Wife’ not too long before leaving on the world’s strangest trip, and as I climbed into bed, a line from the novel crossed my mind: ‘He had lost the habit of romance.’ That’s me, I thought as I turned out the light.”

And Gossip Girl teased out a pregnancy plot with the mysterious appearance of a little-known book by Heidi Murkoff, called What to Expect When You’re Expecting.

Where, oh, where will we spot a Workman book next?

Might-as-Well-Be-Family Friends:

• “I’m giving Water for Elephants to the only friend I can think of who hasn’t read it yet, and A Reliable Wife to all of the others, because who doesn’t love a great read?” —Kendra
• “Everyone on my list is getting the DC Comics Super Heroes and Villains Fandex, because I’m darn proud of it.” —Randall
• “I got  Children Learn What They Live and Teenagers Learn What They Live for the Program Director and the parents I attend classes with through the Children’s Aid Society. The Darts! Calendar is what I will be giving my Sunday School students; the 365 Bible Verses a Year Calendar for the other teachers; and the 365 Puppies a Year Calendar for my neighbor, because my daughter dog-sits for her throughout the year while she’s on vacation.” —Jean
• “The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating is going to a “sensitive” and “contemplative” friend. One friend’s getting Heart of the Artichoke just because it’s so good and any cook should like it. And, always, Love, Loss, and What I Wore to every woman I’d not given it to before.” —Carolan
• “I already gave Can I Wear My Nose Ring to the Interview?—such a valid question!—as an early holiday gift to a bunch of my fellow recent grads who are now on the hunt for jobs.” —Avery
• “I’m giving Stitch ‘n Bitch to a friend who has just discovered the joy of yarn. And Curly Girl is going to my roommate, who has some of the most beautiful—and corkscrew-y—hair I’ve ever seen.” —Erin
• “Some of my favorite calendars to give include The Talking Fortune Teller Calendar (for my wacky tarot-card reading cousin), Trout of North America, 365 Sports Facts-a-Year, the Dog Page-a-Day Gallery Calendar, the Smart Sudoku Page-a-Day Calendar, and the Audubon Birds of America Calendar—all reflecting passions of my loved ones.” —Melissa

There you have it! The 2010 Workman Holiday Gift Guide…well, you know. We hope this list helps provide some guidance in your holiday shopping this season, so you can show your friends and family how much you care with a gift that’s just right for them. Happy holidays!

The iPad’s owner, a Brazilian freelance videographer with little connection to Workman, had only two ebooks in his library, but, serendipitously, one of them was What to Expect When You’re Expecting. He explained, laughing, that he and his girlfriend planned to have a baby in about three years. Maybe that’s how it’s done in Sao Paulo. Anyway, he was a proud Apple fanboy and urged us to walk his newest acquisition around.

It was quite something. The iPad’s screen is large and bright, the type looks crisp, the pages turn irresistibly with a swipe of the finger. It can be read in a landscape position, two pages open at a time, like a book, or vertically, which has the no-nonsense feel of reading something on a clipboard. Another Apple virtue: no experience was necessary. We knew without being told how to navigate the book and the device. After browsing around What to Expect, we returned to the virtual wooden bookshelves (looking a little empty; his only other book was Winnie the Pooh, perhaps part of his three-year plan) and then visited the iBookstore to search for and order a sample from another in-house bestseller, A Reliable Wife. A 52-page chunk arrived in seconds. We wondered if our Brazilian friend would like the steamy novel.

A page-turner full of suspense and twists, A Reliable Wife is all over must-read lists and was featured on the Today show’s “Ten must-reads for Spring” and NPR’s independent booksellers best summer reads. Scroll down to read the first chapter.

More about A Reliable Wife
Read a note from Chuck Adams, Executive Editor, Algonquin Books