Thank You BEA 2013!

Note I didn't have to buy any of these books!

After much preparation Book Expo America has come and gone for yet another year  Like every year there was so much to do and many authors to meet and even more books to grab.  Throughout my four days at BEA I had the pleasure of listening to numerous well-known authors; Wally Lamb, Neil Gaiman, and Amy Tan to name a few.  I carried, lugged and pulled suitcases of books around the Jacob Javits Center.  I stood in line almost every minute of each day, from dawn till way past dusk, for autographs from some of my most favorite authors.  I was in book heaven!!

Books packed!

To many in the industry BookExpo America is a book lover’s dream come true.  Yes there is a lot of preparation (if you choose to poor over the author lists and attend panel discussions), yes, you’re standing a lot – in lines, and yes you’re feet and shoulders hurt from carrying books and you’re exhausted by the end of the day, but it is well worth it!

In four day I managed to meet and talk to over 30 authors, I saw over 100 and have now piled in my den more than 300 books.  

Pile one to give away...

Pile two...Mine!

Below are a few authors (and one lovable pig) I met while grabbing up some of the season's soon to be hottest books. check back for a list of titles I'll be reading.

Alice Hoffman

Chelsea Handler

Colum McCann

Courtney Sullivan

Curtis Sittenfeld

Dorothea Benton Frank

Elizabeth Gilbert

Elizabeth Silver

Geraldine Brooks

Giada de Laurentiis

Jeffrey Deaver

Lee Smith

Nathaniel Philbrick

Olivia

Paula Dean

Sylvia Day

Wally Lamb

Waley Cash

Nerd Alert!

BookExpo America is a Week away!

I'm gearing up for my favorite time of the year, BookExpo America in New York City!  BookExpo America takes place over a four day period usually at the end of May or beginning of June.  I spend the month before (if not more) scouting special events and author signing on the BEA website, bookweb.com and in any nerdy book publishing outlet.  at this time I have reservations made, my schedules are being finalized and my list of sought after titles and authors is being finalized.  Now all I need is to go!

BEA is such an exciting time for books lovers and author groupies like myself.  Check back for updates and author pics from the event!

Here's a sneak peak as to who I'll be seeing...

Wally Lamb

Laura Lippman

Sarah Jio

Amy Tan

Neil Gamain

Hot Books for Cool Moms

Happy Mother's Day!!!
We will be celebrating Mothers all month long with a list of worthwhile motherly reads.

Midwife of Hope River by Patricia Harman
Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin
Mom & Me & Mom by Maya Angelou
Unless by Carol Shields
The Book of Ruth by Jane Hamilton
Please Look After Mom by Kyung-Sook Shin
The Sins of the Mother by Danielle Steel
The Mothers by Jennifer Gilmore
Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner
Waiting to Surface by Emily Listfield

What Do You Do All Day by Amy Scheibe
As Husbands Go by Susan Isaacs
Marmee & Louisa by Louisa May Alcott
Memory Palace by Mira Bartok
Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom
Sippy Cups are not for Chardonnay: And other things I had to Learn as a New Mom by Stefanie Wilder-Taylor
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Daughter of the Queen of Sheba: A Memoir by Jacki Lyden
What to Keep by Rachel Cline


Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwartz
Five Quarters of an Orange by Joanne Harris
Once Upon a River by Bonnie Jo Campbell
Night Road by Kristin Hannah
Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult
Room by Emma Donoghue
Four of a Kind by Valerie Frankel
What My Mother Gave Me: Thirty-One Women On the Gifts that Matter Most by Elizabeth Benedict


The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
Mothers and Sons: Stories by Colm Toibin
Left Neglected by Lisa Genova
Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes by Diane Chamberlain
A Woman of Independant Means by Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey
Winter Garden by Keistin Hannah
Heartwood by Belva Plain
Love You More by Lisa Gardner
The Surrogate by Judith Henry Wall
Save Me by Lisa Scottoline

Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
Harvesting the Heart by Jodi Picoult
The Bad Mother's Handbook by Kate Long
Accidental Happiness by Jean Reynolds Page
The Turk and My Mother by Mary Helen Stefaiak
Swallow the Ocean: a Memoir by Laura M. Flynn
The Good Mother by Sue Miller
Raising Hope by Kate Willard
Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
Up From the Blue by Susan Henderson

If its Not One Thing, Its Your Mother by Julia Sweeney
Danny's Mom by Elaine Wolf
Some Assembly Required by Ann Lamott
Sweet Ruin by Cathi Hanauer
Outside the Ordinary by Dori Ostermiller
Ten Days by Janet Gilsdorf
No More Words: A Journal of My Mother, Anne Morrow Lindbergh by Reeve Lindberg
Rosie by Ann Lamott
Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Kristin Hannah

What a wonderful night out!

Meeting Kristin Hannah was a total "nerdy," book-lover experience.  Getting to see and listen to any author is for someone who loves books, like I do a great event.  To hear an author like Kristin Hannah describes the personal experiences, which ultimately wove and composed her writing, and to learn of the time she takes (draft, after draft, after draft) crafting her novels was a real treat.  The enlightenment you feel as a reader and admiration you feel for her work is humbling.  You could sit and listen to all she has to say and still want Kristin to tell you another story.

Later it dawned on me, it’s not every day you meet an author you truly admire.  As a reader you pick out a book and at some point flip to the back jacket or back cover and read about the author.  Mainly the short blurb of biographical information states where they live, where they went to school and additional works they've published.  And most of the time this information is adequate.  But sometimes you want to learn more about the author who's 300 plus page story you just escaped to.  You may Google them on the internet and see what else is out there about them, if they have kids, where they are from and if they are working on another story.  Then I realized I do that all the time; I constantly want to know just as much about my favorite authors as I want more from my favorite characters.  I pick a book out, read it, and love it and then what to know more about the person who wrote it.  I find myself asking, why they wrote the book – what were they trying to accomplish? Have they experienced something like their characters themselves have, did they know what was going to happen in the end?  Where did they come up with the idea for this book I couldn't put down?  Meeting the author lets you, for the most part, get these questions answered.  You are given a little glimpse of their craft, their world.    

Meeting Kristin Hannah, author of some of my favorite books, is an experience I cherish anytime it happens.  Last night was no exception.  Kristin Hannah delivers such a moving story in each of her novels.  It was a delight to finally put a personality to the books I've enjoyed!

If you would like to know more about Kristin Hannah visit her website, at kristinhannah.com. 

It’s National Library Week!!!

Lets Celebrate National Library Week - April 14th -20th.

It is a wonderful time to visit your library, reconnect with all those books you've loved and maybe find that book you've been meaning to read!  To help you get started here is a list of Books for Book Lovers!

Biblioholism: The Literary Addiction by Tom Raabe

Books: A Living History by Martyn Lyons

Bookshelf by Alex Johnson

Buried in Books: a Reader’s Anthology by Julie Rugg

Creating Room to Read: A Story of Hope in the Battle for Global Literacy by John Wood

Don’t Know Much about Literature by Kenneth C. Davis

Every Book Its Reader: The Power of the Printed Word to Stir the World by Nicholas A. Basbanes

Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Ann Fadiman

How Literature Saved My Life by David Shields

How Reading changed My Life by Anna Quindlen

Howard’s end is on the Landing: A Year of Reading From Home by Susan Hill

Leave Me Alone, I’m Reading: Finding and Loosing Myself in Books by Maureen Corrigan

Literary Rogues: A Scandalous History of Wayward Authors by Andrew Shaffer

The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap by Wendy Welch

The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, A Detective and a World of Literary Obsession by Allison Hoover Bartlett

My Bookstore: Writers Celebrate Their Favorite Places to Browse, Read, and Shop Edited by Ronald Rice & Booksellers Across America

My Ideal Bookshelf Edited by Thessaly La Force & Jane Mount (art)

A Novel Bookstore by Laurence Cosse

One For the Books by Joe Queenan

A Passion for Books: A Booklover’s Treasury of Stories, Essays, Humor, Lore, and Lists on Collecting, Reading, Borrowing, Lending, Caring for, and Appreciating Books Edited by Harold Rabinowitz,  Rob Kaplan and with a forward by Ray Bradbury

A Pound of Paper: Confession of a Book Addict by John Baxter

Practical Classics: 50 Reasons to Read Fifty Books You Haven’t Touched since High School by Kevin Smokler

Sorted Books by Nina Katchadourian

The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop: A Memoir, a History by Lewis Buzbee

My Ideal Bookshelf

As a reader’s advisory specialist I am constantly asked “what are you reading and recommend”.  To me these are loaded questions. 

See, I love books.  Thus My Ideal Bookshelf is overflowing to the point of establishing its own library; build upon my own literary tastes obviously.  As an avid reader, I have been question on the amount of books I own and how I found time to read them all, why I need to keep them after I've finished them and where I plan on putting any new books I acquire.  I have also been accused of reading too much.  Which I find silly, and often reply that reading is much like a stay-cation to me, you get to virevisit it without the aggravation of packing.

Why do I love being a Reader’s Advisory Specialist?  I've loved books for as long as I can remember.  My affection for books began when I was a small, inquisitive and curious little girl.  Of course loving book didn't necessarily make me into a great reader and I wasn't that sort of reader who had her nose in a book every second of every day, although there have been times here and there.  I was more of a book aficionado.  I loved the feel of a book; the knowing that a great tale lived between its hard, protective covers.  I enjoyed the heft of a book and walking among them at a bookstore or when I visited the library.  The enjoyment I get from books grew as I did and as I read.  At first I treasured being read too; the words so easily opening a portal to faraway lands.  Then I valued knowing I could venture off on my own and loved the stories that took me to both real and fictionalized places that introduced me to characters both well-known and new.

There are hundreds of books on My Ideal Bookshelf and I cannot promise I'll be able to narrow it down to just a handful of favorites.  I’m not too sure it is possible to list just a few of the titles which have shaped, inspired and opened my eyes.  Different books at different points in my life have taught me lessons and have reminded me of old ones.  Picking favorites, whittling them down to a few bests of the best may be a lost cause and not for lack of trying on my part.

So here it goes my attempt at My Ideal Bookshelf, in no particular order of favoritism and just in case anyone is asking…

...And here are a few other's I'd like to add (I just couldn't find spine images to include them above).

Shutterbabe: Adventures in Love and War by Deborah Copaken Kogan

Apron Anxiety: My Messy Affairs in and Out of the Kitchen by Alyssa Shelasky

The Pact by Jodi Picoult

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

The Yellow Wall Paper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Like Life by Lorrie Moore

Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil by Deborah Rodriguez

Sold by Patricia McCormick

Page by Paige by Laura Lee Gulledge

Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson (I enjoy everything by this author)

The Overnight Socialite by Bridie Clark

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi

Women's History Month

March is Women's History Month

Throughout history women have been the creators of greatness, they have been the ones to spur wars, women have also redefined rules and more times than not have brought men to their knees.  All women; the famous and infamous, wealthy and destitute, open-minded and genius - all these women have shaped the world we know.  They have dared us to act, think and do.  And for that we celebrate them!

In celebration of these women and their legacies here is a list of favorite women in writing.

Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch

by Sally Bedell Smith (2012)

The Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy and Hard Times

by Jennifer Worth and now a PBS TV Series (2009) 

My Beloved World

by Sonia Sotomayor (2013)

Out of Order: Stories from the History of the Supreme Court

by Sandra Day O'Connor (2013)

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

by Cheryl Strayed (2012)

Z: a novel of Zelda Fitzgerald

by Therese Anne Fowler (2013)

Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child

by Bob Spitz (2012)

Don't Lets Go to the Dog's Tonight

by Alexandra Fuller (2011)

Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Woman Who Created Her

by Melanie Rehak (2006)

The Widow of the South

by Robert Hicks (2005)

Complete Stories

by Dorothy Parker (2002)

Born For Liberty

by Sara Evans (1989)

Scandalous Women: The Lives & Loves of History's Most Scandalous Women

by Elizabeth Kerri Mohan (2011)