Jess recommends (isn't that a great name for a column?)

"Read Finally and The 68 Rooms and I loved them!"

The Sixty-Eight Rooms by Malone, Marianne.
"Ruthie and Jake, 12...finds an old key hidden in a corridor of the Thorne Rooms at the Art Institute of Chicago. Ruthie’s dream has been to examine the 68 miniature rooms – and her wish becomes even better when she touches the key and shrinks to mini-room size...the real adventure begins – an adventure that will affect more than just the two of them."
Fans of Chasing Vermeer, The Doll People, and From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler will enjoy this one!

For older teens:
Finally is definitely for older girls. Also good: "Just as long as we're Together" and its sequel Here's to you, Rachel Robinson by Judy Blume. DEFINITELY for teens.

From Judy Blume's website: "Rachel's a straight-A student. She practices the flute 45 minutes a day. She strives for perfection in everything she does. But she grinds her teeth at night and dreads dinnertime, now that her troublemaker older brother, Charles, has been thrown out of boarding school and is back home, acting up to get attention. It's the end of 7th grade and Rachel's friends, Stephanie and Alison are way less stressed than she is. Can they help Rachel learn to lighten up? Can anyone? The companion book to Just As Long As We're Together."
Enjoy!

And 2 from me...Murder and Love

Mysteries and Wine - two of my favorite items. Enjoyed The Merlot Murders by Ellen Crosby for the aforementioned reasons and also because it takes place right here in Northern Virginia. I'm ready to work my way through her wine rack of mysteries. Her most recent book is The Riesling Retribution. Would love to get her to be part of our store opening.

The phenomena of Eat Pray Love passed me by. A friend gave the book a bad review, so I never picked it up. Then I saw Elizabeth Gilbert do a reading of her new book Committed and really appreciated her humor, so I went back and read the first one and enjoyed it immensely. Wish I could have some parts of her life -- like the $ and the freedom to travel.

Two different books -- both recommended

High praise from my 19 year old nephew for Kaboom: Embracing the Suck in a Savage Little War - an Iraq War memoir written by Matt Gallagher.
And from Joe on Bad to the Bone by Jeri Smith-Ready. Can you lose when you combine vampires and rock 'n roll? The is book two WVMP Radio series (vampire radio -- VMP!!).

Books, books and more books have arrived

All the new books from last week's Winter Institute 5 were delivered yesterday! I'm am overwhelmed with so many wonderful books and pondering how many I can read???

It's funny that the books made it to DC from San Jose faster than many of the booksellers from this region made it home. Some folks are still stuck out there with next ETA of Friday. With my 3 day journey home to DC, I just beat the books back.

Long Journey Home

Been on the road since early Friday morning trying to get back to DC from the American Bookseller's Winter Institute (WI5) in San Jose.  Snow has conspired to keep many East Coast booksellers on the West Coast.  I made it as far as Pittsburgh and am enjoying a visit with my folks.

WI5 was amazing with the opportunity to hear what's going on in the bookstore industry, hear first hand how stores keep customers involved, what's going on with e-books and, of course, to hear about new books.  I could hardly carry all the books I couldn't stand to leave behind.

One benefit of all my travel and waiting time has been the opportunity to dive into several of the new books I picked up at Author's night.  Angelology by Danielle Trussoni (March 2010 publication date). Motion picture rights to this book have already been sold to Sony.

"A thrilling epic about an ancient clash reignited in our time- between a hidden society and heaven's darkest creatures

There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Genesis 6:5"

The Passage by Justin Cronin (June 2010 publication date). The buzz on this book is major and it's predicted to be one of the big books of 2010. After reading it, I have to second that. The book is reminiscent of the Stephen King's The Stand and here's what King had to say about The Passage:

“Every so often a novel-reader’s novel comes along: an enthralling, entertaining story wedded to simple, supple prose, both informed by tremendous imagination... Read fifteen pages and you will find yourself captivated; read thirty and you will find yourself taken prisoner and reading late into the night. It has the vividness that only epic works of fantasy and imagination can achieve. What else can I say? This: read this book and the ordinary world disappears.”—Stephen King

A traveler's haiku

After my free verse on traveling out to San Jose, my lovely SIL modified one of FB postings (on long, difficult trip home) into a Traveler's Haiku:

     Stuck in San Jose.
     Missed the connecting flight home.
     My accursed trip.

...and I haven't made it home yet, but am back on the East coast and with family. 

Flight free verse

I think free verse means I can write it any way I'd like.  Flying from Dallas to San Jose in late afternoon made me feel like the path of the plane was paralleling the movement of the sun.

     I like the thought of flying with the sun
     Chasing it to sun down

(it sounded much more melodious in my head).

Books and Booksellers

Heading to the American Booksellers Association's Winter Institute in San Jose this week.  Looking forward to meeting fellow booksellers in person that I've "met" online and checking out lots of new books!!