Amazing Author Events

My friends and I with Rainbow Rowell

The past month i've had the pleasure of seeing two amazing author events. Rainbow Rowell, author of Eleanor and Park and Fangirl, came to speak at a St.Paul Public Library event. There was a bit of controversy with her events in my neck of the woods. She was originally supposed to come to the county I live in and do several library events but due to some parent outrage against her books, her events were cancelled. I absolutely LOVED Eleanor and Park and reviewed it earlier this year. I am currently listening to Fangirl and I have to admit, I'm in little bit in love with the Levi, one of the characters. Sigh.

Rainbow was amazing; funny, kind of outrageous, a little bit uncomfortable with the attention but wholly down to earth. She had a great presence and so wicked smart. She talked about what she read as a kid and teen, her fall into Fan fiction when Harry Potter ended and her love of writing dialogue (which I can tell because the back in forth conversations in both Eleanor and Park and Fangirl are electric!). 

We waited in line to meet her and got our books signed. I did not have a book and her sister, also assistant, made Rainbow sign a homemade "bookmark" for me. It was sweet! Her sister kept saying "Don't worry, sweetie, we'll get you something!" So lovely! They both were. Here is a picture of Rainbow, me and my friends. 
Such a passionate, literary inspiring evening. Go out and read her!!! If you are a parent of a teen, read her!!!

Amy Tan, signing.

The other event I went to which I frequent a few times a year is our Talk of the Stacks Library program. They host 4-6 authors a year at the main central downtown Minneapolis Library. I've seen Joyce Carol Oates, Michael Chabon, and Lousie Erdrich there. This time around I had the pleasure of seeing Amy Tan. I have never read any of her books which still surprises the hell out of me but I knew her place in the literary world is important and I was curious as to what she had to say.
She was poised, eloquent and funny. She told stories about her grandmother and mother and where she gets her ideas and inspirations for writing. Her new novel, The Valley of Amazement is currently on the my bedside table, ready to read. 

I am so blessed to live in such a literary city. I try not to take it for granted. I seek out at least one literary event a month. That's my idea of fun. I don't go to bars. I rarely go to movies. I am a book event junkie. :) Next month is Kate Dicamillo!

Any fun author readings in your neck of the woods?

Happy Reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child

Sikander by M. Salahuddin Khan (Feature and Giveaway)

This is an unique post because it is one of the first author/books that I have featured that will also be at the bookstore I work at.

JKS Communications is a literary publicity firm that I have worked with during Sandra Brannan's blog tours and have had the pleasure of meeting Marissa and Sami at BEA last year. They are wonderfully smart, passionate folks who are talented in their book advocacy.

When offered the chance to read and review another author they represent, I was hesistant due to my busy schedule. But I knew I could atleast feature it and also mention the author's book signing at the store I work at.

Marissa has also been kind enough to offer a copy to giveaway. Please take a peak at the description and enter if you are interested.

Also, if you live in the Twin Cities area, stop by Magers and Quinn Booksellers to meet the author.

Book Description from Goodreads:

It's 1986, a time when Ronald Reagan's commitment to the mujahideen of Afghanistan is steadfast. It leads 17 year-old Pakistani student, Sikander, to admire just about everything American and while yearning for the freedom of his ethnic Pashtun brethren in Afghanistan, he also longs to study and live in America. But when Sikander shames his family by being naively indiscreet about their financial difficulties, the resulting verbal lashing from his mother and overbearing father, who also strikes him physically, provokes Sikander into leaving the comfort of his upper middle-class Peshawar life.

Author's Website:

M. Salahuddin Khan

Event Info:

Magers and Quinn Booksellers

Minneapolis

Saturday, May 5

2:00

Contest Info:

Contest Runs from April 29- May 6.

No restrictions

Please leave an email address

Book will be sent directly from JKS

Happy Reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick (review#139)

Title: Wonderstruck

Author: Brian Selznick

Genre: Middle Grade

Publisher: Scholastic

Format: Copy obtained at Midwest Booksellers Association Trade Show from the wonderful folks at Scholastic!

I am making another exception to my review rule by reviewing this wonderful Young Adult novel. No, it doesn't fall under my Top 3 Genres I love to read and have dedicated to reviewing on this blog but it is one of my favorite young adult authors. I was very fortunate to obtain an ARC of this at BEA this year. I was also fortunate again to receive a finished copy at MIBA just last month. I am sharing one of my copies with my good friend, Dawn and we are heading to seem Mr. Selznick speak at a local Barnes and Noble on Monday, October 17. I can not wait!

If you have not heard of him or his wonderful novels, check out his website. His novel The Invetion of Hugo Cabret has been made into a movie and looks amazing! The trailer is below if you are curious. I am sure someone will snap up Wonderstruck. If done well, I am sure it would make a marvelous movie. It is certainly a marvelous book!

Here is a description from the publisher's website:

Ben's story takes place in 1977. Rose's story takes place in 1927. Ever since his mother died, Ben feels lost. At home with her father, Rose feels alone. When Ben finds a mysterious clue hidden in his mother's room, and when a tempting opportunity presents itself to Rose, both children risk everything to find what's missing.

You really feel you are holding a literary gem when you hold one of his books. His illustrations are exquisite and so detailed. The illustrations alone tell such a powerful story. Ben's story is told in words. Rose's story is told in pictures. They eventually come together in the end. I am amazed at each page. The story is a simple one, with sweet characters, New York City, museums and a mystery to solve. I read the book in three days because I was racing to the end to discover the fate of young Ben. I smiled as I turned the last page and wandered back in my mind to being a child, curious and hopeful.

Rating: 6/6

I give this my top rating. Putting "genre labeling" aside, it is simply an exquisite piece of literary work. Selznick's gift of just pure, simple storytelling comes through, laced through with his extraordinary illustrations. You almost feel as if you are seated in a movie theater seeing a silent movie. Your attention is so focused to the little things, no noises to distract you, yet you are bounced back and forth between reading the words and capturing the power of a picture. Trust me. Read it. You'll understand. I'm just a bumbling idiot when it comes to his work. i just love it so! Hopefully I will be able to hold it in when I meet him tomorrow. :)

Publisher Website:

Wonderstruck, Scholastic

Movie Trailer:

Hugo

Happy Reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child

Coming Soon: A Lisa Lutz near you

Lisa Lutz is here. In my town. Minneapolis. Holy Crap!

Will I see her? You bet your pants I will!

Tonight at Once Upon A Crime Mystery Bookstore, she will be there with David Hayward to promote their book, Heads you Lose. NOT a Spellman book but funny still. I am only a few pages in and it is ripe with her humor!

I'm so excited! I hope I don't trip over myself in my nerdy fan glory.

More later.

Happy Reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child

Loosely Bound: Tales of My Literary Life (3)

Books and Baseball

So, what do books and baseball have to do with one another? Nothing really except I LOVE them both! And today is the season opener and I can't wait! In celebration, my husband took this cheesy picture of me with my Minnesota Twins hat on!

Hoot! Hoot! Can't wait! And due to the fact that this is the second year for our lovely new stadium, tickets are hard to come by. I managed to get a few. My dad even managed to get a game against the Yankees, the team I love to hate!

Suck it, Jeter! (oh, wait, sorry that was inappropriate!) HA! I get a little gruff when it comes to baseball. I cuss like a sailor and swig beer like there's no tomorrow. Surprised? Most people are. It's like the red headed evil child comes out!

Anyhoo...

This month's post from my Literary Life will not be all about baseball because really, do you come here to read about that?! Doubt it.

Nope, this month's posts is about Author Events and how I love them. Call them whatever you like; Autograph signings, Book Signings, Author Tours, whatever. I tend to go back to my bookstore days of WORKING them, so I call them Author Events.

I have been to a fair amount thoughout the years and some have been inspring and some have fallen flat. You know the feeling? You gear up for meeting the person behind the wonderful words you like to read and they have the personality of a cardbox box. It's happened a few times but nothing horrible really to divulge. Just a tad bit disappointing.

For instance, I LOVE The Time Traveler's Wife and when I saw Audrey Niffennegger at a Library event some years back I was so excited. Unfortunately, she seemed a bit shy and awkward speaking in front of a crowd and it was hard to hear her most of the time. I dare say, it was a bit boring. Still love her and her books though, just not a very jazzy event.

The gems I have been able to see stick in my mind; Kate DiCamillo, Chuck Palahniuk, Jodi Picoult and most recently, last night actually, Joyce Carol Oates.

Joyce Carol Oates spoke at our Central Library in downtown Minneapolis as part of the Talk of the Stacks program. It's a library hosted program that features various acclaimed authors, reading and answering questions about their work.

Well, I rushed from my own library job to downtown thinking I had plenty of time but my friend was furiously texting me to hurry because she couldn't save seats for too long. It sold out in a matter of five minutes and the open auditorium was closed when I got there. So I had to sit in the small over flow room and watch her on a screen. Oh well! I made friends and even handed out a business card to my site.

This event apparently was the largest ever with over 600 people in attendance. AMAZING!

Go books! Go authors! I love that when it happens.

For those of you who don't know Joyce Carol Oates, she is an amazing author of over 50 novels. She was reading from her newest book, her memoir A Widow's Story.

It is the story of losing her husband of 46 years back in 2008 and the grieving process that she went through. Though I haven't read it, she was powerful in her reading of some of the chapters.

I felt her emotion, her anguish, her craziness.

As I said before, when you are a fan of an author and get to see them in person, you really hope that they speak and act in the way in which they write.

She certainly did. She had an awkward elegance that comes from living a life in your head. She was careful with her speech and the words she chose to explain an event. I could tell she was extraordinarily smart and aware. She was amazing to listen to.

These are the novels I have read by her and I am certainly going to continue to read her.

The Falls, The Gravedigger's Daughter, Man Crazy, and Foxfire.

Author Events are such an important piece of my literary life. I really try to get to them when I can. I am fortunate to live in a city that is host to wonderful literary events all year round. Luckily most of them are free and that helps. It's important to support that piece of the book business. Showing your support to an author is a strong sign to the publisher that they are loved and in demand. And it shows to the author that their craft is appreciated.

Next up, my friend Dawn and I will be seeing Lisa See,

author of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.

How about all of you? Have you had the chance to see your favorite author? Or just seen any great Authors in person?

Happy Reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child