A Book Conference Brief
Plus some fun bookish links & reviews of four very different novels
This month I attended the annual New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association Conference in Arlington VA. I spent two days listening to editors and authors discuss their new and upcoming releases. It was heavy on book presentations and picking up advanced reader copies (ARCs). I loved talking with other book sellers in our region to find out what books they are enjoying, as well as sharing ideas about the book business. Authors shared with me why they wrote their books and what they love about them. I was warned ahead of time, but the magnitude of the ARCs available is huge. We made several trips to the car to unload our multiple tote bags. It can also be a bit overwhelming to hear about so many books in such a short span of time, but a few managed to stand out and those I will read first. The most exciting moment was meeting Rudy Ruiz, author of one of my favorite books last year, Valley of Shadows. His upcoming release, a coming of age novel, is on top of my conference TBR pile.
When I got home and lugged all my books (over 60) into the living room, I set about organizing them. I created three piles: the first and the tallest are the books I really want to read, the second stack are books that I may want to read, and the third pile are books I will pass on to members of our staff, friends and family, or put in my little free library. Even with these slimmed down piles, I am looking forward to a lot of reading ahead.
A Room of One’s Own
I enjoyed this House and Gardens article detailing the writing locations and rhythms of some beloved authors and artists. It examines the concept of “a room of one’s own” and notes the flexibility artists and writers must have to get their work into the world. Don’t miss the lovely links to literary homes in the article - I can never get enough of those.
Other Links:
Check out this LitHub compenduim of posters encouraging us to read. I could not stop scrolling, I only wish they had included the dates for each poster.
Bookshelf Vegas: As much as I love working at Middleburg Books, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to harboring a secret dream of owning a mobile bookshop. I have been following Bookshelf.vegas with delight and wanted to share this adorable new bookshop! (She doesn’t have a website, just Instagram)
The Readers List of 100 Books, from the New York Times, came out after their top own list, just in case you missed.
Forget books and coffee, apparently Book Bars are a new tread. And here is another list from Fodors. I visited the Battery Park Book Exchange & Champagne Bar in Asheville NC a couple years ago; it was awesome!
Recent Reads
It’s a wonderful thing when the two stand out books of the summer are mysteries. I wrote about the fabulous God of the Woods in my June Newsletter. Recently I finished All the Colors of the Dark. I am not going to lie, it took me a while to get into this book. After a slow start, as I kept reading, I became more and more absorbed in this story. Whitaker takes his time weaving description, plot, and characters together never neglecting one for the other. He doesn’t spell everything out and I grew to appreciate this.
This is the story of a serial killer, a small town, and the lifelong friendship between Patch (a pirate boy) and Scout (a girl who is loyal beyond compare). Do not let the phrase “serial killer” scare you off. Though a framework for the book, the author goes out of his way to avoid gratuitous or detailed violence. So much of the darkness here is hinted at, rather than being explicit. This ultimately epic novel of family and friendship could be loved by most any reader. I am light on details here because you don’t need to know much going in and the less you know the better. [Published: June 2024, Pages: 604]
Hum takes its place on the shelves next to other titles that are based in a near future that is always dismal, always impacted by our suffering planet, and always stratified by extreme economic disparity. I listened to Hum half expecting to DNF it, but this book pulled me in and kept me reading. There is no huge terrible thing that is going to happen here - it's just a general worsening of situations exacerbated by missteps and bad decisions.
May, a former tech employee, lives with her husband and two children in a tiny apartment in a hot smoggy city. They have bills to pay and live precariously close to losing everything. As a result May undergoes a cosmetic surgery, paid for by a tech company trying to get around the pervasive facial identity cameras. Payment from this surgery allows May to pay off debt and to treat her family to a few days in a botanical garden resort where things are as they used to be: waterfalls, clean air, green grass, birds singing, and even fresh berries to pick. The crux of this book is what takes place right before, during, and after this short holiday. The author creates a stressful, cringe-inducing tone by tweaking our current world - where we shop online too much, are addicted to our phones, and feel distanced from the natural world. What kept me in this book is that it's well conceived and carried out - Phillips makes you consider the direction we are heading in without overdoing it. My biggest complaint with this book is that I think May’s children are generally dreadful. Maybe it was the audio, but I could not stand them. Other than that, this is an excellent story well told that provides lots of food for thought and would make a great book club pick. [Published: August 2024; Pages: 272]
Are you looking for an end of summer read before we get into the cozy fall reading season? The Wedding People is a juicy read with substance. This story details an over the top wedding set in Newport, Rhode Island, as viewed from the outside. It begins with a dark premise, Phoebe Stone is at the end of her rope after years of major and minor failures and checks into a hotel to end her life. I am letting you know this so you can brace yourself, but don’t worry, Phoebe makes it through the book. As the only non-wedding guest, she finds herself becoming the bride’s confidant and enmeshed in the wedding festivities. Phoebe takes a front row seat at the joys, excesses, and questions that abound during this week long celebration. Espach does a great job flushing out the characters, including the groom and his teen daughter, who is still mourning the death of her mother. I grew to love Phoebe over the course of the book. If you enjoy stories set around weddings, celebrations and complicated families - this will be right up your alley. [Published: July 2024; Pages: 384]
How about this cover! Diavola is the gothic novel I have been waiting for. Deeply atmospheric but contemporary and a bit scary. Often I am let down when I hear the word gothic as a book description because it can mean lots of description and not a lot of action. In Diavola, we have both. A messy family rents a villa in Tuscany to spend a week together. The story is narrated by Anna, who has difficult relationships with her siblings and parents. There is tension in this family even before the strange occurrences begin, but that just seems to create a better atmosphere. Anna immediately has concerns about this villa: it is very remote, it feels like they are being watched, and so on. When odd things begin to happen in the house and to the family, Anna knows that they are in danger. I hesitate to give too much detail, but this is a terrific ghost story. Thorne does an excellent job in crafting a creepy tale about a deeply malevolent presence. Extra points for the wonderful Tuscan setting. [Published: March 2024, Pages: 304]