Bookish Things: YET ANOTHER BOOK SURVEY

I usually spend my Fridays and Saturdays reading and writing book reviews, and occasionally working from home on my days "off." I'm pretty tired from a nifty encounter with David Mitchell yesterday (about which, more anon) and I've had to work from home today because I missed work yesterday in order to meet said Mr Mitchell.  Thus, because I like doing book surveys and because I don't have time to write a book review, y'all are getting my answers to the latest bookish survey making the rounds.  I've eliminated some questions that they are stupid. Or redundant. Or stupid.

1. What is your favorite fictional food or drink? 

Aww, all the good answers are taken. I've read folks who've talked about Butterbeer, pumpkin juice, Turkish delight, and all of the nifty things from Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

2. How long did it take you to finish your last book?

*Wanders over to Goodreads to find out*  Looks like I read the advance reading copy of The First Bad Man by Miranda July over the course of three days.

3. How many Goodreads friends and books do you have?

Quite a few, it turns out. I have 181 friends; 1,238 books reviewed; and 101 in my TBR list there. Incidentally, I have the lowest average rating of all of my friends, I think, with 3.21.  I have to think a book is pretty damned special to give it 4*, much less 5*.  I have quite a few Goodreads friends whom I don't know from anywhere else in life, and I will only friend somebody if (1) I know them IRL or (2) They can correctly answer my test question AND if their books cross multiple genres AND if their books aren't all 5* ratings.

5. Do you ever quote books in public?

Yes. I quote more often from tv and films than I do from books, but I quote or invoke on probably a daily basis.  Most often from Jane Austen, Lewis Carroll, and J K Rowling.

6. Do you ever reread books?

Hell, yeah.  I re-read quite a lot, but they tend to be the same books, year in and year out. It's rare that I add a new book to my re-reading roster.

7. Do you judge a book by its cover?

Without a doubt.  Anybody who denies it is a liar.  I'm not saying it's the only thing I judge a book by, or the most important thing, but it's a factor with every single book I pick up.  Lack of good book design and typography is actually the single most important reason I don't read self-published books. Ever.

8. Instagram, Twitter, or Tumblr?

None.  I have none of those accounts, but I suppose I'd be most drawn to Instagram for active participation since I take a LOT of photographs. (Obviously I'm passively drawn to Tumblr when I'm in the mood to see cute baby animals or am in need of a gif for the blog.)

9. Which genres take you the longest to read?

Hmmm...probably any nonfiction that isn't narrative driven.

10. Who are your favorite BookTubers (or Book Bloggers)?

BookTube? Are you kidding me?  This is a thing?

Okay, I have tons of blogs in my Google feed, but I really only closely follow my favorites.  If I've left more than one comment on your blog, and especially if I've had a conversation with you, and especially-espcially if I've participated in a readalong with you, then you are my favorite.

11. How often do you pre-order books?

This question probably doesn't apply to me, as I'm also a bookseller and most of my books are free AND read in advance of the publication date.

Question #12 eliminated for its stupidity and vagueness.

13. How many times have you reread your favorite book?

Really, these questions should be more precise.  Luckily we're not all Aspbergian and are willing to answer the un-asked portions of these questions without further prompting.  I actually don't know how many times I've read The Lord of the Rings, the Harry Potter books, Lewis Carroll's Alice books, or Pride & Prejudice. (Cf: #5 and #6)

14. Do you own a lot of books?

I almost eliminated this one for stupidity's sake, but then realized I was being classist because not everybody buys the books they read, they borrow. I do.  I own a lot of books.  I'm sitting in our library right now and will include two panos of this room because this is an adequate representation of every room in our house. That is, books piled everywhere. Double stacked and on every horizontal surface.  This just happens to be the only room in the house that was designed to be that way.

15. Do you take pictures of your books before you read them?

What, this is a thing?  This is stupid.

16. Do you read every day?

To quote another bookseller I know, reading is breathing.  Might as well ask if I breathe every day.

17. How do you choose a new book?

Sometimes with great deliberation, other times with utter abandon.  Most books I read are a combination of reading for work and for pleasure.  Sometimes I reluctantly nudge myself towards nonfiction if I've had a long streak of novels or short stories. The only times I'm reading 100% for my own pleasure are on when I'm on vacation or when I'm in the mood for some fan fiction.

18. Do you always have a book with you?

Yes. I have both ebooks and e-audio-books downloaded onto my phone and I keep physical books in the car so I really do always have one with me, in some form.

19. What are your biggest distractions from reading?

You mean other than work?  Family and Netflix. I don't watch a lot of television but I watch quite a few tv shows on my computer.

20. What is your favorite place to buy books?

Well, an independent bookstore, obviously.  If not my own, then wherever I find myself.  Though if it's an out of print book, I will search online, too.  Basically, any place but Amazon. I hate Amazon and think it represents a LOT of what's wrong with the world today. I loathe them, really.  Let me put it this way: I don't just want to say "Fuck 'em." I want to say, "Poke out their eyes, and then skull fuck 'em." I'd include a gif for that here, but I'm a little afraid what my show up on my screen if I typed skull fuck into my search engine.

So, that's it for today, y'all.  Those of you who've already done this questionnaire, what was your favorite or most surprising question?  Those of you who haven't, what are you waiting for?  Obviously all the cool kids are doing it.

BookExpo 2014: Or, WOW, I REALLY LOVE MY JOB

I'm lucky to be an independent bookseller who lives within easy Amtrak distance of New York City, where BookExpo has been held for the last few years.  Last week marked my 5th (I think?) BEA, which is held in the soul-sucking Javits Center.  I'm told that it's the largest book convention in the world, but I'm not going to verify that for you.  Google away and find out for yourself if you so choose.

For those of you who've never attended BEA/BookExpo before, lemme 'splain. It's exhilarating. It's exhausting.  It's big on a scale that is hard to imagine. This is the biggest of all possible big things in US publishing, and in some cases, international publishing. It would make me wince, and then cry, and then maybe hide in a corner to know how much money the biggest publishers throw at BEA.  For example, I have a friend whose father owns a small, well-respected publishing house known for its literature in translation (mostly from Arabic) and with an emphasis on travel lit and Middle Eastern cultures. His single booth, about 15 feet long and maybe 6 feet deep, with one table and little carpeting, cost over $20,000. I don't want to know how much it costs publishers with multiple booths, with cushy carpeting, spanning rows and aisles of the Javits, with big drop-down signs hung from the ceiling that can be seen from anywhere on the tradeshow floor.

Inside each women's stall

On the outside of each stall in the women's room

Stair ads and ceiling ads

For example, here is some advertising.  Multiple women's bathrooms had advertising for one book inside each stall and across the mirrors.  In the other photo you can see that it was worth it to the publisher to sprawl ads for Carl Hiaasen's new book for kids up a set of stairs. And for Adi Alsaid and Jodi Picoult, whose huge banners hang from the ceiling. NB: I shot these photos on Wednesday, the day before BookExpo really opened, which is why you can see the stairs at all.  Otherwise it would just be a mob scene.

BookExpo is also a time for publishers to wine and dine their authors and in some lucky cases, their booksellers.  This year I was very fortunate to inherit an invitation to Simon & Schuster's 90th anniversary party, which was huge and star-studded.  I say"inherit" because the invitation came just one week before the party, meaning that somebody higher up on the bookseller food chain declined at the last minute and I got to step in.  This is not a criticism; on the contrary, I was delighted to accept. Would I rather get an early invitation?  Well, sure.  But getting a late one is infinitely better than not getting one at all. I'm happy to fill in!

Though I don't have the photographic evidence to prove it, I got to meet Anjelica Huston, Hoda Kotb and Cary Elwes that night, along with the authors Rachel Renee Russell, Lisa Genova, and Kresley Cole. Dinner was in an amazing space--a converted Episcopal monastery--and while the food itself was forgettable (to put it charitably), the company was delightful.  In addition to Genova and Cole, I had the  incredibly charming Ian Chapman, former CEO and currently chief executive publisher of S&S UK, India, Australia, as a table mate.

Rumor has it that the ceiling is four stories high

The ceiling really was gorgeous

That's Kresley Cole with me, with the minstrel balcony as a backdrop

Our last course wasn't served until almost 10:00, and with my walk back to the hotel I didn't get home until well after 11:30, but it was all worth it.  Even when I had to be back at the Javits Center the next morning at 9:00 to begin my first day of back-to-back appointments with publishers to pitch my store's First Editions Club and to convince publicists that my store can easily handle large-scale events of over 1,000 guests, so they should definitely send Amy Poehler and Jodi Picoult. (They really should!)

My celebrity encounters didn't end with the Simon & Schuster dinner.  First thing the next morning, I was able to spend a moment with Anjelica Huston when she stopped by the American Booksellers Association meeting room to sign some books. She even agreed to post with Hannah and me (Hannah's the delightful manager of my store's children's department):

The day just kept on getting better when I arrived at a publisher meeting room a few minutes early for one of my appointments.  In walked The Divine Jane Lynch.  I didn't talk to her or anything, but I kept quoting her lines from Best In Show in my head while snapping a quick pic. She was only ten feet away. I was able to play it cool enough not to walk up and bother her, but I couldn't not take this picture:

Then there was the Celebration of Bookselling luncheon for indie booksellers.  There was at least one author or illustrator at every table, and Anthony Marra, who wrote the terrific debut novel  A Constellation of Vital Phenomena was at mine. I was very excited to note in the program that Rainbow Rowell was there to win the Indie Award for best YA novel, Eleanor and Park. I snapped a photo of her onstage (it's blurry), but I was utterly starstruck when Hannah and I went up to talk with her after the luncheon.  I gushed a little bit, saying that I'd been reading her ever since Attachments came out, and then Rainbow and I both gushed together a little bit about how much we adore Alice from Reading Rambo. And then I swooned a little because she took a picture with Hannah and me:

I know why there are so many songs about Rainbows

I could have gone home at that point, completely satisfied with my BEA experience, but there were two celebrities yet to be encountered.

The night before I took the train down to New York, I inherited another last minute invitation--this time to meet former Secretary of State (and, I hope, next President-to-be) Hillary Rodham Clinton. I received the email invitation one hour before the RSVP was due, and again, this is not a criticism.  I was giddy with disbelief to be one of 100 indie booksellers who gathered to hear a short address about her new memoir and then have the chance to shake her hand and be in a photograph with her. I am thankful to all of those Republican indie booksellers (though I feel that there probably aren't many) who turned down the opportunity to attend so that my name worked its way up the invitation list.

The two things I most remember about her speech are the two most common questions she was asked when traveling around the world in her capacity as Secretary of State, and one of those questions shows *exactly* how far female leaders have to go to be considered with equal gravitas as their male counterparts: (1) How do you manage to do your hair when you're on the road? and (2) How can you work for the administration of the man who was your opponent in the presidential race?

I'm sorry, but I'm pretty sure that Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and Colin Powell aren't asked questions like #1.

Anyway, at the end, we all had about two seconds of face time with Ms Clinton and after our handshake, we were just turning to pose for the professional photographer when she glanced at my earrings, pushed a strand of my hair back, and asked, "Are those books?" I said yes, they were Jane Austen earrings and she said she liked them. (I can post the professional photo after S&S sends it out to us--they asked us to refrain from using our personal cameras during the meet & greet.)

That means that I've got one more celebrity to meet at BEA.  You may have heard of her. Publishers Weekly refers to her as one of six "Go-To Book Bloggers." I'm speaking, naturally, of Alice from Reading Rambo. I'm utterly baffled at my lack of photographic evidence from our time together, but trust me, it was fun.  We met up at the Peachtree booth where my DH and Carmen Agra Deedy were signing copies of The Cheshire Cheese Cat. Alice and I agreed that Carmen is worth keeping our options open for.  And anyway, I don't have my own photo, but Alice does, so I'm copying it here:

Photo credit here

That about sums up my BEA.  I spent lots of time hanging with Hannah, plus other folks from Odyssey: Joan, Ann, and Garrett. I wore my most comfortable shoes so that I wouldn't collapse after three days.  I saw my mentor and favorite father figure, John Evans, from Lemuria Bookstore. I saw two impressive-sized Lego figures.  I even drank a delicious passionfruit beverage that looked like it was covered in tadpole eggs.  I'll be sure to let y'all know if I'm to be the proud mama of some frogspawn.

BEA 2015 will need to be at the top of its game if it wants to beat BEA 2014.  And that's all I'm saying. 

Secret Santa!

One of my favorite blogger memories last year was participating in the Secret Santa program hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, the same folks who have introduced the popular Top Ten Tuesday meme. Thus I was quite dismayed this year when I missed the call to participate. But sweet Jamie from TB&TB kept my name on file just in case there were other late registrants or something happened with the pairings she had already done, and about one week into December I had a match!

Today my Secret Santa package arrived and it was full of amazing goodies. It's a nice & colorful spread, don't you think?  Ruby from Ruby's Reads in Ojai, California, was my Secret Santa and she has surpassed all previous Secret Santas, and not just in the book blogger world.  The participation rules include picking out a book that is on the recipient's wishlist and including one other stocking stuffer, but not only did Ruby present me with the only hardcover on my list, she included two pairs of fun socks AND a package of prickly pear-flavored licorice.  And if you think I've not already eaten my way through half of it, then you crazy! (Also: check out Ruby's brochure for her blog on the far left.  Pretty nifty.)

So thank you, Ruby!  I look forward to wearing my socks on Christmas Day and snuggling in bed with the new J K Rowling. I think it will be sufficiently past the peak of the critical frenzy for me to enjoy it on its own merits. 

And the versatile blogger award goes to...

Alexandria and Moira from the incomparably-named Brazen Broads Book Bash Blog have recognized my book & travel blog with the Versatile Blogger Award.  How nifty is that?!  I didn't really start blogging in earnest until summer '10, and it's so much fun--all the more so to realize that other people out there unrelated to me by blood or marriage might be reading it!


Here are the rules to the award: 

1.  Share 7 things about ourselves.

2.  Pass the award on to 10 bloggers recently discovered.

3.  Notify the blogger recipients.

4.  Link to the blogger who gave us the award.

Seven Things About Me:

1.  I was born in Wisconsin but raised in Mississippi
2. Much like Albus Dumbledore, socks are some of my favorite gifts to receive.
3. Dogs are in my heart, but cats have bewitched my soul.
4. Plaid flannel just might be the fabric of the gods.
5. I did not change my last name when I got married.
6. If I could spend half my time anywhere else in the world, it would be the Caribbean.  Anguilla or Grenada if you made me choose a specific island.
7. A good rum punch is hard to find.

The Ten Bloggers I Award This To:

1.  Wildly Read
2.  A Reading Odyssey
3.  Bank Square Books
4.  Lemuria Blog
5. Bookend Crossing
6.  Everything Distils...
7.  Levonne's Pretty Pics
8.  Shiroccan Adventures


And because I'm still relatively new to the following process, I don't have any more blogs that I follow that haven't already received this same award.  Hopefully that will change quickly, the more I participate in various hops.  So for good measure I'm just going to list one more time the good folks who passed this one on to me:


9. Brazen Broads Book Bash


Thanks for visiting!

Let's go to the hop, oh, baby!

So I was putting off going to sleep last night, going for one last stroll through the various blogs and travel forums that I follow, when I got a very big, very pleasant surprise:  Rebecca Fabian, author of the incomparable Afterthoughts blogs, had mentioned my blog as part of the third book blogger hop she participated in.  Rebecca is what you might call a mover and shaker in the children's book world--she's bright, knowledgable, hard-working, and her star is definitely on the rise.  We used to work together at the Odyssey Bookshop, where she was the manager of the children's department and I was (and still am) the assistant manager and one of the buyers.  Now she's working as a children's editorial intern at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and in between her full time internship, her work-for-house-and-board arrangement, and her reading, she still manages to find time to keep up her blogs and her book reviews.  She's either borrowed a time turner from that insufferable, know-it-all Gryffindor or she's learned to bend the fourth dimension to her will in other ways.  Thus it was that I was absurdly (and probably disproportionately) pleased for her to mention me.

Though I started my book & travel blog in January 2009, it's only been for the last few months that I've updated it with anything like regularity.  Mostly because I've discovered that I enjoy doing it, as opposed to merely feeling like I ought to be doing it.  It also helped that at least one person who wasn't related to me or who didn't work for me or who hasn't ever been my roommate finally started following it this summer.  It was about two weeks ago that I discoverd the "Stats" tab on the Blogger dashboard, and ever since I've been a tad bit obsessed with discovering who in the world might be reading my blog.  Apparently I'm all the rage in Latvia, Ukraine, and Russia.  That is, if you interpret "all the rage" rather loosely to mean that more than a dozen people a week in those countries are reading it.  Or perhaps the same person, a dozen times.  I'm not sure.  Still, it thrilled me more than I should probably admit that somebody, somewhere, was actually reading my blog.  I mean, come on.  Latvia!

But I digress...my original point was to talk about the Book Blogger Hop, taking place this weekend, which you can read about here. It's like the cool clam bake for book bloggers, where you can meet & greet and find other like-minded book people to read & follow. 

According to the rules, in order to include yourself on the Book Blogger Hop, you must also post about it in your own blog as well as give a list of some of your favorite book blogs.  I already listed Rebecca's above, but I don't follow too many others, and those I do already are well known: Bookdwarf, for one.  The one from Algonquin publishing, for another. So go to the Hop.  Socks optional.  Towel required, especially on Thursdays (not to be confused with Thursday Next).