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We recap our highlights of Book Expo America. Then we announce the winners of our Summer Reading voting and invite you to read along with us. And in “Two Books We Can’t Wait for You to Read,” Ann tells us about American Music by Jane Mendelsohn, and Michael discusses Mrs. Somebody Somebody by Tracy Winn.
Book Expo America
Ann and I tell you all about our trip Book Expo America, where we saw lots of authors and new books coming out this fall. Check out our Flickr Photo Set from images of some of the things I saw. It was wonderful for to see all of the enthusiasm at the show for The Passage, a book we told you about several months ago. The title and release date were plastered on everything from badge holders to giant banners.
Join Us for our Summer Reading (14:22)
Thank you to everyone who voted for the books than Ann and I will read this summer. Here we tell you about the books that won – Middlesex for me and The Poisonwood Bible for Ann – in the hopes that you’ll join us in reading one or both of these. We’ll talk about the books in late August and hope to be able to have a live call-in book group of some kind (more to come on that).
Two Books We Can’t Wait For You to Read (19:21)
My book for segment three is Mrs. Somebody Somebody by Tracy Winn, a collection of linked short stories which all take place in the mill town of Lowell, MA, and which span the last half of the 20th century. Ann tells us about American Music by Jane Mendelsohn, author of I Was Amelia Earhart. The new novel is about an Iraq War veteran and his masseuse, who can “feel” stories as she massages him.
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I think I might join you, Ann; I managed to get through about half of The Poisonwood Bible a couple of years ago and I have been meaning to finish it.
Ann – It was great to meet you at BEA. Thanks for keeping me company in the Tony Hawk line – my son was THRILLED with the signature and hat.
Michael – I’m sorry I missed meeting you, but better luck next time!
Dang, both of those book recs were 100% convincing. How to find the time??
Melissa: yes, please join me!
Heather: Ditto!
Katie: Don’t clean your house or cook!
I’ve been meaning to read Poisonwood Bible for years – maybe I’ll try to join this summer. Looking forward to more details on the book group!
Michael, can I put in a recommendation that you try the audiobook version of Middlesex? The version on Audible is read by Kristoffer Tabori and it is a masterwork. There are portions of this book that have almost a poetry to them, and the reader really captures the rhythm and sway of the words.
Audiobooks became my favorite way to consume literature when my kids were small (3 of them – 13 months between!). Now that they are grown, I still find audiobooks a great companion for housework, travel, and needlework.
[...] Somebody Somebody, a book I recently spoke about, could be said to have the city of Lowell, MA as its main character. Ann and I have come up with a [...]