Category Archives: Authors

Authors, Book Column, Book Talk, Publishing Industry News

Watching BEA from Afar

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Last week Book Expo America 2015 was held in New York City. It’s an industry-only event best described as if a giant bookstore and Mardi Gras had a baby. Is that too weird?

This year (as last) BEA backed up into BookCon. Which is an event for book fanatics, fans and the general public. It’s more as if a giant bookstore and a Hollywood red carpet had a child. If you like celebrity sightings then it’s certainly your cup of tea.

I didn’t get to go this year (all these photos are courtesy via BEA), but had a blast watching via the bookterwebs. If you know where to look you don’t have to dig too far before you virtually bump into an author or publisher you admire.

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So while there are no free books or ARC’s here , here is a quick rundown of the more notable highlights that are worth a read-through if you’d like to catch up:

Let me know if you know of something I missed out on. I have so many links and articles to read through as I dig deeper into some really great reads coming out later this year. Maybe I can get through them all before BEA descends on Chicago in 2016.

BEA15_Lines

Authors, Birmingham, Book Talk, Events

BOOK EVENTS: MAY 25, 2015 – June 05, 2015

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What a fantastic holiday weekend here in Birmingham, AL. The weather has been fantastically cool and even spit out a little summer shower this evening. So I don’t blame you if you’re out hiking, biking or sunning this next week – but if the rain falls again consider checking out one of these book events in and around the Birmingham area over the next two weeks.

Tuesday, May 26th from 10:00am – 12:00pm – Author Roe Bonner, will be at the West End Library talking about and signing his book Behind The Mic: The Rise and Fall of Personality Radio, which discusses  the business aspects of owning or managing a radio station.

Wednesday, May 27th from 6:30pm – 7:30pm – Author Mary Kay Andrews will be participating in a Q&A session and signing books at the Vestavia Hills Library.

Friday, June 5th from 4:00pm – 6:00pm – Jeff Shaara will be at the Alabama Booksmith signing his latest Civil War book The Fateful Lightning.

Authors, Book Column, Bookstore Travels, E-Books, Free Books

Free eBook: Follow a Few Literary Pilgrimages

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This month Simon Goldhill’s Freud’s Couch, Scott’s Buttocks, Brontë’s Grave is the University of Chicago Press’s free eBook offering. I have not read it yet, but the book is all about writers, their homes and travel. When I travel I always look up local literary points of interest and local indie bookshops to visit. They are so much more interesting and telling than the usual sight-seeing fare.

freudscouchGoldhill’s book not only points the way to where these literary locations are, but also digs a little deeper in trying to connect the dots between these places and the writers that were there. I scanned a bit of it and he seems intent to tackle questions like:

Why did author go there? What were they looking for? What will you find if you go there today? Some of the historical sites of note, listed in the book, are:

  • Sir Walter Scott’s mansion
  • Wordsworth’s cottage
  • the Brontë parsonage
  • Shakespeare’s birthplace
  • Freud’s office

So if literary pilgrimages and bookstore tourism are your thing, be sure to check out UCP’s free eBook this month. (There are a few caveats: they use Adobe DRM, so you’ll need an  approved eReader app for that and a kindle fire may be the only kindle device that can read these free ebooks. I haven’t confirmed that though.)

Authors, Birmingham, Book Column, Book Talk, Events, New Releases

The Localist – Birmingham Book Launch

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Mark your calendars for this Saturday (November 29th) for the book launch of local author and business owner Carrie Rollwagen’s newest project The Localist: Think Independent, Buy Local and Reclaim the American Dream. Things kick off at 10 a.m. at Church Street Coffee & Books.

The Localist is a book that is near and dear to just about everything Rollwagen espouses. It’s a book. It’s local. It’s a way of life. I have yet to get my hands on a copy, but the premise sounds like the kind of book that inspires people to be aware of what is going on around them and could even save our sense of community.

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Part memoir and part “how-to” guide for shopping local, readers will:

. . . follow Carrie on her localist adventure as she embraces slow food, small business, the locavore movement, and many quirky indie shopkeepers and unique independent shops along the way.

The Localist promises to not be anti-big-box store, just very very pro-local-indie shop, while offering tips on how to save money buying local and how to interact with the community. It’s a theme Rollwagen (@crollwagen) weaves into her writing whenever pen is put to paper or she sits at a keyboard. She blogs about buying local Alabama goods, she blogs at her local shop and she blogs about her writing.

If you’re not sold yet, then take a moment and read through a couple of excerpts:

So check out The Localist event at Church Street Coffee & Books this Saturday at 10 a.m. There are also more upcoming events listed if you’d like to meet Carrie and check out the book some other time. I have no doubts this book is worth reading no matter where you live or where you shop.