Book Talk

Looking ahead to 2024

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I hope your holiday season has been book-filled and restful and that 2024 shines brighter than 2023. I mean, no matter how things are, sometimes just hoping that things “are better next time around” is good enough. 2023 had its rough patches, but there’s a new year just around the corner.

I’ve never been much of an Auld Lang Syne kind of person (though New Year’s Eve is absolutely my favorite holiday), and I don’t get very nostalgic, but it is fun to look over a stack of books you have read.

My 2023 stack is 25 titles tall, which LibraryThing tells me is taller than a garden gnome but shorter than a tennis net. I am also reading more contemporary books, with all of my 2023 reads having been published since 1990. I am running about 50% fiction and 50% non-fiction. That sounds healthy, doesn’t it?

book stack height

My favorite fiction reads of 2023 were: Erasure by Percival Everett, How I Became a Famous Novelist by Steve Hely, and Trust by Hernan Diaz.

My favorite non-fiction reads of 2023 were: This Isn’t Going to End Well: The True Story of a Man I Thought I Knew by Daniel Wallace, Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma by Claire Dederer, and Books and Islands in Ojibwe Country: Traveling through the Land of My Ancestors by Louise Erdrich.

graph of the categories I read

There are so many books I am looking forward to reading in 2024! Already in the queue are: The Fraud by Zadie Smith, The Book at War: How Reading Shaped Conflict and Conflict Shaped Reading by Andrew Pettegree, The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa, and Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson.

I think I am going to have to pick up the Stevenson first. Writers, trains, and a locked room murder seems like a wonderful way to spend the New Year’s weekend waiting for 2024 to arrive.

So, a BIG happy New Year’s to you all! Thank you for stopping by the blog, and I look forward to hearing what you are reading in the new year.

Alabama, Events, Hoover

Elizabeth George is Coming to Hoover, AL, in 2024

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Elizabeth George Cover

The excellent speaker series Southern Voices festival held at the Hoover Public Library has announced that British crime novelist Elizabeth George is headlining the 2024 event. This annual event is always a good time if you enjoy hanging out with bookish folks and meeting authors. You can find out more about next year’s conference at the Southern Voices site.

The Hoover Sun has all the good details and wonderful author biographies, but the basics are:

  • January 11, 2024 at 10am – tickets go on sale on their site. Tickets for “An Evening with Elizabeth George” are $40, while tickets for Saturday’s Authors Conference are $45. 
  • Sunday, February 18, 2024 – the Southern Voices Festival kicks off its 31st year with two John Waite concerts. One at 3pm and the other at 7pm
  • Tuesday, February 20, 2024 – artist Katie Baldwin lecture and reception
  • Friday, February 23, 2024 – “An Evening with Elizabeth George” at 7pm
  • Saturday, February 24, 2024 – the Southern Voices Author Conference starts at 9am and ends at 4pm.

It’s always fun to see who Southern Voices organizers can get to speak in Hoover, AL, each year. It’s always a thrill when it is someone of Elizabeth George’s caliber. 

There are other authors as well, including Kate Quinn, Yasmin Angoe, John Archibald, Kim Cross, and more. So be sure to click over and read that Hoover Sun article. Then mark your calendars to buy your tickets on January 11, 2024. It’s shaping up to be another great event at the Hoover Library.

Birmingham, Bookstore Tourism, Bookstores

Little Professor in Homewood, AL

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I found time to swing by the new bookshop for Little Professor in Homewood, AL. It was a beautifully bright & sunny day, which the new book shop is built for. The inside is roomy and Instagram-ready, with high walls and sparse tables. There is also a great seating area along the front window where you can sip your coffee.

They’ve only been open a couple of weeks, and it’s exciting to think about what’s possible in their new space and location. Little Professor has also launched a new podcast at the same time they opened their doors. It’s called A Little Bookish with new episodes dropping on Tuesdays. I recommend episodes one and three if you’d like a good peek behind the scenes of what it takes to open a bookstore.

While I (am old enough) to still miss the tasty sandwiches from the Crepe Myrtle’s restaurant that was attached to a previous location years ago, the new one is easier to access from nearby hotels and restaurants and is clearly built for community. You can check out their old location (up the street here) and you can check out their Little Professor Pepper Place location here.

Little Professor in Homewood, AL only sell new books and also have some stylish sidelines and merch. They also have an annual membership that offers some perks on discounted books and coffee. Their hours are:

They are now located at:
2783 18th St. S., Homewood, AL   35209
Phone:   (205)870-7461

Their hours are:
Monday-Friday 8:00am – 6:00pm
Saturday 8:00am – 6:00pm
Sunday 10:00am – 5:00pm

Book Talk, On the TV

Beacon 23 Now Streaming on MGM+

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Hugh Howey’s Beacon 23 debuted on the streaming service MGM+ earlier last week. I really enjoyed the short book the TV series is based on, but it sounds like the reception of the new series has been mixed. You can watch the trailer on YouTube.

The cast looks great and stars Stephan James and Lena Heady. Sounds like they’ve already filmed two seasons. To be honest, I had never heard of MGM+, but I guess this is why you do a high-production series like this – to bring attention to your app/service.

Anyway, Beacon 23 follows the story of an outer space-based lighthouse keeper who takes on a ‘shipwrecked’ traveler. The book is a fast read and has all of Hugh Howey’s signature sci-fi goodness. The reviews have been mixed but trending up. From the few I’ve run across, it sounds like if science fiction is your jam, then you’re going to really enjoy this. I’m one of those that absolutely enjoyed the Silo series on Apple TV (but the books really were better), so I feel like I’ll enjoy Beacon 23 as well.

Cover designed by M.S. Corley

I know that none of this is breaking news, but a buddy just returned my copy of Beacon 23, and it reminded me to look for the show.

Books, Publishing and Birmingham