About 2 weeks ago, I was scrounging around for something good to read. So annoying, to work in a bookstore and not have anything gripping begging for my attention! I consoled myself with the thought that the selling season for the fall was starting up (that is when the publishers' sales reps visit and try to persuade our intrepid buyers to order many copies of the upcoming autumn bestsellers) and that soon we would have many galleys of forthcoming books to paw through.
Be careful what you wish for, indeed! From our Random House reps, I have a copy of the NEW PAT CONROY!! I love Pat Conroy. His new book, South of Broad, will be out in September. I am almost to the end of it, but I hate to finish too quickly, so I put it down for a day or so to start the new Margaret Atwood! The Year of the Flood will also be out in September. I think this will be as popular as The Handmaid's Tale; it is a topical look at a dystopian future whose problems bear eerie resemblance to today's headlines. Again, I am almost finished with it, and wishing it could go on for a little while longer.
Plus, I finished Kristin Cashore's prequel to Graceling, Fire, in just a day. It was a satisfying read that will please her ever-growing throng of fans. It is another book for adolescent girls who loved Twilight, but who need to meet a heroine whose life doesn't revolve around her crush. Fire will also be coming out in September. (And the sequel to The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Catching Fire, is coming out in September--another anti-Twilight strong heroine returns.)
And the cherry on top of the sundae? The Last Olympian, the 5th and last book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, was just released on Tuesday. My cup runneth over with books I can't wait to read, a wonderful situation for a book lover to be in.
Mark your calendars--this fall brings a bumper crop of fantastic fiction!
Also, a piece of shameless self-promotion: I am now writing a blog for Capital District Local First on the Times Union webpage. Feel free to wander over and give it a look see. Thanks for reading!
SMT
