Things might be quiet around here next week. I’m trying to line up some guest bloggers, but if there’s nothing here for a bit, please don’t think I died. For your Vroman’s fix, please check the Vroman’s Twitter feed or, you know, stop by the store. We have some great events next week, but I’ll personally put in a plug for Michelle Huneven’s event on Thursday night. I’ve written about her book Blame before, but let me just reiterate that this is not the event to be missing.
I will be in New York City for the week, visiting friends and family, hearing my wife read some of her fiction, and then attending a friend’s wedding. I plan on taking a little tour of the local independent bookstore scene, because I hear it’s pretty great, and that this is what people do when they visit The Large Apple. These places are on the list. If you live in New York, and would like to see what I look like in person, you should strongly consider coming to this event. I will be there. I’ll be the one with the beard.
On to the most important question of all: what will I be taking with me to read? First, let’s assume I will have finished The Keep by Jennifer Egan. I think this is a safe assumption, as I have less than 100 pages left and a few days to get through it. Oh, and the book is freaking brilliant (possibly haunted castles, metafiction games, general creepy ambiance), so you know, that helps, too. If that’s the case, then I will be toting my galley of Joshua Ferris’ new book The Unnamed. I was a big fan of Ferris’ debut novel Then We Came to the End, and I can’t wait to get into this one. I’ll also bring Maile Meloy’s new story collection Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It, another book I’ve been eager to read. I’m debating bringing along a super-secret manuscript of a novel I’m very excited to read (it’s so secret, I won’t even say who wrote it), but I don’t think I want to drag a manuscript across country and back, so I think it will stay here. It will be a good incentive to come home.
And I think that’s all I’m going to take. I mean, if I finish both of those books, I could always, you know, buy a book from one of the amazing bookstores I’ll be visiting. That might be fun.
I’m also excited to see this Statue of Liberty that people are always talking about.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Have to have to visit BookCourt! Have to have to.
OK, I will.
Shakespeare & Co. is right down Broadway from The Strand, at Washington Place. I used to work there, and David Ulin worked at their uptown store. Also, The Strand has a semi-secret rare and signed books section a few doors down from the main store. Worth seeking out just to bask in the first edition glory.
Checking out a couple different stores’ blogs since it’s been requested for our site as well, and I read your comment about Joshua Ferris.
LOVED Then We Came to the End, and finished The Unnamed a couple months ago, since I pretty much fell upon the galley as soon as I saw it. Curious to see what your impressions are!
Was referred over here from Books on the Nightstand today … your blog looks fun and I will definitely stop by the store next time I am back in So Cal. I’m a So Cal girl living in a grey Seattle world.