Summer Vacation and The Bookworm

Hello, my name is Sara and its been 90 days since my last blog..  I neglected my Internet duties, and  went on vacation instead.  While that might sound good,  as a die hard work alcoholic, I took my laptop with me to the Jersey Shore.  

As all type A's do, I told myself, I would just check my mail.  Hours later, sandy fingers would grab my arm saying.."mommy, aren't you done yet?"  I couldn't help myself.  We have such exciting things going on at the store! I didn't really even want to take a vacation.  The family made me...

What's new you say? Well, Ill be happy to shamelessly promote our new programs.  First, and most exciting, I'm proud to announce the opening of our  independent publishing house, Bonaparte Press.  Yes, I am now a publisher, as well as head bookworm.   We are starting with e-books, but will move into paperbacks within the next year or two if things go as planned!

The store also has big changes ahead.  We're expanding!  Our new space next door is being remodeled as we speak, and we can't wait to move into our additional 900 sq! 

If you've visited the shop, you know this is important, as in our hall we have many, "excuse me, pardon me,  sorry" moments as people try to get around the stacks of books!

The most important summer question, of course is what did you read? We had a pretty short "must read" stack this year.  

The most notable being Evanovich's Fearless Fourteen.

It was most appropriate as we were heading to Jersey.  As with all her other books, the writing is excellent.  All of her books are laugh out loud funny at times.  Her characters are interesting and, random silliness aside, the plots are good.  Overall, the latest is a good read.  My complaints with this book, are the same as they were with the  previous 3 books.   How long can stephanie bounce between these two guys?  I'm done with the Morrelli, Ranger thing.

  Pick Morelli,  Pick Ranger, or both, at this point I don't really care!  For me, this series needs to make real progress in character growth.   At 24$ bucks a shot, there has got to be more than zany antics by stephanie and her side-kicks and her angst over who to go to bed with.  

Next on my list is Acheron, the long awaited book in Sherrilyn Kenyons series!  

Face Book. The new, younger hipper Bookworm's Attic

I am now officially young again!

I feel redeemed and part of the in,cool, hip generation. I have managed to get the store Myspace and Face Book (FB, for all you "out generation people") working! I even have friends! Not so much on Myspace, but friends galore on Face Book. I even managed to stay up past my 10:00 bedtime last night as I anxiously awaited to find out if my "friend requests" would be accepted. Better than my first middle school date! Who knew?

Well I guess a couple of million under 30's . But to me, I was astounded to find that I was transfixed, waiting to see if I would have an incoming notice of acceptance. I'm not sure what this whole social networking thing means in the bigger scheme of things. But I have to stay, I did have fun figuring it out!

Back from Romantic Times Convention

Hello,

Yes, I know I am a horrible blogger. Hi, my name is sara , and it's been 1 year since my last blog. I promise to do better.

I just returned from the Romantic Times book lovers convention and it was a blast. I was an RT Virgin (their lable), and had no idea what to expect. It was crazy! Imagine, Star Trek convention crossed with Romance Novel cover models! There were parties every where. Yes, costume parties, yes, with people dressed up! A Faery Ball, Vampire Ball, Western Ball.. You get the idea.

As a almost forty something, I can honestly say I had no intention of dressing up like a vampire! But, once your there, you just seem to get into the mood and I did rummage around for somthing to make me fit it! Peer pressure at its worst!

As a bookseller, the best part for me was meeting all of the Authors! The authors, wow, they were so approachable and friendly. Some of the fans were over the top, but the authors were really willing to sit down and talk about their books and plot ideas. They were interested in learning what was selling in my small independent bookstore.

Who did I meet you say? Well, the list is very long. The store's home pages has pictures of me with some of these authors. But some stand out. I had a great conversation with Jeanne Stein,The Becomming.

J.R. Ward was a thrill to meet, and I'm very excited about the new book. Also, I had fun with Gennita Low. L.A. Banks was very friendly, as was Marjorie Lu. Jade Lee is a wild women. Really. Christine Feehan was very gracious and seemed honestly interested in promoting independent bookstores. I had the opportunity to have lunch with Kat Martin at the Annual rewards dinner, and that was amazing, so listen to her speak about her years in writting romances. I also meet up and coming author C.L. Wilson, and had a nice chat with her at a party. I also got to meet Jacqulyn Frank, looking forward to her new book Damien.

Overall, I had a great time. The hotel was under construction, so that offered great moments of fun as we tried to find the stairs behind the "do not enter" partitions. Mary Balogh and I went "off road" as we were not going to be on the 17th floor with out knowing how to get down!


The bottom line is I have a great selection of autographed books, book marks and other treats from the conference. Over the next couple of months I am going to be putting together goodie bags to raffle off! Stay tuned.


Sara the head Bookworm.

Romance Book Club

Welcome to the Romance Book Club at The Bookworm's Attic.


This month we are reading Janet Evanavich's Lean Mean 13. As the resident Bookworm, I have come to give my comments on this month's selection.

First, I would say that after 13 books, you would think that Stephanie would be able to choose between Ranger and Morelli. I'm not sure of the value of the continuing cliff hanger between these two men. Yes, I understand that if she chooses Ranger, then all the Morelli fans will be angry, and so on. But, really, It is just meaningless at this point, and unless this is going to go on indefinitely, then it is a given that one of these groups will be disappointed. Overall, it would make it a much more interesting read if we could just move on !

Second, from the beginning of the series to book 13, I have lost respect for Stephanie. Not because of her inability to commit to Ranger or Morelli, but because she seems to have turned into an Air Head. In the first few books, she was a strong women working in a male field. That's why she was interesting. Now, she is a doofus who gets into these weird situations that require, Ranger or Morelli to come in to rescue her. Will I keep reading it, probably, as I have so much time invested already, I need closure! Overall, I give it an 5 on a scale of 10.