So many books, so little time. Do you ever feel like that? This past weekend I attended the Southern Independent Book Sellers Association’s annual conference and trade show. There were over 50 authors in attendance to tell us about their new and upcoming books, and representatives from just about every publishing house also attended to pitch the books of authors that couldn’t be there (again with the “So Little Time” part) . And then they all want to give you advanced copies of the books so that you can read them, fall in love with them and order them before they are released – you know so that we will inevitably fall in love with the book and tell everyone who walks into the shop about it. Only now there are 57 new adult fiction and non-fiction books spread out over my dining room table awaiting their placement in my TBR (To Be Read) list. Ok, so far I have read One, only 56 more to go!
Now don’t get me wrong, someone handing me 57 not even yet released books to read is by no means a hardship – actually it is a bit of a dream come true, but also rather over whelming and intimidating. How will I ever read them all? What if I miss one and it is the big hit of the season? What if I love one and no one else does? Where do I even begin, alphabetically, by release date, by genre ? Decisions, decision!
The first one I read was a mystery about an agoraphobic woman who loves old noir films. I chose it because he was on a panel with our friend Michael Rubin’s whose new mystery Cashed Out has just been released. (Oh, I already read Cashed out so that’s 2 read!) As you would expect from Mr. Rubin “Cashed Out” was a fast paced thriller with lots of twists and turns. It stars a failed lawyer, his ex-wife, a toxic waste entrepreneur and almost $ 4.5 million dollars in cold hard cash. If you enjoyed his first novel “The Cotton Crest Curse” you will definitely enjoy this one, and if you did not enjoy Michael’s award winning first novel it is probably because you haven’t read it (we can help you fix that).
Next up? I think we will stick with mysteries and go with Laura Lippman’s upcoming Sunburn. I’ll let you know what I think.