Where Have You Been???

Did you miss us? Sorry I've been gone for so long. After our last post ("An Embarrassment of Riches") you might have guessed that I've had my nose buried in all the great new books that have just been published, and that would be a pretty darned good guess. But, unfortunately, incorrect. The ugly truth is that Saturday was my birthday, and I took a few days to celebrate with friends and family. And a good time was had by all. Not to go into the gory details, but let's just say it included air hockey, putt-putt golf, and photo booths. And a modicum of alcohol. AWI to my friends.

But the upshot is I'm now back in action, and what do I find but even MORE great books making their way to the store, including the first new novel in years from Pat Conroy (The Prince of Tides, The Water is Wide, etc.): South of Broad. Not only do we have his new book, but we also have autographed copies! (And they're actually signed by Pat Conroy, not by me or Roberta.) Plus we have that wonderful new book by Seattle-based writer and naturalist Lyanda Lynn Haupt (author of Rare Encounters with Ordinary Birds), Crow Planet: Essential Wisdom from the Urban Wilderness, that was just reviewed in The Oregonian. And we got in paperback copies of Toni Morrison's latest and much-lauded novel (A Mercy), one of my favorite short-story collections of the past year (The Boat, by Nam Le), and the second novel from Seattle author Stephanie Kallos (Broken for You), Sing Them Home. Last but not least, we have finally been able to get back in stock the book everyone's talking about, The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, by Jeff Sharlet. And yes, it's in paperback, and yes, it will scare the pants off of you!

So, NOW I have my nose buried in a bunch of new books, and I'm happy to be back in the blogosphere.