No Really, Thank YOU!

So here I sit in a hotel room in Brooklyn.  I've been here since Tuesday at the annual Book Expo America where we booksellers and publishers get together and figure out how best so serve you.  The consensus this year seems to be that the upcoming fall season is mighty strong.  But the question is also how do we get books to you, our beloved customers.  Are eBooks all the rage, do you read what we write on twitter or facebook or this blog, or do you just want to come in to the store and talk to someone who knows about books?

In any case, these are some of the issues discussed, and I have to say, we're especially proud to talk up our customers.  It seems we might have the best ones around.  You guys are enthusiastic and knowledgeable, you come to events, you love books as much as we do, simply put, you're the best.  

Sure, this year in all industries has been worse than before, but thanks to you Book Soup continues to do well.  So seriously, from the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU!

Happy Reading,

Julia

Sitting Shiva

So I'm going to dangle a little bait because this book doesn't come out until August 6th.  I want everyone to take note of it though because I can't get it out of my head.  

Jonathan Tropper's new book, This Is Where I Leave You, is an absolutely stunning achievement.  The premise is simple; a father dies and the family, who is only vaguely Jewish is made to sit shiva as per the father's dying request.  The hitch of course, is that, like most families, this family cannot stand each other for more than a few hours.  

Of course hilarity ensues.  But Tropper brings a tenderness to the Foxman family that permeates even the most humorous scenes.  The Foxman's have a past, they harbor grudges and hurts, they are petty and deep and beautiful.  Each character finds a way, even when they are at their most self-righteous, their most shallow, and their most spiteful there is an inherent lovability in each character.  The people that you should hate the most, rip at heartstrings in the end.

This Is Where I Leave You is an absolutely engrossing read.  Study that picture in the corner and remember it for August...I guess this is where I leave you.

Happy Reading,

Julia

Blue Pills

In celebration of Eisner Nominees coming out I thought I'd talk about one of my favorite nominated books.  The common misguided thought about comics is that they are men in tights, kids stuff that adults are meant to grow out of by the time they reach high school, if not then definitely college.  But more and more these amazing graphic narratives are being penned and inked, the pictures only providing deeper layers to the act of reading a moving story.  

Blue Pills by Frederik Peeters is exactly that.  About Peeters' relationship with an HIV-positive woman, Blue Pills is funny, heartwarming and realistic.  He brings a tenderness through the pictures, a sense of imminent loss looms even in the happiest of times.  But ultimately for Peeters, the relationship is a great one, and beautifully rendered on the page.  

Comics aren't just for kids.  In fact, they may just be the best thing to happen to "grown-up" literature.  

Happy Reading,

Julia