Saturday Spotlight: Special BEA 2013 Events

I started opening day of BEA with an early (7:30 a.m.) author breakfast at Random House's New York City offices.  Over a continental buffet, participants heard remarks from five engaging authors who spoke about their new books, what inspired them to write their novels, and their love of libraries.  It was a heartwarming and wonderful beginning to the three-day event that is Book Expo America.

These are the advanced readers copies I received from authors Jo Baker, Janice Clark, Jamie Ford, Marisha Pessl, and Elizabeth L. Silver:
    
                          
                                    

The buzz for each of these titles is palpable, and I'm especially excited to start Jamie Ford's (acclaimed author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet) second novel.

Another highlight of BEA opening day was the Association of American Publishers Fourth Annual Book Expo America Librarians Lunch at the Jacob K. Javits Center.  Over a box lunch, participants listened while five authors shared experiences related to their newest books and observations about their writing careers.
 
Here are the advanced readers copies I received from authors Lee Smith (Algonquin), Koethi Zan (Pamela Dorman Books/Viking), Jayne Anne Phillips (Scribner/Simon and Schuster), Louise Penny (Minotaur/Macmillan), and Bill Bryson (Doubleday/Random House):

           
                          

These new works are from a group of bestselling authors, with the exception of Zan's eerily prescient debut thriller, The Never List.  I'm especially looking forward to reading Guests on Earth, which takes place at Highland Hospital, the Asheville institution where Zelda Fitzgerald (who makes an appearance in the novel) was a patient and died in a fire.

Check back tomorrow for my weekly book recap, which will feature books acquired at the expo . . . yes, there are more books!

Catherine

Follow me on Twitter: @bookclubreader

Saturday Spotlight: Special BEA 2013 Events was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com. This post cannot be republished without attribution.