The BEA Roundup 1- The Celebrities (Part 1)- Barbra Streisand's Keynote Address

I know that my roundup of BEA (Book Expo of America) is late, but I hope you will think it worth the wait.

I could not attend many of the early week panels, but I did snag a coveted ticket to the keynote talk with Barbra Streisand interviewed by O Magazine's Gayle King.

It was a coup for BEA to get such a huge name like Streisand, who was promoting her upcoming book My Passion for Design: A Private Tour, which will publish in November. She had a slideshow of a few photos from the book, many of which were taken by Ms. Streisand.

The photos were breathtaking. She has a millhouse, with a huge water mill in front. She brought photos of her Red Barn, which is huge (and gorgeous) as well.

Gayle King seemed very nervous, starting the interview by stating that she had planned on wearing an orange dress until she heard that Streisand hates orange. Streisand told King to NEVER wear orange- or certain shades of yellow. King said that she even had her assistant take out the orange post-it notes that King had placed in her copy of the book she was using as reference on stage. And she changed her orange toenail polish.

I think that King was trying to be funny, but it came off as a little desperate to not incur the wrath of Streisand. (It put me in mind of a literary reference- The Emperor Has No Clothes.) King seemed to fear saying or doing the wrong thing. As the interview progressed, she calmed down.

Streisand has the rap of being a perfectionist, and she did nothing to dissuade the audience from that perception. She spoke of her difficulty in finding architects on the west coast who understood her wish for an east coast-style home in California. She went through several different contractors, including one who tore up a hillside to put in a boulder stairs. Streisand did not want the hillside torn down, and insisted that it was unnecessary in order to create the stairs, no matter what the contractor believed was sound engineering. He was fired.

She stated the importance of the outside garden flowers complimenting the color scheme inside the house. It is an affront to her that someone would have flower colors in their garden that clashed with the inside decor. I said to the woman sitting next to me that I would not want to be Streisand's husband. Her reply: "I wouldn't want to be her daughter-in-law." Funny but true.

She opened up a bit about her childhood and her parents. She clearly idolized her father, who died when she was a toddler, and is less kind about her mother. I get the feeling that if her father had lived, he may have disappointed her as well. Her early years were marked by poverty, and she said that the lack of a couch in her mother's apartment led to her homes today being filled with couches.

Streisand's need for perfection means that this book will be fabulous. It will make a great Christmas gift for people who love design.

Friday's Five

To give everyone something to think about before the weekend, I'm initiating Friday's Five.

Every Friday I'll list five things that captured my attention- books, TV shows, best places to find books, places to go in NYC- the possibilities are endless.

My initial list is BEA (Book Expo of America) related. It's
Five Books I'm Most Excited About Getting at BEA

1. As Husbands Go by Susan Isaacs. She is one of my favorite authors, and her Compromising Positions is one the first grown-up books I read. I got to meet her and get her autograph- what a thrill!

2. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson. This book has had good buzz and it is one that I have meant to pick up, but did not for some reason. I was pleased to meet the author and get my book signed.

3. Ape House by Sara Gruen. Water for Elephants was her big breakthrough novel, so I guess she figured books with animals are a good sell. I loved Water for Elephants and again, I was so happy to meet her.

4. West of Here by Jonathan Evison. This book was one of the Editor's Buzz books at the panel this year, and Chuck Adams, the editor at Algonquin Books said he has been in the business since 1969 and this is the best book he has read. Algonquin means quality, so I know it will be great.

5. Room by Emma Donoghue was another book at the Buzz panel, and people have compared to The Lovely Bones. It's about a woman and her 5 year-old-son being held in a room by the man who kidnapped the woman and is the father of the boy. Everyone was talking about it, and the subject matter seems timely and serious.

What are your Friday Five books?

Talbots celebrates BEA

I was walking by Talbots clothing store on 3rd Ave. & 72nd St. after the big Book Expo celebration (BEA), and saw that Talbots has used a literary theme for their summer line. It's called Novel Ideas and it features stacks of books. Great timing on Talbots part!

I took these pictures and it put a smile on my face.

I'm working on my BEA recaps and will have them ready by the beginning of next week. It was a fabulous week; I learned so much at the Book Bloggers Convention, met terrific authors, and brought back way too many books according to my sons.

BEA- Part #4- The big draws

BEA was an interesting experience for me, as it was my first one. I was checking out who were the big draws, and I came to a few conclusions.

Celebrities, not necessarily authors, were popular. One of the first signings I attended was early Friday morning, and it was for The View co-host Sherri Shepherd, whose book Permission Slips publishes in October. She had a long line, but she took time to chat with everyone and take photos. (see above)

Late Late Show host Craig Ferguson had a very long line that kept snaking around for the signing of his book, American on Purpose. There was one man trying to trade three tickets to the Kathie Lee Gifford signing for one Craig Ferguson ticket, but he didn't appear to have any luck. Ferguson was the moderator at a BEA breakfast, so I had the chance to hear him speak. I can tell you he is as funny at 8am as he is at 12:30am, and he really woke up the crowd.

Julie Andrews was very popular, with a long line that they had to move when they ran out of time. I saw Miss Andrews everywhere, at the Borders booth being interviewed, at C-SPAN booth being interviewed. She is so lovely, and she and her beautiful daughter have written many children's books, so she really is an author and celebrity.

Big selling authors were big draws The line for James Patterson, probably the biggest selling author out there now, was huge. He signed in two different places, and both had huge lines. Candice Bushnell, the Sex and the City author had a long line for a book signing for a book that came out months ago.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney was so popular, they ran out of books and he signed book plates. Ditto the Top Chef chefs; they signed recipe cards when they ran out of books.

Literary authors were popular too It was good to see that more literary authors, like Michael Connelly, George Pelecanos, Joyce Carol Oates, and Jonathan Lethem also had many, many people who wanted their autographs.

The panel discussions had many fans The one on Book Reviews in 2010, sponsored by the National Book Critics Circle, was standing room only. The panel had book reviewers for print publications, as well as a representative from GoodReads.com, discussing where book reviews are headed. It was a lively discussion.

Book bloggers took center stage at the first ever Book Bloggers:The New Buzz Builders panel, moderated by Jennifer Hart, who blogs about books for Harper Collins Publishers at bookclubgirl.com. Even though this panel was not publicized as much as the other panels, the room was overflowing. There were six other popular bloggers, BethFishReads, The Written Word, Booking Mama, My Friend Amy, Maw Books, and She Is Too Fond of Books, on the panel, and the discussion was insightful, informative and interesting. There were lots of great questions, and it probably could have gone on for much longer if time allowed. The bloggers were mobbed like rock stars at the end of the panel. I think they were surprised by their popularity!

BEA-Part #3- Books with Buzz

There were so many books at BEA that have good buzz; books everyone is talking about that will be out soon. These are the ones I was able to get, and you'll hear more from me as I read them.

A perfect book for Father's Day is Michael Lewis' Home Game. Lewis wrote the baseball book, Moneyball, about how the Oakland A's revolutionized the way the front office of a major league baseball team built their team. Home Game is a funny, touching look at modern day fatherhood from his personal perspective. I saw him on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and he was hysterical. Give it to your favorite new dad.

Crazy for the Storm, by Norman Ollestad, is a memoir about an eleven-year-old boy who was the sole survivor of a plane crash that killed his father. There is a lot in here about his relationship with his dad, so it's also a good choice for Father's Day. Everyone is talking about this one, and you'll be sure to hear more about it soon.

There's a new biography coming out in October, How to Be a Movie Star- Elizabeth Taylor in Hollywood, by William Mann. His previous books include a well reviewed biography of Katherine Hepburn. The cover of this book has a gorgeous photo of a stunning young Elizabeth Taylor.

Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy Kidder's newest book is Strength in What Remains, the true story of young boy who escapes from war-torn Africa and ends up living in Central Park in New York City. It publishes in August. Kidder spoke at a breakfast at BEA, and this one sounds as great as his book on Paul Farmer.

Jeannette Walls, who wrote the terrific memoir, The Glass Castle, is back with a true-life novel, Half Broke Horses, about her grandmother's life. It's drawn comparisons to Out of Africa and West with the Night. Walls also spoke at the breakfast, and said that she wrote this book because people had asked her so many questions about her mother's life. As she dug deeper into her mother's life, her grandmother's story just became so strong, she knew she had to write it.

Fiction books that are causing a buzz include Pete Dexter's new novel Spooner, about a man and his stepson, out in September.

Simon and Schuster is high on Nicholas Baker's newest literary fiction, The Anthologist, and people were scooping that one up quickly.

Joshua Ferris' debut novel And Then We Came to the End won heaps of praise, and everyone is looking forward to his next effort, The Unnamed, due in January 2010.

Lorrie Moore has a story set just after 9/11, The Gate at the Stairs, and she spoke at a luncheon and was deadpan funny. This novel is a serious one, and many people are very excited about this new one from the multi-award winning author, out in September.

Two books I have loved forever are Gone With the Wind and The Thorn Birds, and Leila Meacham's Roses, is billed as a successor to those. It's a multi-generational saga set in east Texas, and it's due in January 2010.

BEA- Part 2- So many authors, so little time

There were several authors at BEA who had books I have wanting to read, and I was lucky enough to meet the authors and get a copy of their book.

Kelly Corrigan is the author of The Middle Place, a memoir about growing up the middle child in her family, and the year she and her dad were both diagnosed with cancer. I have heard so much great buzz about this book, I was lucky to be able to meet her and her father. (photo above). Her book clearly touched many lives, as there were many people in line to meet her, and they all had wonderful stories about how her book affected them.

Jonathan Miles wrote a novel, Dear American Airlines, about a man who was on the way to his estranged daughter's wedding when he got caught in the hell that can be the airport experience (anyone who has had a flight delayed forever knows this). This has been on my radar for awhile, so I was pleased to get a signed copy.

Robert Goolrick's A Reliable Wife has been in my sights, and I got to meet the very unassuming man who wrote this spooky, mysterious book. One librarian gushed about how great this book is, and it is on the very top of my To Be Read pile.

Nevada Barr is a mystery writer, and while I don't read a lot of mysteries, I have run across her books for years, and was able to meet her and get a signed copy of 13 1/2. I'm looking forward to diving in. She's a very classy lady.

Speaking of mysteries, Linwood Barclay, who wrote the award-winning chilling mystery, No Time for Goodbye, is back with Fear the Worst, which should appeal to Harlan Coben fans.

Dorothea Benton Frank was there signing Return to Sullivans Island, continuing the popular saga of the Hayes and Hamilton families. She looked lovely and was very sweet.

Book Expo of America-Part 1

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend the Book Expo of America (BEA) at the Javits Center. I had been looking forward to it for so long, and it definitely lived up to expectations.

There were so many chances to meet great authors who have books coming out soon. I was first in line to meet Adrian Trigiani, who wrote the Big Stone Gap series I adore, and more recently Very Valentine, which I read and reviewed here recently. She was just as terrific as I hoped she'd be. She's just like your best friend! Several people I spoke with said that they had met her, and she is one of their favorite authors to talk to. Her new book is a YA title, Viola in Reel Life, about a Brooklyn girl who goes to boarding school in Indiana. If you have a middle-school girl to give this to, be sure to pick it up. (Or read yourself- I plan on doing just that!)

I was also able to meet Michael Connelly, one of the best literary crime fiction writers around. He writes the popular Harry Bosch series, and the newest is The Scarecrow, and I was so thrilled to be able to pick up a signed ARC of the book (he had such a long line of people wanting to meet him). It's just been released, and it's sure to hit the bestseller list right away.

Neil Gaiman, author of The Graveyard Book signed 170 copies of his books in one hour, and I was able to score one for a young man who is a big fan. Gaiman was very gracious, and he is as funny as his tweets on Twitter are!

Mary Karr, who wrote the incredible memoir The Liar's Club was signing copies of the third in her memoir trilogy, Lit. She was funny too. She told me this book is about "getting drunk and getting sober". It's definitely on the top of my To Be Read pile (how can I resist with that description?). We also chatted about Syracuse, as she is a professor at SU.