Finally feeling more human!

It's been a crazy couple of weeks!! I am finally up and (almost) fully recovered from the pneumonia, so that's good! I have no idea where it came from - it smacked into me like a mack truck!! - and I am so glad it's over.

I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the Wednesday pre-conference at PLA before I got sick. Nancy Pearl and a few others from a couple different publishing houses presented "Book Buzz" a session talking about all the cool new books that they have coming out in the next couple months. Virginia Stanley from HarperCollins, Talia Ross from Holtzbrinck (Macmillan), and Marcia Purcell from Random House were there to give the inside track.

I also was able to attend the Opening Session with Jon Wood. This man is not only an amazing person doing wonderful things for kids in developing nations, but he is a very talented public speaker. Here is his bio as found on the PLA Conference website:

John Wood to keynote PLA Conference Opening Session
Wednesday, March 26, 2008

At the age of 35, Wood left an executive career track at Microsoft Corporation to form Room to Read, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping over one million children across the developing world break the cycle of poverty through the power of education. Since its start in 2000, Room to Read has sponsored the opening of more than 280 schools and 3,600 multi-lingual libraries across the developing world. The organization has distributed over 2.8 million children’s books and supports more than 2,300 girls with long-term scholarships. Room to Read plans to increase this literacy network to 20,000 libraries and schools serving at least 10 million children. Wood illustrates his experience with Room to Read in a recent memoir, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World (HarperCollins 2006), a book described by Publishers’ Weekly as “an infectiously inspiring read.” Translated into 10 languages, it is popular with entrepreneurs, philanthropists, educators, and internationalists alike.


The exhibit hall opened at 4:00 pm, right after the end of Jon Wood's opening session. I only had about 20 minutes to spend there before I had to leave to catch my bus back to the University of Minnesota where I was meeting my mother-in-law for a ride back home. I went STRAIGHT to the publishers booth's where they had TONS of ARC's...Advanced Readers Copies of the books that they talked about in "Book Buzz!" I came away with about 15 free books in those 20 minutes!!! Damn pneumonia - just think what I could have walked away with if I had had more time!!! Unfortunately, I had to leave those books in Minnesota with my mother-in-law (who is going to ship them to me!) - I just had NO energy to carry them on the plane with me!! Once I get my box of books, I'll make a list of all the ARCs I got - I know y'all will be jealous!

I was able to spend a little time with my friend A the other day. It's been SO LONG since we've had FMRNS night, so we were in need of a fabulous movie. We watched The Corn is Green, a drama from 1979 with Katherine Hepburn and Ian Saynor. I'm looking forward to resuming our Fabulous Tuesdays!!


I also spent a little time reading. I finally finished Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy, and have moved on to Seventh Heaven by James Patterson. Reviews from Publishers Weekly are posted below.

From Publishers Weekly
Diagnosed at age nine with Ewing's sarcoma, a cancer that severely disfigured her face, Grealy lost half her jaw, recovered after two and half years of chemotherapy and radiation, then underwent plastic surgery over the next 20 years to reconstruct her jaw. This harrowing, lyrical autobiographical memoir, which grew out of an award-winning article published in Harper's in 1993, is a striking meditation on the distorting effects of our culture's preoccupation with physical beauty. Extremely self-conscious and shy, Grealy endured insults and ostracism as a teenager in Spring Valley, N.Y. At Sarah Lawrence College in the mid-1980s, she discovered poetry as a vehicle for her pent-up emotions. During graduate school at the University of Iowa, she had a series of unsatisfying sexual affairs, hoping to prove she was lovable. No longer eligible for medical coverage, she moved to London to take advantage of Britain's socialized medicine, and underwent a 13-hour operation in Scotland. Her discovery that true beauty lies within makes this a wise and healing book.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly
At the start of the gripping seventh Women's Murder Club thriller from bestseller Patterson and Paetro (after 2007's The 6th Target), San Francisco is still haunted by the disappearance of Michael Campion, the much-adored teenage son of a former California governor, three months earlier. Following up on a tip that Michael was last seen entering a prostitute's house, homicide inspector Lindsay Boxer and her new partner, Rich Conklin, are shocked when the hooker immediately confesses that Michael, who had a heart defect, died during sex and she disposed of his body. Lindsay's ADA pal, Yuki Castellano, is sure she has a slam-dunk case, but the trial soon takes a bizarre turn. Lindsay and Rich also scramble to track down a serial arsonist responsible for murdering a string of wealthy couples. Lindsay races to put the pieces together before the fires hit too close to home. In true Patterson style, the reader is privy to Lindsay's thoughts as well as the killers', ratcheting up the suspense an extra notch. Fans won't be disappointed with the twist at the end that not even Lindsay sees coming. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

P.S. I have to send a shout out to my friend Lynn - thanks so much for the offer to help me while I was sick!!! I appreciate it so much!!! You ROCK my FACE off!!! =)