Archives - Weekly Update

After racing out of town a day early to escape the epic snowstorm in the New York area, I was happy to spend time in Denver with booksellers from across the country, as well as more than 100 authors and dozens of publishing friends. I never managed to switch to Mountain Time, thus I was awake each morning at 5:00, ready for the very full days of programming that started at 7:45. Those in my office know that I am not one to hit the office in the early morning --- I prefer to start my day working from home --- but jet lag was in my favor here.

I had planned to head to Denver tomorrow, and then the forecast for snow --- aka Winter Storm Jonas --- got in the way. I accelerated my flight departure, and by the time you read this, I will be in the Mile High City. Just know I am blaming Mercury retrograde for this travel change; I just need to crawl my way to Tuesday when the red planet straightens itself out.

This week has been all about awards. On Sunday, we had the Golden Globes, where I found myself adding films that I had not seen to my Netflix queue. A couple of reflections on that evening: First, Denzel Washington was the ONE winner who knew in advance that he was getting an award. I think having a speech in hand and carrying glasses might have been a good idea. Second, for both hosts and presenters, the show is being broadcast. If your comments are bleeped, only the people in the room think you are clever. The rest of us think you are not so smart. Third, I screamed so loudly when Brie Larson won that Greg raced downstairs to see what happened. Tom had given up watching as he knew few of the television and streaming programs that were mentioned early on.

The cold that I caught over the holidays escalated into a sinus infection and knocked the stuffing out of me for most of the holiday break. Of course, I felt much better by Monday when I went back to the office.

It forced me to slow down, which in many ways was perfect. I read three books that will be Bookreporter.com Bets On selections. First up was Chris Cleave’s EVERYONE BRAVE IS FORGIVEN, which is set during the start of World War II as children are being evacuated for the Blitz and London is readying for war. The tension is palpable, and there are many surprises in the plot. Chris’ books are so different; each has memorable characters, and he draws us right into their struggles. This one, too, is full of emotion and has a strong storyline.