The local independent bookstore near me, Books and Greetings, has author visits all the time. I’ve been a few times – to see children’s book author Jane O’Connor (she writes the Fancy Nancy books), Nicholas Sparks when he was touring with his latest book, Safe Haven, and Elizabeth Berg, when she was touring with her newest book, Once Upon a Time, There Was You.
The other night, Lisa See was there. I was very excited to meet her and listen to her speak. I first became familiar with Lisa See when my book club was formed – for our first meeting, we read Lisa See’s Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. I loved it and thought it was a great book club pick – there is so much that begs discussion. Since then, I’ve picked up copies of some of her other books – Peony in Love and Shanghai Girls – but just haven’t had time to read them. I’m hoping to get to them this summer.
As I did when Elizabeth Berg came to the bookstore, I made sure to get there nice and early. I had already bought my copy of her newest book, Dreams of Joy, a few weeks beforehand and was given #1 for the signing line!!! This time, one of my friends from book club was meeting me there, so I wanted to make sure I got us good seats (row two!)
Lisa started the night by speaking about her background and telling us a little about her family – she comes from quite a line of interesting folk. She then went into the writing of her new book, breaking it into four aphorisms (unfortunately I don’t remember what they are now). She also described her trip to China with fellow writer and friend, Amy Tan, both who were doing research for their books.
I found out that she has other books out there and one, On Gold Mountain, is based on her family. She told us how she came to write that story, which I found to be very interesting. I think I am going to be adding this book to my list of ones to read…a list that grows faster than I can keep up with!
I’m very grateful to Books and Greetings for having this and so many other great author visits. I find them quite intimate and I love getting to meet the person behind the writing. I can’t wait for the next one.
Books and Greetings sounds like a wonderful bookstore. I would like to meet all of the authors you've met there, including Lisa See, whose work I admire.
@Suko It's so nice that this little book store is able to survive in today's world and they do a great job bringing in some big authors!