Running My Stuff (also known as Miscellaneous)

Just a few things to mention (don't groan - this won't take long):

1.  You all know how much I love local authors.  I read 'em, blog about 'em, meet 'em, support 'em, and, more often than not, sincerely extol their literary virtues (plus, I really like all of them personally).  Having said that, I think I'm going to take a little break and head for the national biggies.  I've got used copies (thank you, Recycle) of the latest from Daniel Silva, Greg Iles (his 1st in about 5 years, due to a serious accident), Robert Harris, David Baldacci (2 - Will Robie and Maxwell and King), and Nelson DeMille.  Plus, I haven't read Khaled Hosseini's And the Mountains Echoed or Dan Brown's Inferno.  Since I'm not working at Village House of Books anymore, it gives me an opportunity to read some other things.  In case any of you are worried about me giving up on the locals, that will definitely NOT be happening.  

2.  I came across a very interesting article about how some smaller publishers are letting us common folk determine which books they will be publishing.  It's called crowdsourcing, and it appears to be a pretty new phenomenon.  Here's the link.  I would recommend that you at least skim it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/12/business/media/publishers-turn-to-the-crowd-to-find-the-next-best-seller.html?emc=edit_th_20140812&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=20735318

3.  I'm very disappointed to say that I couldn't finish my 1st Gregg Hurwitz novel.  He appeared at Village House of Books for a signing, and I bought his latest, Don't Look Back, and got it signed.  It's his 10th book, and I thought I would finally add another well-known author to my arsenal.  Alas, at page 119, I stamped it DNF (did not finish).  I can't explain it.  All I can tell you is that I was getting ready to go to the gym, where I can read to my heart's content for 45 minutes to an hour.  In fact, I actually look forward to going (insert any words/phrases of disbelief) so that I can read guilt-free and take my mind off the actual exercise.  And when I thought about reading more of Gregg's book, I, all of a sudden, didn't want to go.  Not good.  I know that Gregg doesn't need me to read or like his books.  But I'm never happy to write those 3 letters in my notebook.  (I ended up taking Silva's latest Gabriel Allon adventure, The Heist, with me - and read 40 pages - it got me through the workout.)

4.  And speaking of Silva, a friend of mine, Bob asked me about a good historical fiction for a plane ride.  I came up with 2 right off the top.  One of them is a very early Silva called The Unlikely Spy.  It's about how the Nazis embedded spies in England in the mid-'30's, and how the English went about uprooting them during WWII.  If you're looking for something in the historical fiction genre, I highly recommend this one.  (Coincidentally, Bob's wife, Ann, had just started reading The Unlikely Spy, a fact which I didn't know when I recommended it.)

5.  By now, you all know that the VHOB Book Club is now the Recycle Book Club.  And that our book club has moved to Recycle Bookstore in Campbell.  There are 2 things I want to tell you about that:

     1.  Here's the schedule for the upcoming authors:
          September 18 - Jana McBurney-Lin and Hi-Dong Chai - Blossoms and Bayonets
          October 28 - Shelly King - The Moment of Everything
          November 18 - Joshua Safran - Free Spirit:  Growing up on the Road and off the
              Grid
          December (exact date TBD) - Natalie Baszile - Queen Sugar

     2.  If you want to have your name on the email list, so that you can get notices
          regarding the bookclub, let me know, and I'll add you on.

See, I told you I wouldn't take too long.