Hi all.
I've been terribly remiss in not having written for 2 weeks but, if you could have seen my schedule, you'd cut me some slack. My neck is in a turmoil of pain and stiffness from the airplanes and the inability to move a few inches one way or the other any more for fear of raising suspicions among the cabin attendants. Oh for the bucks to blow on first class!
I scarcely know where to begin. The authors or the food? Oh, ok, I know this is a book blog so I'll forgo the descriptions of the glorious food - Portland is a totally foodie city. Who knew? They must be one of the most communally politically correct cities in the country. Free transportation within the city limits? Bike lanes that are respected. Miles and miles of parks, walking lanes, gardens, memorials and the friendliest people, not just tolerating but welcoming all those librarians with their ubiquitous orange bags from Innovative. (You can bet your boots that Maryellen and I did not allow ourselves to be seen walking the streets with one of them!)
If you've been reading my blog for a while then you know that Nicholas Kristof tore my heart out with his book Half the Sky, about empowering women in developing countries, freeing them from sexual slavery, offering micro-loans for business start ups and healing those suffering from the injuries caused by rape and childbirth in women too young to be bearing children. He was the keynote speaker for the opening session last Wednesday and one of the main reasons I wanted to go to Portland and the conference in the first place. (not to mention, of course, my niece Rebecca and her hubby whose first baby boy is due any week now.)
I was so pleased that he didn't spend half of his lecture time pandering to the librarians as some tend to do. A shout out is enough. I think we know by now how much a free public library means to so many and we love to hear about how it changed your life but it can get almost embarrassing. I wanted to hear about him and his work and what we could do to help and I now have an idea. For what we spent on a few day's food, we could have provided one fistula surgery for a young woman ostracized from society. I promise to send a check to one of Kristof's recommended foundations after payday Wednesday. Read more:
http://www.fistulafoundation.org/
If you'd like to read about some of the workshops we attended you can read my blog posts at
www.readersadvisoronline.com
Authors we heard? Oh, so many! Books we picked up? I couldn't bring back one for all of you without going over the 50 pound limit for my suitcase but I came close! Booths visited? We haunted the publishers: Harper-Collins, Random House, Simon and Schuster, Penguin. They are so generous with their ARC's. Polaris? Avoided them!
Come back tomorrow and I'll tell you about Scott Turow (whose new book I won!!) and Sue Grafton. My shoulders may have healed by then.
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2 comments:
What happened to Scott Turow?
Hi Dorothy, Funny you should ask. Frankly, he was a very poor speaker which is especially shocking for a trial lawyer! (perhaps why he's now writing books?)
Funny thing happened though. There were only 2 copies of his new book Innocent on a table for 8. The first 2 folks to get to the table scarfed up the books and put them in their bags.
Come to find out, they were being raffled, I won, and the person (someone I used to work with) had to give it up to me. I brought it back to Ann as a thank you.
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