BEA Book Update

BEA, or Book Expo America, ran from May 30-June 1 this year in New York City. I was able to attend for a few hours on the morning on May 31and brought home just about as many books as I could carry.

The show floor was quietish although there were some A-list signings; I noticed Barbara Kingsolver, Nicholas Sparks, Andre Dubus III for example. I passed on the author breakfast, this year starring Trevor Noah and others.

The most exciting galleys I found were crime novels. Ed Lin's 99 Ways to Die (October) and John Straley's Baby's First Felony (July) will be the first up on my reading list. Both are from Soho Press.

The big "get" was Markus Zuzak's new book, his first since The Book Thief, Bridge of Clay (October). Galleys were numbered and you had to fill out a card telling him what The Book Thief meant to you. I just happened to be walking by the booth when there were still some left.

One of the other "it" books of the show is Tommy Orange's There There, out now from Knopf and looking great, a story about indigenous people in an urban setting.

I'm also excited about Europa Edition's new series-starter A Winter's Promise (October). It's also high on my list of translated books coming out this year, along with I Didn't Talk by Beatriz Bracher (July), coming from New Directions.

Who knew Frank Capra ever wrote a novel? Yes, that Frank Capra. It's called Cry Wilderness and is coming in September from Rare Bird Books.

I caught up with some friends too- I love wandering the floor and bumping into this or that pal from bookish activities past. I just wish I'd had more time to spend at BEA this year, but that's okay. I had a good reason to cut my time short- another week at the Bread Loaf Translator's Conference was approaching and I had to finish my packing. That was great! Maybe I'll tell you about that sometime soon.