Hi Everyone-

This is a huge week for Washington booksellers: BookExpo America, the annual convention of the American Booksellers Association, is in DC for the first time since 1989! It's an incredibly huge event for the book world - the convention center will be filled with authors and publishers promoting their fall books, and (I'm pleased to say) the buyers and I will be able to go to some lovely parties and dinners with our favorite authors and publishers. You won't be able to miss the event: media coverage will, no doubt, be plentiful, and the city will be filled with publishers and booksellers playing tourist (be nice to them!). I'll tell you all about how the convention weekend went soon.

And because I can't get away without mentioning a good book: I adored Lisa Gruen's new novel Water for Elephants. It's a very unique, involvingly dramatic story: the narrator, once an itinerant would-be veterinarian, recalls his days with a travelling circus during the Depression and his tempestuous relationships with a beautiful performer, her charming but cruel husband, and a lovable elephant with a taste for alcohol. The result is a suprisingly gritty look at the Depression era, a well researched and highly anecdotal look at travelling circuses, and a portrait of a romantic triangle reminiscent of Sophie's Choice. It's a perfect summer read - we're almost there after all - and we're featuring it as a Buyer's Choice, at 20% off.

I'm off to the convention (it starts Today!) Talk to you again soon!

Joe Murphy
Head Book Buyer