Our October 23 booksigning by Deb Lewis and Pat Ondarko (Yes! Jessie Ondarko's daughter) was a success.  I'm almost finished with the book, "Bad to the Last Drop", and as a mystery reader I can say, "It"s a winner!¨  So, I'll be ready for their next one.  Jessie, our Chamber Ambassador was pretty pooped out by the end of the booksigning.  All that running around was hard on her, you know!

Our #3 daughter was in Grand Rapids for John Sandford's talk and booksigning on his new book "Rough Country¨.  He is her favorite author, so she was disappointed to find him a little arrogant.  Well, daughter, I've heard readers say Sandford was shy!  Must be the way the wind blows.  Actually, it could have been the way questions had been fired at him prior to her arrival.

The Region 2 Arts Council (Northern Arts News) Noteworthy:  Judy Merritt, Nevis author placed first in the fiction category of the Brainerd Writers Alliance Sixth Annual 2009 Writing contest with her story "Ghost Dance.¨  Judging the contest was novelist/newspaper columnist Mike Holst.

            Judy also recently won a contest in the Northwoods Woman magazine, and we remind our readers that we had earlier carried her book until we ran out last spring. ALSO, the judge Mike Holst has been one of our top selling Area Authors in the store.

Oh, before I forget:  On August 3^rd, PW listed EIGHT, that's EIGHT of Charlaine Harris's "Dead" series on the Paperback Bestsellers/Mass Market List.  EIGHT.  Good ghoul, how many are there? 

Earlier last summer we were able to get our hands on a promotional copy of the partial edition of Debbie Macomber's "Cedar Cove Cookbook¨ due out in September.  Very, very impressive!  Check it out (and the Blossom Street Series) at www.debbiemacomber.com.

The Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child's "#2 Cemetery Dance¨ started with a promotional 24-city tour for the two aboard a custom bus that sported a wrap of the book jacket.  Cool, huh?

Glenn Beck's "Common Sense¨ is still on the Publisher's Weekly (PW) trade paperback bestseller list.  His  "Arguing with Idiots¨ was at #2 its 4^th week on the Hardcover Nonfiction list.

Bless his Minnesota heart:  Vince Flynn (reports Atria in PW) signed "Pursuit of Honor¨ at a Minneapolis B&N on October 14 for more than 5 hours!

The latest Catherine Coulter FBI Special Agent duo introduced a 7-year-old girl who can communicate telepathically.  "Knock Out¨ has received the usual mixed reviews, Coulter fans are the "Yays¨ and a few newbees are panning it.  Forget the reviews and read the book!

On 9/21 I was flipping channels and started watching ABC's Castle, when Michael Connelly appeared in the show.  I watched it & subconsciously thought, "Nah, it's somebody playing him.¨  Then my brain told me I was wrong.  When I got through arguing with myself, he was gone.  Well PW says it was Michael Connelly making his acting debut!  Don't you just hate it when your brain argues with you and you find out you were right after all?

The November 2009 Romantic Times (RT) has a wonderful two-page interview with Diana Gabaldon, and a review of her latest: "An Echo in the Bone¨.  (October).  Superb.

And of course we must mention the Non-Fiction Pick of the Month (November by RT) and almost everyone else with the October release of "Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters¨ by Capt. Chesley "Sully¨ Sullenberger.

               Please remember your gift giving with our

                              Area Authors!

             We have read almost all the books on their

             shelves and do recommend them as giftsĦ

            and the majority of them are autographed!

We don't have any in the store yet, but the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid¨ books look like a good gift buy for kids.

  So, it's off to Book World for me.

"Rainwater¨ by Sandra Brown, a November release, is a Depression-Era Story, based on her dairy farmer grandfather's standoff with federals who demanded he pour out surplus milk he couldn't sell.  A two-hankie read, Brown, tells the story of a single mother trying to run a boardinghouse and care for her challenged son.

From Romantic Times:  Ever wonder what happened to a favorite author?  They are planning a round-up of

"Where Are They Now?¨ info for a future issue.  If you've got any author in particular you'd like them to dig up,

 e-mail Elissa@RTBookReviews.com.

Thanks to RomanticTimes Book Reviews Magazine, we have been getting some pretty neat bookmarks such as the Do Not Disturb door hangers and the 3-D Glasses.  And, of course the ones that list the Author's books In Order for you.  They're great!  Then, of course, we have the ones we make:  the plain white ones with the colorful strings.  We like those, even if they're stinkers to make!  Even Mr. P has been known to cut thousands of them for us.

Prof. Bill gave our Writing Group a Challenge  It was startling to see the various writing styles come out of it (and the similarities!).  His comments afterward were interesting, another lesson for me.  Despite what some people say, I'm always learning!

Just thinking back:

When having Thanksgiving Dinner at the In-Laws, we always had 23 or more around the stretched-out table, the highchair and of course the "little table¨.  It was noisy, the food was plentiful and for a while, after Grace, all you saw were reaching arms and, of course, bowls and platters zooming back and forth.  Missed a bun now, no problem, they'll come by again; besides, there are more in the kitchen.  "Uncle Bobby's still in there chewing off the turkey bones in the roaster!¨

         Christmas Past was the same, only louder because of the excitement, and more crowded because of the gift wrap, I guess.  I cheated a lot during these times.  I can admit it now, with a sneaky grin.  You see, we were in the backyard of the in-laws, and it seems I always had a baby or a little one to take care of,  um, a little one that needed a nap.  So, I HAD to leave for an hour or so for that nap time.  (For that little one, you know.)

 ItĦ¦s time to again thank our Sherry & Karen for all they have done to keep the store going.  To thank our Prof. Bill for keeping an eye on things and as always, for the best mentoring ever.  To our Illinois-book-getters: sorry I missed lunch, give me a second chance, please?  To all of you who send prayers, thanks and God Bless.  To ALL our Customers, a great big Thank You to each of you,  and we'll see you in 2010!

Gotta go!  Happy Holidays!