Breathless Reads Tour: Why Author Bookstore Appearances are so Important

I attended the Breathless Reads Tour last night at my local favorite bookstore Anderson's, which featured 4 YA authors: Andrea Cremer (Nightshade trilogy), Marie Lu (Legend), Beth Revis (Across the Universe, A Million Suns) and Jessica Spotswood (Born Wicked).

Hearing that Beth Revis vented frustration by writing character death scenes based on troublesome former students, and how she'd rather write about blow-ups than kissing, well it made me want to buy her book right then and there. I'd already marked Across the Universe on my To-Read list (and had even attempted to download the mp3 audiobook from the library, although iTunes refused to recognize it) but putting a face with an author name is what sold me.

Same with Andrea Cremer. I started Nightshade sometime last year and it wasn't my thing. But she's hilarious and insightful as a person, and meeting her made me want to give her books a second try.

Marie Lu was even cooler than I'd imagined, and I loved hearing how she designed video game graphics before writing full time. No wonder the action in Legend is so cool; she probably has vision related to gaming, taking the fast pace, first person experience and translating it on the page.

Jessica Spotswood has an intriguing sounding debut with Born Wicked, and her tiny voice brimmed with personality as she spoke about it.

I'd only read one book by the featured authors and I left the event with plans to read books by all of them. That's valuable contact for the authors! At least 3, if not all 4, of these authors have a strong online presence: active websites with blogs, twitter etc. But those in-store appearances really make a difference. Some attenders drove hours to be there, which is pretty typical occurance at Anderson's events. I'm spoiled because I live close, but it's noteworthy that teens and their moms, or full-time working adults, are willing drive several hours on a weeknight to meet an author.

For those of you who will eventually promote a book be encouraged!

Book Review: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Most of the book reviews I've posted here are young adult or at least fiction, so this is a special departure timely for Black History Month. My workplace hosted a book discussion of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, an important book that weaves cancer research history with the endearing struggle of a poor black family that had no idea of the widespread influence of their mother's cancer cells.

Henrietta Lacks died of cancer in the 1950s, leaving five children behind. Before she died, a doctor removed cancerous cells to study in a lab without her consent - a common practice until recently. Those cells spawned a revolution in research and led to developing the polio vaccine. Henrietta's cells did wonderful things for the world, but her health records were released and published in medical journals without consent from the family. Medical tech companies profiited from mass producing her cells to sell to labs for research; her family never saw a dime from it, because for 25 years they didn't know it was even happening.  Another twenty years of misinformation followed. Her family lived in poverty and ignorance about much of the science surrounding their mother until Rebecca Skloot started poking around to get the real story and put the pieces together.

The author spent over 10 years writing the book. She conducted extensive research to pull out facts the science textbooks and newspaper articles missed. It took years for her to gain the trust of the family, who had been lied to, ignored and abused by the medical community. The book honors the family while not sugar-coating the anger they felt, or the illiteracy that contributed to much of the misunderstandings about Henrietta. It does not make excuses for the doctors that behaved irresponsibly, but the information is simply presented for the reader to make his or her own judgement. Much of the ethical misjudgement existed in a time when there were no set guidelines for lab research, and no laws to protect patient rights. There was little oversight in the health industry in general.

I work in the health care field and found this a fascinating read on patient rights; to see it through the eyes of a suffering family changed the tone from a historical account to an issue that we still need action on today. All those privacy agreements you sign at the doctors office derived from HIPPA, which was only established 15 years ago. Before that there was literally no formal oversight to protect your health information. Framing patient consent and medical ethics in this very real story gives light to how necessary it is for healthcare regulation. The author handles the human interest side of this so expertly, it's almost like a novel woven into a non-fiction account of medical history.

Book Review: The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

The Name of the Star
Maureen Johnson
Published: 2011
YA Contemporary/Paranormal

“Keep calm and carry on.

Also, stay in and hide because the Ripper is coming.”

Can I tell you how much I love Maureen Johnson? This is one of those books I was immediately sucked into. It balances suspense and historical details, and includes the author's typically awesome characters with unexpectedly quirky backstories. 

Rory moves with her family to England to attend boarding school; her parents are nearby in another town as university professors (but to Englanders, two hours isn't nearby, it's halfway across the country!). Rory lands in London just as a rash of Jack the Ripper imposter murders occur. The Ripper, who was never identified, infamously murdered 6 women over the course of a few months in 1888. Naturally, Rory's school is on intermittent lockdown as the police and frenzied media follow up on each murder, which happen exactly according to the old Ripper legend. Meanwhile, Rory sees a strange man on the school campus immediately after one of the murders. She's seeing a lot of strange things, and she wonders if it's stress or something more.

It's the little details: snippets of background on Rory's kooky extended family back in Louisana foreshadow her strange experiences. Her friendship with her adorable roommate Jazza feels genuine, and neither of them make excuses for being smart and studying hard - they aren't boy crazy. There's an underworld of investigators looking into the Ripper murders for completely different reasons than the police - and I'll leave it at that to keep this spoiler-free!

The Name of the Star is the first book in The Shades of London trilogy. The ending has a great little twist and I'm looking forward to the next book.