My Favorite Authors

Back in the day I charted the authors who'd written multiple Desert Isle Keepers. I thought it might be fun to change it slightly. This new chart includes all authors with at least one DIK, and if they have [only] one DIK, they must also have two B+ reads. I may also do another chart of the next rung "down"—one DIK and [just] one B+/multiple B's (think Madeline Hunter), or authors with lots of B range grades (such as MaryJanice Davidson or Calvin Trillin), mostly at the upper end (like Anne Rivers Siddons). I'm also considering a chart of authors with the widest variation of grades, like Catherine Coulter, who has lots of DIKs, but also many D's/F's.

In the chart that follows, if you see this color, it refers to an addition over the original chart, and includes individual books, authors, and the entire "B+" column.

My Favorite Authors (if only one DIK, than also two B+s) Author DIKs B+ Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb Born in Fire Chesapeake Blue Jewels of the Sun Sea Swept Ceremony in Death Naked in Death Portrait in Death Promises in Death Rapture in Death Seduction in Death Survivor in Death Betrayal in Death Born in Ice Creation in Death Divided in Death Glory in Death Imitation in Death Inner Harbor Judgment in Death A Little Magic One Man's Art Origin in Death Playing the Odds Purity in Death The Pride of Jared McKade Reunion in Death Rising Tides Julie Garwood The Bride Castles The Gift Honor's Splendour Lion's Lady The Prize Rebellious Desire Saving Grace The Secret Gentle Warrior Catherine Coulter Calypso Magic Midsummer Magic Moonspun Magic Night Fire The Sherbrooke Bride The Courtship Anne Rice Interview with the Vampire The Queen of the Damned Taltos The Witching Hour Blackwood Farm Lasher Pandora The Vampire Lestat Anne Stuart Breathless Ice Storm A Rose at Midnight To Love a Dark Lord Black Ice Cold as Ice Kathryn Lynn Davis All We Hold Dear Somewhere Lies the Moon Too Deep for Tears Mary Alice Monroe The Beach House Sweetgrass Swimming Lessons Time Is a River Deborah Simmons The Last Rogue The Vicar's Daughter The Devil Earl The Gentleman Thief Jillian Hunter Fairy Tale Indiscretion The Seduction of an English Scoundrel Julia Quinn How To Marry a Marquis Splendid It's in His Kiss Katherine Sutcliffe Dream Fever A Fire in the Heart My Only Love Connie Brockway All Through the Night My Dearest Enemy Christina Dodd My Favorite Bride A Well-Pleasured Lady Mary Balogh A Secret Affair The Ideal Wife The Obedient Bride The Temporary Wife Ann Brasheres Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Forever in Blue Girls in Pants The Second Summer Elizabeth Lowell Too Hot to Handle Chain Lightning Only Mine Winter Fire Gail Carriger Soulless Changeless Heartless Linda Howard To Die For Drop Dead Gorgeous Duncan's Bride Johanna Lindsey Prisoner of My Desire Man of My Dreams Once a Princess Christopher Moore A Dirty Job Bloodsucking Fiends Lamb

Whaddya think?

BTW, Goodreads and my tags at Goodreads made this an easy task as I have a tag for Desert Isle Keepers, and separate my B+'s from other B's by star (4=B+, 3=B/B-)

My Favorite Authors

"Werewolves FTW" at Heroes and Heartbreakers

It's official...my first blog entry at Heroes & Heartbreakers went online today. Click here to link directly to Sexy Beast: Werewolves FTW! and post a comment if you'd like.

"Werewolves FTW" at Heroes and Heartbreakers

Blogging Barnes and Noble

While the summer started out gangbusters at the bookstore, those of us who work part shifts got fewer and fewer hours as the heat poured on. By the time I left on my vacation as July turned into August, I was working perhaps one evening a week, and for the two weeks after my return (before taking Rachael to college), I had no hours at all. Which means that when I came in to work, it was strictly cashiering, with the occasional stint in Kids. And never any Nook time.

Most of you who have visited a B&N over the past several months know that each store features, prominently, a Nook area, and additional staff were hired to man these sections. In our store, a full-time position was added, at 40 hours a week, and when Jeff wasn't there, other staff took up the slack with official Nook hours. I was not among them, and other than watching a Nook video or two when they were first introduced, and playing with one occasionally during breaks, I remained a Nook virgin. Last week, though, I asked for some training so I wouldn't stand around like a boob when somebody asked me about the device.

In the last few weeks several employees moved on, so hours are on the increase - at least temporarily, although I hope permanently (I'd prefer TPTB utilize part-time staff more rather than hiring on tons of new full-timers, but nobody's asked me). On Friday night, before I left the store close at midnight, I asked to check one out, and yesterday morning I learned the basics of Nook. Good thing too, because when I went into work in the afternoon, I was assigned an hour of Nook duty. Had I not set about learning it earlier in the day, I'd have been screwed.

I showed several customers the ins and outs during my hour, and sold a husband and wife one shortly after my shift ended last evening. It was a tremendous rush, and my knowledge of the Kindle helped tremendously in doing comparisons, but the last several shifts have all been a rush in that the store has been slammed by customers. Hooray!!! I'd been doing terrifically well selling memberships - and while in some ways I hate that we've added educational toys to our inventory (I came to sell books, not toys, after all, or electronics for that matter), it's hard to argue with $50 toys and $200 Nooks - but yesterday was a great hand-selling day. I sold seven books while at cash-wrap as add-ons, and talked up Clockwork Angel to other customers. Here is what I sold:

• Two copies of Soulless
• One copy of Blameless
• One copy of Any Given Doomsday
• Two Beverly Jenkins books
• One copy of Naked in Death (to a reader who'd picked up Salvation in Death in Bargain although she'd never read the earlier books in the series...we put the bargain book away and I asked that a copy of Naked be brought up instead)

So far thirteen copies of Changeless have walked out the door as well - 35 remain left to sell. I've not yet had time to read the book, and part of the reason why I've not made time is that I know

S
P
O
I
L
E
R

the hero and heroine don't get back together until the end of the book. I assume Carrington did that to stretch out the action into additional installments of the series, and while I love the entirety of the world the author created, I can't help but long for more h/h face time. Even though the parts I've read are hilarious, I need to settle down and deal with my disappointment before actually reading Changeless.

I work a very abbreviated shift tonight and then during Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons this week. I'll be bringing my loaner Nook back when I head in this evening and now that I've got a real sale under my belt - and boy, did I work for it! - I'm confident about future Nook duty.

Blogging Barnes and Noble

Blogging Barnes and Noble

I'd originally planned to call this blog Blogging Barnes & Noble, but then decided that would be too limiting. Instead, I'll just use that title for certain entries...beginning with this one, as last night was a pretty unusual evening at the bookstore.

First of all, I sold my first Nook...finally. It's incredibly rare that I work anywhere besides cashiering or Kids, but my first hour last night, from seven to eight, was Info, where the exciting event occurred. Actually, I didn't sell it so much as convince the customer she'd made the right choice in coming in to buy it, but a sale is a sale. Then, while still working Info, I saw a woman carrying Red-Headed Stepchild and The Mage in Black, both by local author Jaye Wells. I'd noticed the latter title at work earlier in the week and actually went so far as writing it down and researching it for my TBB list.

After chatting with the customer for a few minutes and discovering she was interested in the nephilim after having read about them in another book, I asked if she might be interested in some recommendations. I knew we had all three books in Lori Handeland's Phoenix Chronicles, which feature quite heavily the nephilim, so I suggested she look at them, then told her I couldn't wait for the fourth book to be released later in the month. I guess she decided we were sympatico, because I also sold her Full Moon Rising by Keri Arthur, and Soulless and Changless - both by Gail Carriger. And to tie it all together, I told her that later in the month she might want to consider Sandman Slim, also featuring the nephilim.

Later, after about an hour and a half cashiering, and suggesting Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody series and Dorothy Sayers Peter Wimsey series to a reader who likes historical mysteries (those recommendations come courtesy of LinnieGayl and Ellen, btw), and Laura Bennett's Didn't I Feed You Yesterday and Elizabeth Bard's Lunch in Paris: A Love Story with Recipes, both of which I reviewed positively for Amazon Vine and both of which we're featuring for Mother's Day to a couple of customers who didn't bite, I went back to start recovering sections three - YA, nature, pets, science, business, computers, and humor (we have tremendously large business and computer sections) - and five. Five is comprised of just about all non-fiction outside of family and child care, including cooking, relationships, medical, travel, self-help, and psychology/psychiatry.

Recovering the store involves straightening out the shelves, re-organizing, and re-shelving books that belong elsewhere. Part of the task is also keeping the Info desk within eye-sight. A young man, a social studies teacher, wanted to know where we shelved Camus, and if I had any recommendations other than The Stranger. To be honest, I didn't, but after we looked at the selection available, I asked if he might like a recommendation. He said he loved recommendations, so I took him to Jeffrey Eugenides' Middlesex, which I describe as "the only Pulitzer prize-winning novel I ever stayed up all night to read," followed by, "my daughter recommended this to me and after having read it I told her she'd gone up ten points in my estimation."

That always gets people interested, but the clientele of our particular store doesn't lend itself to this type of content. I figured the customer, a young male social studies teacher, would be open-minded enough to enjoy a book featuring an intersexed narrator, as well as the themes surrounding immigrants, race, and social unrest. He looked at the book and decided to buy it. Later, when he came to me at Info to see if we had another book in stock, I suggested that if he indeed enjoys Middlesex, he might consider giving Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children a shot. I told him I'd actually not read it, but that my daughter recommended it to me specifically because I loved Eugenides' book. It wasn't the content, but the format of the books she found similar.

Other than selling the Nook, nothing so far was all that unique. I bombed out more often than I succeeded in recommending reads, but was pleased overall in that generally I don't sell seven add-ons (or convince another employee who's listening in to pick up any of my add-ons for herself - Pat bought the Carriger duo), but all of the above are simply part of my sharing the love of books with other readers. No, what made last night different was the young girl wandering around the bookstore with a purse and a book for something like three hours...and another small girl holding an empty pink pet carrier.

Eventually, after clearing it with the managers (because I was the only parent/employee handy), I went and asked the little girl if she could give me her parents' phone number because I worried about her being by herself. She did, I called, and suggested to her mom as gently as possible our concern at the girls' being alone for so long so late into the evening (a quarter to ten by then), then took her to the front of the store where I sat her down and said one of us would stay with her until her dad came to pick her up. My manager took over from there and had the much tougher conversation with the dad about this not being acceptable in the future, but by then I was back in Kids, asking the very small child about the pet that was supposed to be inm the little pink carrier she held because I could see it was empty and worried about an animal on the loose. No, the animal was not loose...her guinea pig was inside her sleeve. I asked if I could see her pet, took it from her and pet it briefly, then had her put it back in its carrier "so that it didn't get loose and get scared by somebody." Come to think of it, where were her parents?

The evening ended at 11:15; a rarity because on weekends we generally aren't finished with recovery until at least 11:30 - often it's nearly midnight when we leave. But before-hand, I mentioned how needy I'd been feeling about never having a "kudos" card on the bulletin board. Alison, another bookseller, took pity on me, said, "You sold a Nook," wrote up a card for me, and stuck it on the board. Thanks, Alison!

Blogging Barnes and Noble

Working Under the Influence

Last night was my first shift in about two weeks, and a test of how well I'm feeling after being sick with whatever all week. While 90% of my respiritory symptoms have abated, that "cotton in the head" feeling remains as strong as it did last Monday.

The night started out strong; I hand-sold from my register a copy of Lisa Kleypas' Then Came You almost immediately to a woman who'd never read the author's earlier work. I noticed that of the 48 copies of Changeless, ten had already been sold. Though I did sell two more, we lost two double sales to customers who would have tried Changeless if they could also have bought Soulless. Needles to say, I short-listed several additional copies of Soulless.

As for recommendations, I made one couple pretty happy (I'm not quite sure what it was they bought that tipped me off) when I mentioned the up-coming reissue of a few of Mary Alice Monroe's best. As I talked to them about her, the husband realized his wife had loved The Beach House (sweet, right?), so when I handed them a slip of paper with Sweetgrass, Swimming Lessons, and Time Is a River hand-written on it, I knew I'd made a future sale. I also know that the next time another couple returns, they will take a strong look at Christopher Moore's A Dirty Job and Lamb (another hand-written slip of paper)...it's not a huge leap from Spencer Quinn's Dog Gone It to Moore's absurdist humor. I hope my Sandman Slim recommendation (the mass market release for Richard Kadrey's book comes out late this month) does the same magic for the guy who bought some Jim Butcher...he seemed intrigued and appreciative with his hand-written slip of paper.

I've gotten into the habit of trying to recommend something to as many customers as possible based on what they buy. For most of them this is a novel experience, but for me it's very natural. I talk to just about everyone who checks out at my station unless a line requires I move it along. My philosophy is that this type of personalized customer service is what brings people back to the store. I don't know if this is true, but it feels right. I do know that I have some "returning" customers who actually carry my lists around with them...checking titles/authors off as they read them, and adding/buying based on new recommendations. On the other hand, none of the notes from customers lauding particular booksellers that are pinned to the break room bulletin board are for me.

Not at all great on the selling of memberships, though; just one new one and one renewal in 3.5 hours spent cashiering. At the start of the month, that's pretty dismal (if you buy a membership early in the month, it's like getting an extra month for free, which can be a strong selling point). But the biggest "cotton in the head" moment came when I attempted to wrap a book for a customer to give as a gift. We had some pretty paper not on the big roll attached to the wall like toilet paper so I decided to use it. Unfortunately, I mis-measured not once but twice (horribly embarrassing). Certainly my least stellar moment of the evening, although that I was sent back to re-work several shelves during nightly store recovery was another suckie event because, hey, it's not exactly rocket science.

I noticed that we have not received our ten copies of Chaos Bites, which I would dearly love to sell like mad. Alas, we have precisely one copy each of books 1 - 3 in Handeland's Phoenix Chronicles, so it's going to be very tough going to move these because this series remains a total buried treasure. With such strong sales so far for Changeless at the bookstore, I feel as though the pressure is off me to sell it like a maniac, so my investment has totally shifted to Handeland's urban fantasy series. For the first and only time since leaving AAR I wish I still had access to its thousands of readers in order to extoll the series' virtues. Why, exactly, I'm not sure, but it's almost become an obsession for me to see this series take off at the level of Keri Arthur's Riley Jenson books.

Luckily I have more hours this next week than the 5.5 I had for the week just ended, but shifts are still in short supply. If I were to judge by iPad-mania, the recession must have been rescinded, but considering how hard it is to sell memberships these days, I guess not.

We'll see how it goes Tuesday evening. With any luck, there won't be any cotton in my head.

Finally, it's very odd to blog knowing that barely anybody reads this. Regardless, I'm going to keep at it...at least for a while.

Working Under the Influence

April Book Buys

Of the ten books on my wish list, four were available digitally. Looking at AAR's list of releases for April, though, reminded me of one other book I wanted, which supplanted one of those four (Bulls Island). Here then are my ebook downloads for April.

I also downloaded a digital copy of Metrophage, Richard Kadrey's first book. It, like Butcher Bird is available for free...just go to Kadrey's site. I don't know anything, really, about these books, but was such a fan of Sandman Slim that I thought I'd grab 'em while I could. Meanwhile, Kill the Dead, the Sandman sequel is set to be released later this year...I think in October.

I'm most anxious for a copy of Chaos Bites, but the two earlier books in Handeland's series were delayed digitally, so I may give in and buy the print release to read as soon as this special review project for PW is complete.

As for the others, well, I do have Changeless in manuscript form. An unacceptable version, to be sure, which at some point I'll need to rectify, but at least I've already read it.

And now I'm off to finish reviewing the second special project book (read it yesterday)...three to go with the clock running out.

April Book Buys

Books To Look For

I've been very vocal about my love for Gail Carriger's Soulless, my only Publishers Weekly starred review for 2009. And I've hand-sold quite hard Lori Handeland's Phoenix Chronicles. At the bookstore I hand-sold about 50 copies to date of the former - and because of that sales record the store will be sent roughly the same number of copies of the sequel, Changeless. As for Handeland's series, I've sold roughly 3 1/2 dozen of book one, somewhat less of book two, and less still of book three.

Part of the problem is that with an urban fantasy series, you can't sell books two or three without selling book one. Because we haven't had many copies of each book at one time, I can't often do what I managed to do during my last two shifts: sell all three together. Most readers new to the series, though, take a slower approach and simply buy book one. When they come back, we don't have books two or three, and they end up ordering copies online, or they go elsewhere. It's tough because the series is very much a sleeper; I can only hope it catches on, and with Keri Arthur's Riley Jenson series coming to an end in June, there will be one less series with which it must compete.

Last week I read Changeless, which is terrifically funny, very visually Steampunkish, and, like Soulless before it, pitch perfect. The cliffhanger ending is its only flaw, but I'm sure all will be resolved in book three (Blameless), to be published at the end of summer. But back to Changeless...there's a moment during which a rather clueless character remarks about the love between "Pyramid and Thirsty" that so reminded me of A Midsummer Night's Dream that I marveled at Carriger's skill. (My daughter has so far been the only one to "get" the reference, which surprised me as those I asked were literate folk.)

I've not yet read Chaos Bites, although I did read the excerpt Handeland has up on her site. As expected, it was exciting, intriguing, and sexy, and I look forward to reading it as soon as it goes on sale. Because it's such a sleeper series, though, I worry about its long-term success and whether or not the author will be given the opportunity to take it where she wants it to go. At the author's website, just one title (Demons at the Gate) is listed beyond Chaos Bites...I hope the series won't end there.

So here are covers of both books, with links to the author's sites, as well as some of the other books I'm looking forward to in the near future:

What are you looking forward to reading...and if you read urban fantasy, can I convince you to try The Phoenix Chronicles?

Books To Look For