Booktopia Vermont 2015

One of the book podcasts I listen to is Books on the Nightstand, and through them I've met a fun community of readers, both online and in person. A couple of times a year, the hosts of the show organize a weekend getaway for readers and authors. I attended one of these events a couple of years ago, and am delighted to be attending again this year. 

Here is an excerpt of an email sent to attendees yesterday outlining the authors who will be attending the Booktopia Vermont event in May:

• Josh Cook, AN EXAGGERATED MURDER - This brainy spoof of traditional detective novels features inept kidnappers, fedoras, fight scenes, and jokes about Ulysses. This hilarious debut novel is written by an independent bookseller at Porter Square Books in Cambridge, MA.

• Michael Crummey, SWEETLAND - Set in a tiny town on remote Canadian island, this beautiful novel tells the tale of Moses Sweetland, a man determined to remain in his home on the island, despite the will of the government and of nature itself.

• Cristina Henriquez, THE BOOK OF UNKNOWN AMERICANS - This heartbreaking novel gives voice to millions of Americans by telling the story of the love between a Panamanian boy and a Mexican girl--teenagers who live in a Delaware apartment block of immigrant families much like their own.

• Steve Himmer, FRAM - In a novel that thrills, entertains, and makes you think, Steve Himmer gives us the story of Oscar, a minor bureaucrat whose life is upended when he’s sent on a mission to the Arctic, a place he’s only ever seen in maps, photos, and his own imagination.

• Dylan Landis, RAINEY ROYAL - Ann fell in love with Dylan Landis’ short stories in a writing class and Michael fell in love with her novel Rainey Royal, which reads almost like a collection of linked stories. Rainey’s voyage through Greenwich Village of the 1970s is filled with tales and encounters you won’t soon forget.

• Kelly Link, GET IN TROUBLE - Eight dark tales—sometimes comic, often disturbing—make up Kelly Link’s new collection.  Already praised by Karen Russell, Peter Straub, Erin Morgenstern, and others, this book of stories may give you nightmares, but it will also give you plenty to think about and discuss.

• Megan Mayhew Bergman, ALMOST FAMOUS WOMEN - Some are women whose stories we think we know. Others we’ve likely never heard of. The haunting stories of Megan Mayhew Bergman bring to life the hidden joys and trials of women on the periphery of fame.

• Mary Doria Russell, EPITAPH - After the wonderful novel Doc, Mary Doria Russell now brings us the story of Wyatt Earp, his common-law wife Josephine, and the legendary events that took place on an October 1881 afternoon at the O.K. Corral.

Am delighted. And a little nervous. I'm not a fan of the short story, and there are several short story authors attending. Since the small author sessions allow for an intimate time with authors, I plan on adding these books to my already tottering TBR pile. Can't wait!