I Was Going to Write This After I Got Home--How'd Things Go with Carol Anshaw and Benjamin Busch? Plus Where to See Them Next Month.

Despite being my day off, I had such a busy day yesterday that I forgot to post our blog. In the afternoon, I hosted a book club talk with a group that came down from Green Bay. I met one of the members at an event last year, and she was so happy with my suggestions that she convinced the group to make a day of it. This gave me incentive to finish my spring-summer book club brochure update. The only problem we have right now, is that one of the paperback jackets isn't public, but that's a story for another day.

At night, we hosted Benjamin Busch, who is visiting close to 200 stores for Dust to Dust. It's tough being at the beginning of the tour, as many of the reviews and interviews haven't hit, but Stacie and I were very happy with 40 people. It didn't hurt that Christi Clancy opened for Busch, reading an essay originally published in The New York Times. And what an honor to have one of Busch's commanding officers among the guests.  

Busch clued me in to Vinton Rafe McCabe's review of Dust to Dust in The New York Journal of Books. Here's just a taste: "Dust to Dust is a work of extraordinary merit. I’ve found no better book of any genre, by any author, so far this year, and likely will not in the months ahead. It is that rare sort of work that will allow you to be jealous of those who have yet to read it, because you know that intense pleasure that lies ahead." Read the rest here.

Here's an interview with Busch in Mittenlit. I think that refers to the shape of Michigan And here is where you can see Busch speak. I can't list 190 more events, but I can link you to the rest.

But the nicest comment was when my former coworker Jenny came in to buy a copy of Dust to Dust based partly on the Boswell and Books blog post. I sort of swooned! I'm sure that occasionally happens but it's nice to actually know about the connection. Hey, both Jenny and Christi are shopping novels. If I were a better bookstore proprietor, I would have read both and would try to help both of them find homes. But I can't even post blogs on time. Sorry about the lack of spacing, but I want to cram this in!

Thursday, March 29, 2012A Room of One's Own
307 W. Johnson St. Madison, WI 53703
Friday, March 30, 2012
Book Cellar
4736-38 N Lincoln Ave. Chicago, IL 60625
Monday, April 02, 2012
Prairie Lights
15 S. Dubuque St. Iowa City, IA 52240
Tuesday, April 03, 2012
Anderson's Books
123 W Jefferson Ave.Naperville, IL 60540
Wednesday, April 04, 2012
Learned Owl Book Shop
204 N Main St. Hudson, OH 44236-2826
Monday, April 09, 2012
Politics and Prose
5015 Connecticut Ave.NW Washington, DC 20008
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Strand Bookstore
at 12th St 828 Broadway New York, NY 10003-4805
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Powerhouse Arena
37 Main ST Brooklyn, NY 11201
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Colgate Bookstore (this is where Frederick Busch taught)
Colgate Bookstore 3 Utica ST Hamilton, NY 13346
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Westchester Library System
Tappan Hill 81 Highland Ave. Tarrytown, NY 10591
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Oblong Books and Music
Ste 6 6422 Montgomery St Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Harvard Bookstore
1256 Massachusetts Ave Cambridge, MA 02138
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Odyssey Bookshop
9 College St. South Hadley, MA 01075
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Fort Lewis Main Store
Bldg 5280 Pendleton Ave.Fort Lewis, WA 98433
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Village Books
1200 11th St. Bellingham, WA 98225
And way more here...

After reuniting Brandon Mull with his jacket and Carol Anshaw with her marked-up copy of Carry the One, I perhaps over-worried about what Busch might leave behind, particularly his change of clothing. But I think in this case we are in good shape.

And of course now I feel like I should mention some upcoming events for Anshaw. She's not scheduled for 200 more events, but there are a few out there.

Wednesday, April 4
Salt Lake City Reading Series at the Main Library
210 E 400 South, Salt Lake City UT 84111
Tuesday, April 10
Prairie Lights
15 S. Dubuque St. Iowa City, IA 52240
Monday, April 23, 7 pm
in conversation with Cara Hoffman
McNally Jackson
52 Prince Street, New York City NY 10012
Tuesday, April 24
Barrett Book Store:

314 Heights Road, Darien CT, 06820 

(note: I caught a discrepancy between the bookstore and publisher website here. I will make sure this is the correct date.)

Signed copies of both books are still available.

Tonight is Chase Twichell at the Hefter Center, 3271 N Lake Drive. I think Jason is going to work this one, and I'm grateful. There's always some hitch, however. We've sold down on Twichell's book, Horses Where the Answers Should Have Been, and when I looked to reorder, there were no copies at Ingram's Indiana or Baker & Taylor's Illinois warehouses. So we're not bringing over quite as many copies as we'd like. Don't panic, Jason. We've still got more copies than we sold of last year's Bourdreaux reading book.