Red Room Where the Writers Are

What a great idea to give some oomph to bookstores--National Bookstore Day, November 7, promoted by Publishers Weekly with some local and national media should inspire us all to go browse our local bookstore. It so happens that I have two book events scheduled for that very day in two stores in New Jersey for my new book, Replacement Child (www.replacementchild.com). One at Town Books on East Broad St. in Westfield at 11 am and the other at Barnes & Noble on Rte 22 W in Springfield at 2 pm.

It used to be a great treat when I was a kid growing up in Cranford, NJ to take the bus into the city to the big Barnes & Noble to browse books for hours and hours. I remember being awestruck by the sheer number of books the first time there. This was before we had mega stores like Borders and B&N in every town. I loved my local bookstore of course, and the advice and guidance I got there. But, I have to admit that I fell in love with the grandeur of the big store that seemed to offer limitless possibilities of rare finds, new authors and of course the other amenities like the coffee shop that we now take for granted.Buying books online is a great convenience, and ebooks are wonderful for when we are on the move, but there is still nothing the feel and smell of a newly cracked open hard copy book.