Magers and Quinn Present Emily St. John Mandel and Heather A. Slomski

Magers and Quinn Present Emily St. John Mandel and Heather A. Slomski

I attended my first literary event in three months yesterday at Magers and Quinn in Minneapolis.  I broke my foot in May and was physically limited all summer but now I'm getting my strength back and heading out to meet authors and attend literary events around town.  Yes.

Last night at Magers and Quinn, I ran into author and friend, Peter Geye, who wrote, Safe from the Sea and The Lighthouse Road. Both books are awesome, by the way.  Peter Geye introduced both authors last night.

First up was Heather A. Slomski, whose new book of short stories, The Lovers Set Down Their Spoons was the winner of the 2014 Iowa Short Fiction Award.  Heather is from Minnesota and attended graduate school with Peter Geye.  I plan to feature Heather on BookSnob later this year.  I'm looking forward to reading this collection of stories.

Next Peter Geye introduced Emily St. John Mandel.  Her book Station Eleven is getting tons of praise and is the talk of the book world lately.  I was one of 3 people in the audience who has NOT read the book yet.  Everyone there was gushing about it.  Peter was an early reader and editor of Station Eleven.  Emily read from her book and there was a short Q & A with both authors.  Fun Fact:  Emily used to be a professional dancer.

It was great to hang out with friend Pamela and browse the bookshelves.  My other option would have been the Ed Sheeran concert at the Target center.  Emily, Heather, Peter and Magers and Quinn rock my world and I made the right choice.  Although I think it would have been totally cool if they broke out in a dance and sang a tune.

In the picture.  Heather is on the left, Emily is on the right and I'm the lucky reader in the middle.  Their books are on the table.

Add these books to your reading list.
Seriously.