Authors We Love: Richard Preston

Richard Preston, author of the mega-bestseller The Hot Zone, stopped by the store this afternoon to sign copies of his new book, The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring. Although I have not yet read The Wild Trees, I have thoroughly enjoyed all of Preston's other books, which also include The Demon in the Freezer, a frightening true story of smallpox, and The Cobra Event, a terrific thriller about an engineered virus that is unleashed on NYC.

The Wild Trees is about recreational tree-climbing; more specifically, it is about people who are serious tree climbers, tackling giant redwoods that soar up to 38 stories above the ground, and about a fascinating world hidden high above us. I asked Preston why he chose a topic so very different from those of his previous books. "I didn't want to write another book about viruses," he admitted. He had heard about these tree climbers and found the subject fascinating, and his interest eventually became his new book. My co-worker Laura and I got to spend some time talking with Preston, and he was really engaging and generous, signing (and then buying!) a copy of The Hot Zone for Laura to give to her younger sister.

So now we have signed copies of Richard Preston's books in stock. If you haven't read any of his work before, I highly recommend him.

Oddity of the Week

If you live in Wales, I suppose that Harri Potter a Maen yr Athronydd isn't odd at all. But in L.A., Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone in Welsh is a weird thing to find on a cart of books to be shelved. And we have a whole stack of them, thanks to our sale book buyer extraordinaire, Mr. Steve! Take a look at this excerpt:

Ond o'r munud hwnnw daeth Hermione Granger yn ffrind iddyn nhw. Mae yna rai pethau na fedrwch chi mo'u rhannu heb ichi ddiweddu'n hoffi'ch gilydd, ac mae llorio ellyll mynydd deuddeg troedfedd yn un ohonyn nhw.

Looks kinda like one of the spells Hogwarts teaches, doesn't it? A bargain at $6.98!

Bookstore Babe

As far as I can tell, LA Brain Terrain never officially declared a winner in their "Battle of the Bookstore Babes" contest. But if you look at the results page, it appears that Vroman's own Allison Hill, manager extraordinaire, pulled off a last-minute upset. Sorry about that, Manny of Book Soup! We loved your clean campaign, though.

(P.S. You can order this cool tote bag from Cafe Press.)