Surprise visit by author Bill Bennett, formerly of San Jose

Bill Bennett, the author of last year's The Christmas Gift, came by the store October 26 while he was in town for another event.  We were interested to find out he and his family used to live in San Jose, and he actually joined the church here 30 years ago.  He signed all our copies of his new book, Jacob T. Marley, and met some family friends who came by to chat. 

We learned that Bill had always wanted to write and quit his job at Franklin Covey a couple of years ago to pursue this dream.  He self-published The Christmas Gift  which did very well.  The film rights to the book have recently been sold.  Deseret Book is publishing his new book about Jacob Marley, Scrooge's old partner from A Christmas Carol,  and he is looking forward to a book tour before Christmas which will include several Dickens festivals.  Bill explained that he had always wondered about Jacob Marley and what happened to him, whether he ever get a chance to redeem himself after warning Ebeneezer Scrooge.  If you have ever wondered who Marley was, how he got to be the way he was, and what happened to him after he died that brought him back to warn Scrooge, this is the book for you.

Bill is already well into the process of writing his next book which will be an allegory about how difficult it is to explain something intangible (like faith) to someone who has never experienced it.  Below some photos of Bill in our store and with the family friends that came to visit.

Guest Book Review

Since I don't have enough time to read as I'd like, I'm including a guest review of a book I want to read soon.  I've read the first two Secret Sisters mysteries and enjoyed them.  

Here is a guest review from Kay Curtiss of Keepin' Up with LDS Bookstores.  Click here to read more about this book and the author on Kay's blog:

Kay's Kritique:  Ida Mae Babbit  (who has her own Facebook page) and her cohorts are at it again in another Secret Sister Mystery that take them to a Dude Ranch in Montana which Ida Mae's son, Keith, owns.  This crew will keep you laughing with their antics (especially Ida Mae's late night, flannel PJs, bare-back horse chase) as they solve the mystery of the sabotage of the Dude Ranch.   Tristi has created some fun, great characters and her descriptive writing keep you laughing throughout with the "visuals" she creates in your mind. Hang 'em High was a great escape for me on a rainy weekend when you just want to curl up with a good book - which I did!  This is definitely one you won't want to miss!

Ladies Night Report

Here are some photos of our Ladies Night festivities October 1, 2011.  We had refreshments, treasure hunts & sales plus lots of fun chatting and seeing friends.  One of the big hits of the evening was Dalene's cake bites made using recipes from 101 Gourmet Cake Bites by Wendy Paul--yummy!