Last night I attended the Women’s National Book Association event to kick off National Reading Group Month. At three hours long, I was more than a little hesitant, but after listening to five BRILLIANT women talk about their books, well, I’m glad I went. So just a brief post to promote what looks like a fabulous group of books:

Eva Hoffman: Appassionata – American pianist becomes involved with a Chechen radical leader. I loved listening to Hoffman read excerpts out loud, what a beautiful speaking voice! Sigh. I want an accent.

Christina Baker Kline: Bird in Hand – A four-perspective novel set in the suburbs about a mother who accidentally kills a young boy and the series of events that result from this one incident. This is Kline’s fourth novel, which is apparently very different from the others (and got great reviews).

C.M. Mayo: The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire – A little known (true) story about… Wait for it… The last prince of the Mexican Empire, the young Austrian Maximilian von Hapsburg. A lovely and very funny woman who’s knowledge on the subject is baffling. Took her ten years to research!

Julie Metz: Perfection: A Memoir of Betrayal and Renewal – I want to be this woman’s publicist. Metz is about to become incredibly famous once her appearance on Oprah airs, so I’m counting my blessings that I got to see her before the hype. A memoir about her husband’s shocking death and the subsequent discoveries of his mistresses. Her reading of the first chapter gave me chills.

Roxana Robinson: Cost – On the complicated relationships we have with our parents, with what seems like a lot of layers. Alzheimer’s, neurosurgery and addiction, all of which were meticulously researched. One of my favorite parts of the night was hearing about Robinsons discovery that her character was a heroin addict. Just goes to show how real some characters are – that often the authors themselves cannot control them.

I’m ashamed to admit, but  besides my parents, I’ve never heard an author speak about their work before. Was amazing to hear about the process and gave me a new found perspective on the difficulties (mainly emotional) that ensue. Basically, I could never write a novel.

Now of course I have to add these all to to my ever growing stack of books to read. Does anyone in publishing not have the same stack? I think not.

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