COMFORT (In Midwest Book Review)

In an industry where books published by the New York houses get the lion's share of the attention, it's a comfort to know that Midwest Book Review is looking out for the small presses.

Their review of Comfort popped up on Amazon last week and I just now noticed. You can read it at the Midwest Book Review site.

Their reviews are brief introductions and sometimes an opinion as well. In this case the opinion offered was as follows.

"Comfort" is a moving story of one girl trying to overcome her ailments to better her life.

In other Comfort news, the American Library Association is meeting in Chicago as we speak. If I'm not mistaken, the Notable Children's Book Committee discussed my book a few days ago. With a little luck it remains on the table where it meets the competition of fall titles added to the list. (I'm not exactly sure how this all works but I did sit in on one book discussion a few years ago so I have a vague idea.)

FRIDAY 5: It is Friday, isn't it?

I think it's Friday although life has lost its normal rhythm. Assuming, I've got that right, I'll proceed with 5 random commentaries.

1. I really miss Squeak, my pet mouse.
Came to the hospital without her this morning. I really don't love using the built-in mousepad.

2. My editor forwarded an email saying that COMFORT arrived and is being shipped today! So if you pre-ordered (and bless you if you did) Blue's sequel, it should be there soon. At least to the place you ordered it from. After that you can deal with Amazon's customer service dept. Also a word to Barnes and Noble. Please put Comfort and that Kirkus review back on your site!

3. J.L. Powers wrote a lovely review of Comfort which is posted at NewPages book reviews. If you follow the link, scroll down, down, down to find the Comfort review.

4. Better yet - try this search trick!
--After you go to New Pages Book Reviews type Ctrl F.
--A search window will appear in bottom left of your computer screen. Type in my name and the review will instantly be highlighted! Very cool, huh?
--Did you know you can find things this way on nearly any website? The things I learn from archivists! (Thanks, Wendy at Swarthmore College!)

5. I really love Charlie Rose. (Even if he does keep me up at night!) He's so witty, personable, and just plain brilliant! I wrote a whole post just on him but I'm saving it for another day!

6. (Bonus Item) Hubby is feeling some better. Still no diagnosis.

WEIRD WEDNESDAY THINGS: Amazon Sales

COMFORT is on backorder. In fact Barnes and Noble, which had it on their site along with a lovely little Kirkus review, has actually removed it. Yeesh!

Amazon, on the other hand, is still taking pre-release orders. They've been showing a few copies too. (And I did wonder where they came from.)

Then on Monday, while I was doing a school visit, my friends at Marion Elementary informed me that Amazon has two copies available for about $ 89.00.

I checked it out and sure enough! Amazon showed 2 new. And 2 used. The "used" ones were selling for 88.00 and 89.00 (probably advanced readers being passed off as collector's items)

And wouldn't you know, as of yesterday, all of those copies have apparently sold.

My hostess at Marion Elementary emailed me that the students and staff are preordering Comfort. I sure hope someone didn't buy an $ 89.00 copy without realizing it!

Personally, I think it's a good book - definitely worth the wait.

But $ 89.00?