3.17.2012

Well, it's Saint Patrick's Day and I was one lucky girl today!

One of my passions is books. I'm always looking for books to read and stalking my favorite authors to see if they have a new offering and if they're touring nearby. Late last year I found out that Jodi Picoult was coming to Greenville. She doesn't really come to the South, so I was really excited!

Not only do I like her books, I admire her hair too.

D, being a doting husband, bought tickets so we could attend her reading. The toughest thing was that they only allowed each ticket holder to bring one "back catalog" book in for signing. Which meant that since D came with, I could actually have two signed. But which ones? I agonized over my selection. It's kind of ironic because D and I have hauled books to signings all over the the region and we've never had a limit. An author finally comes to our own county and we have to pick and choose.


In the end, I took a two-prong approach. The collector in me chose her debut novel, Songs of the Humpback Whale, because I know that signed debut novels are really valuable. The sentimental side chose My Sister's Keeper because it was the first of her novels I read and it really drew me to her.



D and I arrived about an hour before the reading started and got good seats. She did a reading, a general talk and then a Q & A. Jodi was very entertaining and informative too. She talked a little about her 2013 book and I'm looking forward to that one.

Then it was time to meet and greet! I told her I admired her well-behaved tresses and she wrote down the styling product she uses. Another curly girl close by also asked for it. Jodi was very surprised when she saw Songs of the Humpback Whale. She said she doesn't often see it on book tours and she only has one copy herself. She handed it over to me and said it was now worth about $250. She's not far off, a search of ABE has one listed for $275. I didn't pay even a quarter of that so, if you think of books as an investment, it's a nice return. Then she thanked me and we went on our way.