Remember The Bookmobile?—

Tales From

A Bookstore

Suzanne Strempek Shea has always loved a good book –– she has written seven of them, all acclaimed –– but she knows that good bookstores are critical components when it comes to selling a book and getting the story out to the readers.

On Thursday, November 3, at 7:30 pm, Ms Shea will be visiting the C.H. Booth Library to talk about the writing process and her most recent book, Shelf Life, a reflection on her experiences at Edwards, an independent bookstore in Springfield, Mass.

For anyone who loves books, and especially for anyone who has wandered into the magical world of a special bookstore, Shelf Life is required reading. Charming and humorous anecdotes are sprinkled throughout relating to favorite customers, favorite books, and memories that reach back to Ms Shea’s childhood experiences with the beloved Bookmobile.

 Suzanne Strempek Shea was born and raised in western Massachusetts, which is where she has set most of her writing and where she still lives. A graduate of the former Portland School of Art now the Maine College of Art, she has been a staff writer for the Springfield newspapers and the Providence Journal-Bulletin. She also has freelanced for publications including Yankee Magazine, Boston Globe Magazine, Philadelphia Inquirer, and New England Monthly.

Ms Shea’s other novels include Selling The Lite of Heaven, Hoopi Shoopi Donna, Lily of the Valley, Around Again, and Becoming Finola. Aside from Shelf Life, Ms Shea has written another memoir titled Songs From a Lead-lined Room, which is an account of her radiation treatments for breast cancer.

The program is free and special refreshments will be served. Call the library at 426-4533 to RSVP. Multiple copies of Ms Shea’s books are available at the library and will be available for purchase at the time of the talk.