Barbara Kingsolver gave a shout out to booksellers and librarians at he the Miami Book Fair International: “The real beating heart of democracy is the place people love books.  I salute you for your love of reading.”  Many immigrants to the U.S. are stunned when shown public libraries.  Not only do many countries not have libraries but books themselves are not readily available and often suppressed.  Americans are very blase about their libraries – would they miss them if they disappeared?

Sandra Brown is a best-selling author of suspense and romance pot boilers.  Her latest novel, Rainwater, is being advertised with a prominent photo of the author.  What’s up with her hair?  It looks like a rare egret decided to take up residence on the top of her head.  Somebody’s should tell her.