The Tenth Day of Bookmas

  • By: Jessica Faust | Date: Dec 14 2010

We’re coming down the home stretch now on the contest, and since you guys have been making it all look so easy, Jessica OK’d me to make this one a four-part answer. I’m hoping to stump you a little on this one! For those who missed the rules, hop back over to the November 30 post and give a quick read.

And of course, before we start today’s contest, we need to announce yesterday’s winner.

Yesterday’s question was: If Jessica had to give up working in publishing, what one job would she want to consider doing?

And the answer is a recipe developer with a secondary dream of cookbook author. I know a number of you said cookbook author, but the truth is what I’d like to do is develop recipes. I don’t want to be a chef or baker because I don’t want to have to cook for others day in and day out or work in a restaurant kitchen. In fact, I’ve spent enough of my life in restaurants to know that’s more than I want. I want to work in my own kitchen creating recipes (not testing) and maybe authoring cookbooks or, even better, doing the work for restaurants who will make them to serve to customers.

Congratulations to Ebyss. Please email your contact information to blog@bookends-inc.com and we’ll get your prize out immediately.

Here’s today’s hint (from Kim) . . .

When I first started working in the book publishing industry I was starstruck and awed by all of the amazing authors I would see in the office or at signings. I had this grand idea that I would start a collection of signed books that could be passed down through my family for generations. As the years went by, my interest in building this big book collection waned. Don’t get me wrong, I still have a huge collection of books. And I certainly treasure the ones that are signed to me by my clients or authors that I worked with when I was an editor. But I’m no longer interested in building a collection for the collection’s sake.

Still, there are a few books in the mini-collection I started that stand out for me:

The first was a book written by an actor I’d watched in a short-run TV series in the 80s. It’s the first signing/reading I ever went to. I was in NYC for my Putnam Berkley internship and I saw that this actor would be signing his book at the local Barnes & Noble. It was one of my first big-city excursions. Now I look at that book and totally crack up.

Another is a first-edition hardcover with a note to me from the author. I was the assistant to his editor at the time, and he remains one of my all-time favorite writers.

Then there’s the book that was a gift from my mother. When she knew I was eager to build this collection she bought a signed copy of this book by an author I’d grown up reading from an NYC bookstore.

And finally there’s the only signed book I actually purchased from a book dealer. All of the other books in my collection had been gifts or I’d had signed in person. This book — by one of my favorites — felt more like an “investment” in my collection.

Can you guess the titles and authors of these four books?

Check with these authors for clues:

Lorna Barrett

Bob Phibbs, The Retail Doctor
Sally MacKenzie
Paige Shelton
Amy Patricia Meade
Wendy Watson

Ellery Adams
Angie Fox
Gina Robinson
Erin Kellison
R.R. Smythe
Bill Crider
Elizabeth Lynn Casey
Bella Andre
Elizabeth Amber
Krista Davis
Heather Webber
Avery Aames
Kim Lenox
Joyce and Jim Lavene
C. C. Hunter
Cricket McCrae
Wendy Lyn Watson
Erika Chase
Elizabeth Joy Arnold

Kim

22 responses to “The Tenth Day of Bookmas”

  1. Kim Lionetti says:

    I guess I stumped you, huh?

    Okay. Here's some help..

    If you think you have two of the books, we'll give prizes to the first person that gets two of them right and then prizes to whoever ends up getting the other two.

    So there can be TWO winners on this one!

  2. BW says:

    1) Stephan Collins "Eye Contact"
    2) Tom Perotta "Little Children"
    3) I don't know
    4) John Grishom "A Time to Kill"

  3. Kim Lionetti says:

    BW — You're 1 for 4, but close on a second one.

  4. Mwah-ha-ha … this is fun.

  5. BW says:

    "Election" by Tom Perotta

  6. Kim Lionetti says:

    Nice job!

    BW got the first and second books correct and wins the first prize.

    Whoever names the third and fourth books correctly will also be a winner!!

    BW — I gotta know… How did you come up with EYE CONTACT?

  7. BW says:

    I went by the hints and then went to Wikipedia for Stephan Collins.

  8. Ebyss says:

    The Palace of Heavenly Pleasures

    By

    Adam Williams

  9. Jennifer says:

    Shoot, I've got 4, I'm still working on 3, though…

  10. Jennifer says:

    Okay, I'm fairly certain I'm wrong on 3, but gonna guess anyway. Still looking, though, in the very fair chance I'm wrong.

    3) Jackie Collins, Hollywood Wives

    4) Michael Connelly, Angel's Flight

  11. Ebyss says:

    The Palace of Heavenly Pleasures

    by

    Adam Williams

    And

    The Passion of Artemisia

    by

    Susan Vreeland

  12. Kim Lionetti says:

    No second winner yet. But one of you is close!

  13. Wendy Watson says:

    Psst — I just updated my clues to give y'all a little more help.

  14. BW says:

    3) Before I say Good Bye" by Mary Higgins Clark

  15. BW says:

    Number 4 would be what Jennifer said:

    Michael Connelly, Angel's Flight

  16. Jennifer says:

    Shoot. I'd had the right movie, just the wrong actress from it.

  17. Jennifer says:

    I don't suppose there's a chance 3 is Jesse Stone: Sea Change by Robert B. Parker, is there? Still trying to find out if he coauthored with his daughter, but it'd fit "wave" right lol?

  18. LOL, Jennifer. That would be wave as in move your hand.

  19. Jennifer says:

    Aw, darn. BW got it! Way to go, though. That one was crazy hard. 🙂 I was actually on Mary Higgins Clark's Wiki page when I saw that haha.

  20. Jennifer says:

    I know, Sally. 😉 I was being a brat. I'm good at that. 😀

  21. Kim Lionetti says:

    And it's BW with the sweep! Nice work!

  22. Ebyss says:

    That one was really hard. Good job