Bookspotting and Book Launching

This weekend I attended the launch for my friend Suvi Lampila's debut novel 7 Days and Counting. The event was held at Kapok, a unique design shop on Sun Street in Wan Chai. Suvi's book features an experimental, intentionally ambiguous structure, and it has had a unique publishing journey. She originally wrote the book on her blog, receiving constant feedback from a team of editors around the world. Then, she received a grant from the Arts Development Council here in Hong Kong to self-publish her novel. The result is a beautifully-produced paperback featuring original artwork that can be viewed in a number of different ways, just like her story. I'll do a full review of 7 Days and Counting, most likely when the e-book edition comes out later this year.

My bookspotting adventures this week were quite successful. I spotted a man carrying a book by Mike Gayle in Central Station. On the MTR, I spotted a schoolgirl with a middle grade novel titled The Goddess Girls. A Chinese man was reading the Chinese version of Onward, that book about Starbucks, which has an easily recognizable cover. Over the weekend, I spotted a girl reading Lost and Found Girl in a Japanese restaurant and a young man carrying The Honeymoon by James Patterson in an Italian restaurant. Finally, there was a backpacker in Central Station bright and early this morning with one of the Game of Thrones books in hand. My fiance was reading The Sun Also Rises yesterday and I'm reading a non-fiction book about extreme weather at sea in preparation for Nanowrimo.

Have you spotted any books this week?

P.S. If you're a Hong Kong-based writer, we're having a write-in for Nanowrimo at Holly Brown in Central on Saturday the 3rd. We'll get there at noon and write until we can't write any more, then go for dinner. We will also be writing at Holly Brown every Tuesday night. Find us upstairs!