Is this heaven?

Events Manager Beth here, filling in for Adah this week! 

When I was about 15, I spent a long hot summer watching Field of Dreams on repeat. I couldn't get enough: Maybe I was hooked by the nostalgia; maybe it was the magical realism; maybe it was the deep rumble of James Earl Jones. Maybe it was the thrilling moment Annie Kinsella stands up to the book-banners at the PTA meeting! Most likely, it was the way Kevin Costner's "Dad, wanna have a catch?" never failed to gift me the cleansing saltwater of fresh tears. 

No joke, Field of Dreams remains my all-time favorite movie. And until recently, Field of Dreams was also my favorite thing about the far-off state of Iowa. Corn fields, the crack of a bat, literary sub-plot with a crotchety old writer, and a few quick-witted ghosts tossing the ball around? Yes, please.

But I also have a new favorite thing about Iowa: The University of Iowa Writers' Workshop. Looking for an easy "sniff-test" for good writing? Check the writer's bio for Iowa. Some of the best writers of the 20th and 21st centuries passed through Iowa. And this week, three of them are "passing through" Main Street Books! 

On June 8th, 2021, Iowa grad Elin Hilderbrand will be IN THE SHOP (rain plan in effect) signing copies of GOLDEN GIRL. We have limited stock left, so be sure to order now if you haven't yet done so. Then on Thursday, June 10th, 2021 , we're partnering with Quail Ridge Bookstore to host debut novelist (and Iowa grad) Monica West in conversation with one of her Iowa contemporaries, Claire Lombardo, whose sweeping family saga THE MOST FUN WE EVER HAD was a breakout hit of early 2019. West's debut, REVIVAL SEASON, has garnered rave reviews, including this one from the NY Times Book Review. You can register here.

So if you, too, are an Iowa fan, I hope you'll join us this week in hosting three of Iowa's best. And if you need one more reason to believe, the book on which Field of Dreams is based, SHOELESS JOE, was written in 1982 by WP Kinsella at -- wait for it -- the Iowa Writers' Workshop.  

With my baby blue on and SHOELESS JOE on hold,
Beth