September is a time for new beginnings. After summer, where time was measured by the sunny days, the temperature of the water and the direction of the winds, September always draws one up with a jolt as we return to responsibilities and routine. My sons are back in school, and the alarms go off around our house a lot earlier than any of us want to hear them. We ended the summer with a great trip to the Outer Banks and still am kicking the sand from between my toes as I write this. I spent most of our vacation reading while floating in the pool. It had been a hectic summer of sheetrock dust, early mornings and late nights with our office renovation, which took almost four weeks and thus I was happy to do as little as possible to rejuvenate myself. For a blog about what I read as I floated, click here.

We are in week three of an office renovation that is consuming my days, leaving me only the evenings for working. Our entire staff is working from their homes while my older son, Greg, who is with us at the office for the summer, is with me in New York. There have been moments of complete frustration with this project coupled with some hilarious times. We both are tired of carrying furniture from room to room, and I confess that when book shipments arrive we both laugh trying to figure WHERE we can store them until the staff returns and still stay one step ahead of the construction crew. Tonight, in utter frustration, I just stashed a box in my car!

Greetings from Atlanta. I have spent the last week on the road for business and pleasure visiting both Atlanta and the mountains of North Carolina. Along the way I got to visit Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe in Asheville, North Carolina and Coffee Buy the Book in Roswell, Georgia. This afternoon we are touring the Margaret Mitchell House in Atlanta, giving this trip a true literary flavor. I hope that you too are finding some terrific places to read this summer.