Texas Pages

Tantalizing literary morsels available this week:
* When You Are Engulfed in Flames, by David Sedaris (Little, Brown, $25.99). A collection of, as the author calls them, "real-ish" humorous essays. None of that "James Frey on the Oprah couch" pseudo-redemption for Mr. Sedaris; he's not calling it a memoir, so there!
* Me of Little Faith, by Lewis Black (Riverhead, $24.95). The Comedy Central star shines a scathing light on the many inconsistencies of religion. Probably not quite as bitter as Christopher Hitchens, but in the ballpark.
* Plague Ship (Oregon Files), by Clive Cussler (Putnam, $26.95). Fifth in the series about the covert ship Oregon.
* Death and Honor, by W.E.B. Griffin and William E. Butterworth IV (Putnam, $26.95). Newest in the Honor Bound series, a saga of World War II spying in Germany and Argentina.
* The Other, by David Guterson (Knopf, $24.95). Latest from the author of Snow Falling on Cedars follows the different life choices of two Seattle friends.
* Touching History: The Untold Story of the Drama That Unfolded in the Skies Over America on 9/11, by Lynn Spencer (Free Press, $26). Chronicles the military and civil aviation response on the morning of Sept. 11.

Thank you, readers, for making our expo coverage possible. I had fun, and hope you did too.

It's your interest that makes my editors decide to send me out here to give you a sense of what is happening; it's your love of books that opens the publishers' doors and has them clamoring for my attention.

Many times over the weekend, I have acknowledged the absurdity of covering books as breaking news. After all, it is not what happens here this weekend, as we banter about galleys to grab and rising literary stars, that matters. It's not even about what happens when you buy the book that matters. What matters is what happens when you take it home and start turning that book into thoughts. Or action -- maybe laughter, maybe tears, maybe inspiration to run out and save the world.

As Ezra Pound said, "Literature is news that stays news." I hope you found a little of both here, and perhaps inspiration to seek out a few new books of your own. Come on back and tell us about them when you do.

As we wind down the coverage here, allow me to introduce you to a few of the people I met over the weekend. Or at least the ones who have already filed their stories about the Expo.

As you probably have gathered, no single individual can cover every aspect of this event. A lot of note-comparing and friendly conversation goes on. I don't think any one of us would pass up a chance for a scoop should one arise, but with the number of newspapers willing to support robust books coverage shrinking regularly, perhaps we tend to seek safety in numbers.

So here's a look at what they wrote: