A mob scene of over 1,000 mostly middle-aged women surged through the historic Tampa Theatre on a weeknight to hear Khaled Hosseini discuss his latest book, And the Mountains Echoed. Organizer Stefani Beddingfield, the new owner of Inkwood Books, joined with Alison Powell, the Oxford Exchange Bookstore curator, to create the event. While wine sales were slow, the line for signed copies by the author snaked through the entire auditorium. Go, book groups!
This article appears in Sep 19-25, 2013.