Laura Bush Signs at Vroman's and That Bookstore in Blytheville

Former first lady Laura Bush is on a national book tour to promote her memoir, Spoken From the Heart (Scribner), which is about growing up in Midland, Texas, and life in the White House. This past week, she stopped and signed copies of Spoken From the Heart at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena, California, and spoke at lecture series hosted by That Bookstore in Blytheville in Blytheville, Arkansas.

"The event was fantastic!" said Vroman's President and COO Allison Hill. "1:00 p.m. on a Tuesday in Southern California is a tough time, but we had 500-plus people and sold almost 800 books."

That Bookstore In Blytheville was host of the event at the Ritz Civic Center in Blytheville where Laura Bush spoke as part of the "Stardust on Blytheville" lecture series. "She was early and we had lots of time to get the stock signed," said Mary Gay Shipley. "We were very well organized and had lots of nice visit time."

The event sold out the auditorium, and the bookstore sold 577 books.

Shipley said, "The highlight was being able to talk about the books Mrs. Bush is reading and sharing with her My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira. It was also a thrill to enter the Ritz and see a packed house."

The former first lady is scheduled to make three more stops at indie bookstores within the next week: Rainy Day Books in Fairway, Kansas (May 21); BookPeople in Austin, Texas (May 25); and Books & Books in Coral Gables, Florida (May 28).