I returned home over the weekend, feeling very lucky that Lindi’s and my flight from New York departed 2 days in advance of Hurricane Sandy’s arrival. My mind has been occupied by thoughts and concern for friends and family who have been impacted by the terrible storm and its aftermath.

It’s also been a week filled with preparation for the Midwest leg of Sharon’s and my book tour that will see us in Chicago, Columbus, Indianapolis, Kalamazoo, and Grand Rapids over the next two weeks. I fly to Chicago to meet Sharon there on Friday.

In the midst of all this, we were thrilled to learn that, largely as a result of our interview on Melissa Harris-Perry’s show ten days ago, Gather at the Table was listed among Amazon’s Movers & Shakers when its sales ranking shot up from around #40,000 to #149! I didn’t see it quickly enough to capture a screen shot of it, but everyone at Beacon Press was mighty happy with the attention the book is getting.

We also learned that Random House included Gather at the Table among the four books it highlighted in its October e-Newsletter for “NEW Freshman-Year Reading Titles from Random House“. Why Random House, you ask? They provide the sales team and book distribution for our publisher, Beacon Press.

Beacon Press, Eastern Mennonite University, and Sharon and I have done a great deal of outreach to colleges and universities. We believe Gather at the Table is an ideal book for college freshmen and hope that many schools will follow the advice of Random House!

We’re excited by all the attention our book is receiving, of course, but mostly we hope the attention results in more people reading the book and responding positively to its message.