It seems that readers just can't get enough of 'Roving with Lalah'! The popular Gleaner articles, written by Robert Lalah, were recently released in book form and, in a little more than two weeks, more than 2,000 copies have been sold.

The book, titled Roving with Lalah - Slices of Everyday Jamaican Life, is a compilation of about 30 of the very popular stories that appeared in the Thursday Gleaner. Assistant editor of features at The Gleaner, 25-year-old Lalah is the youngest author ever on the Ian Randle Publishers roster.

First released at the Jamaican High Commission in London, England, in October, the book was a best-seller at the annual Word Power book fair in that country and could have been pre-ordered online from the publishers since then. Before the books even arrived in the island, there was a back order of close to 1,000.

The first local book signing at Sangster's Book Store in the Mall Plaza, Constant Spring Road, on October 5, was the largest the store has had. Branch Manager Lavern James said the demand for the book was tremendous.

Sold out

"I don't know how to describe it!" she said with a chuckle. "It sold over 250 copies and we currently have none in stock. We got over 500 and the only branch that still has copies is our Liguanea branch, because they had a signing on Saturday. We are trying to share, but I don't think they have 60. At our signing, it sold over 110 copies and that was in the space of a few hours, from one to three o'clock, while he was here. We have a constant traffic of persons asking for it, that's definitely a wow for us."

At the second signing at Sangster's Liguanea branch in Sovereign Centre on Saturday, persons journeyed from as far as St Elizabeth to have their copies signed. For some, especially those who will be travelling overseas for the holidays, it has solved their Christmas shopping woes, as it provides a real slice of home for the holidays.