Book Festivals

Book Festivals/Fairs - What's Not To Love?

Prior to this discovery, I must have lived a sheltered literary life!  Other than the Scholastic Book Fair at my elementary school, I had no idea there were book festivals, fairs, or otherwise labeled "reading treats" for much of my adult life.  My first festival was a memorable couple of days spent with a good reading friend, Nancy Taylor. She was my former boss's wife, so you might think it would be awkward to go on, what was basically a social trip with someone that I didn't know all that well, but I've found that books make easy friends.  When you are at a loss for conversation, the obvious starter is, "tell me about what you've been reading".   That simple phrase set us off on several lengthy and interesting hours enjoying our varying reading tastes.      

Nancy and I attended the National Book Festival, Washington D. C. together in September of 2012.  My daughter and I had originally planned to go together, but she had a had to duck out and Nancy stepped in.  Being the "always up for an adventure person",  Nancy volunteered to travel from Houston to D.C. for the weekend.  As a cat lover, Nancy was, and I'm sure still is, a fan of Rita Mae Brown's Sneaky Brown Series. 😸 Although, I'm not very cat friendly, I can relate to a good mystery when I see one and spent several great hours on The Mall that Saturday listening to the likes of Michael Connelly,  Patricia Cornwell and other greats of the genre.  I'm sorry to say Rita Mae Brown wasn't there, but Nancy and I both had a great time!  I'd do it again!  I think she would too!

My second foray into the book festival arena, was the Texas Book Festival.  I found it by way of the national event.  There were bookmarks on hand in D. C. that mentioned other upcoming events and some cosmic pull drew me to that particular marker.  Fortune or fate smiled on me and that November weekend has become my favorite. 

In just a couple of weeks, November 16 & 17, my brother and I will be attending our third Texas Book Festival.  I truly love, and I don't use that work lightly, this event.  For many reasons - the fall weather, being in and around the capitol, the fact that an independent bookseller, BookPeople  is the seller of choice and all the many programs that benefit from the festival.  Top it off with authors who devote their time to come and interact with their readers.  How could you possible want for more?

Now that I've waxed on about my favorite book event, I thought I'd give my brother, Jay, some space to speak to why he enjoys the festival.  When I asked him to go with me that first year, I don't suppose he really had a handle (neither of us did) on what to expect, but he's agreed to return twice, so I think we have our annual fall trip to Austin.  Here are Jay's thoughts:

"When I walk into a book store, “yes I am that old”, I’m a bit overwhelmed.  Not sure what I am looking for and confronted by all the bright shiny covers, more often than not, I become discouraged and end up walking out empty handed.  Unlike many of you, I pay little attention to best seller lists and I pay less attention to most social media.  As a result, I really don’t have a handle on what the next great book or upcoming author is.  But with the Texas Book Festival 160 miles away, a leisurely drive in Texas, set on the grounds of, and within the beautiful state capital, I have a wonderful resource at hand that I enjoy and look forward to.  This will be the third year that Dianna and I have attended.

One thing that I enjoy most would be the panel discussions.  Set up so that there are typically 3 authors and a moderator.  I have to acknowledge, the work which is evident, that the moderators put in.  It is apparent that they actually read the books and have intelligent and interesting questions for the authors.  As a part of the panel discussions, the authors are given time to read an excerpt from their book.  Frequently, I find at least one book out of each panel discussion that I find interesting and want to read.  What is surprising to me is that most often it is a book or a subject that I would have not picked up on my own.  

Living in an era of online shopping and electronic books it is refreshing to support the local independent book sellers.  The festival provides us the opportunity to support one of Texas’ largest independent book sellers and to get hold of a REAL book.  So, stock up your shelves."

 

Yes, as you can read, Jay is a much better writer than I am.  Maybe he should be the blogger, or at least a guest more often.  There is no doubt that we are both anxiously looking forward to the festival.  In fact today, we drafted our "proposed schedule" for the upcoming weekend.  Saturday looks to be a very busy day, Sunday maybe a bit lighter, but both promise to be days of great pleasure within our reading community.  

Again, we'll be carrying our official Dee Reads tote bags, to tuck away our BookPeople purchases.  We'd love it if you'd stop and chat for a few minutes to share a favorite book or snap a picture.  As J. K. Rowling said, "If you don't like to read, you haven't found the right book."  I'm certain we will all find many of the "right books" at the Texas Book Festival.