Texas Book Festival Review

The annual Texas Book Festival is in the books 📚, pardon the pun.  This past weekend has come and gone, along with the authors and programming from Austin.  I sincerely wish I could report a rousing success, as in my two previous years attending, but I'm going to give you it to you straight.  I trust that it was what you expect.  

My brother and I arrived in Austin Friday afternoon with our schedules in hand and our hearts set on some great author panels, discussions with fellow readers, and an eye-opening new books.  Without a doubt we found some of those things, but after eight sessions over the two days, I must admit I was a bit disappointed.  In half of the presentations, the authors never discussed the content of their books, didn't read an excerpt, nor did they promote the purchase of their work.  Instead they expressed their political views, society's failings, and their ideas for remedying those ills.  In fact, in a session with one high-profile author, who's work I have read and enjoyed, 10-15 minutes was spent denigrating our elected officials.  While I certainly support anyone's right to express their opinion, this was not the venue for that expression.  I had come to Austin for a book festival, not a sermon.  Will this hinder my reading enjoyment?  Resoundingly, no! Though I do hope festival organizers take note and re-align the authors with their intention - to promote literacy.

My brother, Jay, has contributed his thoughts from the festival below: 

"2024 marked the third year to attend the Texas Book Festival.  The old saying, “the third times a charm”, did not hold true for me.  However, I did come away from the festival with a new saying.  The saying, courtesy of one author who was on stage, and I thought there to discuss her most recent release said, “it’s all about the politics”. 

 

Over the course of the two-day festival, and sitting through 8 author presentations/panel discussions, my opinion was formed.  Of those sessions I attended, the majority felt like an exercise in promoting a social agenda, with the book being nothing more than a prop.  I first thought that it was just me.  Could I simply be in an odd state of mind and seeing an agenda that simply was not there?  I decided I would test my suspicions.  While walking the festival and waiting in lines, I would ask those around me a couple questions: 

1. Have you attended the Texas Book Festival in the past?
2. What is your impression of this year’s festival compared to those you have previously attended?

Clearly, I am not a professional pollster and my sample base would be limited.  But I thought these two questions would tell a story.  What I found was of those who participated in my ad hoc survey, the sentiment was, the primary focus was not the books. 

 

In previous years, I always found an author or a book that piqued my interest.  I always left the festival with a handful of new books and an excitement to delve into a new story, to expand my reading into a new genre, to read outside the box of my own normal interests.  This year I left empty handed.

 

The mission of the Texas Book Festival, as taken from their web site states: 

Texas Book Festival connects authors and readers through experiences that celebrate the culture of literacy, ideas, and imagination. 

I hope that next year the festival holds to that mission.  I feel this year it was a miss."

One of the sessions that did surprise me was ''What Makes a Monster" with Stephen Graham Jones on I Was a Teenage Slasher.  I am not now, nor have I ever been, a horror fan, but Mr. Jones piqued my interest.  He was very laid back throughout his remarks detailing his writing process from the time he started as a boy, through his adolescence and into adulthood. He didn't focus on the "blood and guts" that my mind runs to when someone mentions horror; instead on the plot, the characters and how he charted their course.  While I didn't make a mad dash for the book sales tent, I think I will explore his work. Sometimes you have to step out. You never know what treasure you might find.

As we were driving home Sunday afternoon, Jay and I were discussing the various pros and cons from the weekend.  Always a pro is that we get to spend time together doing something we both enjoy.  A BIG PRO from this festival were the conversations with other readers.  At an event on Sunday, we met an Austin native who happened to be attending her 10th festival.  She mentioned that she was an historical fiction reader. I gave her my latest in that genre as a suggestion - The Long March Home by Tosca Lee and Marcus Brotherrton.  A fantastic book based on the Bataan Death March.  It's a "must read" if you enjoy historical fiction.  One of my best of 2024! 

By the way, I did buy one book at the festival.  It's a Christmas gift for my granddaughter.  I have high hopes for it, but keep in mind she's a tough critic! 😉

Until next year, that's it from Austin and the Texas Book Festival!