Texas Book Festival

The Texas Book Festival will be Saturday and Sunday October 31 and November 1. We always talk about this event at our book club meetings. Everyone who goes enjoys it! The festival is such a wonderful literary event! It's fun to be among crowds of people who love books and reading! The Capitol building and grounds require your walking shoes but reward you for your efforts. The Capitol has marble floors, shiny wood, and comfortable chairs. Listening to a panel of authors talk to you while you sit in a swiveling chair in the Senate Chamber where famous Texan politicians have sat is an experience to savor!

Outside, you walk across the Capitol lawns to the street, and there are big tents set up. There is a children's area with several tents. My favorite children's author this year is Rosemary Wells. I remember reading her cute picture books with my children(she'll be speaking at a different location, though). In another big tent, cookbook authors will prepare recipes and give out samples all day. You'll find our Frank in the cooking tent this year! (Frank may not have chosen it, but I think he'll enjoy it!) There is a music tent with live music all day (of course, this is Austin)! Then there are the sales tents, with many books on sale. Do some advanced planning (advance planning? Which do you say?) and bring your holiday gift list with you to get great gifts for great prices! The main event is the tent where all the books by all the attending authors are sold, and the adjoining "signing tent," where the authors will be signing their books after their presentations.

Authors whose books we have read who will be speaking at the festival include David Liss (we read The Coffee Trader, and he has a new book), Amanda Eyre Ward who will meet with us on October 19th, Margaret Atwood, Barbara Ehrenreich (we read Nickel & Dimed, and she has a new book), Jonathan Safran Foer (Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close and new book Eating Animals). Look how well-read our book club is! Did I miss any of our authors who are going to be there?

Several of us in the book club will be volunteering at the book festival, too! I hope to see you there!

To see this year's author listing and schedule, go to texasbookfestival.org

Posted by Claudia