Wednesday, May 04, 2011

LA Times Book Festival for 2011

This last weekend was the LA Times Festival of Books, one of my favorite weekends of spring.  They actually put it off a week so it didn't conflict with Easter, which I was very thankful for.

Unfortunately, it did conflict with some major mystery conventions, so I think that was one reason why some of the authors I normally see weren't there.

This year it was at USC for the first time.  (And it makes me glad I've gotten out of the habit of calling it the UCLA Festival of Books).  That made it very different for me.  I used to have the other one wired.  I knew where everyone was and where to go for food.  This time?  I was pretty much lost.  Heck, I'm still not sure we walked by all the booths, if you want the truth.

As always, I went with my friend Angelique.  Her friend John came, too, and I'm very thankful.  He went to USC 20 years ago, so he had some clue how to get around the campus and even how to get there and back.  I would have been totally lost without him.

So, while there was some disappointments, it was still a fun day.  I got to meet the authors I've been reading recently who have written Sherlock Holmes inspired stories.  That was lots of fun.  I picked up a couple of Disney related books, including Hidden Mickeys, a novel that my friend Brian has highly recommended to me.  Now, to actually find the time to read it.

At the end of the day, I went to a panel that all those Sherlock Holmes authors were on.  It was lots of fun.  All four of them were a hoot.  It also left me wanting to read the actual Sherlock Holmes stories at some point soonish.  Like I need more on my to be read pile.

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