Tucson Festival of Books



Tucson Festival of Books
March 15, 2015

This year was my first year attending the festival and I had an awesome time. I planned my schedule out beforehand and was able to do most of the things that I wanted to. Day one didn't go as planned at all! In fact, because of work schedules Tyler, Logan, and I missed Mitch Albom! However, we did get to walk around and stop at a few tents which was cool. Big tip: Wear sunscreen and drink a lot of water.

Day two was just Logan and myself. The first thing we did was walk down to the Education Kiva to see the Girl Power seminar featuring Ally Carter, Jenny Han, and Sarah Mlynowksi. I was genuinely interested in what these ladies were saying. One of the things being that if the cover of The Hunger Games had a female on it, fairly less people probably would've read it. It's a sad thing to think about. Girls can be strong and tough, not just boys. I really hope one day we'll be seen as equals. My favorite thing discussed was Sarah's books and how she gave her princesses happy endings. Now this does not mean marrying the prince. In fact, her version of Cinderella is not weak and her happy ending includes a successful career. I look forward to reading them and if I have a baby girl one day, I'll pass them on. Hell, my son can read them too if he so pleases. After the seminar I met the lovely ladies and took the pictures seen above. Sarah was kind enough to sign a bookmark and Jenny signed my book. I only wish I had something for Ally to sign. They were so genuinely nice, I hope to see them again in the future. Maybe an even bigger panel next year? Who knows. I also spotted Andrew Smith and since his signing was said to be on Saturday, not Sunday, I left my copy of Winger at home. Logan offered to buy me 100 Sideways Miles to get signed and as we were about to checkout, Andrew Smith left. It was a pretty sad moment for me. I really loved Winger and I had planned on reading his other works anyway. However, I didn't have the money so I decided to put the book back and buy it at a later date.


The second half of day two included some much needed grub and a seminar titled "NFL Concussions and the Future of Football". Now this one was even more interesting than the last. I'm honestly intrigued by the link of football and brain damage. A link that has been denied for a long time. These four men brought up the analogy that every hit on a football field is essentially a car crash. It's jarring to the brain whether it causes a full on concussion or not. You look at 10,000 hits vs 3 big blows and though the big ones may seem more dangerous, it is actually all of those little ones. I look at it like hitting a wall with a hammer. Now matter how hard you hit it, you'll see more damage after 10,000 little hits. I don't understand everything perfectly so I'll leave you with a link to the footage if you're interested.


This was actually one of the best weekends ever and I fully plan to go again next year and take advantage of all the fun stuff they have going on. I highly recommend it to my fellow Arizonans and anyone who would be willing to travel for the book festival. Next year I'll be buying all of my books months in advance, a backpack to carry them in, and saving up any extra money I might want to spend because I could have experienced so much more had I been prepared. Did any of you attend the TFOB this year or any of the previous years? What's your favorite bookish event (anywhere in the world)?

Xoxo,
Gabriella

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Debut Author Bash 2017: Kate Hart

Image
Hello and welcome to day one of the 2017 Debut Author Bash! This year I'll be doing a couple of days and today is all about Kate Hart! I hope you enjoy! About the Book A YA debut about a teen girl who wrestles with rumors, reputation, and her relationships with two brothers. Seventeen-year-old Raychel is sleeping with two boys: her overachieving best friend Matt…and his slacker brother, Andrew. Raychel sneaks into Matt’s bed after nightmares, but nothing ever happens. He doesn’t even seem to realize she’s a girl, except when he decides she needs rescuing. But Raychel doesn't want to be his girl anyway. She just needs his support as she deals with the classmate who assaulted her, the constant threat of her family’s eviction, and the dream of college slipping quickly out of reach. Matt tries to help, but he doesn’t really get it… and he’d never understand why she’s fallen into a secret relationship with his brother. The friendships are a precarious balance, and when t
Read more

Armchair BEA 2017 Day Two

Image
Welcome to day two of Armchair BEA, the from home version of Book Expo America which I hope to attend someday. Let's just get straight into today's topics, shall we? What Do Readers Want? What I want as a reader is to be sucked in. I want a story to hold my attention and make me care. That is actually how I rate my books, based on how well they keep my attention. When it comes to events, I would like them to be spread out more. Maybe that's a weird way to say it. What I mean is, change the cities you visit. Don't always do the major ones, some of us can't make it to those. And if you insist on making them so far, can you make them at a reasonable time? Example: Most of the events are a two hour drive from me, but don't begin until 7 PM and on a week night. Let's say I only stay for an hour? I'm still not getting home until after 10 PM if I'm lucky. We all know well known authors might not get to everyone in a simple hour. This is why I rar
Read more

Armchair BEA Day One

Image
Armchair BEA! Hello and welcome back to my blog! For those of you who don't know, Armchair BEA is the online version of Book Expo America held for those who cannot attend the live event. I personally hadn't heard of it until this year and I was in a definite need to join. So let's give this a shot! Introduction Questions! What is the name you prefer to use? You can call me Gabriella. How long have you been a book blogger? I started blogging a little over a year ago, but about a month ago I decided to switch blogs. Have you participated in ABEA before? This is my first time doing Armchair BEA and I am quite excited about it! Do you have a favorite book? My all time favorite book is Water for Elephants and I am definitely do for a reread really soon. If you could recommend one other book blogger who would it be and why? I would recommend Grace from Grace Lucy Reviews . Her reviews are very thorough and in my opinion, she deserves more attention than sh
Read more