Monday, May 23, 2011

Gaithersburg Book Festival

A great time was had at the second annual Gaithersburg Book Festival.  C-SPAN was there covering the event, so check out some of the videos that are available.

What did I do?  I admit, I didn't really see any of the teen/children's authors at the festival.  But the authors I saw were all excellent.

I've already got Susan Fraser King's latest novel, Queen Hereafter, on hold at the library, thanks to her great presentation on historical fiction.  Paula McLain, the author of The Paris Wife, was incredibly funny and passionate about her book.  Donna Andrews, one of my favorite authors, was witty and snarky and sounded just like Meg, the main character in her long-running series that started with Murder with Peacocks.  The tag-team pairing of Meg Waite Clayton & Caroline Leavitt was super-funny, and I'm looking forward to reading their books, particularly The Four Ms. Bradwells.  Last but not least, James L. Swanson gave a fascinating talk about how he came to write Manhunt and how Jefferson Davis is a forgotten man.

If there's a book festival near you, give it a try!  Even small events can let you discover great new authors.

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