Last weekend was the inaugural Bay Area Book Festival in Berkeley, California. My husband and I only attended part of the festivities at the Bay Area Book Festival last weekend.... What we did see and do while we were there was awesome! I am so grateful that we went to this fabulous literary event.
Several streets were blocked off to cars in Berkeley during the Bay Area Book Festival and streets were lined with different booths. Some booths were filled with various book publishers, bookstores selling books, writer's groups, authors signing their books, food vendors, and so on.
Plus, there were lots of free indoor and outdoor author speaking events for children, teens, and adults, which made for an awesome weekend of literary fun for people of all ages.
I also enjoyed that the Bay Area Book Festival was conveniently located in downtown Berkeley, so we were able to ride BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) into Berkeley verses driving and dealing with the hassle of finding parking during this busy two day event.
Some of my favorite highlights of our time spent at the Bay Area Book Festival are as follow:
1. The Lacuna Project --- 50,000 FREE used books were given away to the public during the Bay Area Book Festival. What a fabulous idea to create an outdoor art installation that doubles as an outdoor library!?!? I thought the Lacuna was absolutely fabulous and loved that it connected the public at large with books to take home and read!
I happened to take home four free used books during our visit to the Lacuna. Because we came to the Bay Area Book Festival on BART, there were only so many books I could hand carry around the book festival with me during the day and then carry back home with us, which is probably a good thing as I already have more books to read than I can possibly read in a lifetime.
2. Attending the Judy Blume event at the Berkeley Community Center on Saturday, June 6th. Click on link to read my experience about hearing/seeing Judy Blume speak. It was a wonderful and lively event that I am so glad that we didn't miss out on as I now have a sign copy of Ms. Blume's new novel for adults titled, In The Unlikely Event.
3. My husband and I also attended the Science of Booze, a free lecture, featuring authors Amy Stewart (The Drunken Botanist) and Adam Rogers (Proof). After the lecture Amy Stewart signed a copy of The Drunken Botanist for me.
The irony here is that my husband and I do not drink booze at all. I am, however, a huge fan of Amy Stewart's writing. I've read Amy Stewart's nonfiction books, Wicked Plants and Wicked Bugs, and found them both to be fabulous. So, now of course, I look forward to reading The Drunken Botanist.
As a side note, I'd made a post earlier this year listing the ten authors I'd like to meet in person at a literary/books signing event and Amy Stewart was one of the authors I wanted to meet!!
I missed many of the free lectures during our time spent at the Bay Area Book Festival... It was too beautiful of a day to spend most of our time indoors during our few hours at the Bay Area on Sunday, June 7th. Next year, my husband and l have to plan better and spend both full days at the Bay Area Book Festival.
Until my next post, happy reading!!
Several streets were blocked off to cars in Berkeley during the Bay Area Book Festival and streets were lined with different booths. Some booths were filled with various book publishers, bookstores selling books, writer's groups, authors signing their books, food vendors, and so on. Plus, there were lots of free indoor and outdoor author speaking events for children, teens, and adults, which made for an awesome weekend of literary fun for people of all ages.
I also enjoyed that the Bay Area Book Festival was conveniently located in downtown Berkeley, so we were able to ride BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) into Berkeley verses driving and dealing with the hassle of finding parking during this busy two day event.
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| Outdoor areas for families with children to sit and hangout. |
Some of my favorite highlights of our time spent at the Bay Area Book Festival are as follow:
1. The Lacuna Project --- 50,000 FREE used books were given away to the public during the Bay Area Book Festival. What a fabulous idea to create an outdoor art installation that doubles as an outdoor library!?!? I thought the Lacuna was absolutely fabulous and loved that it connected the public at large with books to take home and read!
I happened to take home four free used books during our visit to the Lacuna. Because we came to the Bay Area Book Festival on BART, there were only so many books I could hand carry around the book festival with me during the day and then carry back home with us, which is probably a good thing as I already have more books to read than I can possibly read in a lifetime.
2. Attending the Judy Blume event at the Berkeley Community Center on Saturday, June 6th. Click on link to read my experience about hearing/seeing Judy Blume speak. It was a wonderful and lively event that I am so glad that we didn't miss out on as I now have a sign copy of Ms. Blume's new novel for adults titled, In The Unlikely Event.
3. My husband and I also attended the Science of Booze, a free lecture, featuring authors Amy Stewart (The Drunken Botanist) and Adam Rogers (Proof). After the lecture Amy Stewart signed a copy of The Drunken Botanist for me.
The irony here is that my husband and I do not drink booze at all. I am, however, a huge fan of Amy Stewart's writing. I've read Amy Stewart's nonfiction books, Wicked Plants and Wicked Bugs, and found them both to be fabulous. So, now of course, I look forward to reading The Drunken Botanist.
As a side note, I'd made a post earlier this year listing the ten authors I'd like to meet in person at a literary/books signing event and Amy Stewart was one of the authors I wanted to meet!!
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| Me (left) with author, Amy Stewart, at the Bay Area Book Festival!! |
Until my next post, happy reading!!
This looks like so much fun! I wish I had more bookish events where I live :/ And is it just me or do those white statue thingys look like the tops of pineapples? Are they like little tents? Because that is one cool design if they are!
ReplyDeleteLaura @BlueEyeBooks
We had so much fun at this event and am so glad we lived close enough to make the visit there this year.
DeleteYes those white thingys are tents you are seeing. At first I thought they were jumpers for kids. I think they look like either the tops of pineapples, artichokes, or lotus flowers.