Hello, book nerds!

If you’re not familiar with the Lone Star State’s annual book festival, you’re missing out. Every November in the downtown Austin capitol area, tents upon tents hog a few main roads, all dedicated to the thing we love most. From author discussions and signings to all the bookish goodies, it’s a blast for bookworms.

This year I attended my first one, accompanied by some great friends. It was a blast.

The discussions were well done. We attended several, though it was so hard to choose because the lineup was absolutely stacked. The authors talked about a variety of things — from one author’s brother getting kidnapped to why Anthony and Cleopatra are not the same as Romeo and Juliet.

We also got tickets to see Matthew McConaughey discuss his book, Greenlights. His talk was great, and came with a pre-signed book. I found him very personable and down-to-Earth. And yes, he did give us his famous, “Alright, alright, alright.”

I got almost everything I bought signed (alas, I didn’t get Wordslut signed because I was just too exhausted by the end of day 1), and what I loved even more was that the authors personalized them.

I especially loved the dedication signed by Jedidiah Berry for his novel, The Naming Song. I hadn’t heard of it before the event, but his talk convinced me that his dystopian fantasy was going to be right up my alley. I was the first at his signing table, so I had a chance to tell him this, and he said, “I love to hear that, it is kind of a strange book.” To which I replied, “But I love that. I love weird and strange.” Hence, the dedication:

In true Austin fashion, there were also food trucks. We’d had several slices of pizza by the end of the weekend.

The bookish merch was fun, too. I could not resist this t-shirt, which said, “Would you still love me if I were a bookworm?” My friend and I both got one, and wore them on day 2 to match.

I also got a trope mug, which I love. First thing I did Monday morning was drink my coffee from it, of course.

All in all, it was a great experience and I will absolutely be doing it again. If I were to do anything different it would be to bring one of those crates on wheels rather than a tote bag (my shoulders were stiff from lugging around my purchases — worth it, though).