My favorite day of the year!!!

The 50th annual book festival, hosted by the Kentucky Humanities Council, was held at Joseph-Beth Booksellers, a local independent bookstore, in Lexington for the second year. This is hands down my favorite day of the year! I get so excited for the opportunity to meet writers, purchase books, and attend author programs for an entire day!! Below is a short video of the highlights of the festival.

Entering a bookstore packed with so many people who share a love of reading, is an awesome experience. The festival was nicely organized with sections for fiction, non-fiction, young adult, poetry, and essay/memoir. They had a children’s author tent set-up just outside the bookstore. I attended three author programs and walked out with a pretty nice book haul.

Ann Gabhart

I visited with author, Ann Gabhart, and purchased a personalized, signed copy of her latest book, When the Meadow Blooms. It’s really cool to have a personal connection with an author. I always love seeing her and learning about the setting of her latest book. I enjoy how she incorporates the local environment into her books that one would only recognize if they lived in Kentucky.

Benjamin Gilmer

It was exciting to have met Benjamin Gilmer, author of The Other Dr. Gilmer. His memoir begins with a true crime story that was told on the This American Life podcast. He was generous with his time as he talked about how the crime is only a fraction of the book, which spanned about six months of his life. He explained that the entirety of this memoir covers about 10 years of his life. Our conversation easily flowed into topics about Asheville, North Carolina and music. It was a pleasure talking with him. (Below is the video from his author panel.)

Ashley Blooms

One of the many things I love about the Kentucky Book Festival is that I am exposed to new authors. This year, I met Ashley Blooms and purchased a personalized signed copy of her latest book, Where I Can’t Follow. I can’t wait to settle in and read it! She has such a sweet personality and was easy to talk with.

Silas House in Conversation with David Arnold

The first author program I attended was Silas House in conversation with David Arnold. Silas was sharing about his latest novel, Lark Ascending. (I purchased the book during his book launch, which you can read about here.) Silas and David engaged in a fascinating discussion about their books while encouraging people to vote. It was quite hilarious to see the two men come out and immediately start talking about how hot the room felt. They proceeded to take off their long sleeve button down shirts to reveal t-shirts promoting Charles Booker for US Senate. Lol Silas shared about the influence of real life events on the development of his book. It resonates with me when people talk about the impact growing and aging has on their work. I felt connected with Silas as he talked about getting older and finding what really matters. This was my first exposure to David Arnold and I really enjoyed listening to him interact with Silas. He was at the festival promoting his most recent book The Electric Kingdom. (Below is the video of their conversation.)

Geraldine Brooks in Conversation with Frank X Walker

I have heard all wonderful things about Geraldine Brooks’ novel, Horse. I first met her at her signing table, where I asked her for a signed copy of Horse. Her signature is fabulous! I loved watching her technique! I then attended her conversation with Kentucky poet, Frank X Walker. It was impressive to hear Geraldine talk about all of the research and hard work that went into this book. She did hands on research by visiting the department of the Smithsonian that handles the history associated with this novel. From the conversation, I gather she tells the story by switching back and forth between time periods. She compared that process to that of an artist; making regular messes and then one day making art. Geraldine revealed she wasn’t sure how the book was going to come together, so she trusted that she would figure it out. I’d say by the popularity of this book, she figured it out quite well! (Below is the video of their conversation.)

Jessica Strawser & Love is…Complicated

I was excited to see Jessica Strawser at the Kentucky Book Festival. Jessica and her novel, Not That I Could Tell, introduced me and my husband, to Yellow Springs, Ohio. We couldn’t be more grateful, as we love visiting there now! You can read about our recent trip to Yellow Springs here. She is so easy to talk with and with having grown up in Ohio, we have a few things in common. (Go Bobcats!) Jessica was at the book festival promoting her latest novel, The Next Thing You Know. Jessica moderated a program titled, Love is…Complicated with her fellow authors, Angela Jackson-Brown, Gwenda Bond, and Lee Cole. She did a fantastic job moderating their conversation. It was obvious she thoroughly read everyone’s books and spent a lot of time developing thoughtful questions. Each of their books were of different styles from very serious, historical, rom-com, or with an unusual main character. It was a great panel as I love listening to writers talk about their craft. (Below is the video.)

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