Miami Book Fair International - Sunday

Well another Miami Book Fair International is over - and it was a great one this year, befitting its 30th Anniversary.

Today was a beautiful day for the fair, this was what it looked like from my Metro-mover ride this morning.

The first presentation I saw was Junot Diaz, he was as always a fantastic speaker.

Immediately following Diaz was the phenomenal Nikki Giovanni. She was so funny yet compelling - I'm so glad I got to see her.

And after Giovanni - another woman who is a legend in her own time, Amy Tan. She didn't even read from her latest book, she just told stories about her mother and grandmother in the way only Tan can.

After these three successes I figured I'd grab some "fair food" for lunch. I had one of those only in Miami meals - corn dogs and avocado salad bought at a Colombian Food kiosk. It was yummy!

Every year I accidentally come across a presentation I didn't know about that winds up being interesting. So today I planned to eat at one of the tables at the food court and then go home. There were no tables available, and I remembered the Spanish pavilion had lots of comfortable seating so I went there. It turns out that a few minutes after I arrived they had a scheduled presentation on African influences on Spanish (from Spain) music. It was awesome!

May MBFI continue thriving for another 30 years - and I plan to keep going to all of them!

Miami Book Fair International - Saturday

I'm really tired, so I'll just share some pictures from some of the events I attended at the Book Fair today.

The picture above is just part of the panel for the book by the former Rock Bottom Remainders. The panel included (pictured) Mitch Albom, Scott Turow, Amy Tan, Ridley Pearson, Dave Barry, Roy Blount Jr., and (not pictured) newly anointed American Book Award winner James McBride. The panel was *hysterical*.

I had seen Dave Barry and Roy Blount Jr. along with Brad Metzer on their own panel presenting their latest books - also very funny.

Also brilliantly funny and evocative Delia Ephron!

I'll be back tomorrow! See you then.

Donna Tartt

Tonight I went to my first book fair related event for 2013! By "book fair" I mean the Miami Book Fair International,the most wonderful time of my year! I'll be writing more as the actual fair draws nearer.

Tonight as a "pre-fair" event Donna Tartt read from and discussed her latest book "The Goldfinch". It was a lovely evening. I feel so comfortable in book fair events, this year the fair celebrates its 30th anniversary and I've only missed maybe 3 or 4 of them. There were familiar faces, a certain way of doing things which has been perfected through the years, it was like visiting a favorite relative's home.

Although I've been a fan of Tartt's since her first book "The Secret History" published in 1992, I had never seen her in person. She's much warmer than she appears in pictures, petite and pretty, looking much younger than her 50 years.

This book, clocking in at 750+ pages is a bit of a commitment, but tonight's reading definitely made me want to read it. It deals with art, a coming of age story, takes place in Manhattan - all major pluses for me. I hope to read it soon.

That's the danger with going to book readings - it makes me want to read ALL the books!