National Book Festival

Saturday was the National Book Festival on the mall in DC.

Despite an overcast morning the rain held off until about 2pm when I was safely inside a tent :)






I started out the morning with John Grisham. Here he is about to speak. He talked about his writing process and how he still has endless books left inside him waiting to come out. He's written 23 so far. Talk about prolific! I used to love his books, but I have to say they started to become somewhat the same after a while, so I stopped reading, but it was still interesting to hear him speak.



I left about half way though his talk because I had to get my place in line for JOHN IRVING!! I was so excited when I found out that he going to be there because he is one of my favorite authors. If you've never read a book my John Irving let me recommend A Prayer for Owen Meany as the first one you pick up. His latest book, Until I Find You is another one of my favorites. That was the book I chose to get signed. I've read all his books and eagerly await his next.




His new book is called Last Night in Twisted River. I don't want to wait until October!

I actually had a fun time waiting in line for his signature - even though it was about a 2 hour wait - I ended up talking to three lovely gals in line. They were all John Irving fans and we had a blast comparing favorite books and authors. It definitely made the time go by faster! We were not officially allowed to take any pictures of him, but I managed to "Kinnear" a pic of him signing and in the process lost my lens cap! Oh well.

The line next to mine was for Judy Blume. She is still so cute!



It was fun to watch all the little kids waiting for her signature. Two little girls were so excited - I watched them bubbling over with energy and jump up and down with glee after she signed their books. Very cute. I will always remember "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing", "Blubber" and "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret" They were a big part of my childhood.

After getting John Irving signature - I waited around for Paula Dean to arrive. I wasn't about to wait in her line - it was HUGE!! But I did get to see her. She is something else! She gave a huge "Hey y'all!" when she arrived and was full of energy and so expresive!







John Irving also spoke at the Fiction tent - he was interviewed by a book reviewer from the Washington Post. Anyone who's read his books knows he's a huge wrestling fan. It was not hard to tell he's a wrestling coach and is most comfortable in that role. He showed up in a black and white warm up suit and rarely looked at the audience as he told his story.



I love his shirt! It's his last book "Until I find you" written in Spanish...