The Columbus Book Festival

I was pretty excited about being able to go to the Columbus Book Festival this year. Granted, there were only seven authors I was familiar with, but I planned to try and meet a few of them, and attend the Summer Big Book Sale that was going on at the same time, in the same place! (I only realized they were in the same location the day before, LOL!) We (me and Matt) had planned to leave our house at 7:30 so we would hopefully be there in plenty of time to park at the library. We got started a little later than planned because we had a showing scheduled for that afternoon, so had to leave the house show worthy.

Anyway, we arrived at the library a few minutes after 10 am (the start time) and the parking lot was already full. They had planned for the crowds and there were several free parking lots nearby, so we parked in one of those. Once we stepped foot on the library grounds there were people everywhere. We were not expecting the crowds to be immediate!

 

 

So, we went to the vendors I had determined in advance that I wanted to visit. There were over 100 vendors, so I didn't want to spend time on things that didn't interest me. Several times we would get to a vendor, and I would decide I didn't want to step under the tent, it was too crowded! We soon realized that the longest line of people we kept encountering were in line for the book sale the library was putting on. It was already in the mid 80s and I was melting. We finished with the vendors a little after 11,  and then I couldn't decide what to do. I knew if we got in line for the book sale, we would miss lunch and the session I wanted to sit in on at 1pm. So we decided to just go get lunch and forego the book sale. The line was so long and it was so hot, I didn't feel like standing in line for hours.

We walked from the festival to a small hole in the wall called Matt and Tony's Kitchen +Tavern for lunch. The table was sticky, the chair was sticky, and the food was okay. It wasn't quite the quiet retreat we were looking for, but it was a break from the large crowds.

The Columbus library had a huge Lego area set up, representing the Columbus zoo. It was really cool and unique! Here are a few pictures of it.

 

We got back to the festival around 12:15. We had 45 minutes until the session we were attending (thankfully inside one of the conference rooms in the library, with AC). I decided to look at the books that were being sold by the authors that were attending, and I grabbed The Curious Inheritance of Blakely House by Joanna Davidson Politano, even though she was one of the authors I wouldn't get to see/meet as her session was on Sunday. However, I did spot her from a distance, LOL! 

The session we were attending was Beacon Through the Ages: Inspirational Fiction. The authors and the books they were discussing were: Amanda Cox, Between the Sound and Sea; Amy Lynn Green, The Codebreaker’s Daughter; Jaime Jo Wright, Tempest at Annabel’s Lighthouse (their most recent releases, I own all three but haven't read them yet). The description of the session: Through legends and letters, twists and turns, these time-blending tales tell of codebreakers in WWII and of lighthouse keepers in Michigan and the Outer Banks of North Carolina. With another historical fiction author Ann H. Gabhart moderating. This was such a fun session. I love hearing authors talk about their books, and writing process. It also encouraged my husband to hear them talk about their books, and what they think of their own writing. He has been writing for years, self-published one book, but hasn't tried to publish anything since. 

 

 

 

Mental note: When you want to sit on the front room-do it! I am short, and I like to take pictures. I don't get good pictures because usually tall people sit in front of me! My husband wanted to sit further back, but I compromised and sat on the second row, LOL! Always go first row if you can.

I enjoy all these authors, and I enjoyed meeting Ann H. Gabhart. I am familiar with her books but have not read any of hers yet.

I had met Amanda Cox at Rendezvous last November, and I enjoyed spending a few minutes chatting with her again. 

I was most excited to meet Jaime Jo Wright and Amy Lynn Green. I read Amy's debut novel, Things We Didn't Say in December of 2020 and it has stuck with me. It is my favorite book of hers so far, and it is one that I recommend often. She is delightful and I wish I could have sat with her and talked about her books over a cup of coffee.

 

I also enjoyed meeting Jaimie. I have read all her books, with the exception of her newest release, and I will read anything she writes. I have given most of her books 4 or 5 stars. It's hard for me to pick an absolute favorite of hers, but if I had to I would go with Night Falls on Predicament Avenue.

 

After we finished the session, their was time for the authors to sign books. This is where I met the authors and had them sign my books and grab pictures with them. After that, Matt and I decided to head home. By this point it was over 95 outside and we were done with the crowds and the heat. We had to stand in line just to leave the library! It was insane.

 

Would I attend the festival again: probably not. If the session with the authors had been full, I would have counted the trip as wasted. Since we were able to get in, it redeemed the day. However, for the few minutes you get with the authors, it's just not worth the hassle of the crowds and heat. There were SO many people there with babies/young children in strollers (please don't do that to your kids). It was miserable hot, and so many of the kiddos were crying. There were also quite a few people there with dogs, which I also didn't understand. If I were to do it again, I would join the Friends of the Library in order to access the book sale Friday night, and then only popping in on Saturday or Sunday IF there were authors I loved that were going to be there, but we'd have to stay in Columbus for the weekend to do that, instead of driving two hours to attend an hour session. Again, just not sure if it would be worth it. But, I am glad I went, got to meet two favorite authors, and see another favorite, and spend the day with my hubby. We did mange to get out of the festival right before the storm rolled in!

 

On a final note, as we were walking back to our car we saw these cute statues, I think they might be part of Topiary Park.

 

 

Real life is dreadfully tedious the way it interrupts reading. -Amy Lynn Green in Things We Didn't Say