Tucson Festival of Books



Tucson Festival of Books
March 15, 2015

This year was my first year attending the festival and I had an awesome time. I planned my schedule out beforehand and was able to do most of the things that I wanted to. Day one didn't go as planned at all! In fact, because of work schedules Tyler, Logan, and I missed Mitch Albom! However, we did get to walk around and stop at a few tents which was cool. Big tip: Wear sunscreen and drink a lot of water.

Day two was just Logan and myself. The first thing we did was walk down to the Education Kiva to see the Girl Power seminar featuring Ally Carter, Jenny Han, and Sarah Mlynowksi. I was genuinely interested in what these ladies were saying. One of the things being that if the cover of The Hunger Games had a female on it, fairly less people probably would've read it. It's a sad thing to think about. Girls can be strong and tough, not just boys. I really hope one day we'll be seen as equals. My favorite thing discussed was Sarah's books and how she gave her princesses happy endings. Now this does not mean marrying the prince. In fact, her version of Cinderella is not weak and her happy ending includes a successful career. I look forward to reading them and if I have a baby girl one day, I'll pass them on. Hell, my son can read them too if he so pleases. After the seminar I met the lovely ladies and took the pictures seen above. Sarah was kind enough to sign a bookmark and Jenny signed my book. I only wish I had something for Ally to sign. They were so genuinely nice, I hope to see them again in the future. Maybe an even bigger panel next year? Who knows. I also spotted Andrew Smith and since his signing was said to be on Saturday, not Sunday, I left my copy of Winger at home. Logan offered to buy me 100 Sideways Miles to get signed and as we were about to checkout, Andrew Smith left. It was a pretty sad moment for me. I really loved Winger and I had planned on reading his other works anyway. However, I didn't have the money so I decided to put the book back and buy it at a later date.


The second half of day two included some much needed grub and a seminar titled "NFL Concussions and the Future of Football". Now this one was even more interesting than the last. I'm honestly intrigued by the link of football and brain damage. A link that has been denied for a long time. These four men brought up the analogy that every hit on a football field is essentially a car crash. It's jarring to the brain whether it causes a full on concussion or not. You look at 10,000 hits vs 3 big blows and though the big ones may seem more dangerous, it is actually all of those little ones. I look at it like hitting a wall with a hammer. Now matter how hard you hit it, you'll see more damage after 10,000 little hits. I don't understand everything perfectly so I'll leave you with a link to the footage if you're interested.


This was actually one of the best weekends ever and I fully plan to go again next year and take advantage of all the fun stuff they have going on. I highly recommend it to my fellow Arizonans and anyone who would be willing to travel for the book festival. Next year I'll be buying all of my books months in advance, a backpack to carry them in, and saving up any extra money I might want to spend because I could have experienced so much more had I been prepared. Did any of you attend the TFOB this year or any of the previous years? What's your favorite bookish event (anywhere in the world)?

Xoxo,
Gabriella

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