2019 LA Festival of Books

I’m so behind, but I’m going to post this anyway. It’s been almost a month, but sooner is better than never?

It was a beautiful day to be walking around LA and exploring the LA Festival of Books. As a new Angelino, I had to explore the book festival and see how it compared to my old Brooklyn Book Festival. Let me say that they didn’t disappoint and pretty much brought the same vibes the East Coast brings. I absolutely loved that it was hosted on USC’s campus, which I haven’t explored yet.

The first thing I did was going to a bookstagrammer meet up on campus. While this wasn’t officially a part of the LA Festival of Books, it was definitely officially a part of ours. You can see me in the back giving the peace sign. But I love all these folks who come out, read, and share their love of reading online. You have to admit, it’s a beautiful sight!

The best part of the day was sitting around with friends and talking books, life, and everything between. Usually I go to these events alone, so it was a treat to see my friends there, walk around with them, find fun books to read, and enjoy the beautiful Saturday.

While I didn’t go to any panels, I did meet some authors and supported my local bookstores. First off, we stopped at The Ripped Bodice booth where they’ve set up the place like a little carnival/circus. The circus of romances. I mean, that could be a thing. They had a giveaway wheel and when I spun, I got a foam finger that I totally took home and hung in my room. LOL.

Of course, I walked to other vendors and picked up a new mug, some bookmarks, and only one book. For most festivals, I try not to buy books but take home whatever freebies I get. There weren’t many free novels at a book festival and I usually just buy merch or gifts from bookstores when I go to visit, so I only planned on buying one book.

However, I didn’t expect to take part in the Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club scavenger hunt. This year, Reese’s team at Hello Sunshine gave away five books from Reese’s Book Club with cute little bookmarks in them. Of course, we figured out all the clues and picked up all the books. We might have had a fun photo shoot with them all as well.

We even got reposted by Reese’s Book Club because of how awesome we did! LOL! It was such a magical day.

It was a great day and ended with a book discussion of Daisy Jones and the Six in the park before heading home for the day. I’m so grateful to find a city with friends who love books and share our love together. It was such a great day and it really made me feel like a part of this city.

Do you have a book festival near you? Will you be going to yours this summer?