LA Times Festival of Books

I've never had the chance to go to the LA Times Festival of Books and this year, I finally made it! My hubby was a little concerned that I was going by myself, but I just told him, these are my people :)

After wandering the booths for a bit, I decided to escape the heat and enjoy the fantastic panels. I went to The Science of Humans, mainly so I could listen to Mary Roach, who was hilarious as expected and all the authors were extremely fascinating.

Next up was the amazing Science Fiction and Fantasy from All Angles panel with Sarah Kuhn, Becky Chambers, Ellen Klages, and Seanan McGuire. That's right. An all female panel of speculative fiction!! I mainly came for Seanan McGuire and she was as weirdly endearing as I hoped she'd be but I came out of there with a huge list of books to read from the other authors.

One conversation I was seriously excited for was Roxane Gay. Who was absolutely unapologetically brilliant. That woman is amazing and to make it even better, I ran into Maggie from @treatyoshelf!

I also got to meet Liza Palmer after her Exceptions and Expectations panel. She is basically the nicest person ever -- signing all 6 books I had with me, including her latest The F Word (which I've already devoured and loved. Of course.).

Hurrying across the gorgeous USC campus, I managed to catch the tail end of the Pieces of Me panel with Angie Thomas, Nicola Yoon, Nina LaCour, and Jennifer Niven. They were all incredibly articulate and engaging and I especially enjoyed all the Harry Potter fangirling.

So. Much. Fun.
I met so many interesting people while waiting in signing lines and scored some fantastic bookish swag. I can't wait to return next year.

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