National Book Festival 2011

Tom and I took a trip to the DC Mall yesterday to the 11th annual National Book Festival 

http://www.loc.gov/bookfest/    We had a great time last year and  looked forward to meeting some of our favorite authors. 

As there was so much going on downtown this weekend, we took the metro to save time and grief trying to find parking. I have never seen the metro  so crowded!  Police officers were in force in the dark cavern of the Smithsonian station.  I could hear them barking at people to stay away from the edge of the platform and take suitable lines for the escalators (half were non-functioning as usual).




The Book Festival was right off the stop, adjacent to The Library of Congress.  We headed in the opposite direction of the book signing lines, until we had assistance from a staff member to read the map key.......  The crowds were enormous and well behaved.  All the book nerds were in nirvana to be in the presence of so many literary greats.

Our first objective was to get some books signed for my sister Mary Beth and her grand kids.  Her favorite children's author is Katherine Paterson.  Well, wouldn't you know it, her line was one of the longest and by the time we got half-way to her signing table, she had cut back to only signing one book per person. Mary Beth had sent me three of her personal books to sign and I had to sacrifice hers for Sophia and Spencer, her grandchildren. She will receive a new autographed book from a local bookstore, Politics and Prose -  The Flint Heart  as Ms. Paterson will be there today- Sept 25th.

Sophia and Spencer will have  autographed copies of Bridge to Terabithia , so all's well that ends well.

We had an hour before the next signing and set up a strategy.   Tom had Sarah Vowell's, Unfamiliar Fishes signed. The book details the annexation of the Hawaiian  Islands in 1898, just because we could. She is more or less a satirist with a penchant for travel and history.

I headed for signing line #9 to my copy of Conquistadora by Esmeralda Santiago.  www.esmeraldasantiago.com

I couldn't help but notice Katherine Paterson at the back flap of  children's author John Rocco's tent, next to Esmeralda's line. She looked delighted to watch him sign her book and no one begrudged her chance to jump the line. I was sorely tempted to get out of my line and plead with her to sign my sister's book. I retained my dignity and her privacy.



I haven't finished the book yet- a non-fiction story of a Spanish woman who immigrates to Puerto Rico in the 1800's . A sexy and interesting read.

By the time we had accomplished our missions, we were sweating profusely due to return of the G-darn humidity!  We had stood for hours with not an unoccupied bench or chair to be found- so we called it a day and decided to beat the crowd home-ha!

The Smithsonian  escalator was only steps away and  so crowded that you had to wait in line to jump on.   Lucky for us, we were able to board the next train-standing room only for the next 7 stops.

All in all, a fun day and our last National Book Festival. To tell you the truth, I think Tom is glad we won't be attending the 2012 festival-phooey!