What a treat!! I've been meaning to get to this event for years!! Miles and miles of Books!! Many booths set up by the authors themselves, promoting their books.

My dream of writing still burns -- and I discovered Lin Oliver a few years ago at a conference. She is absolutely lovely!! So, we went to her reading with her co-writer, Henry Winkler! Yep, The Fonz!!

HW had a rough time in school and didn't do very well -- having struggles with reading in particular. So, the main character of their books, Hank, also has learning issues and many a laugh come from his adventures.

Their reading was really engaging and my kids loved sitting under the tent listening to excerpts from several of the books. We wandered around several booths and Emily scored by receiving THREE free books all by her favorite author Rick Rourden!!

So, here's the "skinny": The Festival is free. Parking is not. ($12). It will get super crowded, so get there when it opens (10:00 am) or plan on taking the Metro in. The LA Times does a great job of a printed map and a list of all the authors being featured. And it's HUGE --- books stores, like the Huntington Beach Mystery Book Store have a booth, and speakers like Arianna Huffington was there sharing her insight ----- It's a wide, wide range of books, sellers, and authors.

We were there mainly for the kids section, which wasn't huge. We enjoyed walking around USC. It was the first time our kids had been on a college campus. And of course, we did some fun book shopping, which I'll do anytime!!

Mark it on your calendar for next year! :)