I know it’s been awhile since I posted a review. Let’s chalk this up to ongoing problems due to chronic, severe migraine headaches AND writer’s block (or should that be reviewer’s block?). Strange as it may seem, I’ve been able to keep up with my reading as long as I read in electronic format. I can handle low-light and ebooks but low-light and print books just doesn’t seem to work. I have no idea why.
So what have I been up to other than reading and more reading? Well I was fortunate enough to attend the BookMarks Book Festival in Winston-Salem, North Carolina last month. I was accompanied on this day trip by my youngest brother and his lovely six-year-old twin daughters, as well as my sixteen-year-old niece. The twins were excited about the idea of receiving a free book after participating in the childrens’ activities. My older niece accompanied me as I attended lectures by Deborah Harkness (A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night), Jason Mott (The Returned – review coming soon with a giveaway offer), Ann B. Ross (author of the Miss Julia series), and Jill McCorkle (Life After Life). The best thing about this trip was spending the day with family and listening to some wonderful authors discuss their work. The second best thing about this day-trip was I didn’t have to drive so I got to read going and coming, yay! BTW, Ms. Harkness revealed the title for the third book in her All Souls Trilogy, The Tree of Life.
Here’s a picture of Ms. Harkness at the festival:
And here’s one of Mr. Mott:
I also attended a lecture at a local university by author Wil Haygood (The Butler, A Witness to History). Mr. Haygood actually worked for a local Charleston WV newspaper quite a few years ago before heading to Washington DC and the Washington Post. Mr. Haygood spent quite some time here in Charleston and met with local college students as well as Upward Bound students. If you ever get the opportunity to hear him speak, go! To read more about his visit to Charleston, please click here.
It was fascinating to hear about Mr. Haygood’s discovery of Eugene Allen that was followed by a newspaper article. That article in turn inspired the blockbuster movie “The Butler” and ultimately led to the writing of the book, The Butler A Witness to History. Mr. Haygood shared anecdotes of his time spent with Mr. and Mrs. Allen, as well as his time on the movie set.
What’s next? Well, I’m going to do my best to write all the reviews that should have been written and posted over the past few weeks (okay months, don’t nitpick). I hope it won’t be too confusing but I’ll be posting reviews of recently read books mixed with previously read books. Please bear with me as I attempt to catch up. Thanks and Happy Reading!
The Book Diva's Reads 