I actually don't know if I had any real adventures except maybe when speed walking through the festival going from an indoor panel discussion in the Capital building to the book signing tent and back to Capital building for another discussion. But, let me back up to the beginning...
As some of you may know, I live in Memphis, TN. We have no book festival and that's all I'll say about that. The Texas Book Festival is fortunately in a city I already adore and my best friend happens to live there as well.

After a not so cheap plane trip, I'm there and already thinking about how much I'll want to make this stay permanent. The day of the fest my best friend drops me off (mom duties kept her away for a few hours) and I begin to navigate a small section of downtown Austin solo. I was a little emotional (judge me!) at seeing all of the tents, especially the one with the Book-TV sign and the ubiquitous host of the live book festival broadcasts. Hey, I'm 30-something and have never been to a book fest. I was moved seeing shoulders saddled with tote bags filled with books, eternal lines in the Barnes & Noble tent to purchase books for author signings, and eyes scanning the weekend's itinerary then bodies urgently searching for the room of their favorite author's discussion panel. But what was the highlight of the event for me was meeting a fairly new favorite author, Mat Johnson. Now, if you follow my tweets, you already know what went down. But in case you don't....

The first panel I attended was a discussion titled "Wrestling with the Classics" that featured Mat Johnson, Hilary Jordan, and David Liss. They each released this year novels that were takes on literary classics. For Jordan's When She Woke inspiration came from The Scarlet Letter and Johnson wrestled with Poe's Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym. Each author discussed and answered questions on why and how they approach the respective classic for which they were inspired. As an aside, Hilary Jordan's dystopian novel has a very fascinating premise: Individuals are physically colored according to their crime. The main character is red because she has an abortion which in the dystopian future is illegal. After the panel, I bravely went up to where the authors were seated and introduced myself to Mat Johnson who was very gracious. After a mad dash to the book signing tent, he signed my copy of Pym and suggested we take a picture of which I was all too pleased to oblige. 

After my mad dash back to the Capital building, I enjoyed a great presentation from artist and author Kadir Nelson on his newest children's book, Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans. Of course, I purchased a copy and got it signed for my son. This is when my best friend joined me and we perused and shopped a bit before leaving for lunch.

Later that night, we went to Cheer Up Charlie's in East Austin for the festival's first lit crawl which featured various authors at local venues all in close proximity like a pub crawl. The event at CUC was called Five Things and the invited authors from the fest had to prepare an original piece based around a spirit filled beverage. The chosen five were Erin Morgenstern, Dominic Smith, Hillary Jordan, Mat Johnson, and Kathleen Flinn. I have to say I was most impressed with Dominic Smith's piece which incorporated gin and I was not familiar with this author before that night. His writing was very vivid and captivating. Johnson was hysterical just as he is on Twitter. He wrote a lively piece about a teenage boy who was basically tired of masturbating and ready for his first real sexual experience which then explodes into major drama. I'm having technical difficulty with the crude snippet of video I took on my cell phone. But trust me, it was hilarious.

That brought my adventure with the Texas Book Festival to a close. I had a blast during that and the rest of my time in Austin. I'm already looking forward to next year's festival and hopefully I'll be able attend at least one other (*ahem* Harlem Book Festival). 

Dollar stores have always been great for getting inexpensive birthday card, gift wrapping supplies, and disposable pans for that massive Thanksgiving dinner that is your turn to prepare for the family. On one those visits about a year ago, I remembered that I had seen books in them occasionally. To my surprise, most of them have tons of books. In the past none were too appealing but lately I've been able to pick up at least one title on almost every visit which is an average of once a month. 

Now, I was hesitant at first to buy a work from the dollar store that an author undoubtedly toiled over for some time. But then I thought well, I don't have to mention where I got the book if and when I discuss how great a read it was. Also, it might find an unexpected audience in someone who might not otherwise know about the book if not found at the dollar store. Even still, the nagging question of whether or not that demeans the author and their work in any way lingers in my mind. 

So, I would love for some others authors to chime in on this. Readers as well, of course. 

Do any authors know of their books being found in dollar stores and how do you feel about it? 

Readers, are there any titles you've found in dollar stores that maybe helped you branch out in your reading choices?

That's what I expect to see after committing search after search on the Memphis Public Library's website. Why? Because the vast majority of the time I'm searching in vain. I just don't get it. Well, I do get that funding is a major issue. However, I don't get what drives the selection that is there. Is it the same as what mysteriously drives the book selling market? I say "mysterious" because it's beyond me why nothing I and many others prefer to read is hardly ever available in a bookstore in this city. 

The library has a request form that I've employed at least two dozen times to have only one request pending fulfillment. Even that one took months for a response. I've inquired a few times with various librarians at the largest branch about how books are chosen for the inventory and how quickly are new releases added. That was pretty much a bust. I got some vague, dismissive response. Honestly, I don't think she knew the answer. I know some might think it harsh I'm bitchin' about public libraries but it's because they are important to creating a vibrant image for a city and because I'm a bookhead...HELLO! 

I commented earlier on a post by another book blogger that I'm given almost no choice but to purchase most of the books I read as I cannot get them from a library here. I've been asked about an interlibrary loan system. Huh? I've always only thought such a thing existed in academic libraries. This prompted me to prowl around some other cities' library systems and I was rudely awakened. 

So, I called the branch closest to my home which happens to be the largest and spoke to a really kind woman who responded as best she could to my questions. Basically, as I mentioned before, it comes down to money. I did let her know that I wasn't just some griper who doesn't contribute to the pot. I've patronized every book sale for the last two or three years and the used bookstore which helps fund the library. As a matter of fact, I purchased four books from Second Editions in the last week. She did tell me that we do have an ILL system. I asked if it's on the website anywhere and she was certain that it's not. So am I. And she seemed to get my frustration with that. However, that hasn't stopped it from amassing a high volume of requests. Now I know.

I feel like my patronage at the library's book sales is for naught. It seems to be funding the attainment of everything I don't enjoy reading. Should I just spend my money only on what I want to read and not care if the library flounders? And I'm not suggesting that my support will bring the library's demise but I know that every little bit helps.

Is the problem merely the allocation of tax dollars to or public libraries shamefully low?

How are things at your local library? Does it sufficiently feed your reading habits?

Summer is actually already here in Memphis. It's actually gotten quite dangerous to be outside in our hot, humid weather. Of course, I'll be in as much as possible with some books close at hand. Here are some of the titles I plan to check out this summer...

So, what are you reading this summer?

Book Beginnings is a weekly meme hosted by A Few More Pages. 

There is, stretching delicate as a bird's head from the thin neck of the Kra Isthmus, a land that makes up half of the country called Malaysia. where it dips its beak into the South China Sea, Singapore hovers like a bubble escaped from its throat.
--from Evening Is the Whole Day by Preeta Samarasan

There's a promise for a vivd, eloquent narrative. I'm ready to receive it. Also, there's a strong reverence for the setting that's apparent.

Friday 56 s a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice. 

She looked up at Appa. His eyes were invisible behind the glare of his glasses, but she felt seen then, more seen than ever, her sacrifices noted, appreciated, and put into words; her sufferings keenly felt; her many weaknesses--her report card C's, her failed geography paper, the chipped murukku bowl--forgiven.
--from Evening Is the Whole Day by Preeta Samarasan

Book Beginnings is a weekly meme hosted by A Few More Pages.

The first evening Mama doesn't come back, I make a sandwich with leaves from her good-bye letter. I want to eat her words. I stare at the message written on the stiff yellowed paper as if the shaky scrawl would stand up and speak to me.

--from Soul Kiss by Shay Youngblood

Of course, this caused me to push aside the half-dozen other titles I'm reading. It's so enthralling and poetic. I believe this will be a cherished read.

Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice.

At first it sounds as if I am sawing wood but then I begin to feel the music in my bones. Sometimes I can make the cello sing. Sometimes I make her cry. My cello makes the most beautiful sounds. I name her Rosemary. She becomes my best friend. Sometimes I fall asleep with her in my arms.

--from Soul Kiss by Shay Youngblood 

I can't say enough how wonderfully this novel is written. It's kind of magical.

Let me preface this post by acknowledging the snobbery of its title. I am unapologetic about my distaste for certain types of reads. 

Having said that, it's quite apparent that those of us who do not read urban/street fiction have become marginalized by booksellers and, to some degree, publishers. I understand that many street fiction titles are self-published and this is where I fault booksellers in this sidelining. There seems to be little consideration for those of us who prefer more thoughtful, complex reading or that we have interests in books besides the canon of Black literature, i.e. Walker, Morrison, Baldwin, Hughes, etc. Even those can be a hard find in the muck and mire of fiction celebrating street life. 

Recently, Reads4Pleasure shared her own professed book snobbery in which she noted the reoccurring issue of misleading book covers that many authors have little control of and deter some readers from a potential buy. I recanted my experience with this involving Martha Southgate's Third Girl From The Left. If not for her praises being sung in my Twitter feed, I would never have added this to my tbr because the cover I saw (surrounded by street fiction in Borders) did not look like my sort of read. I then questioned if that indicates some underhanded attempt at capitalizing on the market trend towards that genre. That's what inspired this post. 

If the occasionally misleading cover is such a bid, where does this leave the true intended audience? I know, I know, the bottom line is obviously more important to publishers and booksellers. But readership is part of what feeds that bottom line and shutting out any portion of those readers is actually detrimental to that. 

Another thing I just don't get is why so many Black authors have a book picked up by a large publishing outfit but left to fend for themselves when it comes to marketing and promotion. It just seems that publishers are shooting themselves in the foot with this. I hope that my saying so isn't seen as causing trouble for authors. I'm genuinely curious about the logic behind this and have the best intentions here. 


My point is that more space needs to be given to those who write stories that don't read like a transcript of the local evening news filled with hypersexual, materialistic, perpetually impoverished characters. Books are like blood: we all need a different type; we reject those incompatible. A lot of us are bleeding out and the repository is low.

Book Beginnings is a weekly meme hosted by A Few More Pages.

from An Atlas of Impossible Longing by Anuradha Roy--

In the warm glow of fires that lit the clearing at the centre of straw-roofed mud huts, palm-leaf cups of toddy flew from hand to hand. Men in loincloths and women in saris had begun to dance barefoot, kicking up dust.

While not very captivating, these first two lines gave me the impression that I was in for a culturally enlightening read. 

Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice.

I'm sharing lines from the same read this week...

    The murdered man lay on the road, a dark, shining puddle forming beside his stomach as the owls resumed their soft night-time exchanges.
   Kananbala lay down beside Amulya on the far edge of their wide bed and, trying to breathe as quietly as her panting would allow, in her head she began to make up a story.

Book Beginnings is a weekly meme hosted by A Few More Pages.

from The Polished Hoe by Austin Clarke--

My name is Mary. People in this Village call me Mary-Mathilda. Or, Tilda, for short. To my mother I was Mary-girl. My names I am christen with are Mary Gertrude Mathilda, but I don't use Gertrude, because my maid has the same name.


Whenever a book opens with a character introducing herself, it's usually indicative of a mystery and/or epic tale of their life. I think this is both. It could be a hit or miss. While not far into this read, I love Clarke's writing style but the pace is questionable.

Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice.

from Drop by Mat Johnson--

Because if I got up there they would boo or laugh or throw rocks at my head. Because I wasn't made for the pedestal, I was unsuitable for display. No crowd would ever accept Chris Jones held up above them.

This sums up the disillusion and angst of the novel's protagonist.