Summer Days and Late Night Reading

Happy Summer!

Back are the days of reading by the beach, underneath a canopy of leaves, or hiding inside near a fan or basking in air conditioning. With summer comes all the festivals, outdoor activities, and traveling plans!

I visited one festival this past month - Printers Row Lit Fest. Hosted in Chicago by the Near South Planning Board, this festival occurs once a year to celebrate books for book lovers of all kinds. There are many different groups that attend - and it changes a bit year by year. Typically, those who attend and have stands are book related groups in the area (i.e. Chicago Public Library), both small and large bookstores (think hipster bookstores and those like Half Price Books), authors of all genres, and more. Basically, it is a community of people who join together to create a book celebration of sorts that spans an entire weekend and a few blocks on the iconic Printers Row area in the southern loop of downtown Chicago. You can meet authors, listen to poetry readings, buy book binding supplies, look for new or antique books, have your child/sibling/cousin/etc. sit and listen to story time, or just wander around and enjoy what the day will bring.

Printers Row Lit Fest 2019 (c) Once Upon A Book Blog(ger)

I was able to meet Kate Collins here in the past. She is an awesome mystery author from Indiana who writes the Flower Shop Mystery Series. Speaking of which, her first three books have been made into three Hallmark Movies! How cool is that? I wrote about the series earlier in my blog, check out the post here.

If you are an author in the surrounding area, you can participate in the Printers Row Lit Fest, as well. You should contact the staff via email for future participation. You can find the details here.

Speaking of books into movies, I was told to read Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel by a fellow bookworm friend of mine. It was an interesting dystopian novel, and it will soon be an interesting dystopian 10 episode limited series! It that it will air on WarnerMedia's upcoming streaming platform. There are so many platforms to keep up with lately, it is hard to keep track of what book-tp-movie or book-to-tv-show plays on next. I will have to keep my eyes out for this show, though...

Also, if you are in the New York area this week, July 1st and July 2nd specifically, there is a display by The New York Public Library that allows you to view the original, rare copy of The Declaration of Independence in Thomas Jefferson's own hand! This display will be hosted for two days only, and is located at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue. If you cannot make the trip over, you can also view images online via the library website here.

What is new with you, fellow bookworms? I have been reading, but not as much as I should have been. Hopefully, with the holiday around the corner, I can catch up with some of the items I want to share with you guys! Let me know what you're doing for the summer in the comments. For my American readers, Happy Independence Day! For my everywhere-else readers, Happy Summer! :)