Welcome to Book Riot’s Events Newsletter, hosted by me, María Cristina. We’re looking ahead at some of the bookish ways you can spend your time in the next couple weeks, and I’m sure there’s at least one item here that can tempt you to put on pants and go out (in that order, please). Clear your calendars on the following dates, my reading friends.
We’re giving away 15 of the best mysteries and thrillers of the year so far. Click here to enter, or click the image below:
IRL GATHERINGS
Romantic Times Booklovers Convention: May 15-20 in Reno, NV
This is an epic gathering of romance readers and authors! Registration is pricy if you’re a casual romance reader or festival goer. But if you have the stamina for a full day on the convention floor and parties all night, you will definitely get that bang for your buck. Wow, that sounds dirtier than I meant it…
Dear America: Poems of Resistance and Hope: May 17 in La Conner, WA
This event is part of the biennial Skagit River Poetry Festival. For $40 you get a ticket to “join three-time US Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky, Ada Limon, Lena Khalaf Tuffah and Brian Turner for this evening of poetry.” There will also be a band there called Hot Damn Scandal and I’m mad I didn’t take that name first (for a band, my child, whatever).
Gaithersburg Book Festival: May 19 in Gaithersburg, MD
She has no idea I’m plugging this, but Book Riot’s very own Karina Glaser, Contributing Editor extraordinaire, will be appearing at this book festival! Her debut middle grade book The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street was one of my favorite reads of 2017, and I’m 100% convinced I would feel that way even if I didn’t know for a fact that Karina herself is AMAZING. So go to the Jim Henson Pavilion at 2:15 for her presentation and signing!
The Bronx Book Festival: May 19 in the Bronx, NY
We’ve been excited about this event ever since its inspiring Kickstarter campaign. And now it’s almost here! Founder Saraciea Fennell told us, “This festival purposefully consists of predominantly authors and creators of color to show that there is a market for lit by and for marginalized people.” YEAH THERE IS! Can’t wait for the Keynote Panel featuring Daniel José Older and Elizabeth Acevedo. Talk about book festival #goals.
AUTHORS ON TOUR
Stops include: May 8 (Brooklyn, NY), 9 (Philadelphia, PA and Washington, DC), 10 (Atlanta, GA), 14 (Chicago, IL), 15 (Austin, TX), 16 (Houston, TX), 22 (New Orleans, LA), and 24 (Pass Christian, MS)
Jesmyn Ward’s Sing, Unburied, Sing was a highlight of last year’s literary landscape. That’s reason enough for me to celebrate it. But the occasion of its paperback release means we get more Jesmyn Ward on the literary circuit, so more YAY for this Southern Gothic/magical realism read!
Stops include: May 9 (Brooklyn, NY), 13 (Washington, DC), and 17 (Brooklyn, NY)
Just in time for Mother’s Day, we get Rumaan Alam’s latest, That Kind of Mother. I find this more funny than appropriate, because the titular parent is kind of an awful person? But it’s a thought-provoking novel by a non-awful person.
Stops include: May 8 (New York, NY), 9 (Maplewood, NJ), 10 (Haverford, PA), 11 (Washington, DC), and 12 (Frederick, MD)
My kid is the kid who gives other kids books for their birthdays. It would be very uncool, except she’s only three and nobody’s clamoring for whatever her generation’s Beanie Babies are going to eventually be. Her entire social circle will be getting Square in the coming year, because I’m her personal shopper and this is my favorite book of 2018, no lie.
ON THE HORIZON
June
BookCon at BEA in New York, NY
Printers Row Lit Fest in Chicago, IL
July
Detroit Festival of Books in Detroit, MI
Saskatchewan Festival of Words in Moose Jaw, Canada
August
Rocky Mountain Book and Paper Fair in Denver, CO
Decatur Book Festival in Decatur, GA
THERE YA GO!
If you end up participating in any of the above, tell us about it on social media.
And if there are any bookish events that should be on my radar, tweet me @meowycristina or email me at mariacristina@bookriot.com.
Hope to see you Riot readers in the wild!
-MC