BookJournal :: bookfest!

On Saturday morning, my mother and sister and I loaded up our car with those wonderful green fabric Woolworths bags and drove to the Rotary Club bookfest not far from here. I'm guessing they have a couple a year, because we went last in May, but obviously their book stocks are far from being depleted.

There are seriously few things more fun than digging through piles and piles of old books. But I wasn't completely well this particular sunny morn, so I found the whole experience slightly more overwhelming than usual. Also: prices were too expensive! Oh lovely Rotary people, if only you realised: you would clear so many more books out from those death-trap towers of boxes if you just reduced your prices!

Nevertheless, we found some treats, and then when we had spent all our money, we found ourselves in a kind of overflow room which was highly disorganised and yet was full of wonderful non-fiction. I found three wonderful books I wanted to take home -- my favourite finds of the day -- and the lovely older man with the adorable accent (I remembered him from May and I think he remembered me) offered them to me with a discount and a compliment, both of which were delightful.

So now I am happily dipping into Meet the Authors and Illustrators volume 1. I was given volume 2 years ago, and have devoured it over and over. I'm pretty sure it's meant as a resource for grade school teachers, as an accompaniment to literature studies. But to me it's like fairyland -- profiles of sixty different children's book authors (many of whom I love) with stories of their childhood, tales of their inspirations and motivations, and details of their writing processes.

I am a process person, completely fascinated by how others go about their creative work. This is, quite possibly, why I love reading craft blogs so much; they provide an insight into the mind and workspaces of very clever people. And seeing how and why others do things is probably the biggest inspiration I can grasp hold of. It just makes me want to make stuff!

If you are even remotely similar, I think you'd love this book. Plus: there are cool writing prompts based on the authors' works or suggestions. And plus plus: I discovered that Elizabeth George Speare (one of my favourite authors ever; she wrote The Bronze Bow) loves Ellis Peters (one of my other favourite authors ever). This information makes me feel like I have good taste.

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conversations:

Beth -- I can definitely, definitely relate to your comment. It's funny, but when the Word or prayer seems driest to me, I'm tempted to let it slide. Crazily, that's the time when I really need it most, so why would I give it up?

Staish -- Thank you for your pixellated intervention! Introspecting ceased.

Meaghan -- oh, I'm a rebel from waaaay back :). And re. your other comment: yes, I can definitely relate! There are few words that quite fit those times.