Utah: Books and Such

As luck would have it, Markus Zusak was going to be speaking at the Provo Library while I was in Utah last weekend. Being a fan of his books, I was looking forward to it. Aside from the obvious, several things were cool about this event. 1. The Provo library is *awesome*. It is old, beautiful, and really big. You feel fancy when you're in it. 2. I got to spend the evening with my sister and two of her friends. It was a nerdy bookworm convention and I loved it. 3. Listening to a smart and clever person with a thick Australian accent for an hour is so much fun!

Three cheers to the staff at the Provo City Library!

If you don't know who he is, Zusak is the author of The Book Thief and I Am the Messenger, as well as a few others. These are such great books. Life-changing books. I could go on and on, but will just say that he was so nice and normal and gracious. He signed books for hours. and I mean HOURS. We were in line for close to three hours before getting ours signed.

Signing my book!

I had him sign a copy of The Book Thief for Eliza, as she is old enough to read and appreciate it now. He wrote a cute inscription to her that I hope she treasures. I think she will, as she is showing signs of having good taste in books. (She warmed my heart this week by discovering for herself how silly the 'Twilight' saga is. She had been begging to read it for a year. I made her wait until she was 12. She kept running to find me to share especially awful parts--mostly about Bella being nearly consumed with hysteria when Edward would glance at her with his cold eyes. Oh the cold eyes! And cold skin! And...and...and...)