Book Love: LitFest and Author Fair

Parties in Pasadena and El Segundo celebrate writers, big ideas, and the fans who adore both.

'Tis the season for beach-ready reads to pop up at the top of various web pages, those hot, upcoming picks readers can tear into while on vacation.

But book buffs, though they do love a juicy, ocean-close novel, are also reading while they're packing their suitcase, and lining up the vacation hotel, and before they even decide to take a trip, too.

There's no waiting for summer to start for a reader to jump into the next story, in short.

Which makes the pre-summer timing of two hullabaloos spotlighting the written word, and the creative people who pen the tales we adore, so perfect. It's always the perfect time for a literary party, in short, whether beach reads are needed or not.

LitFest Pasadena is up first, on Saturday, May 20 and Sunday, May 21. A host of panels and readings will blithely crowd the delightful calendar, from a panel devoted to Pasadena's own Julia Child (food superstar Jonathan Gold is on that one) to a panel celebrating the interconnection between manga and American comics.

And will SciFi LA be landing their beautiful spaceship in the Crown City, all to participate in "...dramatic readings of the works of finalists for the Roswell Award..?" An award that will be presented "live and in-person"? Affirmative.

Don't stow your favorite batch of bookmarks just yet, however. The Author Fair at El Segundo'll take place on Sunday, June 11, and an author panel devoted to "The History of Mystery" as well as a number of happenings, from kid-sweet activities to signings to more panels, are on the page-turning roster.

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Will you find your beach read for the summer of '17 at LitFest Pasadena or The Author Fair? Or are you committed to first finishing the books on your bedside table, meaning you're looking for your winter read of 2019?

Such is the life of the book buff: Always deep inside a few books while yearning for a fresh-voiced author or a thrilling, unmet character, and a local fair where they can find both.

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