Last Friday, instead of spending my class-free day laying by the pool or binge watching Netflix, I did something I’ve never done before. I spent my afternoon at the Miami Book Fair. Many people of our generation prefer to buy their books through iPads or Kindles, but for me, there’s nothing like manually flipping through the pages. Call me an old soul but I like my books hard covered. So when my journalism professor assigned us to go the book fair and find a story, I was pretty excited.
The book fair was located at the Miami Dade College Wolfson Campus in Downtown Miami. After battling my way through Miami traffic, I finally got there and spent a few hours at the street fair. It was packed with school buses, colorful tents, food trucks and an out-door stage. Each tent offered a variety of books that ranged from different genres to different prices. Some of the exhibitions included religious books, children books, comic books, history books and even the coloring books many of us use to de-stress. Other exhibitions did not just portray books, but their authors as well. People could come up to the tent, ask for their autographs and talk to them personally.
If only John Green would have been there, I would have made him sign my “The Fault In Our Stars” book real quick! Who knows, maybe next year.
One exhibition that stood out to me was one by the title of Banned Books. It was a tent from the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, Greater Miami Chapter. Their tent was called Banned Books because they exhibited books that depicted civil rights movements and freedom of expression. Books in the past that have been banned because of their messages. Some of exhibition’s best-sellers were “1984” and “Brave New World”.
What was interesting about the book fair was that the street fair wasn’t the only event people could attend. During the whole week, there were ticketed presentations from best-selling authors, journalists and entertainers. Jason Segel from “How I Met Your Mother” was one of the authors at the fair that came to present his new book “Otherworld”. Unfortunately I didn’t get to see Marshall, but I could say we we’re in close proximity from one another.
I haven’t had time to read for fun because being a senior at college makes it harder to find time to relax but after going to the book fair, all I want to do is go to the beach with a good book and escape from the reality of homeworks and finals. For all the bookworms out there that missed going to the book fair last week, the Miami Book Fair has year-round events you can attend.
If you want more information about these events go to: https://www.miamibookfair.com/
Cover photo: https://miamionthecheap.com/miami-international-book-fair-freebies/
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