A couple of weeks ago Laura and I got together to go to what sounds like the promised land for readers, the book fair. Finally having figured out how to get there, we stood by the main entrace. A generous lady walked up to us with two extra tickets. The day was bound to be a good one. The tickets we recived for free where not just any tickets, but invitation tickets, so we got to skip the line. Score.
We had a shortish list of things to see. First up was the interview of Salla Simukka, Jari Järvelä, Ari Paulow and Timo Sandberg. All four have written detective stories. So that was the theme of the interview. I'm sure they all had something meaningful and important to say, but frankly all I was really interested in was what Simukka's story . It was very interesting to hear how she got the idea for her Lumikki -trilogy. She described the feeling she got seeing the book's German translation in reality in a very unique way. I found it inspiring.

That feeling of inspiration was also present in other shows. We got to hear and see other great authors from a broad range in genres. From cooking to humor and back. And not to brag, but uh, we got a few pictures and autographs from our favorites. Fangirling books. Yes.

I can't help thinking how many books there must have been. At least 101% of all the  publishers I know where there selling books. There was a good number of antiquarian bookshops worth seeing too. Laura found a signed copy of a book she had been looking for for only one euro. No way.
Unbelievable but true, we managed to get out with only that find and a few other new books. And the number of cool memories and priceless experiences we got is huge.
All in all I think the fair was definitely  worth visiting and a great way to spend a Saturday. If there is one bad thing to say, it is that the country of honor, Italy, wasn't very well displayed. Bummer.

-Anna