Bookish Talk: Valentine's Day With Daniel Handler

Scrolling through Twitter one day, I stumbled upon an announcement for Daniel Handler's (also known as Lemony Snicket's) book tour for his most recent adult novel, WE ARE PIRATES. Though my state of Tennessee isn't terribly lacking in bookish events, we still aren't super popular. I decided to check out the tour stops anyway, just to see if he was stopping here. When I saw he was coming to Nashville on Feb. 14th, I freaked out, told my best friend/roommate who is also a major fan, and we planned a trip. 

Saturday morning, we headed out for the smallish sized road trip and headed to the BEAUTIFUL independent bookstore, Parnassus Books. This was my first trip to Parnassus (and my first trip to Nashville in about...4ish years), but it's been on my to-visit list for so long. Long story short, I absolutely adored it. The book sellers were super friendly while still giving you plenty of space to look around and check things out in peace. I got a beautiful stack of books, including a signed copy of Sharon Draper's latest. Parnassus (combined with the Nashville Public Library and a few other organizations) hosted, so I went ahead and grabbed my copy of WE ARE PIRATES there to get signed later.  

After having a mildly chaotic time trying to find a place to grab lunch (mix a picky eater like myself with someone with a strange food allergy like my best friend, and it's easy to knock out several potential food places), we happily found a Panera and ate in ridiculous excitement before we left for the public library, where the signing and talk were held. 

The Nashville Public Library is breathtaking (3 WHOLE FLOORS OF BREATHTAKING), and I had found browsing a bit before the event started. One of my absolute favorite things (other than hearing Daniel Handler talk and be sassy and funny and awesome) was the Nashville poet he invited to speak with him, TJ Jarrett. She was also sassy, funny, and superbly talented. If you have any love for poetry,  I highly recommend her book she read from, ZYON. The two had great chemistry and handled the Q & A session wonderfully.

My inner child was so happy to hear Lemony Snicket reveal a few of his secrets; my older teen self was so excited to meet the author of WHY WE BROKE UP that captured so many of my own feelings perfectly; and my current self was about to launch into an utterly embarrassing jazzy dance as Daniel Handler handed me back my copy of WE ARE PIRATES after he signed it. Most of all, I am beyond thrilled that one of my favorite authors I had growing up (and he's still a favorite of course) is as awesome as I imagined. Also pretty happy I acted like a mostly normal and composed person and didn't squeal/shriek/and/or make any other noises that don't typically happen in a normal conversation. 

Now, I can't wait to dig into this beautiful novel. I've hopefully getting TJ Jarrett's books soon (she didn't have a signing after), and I definitely can't wait to visit Parnassus again once my wallet has recovered. :)

Have you ever met a favorite author from your childhood (or present favorite?)?