If you weren’t at Open Book on Sunday afternoon you missed a great party.
About 165 book club members, Minnesota authors and miscellaneous literary types got together to meet and mingle, speed chat, laugh with featured author Lorna Landvik, eat, drink and buy books.
So many people were buying books that Magers & Quinn decided to send over more.
Sincere thanks to MinnPost’s Book Club Club section sponsors who made the event possible:
- Our presenting sponsor — University of Minnesota Press — whose authors at the event included Sue Leaf, Gayla Marty, and Doug Grow.
- And our supporting sponsors — The Loft, The Friends of the St. Paul Public Library and Minnesota Book Awards, and the Department of English, University of Minnesota.
On anonymous feedback forms, a few people asked for a bigger space, more speed chats, or an icebreaker to help book club members meet each other. But most of the comments were along the lines of “Great event!” and “Do it again!”
And a few quotes from involved participants:
“A building packed full of interesting and interested booklovers — what more could anyone want?” (from author and speed chatter Alison McGhee)
“Lorna’s presentation was delightful, and Sally Williams did a brilliant job of introducing her.” (from Ann McKinnon, St. Paul Friends and Minnesota Book Awards)
“There was a lot of positive energy at the event, and the location was awesome…. I’d say it was a hit!” (Linsdey Dyer, Dakota County librarian and Book Club Club volunteer)
I had a great time at this event. Thank you for all of your hard work in putting this together.
Ditto. I can’t wait until the next one!
Here’s what one blogger thought about the Book Club Blast:
http://booksnob-booksnob.blogspot.com/2010/03/minnposts-book-club-blast.html
It was a fun afternoon. I particularly enjoyed being able to talk to different authors on a casual basis. I look forward to next year.