The 2024 Fox Cities Book Festival was only a handful of days including the events centered around the Fox Cities Read book. Two authors were going to be at Gibson Hall for the main event. I decided that no matter what I was going to go see J. Ryan Stradel as I've read a couple of his books.
Gibson Hall is downtown Appleton. I've never been there as we are not really the live music type of people or bar people. They usually hold live music events. I was excited to cross Gibson Hall off my Fox Cities Experiences list. It was actually a nice intimate location for an author talk. There were tables for groups of people plus a few chairs for single people like me.
J. Ryan Stradal is from Minnesota and has written several books set in the Midwest including his latest Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club. He's also worked on several hit TV shows including The Bachelor/Bachelorette and Ice Road Truckers.
He talked about growing up in Minnesota but working at a supper club across the river in Wisconsin. He talked about how he got from the Midwest to California along with his break into reality TV.
It was a very fun hour. He was very enjoyable to listen to. I could have listen to talk about his books and life for hours. He has such charisma.
After he was done talking, he did sign books. Luckily, I was able to snag the last copy of Great Kitchens of the Midwest, his debut novel. I still haven't figured out how to talk to authors yet so I just had him sign my book.
Because I had other plans later, I was not able to stay for Brendan Slocumb. I have not read him but I do have one of his book on my audio book hold list on Libby.
Even though it was a much smaller book festival, I was glad to have such big names. Usually I have to live voraciously through friends and book Facebook groups with all their author visits. Hopefully I will have a chance to see a few more authors this year.
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