Bookfest Literary Luncheon Tickets Now Available

Tickets are now available for the Author Luncheon at the 2nd Annual Downtown Glen Ellyn Bookfest. Tickets are available for $15 per person online or in person at The Bookstore, 475 N. Main St., Glen Ellyn.

The Featured Authors include Luis Urrea, Brigid Pasulka, Cristina Henriquez and Sarah McCoy. The luncheon is from Noon to 1:30pm on Saturday, June 18, 2011 at Glen Oak Restaurant, 479 Pennsylvania in Glen Ellyn. The luncheon theme is "Inspired By Our History."

The authors will rotate around the restaurant, greet participants and discuss their books, which all involve stories inspired by the authors' own ancestors, who herald from Mexico, Poland, Panama and Puerto Rico. Glen Oak Restaurant will pair their stories with unique ethnic menu choices created specifically for this event.

Tickets to the Bookfest Author Luncheon are $15 per person and are available at The Bookstore or online at the Downtown Glen Ellyn Alliance website. Menu choices include: The Saint of Cabora's Chicken Sandwich, Huila's Savory Crepe, Pigeon's Prize Omlette, Babba Yaga's Veggie Delight, Mira's Half & Half Plate and Verdita's Pollo Americano Big Salad. Each menu item is based on a character or a theme in one of the books.

Come enjoy a unique literary themed luncheon with some very talented authors. Book sales and signings available.

Glen Ellyn Bookfest Welcomes Author Beth Finke on June 18, 2011

The 2nd Annual Downtown Glen Ellyn Bookfest is pleased to welcome author Beth Finke to The Bookstore, 475 N. Main Street in Glen Ellyn on Saturday, June 18, 2011 from 11:30am to 2pm.

Beth is the author of Hanni and Beth: Safe and Sound, an award-winning book about the love and trust between guide dogs and people who are blind. Beth and her dog Hanni will be at The Bookstore to greet customers and sign copies of her book. This event is free and open to the public.

For a complete schedule of Bookfest 2011 events throughout Downtown Glen Ellyn, go to the Downtown Alliance Website, or follow along on Facebook and Twitter.

Harry Potter Travel

I just can't resist sharing these photos my daughter took on a recent trip to Edinburgh, Scotland. Friends and customers know what Harry Potter fans we are in our household, so of course my daughter, who is currently studying in London, had to go visit the coffee shop where J. K. Rowling started writing Harry Potter. Doesn't it look like a comfortable place to sit and write?

Speaking of writing, you've got to love all of the Harry Potter inspired graffiti on a bathroom wall in the cafe, and the nearby graveyard with a gravestone for a certain Tom Riddell. Apparently, J.K. Rowling discovered the names of quite a few of her other characters on the gravestones there as well, from Potter to McGonagal to Granger.

What a thrill for my daughter, who grew up with Harry Potter, to see these in person and to learn that inspiration and opportunity are all around you.

Earlier this year, the whole family met in London and found some Harry Potter sites in Oxford, including the dining hall, the hospital and the big old tree from the Goblet of Fire. Finally, the kids couldn't resist a goofy pose at the fake Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross Station in London.

If any families are planning a trip to the U.K. and want some more Harry Potter travel trips, just stop in The Bookstore on a Friday, and we can have a fun chat.

--Margie

Bookfest Military and History Authors

The 2nd Annual Downtown Glen Ellyn Bookfest is pleased to welcome a group of military and history authors who will be appearing at Bundles of Books, 560 Crescent Boulevard, Glen Ellyn, on Saturday, June 18, 2011 from 10am to 1pm.

The authors include John Domagalski, an expert on military history, with an emphasis on the Pacific side of World War II. His articles have appeared in World War II History and World War II Quarterly Magazines. He will be discussing and signing his book, Lost at Guadalcanal. A member of the United States Naval Institute, he has interviewed almost fifty naval veterans who served in the South Pacific during World War II. His book tells their dramatic stories of heroism, sacrifice and survival during the early days of the critical battle for Guadalcanal on board two American warships, the USS Astoria and the USS Chicago. John has a degree in marketing and an MBA from Northern Illinois University, and resides in the Chicago area. An excerpt from Lost at Guadalcanal is available at the author's website.

The 2nd Annual Downtown Glen Ellyn Bookfest is also pleased to welcome military historian David Argabright, Editor of In the Land of Nine Dragons, a book dedicated to the history of the 2nd Battalion, 60th Infantry in Southeast Asia 1966-1970. This book, a detailed unit history, is based on more than 200,000 pages of government documents, orders and Battalion Yearbooks. The book took over 12 years and more than 14,000 volunteer hours to complete.