It was a dark and stormy night.
In Los Angeles, that means a gray and drizzly morning — but that weather did not stop countless people from flocking to USC for the annual L.A. Times Festival of Books for nearly 150 panels, readings and performances.
White tents stood shoulder-to-shoulder up and down Trousdale, hosting indie publishing houses to national chains, independent art popups to public library booths. Classrooms and auditoriums held panels on literary forms, genres and tropes. Singers and chef celebrities like Roy Choi took to the stage to show off musical and culinary talents alike.
Perhaps the most palpable excitement was for the thing on shelves, on tables, in tote bags, in stacks and in arms. Books, of course!
“You can see how much variety there is,” said Ross Brenneman, senior editor for radio network and news outlet LAist. “There’s something so wonderful about celebrating this medium. You realize how many books there are, and the fact I will not be able to read nearly enough of them in my lifetime.”
There truly is something for everyone. The plethora of exhibitors included small business L.A.-based bookstores like Chevalier’s, children’s publishing houses like Gloo Books, identity-centered presses like Alegría and genre-bent sellers like The Ripped Bodice.
“Just walking around and seeing how happy people are just to be out here is really awesome,” Brenneman added.
Readers who came to explore the festival shared his sentiment.
“I love reading,” said Jennifer Eyo, an East Hollywood resident. “I came here pre-COVID, so this was my first time in a bit. I just thought, why not? Just come and peruse, maybe buy some books.”
She showed me two new romance books she bought from The Ripped Bodice, the first brick-and-mortar in the Northern Hemisphere dedicated to the romance genre.
Among the publishing houses present was Slant’d, an AAPI-centered press whose mission is to foster an inclusive environment for up-and-coming writers.
“We really try to make the publishing world a welcoming community because it can be a little daunting at times, and it can be scary to put yourself out there,” said Dacy Lim, a staff representative of the Slant’d team.
Lim did not hesitate to name Octavia Butler’s “Parable of the Sower” as her favorite novel.
Some authors even started out as attendees. Carlos Allende, author of the campy comedy “Coffee, Shopping, Murder, Love” has been visiting the Festival of Books since 2009.
“I got to say, it was more exciting before becoming a writer because you came and discovered,” Allende said. “You strolled around and found new books and dreamt of being published one day.”
Now, his book is propped up under a tent.
The event also highlighted young entrepreneurs making their mark on the literary scene. Annabelle Chang, the teenage founder of Annabelle’s Book Club L.A., stood proudly beside her distinctively pink-themed booth, greeting visitors with enthusiasm.
“I just feel so lucky that everyone’s been so incredibly supportive. That’s one of the things I love most about the book industry,” Chang said. “Annabelle’s Book Club wouldn’t be possible without them. It’s exciting seeing people recognize our store and the pink.”
The festival, essentially, is a storytelling exchange — even on a granular level, where strangers connect over shared literary passions or argue over certain character developments. This festival is not just about books but about the communities they create. It represents the cyclical nature of literature, how today’s readers become tomorrow’s writers, and how stories find new lives and new meanings in different hands.
Some stories are best told on a not-so-dark, not-so-stormy day in Los Angeles, where books and their permanent magic continue to bring us together.