Six for Sunday: Dream Bookish Events

Welcome back for another week of #SixforSunday!

This week the prompt is Dream Bookish Events. It seems like it will be a tough one!

I have only recently started attending bookish events and am still too nervous a lot of the time to go up and introduce myself to people, even those I recognise from the book blogging community.

The events I have attended have all been fantastic so even more would be brilliant!

(Some events I have loved have been YA Shot, Storm Keeper’s Island Launch, Oliver Jeffers at the V&A, Folklore and Fantasy and many others which I have never gotten around to writing up!) I am also looking forward to attending other bookish events such as the London Bookshop Crawl and, maybe someday, YALC.

Here are a few bookish events that I would love to be a part of:

Something, anything Harry Potter themed. I would love a day themed around Hogwarts lessons e.g. Potions (cocktail mixing or natural cosmetics creation), Runes (actual runes or an ancient language), Transfiguration (origami/book folding/another handicraft), Divination (Tea leaf reading/ Tarot reading), Care of Magical Creatures (dog/cat cafe), History of Magic (lecture or exhibition about magic in the U.K.) etc. That would be amazing!
Speed book dating – everyone brings their favourite book and you have a few minutes to persuade the other person to read it by explaining how amazing it is. This would be a fun way to find new books to add to the to-be-read pile!
Author/Illustrator collaborations – I love hearing abut the process of book creation, from first draft to published piece. I find it particularly interesting hearing from both the author and the illustrator, particularly as they will each have their own vision and interpretations. Recently, I listened to Jessie Burton and Angela Barrett talk about this process when creating The Restless Girls, and it was fascinating!
Book/Tea/Cake Tasting – I think that this would be another great way to find new books/teas and books. I imagine it as set up with a book on each table, with a tea (or otehr beverage) and cake (or other snack) to go with the book. The idea is that you read the sample chapter, taste the food and try the drink to find new books to read. A bit like the speed dating book idea but this would be nicer for the introverts!
Themed panels – some of the most interesting panels I have listened to have been when a variety of authors are asked to discuss a certain theme, with reference to how they have approached it in their book. For example, at YA Shot this year, there was a panel on Power, Privilege and Inequality featuring a number of fantastic authors. I have since bought and read almost all of their books because the themed panel got me so intrigued!
Finally, I would like for there to be more events in libraries and not just in bookshops so that this public space is used and valued even more than it already is.