Llama Llama, Taiwan Drama, Artisan-arama!

It's been a crazy weekend and it just gets crazier. Yesterday we hosted Llama Llama for a storytime and meet-the-Llama party, all in conjunction with the release of Llama's new adventure, Llama Llama Holiday Drama, written and illustrated by Anna Dewdney. We had a very nice crowd, including an entire class outing, who also get a tour of the store. Llama was a big crowd pleaser, and only occasionally seemed irritated that it wasn't Christmas yet.

At night, we hosted Maggie Wertz Garvin for the release of her debut novel, On Maggie's Watch. I was surprised to hear that this was her last stop on the tour, as I'm usually a fan of letting these word-of-mouth titles build a little steam before the event. The good news is that the tour had gone quite well, and yes, Garvin already has written her next novel (well, two).

But before that, I went to a reception for the UWM Taiwan Film Festival, sponsored by the Center for International Education. The screenings run now through December 10th, and while it's too late for you to see the first one (Cape #7), here are the rest, which I just copied from the press information. I know nothing about them, but if Professor Yea-Fen Chen helped pick them, I know they are good!

Somewhere Over The Dreamland (2002)
Friday, December 3rd from 7-9pm
The tale of an intense love that is both unrequited and irrepressible, involving the lives of Watan, an aboriginal from Formosa island; Xiao Mo-a lonely young sushi chef; and Xuen Xuen a young merry-go-round attendant.

Orz Boyz (2008)
Saturday, December 4th from 7-9pm
More than just naughty, these boys play tricks on classmates, tease girls at school, fight with other boys, and lie to everyone until their teacher breaks down.

Parking (2008)
Thursday, December 9th from 7-9pm
When a car unexpectedly double parks next to Chen Mo's car, preventing his exit, he spends the evening searching the floors of a nearby apartment building for the owner of the illegally parked car.

Yang Yang (2009)
Friday, December 10th from 7-9pm
Depicting the life of Yang-Yang, a girl of French-Chinese decent, this film deals with her life, her relationships with men, with her mother and friends

All films are shown in Curtin Hall 175 and are free and open to the public. Here's a contact email if you need more information.

I think I've already mentioned the various activities we have going on at the bookshop this weekend. But here's a preview of our Festive Friday Holiday Artisan Fair. And yes, we have to rename it if we do it next year, as everyone's calling their markets "Holiday Artisan Fair" this year. How about if we call ours "Boswell Artisan-arama?"

Of course I'm never quite sure which vendors will show up, but I'm pretty sure most of them are coming back for #2.

And so I leave to panickingly review the books I'm talking about for a major interview, to be revealed next week. Llama Llama and I wish you much holiday drama, the good kind.