Here’s to books and the people and festivals that celebrate them!

Reading is such a simple pleasure.

Open a book on a rainy afternoon and you can go anywhere with anyone, and you can do anything when you get there.

In the past few months, I’ve enjoyed an eloquent conversation with an elderly octopus, commiserated with a brother and sister drawn to their childhood home, spent a happy hour or two in the esteemed company of the Dunne family, and road tripped with a rainbow-haired girl named Cassidy Snow-Fall.

I got to do all of this thanks to the books I’ve read.

I appreciate a clever turn of phrase and the path it offers through a well-told story. I love a good book.

That’s why I’m so excited to attend the Wisconsin Book Festival this weekend.

My mom, Peggy Kostelnik, and I get to present the book my daughter Katherine and I wrote, Lambeau Ladies: The Boundary-breaking Women Behind Lombardi’s Packers this afternoon at 4:30 at the Madison Public Library Central Branch. We’re looking forward to that.

We’re also really looking forward to attending some of the other author events. We hope to immerse ourselves in literature this weekend — the poetry, biographies, novels and how-tos. Our biggest issue will be narrowing down our choices because this festival really is a feast of great books.

We’re so honored to be included among the presenters and we were especially thrilled to hear that festival organizers chose our book for one of their give-aways. If you come to our presentation today, you will receive a free book. You also might see and hear from another Lambeau Lady who plans to attend.

The Wisconsin Book Festival is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. That’s a remarkable accomplishment. It isn’t easy to host a book festival. You need a lot of volunteers, an effective fundraising campaign, and a lot of avid readers willing to explore a wide-variety of genres.

The Festival is free to attend. Check out the schedule here: https://www.wisconsinbookfestival.org/

I hope to see you in Madison this weekend. I’ll be the one with a bag full of books and a big ole smile on her face.