Livres Paris - What a day!

Hello, all! 

I just came back from an incredible ride of a day at the Expo Livre Paris - a book fair that shows off everything bookish from giant corporations to indie authors that are still trying to make a name for themselves. If you're curious about it you can find some more information about it on their website, here. (Yes, it's also in English!). 

I walked in and at first had no idea what was going on. See, I'm used to the Dutch book conventions - a handful of authors, quite a few bookish shops, and a good-sized group of book nerds there to meet and greet some authors and influencers! 

When you walk into Livre Paris, there are stands everywhere - some are huge and sell hundreds of books. You see stands that sell books by region, by country, or even by genre. Reporters are everywhere, conducting interviews. There are workshops happening everywhere and dozens of talks happening at all times. There's even a giant Peppa Pig walking around! 

This was mainly organised by genre. I quickly made my way to the YA area and found everything to be fascinating. I don't think I saw a single stand with hyped books! Although people pointed out my Clockwork Angel necklace, nobody recognised it. Instead, the books being sold were mostly from small publishers and indie authors. The Manga and graphic novel section was more conventional but also had a lot of new authors and illustrators. 

What really shook me was the area of the fair dedicated to independent authors, or small publication groups. While people were talking about visiting the stands of huge brands to obtain the latest hyped book, I spent hours talking with authors who hadn't seen a visitor in what may have been hours. Here I'll talk to you about some of these authors I have met, and give you their links. It'll mostly be of use to you if you speak French but I guess you can use these to learn as well! 

Adrien Mangold from HSN publishing sold me his first book, Second Humanité (Second Humanity). This is a sci-fi book with an aboslutely gorgeous cover that caught my eye! Adrien is a fun, calm person who seems to have a genuine passion for scoff and the publishing company he works with. I promised a review of his book so watch out for that! The blurb reads: "For his first book, Adrian Mangold explores the destinies of a researcher, a soldier and a little girl, who could change history, when a pandemic is born from a bit of inattention, and from the apocalypse, a second humanity". 

The second book I got was Le Sculpteur des Ames, by Catherine Michoux by editions Victor le Brun. This is another tiny publishing company. I met the author, alone at a table no bigger than a student's desk in high school. She was an absolute sweetheart. Her goal is to make a YA book, following the rules of adult books - not all bad characters are all bad, and not all good characters are all good. When I told her about my blog, she gave me her book, saying I was so kind that I should be able to just have it. This melted me. 
The blurb reads: "The war for total domination is imminent between the Andamian wizards and the other peoples of the world. To prevent the use of a magic weapon by the wizards, a group of adventurers is formed, in a somewhat chaotic way. Five unlikely destinies that will need to bind and unbind to each other to progress in a vital quest. They will, under the supervision of the strange soul sculptor, go on a journey where each one will discover who they really are, and what they really desire." 

The last book I bought from a smaller author is Six by Khalysta Farral. She is totally self-published as well! Such a fun person to talk to, Khalysta has a passion for space and sci-fi, so suggested I read her first book in a space drama trilogy! I'm super hyped about it, and I absolutely cannot wait to get to it! 
Blurb: "They arrived one day, and destroyed our planet... Hearing this repeated phrase, Cowl, a young pilot, grew up on a space ship. Running away from an enemy that no one has seen for a long time, the last humans advance through unknown space, without ever making new roots. But one day, while looking for a new planet, Cowl finds a strange young girl, who suffers from partial amnesia. Who is she? Where is she from? And especially, how does she know so much about the Earth and what has happened centuries beforehand?"

I did also get other books! These are Sirius by Stephane Servant and Creatures Fantastiques by Kaziya (manga). I'm really looking forward to reading all of these! I'll do my best to have all of these reviews in both French and English :) 


That's it for me! I have so many thoughts about what I saw, but it was a great experience overall! I quite literally went from almost punching someone I thought was rude, to being on the verge of tears because of how passionate some of these authors were about their worlds. 

Stay bookish!