Kazuo Ishiguro Reception

Bookseller and Blogger Reception at the Consort Bar at the King Edward Hotel

Happy Sunday everyone! Today was an incredibly special day for me. For those of you that are new to the blog, I am a graduate student with a big interest in Japanese literature. One of my favorite authors EVER is Kazuo Ishiguro, author of Never Let Me Go and my personal favorite, The Remains of the Day. I was incredibly lucky today because the lovely ladies over at Random House Canada - invited me to attend a blogger and bookseller reception for Kazuo Ishiguro. I think I actually cried a little when I got the email from over-the-moon excitement. 

The event was held at the lovely King Edward Hotel (I've stayed there before and if you have a chance, GO! It is an exquisite hotel). I was incredibly nervous to begin with because I'm quite starstruck by Ishiguro and I was worried about how I might ramble on and on. Ishiguro has been a huge inspiration in my work and he continues to be daily. I am absolutely always in awe of every single one of his books when I close them and I feel as if I am entering a new world each time I pick up one of his books. I was there with a few other book bloggers (Lynne at Words of Mystery, Karen at One More Page, Shilpa at Sukasa Reads and Lauren at Bookish Things) and while we were waiting to speak to Ishiguro, we were introduced to his lovely wife, Lorna. Lorna was an absolute sweetheart and took the time to speak to all of us individually and she even had some stories to share about visiting Toronto a few years back for the release of Never Let Me Go and her interactions with the actresses and actors from that film! She also asked us what we thought of some recent reads which was awesome.

When it finally came time to meet Ishiguro, all of us bloggers were able to say a few bits in our group which was nice. I could not stop grinning and internally screaming as I was standing next to him! Finally came time to sign the books, and although the event coordinators very kindly gifted us some copies of his new book and the latest editions of The Remains of the Day, I ended up bringing my entire Ishiguro collection. I didn't want to hold up the line, so I only got the main ones signed. While he was signing, I was able to sing my praises for his latest book, The Buried Giant and I think I might have said it was such an honour to meet him two or three times (woops.. but hey, it really was!) - and we ended up talking about the latest Penguin Drop Caps collection.

He was incredibly charming and just so nice to speak to! It was an absolute dream to meet him today. I am now very much looking forward to his talk at the Toronto Public Library Event on Tuesday to hear him speak more in depth about The Buried Giant. All in all, I can't think of any other way to describe this Sunday spent meeting one of my favorite authors EVER,  as simply PERFECT. It was great catching up with my fellow book bloggers and simply chatting with the best bookish people around. 

If you haven't already, be sure to check out his latest book The Buried Giant - you can read my full review for it here! Many thanks to the ladies at Random House for a lovely afternoon and be sure to watch this space for my recap of the Toronto Public Library event this Tuesday. The event is currently sold out, but they will have rush tickets and you can find all the details over here! :D