Where did they used to hold this thing before? The Book Festival is wearing its USC digs well after moving here last year from UCLA.

Bookie-mania!

It’s a lovely day for a festival — I get here early, park in the Shrine, and hear the opening notes.

Bookie Band: The Trojan Marching Band opens the festival

I gleefully check out the merch.

Bookie Ts: My favorite t-shirts from Novel-T Literary Jerseys (www.novel-t.com)

I’ve become a memoir junkie in recent months — can’t get enough of ‘em — so I hit a panel in Norris Theater titled, “The Ties that Bind,” featuring Benjamin Busch (Dust to Dust), Claire Bidwell Smith (The Rules of Inheritance), Alexandra Styron (Reading My Father), and Mark Whitaker (My Long Trip Home). Samantha Dunn (Failing Paris) moderated. Stay tuned to my blog later this week for more on this panel.

Meanwhile, a little more meandering through the exhibits and I find an old favorite — Father Gregory Boyle (Tattoos on the Heart) in an exhibitor booth with Homeboy Industries.

Bookie Homeboy: Father Gregory & Homeboy Industries

Finally, time to eat! Food trucks are the best new addition to festival this year.

Bookie Lobster: Nothing like walking through a book festival on a beautiful spring day with a lobsta roll.