IFOA 2009 is now in the books and there was lots to love about this year's festival.

Thursday night could have been a ho-hum reading at IFOA.

The trouble with writing about the same character for two decades is that there’s no way the new leading man won’t be compared to the old.

Authors, their handlers and other book lovers created a crush at the annual party honouring the 30th International Festival of Authors. Host, artistic director Geoffrey Taylor was resplendent in a colourful striped jacket and tie tricked out with XXX designs to represent the festival's three decades.

The 2009 edition of the International Festival of Authors got off to a rocky start when Garrison Keillor cancelled his event due to illness but by the weekend the festival had recovered. Events were packed and book lovers were definitely happy.

What's so bad about being a lesbian, anyway?

Chicago-based Audrey Niffenegger has no problem getting us to suspend our disbelief.

Within the first few pages of Newfoundland writer Michael Crummey’s latest novel, Galore, an albino man is born from the side of a beached whale.

Although Nicholson Baker’s best known for his novels and his non-fiction, it was reading poetry that changed his life.

Sherman Alexie’s War Dances is an odd assortment of poems and short stories stitched together by the theme of failed fatherhood and manhood, peopled with men who aren’t as good as they want to be.

Glasgow writer Denise Mina brings her hometown back to centre circle with a new protagonist in her latest crime novel, Still Midnight.

For which award would you decline a spot on the short list?

Audrey Niffenegger’s savvy ghost tale, Her Fearful Symmetry, is an engrossing read by someone who really knows how to keep a story rolling.

In Finnish writer Elina Hirvonen’s universe, the psyche is a fragile thing. When Anna and Ian meet, their common experience with mental illness in their families – and the overwhelming guilt they both feel about it – immediately connects them.

Pitch your book to Hollywood on Twitter

What’s your favourite bathroom reading?

Seen those XXX signs all over town? They refer to the fact that the International Festival of Authors turns 30 this year, delivering the kind of glittery lineup that makes it the TIFF of literary festivals. Here’s what’s new.

Part travel, part philosophy, part autobiography, part urban studies, Bicycle Diaries is like a casual conversation with David Byrne, artist, photographer, writer and musician.

I’m on 9th Avenue at 34th in Manhattan. That is, I’m trapped on 9th at 34th. The light has cycled three times, yet I haven’t gained an inch. To my left, bikes zip by in a separated bike lane, unaffected by the crane that has effectively erased the next hour of my life.

Standing on street corners in Toronto’s downtown core, a handful of literary types burst out reading in a promotional event for the upcoming International Festival of Authors. A few pedestrians pause and listen in while others whisk by.