The West Virginia Book Festival is back from the dead.
"Hallelujah," said Sharon Mullins, of Pinch.
The festival, returning after a three-year hiatus, wrapped up at the Charleston Civic Center on Saturday.
"I'm just so happy that the West Virginia Book Festival has been resurrected," said Marc Harshman, West Virginia's Poet Laureate. "It has been a true anchor for writers in West Virginia and in the region."
Mullins was with her friend, Alicia Tyler, from South Charleston. Both were carrying bags full of books - Tyler had loaded up on Appalachian authors like Fred Chappell and Charles Frazier - and were thrilled the festival was back.
They weren't alone. A couple thousand people came to the festival Saturday, and around 2,000 people showed up to see Neil Gaiman speak Friday night, according to Terry Wooten, marketing and development director for Kanawha County Public Library.
The line to see Homer Hickam, the West Virginian author whose memoir, "Rocket Boys," inspired the movie "October Sky," wrapped around the lobby Saturday morning.
Hickam spoke at 9:15 a.m., in part to promote his new book, "Carrying Albert Home," and he didn't finish signing books until after 1:30 p.m.
People didn't just come to see authors, many walked the rows of books at the used books sale.
Barbara and Steve Samples, from Cross Lanes, were perusing the children's section, looking for things that might interest their grandson who loves to read, likes science and records films with his Legos and puts them on YouTube.
The Samples like books about West Virginia, and Barbara even saw one that had a picture of her grandfather, who used to play in the coal mine baseball league, in it.
The couple was excited to be around the books. Barbara had picked up an older book by Alfred, Lord Tennyson earlier in the day and loved the way it had smelled.
"It's a stimulation of your senses," Steve Samples said. "Both mentally and physically."
The man selling the old Tennyson book was Dan Light, from Racine.
Light and his wife are collectors of antique books and are downsizing their collection because they're moving to Florida.
"Some people are collectors and some people are accumulators." Light said. "And we're a little bit of both."
The festival had a bit of a party atmosphere, albeit with a literary twist. There was "pin the glasses on John Green," shirts that said, "Frankie Says Read" and a vendor giving out Mardi Gras beads and masks to promote his book that took place near Lake Pontchartrain.
In the kids Word Play area, there was an interactive performance of Robin Hood, complete with costumes fit for Sherwood Forest.
Allyson Peck, from Charleston, brought her two kids to the festival and let them each pick out a book. Harper, 5, had chosen a Bambi book. Spencer, 2, had chosen one about fire trucks. Peck had noticed a book about sewing, a hobby she'd like to pick up, but said she has to be careful about what she buys, because she's running out of room on her bookshelf.
"I'm not one of those people with boxes," Peck said.
One of those people with boxes was George Brosi, of Berea, Kentucky.
He had five.
Brosi was at the festival with his business, Appalachian Mountain Books. He stroked his long, white beard as he talked.
"The importance is with the kids," he said. "To give kids a sense of excitement about learning and about their heritage."
Finishing the event was Jodi Picoult, author of "My Sister's Keeper" and 23 other books.
"I just want to hear her," said Donna Vanscyoc, from Wheeling. "This is on my bucket list."
Vanscyoc "owns" Jodi Picoult, by which she means that she has every one of her books. She stood up to applaud as Picoult was introduced to the crowd.
Picoult tackled social issues, just like in her books. She talked about researching three of her books: "Second Glance," a ghost story that deals with Native American sterilization; "Nineteen minutes," about school shootings and her newest, "Leaving Time," about elephant hunting. Towards the end, in her question and answer portion, she was asked why she doesn't do nonfiction.
"Nonfiction is to illustrate the way the world is or the way the world was," Picoult said. "Fiction is a way to make sure it doesn't happen again."
Reach Daniel Desrochers at dan.desrochers@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4886 or follow @drdesrochers on Twitter.