The Nordic Book Fair in Gothenburg in Fabulous

I arrived in Sweden just over 48 hours ago and today we were treated to some lovely sunshine.

I just returned to my office, having spent some time at the Nordic Book Fair.

It is the largest book fair in the Nordic countries and is taking place September 27-30, 2012 at the Exhibition Hall in Gothenburg. Gothenburg is the second largest city n Sweden, after Stockholm.

At least one Nobel laureate attends this book fair, each year, and, typically, it is a Nobel laureate in literature, although others have also come to this major event. Here is the list of notables who have been here  in past years. It will be interesting to see whether I can identify someone very special in town over the next few days, which should be more bustling with intellectual life and culture than ever.

The exhibition hall is located close to the amusement park with the large ferris wheel and just a few blocks past one of my favorite destinations in this city -- the museum of art.

One of my colleagues at the School of Business, Economics and Law gave me his book fair pass today, which he had received from his publisher.

First, as I approached the exhibition hall I was struck by the huge lines of elegantly dressed people -- yes, there are still those that love to read books.

I went right in with my pass, got a stamp on my hand, and entered the huge hall with areas for different types of books, books from different countries, children's books, and even an Amnesty International exhibit.

This being Sweden, there was a large cafeteria set up, discussion groups taking place, and, best of all, the exhibits of books, and even cards, all sorts of paper products, and gift items.

However, I did not find many technical books, but perhaps I just did not find the right location.

I took a lot of photographs and will be posting them in a few days.

I also did not find books in English but that did not stop me from purchasing some children's books in Swedish to give to one of my colleagues here in Sweden. Some of the educational toys and puzzles also looked amazing.