I just bumped into my next-door neighbours, who were telling me about the trouble they'd been having getting tickets for the Book Festival.  They'd been down to the box office on George Street, but the queue was snaking out of the door and they'd just given up.  And coincidentally, another friend's been telling me about problems she'd had getting through on the phones this week, as well.

It bears out what I've heard from a few people this year - advance sales seem to be doing particularly well this time round.  The Book Festival is always popular, but I do get the feel it's attracting more interest than ever this year.  It will be really interesting to see what the position is once the dust has settled.  In 2006 they sold 65% of their tickets before the Festival had even started, and I'd be astonished if they don't beat that this year.

My advice if you're trying to get tickets is to go to the website and, if you can't get in, just keep trying.  I think they're limiting the number of people they let on at once, to prevent the whole thing collapsing in a heap - I've been on a couple of times and, once you're in, it all works fine.