BEA Recap: Another Year of Exhausting Fun

As most of you probably know either from my Twitter, Instagram, or previous posts last week I was at Book Expo America in New York. It was my second time going and I seriously had so much fun. It was exhausting and every night my feet were killing and I was starving but I also met some really amazing fellow bloggers, saw some authors I am a huge fan of, and learned about some exciting new books. Here is what I did/

Day 1: Blogger Con Happened but So Did Truthwitch

First day of BEA, I woke up bright and early and headed to the Javits. I got there at around 8:15, registered and then headed to Blogger Con. When I sat down I was approached by Melissa from The Novelty Podcast who gave me a gift from my OTSP Secret Sister. I had suspected who it might be but it was great to have confirmed that it is Elizabeth from Book YAbber. We met last year at BEA and it was so great to see her again. She framed the picture that we took last year in an amazingly decorated frame. I totally love it! I wish we had gotten to catch up and chat more but this year we just didn't seem to be in the same lines.

Blogger Con had a great opening panel discussion and I was really enjoying the first workshop but I was fixated on getting Truthwitch. I heard the line was getting out of control so I headed over there instead of doing blogger stuff. I was so excited to meet Britt from Please Feed the Bookworm finally! We are total book soulmates and we spent a lot of time planning together. I also got to meet and Sarah from Words with Sarah, Becca from Pivot Book Reviews, Pilli from In Love with Handmade, Christina from My Life in Books, and Katie from Katie's Book Blog. And of course Octavia from Read.Sleep.Repeat and Nikki from There Were Books Involved who I met last year and I was so excited to see again. We hung out in line and caught up. I mean we were in line for nearly two and a half hours before they let us in. 

When they finally let us in it was a mad dash to Macmillan for the Truthwitch tickets. I am ashamed to say when I saw people running I started running too. People were backing away slowly. It was so embarrassing. But I got my Truthwitch ticket and it was all worth it. But shameful. After getting my ticket, I wandered around the floor and picked up a copy of a few galleys including Illuminae. Seriously, this book is freaking gorgeous and the most intense ARC I have ever seen. While wandering around the floor I met Michelle from Pink Polka Dot Book Blog who is like the only other Pittsburgh blogger I know so it was great to chat with her. On the whole I spent most of my day doing galley drops and in-booth signings. I knocked out all the Harper drops I wanted which was very exciting and freed up a lot of my week. I only got two signed book, These Shallow Graves and... Truthwitch. I feel bad about running but I did get to meet the amazing Susan Dennard who I talked to about the Something Strange and Deadly series and how I'm still not over that thing that happened in Strange and Ever After. All in all it was a fantastic day. I got thirteen total books and I'm so excited for so many them!

But I of course have to mention the after BEA festivities. After the Javits I headed back to Octavia, Nikki, and Christina's hotel. On the bus over I finally got to meet and chat with Jamie from Perpetual Page Turner. She is so sweet and I'm glad we got to meet in person. We were all starving so I went with Nikki, Octavia, and Christine to Shake Shack. It was delicious. I wish we had one in Pittsburgh! After dinner I went back to the girls' hotel to wait out the rain before I headed back to Woodlawn exhausted but so happy.

Day 2: The Day Where It Was All Balanced Out

Day 2 I got up so early and headed to the Javits again to get in line really early. It was supposed to be all about Passenger but after the shameful running for Truthwitch I decided I didn't want a repeat. Plus I decided I wasn't totally interested in the early ARC, I'll definitely buy a copy so I can wait a bit to read it. So I went to Penguin for the in-booth signing for Ernest Cline. It was a little early so I walked around with Nikki and Katie. We hit a few of the smaller publishers and I got a copy of More Happy Than Not and took this really adorable picture of me as Jackaby. Then we met up with Octavia and headed to Ernest Cline. I totally fangirled about how much I loved Ready Player One and he was so nice. I can't believe I got to meet him. 

Then we wandered a little more and I met up with Britt, Sarah, and Becca. We took a snack break, hit a few signings (including Mary Kubica who I told how much I loved her debut The Good Girl), and then Britt and I went in line for Gregory Maguire. It was my third time meeting him in a year and I told him that and was super awkward. After that I headed over to Little Brown for the Libba Bray for her in-booth. Or as I like to call it, the feeding frenzy. That line, just no. But I got a ticket, met Libba and she was amazing. I reminded her about chatting about Beauty Queens last year and we took a selfie with "cuteness filter." I was so hungry, thirsty, and tired of people so I took a break before I headed to the 3pm signing of Lois Lane Fallout. I met Layla from The Midnight Garden who was so sweet. We talked all about my favorite topic Sansa Stark and this season of Game of Thrones plus books and the ones we are excited about. 

That was my last signing so I went to get my stuff and say goodbye to everyone before I headed home. It took forever to get back to Woodlawn (two hours you guys, it was out of control). But another great day! Again I got thirteen books, but half of them signed this time.

Day 3: The Day With The Crazy Busy Morning

Friday was the last day of BEA. Usually the last day is the light day but it was out of control this year. So I headed to the Javits a little later than usual but still got a decent place in line. Thanks so much to my line buddies for the week: Britt, Sarah, Pilli, Bekka, Nikki, Octavia, Christina, Katie, and Melissa. You ladies are amazing! When the doors opened I was all about the galley drops. I headed from Harper to Penguin and got a bunch of books I'm really excited about. Many of the books I got were ones I wanted to get signed in the afternoon so it really freed up a lot of my time. Then I went to Kim Liggett's signing of Blood and Salt. She was so freaking sweet and I can't believe someone who writes horror can be so nice. I cannot wait to read her book. 

After that I headed to the autographing area for all the things! All of them. I popped in Carrie Ryan's line to get Daughter of Deep Silence. Then I jumped in Julie Murphy's line for Dumplin. It was amazing to meet Julie and talk about how we seriously need this MC in YA. After that I checked on Rainbow Rowell's signing but it was already out of control. So I once again missed out on meeting Rainbow. But instead I headed to Leigh Bardugo where I used my front of the line pass to get the oh so precious Six of Crows. I totally planned out what I was going to say to Leigh but I was so awkward and forgot to take a picture with her which made me so sad! But leaving the line I met the ladies from On the Same Page: Brittany, Alyssa, and Amy. Which I had really wanted to do not only because I'm such a fan of them but also because my Secret Sister in the first round was Amy who got me some amazing packages and my current Secret Sister is Alyssa. It was so amazing to meet them and chat and flail.

It was then time to take a break, ditch some books in my suitcase, and eat some food. I knew today was going to be crazy when I had to take a stop at the suitcase. Both Wednesday and Thursday I was good with just one tote bag for the day. Then I headed to Harlequin to wait for their Teen Hour. I snagged a few bonus galleys on the way and also got to chat a lot with Bayram from Never Ending Books, who I totally didn't realize I knew from Twitter until much later in our conversation, and Nicole from PopCrunchBoom. Seriously, the Harlequin in-booths are the best. You get a bunch authors and they are so well managed. 

At that point I realized I was basically done for the day so I hit a few extra signings that I wasn't counting on. This included Alexandra Bracken who was of course delightful. I flailed about my ships in The Darkest Minds and how they sailed. She's wonderful and I am so glad I got to meet her again this year and in a more relaxed line, not the crazy Passenger mayhem. I also got to see Carrie Ryan again and snag a copy of City of Thirst, the second book in the middle grade series she cowrote with her husband, which I love. After that I was done for the day so I met back up with Nikki, Octavia, and Christina.

After leaving the Javits we headed to blogger dinner where I met so many bloggers I hadn't met yet and got to chat a little more with some I had not talked to much. It was planned by Tiffany from Mostly YA Lit. She was so sweet and it was great chatting with everyone. The dinner was at Bourbon Street in Hell's Kitchen. I thought I would never not be hungry again so I got the three course fixed price menu but I lied. I honestly filled up on the gumbo so when my meal came I only ate a few bites. Then I decided to share my dessert because I really couldn't eat another thing. After the dinner I went back to Nikki, Octavia, and Christina's hostel where we hung and laughed so hard about basically everything. I had to leave to head back to Woodlawn. It was so sad to say goodbye because I seriously love these ladies. I had so much fun hanging out with them both at the Javits and after. 

On the whole I it was a fantastic and exhausting week. I got to meet so many amazing authors that I love and got tons of amazing books. I wanted to take things a little easy this year and while I did get more books than I wanted it was only a few more (42 in total) and there were some surprise books that I didn't know we're going to be there. But the best part of the week was definitely the people. From the bloggers, to the the authors, to the publishers everyone was so nice and reminded my why I love this world. I really hope I can make it work financially to go next year when it is in Chicago because despite the hassle, exhaustion, and expense BEA is worth every single second.

My total haul for BEA15 organized by release date (month)

For those of you who were not able to make it to BEA and had to suffer through my flaily tweets and lack of attentiveness on the blog, I have a special giveaway. Keep your eye on my Twitter and enter to win a copy of Court of Fives by Kate Elliot! It's one of my most anticipated releases of the summer and I want to share an extra copy I got in the mail with you. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!