My family and I will be in Southern California in a few weeks and I'd love to meet some of the local bloggers! We'll be staying in Temecula - do any of you live near there? If so, please let me know. I'm hoping to plan one day where I can meet a group of bloggers. Leave me a comment, send me an email, or contact me on Twitter (@Age30Books) and I'll let you know when I'll be in town!
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
May '10 Recap
Reminder: I’m co-hosting a read-a-long of Alice Walker’s THE COLOR PURPLE in July. You’ll have a chance to sign up soon!
Books – 3 (538 pages)
- The Invention of Morel, by Adolfa Bioy Casares – 90 pages – very intriguing short story
- One Amazing Thing, by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni – 240 pages – somewhat disappointing
- Alone: Orphaned on the Ocean, by Richard Logan & Tere Duperrault Fassbender – 208 pages – fascinating story makes up for choppy writing
Audiobooks – 5 (37.4 hours)
- Remarkable Creatures, by Tracy Chevalier – 10.25 hours – my FAVORITE book of the year so far
- The Time In Between, by David Bergen – 8 hours – didn’t really like it
- The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith – 8.25 hours – slower paced than the TV version
- The Invisible Man, by HG Wells – 6.2 hours – creepy and fascinating
- The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, Volume 1, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – 4.7 hours – not one of Doyle’s best
Other Stats
- I attended MY first ever Book Expo America in New York City, followed by THE first ever Book Blogger Convention. It was an amazing experience and I recommend saving your pennies now so you can attend next year. You can read about my experiences and check out the photos here.
- I highlighted two special bloggers: One Day At A Time, and My Two Blessings.
- Lucky me, I got to meet author Laurie R. King at a local library.
- AND my sister had her third son on May 29 – yay!
My month was pretty amazing in the “general life” department and rather pathetic in the bookish department, but I guess you can't win ‘em all! How was YOUR May?
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Alone: Orphaned on the Ocean (a BEA book)
by Richard Logan, PhD, and
Tere Duperrault Fassbender
Tere Duperrault Fassbender
179 pages
*** About the Book ***
In 1961 the sailboat Bluebelle, carrying Captain Harvey and his wife, and the Duperrault family (parents and three children), sinks during a sudden squall somewhere near the Bahamas. About 12 hours later Captain Harvey is rescued and he tells the Coast Guard that that the other passengers were all lost when the boat went down. Four days later 11-year-old Terry Jo Duperrault is found floating on a tiny raft, dehydrated and in kidney failure, almost dead. When she recovers, she tells a very different story about what happened on the Bluebelle …Did I mention that this is a true story?!
*** Why I Read It ***
I generally love non-fiction books so this was one of the few books I REALLY wanted to get while I was at BEA. I had the chance to briefly meet the author at the Midpoint Press booth during the convention (where he also signed my book). I couldn’t wait to read it and actually got through the entire thing on the three hour train ride home from New York.
*** My Thoughts ***
Terry Jo Dupperault's story is crazy. Had this been written as fiction I would have said that author went too far in asking me to suspend disbelief. But it is all TRUE! I started this book on the train returning from BEA and simply couldn't put it down; I was completely engrossed for the three hour ride. When I got home I told Hubby about it and he started reading it that same night. Even though he isn't a big reader, he finished it only 3 days later.
The author clearly has a personal connection with Tere (aka Terry Jo). Not that he ever claims to be completely objective, but his friendship with and respect for Tere is evident in the way he writes about her experiences. The book is a very easy read and the pace is quick.
It's not a perfect book, mainly due to choppy writing. However the story was so fascinating that I easily overlooked the problems and kept turning the pages - I just HAD to find out Terry Jo's whole story.
*** Your Thoughts ***
When I got home I asked my parents and in-laws if they remembered hearing about Terry Jo years ago. Only one of the four had any memory of it. What about you? Were you around in 1961? Do you remember Terry Jo's amazing rescue?
Are there any other amazing rescue stories you'd recommend?
Monday, June 7, 2010
My Final NYC Post: Part 6
[Check out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5.]
My Last Night
After the fabulous Book Blogger Convention ended I headed back to my room for a short rest. One of my roomies, Monica, had already left for home by this point. Since I didn't get a photo of her myself, I borrowed one from another roomie so I could share it with you.
After a too brief rest, the April, Shanyn and I headed out to for dinner with a whole slew of other bloggers. It was the PERFECT way to cap off a great week. Check out the fabulous bloggers who all shared one huge table:
Amy @ Amy Reads, Nicole @ Linus’s Blanket, Kim @ Sophisticated Dorkiness, Care @ Care’s Online Book Club
My Last Night
After the fabulous Book Blogger Convention ended I headed back to my room for a short rest. One of my roomies, Monica, had already left for home by this point. Since I didn't get a photo of her myself, I borrowed one from another roomie so I could share it with you.
After a too brief rest, the April, Shanyn and I headed out to for dinner with a whole slew of other bloggers. It was the PERFECT way to cap off a great week. Check out the fabulous bloggers who all shared one huge table:
Allie @ Hist Fic Chick, Jenn @ Jenn's Bookshelves, and my roomies: April @ Good Books and Wine, and Shanyn @ Chick Loves Lit
Heading Home
My train home wasn't leaving until 2pm so my final morning was rather relaxed. I lugged my bags of books over to the post office and shipped them home (with one box of BBC swag going to Laura @ Laura's Review Book Shelf, as promised).
The most hilarious part was running into two other bloggers at the post office. :)
Then I had lunch at Penn Station and hopped on the train home. Coming soon, look for a review of the BEA book that I finished on the ride home.
There will be one more post about some of the great books I picked up during the week but this is officially the end of my recapping. And I am exhausted! Hope you enjoyed all the pictures. :)
Sunday, June 6, 2010
My BBC Recap: Part 5
[Check out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.]
After two full days of BEA I was THRILLED BEYOND WORDS to be able to sit down for most of the day at the Book Blogger Convention on Friday. Breakfast was provided, and I wandered around meeting people after I ate.
Confession time: I spend a LOT of time on Twitter during the first half of the BBC, following tweets from other people in the room. Crazy, I know, but it was really fun. I loved seeing what people were taking away from the talks! Of course, this meant that I wasn't paying as much attention to the speakers as I should have been, nor was I taking any photos ...
Speakers
The first session of the day was the keynote presentation by YA author Maureen Johnson. Here is where I admit I'd never heard of her prior to this. But here is where I also admit that she is HILARIOUS. And one of the goodies in our swag bags for BBC was her audio book SUITE SCARLETT; as an audio book fan, you can bet I'll be checking that out soon!
The next talk was on Professionalism and Ethics in blogging, by Ron Hogan (of Beatrice.com fame). Coming on the heels of Maureen's talk, Ron came off as a bit dry and rambly but he also said a lot of good things. One in particular really resonated with me: "You don't need to SAY you are trustworthy, you just need to BE trustworthy." Do you remember a while back when there was a trend in the book blogosphere to declare that you would "blog with integrity"? If I recall, there was even a place to sign up to show your support of this. I chose not to sign up or make a statement about it at all because I believe that a statement like that doesn't really prove anything. My blog is an honest representation of my opinions, and my readers learn that fact over time as they read my posts. It was nice to hear Ron backing me up on this.
During our lunch break I chatted with bloggers and publicists and reviewed my notes for my panel, which was coming up very soon.
Panels
The first panel of the afternoon was on Writing and Building Content, moderated by Rebecca @ The Book Lady’s Blog and with the following panelists: Kim @ Sophisticated Dorkiness, Christina @ Stacked, Betsy @ A Fuse 8 Production, and Amanda @ The Zen Leaf. There's a great post at Stacked that gets into some of the topics discussed during the panel. These ladies had a lot of great advice but I felt that the panelists all did things in a very similar way (lots of prescheduled posts, long posts, etc.); I'd have loved to see more variety up there.
Then it was time for Marketing, the panel moderated by me and including Gayle @ Everyday I Write the Book, Ann @ Books on the Nightstand, Yen @ The Book Publicity Blog, and Thea @ The Book Smugglers. Just before the panel I got incredibly nervous (even though I truly LOVE doing stuff like this - seriously!) and proceeded to stumble over my own words when introducing the panelists. You'll have to see what other bloggers are saying about this panel, since I feel rather odd judging it myself. Ana @ The Book Smugglers summarized it - do you know of anyone else who did? I'd love to hear some honest feedback ...
Blogging with Social Responsibility came next. It was moderated by Marie @ The Boston Bibliophile and featured Zetta @ Fledgling, Stephen @ Band of Thebes, Wendy @ Caribousmom, and Terry @ The Reading Tub. The two topics that got the most attention here were issues of race and sexual orientation being misrepresented or underrepresented in books. These topics generated a huge debate, and I felt bad that the panelists who focused on raising money for pediatric cancer research and children's literacy didn't get much attention. Still, a very interesting panel.
The final panel of the day was Impact of the Relationship Between Author and Blogger, moderated by Nicole @ Linus’s Blanket. Panelists included Caridad Pineiro @ Caridad Pineiro’s Blog, Bethanne @ The Book Studio, Kristi @ The Story Siren, Amy @ My Friend Amy, and Beth Kephart @ Beth Kephart Books. I was really looking forward to this panel because it is a topic I've been thinking a lot about lately. One of my favorite points brought up during the discussion was that bloggers - and many authors! - prefer to be contacted by a publicist requesting a review rather than by the author directly. I was so glad to hear it and I hope (vainly?) that it will eventually cut down on the emails I receive directly from authors. (They are awkward for me, especially when it comes time to email the author the link to my less-than-glowing review ...). Unfortunately I didn't get much else out of this panel; the conversation seemed to wander a great deal and I found few things that impacted me directly.
The End of BBC
And then it was over. :( This was a great experience for me and I'm so glad I was able to attend. The BBC organizers did an amazing job and they deserve a huge thank you.
Trish @ Hey Lady!, Michelle @ Galleysmith, Amy @ My Friend Amy, Natasha @ Maw Books, Nicole @ Linus's Blanket, Pam @ Mother Reader, and Rebecca @ The Book Lady's Blog - THANK YOU!
But it wasn't quite time to leave New York, so
After two full days of BEA I was THRILLED BEYOND WORDS to be able to sit down for most of the day at the Book Blogger Convention on Friday. Breakfast was provided, and I wandered around meeting people after I ate.
Confession time: I spend a LOT of time on Twitter during the first half of the BBC, following tweets from other people in the room. Crazy, I know, but it was really fun. I loved seeing what people were taking away from the talks! Of course, this meant that I wasn't paying as much attention to the speakers as I should have been, nor was I taking any photos ...
Speakers
The first session of the day was the keynote presentation by YA author Maureen Johnson. Here is where I admit I'd never heard of her prior to this. But here is where I also admit that she is HILARIOUS. And one of the goodies in our swag bags for BBC was her audio book SUITE SCARLETT; as an audio book fan, you can bet I'll be checking that out soon!
The next talk was on Professionalism and Ethics in blogging, by Ron Hogan (of Beatrice.com fame). Coming on the heels of Maureen's talk, Ron came off as a bit dry and rambly but he also said a lot of good things. One in particular really resonated with me: "You don't need to SAY you are trustworthy, you just need to BE trustworthy." Do you remember a while back when there was a trend in the book blogosphere to declare that you would "blog with integrity"? If I recall, there was even a place to sign up to show your support of this. I chose not to sign up or make a statement about it at all because I believe that a statement like that doesn't really prove anything. My blog is an honest representation of my opinions, and my readers learn that fact over time as they read my posts. It was nice to hear Ron backing me up on this.
During our lunch break I chatted with bloggers and publicists and reviewed my notes for my panel, which was coming up very soon.
Panels
The first panel of the afternoon was on Writing and Building Content, moderated by Rebecca @ The Book Lady’s Blog and with the following panelists: Kim @ Sophisticated Dorkiness, Christina @ Stacked, Betsy @ A Fuse 8 Production, and Amanda @ The Zen Leaf. There's a great post at Stacked that gets into some of the topics discussed during the panel. These ladies had a lot of great advice but I felt that the panelists all did things in a very similar way (lots of prescheduled posts, long posts, etc.); I'd have loved to see more variety up there.
Then it was time for Marketing, the panel moderated by me and including Gayle @ Everyday I Write the Book, Ann @ Books on the Nightstand, Yen @ The Book Publicity Blog, and Thea @ The Book Smugglers. Just before the panel I got incredibly nervous (even though I truly LOVE doing stuff like this - seriously!) and proceeded to stumble over my own words when introducing the panelists. You'll have to see what other bloggers are saying about this panel, since I feel rather odd judging it myself. Ana @ The Book Smugglers summarized it - do you know of anyone else who did? I'd love to hear some honest feedback ...
Blogging with Social Responsibility came next. It was moderated by Marie @ The Boston Bibliophile and featured Zetta @ Fledgling, Stephen @ Band of Thebes, Wendy @ Caribousmom, and Terry @ The Reading Tub. The two topics that got the most attention here were issues of race and sexual orientation being misrepresented or underrepresented in books. These topics generated a huge debate, and I felt bad that the panelists who focused on raising money for pediatric cancer research and children's literacy didn't get much attention. Still, a very interesting panel.
The final panel of the day was Impact of the Relationship Between Author and Blogger, moderated by Nicole @ Linus’s Blanket. Panelists included Caridad Pineiro @ Caridad Pineiro’s Blog, Bethanne @ The Book Studio, Kristi @ The Story Siren, Amy @ My Friend Amy, and Beth Kephart @ Beth Kephart Books. I was really looking forward to this panel because it is a topic I've been thinking a lot about lately. One of my favorite points brought up during the discussion was that bloggers - and many authors! - prefer to be contacted by a publicist requesting a review rather than by the author directly. I was so glad to hear it and I hope (vainly?) that it will eventually cut down on the emails I receive directly from authors. (They are awkward for me, especially when it comes time to email the author the link to my less-than-glowing review ...). Unfortunately I didn't get much else out of this panel; the conversation seemed to wander a great deal and I found few things that impacted me directly.
The End of BBC
And then it was over. :( This was a great experience for me and I'm so glad I was able to attend. The BBC organizers did an amazing job and they deserve a huge thank you.
Trish @ Hey Lady!, Michelle @ Galleysmith, Amy @ My Friend Amy, Natasha @ Maw Books, Nicole @ Linus's Blanket, Pam @ Mother Reader, and Rebecca @ The Book Lady's Blog - THANK YOU!
But it wasn't quite time to leave New York, so
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Saturday, June 5, 2010
My BEA Recap: Part 4
[Check out Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.]
BEA Day 2
My third day in NYC was my second day at BEA. No getting up early this morning! I slept until 8-something and arrived at the convention center just before 9am. Unbridled Books was hosting a blogger breakfast and tweet-up so that was my first stop of the day. I met a few of the Unbridles reps and also a few new bloggers.
After browsing the booths some more – and finally making it past every booth at least once! – I got in line to
see Tony Hawk. Kiddo is a new fan of skateboarding and loves Tony so this was a must-do for me. His book is called HOW DID I GET HERE: THE ASCENT OF AN UNLIKELY CEO
. I was in line for about 30 minutes but it was totally worth it. Not only did I get his signature of the book excerpt but I also got a Tony Hawk hat to take home to Kiddo!
By this time I was ready for lunch – and, more importantly, a break! – so I headed downstairs to the food court. I found my roommate Monica and joined her table of bloggers. I was so exhausted that I barely talked during lunch at all.
After I’d recovered a bit of energy I headed back into the exhibit hall. My first stop was at the Title Town booth where I met author Richard Logan and picked up a signed copy of his book ALONE: ORPHANED ON THE OCEAN. [I read this entire book on the train ride home; look for a review next week.]
At 2pm I was the second person in line to meet M.L. Malcolm and get her to sign her book HEART OF
LIES
. Ms. Malcolm is a new-to-me author whom I’d met at the Harper Collins Blogger Event the night before. I can’t believe I don’t have a photo of her – she wore fabulous hats both times I met her! Her book is historical fiction set during the World War I era AND she said she’s very much into historical details; needless to say, I’m very excited to read this book.
Right next to Ms. Malcolm’s signing line was Alison Green signing copies of A FOX IN THE DARK
. The book looked adorable so I picked up a copy.
Finally the craziness of the past few days caught up with me and I had to find a place to sit down. An empty corner nearby served the purpose, and I propped myself against the wall to read A FOX IN THE DARK. It was adorable, and it’s simple, fun story was the perfect antidote to my over-stimulated brain. [Kiddo read it to me after I got home; look for a Mom and Son review coming soon.]
Book Blogger Convention Reception
The Book Blogger Convention’s Reception was set to begin in an hour but I couldn’t take any more of BEA so I headed downstairs an hour early to see if anyone needed help getting ready for the reception. They didn’t (those ladies really had it together all week!), so I was able to chat with the two other bloggers who arrived early, Care and Kim.
Very soon the room began to fill up, and I have to say that this was unexpectedly my favorite part of the entire week. The room was buzzing with conversation between bloggers, authors, publishers, and publicists, and everyone was excited to be talking to each other. I moved from group to group, meeting new person after new person, and generally having a fabulous time. I wish I had pictures of the mass of people, but I was too busy chatting to take any.
Smuggled to Dinner
As the reception ended I was scrambling for dinner plans. I wanted to hook up with bloggers that I hadn’t really gotten to know so that I could meet even more people. As it turns out, one of my blogger pals had accidentally double booked herself that evening so I was able to take her place at one of the events – woohoo!
And guess who I got to have dinner with? The Book Smugglers! Thea and Ana had reservations at a club/restaurant for about 10 bloggers that evening, and it was a blast. The food was delicious, abundant, AND inexpensive, and the conversation was fabulous. All the other bloggers at dinner were new to me, and that’s exactly what I was hoping for.
me with Ana @ The Book Smugglers
our dinner group: Kendra @ Lurv a la Mode, Christine @ The happily ever after, Ana & Thea @ The Book Smugglers, Charlotte @ Lusty Reader, Janice @ Janicu's Book Blog, Angie @ Angieville, Kristen @ Fantasy Cafe, Laura @ Laura's Review Book Shelf, and me
I got back to the hotel before 11pm and chatted with my roomies before heading to bed, very excited about what was to come tomorrow.
BEA Day 2
My third day in NYC was my second day at BEA. No getting up early this morning! I slept until 8-something and arrived at the convention center just before 9am. Unbridled Books was hosting a blogger breakfast and tweet-up so that was my first stop of the day. I met a few of the Unbridles reps and also a few new bloggers.
After browsing the booths some more – and finally making it past every booth at least once! – I got in line to
see Tony Hawk. Kiddo is a new fan of skateboarding and loves Tony so this was a must-do for me. His book is called HOW DID I GET HERE: THE ASCENT OF AN UNLIKELY CEO. I was in line for about 30 minutes but it was totally worth it. Not only did I get his signature of the book excerpt but I also got a Tony Hawk hat to take home to Kiddo!
Tony Hawk
By this time I was ready for lunch – and, more importantly, a break! – so I headed downstairs to the food court. I found my roommate Monica and joined her table of bloggers. I was so exhausted that I barely talked during lunch at all.
After I’d recovered a bit of energy I headed back into the exhibit hall. My first stop was at the Title Town booth where I met author Richard Logan and picked up a signed copy of his book ALONE: ORPHANED ON THE OCEAN. [I read this entire book on the train ride home; look for a review next week.]
At 2pm I was the second person in line to meet M.L. Malcolm and get her to sign her book HEART OF
LIES. Ms. Malcolm is a new-to-me author whom I’d met at the Harper Collins Blogger Event the night before. I can’t believe I don’t have a photo of her – she wore fabulous hats both times I met her! Her book is historical fiction set during the World War I era AND she said she’s very much into historical details; needless to say, I’m very excited to read this book.Right next to Ms. Malcolm’s signing line was Alison Green signing copies of A FOX IN THE DARK
. The book looked adorable so I picked up a copy.Finally the craziness of the past few days caught up with me and I had to find a place to sit down. An empty corner nearby served the purpose, and I propped myself against the wall to read A FOX IN THE DARK
. It was adorable, and it’s simple, fun story was the perfect antidote to my over-stimulated brain. [Kiddo read it to me after I got home; look for a Mom and Son review coming soon.]Book Blogger Convention Reception
The Book Blogger Convention’s Reception was set to begin in an hour but I couldn’t take any more of BEA so I headed downstairs an hour early to see if anyone needed help getting ready for the reception. They didn’t (those ladies really had it together all week!), so I was able to chat with the two other bloggers who arrived early, Care and Kim.
Meet Care @ Care’s Online Book Club (with Copley the lobster) and Kim @ Sophisticated Dorkiness
Very soon the room began to fill up, and I have to say that this was unexpectedly my favorite part of the entire week. The room was buzzing with conversation between bloggers, authors, publishers, and publicists, and everyone was excited to be talking to each other. I moved from group to group, meeting new person after new person, and generally having a fabulous time. I wish I had pictures of the mass of people, but I was too busy chatting to take any.
Smuggled to Dinner
As the reception ended I was scrambling for dinner plans. I wanted to hook up with bloggers that I hadn’t really gotten to know so that I could meet even more people. As it turns out, one of my blogger pals had accidentally double booked herself that evening so I was able to take her place at one of the events – woohoo!
And guess who I got to have dinner with? The Book Smugglers! Thea and Ana had reservations at a club/restaurant for about 10 bloggers that evening, and it was a blast. The food was delicious, abundant, AND inexpensive, and the conversation was fabulous. All the other bloggers at dinner were new to me, and that’s exactly what I was hoping for.
me with the two Book Smugglers
I got back to the hotel before 11pm and chatted with my roomies before heading to bed, very excited about what was to come tomorrow.
TO BE CONTINUED …
My BEA Recap: Part 3
[Check out Part 1 and Part 2.]
Day 2 in NYC - evening
On Wednesday evening I attended the Harper Collins Book Blogger Reception. A HUGE thank you goes to the people at Harper Collins for organizing this – it was a wonderful way to connect with them and with other bloggers, and I had an absolute blast.
After the event ended I had a late dinner with Barbara, Sheila and Reagan. It was the perfect dinner – not too pricey, a quiet restaurant, and excellent bookish conversation. Heading home, we found it impossible to get a cab so we just kept on walking. Here are a few action shots from our late-night stroll …
I’d expected to be cabbing it both to and from the event so I had worn my heels. After a few blocks I had to take them off – oh the horror! But oh the relief!
After my under-5-hours of sleep the night before and being on the go since 4:50am, I finally hit my bed around midnight.
Day 2 in NYC - evening
On Wednesday evening I attended the Harper Collins Book Blogger Reception. A HUGE thank you goes to the people at Harper Collins for organizing this – it was a wonderful way to connect with them and with other bloggers, and I had an absolute blast.
Sheila @ Book Journey, Nat aka Tanabata @ In Spring It Is The Dawn – she came all the way from Japan!, Natasha @ Maw Books, Jen @ Devourer of Books, Barbara @ Reading Group Choices, and Swapna @ S. Krishna’s Books
Me and Carey @ The Tome Traveller
Reagan @ Miss Remmers’ Review and me
After the event ended I had a late dinner with Barbara, Sheila and Reagan. It was the perfect dinner – not too pricey, a quiet restaurant, and excellent bookish conversation. Heading home, we found it impossible to get a cab so we just kept on walking. Here are a few action shots from our late-night stroll …
Sheila
Reagan
I’d expected to be cabbing it both to and from the event so I had worn my heels. After a few blocks I had to take them off – oh the horror! But oh the relief!
me
After my under-5-hours of sleep the night before and being on the go since 4:50am, I finally hit my bed around midnight.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Friday, June 4, 2010
My BEA Recap: Part 2
[Find Part 1 of my BEA Recap here.]
BEA Day 1
On my first full day in New York my alarm went off at 4:50am. With less than 5 hours of sleep I somehow was rather chipper that morning! I quietly showered (without, hopefully, much disturbance to my roomies) and walked the few blocks to the convention center. I had to get in line for tickets for some big name authors, and I’d heard that tickets were only handed out until 6:45am. I arrived at the convention center at 5:30am to find only two people in line ahead of me, and that’s when I saw the sign: “Tickets will be handed out beginning at 6:45am.” So yeah, I was a bit early! No matter though – many more people started arriving within 15 minutes.
After picking up tickets for Cory Doctorow, Rick Riordan, and Matthew Reinhart (those last two were at Kiddo’s request) I sat down for a relaxing chat – and some tea – with a group of bloggers. It was great to have this time to simply relax before the craziness of the day began.
While wandering around before the convention I ran into two bloggers I’d met before and one I was very happy to meet:
At 9am the convention opened and I began browsing the booths. To say that there was an overwhelming number of booths would be a serious understatement. It is simply incredible to me how many different kinds of publishers and book-related businesses were exhibiting!
My first big plan of the day was to get Cory Doctorow’s new book, FOR THE WIN
, which he’d be signing 
at 10am. I spent about 30 minutes in line for that and was thrilled that his was the first book I picked up at BEA.
I browsed a few more booths then headed over to pick up another book I really wanted. Co-author 
Jon Bowe was signing copies of CROSSING ANTARCTICA
, which chronicles his own experiences there. I love reading about the polar regions so this was a must-have for me.
For lunch I met up with three other bloggers and we headed to Chipotle (yes, we ARE addicted to Chipotle!) We were all so tired and hungry that there really wasn’t a great deal of chatting, but we had fun all the same.
After lunch I again browsed the booths (all this browsing does involved picking up books too!) then got in the
enormous line for Rick Riordan’s new book, THE RED PYRAMID
. Kiddo was especially excited about the chance to have this book signed by the author to him. I had a great chat with my fellow line-mates and educated some of them on what book blogging is all about.
I immediately hoped over to the Matthew Reinhart line (also VERY VERY long) to get the gorgeous new
pop-up book ENCYLOPEDIA MYTHOLOGICA: GODS AND HEROES
. This is no ordinary pop-up book! Kiddo has one that is about ancient sea creatures and it is simply amazing. The detail that’s included is unbelievable.
The rest of my day was spent methodically working through the booths. I did make time to hook up with Dot Lin, my long-time correspondent from Tor Publishing. It was wonderful to meet her and I’m just sad that I didn’t think to take a picture.
That evening Harper Collins hosted a Book Blogger Reception – look for details and photos in my next post!
BEA Day 1
On my first full day in New York my alarm went off at 4:50am. With less than 5 hours of sleep I somehow was rather chipper that morning! I quietly showered (without, hopefully, much disturbance to my roomies) and walked the few blocks to the convention center. I had to get in line for tickets for some big name authors, and I’d heard that tickets were only handed out until 6:45am. I arrived at the convention center at 5:30am to find only two people in line ahead of me, and that’s when I saw the sign: “Tickets will be handed out beginning at 6:45am.” So yeah, I was a bit early! No matter though – many more people started arriving within 15 minutes.
After picking up tickets for Cory Doctorow, Rick Riordan, and Matthew Reinhart (those last two were at Kiddo’s request) I sat down for a relaxing chat – and some tea – with a group of bloggers. It was great to have this time to simply relax before the craziness of the day began.
While wandering around before the convention I ran into two bloggers I’d met before and one I was very happy to meet:
Wendy @ Caribou’s Mom, Serena @ Savvy Verse and Wit, “The Girl” and Anna from Diary of an Eccentric, and me
At 9am the convention opened and I began browsing the booths. To say that there was an overwhelming number of booths would be a serious understatement. It is simply incredible to me how many different kinds of publishers and book-related businesses were exhibiting!
My first big plan of the day was to get Cory Doctorow’s new book, FOR THE WIN
, which he’d be signing at 10am. I spent about 30 minutes in line for that and was thrilled that his was the first book I picked up at BEA.
Cory Doctorow signing books
I browsed a few more booths then headed over to pick up another book I really wanted. Co-author Jon Bowe was signing copies of CROSSING ANTARCTICA, which chronicles his own experiences there. I love reading about the polar regions so this was a must-have for me.For lunch I met up with three other bloggers and we headed to Chipotle (yes, we ARE addicted to Chipotle!) We were all so tired and hungry that there really wasn’t a great deal of chatting, but we had fun all the same.
My lunch buddies: Jill @ Fizzy Thoughts (with Billy the Goat) and Jenn @ Jenn’s Bookshelves
And me with Jen @ Devourer of Books
After lunch I again browsed the booths (all this browsing does involved picking up books too!) then got in the
enormous line for Rick Riordan’s new book, THE RED PYRAMID. Kiddo was especially excited about the chance to have this book signed by the author to him. I had a great chat with my fellow line-mates and educated some of them on what book blogging is all about. 
Rick Riordan
I immediately hoped over to the Matthew Reinhart line (also VERY VERY long) to get the gorgeous new
pop-up book ENCYLOPEDIA MYTHOLOGICA: GODS AND HEROES. This is no ordinary pop-up book! Kiddo has one that is about ancient sea creatures and it is simply amazing. The detail that’s included is unbelievable. 
Matthew Reinhart
The rest of my day was spent methodically working through the booths. I did make time to hook up with Dot Lin, my long-time correspondent from Tor Publishing. It was wonderful to meet her and I’m just sad that I didn’t think to take a picture.
That evening Harper Collins hosted a Book Blogger Reception – look for details and photos in my next post!
TO BE CONTINUED ...
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