BEA Recap!

Book Expo America is over and I'm back in Amish Country, Ohio.  Unfortunately, I did not get to blog while I was in New York or on the return trip.  First, we had problems with the wireless in the hotel (I think it was being overloaded by all the bloggers in the hotel) and then our train for the return trip did not have Wi-Fi for some reason.  So, I'm going to have to recap the week for you now that I'm home with my own internet.

Tuesday-

Tuesday was the first day of BEA for everyone not participating in Book Blogger Con.  There was a pretty big crowd for the Grand Opening but everyone seemed to be on their best behavior.  There was far less running and pushing than we saw last year on the first day.  The only major complaint that I had about behavior was the number of people taking multiple ARC's.  I saw it more often than not.  Taking two books and handing one to your friend or blogging partner is one thing but I saw people shoving three and four of each title in their bags.  Why?  What do you need that many copies for?  Tuesday I had a great first signing with Peter Tomasi who writes Batman and Robin.  My husband and I read the comics so it was an amazing opportunity to get the newly released collected edition of the Born to Kill Story arc.  Mr. Tomasi was really nice and he seemed to really care about his readers.  This was a highlight of BEA for me.  Also on Tuesday I got the following books signed: Rift by Andrea Cremer, Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder, A Touch Morbid by Leah Clifford, and a few others that I can't recall.  After BEA closed for the day, I traveled to Teen Author Carnival with Kendra from Books Complete Me and Inga from Me and Reading.  It was AWESOME!  We got to hear from some great authors and I found a few new books and authors that I want to check out.  I bought a copy of Posses by Gretchen McNeill, who moderated one of the panels.  She was hilarious and Possess sounded great.  I also got to see Eliot Schrefer and hear about his upcoming book, Endangered.  I'm so excited about it!  I also got to talk to Jeri Smith-Ready- one of my favorite authors of all time!  After the panels and signings, Inga and I went to McDonalds to eat and talk.  It was lovely getting to spend time with someone I only knew before from the internet.  Inga's a sweet friend who I'm so glad to have met in person.

Wednesday-

I got the following signed books: Wings of the Wicked by Courtney Allison Moulton, Elemental by Emily White, Dust & Decay by Jonathan Maberry, Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson (who loved my lanyard and wanted to know where to get one), Cursed by Jennifer Armentrout and Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa.  After the long day at BEA, I spent the evening in bed trying to read but I fell asleep instead.  My awesome roommate, Sara from Novel Novice, took my copy of Possess to Books of Wonder where Gretchen McNeill was signing that night.  She even ran through the RAIN to get there.  How awesome is that?!

Thursday-

Copyright Forbidden Planet

On Thursday I got the following signed books: Shine by Jeri Smith-Ready, Batman: Death by Design by Chip Kidd, and Lani Woodland's Intrinsical among other things.  After BEA closed, I went on an epic quest to the Post Office with Kendra (Books Complete Me) and Allison (Allison Can Read).  We hauled a combined total of 202 pounds of books to the nearby Post Office.  After sending out our boxes, we returned to the hotel to get cleaned up before heading out for a fun night on the town.  We went to Forbidden Planet- one of the best comic shops in New York.  I bought some Tiny Titans collected editions for my kids, Arkham Unhinged #1 that I needed, a Mega Man comic for my youngest son, a Batman ice tray, the new Batman Pop! toy, and the Robin Pop! toy.  They didn't have the Arkham City Nightwing action figure that I've been looking for but I did get to see lots of cool toys, comics and Manga.  After the comic shop, we headed to Strand Books.  I bought some neat bookplates and a set of owl book ends there.  I've been looking for a set of owl bookends forever so I was excited to see them.  We then headed to Ippudo for authentic ramen.  It was AMAZING!  The food was so good and servings were so huge that none of us managed to finish ours.  It was easily the best day of the entire trip.  I loved hanging out with Kendra, Stacey, Sara and Allison during the week and meeting all kinds of new people.  BEA is a great experience and I hope to see you there next year.