BEA this year was such a blast! I really think it just gets better and better every year. I got so many great books, met all my favorite authors, and met some really awesome blogger friends along the way.
I am so happy that BEA is my yearly trip, because I don't think I can live without it anymore. lol
This year I decided to attend the Book Blogger Conference. The keynote by Maureen Johnson was hilarious and on point. She was the perfect person to have up there, because I could listen to her for days. The breakout sessions were very informative and learned a lot on how to make the blog better.
There will be a lot of changes on the blog in the very near future to make it the best it can be and I definitely see a move to wordpress in the near future as well. The only session I really could have lived without was the "Blogging & the Law" session. It was informative, but very dull and I just really didn't feel like I was soaking it all in.
After all the sessions there was a celebration with LOTS of free books, free booze and popcorn, and live music from the awesome band, Tiger Beat.
Here is a photo of my mom and I in the super dark elevator in our hotel on our way to day 1 of BEA
This year I also got the chance to go to my first breakfast. I attended the Harlequin Teen Author Breakfast with some AMAZING authors. Jennifer L. Armentrout, Alexandra Adornetto, Robin Talley, Julie Kagawa, and Adi Alsaid were the authors who attended along with some of the editors and publicists from Harlequin Teen. We got to meet each of the authors and talk to the professionals about anything we wanted and it was seriously the best thing I ever attended.
It definitely didn't hurt that we got an awesome tote that said "I like big books and I cannot lie" filled with all of the authors books, which they gladly signed for us.
While at the breakfast I got to meet the amazing Jennifer L. Armentrout! Can you tell how excited I am?
Throughout the rest of BEA I felt like I was in line after line for autographed books. I loved it because I got to meet all my favorite authors, and some SUPER cool new friends, but I didn't get to wander around a lot and find some new, unexpected reads. In any case I still had an amazing time! Below are some of the authors I met this year...
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| Lemony Snicket |
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| Neil Patrick Harris |
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| Elizabeth Langston |
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| Me at the front of the line for Gretchen McNeil's signing. She gave me a hug for being first! |
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| A.G. Howard |
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| Adi Alsaid's "car" for his debut novel, "Let's Get Lost" |
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| Cora Carmack |
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| Megan McCafferty |
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| Meg Wolitzer |
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| Me and Holly Black |
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| Me and Sylvia Day |
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| Lois Lowry |
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| My ticket to meet the famous Stan Lee |
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| Stan Lee |
Throughout the convention one of the things I absolutely love collecting, besides books, is tote bags! I have way too many from all the years I have attended and will be giving some away this year, so make sure to look out for those if you win anything from me. Below is one of my favorites I got this year.
At the end I came home with about 103 books, too many tote bags, some book/BEA related cups, and a butt load of swag! I cannot wait to start reading the books I got and I cannot wait to do some giveaways for you guys this summer.
