BEA Recap Part II

The second half of BEA was the crazy half, full of long days, busy schedules and lots of awesome books and authors.

Thursday, May 28

Day 2 felt a lot more like a normal BEA day. I got up way too early in order to get toward the front of the line to get in. I staked out my spot, and then joined some blogger friends at the Harlequin Teen Breakfast where I got to hear authors Eleanor Herman, Adi Alsaid, Katie McGarry and Jennifer L. Armentrout along with publicists from Harlequin Teen talk about their awesome books.

Eleanor Herman, Adi Alsaid, Katie McGarry and Jennifer L. Armentrout

Thursday was the day that I got to meet some of my most favoritest authors that have written some of my most favoritest books ever. It started at breakfast when I got to gush embarrassingly to Katie McGarry about how much I absolutely LOVED her new book Nowhere But Here. And she was SO. NICE.

Me and Katie McGarry

After breakfast, I headed back up to my spot in line and got ready to make a bee line for the Disney booth so that I could meet Alexandra Bracken and get my copy of Passenger, which sounds AMAZING.

Alexandra Bracken signing Passenger

Over the next few hours, I caught a few lucky drops, and stood in a few lines for some signings. Mid-day, I took a much needed trip to my suitcase. The suitcase drop ladies were really busy...

Holy suitcases, Batman!

I got to meet the author that was the main reason that I came back to BEA for late in the day on Thursday. I am a huge fan of the Lunar Chronicles series, and Marissa Meyer was so nice! It was so exciting finally getting to meet her.

Me and Marissa Meyer - OMG!

After a quick trip to the hotel to drop off my suitcase and meet up with a good friend, Brooke from The Cover Contessa, she and I headed to 5 Napkin Burger to meet the Inkslinger PR maven and friend KP Simmons and her two secret special guests Kristen Proby and KA Tucker. I know, RIGHT? Best. Dinner. Ever. I got to hang out with several blogger friends, and two authors whose books I absolutely LOVE. Plus - there was cheesecake. It was seriously the best ending to a really amazing day.

Me and KA Tucker!

Friday, May 29

Friday was the day that my schedule was the most hectic. But, in keeping with the theme of the week, I was determined to not get stressed out about it. Once again, I lined up early and engaged in more front of the line shenanigans.

Oh Hai, Steph!

I spent my day trying to get to the highlights on my schedule and staying as far away from all the Six of Crows lines as I could

Abbi Glines is so beeeeeeeautiful!

My most coveted book of the week was Scorched by Jennifer L. Armentrout. And Val and I made sure to get to the signing area nice and early. The result - front of the line, baby.

Val holding the coveted whiteboard

By the end of Friday, I was pretty beat, so Val and I took it easy the rest of the evening. We ordered pizza, pet our books and I read the first half of Scorched.

Books at the end of day 3

Saturday and Sunday, May 30 and 31 - BookCon

Last year, BookCon was a fiasco. It was still super crazy and busy this year, but it was seriously SO MUCH BETTER than last year. It was much more organized and structured. In an effort to remain as low key as possible, Val and I showed up only an hour before the doors opened on Saturday, and about a half-hour after they opened on Sunday. Neither of us had any goals of getting books - we only wanted to attend a few panel discussions and check out the booths. We saw new adult royalty Abbi Glines, Colleen Hoover and KA Tucker speak on a panel about new adult romance books. I loved the Penguin/Random House panel I attended on how audiobooks are produced. The Forever Romance quiz show panel with authors like Meredith Wild and Jill Shalvis was fun. And I won a copy of Laurelin McGee's new book Miss Match at a panel featuring them.

The "line" to get in to BookCon on Saturday - 0_0

Abbi Glines, KA Tucker and Colleen Hoover

Me and Val loving the fact that we get to SIT for these panels

Read FIERCE

Last year, I came home with over 100 books. The year before that, just over 80. This year, I stuck to my guns and only brought home books that I was excited for and really wanted to read. As a result, I came home with less than 50 books. Less than 50 AWESOME books.