BEA 2012 + The Books


Sorry this post is so late. It should have been up on Friday but I've been so busy I haven't had a chance to touch my laptop.

Last week, I had a fabulous time at BEA and got the overwhelming experience of going for the full 3 days. Since this post will be long, I'll just summarize my little adventure:

Day One
Though I was more prepared for what to expect because this was my second year attending, Tuesday was still chaotic. I spent most of the day waiting on lines at the autograph booths and trying to find time to eat in between. I got squished (that's really the only appropriate word for it) at the Disney/Hyperion booth by people trying to grab books like they were piles of money so I pretty much avoided going back there. They were giving out these cool water pouches to promote Rick Riordan's new book, so I got a few of those. I didn't get to walk around that much. I was more obsessed with sticking to my schedule than visiting all the publishers. I met Tania from Literary Cravings and we hung out most of the day. I also met Shanese from TheBo0ki3 Book Blog, Lillie from Read My Mind, Liza from Reading with ABC, Briana from BAM Book Reviews, Angela from Dark Faerie Tales and Aliya from A Story To Love.

The Melissa Marr and Maggie lines were crazy long (I think I waited 45 minutes on each) but I was so happy to get Carnival of Souls and The Raven Boys. I did plan on attending the Teen Author Carnival but after 8 hours of loudness, being pushed and shoved and carrying 40 pounds of books, I decided to go home and pass out. Seriously, when I flopped down on my bed, my ears were ringing and had to adjust to the quietness of my room.

Day Two
Erin Morgenstern
I woke up sore. Very sore. My shoulders and back were killing me. Wednesday was a more organized day overall. I got there earlier and caught the book drops from Little Brown, Bloomsbury, HarperCollins, Penguin, and Simon & Schuster. At times, I went to the autograph booths but I wasn't confined there as I was the previous day. I spent most of my time walking around trying to get acquainted with publishers and their upcoming books. I didn't meet too many bloggers even though they were everywhere. If we were standing on a line together, I made chit-chat but overall I kept to myself. My social anxiety skyrockets in atmospheres like BEA so I get extra nervous and shy about approaching people. I missed a few big things, like the Dark Days signing over at HarperCollins with Veronica Roth. The line was too huge and sadly, I had to make the sacrifice. Was it just me or was BEA twice as crowded than last year? Anyway, around 11:00, I got in line at Random House not so much to get a paperback copy of The Night Circus, but just to get all fan-girly on Erin Morgenstern and tell her how much I loved her and how she wrote one of my favorite books of all time.

After meeting Erin, I went downstairs to drop off books in my suitcase. And that's when I noticed space was getting low. And it wasn't even noon yet. I should've taken that as a sign that I'd better be more choosy about which books I take home. But I failed. By the end of the day, I had way too many books. My suitcase was packed and I used two big canvas bags to hold the rest. My feet and shoulders were killing me and there were alerts going off inside my brain saying, "You must go home, you must sit down, you're body has had enough". As soon as I left the Javits Center and felt the weight I was dragging behind me, I knew it would be impossible to get all that stuff home on the train back to Brooklyn. My body was completely wiped out, I had no energy so I used my emergency cash to get a cab. Getting a cab in Manhattan is not as easy as it is where I'm from right across the water. It took an hour plus another passenger going my way to convince a cabby to me home. Unbelievable. The minute I stepped into my house, I drowned into a steaming hot bath with some Epson salt.

Day 3
After Wednesday, I seriously debated staying home. I'd gotten some rest but still felt beat. But I decided to go. It was a shorter day and I took my sister's small canvas-tote-on-wheels so I wouldn't be tempted to bring home so many books. The only reason I got up and went was because of these ladies:


Tessa Gratton, Brenna Yovanoff and Maggie Steifvater.

Yes, I needed to get their collaboration of stories, The Curiosities. They were signing at the Carolrhoda Lab/Lerner booth and this line wrapped around and around to the point where they had to move us. But it was very organized which I appreciated. They gave us numbers so no skipping and they gave out the books ahead of time to make sure there was enough. After that, I walked around a little then went home.

Overall, I had an amazing time. It was stressful, overwhelming and crazy but I loved it. I'll never get used to going, it's always a new experience and I'm sure next year will be no exception.

Though I didn't get every book I set out for, I'm super happy I got my must-haves and can't wait to start reading them. I'm also glad I got the opportunity to meet some amazing bloggers and other people in the book industry. Can't wait to do this again in 2013.



In total, I took home 110 books. Mostly YA but I also got Middle Grade and Adult. For some books I was able to get extra copies on Thursday from publishers giving out leftover ARCs.

Here are the books I'm most EXCITED to read:



Ashen Winter - Mike Mullins (Tanglewood Publishing)
Beautiful Lies - Jessica Warman (Walker Publishing)
Pushing the Limits - Katie McGarry (Harlequin Teen)
The Blessed - Tonya Hurley (Simon & Schuster)
Carnival of Souls - Melissa Marr (HarperCollins) *1 signed
What's Left of Me -  Kat Zhang (HarperCollins)


 Angelfall - Susan Ee (Feral Dream)
Passion Blue - Victoria Strauss (Marshall Cavendish Publishing)
False Memory - Dan Krokos (Hyperion)
The Dark Unwinding - Sharon Cameron (Scholastic) *1 signed
The Darkest Minds - Alexandra Bracken (Hyperion)
Splendors and Glooms -


Feiwel and Friends)


Farrar, Straus & Giroux) *signed
Brenna Yovanoff (Carolrhoda Lab) *signed
Throne of Glass - Sarah J. Maas (Bloomsbury) 
Poison Princess - Kresley Cole (Simon & Schuster)
Origin - Jessica Khoury (Razorbill)
Eternally Yours - Cate Tiernan (Little Brown)
Graveminder - Melissa Marr (HarperCollins)


Delacorte Books)

PUBLISHED ON LABELS:

5 comments:

  1. This was my first BEA and omg, so overwhelming! And I only came home with ~10 books. I can't IMAGINE all the waiting in line you must've done to get all of these! I'm so jealous.

    And squee, there's my book! Eeee! I really hope you enjoy it. :D

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    1. Skylark looks amazing. I should be starting it soon. Hope I really enjoy it :)

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  2. Omg! I'm so jealous you got to go! I've been wanting to go for the past three years, but I probably won't get to go for a few years. =( Sad! And that is A LOT of books, so many that I'm dying to read. I should seriously make a portal that opens up to your bookshelf. :P I'll bring them back, I promise. ;)

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    1. I hope you get to go, even if it's in a few years. You will love it! If you could portal here I would definitely lend you my stash but check back here in August for my blogoversary. I will be giving some of these books away.

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  3. You received TONS of awesome books. I'm really excited to read What's Left of Me & Origin. I hope all the books are fantastic! Thanks for sharing! :)

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