Sunday, May 31, 2009

A few photos from BEA and elsewhere

This was me about an hour ago, at my scheduled blogger signing at booth #4077 (cue theme music). Levi Asher of Literary Kicks, whose site/blog has been around for 15 years, is the blogger at left. I spent an entertaining hour talking to visitors about Reading the Past, historical fiction recommendations, and blogging in general. I've been to a few BEAs as a librarian and book review editor, but this was my first official appearance as a blogger. Thanks to Firebrand Technologies for hosting all of us.


The show's clearly winding down. Didn't pick up any galleys this morning, and yesterday I acquired just three, including Sherry Jones's The Sword of Medina and Shandi Mitchell's Under This Unbroken Sky, out from HarperCollins in Sept, about life on the Canadian prairie during the Depression. The third was for a nonfiction book called Shelf Discovery, given out at the book blogger panel yesterday afternoon, essays about "the teen classics we never stopped reading." It's amazing how many of the books profiled in there (Jane-Emily, lots of Judy Blumes, Jacob Have I Loved) were favorites of mine, too.

I spent most of yesterday in sessions; the book blogger panel was lots of fun (and introduced me to a bunch of new blogs). I caught up with NoveList colleagues at the morning session on writing annotations then sat in on a panel discussion on book reviewing in 2010.

And last night, somehow we ended up here... after a major subway rerouting due to Obama's impromptu visit to NYC.


I took home ten historical novels; carrying the bag on the subway was an adventure, but who could resist?

18 comments:

  1. Oh yes, the Strand is definitely a magnet! Sounds like you got a good haul. Thanks for the BEA reports and congrats on being a featured blogger!

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  2. Many thanks for sharing your impressions of BEA, and I'll second MEP's congratulations on being a featured blogger. No matter how crowded things might have been, you do look as if you're having a great time!

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  3. Pleased your day went well, happy reading!

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  4. Ooh, jealous of the Strand! Congratulations on being featured!

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  5. Good idea to go to the Strand. I live not far from the city but have yet to visit.

    I am glad to hear that you attended the book blogger panel and hope that you came home with some valuable information. I was so honored to get to speak on the panel and really enjoyed it!

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  6. Thanks! The blogger appearance was a highlight of the trip. I saw the opportunity on GalleyCat and thought, why not?

    Stephanie, I thought all of you did a terrific job on the panel. It was very well organized, and it was great there was such a huge turnout. So many litbloggers all in the same room!

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  7. Hi Sarah -- that's great that somebody got a picture of our memorable guest. I wonder if she'll take any of the advice we tried so hard to give?

    Enjoyed meeting you and learning that your blog exists ... good stuff!

    -- Levi

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  8. I've left you an award on my blog because I just love yours! BEA looks like it was so great, I am going next year!

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  9. Thanks, ABW! I'll be attending next year as well; we should all try to meet up somewhere.

    Hi Levi - glad I got the chance to meet you there and learn more about your blog! Funny about our booth visitor and her questions. I'm glad there were so many people coming up to talk - I had no idea what to expect, but it was a lot of fun to take part in.

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  10. Ha! Looks like you had some of the same "memorable guests" that we did!

    But seriously, I was just so mad that I missed meeting you Sunday morning! I had no idea that BEA would be so completely exhausting and we ended up oversleeping on Sunday and not getting to Javits until after eleven. Didn't help that we were at The Strand on Saturday til almost nine. Too bad we didn't see each other, it would have been fun to get to chat! (Is the Mark in your post your husband? My hubby is a Mark, too!)

    I thought the HF books were a bit thin but did manage to get most of them. Did not end up with The Lady Queen, Secret Adventures of Charlotte Bronte or Under This Unbroken Sky but did snag the Dracula book and all of the others on your list.

    My biggest disappointment was that I failed to READ the BEA paper on Friday and so had no idea that the great DG was actually there on Friday morning, signing those little Echo in the Bone teasers. Ooohh, I was so mad at myself! She is a favorite, of course, and her tours never come up to New England where I live. Don't care so much about the preview but to get to say hello to her would have been great!

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  11. That's funny - we were at the Strand at the same time! And my husband is another Mark. I can definitely understand wanting to sleep late. That was our plan for Monday.

    I chatted with DG for a bit; it's unfortunate they didn't have the complete galleys for Echo, but she's appearing at the HNS conference in a couple weeks so I thought I would say hi. There was not much of a line... surprised me. I had just been walking by the RH booth and saw her photo posted, so I got her and Sarah Dunant's signatures at the same time.

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  12. Hi Sarah, I remember you in line for an ARC of "The Sword of Medina" and I wanted to thank you for stopping by. I love your blog, and I'm going to add the link to my website.

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  13. Hi Sherry, thanks for your comments!

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  14. It looks like it was a great time. I wish I could have been there!

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  15. The Strand ... (sigh) ... Love the photos and your commentary about BEA. Sounds like you had a great time!

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  16. I love The Strand, but it's probably a good thing I don't live in NYC. Not only would I be broke (books + rent), but I'd gain at least 20 lbs. Way too many good restaurants!

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  17. I had no idea that bloggers would have booths at BEA this year. I don't remember that from last year (although I got through only half of the exhibits, if that). Congratulations on having your work recognized and being about to spread the word about your blog.

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  18. This was a new thing this year, and it all came out very quickly. NetGalley offered 40-odd bloggers the chance to appear at their booth and do a meet-and-greet with the public. It was first-come, first-serve, and I bet if they do this next year, there'll be a lot more demand.

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