Monday, May 22, 2006

Book Expo

I posted about Book Expo over at Pop.

And now for post that is more teen lit/ kid lit in nature. So sit back and enjoy the squee.

I met Lara M. Zeises!!! With Lara was the very nice Laura Bowers (who has a YA book coming out next year) and thanks to the two of them I got a prime space in line to get not 1, not 2, but THREE books signed by Meg Cabot.

I got The Boy Book signed by e. lockhart. As an aside, I'm never know whether to not to mention my blog when I meet authors. I did mention it to e and she remembered my review of Fly On The Wall, which was way cool, but then I felt guilty about holding up the line of people wanting to get books signed so didn't chat any more than that.

David Levithan was there; now, as an aside, Carlie W. adores David and could not be at the author signing so Melissa and I went and waited in line; and the rule is one book per person, which meant that we could get one book for Carlie and the other book -- well, it wouldn't be pretty. And when we explained our dilemma to David, he signed the ARC for Carlie and also signed one for Melissa and one for me, so that we had two books for one person. So I have a signed wide awake.

Other autographed books: Rick Riordan's The Sea of Monsters;
and Catherine Gilbert Murdock's Dairy Queen;
an anniversary copy of Bunnicula for Skaterboy;
Gail Carson Levine's Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg for Queen Lucy;
and Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You for Christine's daughter (yes, I picked up things for my godson also, but not anything signed).

In total, I picked up over 60 ARCs and books. I love them all; some are going to other people; and I do hope to read as many as possible. That said, and not repeating any books already mentioned, the ARCs I am putting to the top of the pile are:

Storm Thief by Chris Wooding, because I adore everything he writes. I don't even know what it's about; I haven't even flipped the book over to read the back.
Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith, because I've been following the progress on her blog so am eager to read it.
How to Ruin A Summer Vacation by Simone Elkeles, from Flux, yes, Brian, I did stop by and what an awesome tote bag!! I got How To Ruin... signed. Yay. Simone was very friendly, as were the other Flux people.
The Mislaid Magician, or Ten Years Later, by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer, the new Sorcery & Cecelia book. (edited to change mermaid to mislaid because I was in a rush, but c'mon, Mermaid Magician would also be a cool name for a book!)
Vampyrates by Justin Somper, because best. title. ever.
The Loud Silence of Francine Green by Karen Cushman, because I love Cushman's work, even tho I'm afraid of how the church is going to be depicted.
An Abundance of Katherines by John Green, because hello, John Green.
Ophelia by Lisa Klein, because I love retellings.
Bread and Roses, Too by Katherine Paterson because it's Katherine Paterson.
and Shannon Hales' latest, River Secrets. Because I loved Princess Academy.

While waiting in line for Bunnicula to get signed, I spotted Cecil Castellucci. But was way too chicken to actually approach her and say something normal like "hi, I love your books".

I've been reading various blogs about BEA, and I'm not seeing any other kid lit bloggers. My advice for next year: go!!

9 comments:

Kelly said...

Very, very cool, Liz! Thanks for reporting. Maybe I'll try to go next year. I'm on sabbatical!

christine M said...

Liz, sounds like you had a blast - and Katie is absolutely going to love the signed books. She loves that series. Stephen loves Roald Dahl right now - but it would be tough to get him to sign something.

Liz B said...

The other things that I picked up that Stephen & Katie can decide who gets what: an uncorrected proof of Key Lardo, the latest Chet Gecko mystery from Bruce Hale; Signed copy of The Snow Spider by Jenny Nimmo, who did the charlie bone books; and book 4 of a series by Dan Greenburg, the fall of the house of mandible; and clementine by sara pennypacker.

Little Willow said...

Woo! Sounds like much fun. :)
Envy your ARCs. Envy.
Cecil is so sweet.

Brian Farrey said...

You were near my David? Did you give him my love?

Liz B said...

little willow, I just whispered to my friends "do you know who that is" but didn't say anything and I know I should have.

brian, i considered throwing myself at him and giving him your love, shouting, "this is from brian", but I think I would have been thrown out of Book Expo.

christine M said...

the books for the kids sound great! I'm so jealous that you got to go look at all that great book stuff. Maybe, I will go with you next year!

Unknown said...

Hi Liz, I was at BEA and I'm sorry I missed you! Wasn't it great? I'm a little late getting my BEA reports on my blog, but am getting them up there now. Next year if we can get enough Kids Lit bloggers there, maybe we can have a get-together!

Liz B said...

Sheila, as I read your reports I keep thinking that we had to be in the same area at the same times!

Definately a Kids Lit Blogger event next year!