Hey everybody!!!! I WENT TO BOOKEXPO 2017!!!!!! I also went last year, but this is my first time writing a recap post because last year BookExpo was during the school year and between finals + a trip to Peru immediately after school was out a BookExpo recap sort of fell through the cracks…but I’m here now!!! And boy to I have a lot to say. I’ll recap day by day.
Wednesday
I arrived in NYC on Wednesday morning bleary eyed from a very early flight. Luckily, my mom and I were miraculously able to check in to our hotel at around 10 am which is just unheard of but we were so grateful because we needed a break. Once we were ready to venture out into the city we decided to do a little shopping before taking the train to the Javits center. I got some adorable denim shorts from Zara with little neon sharks embroidered on them!!!!!!! You can find them online here.
Once we got to the Javits center we checked in and got our badges before meandering around and taking in all of the big signage! One of my favorite parts of BookExpo is keeping track of which books have big ads within the Javits center. It’s always very fun! Although the show floor wasn’t open on Wednesday the ABA lounge was and because I came to BookExpo as a representative for my local indie bookstore The Novel Neighbor we were able to check out the galleys available in the lounge. I picked up a few, but the books I was most excited to get Wednesday were as follows:
Dear Martin by Nic Stone | Expected Publication October 17th 2017
Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore | Expected Publication October 3rd 2017
After that we headed back to the hotel to catch some much needed shut eye before the following day! I did somehow squeeze in time to finish When Dimple Met Rishi (and maybe cry my eyes out).
Thursday:
Thursday we were up bright and early to get in line for some early releases. Immediately I met up with Rachel to do some schedule comparing and plan our “attack”. This was my third bookish event with Rachel and it was SO good to see her again!! Going into BookExpo I had a list of about four books for which I hadn’t been able to find any specific info about (regarding dates/times for their drops and signings). When I met up with Rachel she quickly told me that The Cruel Prince by Holly Black was dropping as soon as the doors opened (@ 9am) so we knew where we were headed first!! But alas, there were still about an hour to go in line, so I had Rachel hold my place while I went and met up with Willa + Emily. I worked with these girls on Lit Up Review and it was SO lovely to FINALLY meet them in person. I adored them both as well as our resolution to stay in better contact! Thursday was an overall great day! The books I am most excited about from Thursday (that haven’t been previously mentioned) are as follows
Everything Must Go by Jenny Fran Davis | Expected Publication October 3rd 2017 by Wednesday Books (This book was particularly exciting because I got to meet the Wednesday Books publicist and she was SO lovely to speak with).
Jane Unlimited by Kristin Cashore | Expected Publication September 19th 2017 by Kathy Dawson Books
Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart | Expected Publication September 5th 2017 by Delacorte Press
Friday:
I really reigned myself in on Friday (lol). I was still in line super early but after the There’s Someone Inside Your House drop and the Celeste Ng signing (more on that in a second) my day kinda of chilled out. BUT FIRST I got in line for Little Fires Everywhere, the sophomore novel of Celeste Ng who wrote what is currently my favorite novel Everything I Never Told You. After that my afternoon was pretty chill until Willa and I accidentally ended up in the Wonder Woman line after sort of giving up on trying to get the ARC! That was blast, followed by some amazing signings/drops at the Workman Boothe. Towards the end of the day I moseyed around a lot with Willa and Emily. We ended up running into Adam Silvera and even though I had missed his signing the day before he signed my copy of They Both Die At the End which was SOOOO nice of him. Willa and I also stumbled upon bound manuscripts of Jennifer A. Nielsen’s upcoming YA fantasy from Scholastic so stay tuned!! Overall, Friday was a wonderful day that was somehow more relaxed but also way crazier. Books I’m most excited about from Friday (that haven’t been previously mentioned) are as follows:
Be True to Me by Adele Griffen | Expected Publication June 13th 2017 by Algonquin Young Readers
Things I’m Seeing Without You by Peter Bognanni | Expected Publication October 3rd 2017 by Dial Books
This is Not a Love Letter by Kim Purcell | Expected Publication January 30th 2018 by Disney-Hyperion
I think that my favorite part about BookExpo (aside from the books) is the interacting with PEOPLE. Everyone just wants to help each other out, so I spent time holding spots in line, grabbing books for other people, sharing tickets and just overall making my best effort to be helpful. My friends did the same for me in return! It was wonderful.
I spent a couple more days in NYC before heading home and anxiously awaiting the arrival of my books. It was a long wait, but they finally arrived and I couldn’t be more excited to add them to my shelves!!!!!!!!! It was so sad to say good bye to everyone, but now we’re all back in our respective homes snuggled up with our new reads…so it’s bitter sweet?!? I’m looking forward to next year though…in the mean time stay tuned for TONS of upcoming reviews/posts.
ps look at this!!!!!
