This is the really final post on Book Expo America (BEA) and the Book Blogger Convention (BBC). I need to start writing all these reviews of the Kate Daniels books because these are ones I really want to talk about (so much that I will most likely also write a separate series review after the individual book reviews – I finished Magic Bleeds last night and so desperately want more).
After writing about what occurred at BEA and BBC, I just wanted to write something more personal on the week. The rundown on what happened at the two events are in three posts:
The highlight for me was definitely meeting so many people I have talked to online. Waiting in line was so much more fun when there were other people to talk to and you could do things like argue over whether or not you should ever read the end of the book first (no, you should not!). Plus it was just so much fun to be able to discuss some of your mutual favorite books in person. I met some awesome people while I was there:
- Anastasia, who doesn’t have a blog for me to link to but has excellent taste in books and was kind enough to let me stay with her so I didn’t have to pay for an expensive hotel – Thank you!!
- Ana and Thea from The Book Smugglers
- Angie from Angieville
- Janice from Janicu’s Book Blog
- Kenda from Lurv a la Mode
- Heather from Age 30+ Books (who liked A Companion to Wolves too, yay!)
- Mandi from Smexy Books
- Christine from The Happily Ever After
- Charlotte from Lusty Reader
- Amy from My Friend Amy
The people I met definitely made it worthwhile because if not for that, I would have probably wished I had saved my money to go to an actual speculative fiction convention like Readercon (whose guests include Elizabeth Bear, N. K. Jemisin and Catherynne Valente – who was at BEA but not signing, and yes, I’ve seen her before, but she was awesome, so I don’t care). There are two reasons for this:
1. Not enough speculative fiction books
Book Expo America had lots of books, but I was disappointed in the lack of speculative fiction that was not young adult. Young adult was everywhere and I ended up with nearly twice as many young adult books as fantasy and science fiction. It’s not that I don’t enjoy reading young adult – authors such as Kristin Cashore, Laini Taylor and Megan Whalen Turner are some of my more recent favorite discoveries. And the YA books I got at BEA look pretty good, too. I just would have liked to have seen more just plain old speculative fiction, though, so I could at least even out the ratio of YA to non-YA books.
2. Not enough authors I’d read
This may be at least partially related to the above as well as not being the most voracious reader in the world, but I was really hoping to be able to get a book signed by an author I’ve admired. Once the schedule was released in April, I looked over it eagerly to see who would be there and found two authors I’d read – and I didn’t enjoy either one of their books. They were books I actually disliked, not even just ones I just lacked enthusiasm for. So I was sad. A small number of the authors were on my TBR so I picked up a book by one of them I expected to enjoy – Poison Study by Maria Snyder. I did indeed enjoy it and was hoping to get a copy of Inside Out but guess which line at BEA was the most disorganized long mess of crazy I saw the whole time? Yes, that one. Maria Snyder was signing one other book, but I opted for the Deanna Raybourn signing instead since Snyder’s other book was a few books into a series I haven’t read. Oh well, I am sure I will discover some new authors with the books I did got and will be happy I have pretty signed copies once I read them.
Of course, Readercon also does not have a Book Blogger Convention, which was very well organized and also fun. I did come away from it feeling like I hadn’t learned anything new, but it was interesting to listen to the different discussions and viewpoints (although it did seem as if most people in the panels tended to agree with each other – the only major difference of opinion I can remember is the stats argument). Overall, I found it enjoyable and was glad I had the opportunity to attend, though.
Now I will return to reviewing – next up will be a review of Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews followed by Servant of a Dark God by John Brown. The next three books in the review queue are Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder, Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews and Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews. (So I had a bit of an Ilona Andrews kick and just might have to read The Edge and Silent Blade sooner rather than later.)
