After taking a year off from BEA (remember last year when they were silly and decided to have the conference in Chicago lol), I was so excited for BEA to come back home to New York. Usually, BEA is a bit of a solitary experience for me as I either attend alone or go with my librarian friend but we do our own thing unless something overlaps and then we come back together towards the end of each day. But since the last BEA that I attended in 2015, I joined a critique group… and you can imagine my excitement when I learned that many of us would be in the city for the conference. Writers pour their hearts and souls into their manuscripts, so to meet these lovely people in person (the majority of which for the very first time) after so much deep rooted back and forth, well, words can’t describe how amazing that felt.
I met a handful of my CPs from the group, names you may recognize from our blog, Writer’s Block Party including Meg, Kat (check out her vlogs and 88 Cups of Tea podcast interview!), Christine, Ashley, and Amanda Foody whose debut novel, DAUGHTER OF THE BURNING CITY will be published by Harlequin TEEN/Harper Collins on July 25, 2017.
Amanda had one signing at BEA and one signing at Book Con and since I skipped out on Book Con, I couldn’t wait to show my support right before she signed away on Friday morning. We were so excited to be her cheerleaders and I can’t wait to do it all again at her book launch in July and get my very own shiny hardcover copy signed! That reminds me, I need to get my own mini bookcase just for my CPs! If you’re in the tri-state area or nearby, you should definitely mark your calendar for a July 25th date to PA for her book launch! Details are coming soon, so be sure to follow Amanda!
Aside from my CPs, I was over the moon excited about attending the signing of Katherine Locke, whose first YA novel, The Girl With the Red Balloon releases September 1, 2017 from Albert Whitman & Company. Back when I was a literary intern at The Bent Agency, I had the pleasure of reading this manuscript and it was absolutely phenomenal and already 5 stars back then so I can’t even imagine what the published version will be like. Of Katie’s four books, this is by far my favorite! Pre-order this book so that you can read it ASAP and we can fangirl!
I also ran into Lindsay Cummings whose career I’ve been following long before her debut novel, The Murder Complex was released so it was very exciting to finally meet her and congratulate her on all of her success! She’s now a NYT Bestselling Author and you can pre-order her upcoming book, Zenith which she co-wrote with her best friend (who just so happens to be a really big deal in the booktube community), Sasha Alsberg (I also met Sasha and both are just as sweet and lovely as their personas).
But I suppose you’re really here about the books? So. For those unfamiliar with BEA, BEA is Book Expo America. It’s a conference for industry professionals and press so it is closed to the public. Book Con, which takes place after BEA is open to the public. While ARCs (advanced review copies) are given out at Book Con, the majority of the ARCs are reserved for BEA. As a blogger, this is a great opportunity for me to pick up some of my most anticipated upcoming releases in one fell swoop and get a head start on my review schedule. So stay tuned for book reviews of most of the titles listed below as well as giveaways on Twitter and Instagram!
I’ve already read and scheduled my reviews for the two graphic novels that I picked up (Pashmina by Nidhi Chanani and Spinning by Tillie Walden) and my first full length novel read from this book haul is The Awkward Path to Getting Lucky by Summer Heacock which I’m really enjoying! I’ve been following Summer’s writing journey for years so it was really awesome to finally meet Summer and be able to show my support in person. I picked up most of the books that I set out to get (yay Dear Martin and Warcross!) though I’m super bummed I wasn’t able to snag The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton. 2018 is so far away. Ahh! Alas, it’s just awesome to be at BEA in the first place so I’m very grateful for the whole experience.
Okay, here we go! All titles are YA (Young Adult) releases and/or 2017 releases unless otherwise noted. Yay for half of my haul being diverse titles (couldn’t have said that in any previous year). Note that day two’s book haul was light as I was much more social that day and not standing in autograph lines all day long. Again, shout out to my CPs! You rock!
The Book Haul
Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo (Adult)
Love, Hate, & Other Filters by Samira Ahmed (2018 Release)
The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert (2018 Release)
Solo by Kwame Alexander with Mary Rand Hess
All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders (2016 Release, Adult)
Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo
Girls Made of Snow & Glass by Melissa Bashardoust
The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin (2018 Release, Adult)
Roar by Cora Carmack
Pashmina by Nidhi Chanani
Forest of A Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao
Remember Yesterday by Pintip Dunn (2016 Release)
Be True To Me by Adele Griffin (I totally fangirled when I met her.)
Slayers & Vampires: The Complete Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Buffy & Angel by Edward Gross & Mark A. Altman (Adult, Nonfiction)
The Awkward Path to Getting Lucky by Summer Heacock (Adult)
Berserker by Emmy Laybourne
The Girl With the Red Balloon by Katherine Locke
Warcross by Marie Lu
The World of Tomorrow by Brendan Mathews (Adult)
Fablehaven by Brandon Mull (2006 Release, Middle Grade)
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng (Adult)
Unraveling Oliver by Liz Nugent (Adult)
Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor (2017 Reissue)
Shadowhouse Fall by Daniel José Older
Null States by Malka Older
Ringer by Lauren Oliver
When I Cast Your Shadow by Sarah Porter
Bonfire by Krysten Ritter (Adult)
As You Wish by Chelsea Sedoti (2018 Release)
They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera
The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives by Dashka Slater
Dear Martin by Nic Stone
Click’d by Tamara Ireland Stone (Middle Grade)
Spinning by Tillie Walden
So that’s how my BEA went down. I kept it very simple this year and I also met for the first time some really awesome people who I’ve known and adored for years, so my BEA was very intimate and sweet. I didn’t stay in the city since I live in NJ and I’m staying on a tight budget right now (as I’ll be moving back to LA later this year) but I still had the time of my life. I can’t wait for an encore which maybe sooner than you think! I’m planning on attending ALA in Chicago later this month with my CP group and there are going to be even more of us there (still not ALL of us but more of us) and and and and another one of us will be signing there (Axie Oh will be signing her debut, Rebel Seoul) so I AM VERY EXCITED. Stay tuned for ALA coverage!
What 2017 books are you anticipating? If you went to BEA, what was your favorite part about this year?