Jessie's BEA Books

Book Expo America 2016 has come and gone. It was a whirlwind of books and drinks and fun and lines and deeefinitely not enough sleep. BEA is great for a lot of reasons, but my favorite will always be getting to see/meet my blogger friends (aka exclaiming "I know you on twitter!" or wondering "do I know her on twitter?"). I cannot deny that the books and signings are fun, but the other aspects of BEA -- the Buzz Panels, Bloggercon, etc. -- are also incredible for book lovers.

I did do fairly well at BEA. It was my second year going and I was much more prepared mentally and physically. I had a list of books that I was aiming for -- these here -- and of those ten(ish) books, I only missed out on two. I found a whole slew of other new books to read, thanks to that Buzz Panel/my fellow Boozy Lady Knights' recs/etc., so it's not like I'm missing out until I can buy The Reader and The Sun Is Also A Star.

The whole collection:

Day 1:

When the Sea Turned to Silver by Grace Lin
A Deadly Affection by Cuyler Overholt
The Forgetting by Sharon Cameron
The Scourge by Jennifer A. Nielsen
The Diabolic by S.J. Kincaid
Invincible Summer by Alice Adams
A Shadow Bright and Burning by Jessica Cluess (Kingdom on Fire #1)
Ashes by Laurie Halse Anderson (Seeds of America #3)
Defending Taylor by Miranda Kenneally (traded for Poisoned Blade by Kate Elliott)
How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather
Blood for Blood by Ryan Graudin (Wolf by Wolf #2)
The Call by Peadar O Guilin
Little Deaths by Emma Flint

I was pretty excited about Blood for Blood, because Wolf by Wolf is one of Graudin's best and I've also had an ARC of her last three books. The Forgetting is also another I was very excited to get -- and I also got to have drinks with the author and almost all the Boozy Lazy Knights the first night I was in Chicago thanks to Boozy Lady Knight Lindsey (aka @bringmybooks). Diabolic sounds like a creative science fiction and one I had not even heard of before a fellow BEA-er mentioned it to me in a line for A Shadow Bright and Burning!

Here you see Ashley (@ReadandJeep), Lindsey (@bringmybooks), Laura (@LECrockett)'s glass, my arm, Dani's arm,  Gilly's arm, and Morgan if squint really hard.

Day 2:

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor (sampler + buttons)
Iron Man: The Gauntlet by Eoin Colfer (signed to me)
The Female the Species by Mindy McGinnis
Metaltown by Kristen Simmons (signed to me)
Leave Me by Gayle Forman
Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow
The Romantics by Leah Konen
The Secret Keepers by Trenton Lee Stewart
The Haters by Jesse Andrew
Mischling by Affinity Konar
Replica by Lauren Oliver (signed to me)
Aerie by Maria Dahvana Headley  (Magonia #2)
Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake
Love Warrior by Glennon Doyle Melton
The Graces by Laure Eve
Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst (signed to me)
Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi (signed)
Caraval by Stephanie Garber
The Guineveres by Sarah Domet
Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty
The Thousandth Floor by Katherine McGee


A lot of these were ones that publicists brought to my attention (Metaltown and The Romantics), or were brought to my attention because they looked like "a Jessie book" (A Deadly Affection). Gilly and Dani held down the Furthermore line for me so I could WAIT FOREVER in chatty Lauren Oliver's line (aka directly adjacent to the MacMillan Stampede) and I raced around super stealthy to grab Leave Me and a tote with Caraval, Truly, Madly, Guilty and The Guineveres -- the latter two I had not heard of before. Also Eoin Colfer tricked both me and Morgan (@morganameridius) so HARD, trolled us about being #teamcap and then laughed merrily about it. It was embarrassing awesome.

Day 2.5 aka Drinks with Mac Kids/Leigh Bardugo/Marissa Meyer/Caleg Roehrig/Kami Garcia:

Heartless by Marissa Meyer (signed to me)
Crooked Kingdom sampler (signed to me)
Last Seen Leaving by Caleb Roehrig (signed to me)
1984 by George Orwell (not sigend because that would be an impressive trick but with an ominous message inside..)

Highlights: free drinks and I had Pepsi. Ssssh. I drank enough other times. Bonding with Leigh Bardugo about how awesome the name Leigh is (it's my middle name), how awesome Flagstaff is, and how much we needed a drink. Also, later,  while sitting down chatting with B'CAW (aka @ironteethbitch) at our table (we're old and tired), Marissa Meyer just drops in for a fifteen minute chat about books, ships, fan art, and more. Another fun fact: Caleb Roehrig is goddamn delightful.

Day 3:

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco
Spare and Found Parts by Sarah Maria Griffin
Thieving Weasels by Billy Taylor (signed to me)
Spontaneous by Aaron Starmer
Gemina by Jay Kristoff & Amie Kaufman (Illuminae #2)
A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir (An Ember in the Ashes #2) (signed to me)

The fun part about this last-day-of-BEA haul is that half of it is a result of me going to the Buzz Books Panel, thanks to Gilly's (@mizgillianberry) heads-up. I had only planned to get Spare and Found Parts, Gemina, and A Torch Against the Night on day 3. But Billy Taylor, Aaron Starmer and Kerri Maniscalco made me so intensely curious about each of their new books.

I got a chance to meet three of my favorite authors -- Leigh Bardugo, Jay Kristoff, and Laini Taylor. Everyone is so approachable at BEA if you're respectful and I am so happy I finally I ran into them -- literally.


I also accumulated a lot of totes from BEA. It happens and it's definitely necessary -- ARCs are heavy and the day is loooong -- so I keep my favorites and use them. This year's totes that made the cut:

BEA is an intense, exhausting, fascinating event. I had a great time and got to know new bloggers, new librarians, and new authors and publicists. Meeting some of my favorite people for the first or second or third time, rooming and hanging out with the ladies I got to (Disney and Anastasia singalongs in realtiiiiime!) was, without a doubt, the best part of my trip to Chicago and BEA 2016.