Rather than write a bunch of boring paragraphs of what happened, I will try to sum up the key events in bullet points:
- Most of our time was spent wandering happily on the YALC floor and collecting postcards, posters, bookmarks, book samplers, tote bags and badges. I have a small pile of these things that I'm looking forward to sort through.
- I hyped up Whisper to Me by Nick Lake and managed to convince my friend to buy it which I am quite proud of because this book needs more love.
- I finally bought Kiersten White's And I Darken and Now I Rise. I had read the former but until this point I hadn't been able to get my hands on the sequel, and obviously I needed both 💚
- Generally I exhibited incredible self restraint when it came to buying things. I anticipated a lot more spending and a much bigger book haul but I'm impressed with myself for sticking to my TBR.
- I dragged my friends to a talk called Publishing 102. They were probably very bored, but publishing is an industry I have a strong interest in, and it was great to hear from people in the industry about their path to getting their jobs and what working is like.
- When we went to the Comic Con section on the floor below YALC we also did a lot of wandering. My friend and I bought 2 blocks of fudge between us and split them - one cherry flavoured and one caramel flavoured - and they were so good.
- Back on the YALC floor we sat at the back of Patrick Ness' talk. I missed some of it but he was so great and talked about some really interesting and relevant topics in YA and writing and books in general.
- Benedict Cumberbatch walked past me twice. Also Natalie Dormer. It was kind of bizarre.
- I actually met Patrick Ness! And I was weird and kind of want to erase that moment from existence but he was really nice.
- As the booksellers were packing up during the last hour of the convention, there was one stall that had reduced paperbacks to £1. And spotting the beautiful cover of Daughter of the Burning City by Amanda Foody, I had to grab it. I know nothing about it, but I had a moment of weakness and couldn't resist.
A picture of my YALC book haul only (plus the last Land of Stories book which makes this picture of my whole July book haul)
Considering I only went for the Sunday, there was a surprising amount of things to do. I can't explain how much I love being in a bookstore and just standing there, and being at YALC felt like that, only magnified (with the bonus anxiety of more people). I'm definitely going next year if I have the time, and I hope I will make time to do even more and maybe talk to some new people too.
AH, sounds like you had a wonderful time! I'm like you - not big on socializing, and I don't really like crowds, but BEA was such a blast for me this year. The atmosphere was wonderful, even if I didn't really talk to many people. I can't wait to read NOW I RISE! I loved AND I DARKEN so much, and I'm sure I'll love AND I RISE as well.
ReplyDeleteAlso yesss, Patrick Ness is a fantastic person. He oozes smarts when he talks, and he's honestly super nice. Can't wait to meet him again on his tour for his new book. :)
~ Aimal @ Bookshelves & Paperbacks
I totally I get you! BEA sounds amazing and who needs to socialise when surrounded by the wonderful atmosphere of books?! Same here with The Conquerors Saga books - I've read the first and I'm certain I'm bound to love the second!
DeletePatrick Ness is amazing. I kind of acted like I panicked idiot in front of him just because he just feels so next-level awesome? I wouldn't say I admire many people but I really admire him. I hope you have a great experience on his book tour <3
(Okay, well, this is my second time trying to write this comment so I might already have sent it? I clicked preview and it sort of...went away, so, I don't know.)
DeleteIt sounds like you had a good time, yay! i really need to read Whisper to Me. *nods* I did go down to the comic con floor but I was rather overwhelmed and couldn't find any stalls, so I just went straight back up. I wish I could have been there for the £1 books haha!
(Sorry I don't know why that happened! I'll try and see if I can get that fixed because it's happened to me on other blogs where my comment vanishes and it's really frustrating.)
DeleteWhisper to Me is a lovely book and I hope you like it when you read it :) . I definitely spent less time on the comic con floor too because of how crowded it was. Last time I covered the comic con earlier in the morning where it was nice and quiet(er) with more space to actually walk around in, but I forgot to this time and it was hectic. Also, I have a weakness for affordable books. All supposed restraint goes out of the window!