Merry Wanderer of the Night [Search results for book expo america] 

On Thursday, I'm hopping on a plane to NY to attend BEA (Book Expo America) for the first time. I can't tell you how excited I am to have this opportunity to meet some amazing authors and finally get a chance to meet some of the wonderful book bloggers I've been following and tweeting with over the past year and a half! In addition, I'll finally get to meet some of the amazing publicists I've worked with over the years.

Some things I'm really looking forward to:

Friday

• From 2-3 pm I will be one of over 40 bloggers at the Firebrand Technologies booth (#4077). If you are coming to BEA, stop by and see me! Be sure to bring your business cards! Visitors to the booth will be entered to win a Sony Reader! Click here for a list of book bloggers that will be signing.
  

• Friday night is the BEAtweetup, which is the "unauthorized, unofficial, and entirely necessary Tweet-Up for Book Expo America 2009, complete with music, dancing, Belvedere Vodka literary themed cocktails, and Bookish Tweeps from all corners of the universe." Over 400 bookish people will be in attendance (plus there's a waiting list!)
  

Saturday

• I will be interviewing Neil Jones, inventor of COOL-ER, the elegant and affordable e-Reader. Any questions you'd like answered?

• Book Blogger's Panel. Six talented book bloggers will discuss how bloggers, publishers, and booksellers can work better together. If you can't attend BEA, you can call in and listen to the panel via Blog Talk Radio.

Amy from My Friend Amy
Beth from Beth Fish Reads
Dawn from She is Too Fond of Books
Julie from Booking Mama
Natalie from Maw Books
Stephanie from The Written Word

I'm attempting to learn how to post via my blackberry, so check back later in the week for BEA updates!

Despite the long and stressful day I had on Thursday, I still awoke bright and early at 4:15 am so I could join a bunch of other book bloggers who stood in line for tickets to author signings.

When we checked in to the hotel, we were informed that the city was working on the sewer system, and hot water wouldn't be available until after 4 am. I'm an eternal optimist and assured myself that I'd be able to hop in the shower at 4:15 am and the hot water would be available. Once again, I was wrong. Nothing but cold water! Needless to say, after my very quick shower, I was awake and invigorated.

We arrived at the Javits Center around 5:30 and stood in line for author signing tickets. My goal was to get a tickets for the Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins and Little Bird of Heaven by Joyce Carol Oates. Luck was on my side...tickets were obtained.

After getting breakfast at a local diner, it was finally time for the exhibit hall to open. The ribbon was cut and I walked in to a book lovers heaven! Rows and rows of publishers, "bookish" vendors, you name it. I finally had a chance to meet Miriam from Hachette after working with her for over a year now!

Finally it was time for my first ticketed author signing. First up, Joyce Carol Oates. Now, I have to admit, I didn't really look at the author signing schedule before arriving in NY. After getting my signed copy of Little Bird of Heaven, I had to rush upstairs for my book blogger signing at the Firebrand booth. I was impressed at the number of people interested in book bloggers and what we did, and spent an hour answering their questions. I was pleasantly surprised when Shane Briant, author of The Worst Nightmare stopped by to introduce himself. I will be reviewing his book (and hosting a giveway) in the next month. I also finally got to meet Tyler from Scholastic Books-an amazing resource and overall great guy!

Immediately after my signing was Suzanne Collins' author signing, so I literally ran across the exhibit hall and downstairs to the signing area. I was dismayed at the seemingly endless line, but it moved quickly and I obtained my signed copy.

I remained in the author signing area for several hours, and got to meet Melissa Marr, Sarwat Chadda, Luis Alberto Urea and his wife, Cindy (who both squealed in delight when I told them who I was!).

Late that afternoon, I met with Emily from Sourcebooks. My family has always been a fan of the books Sourcebooks publishes (expecially Horrid Henry!) so I was thrilled to sit down and talk with Emily about ways that we can work together.

By this time I was exhausted. I'd slept for a mere 3 hours the night before and had been on my feet for several hours. But the night wasn't close to being over!

After a quick trip back to the hotel for dinner (complimentary due to the lack of hot water!) we went to the BEAtweetup, the first Tweet up for Book Expo America. It was packed with bookish people, of all types, including publicists, authors, etc. Here I met Valerie Russo from Hachette, Frasier and the GetGlue gang, Bethanne Patrick (aka Bookmaven) and many many other great people!

The night was still young, so we jumped in a cab and went to a Kidlit party. I met some great YA authors, which I was exceedingly happy about because I'm interesting in expanding my reviews to YA fiction.

The night came to an end and after returning to the hotel, I quickly succumbed to a deep sleep...

Awhile ago I announced that I planned on reading all of my humongous Montaigne essay collection in 2011. The year tends to start more in February for me than January, because January is my birthday month so I'm never on a "normal" schedule. I'm planning on updating the Montaigne reading list later today so you can follow along with what I'm reading if you so choose. I'll post my thoughts about the essays I read every Monday along with some questions about them. EDIT: The new schedule is now available online.

I bought a few books recently that I'm really excited about. The first is Reading Jackie: Her Autobiography in Books

, which is about Jackie Kennedy Onassis and her career as a book editor. I heard about this book in December on Books On the Nightstand and wanted it immediately because I love biographies and I think biography in books sounds like the best kind of biography. I also got House of Leaves

due to a superb recommendation from my friend Marleen. The book looks super bizarre but I can't wait to read it, which is unfortunate because I don't think I'll get to it until Spring Break. I bought Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd

on a whim while perusing the newly arranged Young Adult section at the Barnes and Noble in my mall. It's a story collection including stories and art from M.T. Anderson, Libba Bray, David Levithan, Bryan Lee O'Malley, Scott Westerfeld, and several others.

Today I'm catching up on some reading and doing a little homework. Jason and I are also recording a new podcast for Green Reads. I'm talking about a book I'm super enthusiastic about, Farmer Jane: Women Changing The Way We Eat

and Jason is talking about The 1,000-Year Flood: Destruction, Loss, Rescue, and Redemption along the Mississippi River

. Keep your eyes peeled for that so you can hear about these great books!

Is anyone else going to Book Expo America this year? I'm going and I'm still looking for a roommate if anyone is interested-- let me know!

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

I'm taking a little advice from Reagan at Miss Remmers' Review today and announcing my trip to New York. BookExpo America and the Book Blogger Convention are less than two weeks away, which is so hard to believe. I booked my hostel, ordered my plane tickets, and bought my entrance to the expo back in February but I haven't thought about it too much because I have been so busy with school and work. Now it's right around the corner and I'm running around trying to figure out what I need to take!

For those of you who don't know, BookExpo America is the largest publishing trade show in the United States. It takes place once a year and lately it's been in New York City. At the end of the week there is a Book Blogger Convention where bloggers from all across the country come to meet and talk about what we love: blogging. There will be authors, publishers, booksellers and the like there to talk about what they do and what they have coming up in the next year.

This is my first time going to BEA but I'll have the lovely ladies I met at the Twin Cities Book Festival there. Kim from Sophisticated Dorkiness, Sheila from Book Journey, and Reagan have all been super helpful with tips on what to expect. I'm a little nervous because this is the first trip I've ever planned and taken on my own, but I'm also really excited!

Are you going to BEA this year? If you are we should meet! Email me at englishmajorjunkfood (AT) yahoo (DOT) com if you want to exchange phone numbers or contact information. Or if you're going and just want to say hey leave a comment. What I'm most looking forward to at BEA is meeting other bloggers in real life--and that includes you! This is what I look like if you're trying to find me:

Keep in mind I am six feet tall, so I will probably stick out a bit. I usually do. My name is Ash. I bold this because some people out there will ask me if my name is Ashley. You are reading this right now and so you will not have to ask me if I go by Ash or Ashley. You will know already that I go by Ash and that it's really best to leave it at that. And yes, I've heard the Pokemon joke already. Okay, moving on...

I arrive in New York on Tuesday and leave on Saturday. Especially let me know if you come in on Tuesday as well!

Please let me know if you'll be at BEA as well so I can get excited about meeting you!

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading This Week? This is a weekly event to list the books completed last week, the books currently being reading, and the books to be finish this week. It was created by J.Kaye's Book Blog, so stop by and join in!

Books Completed Last Week- I added a few books to my "to read" list for this week!

The Angels of Destruction, by Keith Donohue (click for my review)
Fault Line, by Barry Eisler (click for my review)
The Tablet of My Heart by Elizabeth Walker
The Last Queen by C.W. Gorner
Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith
The Way Home by George Pelecanos

Books Currently Reading

The Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson (audiobook-one disk left, absolutely amazing)
The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith

Books to Complete this Week-I'm headed to BEA (Book Expo America) on Thursday, but I'm still going to try to finish up this list!

Blood Bayou by Karen Young
Far Bright Star by Robert Olmstead
Shanghai Girls by Lisa See (check back next week for a giveaway!)
The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan
Ghost Writer by Travis Thrasher
Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers by Angie Fox

Looks like I have another busy week ahead!

So, what are you reading this week?

I'm on the train headed home from NY and BEA (Book Expo America). I opted for the quiet car on the train, needed time to reflect and absorb the entire weekend.

This was my first trip to BEA. I'd seen write-ups on past BEAs and thought I had a general understanding of what to expect. Boy, was I wrong!

My trip to NY was downright horrid. I decided to fly up to NY rather than taking train. We were experiencing thunderstorms in the DC area and air traffic control shut down all air traffic. My flight was supposed to depart at 5 pm and didn't depart until almost nine. To make things worse, we weren't even sitting in the airport. We were in the plane, stuck on the tarmac, waiting in line to take off. Over an hour passed and they started letting planes take off. Of course, half of our plane was filled with passengers with connections. They were no longer going to make these connections and requested that they be returned back to the gate. So, our plane gets out of line and slowly returns to the gate to allow people to get off. Luckily, we're able to get back to our spot in line and take off three hours after we were scheduled.

Now, I must mention, Trish from Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'? was waiting for me at JFK. She and I were roomies for the duration of BEA. Originally, had my plane been on time, she would have only had to wait around 30 minutes for my plane to arrive. Instead, she waited at the airport for 5 hours! So I wanted to thank her again for waiting for me!

Ok, so I get to JFK, meet up with Trish, and then we board a shuttle to Manhattan. Have you seen The Harry Potter Order of the Phoenix movie? Remember the really scary bus driver, who zoomed all throughout London, barely avoiding several severe accidents? Well, I think that was our bus driver! He drove at speeds that exceeded, in my opinion, the safest speed for a bus of that size.

We arrived at our hotel around midnight, and hit the sack relatively early because we had plans to head to the Javits center to pick up a few author signing tickets. While my travel experience to NY was less than desireable and I was beyond exhausted, it was difficult for me to fall asleep, knowing what I was about to experience the following day...