BEA 2015 Recap: Day 1

Day 1: May 27, 2015

After honestly waiting for this experience for all of my life, IT FINALLY CAME. Really. Actually. I felt like I've been waiting to go to a HUGE book convention and event since I began blogging. No, it's not all about the free books, BUT THERE WAS ACTUALLY TEN THOUSAND other beautiful things that made this possible for me.

On a bright and early Tuesday morning (the day before) I left my house with the family and drove for eight hours all the way to the beautiful city where we stayed at: Elizabeth, New Jersey. It's only a 15 minute drive to the city (without the horrendous traffic) and from the window, you can see the city's skyline, at both day and night! I feel that arriving early was the best possible thing so I can get relaxed and prepped and still spend a day doing some sightseeing and starting to enjoy myself. (I use "and" waaaayyy too often, but there's so many things to list!)

On Wednesday morning, I woke up bright and early, believing that the wonderful staff at BEA would let everyone in early before 1 PM when the exhibits were supposed to be opened. We got there at 11 AM, 2 hours early. Hah. Mistake there! The traffic was really horrible, and we got out of the car farther from the Javits Centre, not even knowing which way to head. Thank goodness Google Maps is available for walking GPS routes! *wipes sweat off forehead*

The city skyline view from the NJ Turnpike Highway!

The Centre actually stunned me and I just wanted to run and hug the gorgeous, clean glass walls immediately. I couldn't believe that I was there! My mom (wonderful escort of mine) and I headed to pick up our badges, went to get some coffee, grabbed an issue of the Publishers Weekly published especially for BEA (which helped us with so many galley giveaways!) and went to wait in line. I even grabbed a ticket for JLA's signing of Lux: Consequences, but never ended up going to that because I already had that book at home. In line, I met 2 new friends: Ope @ Ope's Opinions and Kristin @ Kritters Ramblings! I'm SO DUMB for not taking a photo with you ladies! 

The line to get into the exhibits!

The staff finally let us in at 1 PM sharp, and I headed straight to the Macmillan booth to get a ticket for Truthwitch by Susan Dennard, probably my most anticipated read for BEA itself. I SHOULD'VE RAN THERE OR GOT THERE FASTER. Of course, I got distracted by the Hachette booth and wanted to get some galleys! By the time I got to Macmillan, they ran out of tickets and the line was HUUUUGGE. I honestly don't know how people got there so fast. 

Penguin Book Truck! Prices were exactly like bookstores...?

I mean, yeah, I was disappointed, but I actually couldn't even predict what was ahead of me. That day, I headed to most of the booths, got to know the galley schedules and see what they have in store for us. Little did I know that I'D BRING SO MANY BOOKS HOME. WHY DIDN'T I CHECK-IN A LUGGAGE? Here's a tip: Even if it's a half-day, you should definitely check-in a luggage, even if you don't get to fill up half of it. It sure helps instead of having to lug eight bags with you like a true New Yorker, having to walk a few blocks to your destination!

I can say that I was nervous the first day. I met Amy Ewing, one of my favourite authors of The Jewel, and I was in fangirl-freakout mode. And then we all have to remember the amount of totes we're all carrying and the amount of people. I thought that there were a lot of people there on day one... That's nothing even close. 

Illuminae stairs! SO COOL.

Did I mention that the Starbucks was crazily overpriced? Get your drinks before if you'd like to grab something at the start of the day! But hey, there were always tons of people buying beverages...

At the end of the day, I was so tired. UGH. I left the building at 4:30, had to walk a few streets and blocks, with a lot of bags on hand. Thanks to the fantastic, humid weather that NYC had in store this time around, I was sweating tons, and you can picture the story. 

In the Centre. HUGE, YES?!

Well I feel like bawling. THAT DAY WAS A TRUE SUCCESS. All I needed after that was a day at the spa, but I didn't care. Shoulders hurting? Yes. Fun? Yes. See the awesomeness? I'll do whatever it takes to have a great time with bookish people around. WOOT. I know you're ready to see my Day 1 haul, hehe! Here it is: (at least I tried to remember which were from which day)

50 BOOKS! YAY!

Sorry friends, but these are too many to list. Check them out on Goodreads, as I'll begin to add them to my TBR! YA is on the left, and adult is on the right, by the way!

I ALSO MET CASSIE MCGINTY, AN ASSOCIATE PUBLICIST AT PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE! I've known her for a looong time, and I literally teared up when I met her at the These Shallow Graves signing for Jennifer Donnelly! <3 br="">

ASDFGHIKL! I had an amazing time, and it was only DAY ONE! What was your first impression of BEA if you went this year! Kudos to the publishers that were awesome at organizing things: Macmillan, Simon and Schuster and Penguin! YAY!