BEA 2016 Recap: Day Two

BookExpo America 2016 Day Two: May 12

Greetings, mates! I am not Australian, and I am not (okay, kind of) trying to be. Let's take a look at BEA day two, where the magic really began, and my achy breaky bag hurt ten times more than I would have liked. But that's the magic of BEA: it hurts, a lot. Make sure you bring comfortable shoes, people. I wore flats for the three days and it wasn't the best decision I could've made, even though I was sacrificing comfort for style.

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Day two of BEA was the day where I accumulated the most books, and perhaps some of the books I want to read the most from BEA. Okay, Friday was pretty amazing too, but that'll be tomorrow's post.

On Thursday, McCormick Place's exhibit hall opened earlier, at nine, so we tried to leave earlier, but of course we got caught in a little Chicago traffic. I thought I would get Replica by Lauren Oliver then, that day, since the giveaway was at 9, but my mom and I arrived 10 minutes later and missed it. THE LINE WAS CRAZY, PEOPLE WOULD LINE UP HALF AN HOUR EARLIER. I later learned the best way to wait for HarperCollins' galley drops: by waiting early. My friend Melanie (I MISS YOU), Rosie (I MISS YOU TOO!) and I learned this the hard way after trying many times. (Friday was a go!) People are literally chaotic at BEA, and although this gets frustrating sometimes, I don't like to really think about the negatives.

Sourcebooks, Capstone and people!

I honestly have to go back to my schedule and try to remember everything that was going on. Thursday was the day of Taherah Mafi (FURTHERMORE!), Jennifer Niven (HOLDING UP THE UNIVERSE!) and Ransom Riggs (TALES OF THE PECULIAR!). I couldn't wait to meet these amazing authors, and Penguin Random House had them all in their booths, signing! I must say, for the second year in a row, Penguin Random House has stolen my heart for best booth. They are so organized, have signs everywhere telling people where to go, the publicists are amazing (Enid!), they hand out information sheets with in-booth signings and there's no confusion. Thank you for that, I know I spent so much time in your booth during the three days!

I attended the BEA YA Editor's Buzz, which was fabulous just like last year's. I really want to work in the publishing industry. *cries* MY MOM GOT TO MEET DAVID LEVITHAN WHILE I WAS THERE. CRY. CRY. CRY. I made her send my best wishes out there, and she snagged a copy of The Twelve Days of Dash and Lily for me!

Hah. I remember 11:30. That was the galley drop for Stealing Snow by Danielle Paige and The Edge of Everything by Jeff Giles at the Bloomsbury booth. I got there around 11ish, and the line WAS HUGE. I started panicking that I wouldn't be able to grab a copy, and I was really hoping to because I love Danielle Paige so much. THERE WERE TONS OF COPIES AVAILABLE, THANK GOODNESS. That was amazing. Around that time, Ransom Riggs' signing was moved a little earlier from the 1:30 signing, and I rushed over to the Penguin booth, expecting a bigger line. I actually was one of the first 20 people? 

I FREAKED OUT SO HARD. I actually expected a full copy of Tales of the Peculiar, but we ended up getting a sampler. I FREAKED OUT OVER HIS ATTRACTIVENESS AND TOLD HIM HOW I LOVE HIM AND TAHERAH TOGETHER.

I love you! 

So that was a true highlight. I was the happiest person alive! Oh, and I missed another fab moment!

HECK YEAH. If you do not know who this is, then we can't be friends.

Gayle Forman is the nicest, cutest, most amazing human in the whole planet. I gushed to her about If I Stay and everything. Agh.

What else? I freaked out a little when I discovered that my two favourite YA authors were signing at the same time. AGH.

But thankfully, I had my mom with me, and at 1:00, I headed to Jennifer Niven's line, grabbed a ticket, and IT WENT BY SO FAST.

SHE'S SO BEAUTIFUL AND I FANGIRLED ABOUT HOW MUCH I CRIED IN ALL THE BRIGHT PLACES AND AHHHH!

We looked like twins with our navy blazers! *SCREAMS* I love her so much. My mom grabbed a ticket for the Taherah Mafi line and after Jennifer, I quickly headed over to that, took her place and chatted with some people and my dreams came true once again. 

Look at me going nuts!

I ended up missing the signing for Vassa in the Night because Macmillan was seriously unorganized with their in-booth signings. I honestly had no idea what was going on with Marissa Meyer and Heartless, and everything that was happening. But they were good with their galley drops, I must say!

I also loved how HarperTeen was secretive with their drops until BEA actually happened. That created more excitement for us bloggers and people!

Starbucks, once again, kept me up and ready to go with my lemonade, and I honestly feel that after that, BEA helped me keep shape. I walked three miles, for sure.

The most annoying signing of the day was Adam Silvera's signing for History is All You Left Me, but at the same time, it was so much fun because Adam cares so much about his readers and he wants to talk to us! I THINK I STOOD IN THAT LINE FOR TWO HOURS. But it's fine, hah. And I might be over-exaggerating a little. Adam was afraid that no one would show up for his signing, though! I should have snagged a photo with him. Ugh. 

Here's my YA/Adult haul! I'm a little embarrassed, but there's 90 books here. *blushes* That's what happens when you drive here and know that it's okay because you have a luggage checked in outside! I still haven't read any of the books in that pile, whoops. I'M GOING TO, ASAP.

Day two was the second most fun day out of BEA. (Friday was the best!) But at the same time, I loved each and every single day for the number of people I talked to, the time I got to spend with my mom, the books that I got to snag, the environment of McCormick and just how organized this year's conference was. I love book conferences to the moon and back.

Here's a photo of beautiful Chicagoan artwork on the streets for fun:

My back hurts again just thinking of BEA, but my heart flutters so much at the same time! What was your second day of BEA like if you were there?