As you know BEA (Book Expo America) was May 30th to June 1st in NYC and if you have ever been you know its three days of pure crazyiness.
Like most bloggers who attend BEA they kind of make a list of their must pick up books. I am no exception and I basically was scouring every inch of the internet to find out what was going to be available this year at BEA.
Today I thought I would share with you my top ten list of books that I was hoping to get at BEA but didn’t (insert sad face here). If anyone happens to have duplicates or they don’t want them I would be willing to pay for shipping, just leave me a comment with your email and I will get back to you.
In no particular order here they are:
Did any of these make it on your list? Did you get any of them?
copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.
Its hard to believe that this time last week I was in NYC attending BEA (Book Expo America).
This was my third time attending and for some reason I was a little more confident then I was the previous two times I went. But its still a very overwhelming experience.
This year BEA switched up the dates for the show and I have to say that it actually worked to my advantage because I took the train down on Memorial Day weekend. I arrived Sunday evening and that allowed me three days to do some stuff that I wanted to do in NYC such as some sight seeing and shopping. It was nice because I didn’t real rushed or like I was missing anything.
I decided to pick up my badge on the day of Book Blogger Con and it was such an easy process. Not much of a wait in line and everyone was so nice and friendly during the process.
I just have to say that I think they always hire the nicest and friendliest people.
The night before BEA was to open to us I was super excited and nervous. This year I decided to forgo the author breakfasts for both the adult and children just because I wanted to experience being on the floor as the doors open.
From previous years I was told that their was alot of pushing and shoving to get in and I have to say that I never witnessed that and it was so much fun being in amongst everyone. It was a great feel and great energy in the crowd.
I have to say that checking my suitcase in for a small fee was so worth it. Since I live in Canada shipping books back is very expensive. I learned from my second year going not to ship from Javitis.
This year I have to say I did see alot of difference that happened. The autographing section seemed to be a little bit more organized and I think that its a learning experience and I am sure next year will be even better. The only thing I have to say is the in-booth signings need a little work because it was hard to figure out who you were going to get in line for and it was also a little hard to get down the aisles because of the line.
This year I decided to take advantage of using my online agenda a little bit more then in previous years just because its so easy to lose your millions of papers that you print before going. So that it was very handy and I was able to see what was going on when.
I always find it breath taking to see the exhibit floor from upstairs. Its so huge and its so nice to see so many exhibitors show casing their books. The layout is always fantastic although this year they really spaced out the big publishing houses.
I think the only suggestion I have would be if they could provide more seating in a corner somewhere so that you can take a few minutes to rest without having to sit on the floor. Several times I had to find a corner to sit in because I was exhausted.
Can I just say thank god for shuttle buses…they were a blessing at the end of the day for me. I would walk to Javitis in the morning to wake up but come the end of the day you need a lift back to your hotel. Isn’t that right bloggers?
Not sure if you have thought of this but I think it would be awesome if you made up little bags for the attendees. A cheap little BEA tote bag, plus the books that you pick up with all the info about BEA and who is there etc.
Over all I have to say that I had a fantastic time at BEA and I can’t wait to go again. Thank you to BEA for hosting this fantastic event and for allowing me to be part of it for my third year. Looking forward to seeing you all in 2014, 2015 and perhaps 2016 in Chicago.
copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.
This morning I got up early with Sheila to head to the Javitis to pick up my badge while Sheila was going to attend the Blogger Conference something that I don’t attend.
Inside the Javitis I saw these:
Its the Diary of a Wimpy Kid van. I am kicking myself because I meant to get back to this to check it out but never did.
I was so thrilled when I saw this Louise Penny banner. Louise Penny is a local author here in Quebec and I have been lucky enough to attend one of her signings here in Montreal and was really bummed that I didn’t get to see her at BEA.
As you can see it was a kind of over cast day. I was a little disappointed because the Javitis is usually more festive for BEA. There was no huge banner outside announcing the expo.
The only thing was this:
I think the flashing billboard is new this year. It was so funny because when I first stepped out of the Javitis it was showing this, I literally had to stand on the street for like 10 minutes before it flashed back to this.
Today would be my last day to sight see and to shop before the craziness of BEA started. After picking up my badge I quickly went back to the hotel to drop it off along with a few booklets I picked up when I registered.
Before heading back to the hotel I had to snap these pictures:
I love seeing these huge billboards outside the Javitis each year.
All my shopping up until today has been for myself so today I was going to devote my shopping to Michael.
He had only three requests for me and those were to get him:
New York flat brim hat
Two containers of pick a brick from the lego store. Sadly they didn’t have the ones he wanted so he told me to pick what I wanted. I also got him some various small pouch lego kits and mini figures.
The Story Cubes is what I picked up at another store for Michael.
I saw this cute picture frame lego kit and I knew Michael would love it. I told him that one day when we go to NYC as a family we will put our picture in it.
Finally the last thing Michael asked for was:
No trip to NYC would be complete without a stop to the M&M store. I picked up two bags of assorted M&Ms, these cute M&Ms in an apple shape container that says I heart NY, a key chain for me because I love NY along with two mugs that were on sale.
I would have loved to stay in Time Square to look around but it was raining a bit and I wanted to get back to the room to rest and fresh up because I would be attending a publisher party that evening and also because there was a ton of kids on a field trip there.
So check back a little later when I will talk about the publisher party I attended.
copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.
It was another morning that I was up once again at 5:30am. I seriously think the reason I am up so early is because there is an ice/water machine right outside the door that keeps going off at all hours of the night.
I stayed in bed and read for awhile and then decided since it looked like it was going to be a nice day I got up and showered, tidied up the room because Sheila ( http://bookjourney.wordpress.com/ ) was going to be arriving today. I was so excited to finally see her again.
I have to say that the breakfasts at Hampton Inns are always so good. They always have a great selection of food to pick from. Although I have to say my staples for the week were basically a glass of milk, yogurt, oatmeal, banana and tea. One morning they did have maple sausage which was delicious.
Since I had a few hours before Sheila was going to arrive I decided that I was going to go and do some sight seeing. I didn’t want to over due it with the walking since the day before I was walking all over the place.
In regards to Kathy’s comment yesterday about the subway. I have nothing against it but personally for me I find that whole system so confusing and I have a fear of getting lost. The episode of Jessie keeps coming to mind when Emma has to go to Battery Park to do a multiculture project for school and they get lost taking the wrong trains.
See here in Montreal we have a simply metro system:
So for me I don’t mind walking in NYC because you get to see so much more.
I decided to walk a few streets up from Time Square because this was an area I haven’t been to and really wanted to. It was so nice to see Radio City Music Hall and I spotted Mr Liberty across the street. I have seen him in Battery Park previous years.
I have always wanted to see this and I have to admit I was happy that I actually stumbled up on this in my journey today. Granted I had to wait awhile to get this picture because there was a ton of people getting their picture taken there.
After walking around for awhile I decided to grab lunch and head back to the hotel to wait for Sheila to come in and thankfully I had perfect timing because it started to rain, well actually it was pouring.
I felt bad for Sheila because she got caught in the down pour.
After Sheila got dried off we braved the elements of the weather and headed to Serendipity to meet up with Kate and Pam. Kate texted me earlier in the day asking if I would be interested in meeting up. I was super excited because I have never been before and have been wanting to go.
Thankfully Sheila and I were able to grab a cab because it was pouring and honestly you don’t want to be walking that far in the rain.
We didn’t have too long to wait roughly 20 minutes. Once we were seated we were handed these huge menus:
I think most of us knew what we were going to order:
The famous Frozen Hot Chocolates. These drinks were huge. I had an early lunch so I was a little hungry but even I couldn’t finish the drink off. I have to say that it was really good but probably not something I would drink on my own again.
Since I was a little hungry I order the cheese cake but after a few bites I regretted it. I didn’t really like the taste of it and this probably won’t be ordered again.
After we were all done we parted ways with Kate and Pam. Thankfully we were able to grab a cab because it was still raining and in the cab Sheila and I decided that we were going to go to Yum Yum Too for supper. Its a cute little Thai restaurant that was near our hotel.
I know you would think that after all that we would be full but honestly I was hungry for food. This was a great restaurant and I would go back again to try more of their menu.
After that we headed back to the hotel to chill for the evening because the Book Blogger Conference is the next day. I was going but wanted to go with Sheila to grab my badge.
copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.
This was officially my first day in NYC. (May 27th, 2013)
I thought that I would have slept in just a little bit considering that I didn’t get much sleep the night before but nope I was wide awake and ready to go at 5:30am. I did manage to take it easy for a bit and I unpacked and got things ready for the day.
On the way down I decided that I was going to do some shopping and that would include heading down town to The Strand and Housing Works, then stopping and going into various drug stores, Sephora, Barnes & Noble and then a grocery store.
Thankfully I still had my directions to the Strand and Housing works from last year. Now if you know me I hate taking the NYC subway so I avoid that like the plague and walked all the way there. Yes you read that right I literally walked all the way there and then back to my hotel.
The first stop was:
Last year when we went it was pouring rain but thankfully this year it was a beautiful cool morning. I got there a little early and walked across the street to grab a juice and to sit and wait until it opened. Thankfully the wait was that long and it only took me roughly 45 minutes to get there. I did get a little side tracked along the way but it was all good.
Of course I coudn’t leave the Strand without buying something so I picked up this cute Kate Spade tote bag. I was a little sad that they didn’t have the blue owl tote bag that I really wanted but I will chekc online and perhaps order one. I also picked up the white owl pencil case which isn’t included in this picture and only realize that now. It will make an appearance in a future post. The only book I bought there was City Doodles New York for Michael along with two owl pencils.
The next stop was Housing Works. I was super excited to go and visit it again. I love wondering around looking at all the books they have. I even managed to sit down for a bit to take in the sights and sip some tea before heading back out again.
I bought three books there. They were Over You by Amy Reed, Dirty Little Secret by Jennifer Echols and Two Lies and a Spy.
On the way back I did a little more shopping such as some goodies from Whole Foods. Which is a really nice grocery store around 14th avenue if you happen to be around the area and want to grab some fresh baked goods, or fruit or veggies.
After that I went into Barnes & Noble. I love walking around bookstores and this time I remembered a book that I was looking for and that was The Star Attraction by Alison Sweeney. You might recognize that name as the actress who plays Sami Brady on Days of Our Lives or from the Biggest Loser. I read about this book on the train ride into NYC and I was curious about it. Also at Barnes & Noble I found this cute owl agenda for 2014. (There you can see the owl pencil and pencil case)
The last of my shopping before heading back to the hotel I stopped at two Sephoras and various Duane Reeds and picked up:
~Smashbox Camera Ready CC cream (I tried this in the store and loved it)
~Sample of Clinique Moisture Surge CC cream (I think I will be buying the full size because I love this one too)
~Naked Skin by Urban Decay beauty balm (15ml sample) (this is another one I really like and would purchase in a full size)
~Purity one step facial cleanser (I really like this cleanser and I think its time to invest in a bigger bottle)
~Essie nail polish in DJ Play that Song
~Hand Cream in Mandarin Mint
~Nivea’s Lip butter in Smooth Kiss, Raspberry Rose Kiss and Vanilla & macadamia Kiss. (I was looking for the Carmel Cream Kiss but couldn’t find it)
~finally I got a bunch of EOS lip balms that aren’t available in Canada and they were: Vanilla Bean Smooth Stick lip balm (love the smell and feel of this) and three smooth spheres in Lemon Drop with SPF 15, Medicated Tangerine (this is perfect for dry chapped lips) and Sweet Mint.
After all the shopping I made my way back to the hotel to drop things off and then I went out and got some supper and decide to go back to the hotel to shower and chill for the evening.
It was a great day 1 in NYC.
copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.
Its hard to believe that this time last week I was sitting on the Amtrak train on my way to NYC for BEA 2013.
Once again this time was different for me and I’m not quite sure why. I was honestly excited about going months ago but then different things happened that kind of put a damper on things. I think within the last month before leaving I was getting excited about going again.
The first time I went in 2010 I was literally packed a week before leaving and that included my suitcase, snack bag, my BEA tote bag and my things to do on the train bag. Last year when I went I was literally packing the morning of my trip and I think this time I probably would have let it gone to the morning of the trip but I decided the night before to start getting things packed and ready to go.
I thought we were making good time in the morning but quickly realized that we weren’t. I ended up having to run to the bank before leaving to get some more US money and a few Canadian bucks and I literally made it to the train station just before they were getting ready to board the train. I was lucky enough to nab a Red Cap who brought my suitcase down for me and that got me pre boarding.
I was thrilled to have gotten pre boarding because the line was huge and that meant that the train going into the US would be packed and it was packed. It was due to the fact that it was Memorial Day weekend in the US.
This was the first time I have gone to NYC on my own and I honestly was a little freaked out at first because that meant I had no one to talk to on the train which is honestly okay but it would have been fun to have someone to gush over NYC and BEA with. Thankfully throughout the day I was getting texts for Kate from http://www.midnightbookgirl.com/ , Tina http://bookshipper.blogspot.ca/ ,Sheila from http://bookjourney.wordpress.com/ , Lucy from http://www.moonlightgleam.com/ and my son Michael which honestly passed the time quickly.
We were a little late getting into NYC because of the delay at that border and its like that every time we go. I don’t understand how people can travel knowing that they are a risk. Another issue that always seems to pop up is the food. I guess there was some people who tried to bring in fruit and/or vegetables and that sent border officials around again asking if anyone had brought that on bord. People is just like flying or driving across the border you are not allowed to bring fruit and vegetables across.
When I finally got into NYC I quickly decided to hop into a cab to go to my hotel just because I was going to be meeting up with Kate and Pam (http://www.midnytereader.com/ ) for our first PinkBerry run.
My hotel for the week was The Hampton Inn’s Time Sqaure South and that will be a separate post coming up at the end of the BEA recap.
Check back for more of my recap this week.
copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.
As you know BEA is upon us and today is the first day of the event and I am super excited to see all the new books that are coming out this summer and fall.
Here is a sneak peek of some of the books that have caught my eye. Not sure if these will be available at BEA. They sound really good.
This is a list of the books that are in the Buzz Books book:
Fiction Kate Atkinson, Life After Life (Little, Brown) Therese Fowler, Z (St. Martin’s) Joe Hill, NOS4A2 (William Morrow) Alexander Maksik, A Marker to Measure Drift (Knopf) Philipp Meyer, The Son (Ecco) Ruth Ozeki, A Tale for the Time Being (Viking) Cathie Pelletier, The One-Way Bridge (Sourcebooks) Benjamin Percy, Red Moon (Grand Central) Meg Wolitzer, The Interestings (Riverhead)
Debut FictionNoViolet Bulawayo, We Need New Names (Little, Brown) Anton DiSclafani, The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls (Riverhead) Anthony Marra, A Constellation of Vital Phenomena (Hogarth) Derek Miller, Norwegian By Night (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) Laura Lee Smith, Heart of Palm (Grove Press) Adelle Waldman, Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. (Henry Holt) Kent Wascom, The Blood of Heaven (Grove Press) Helene Wecker, The Golem and the Jinni (HarperCollins) Callie Wright, Love All (Henry Holt)
NonfictionLaura Bates, Shakespeare Saved My Life (Sourcebooks) Rory Freedman, Beg (Running Press) Chip Heath and Dan Heath, Decisive (Crown Archetype) Lily Koppel, The Astronaut Wives Club (Grand Central) Wendy Moore, How to Create the Perfect Wife (Basic Books) Michael Pollan, Cooked (Penguin) Daniel Post Senning, Emily Post’s Manners in a Digital Age (Open Road)
Young AdultJoelle Charbonneau, The Testing (Houghton Mifflin Children’s) Sarah Dessen, The Moon and More (Viking Juvenile) Tom McNeal, Far Far Away (Knopf Books for Young Readers)
Going through the list and reading some excerpts I have to say that the only ones that really griped me was these two.
copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.
