BookExpo 2018 Recap
Thursday, June 07, 2018I had such a blast last week as last week was one of the biggest bookish events of the year. BookExpo, once titled BEA (BookExpo of America), takes place in the Javits Convention Center in New York City every year around the last week of May. For the entire week, the city comes alive with bookish events, mostly free: signings, meet and greets, and more.
I haven’t been to the event in two years but I’ve been saving up some money and decided to treat myself with a week-long trip to the city. I am so incredibly grateful that I was able to participate in BookExpo and can not wait to see what next year will bring. Without further ado, here’s my recap of the fun-filled week:
Bloomsbury Tour
I started the wonderful week off on Tuesday with a small tour of the Bloomsbury Publishing offices. This event was held by Blogbound, which I attended later on that evening. All the people I met at this event were absolutely lovely. The tour was small, about 15 people. It was amazing to get the chance to see the inside of a publishing house. The floor was an open floor concept office space while the walls were lined with bookshelves. It was magnificent. There was even a small shrine of books by Sarah J. Maas in the middle of the aisle in celebration of her recent release, A Court of Frost and Starlight. The whole place felt like home.
The YA publicists met us in a conference room and introduced us to several releases coming out soon. Definitely check these books out:
Imprison the Sky by A.C. Gaughen (1/22/19) | The Girl King by Mimi Yu (1/8/19) | The Brink of Darkness by Jeff Giles (7/10/18)
Blogbound
Later that evening, I attended Blogbound which is put on by other book bloggers. I’ve never been before and it was a lovely event. There were several panels to choose from, from getting over slumps to how bloggers got their start. It was thought provoking and a great way to meet other fellow bloggers. At the end of the panels, they had four authors participate in a sort of author speed dating event where they would each sit at a table and bloggers got to ask them anything they wanted about their new books. That was one of the best times of the event as I got to hear more about books I haven’t heard about. Also, after that, there was a book and swag table that everyone could take a look at. I was able to get a lovely poster of Meet Cute which is an anthology I am excited to read soon. I, also, received some amazing books:
When Life Gives You Demons by Jennifer Honeybourn (7/17/18) | The Impossibility of Us by Katy Upperman (7/31/18) | Sadie by Courtney Summers (9/4/18)
BookExpo Day 1
BookExpo is hard to describe because each day really feels like a blur of meeting people, waiting in lines, and chatting with authors. My favorite part of the first day has got to be the time I got to meet Anna Godbersen for the first time. I am such a fun of The Luxe series and her Bright Young Things series so meeting her was a huge highlight of the whole convention. I got to tell her how she truly made me the reader I am today. It was so fantastic! I, also, was able to snag her new book among a few others:
A Touch of Gold by Annie Sullivan (8/14/18) | When We Caught Fire by Anna Godbersen (10/2/18) | Odd One Out by Nic Stone (10/9/18) | Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan (11/6/18)
BookExpo Day 2
The first day of the convention seemed to be much busier than the second. However, despite the second day’s slow pace, I still had a blast networking with publishers and talking with authors. The big highlight of day 2 has got to be meeting A.C. Gaughen, author of Reign the Earth which is my favorite book of this year so far. Besides being able to receive an early copy of Imprison the Sky (which doesn’t release until January of next year), I was able to get so many amazing books this day too:
Black Wings Beating by Alex London (9/25/18) | Unclaimed Baggage by Jen Doll (9/18/18) | Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram (8/28/18) | Mirage by Somaiya Daud (8/28/18)
Overall, I had such a great time! I am so grateful that I get to attend such an amazing conference! BookExpo and all the other events that took place last week was truly magical. I can’t wait to read all the books I received, as well as add several more to my never-ending tbr pile.
Did you attend BookExpo? How did you like it? Which upcoming book are you most excited for this fall?
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