ALA: Signed books

I'm back from ALA and I'm exhausted! We had to scale back our plans because unfortunately I have a wonky left ankle, and it decided to act up this weekend.  I'd feel fine for awhile, then feel like my foot was going to fall off. That said, even though I didn't get to all the signings I'd planned, or get to stick around for the great book sell off/ARC giveaway yesterday afternoon, I had a WONDERFUL time and came away with some great experiences and a ton of books I can't wait to delve into!

I will be posting about all the books I got and everything we did and all the great books I grabbed later in the week when my box of books arrives, but today I wanted to share some of my experiences meeting authors! I would also like to say that I'm not trying to come off as braggy in these posts, with the exception of the signed books, I plan on giving away several of the ARCs I got once I've read them, either here on the blog or to ARC tours that I participate in. I have a small house and only so many bookshelves.

The first signings I attended were Ally Condie & Andrea Cremer. By the time we got in line there were already about thirty people in it, and a ton more joined it-not bad for two authors whose books haven't even come out yet! While we were waiting in line, we also met Vordak, which I was THRILLED about since his book was on my wish list, and an Egmont rep was following behind him handing out copies. My husband and I have been stealing the book from each other, it is hilarious for all ages.

Andrea & Ally were talkative and really seemed excited that so many people wanted to meet them before their books came out, even though Ally admitted that everyone telling her they'd heard good things about her book made her a little nervous!

Next up was Holly Black! I was a bit bummed that I had to buy another copy of White Cat to meet her, but a Simon & Schuster rep told me that they were giving away copies of Zombies vs. Unicorns, so I figured it was worth it! It totally was. Holly Black is wonderful. She took her time with everyone and is so...vivacious is the right word. I told her how much I loved White Cat and the universe she'd created, and she replied that it was really fun to create something different. When I told her I was dying for the next book, she told me the next book 'Red Glove' was coming out in April, 2011 and guess what? She was handing out teasers for it! Yeah, I totally squealed in front of Holly Black, but I couldn't help it.  One of the other amazing Simon & Schuster reps (seriously-they were the best) gave me a really cool White Cat post card, and another gave me and my husband Curse Worker gloves-I'll be giving away a pair soon!

By lunch time on Sunday my ankle was really acting up, so I wasn't sure how much longer we'd stay. We happened by the Penguin booth again and saw that Elizabeth Scott was signing, so I decided to get in the line and I have to say that I'm so glad I did! She'd asked me if I was a librarian or a book seller, I told her I was a book blogger and she asked the name of my blog. I'd told her and she said it was a great blog name and asked for my card. She'd asked how long I'd been blogging and I'd told her ten years, but at my blog for three months. I chatted with her, the lady behind me and I believe it was Julie Strauss-Gabel (sorry if I'm butchering that, she's John Green's editor, and I think Elizabeth's as well) for a few minutes before carrying on. Meeting Elizabeth gave me the energy to hang around for a bit longer than I'd planned!

The last book I got signed I didn't attend the signing, because it was after I'd hobbled away. Random House was selling books yesterday and I noticed that Going Bovine was one of them. For some reason I'd never gotten this book (even though I was reading Libba Bray before I became a hardcore YA fan) so I bought it, and the Random House rep told me that it was signed, so double yay! I saw Libba on the exhibit floor on Sunday, but she was surrounded by about fifteen people, so I didn't want to intrude.

Now I'm off to spend the day resting my ankle and reading!