I arrived in NYC on Monday, where I spent the afternoon in Word Brooklyn, buying books, because I don't own any. Or because I have an addiction to buying books. One of these things is true. Then Stephanie took me to lunch at Five Leaves, where they make dreams THAT YOU CAN EAT. These are the ricotta pancakes. I want to move to Greenpoint so I can eat them every day.
After lunch, we went shopping, where I discovered it is legal in New York to sell house cats in convenience stores.
Later, we met up with Josh and Jenn and Rebecca, where I posed with Stephanie and Rebs for the greatest redhead picture in the history of redheads.
After dinner, we attended the fantastic Bookrageous party at Housing Works Bookstore. I finally got to meet dozens of people from the internet that I had never met before - it was great! It turns out, I'm a hugger.
The next day, I headed out for my first day of Book Expo America. This is the lobby of the Javits Center, where BEA was held. Javits is ENORMOUS. You could fit all of immediate downtown Portsmouth inside. But you wouldn't want to, because then there would be no place for books.
Lots of vendors were nice enough to hand out tote bags. I filled two with books almost immediately. Quirk Books reps wandered the floor, and if they saw you with their bag, they took your photo to hang in their booth, and gave you a prize. (Notice I am not holding up my bag - it's because I wouldn't set down the cookie Emma Straub gave me.)
This is my new favorite title.
One of the best things about BEA was getting to meet all my Book Riot cohorts! It was an amazing evening. They are all really awesome. We went to dinner at The Half King, where I fell a little in love with the cute tatted waitress who called me Momma. Rachel ordered the fried baby spaghetti monsters.
I stayed with Stephanie most of the week. This was my roommate, Dmitri. He didn't snore, but he did talk a lot. And drool on my pillow.
The next day, I hauled ass to the Javits to make sure I got a place in line for this:
Yes, this happened. Neil Young sat down with Patti Smith and had a conversation about music and writing and it was one of the most amazing things I've ever experienced. They were brilliant and funny. I cried a little. What? Shut up.
I got to spend another dinner with Book Riot cohorts. We sat outside, where the trees dropped annoying little flowers on our meals and in our hair the whole time. I had to pick Rebs clean like a monkey. She and I write the Well-Readheads column together. Here we are enjoying beverages:
BEA is like summer camp for book people! I got to see so many of my friends. I went to Andrew Shaffer's signing for his new book, "Fifty Shames of Earl Grey." I'm pretty sure the hand sign we're making in this picture means "We miss you, Jerry."
I also saw this book, and I was disappointed that they didn't have any ARCs to give away, because I have a friend who I think would really like it:
Really. It would have been for a friend.
I spent the last day of BEA like all the other days - filling my arms up with books, and visiting with friends. And I had a meeting next to the Brooklyn Bridge. THAT was impressive. And there was ice cream! All meetings should include ice cream.
On my last day there, I insisted on revisiting the ricotta pancakes before I left. Seriously. I can't get over them.
Thank you to everyone who helped this country mouse find her way around the big city. I had the best time this year! Especially since last year, my front tooth got knocked out. (It's a long story - let's just say there were ninja werewolves and I was outnumbered.)
Here's my haul from my trip. The bag of books I brought home weighed 42 lbs.
And here are Millay and Steinbeck jumping for joy upon my return:
Despite the fantastic time I had in NYC, it's like what Dorothy (that witch-squishing, red-shoed, self-centered bitch) said: There's no place like home.
