Angieville

I can't believe it's been a year. No, seriously. I cannot believe it's been a year since I went to my first BEA and now here I am home from my second. It's been a crazy couple of weeks preparing for, traveling to, and taking part in the whole Book Expo America experience and I'm just now, I believe, decompressing from it all and processing how crazy and awesome and fascinating it all was. This year was even more hectic than last, if that's possible, as the organizers attempted to fit the entire expo onto one floor instead of two, and into two days instead of three, with the result that that first day was an absolute madhouse. In a good way. Except the autograph lines section, which was a madhouse in a decidedly bad way. Did they perhaps not get the memo that there would be a substantially larger influx of bloggers than in previous years? Hmmm.... As with last time, I think I'll stick to sharing the true highlights of my week in NYC with you (once again, ...

Last year I took the plunge and booked a flight and went to BEA . I was nervous, not sure what to expect, and feeling sort of like an impostor in someone else's club. But I went ahead and did it and I haven't regretted that decision for a moment. That trip was worth its weight in gold. If you love books and, more importantly, you love talking about the books you love with other book lovers, and you are dedicated to spreading the word on good books, then Book Expo America is the place for you. Yes, there are tons of ARCs being handed out for free. And, yes, there are scads of wonderful authors signing those ARCs. But, as mind-blowingly lovely as those two things are, they're not the main reason to go. The main reason is those connections you make when you're standing on line and you strike up a conversation with the people next to you and you exchange recommendations and contact information and you know that, even though you're total strangers and you may live in st...