BookCon 2015

BookCon15 was this past weekend and it was AWESOME. BookCon is truly where I find my people. 

They get me. 

This year, BookCon was extended to TWO days of Bookish awesomeness, so even though we were late getting there on Saturday, I still came home with a massive haul of 35 books (not counting the 7 I grabbed for others), only 4 of which I had to pay for, 16 samples for upcoming books, 6 totes, a slew of bookmarks, and random bookish things. (The end of this post has a shot of the books and a list of what they are, if you're interested).

Pretty much the moment I got to the Javits center, I went down to the autograph lines for the one celebrity I was most excited to meet. I waited two hours in line (was one of the first dozen people there), but it was worth it. Felicia Day is so sweet and geeky! She offered to sign Charlie's head when I pulled her out for the picture (which of course I allowed, because Charlie signed my Charlie). Related: anyone know a good sealant for use on vinyl?

One of the highlights of my month...maybe year (so far, anyways).

My brother and eventual-sister-in-law came with me on this adventure, but they spent most of Saturday at the hotel tired and with homework. Similarly, on Sunday I was up in line early so I could go to the First in Line Red Carpet Author Breakfast (free books + meeting the authors + food = awesomesauce. Also, I discussed Dean vs. Sam with Jennifer Niven) while they did things like sleep and eat. Amateurs. So I spent most of the weekend wandering alone getting swag like this:

One of my favorite things about BookCon is suddenly finding an author doing a signing at some random table. That's how I met Abi and Missy (authors of the Sinners series) and, most excitedly, Mike Berenstain of the Berenstain Bears!! Total fangirl moment with him.

The only author I waited in line to meet this year, aside from the FIL Breakfast, was Scott Westerfeld.  I wanted to go to the Rainbow Rowell party, but it sold out in less than 30 minutes while I was still on the bus. Sad Panda. But, Scott Westerfeld! 

When my brother and I asked to take a selfie, we kinda cracked him up. And look! I am officially Ashley-wa! My favorite thing about this is that he crossed out his name to sign it. So Bubbly.

The other highlight of the weekend for me was the BookTube 101 Panel and the meet up after. Got to watch my favorite BookTubers (Katytastic, Xtinemay, and JesseTheReader) live on stage, and then got to meet them! And they are exactly as sweet and amazing as you'd expect. The right side is the result of "okay, now a silly picture". Of course they obliged. Christine was especially enthusiastic. 

Also, now I'm contemplating becoming a BookTuber. Such books, much fun.

In addition to all this fun, there was a Welcome to Night Vale panel where Cecil read the beginning of the new novel live. If I am ever in a coma or unable to do anything for myself, I want Cecil Baldwin to come read to me. Benedict Cumberbatch can take turns when he gets tired.

Lastly, let me show you the books I got. The books on the left are already released, about half of them are signed. The books on the right are all ARCs. The ones leaning on the side are the samples for upcoming books.

And now, THE LIST. * = signed  ** = met the author at a signing

Left Side (Already available):
The Geek's Guide to Dating by Eric Smith*
The Fangirl's Guide to the Galaxy by Sam Maggs**
The Girl Next Door by Selene Castrovilla**
Love and Profanity edited by Nick Healy
How to be Interesting by Jessica Hagy**
Life After Perfect by Nancy Naigle**
You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero**
Melt by Delene Castrovilla** (the last one there, missigned to someone else, so she let me have it)
Branded by Abi Ketner and Missy Kalicicki**
The Maze Runner/The Scorch Trials Collector's Edition bindup by James Dashner**
Reconstruction: First a Body Then a Life by Ara Lucia Ashburne
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (linked version not the same as what I got)
All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven**
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart**
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Galactic Hot Dogs by Max Brllier and Rachel Maguire
Hiking Waterfalls in New England from Falcon Guides

Right Side (ARCs)
Second Chance Summer by Jill Shalvis*
Choose Your Own Love Story by Ilyse Mimoun
The Golden Compass Graphic Novel Vol 1 by Phillip Pullman
Inherit the Stars by Tessa Elwood
Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho
Voyagers Project Alpha by D.J. MacHale
Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon** (really excited to read this one!)
The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra by Vaseem Khan
Samurai Rising by Pamela S. Turner
Finding Forever by Ken Baker
A Mighty Purpose by Adam Fifield
The Unfortunate Decisions of Dahlia Moss by Max Wirestone (got the last one, insanely excited)
The Beautiful Bureaucrat by Helen Phillips
Another Day by David Levithan
The Keeper by David Baldacci
Steve Jobs Insanely Great [a graphic biography] by Jessie Hartland
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Stay tuned over the next few months as I try to read and review all of these!

Update: I've started a BookTube channel over on YouTube! You can see a video of this haul here.

Let's chat in the comments! 
Which book above do you most want to read? Or which would you like to see a review on?
Did you go to BookCon or BEA this year? What was your favorite part?

My 7 Favorite Reads of 2014

Well, it's that time of year again. Everyone is reminiscing about the past year, making their best whatever lists. I've got my fair share of lists happening, too, but this is my favorite one to share. My favorite reads of 2014! This year the selection is a bit diverse, and not too long. I didn't read as much as usual this year. In fact, I don't even think I'll make it to 40 books, never mind my goal of 50 :( But it was such a fun year of adventures and fun that I can't complain. I'll just have to try harder next year :) So let's talk books now.

Let's All Be Brave by Annie F. Downs

This list isn't in much of an order, but this book is definitely my favorite book of the year. So much so, that I bought copies for a few of my girls to make them read it. It is SO. GOOD. I just, I can't even explain to you what this book means to me. Annie writes in a way that is simple and inspiring and makes me want to be her best friend. Her manner, her thoughts, her subject matter are something that I related to so much, even while thinking "she's so much braver than me", but that just made me braver in my day-to-day life, all at the same time. I finished reading this book in early September and it hasn't left my coffee table. I can't bear to put it away yet. Just seeing it on my table every day, thumbing through the highlighted passages every so often, inspires me to be my best self, my bravest self. I could go on and on about how much I love this book, but just go out and buy this book. Now.

The Happiness of Pursuit by Chris Guillebeau

I kept seeing this one floating around the interwebs and in my DnB groups, so I finally broke down and bought it. And I am so glad I did! This is a great companion to Let's All Be Brave. Chris shares the stories of people who have undertaken quests of all shapes and sizes to find their purpose in life and breaks down the common traits to inspire the reader to find their own Quest. I still have no idea what mine really is, but I'm inspired and searching. This book flew by and was so interesting and encouraging. 

Choose Your Own Autobiography by Neil Patrick Harris

This is the most fun and creative autobiography ever. I love NPH, and when I learned he had a book out, I immediately headed to the bookstore to get it. I was already in my pajamas for the night, but I changed to jeans and went to buy it, then read it in a day. He wrote the whole story in second person narrative like the choose your own adventure books of old. You choose how the book plays out, which stories you read in which order. It was fantastic! It was such an entertaining read from an entertaining man and made me love him even more.

What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding by Kristin Newman

Okay, quick little disclaimer: this book is not a clean read. Kristin's lifestyle and my own are very different. But we do share the travel addiction, and that made me absolutely love this book. The way she describes her relationship with travel finally gave me a way to put my own into words. She understood the feelings I get when I travel, and when I don't travel, in a way I haven't been able to describe or find someone else who relates. Her search for herself was absolutely relatable. Take out the massive drinking and crazy sexcapades, and I think we're the same person. Right down to travel injuries.

Impact by Casey Lewis

I read two finance books this year: this one and Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover. And as I said in my review, I like Casey's better. I found him to be more relatable and down to earth, even while they both shared the same info and similar methods. Great tips and advice in a non-threatening manner. If you need to get your finances in order, check it out!

The Divergent Series by Veronica Roth

I read the whole series this year, including Four just yesterday (thanks Chrissy!)! I loved this series! In case you don't know what it's about (have you been living in a cave?), the Divergent series follows Tris Prior in a dystopian future where society is divided into five factions based on the personal traits they most value. At 16, she must choose what faction she wants to be part of, even if it means abandoning her family. But, of course, nothing is as it seems and soon the world they've come to know is falling apart and Tris is at the center. This series is great! There is plenty of action and drama, romance, humor, you name it. And it fit in with the apparent theme of bravery my reading took this year. My biggest complaint is with Allegiant, and not for the reason most readers dislike it. I just found the Tobias sections super whiney, and he was never like that before! It made me really angry that he was being so whiney and made it tough to get through the book. So I try to pretend it didn't happen, because I really like Four. The rest of the series I love, especially getting to see into Tobias's past in Four.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Ohmygosh, this book, ohmygosh. You guys, I LOVE this book. I think this should be up at the top, but I wanted to bookend this post with my top two favorites. Everything else is a random order, but this....this is definitely my favorite fiction read of the year. Fangirl is about an introverted uber-fangirl named Cath who is starting college with her twin sister- who seems to want nothing to do with her now that they're in college. So Cath sticks to herself, mainly writing popular fanfiction in her dorm room and avoiding the real world. Her roommate Reagan and the over-friendly Levi refuse to let her hole up completely, pulling her out of her shell and becoming an unlikely trio. Okay, that's not a great description. But let me just say, that if you fangirl over anything, you'll probably relate to this book. I loved that the main character was so introverted and socially awkward and slightly neurotic, because it was so so so relatable! I was laughing, I was crying, I was and am Cath. I flew through this book, too, reading it in less than 24 hours because I just couldn't stop. I NEEDED to know what happened. There was just so much to this book! So many turns and stories woven in. I didn't love the ending, mainly because it ended. I just wanted more! It left off at a very sweet moment, but I just wanted a little more...something. But ohmygosh, I just want to read it again, and I just finished it last week. If you fangirl or geek out about books, you need this in your life.

So that's it! My top 7 favorite books of 2014! What were your favorite books of the year?

BookCon 2014 Recap

The last weekend in May found me on a day trip to NYC for the greatest event in bibliophile history: the first-ever BookCon! I heard about this through a friend of a friend on Facebook and had to go. So I recruited some friends, and off we went! It was held at the Javits Center, home of this gorgeous entry:

Oh my gosh...I'm at BookCon!!!! My people!

So what is BookCon? A full day of book-lovers and authors hanging out, talking about books, with free books and book-related paraphernalia. Also? Famous people. Going into this, there were two people I had to meet. The first? The Dread Pirate Roberts himself, Mr. Cary Elwes! Sadly, our bus was running behind, so we were too late to get in line. I was so bummed that I had to settle for a few quick photos (including this awesome one) as I walked by:

 BUT, he decided to stay longer, and they reopened the line just as I was walking by. I hopped in line and was meeting Westley in a matter of minutes. Because of the demand, we weren't allowed to take photos with him, but I snapped this one while he was talking to the person in front of me (complete with epic photobomb), and this selfie as I walked away.

He was so nice! He apologized for having allergies and being sniffly. As I was wandering down an aisle, I spied a book called "Fun with Kirk and Spock" and figured that would be a great gift for my brother who couldn't make it to BookCon due to a really bad sciatica flare up. The author, Robb Pearlman, signed it "Get to the sick bay!" when I told him who it was for.

By the way, BookCon had some GREAT lighting for photos! You may remember I said there were two celebrities I wanted to meet at BookCon. The second? TOPANGA (aka Danielle Fishel), who was also very sweet and hasn't aged, like, at all.

BookCon was a BLAST! I came home with free books, bags, pins, pens, posters, an awesome "I Read YA" cup, and all kinds of book-related promos and stuff. It was so much fun and I can't wait to go back next year! Except, I'm going to get a hotel overnight so I don't have to miss anything!

Did you go to BookCon. What was your favorite thing?