ALA - Part 2

Warning: With the number of books received and authors met, this made quite a long post. My apologies in advance.


The above picture is all the books I brought home from ALA. (All pictures in this post can be seen bigger if you click on them.) I've listed them all below, in no particular order except this is what I wrote down as they came out of the boxes.

* = already published, rather than an ARC or UAP
Bold = I'd already heard of the book or the author beforehand
Italics = I paid for the book (mostly at huge discounts)

1. Raven Summer - David Almond
2. Dragon Spear - Jessica Day George
3. The Sky Always Hears Me and the Hills Don't Mind - Kirstin Cronn-Mills
4. The Lady and the Poet - Maeve Haran
5. Delilah - India Edghill
6. Honestly Dearest You're Dead - Jack Fredrickson (signed)*
7. Hamlet - John Marsden
8. Breathless - Jessica Warman
9. The Goldsmith's Daughter - Tanya Landman
10. However Tall the Mountain - Awista Ayub
11. The Child Thief - Brom
12. Liar - Justine Larbalestier
13. Winter's End - Jean-Claude Mourlevat
14. Give a Little - Wendy Smith (signed)
15. Journey of Dreams - Marge Pellegrino (signed)*
16. Baking Cakes in Kigali - Gaile Parkin
17. Spellbinder - Helen Stringer
18. A Duty to the Dead - Charles Todd
19. The Housekeeper and the Professor - Yoko Ogawa*
20. The Ask and the Answer - Patrick Ness
21. Another Faust - Daniel and Dina Nayeri
22. Bird in Hand - Christina Baker Kline
23. The Boy who Harnessed the Wind - William Kamkwamba
24. My Prison, My Home - Haleh Esfandiari
25. After - Amy Efaw
26. Perfect Chemistry - Simone Elkeles (signed)*
27. Rasskazy (fiction from Russia) - various authors
28. Love is the Higher Law - David Levithan
29. Notes from the Dog - Gary Paulsen
30. Tombstone Tea - Joanne Dahme
31. Mirrorscape - Mike Wilks
32. Songs for the Butcher's Daughter - Peter Manseau (signed)*
33. After - Jane Hirshfield
34. The Good Neighbors: Kin - Holly Black (signed)*
35. After the Moment - Garret Freymann-Weyr (signed)*
36. The Lexicon - Steve Vander Ark (signed)*
37. Lock and Key - Sarah Dessen (signed)*
38. The World in Half - Cristina Henriquez (signed)*
39. Pictures at a Revolution - Mark Harris (signed)*
40. A Great and Terrible Beauty - Libba Bray (signed)*
41. Going Bovine - Libba Bray (signed)
42. Leaving Paradise - Simone Elkeles (signed)*
43. Hold Still - Nina LaCour
44. Jellicoe Road - Melina Marchetta (signed)*
45. Black is for Beginnings - Laurie Faria Stolarz (preview edition)
46. Sharp Teeth - Toby Barlow (signed)*

*****
Here are some subcategories:

Books I got for other people: Dragon Spear (Morrigan), Rasskazy (Jason), Notes from the Dog (all my boys), After - Jane Hirshfield (Jason), The Good Neighbors: Kin (Morrigan), Pictures at a Revolution (Jason) (6 altogether)

Books I got signed: Tender Morsels (personal copy from home), Honestly Dearest You're Dead, Give a Little, Journey of Dreams, Perfect Chemistry, Songs for the Butcher's Daughter, The Good Neighbors: Kin, After the Moment, The Lexicon, Lock and Key, The World in Half, Pictures at a Revolution, A Great and Terrible Beauty, Going Bovine, Leaving Paradise, Jellicoe Road, Sharp Teeth (17 altogether)

Books I'm particularly excited about: The Sky Always Hears Me (already read it), Breathless, The Housekeeper and the Professor, The Ask and the Answer, After (Amy Efaw), Perfect Chemistry, After the Moment, The Lexicon (8 altogether)

Books I read before coming home: The Sky Always Hears Me, The Good Neighbors: Kin (2 altogether)

*****
Other stuff I got at ALA: a swim cap for Swim For Fly (ha!), 3 pins for the boys for Give a Little, a Catching Fire pin, an After the Moment pin, a big Harry Potter collage poster, lots of pens, bookmarks, and free downloadables. Not from ALA, but from the museum, I got a Dumbledore's Army t-shirt, a couple bookmarks and posters from the Half-Blood Prince movie, a magnet of Sirius Black's wanted poster, a flip book from Prisoner of Azkaban for the boys, and a cardboard make-your-own-Hogwarts kit for the boys. (picture below is their first built Hogwarts, and yes, Laurence is making a really weird face) Lastly, I got my lovely stuffed owl from Build-a-Bear.


Those Lego men at Hogwarts rock, don't they?

*****
Here are the authors I met, with a small bit about each meeting. Note about the pictures: I had some really bad hair days there because I was without my normal hair stuff, and I was exhausted as well, so I look like crap. I just had to say it. It pains me to put these up, but I'm doing it anyway.

Jack Fredrickson - He was handing out copies of his book, a comedic murder mystery, and asked me if I wanted one, so I said sure, why not, and he signed it for me.

Wendy Smith - She was also handing out copies and little pins (she gave me three for the boys) and the book sounded interesting, so I took one and she signed it.

Marge Pellegrino - She noticed I was from San Antonio and started talking to me about her book, which is about Guatemalan refugees that came to America. I bought a copy of her book and she signed it.

Simone Elkeles - I've seen Perfect Chemistry around the blogosphere for awhile and I've had it on my wishlist, so I was very excited to see Simone there. I bought a copy and talked to her for awhile. That was the very first stop I made in the exhibit hall, so I don't even remember what we talked about, but she was very sweet and personalized her note to me a bit. Later on, I missed her second signing at Llewellyn, but she'd signed a couple extra books, so I got a free signed copy of Leaving Paradise.

Peter Manseau - He spoke at the Literary Tastes breakfast and the book sounded good, so I picked it up while he was signing.

Holly Black - I actually had my book from her signed for Morrigan, because he loved the Spiderwick Chronicles. I know he can't read The Good Neighbors yet, but he thinks it's cool she signed it for him, and he can read it in a few years. Holly was very nice.

Garret Freymann-Weyr - Garret was one of the nicest authors I met at the whole conference. I talked to her for a long time and took a picture with her. She asked about this blog and said she would check it out, and she personalized her message to me in the book. After the Moment is a book I've been wanting to read for awhile, so I'm glad I got it. (picture below)


Sarah Dessen - Her line was really long, and I've never read anything by her, so I wasn't going to get in it. However, awhile later, I decided to snag one of her paperbacks since they were only $3 each, and I figured I ought to read something by her. When I went to snag it, though, I discovered the line was only 10 people long! She must have been near the end of her signing period. I got in line, talked to her a few minutes, and she signed it. I think she was a little overwhelmed my the number of people there, because she looked tired and like she didn't want to talk to anyone anymore. Despite that, she was kind, if a bit vacant. I don't blame her one bit.

Cristina Henriquez - When she signed my book, she didn't like her handwriting, and told me she felt like she needed to make up for it, so she drew me a little star. It was cute.

Mark Harris - He spoke at the Literary Tastes breakfast, and I didn't have time to get his book there. However, he was at Penguin later and I was able to pick up a copy for Jason and have him sign it for Jason. He was quite funny in his talk at breakfast.

Libba Bray - She's got to be the most perky author I've ever met. So cheerful she brightens everyone up. I lined up half an hour in advance for her, and about 10 mins before she started signing, she ran down the line giving everyone high fives and talking to fans. In order to get an ARC copy of Going Bovine, we had to buy one of the other books, so I bought a second copy of A Great and Terrible Beauty (I'll have to give away my other copy, I suppose). She signed both, realized I was from Texas and fist-bumped me for it. :) I was too timid to ask for a photo, though. The line was too long behind me.

Melina Marchetta - I bought a copy of Jellicoe Road for her to sign, but she seemed to be very tired and not terribly interested in talking to people, so I didn't linger. I saw her late morning, and I sort of wondered if her body clock was off, having flown out from Australia. I'm not sure how long she was here before the conference to adjust. She looked really tired. In any case, I didn't want to bug her, so I just got my signature and left.

Toby Barlow - He also spoke at the Literary Tastes breakfast, and has the most bizarre path to publication I've ever heard of. He was my favorite speaker, and while I'm not really into horror or werewolves, his book sounded so...different...that I had to get it. Plus, how can I resist someone who manages to tell a whole crowd of people about his latest weird dream just for the heck of it?? *I'm* always telling people all about my weird dreams! :)

Margo Lanagan - I brought my own copy of Tender Morsels for Margo to sign, and I was the third person in line. I was actually only halfway through TM by the time I met Margo, but it's already one of the most beautifully written books I've ever read (Ana, you were so right!), and I told her both these things. I also told her that a certain friend from Portugal had been talking up this book all year, and said I needed to go all fangirl on her. :) She seemed very happy about that, and I got to take a picture of her. She was much more approachable than I expected, and easy to talk to, and I really enjoyed meeting her.


Steve Vander Ark - I saved this one for last because it was my favorite author signing, probably even my favorite thing to happen in Chicago altogether. I knew RDR books was going to be at the conference, selling copies of the newly revised Lexicon. I love Steve's website (which I linked to at his name) and use it any time I need quick reference to anything Harry Potter related. It's my favorite HP site, and one of the reasons I really like it is for its archival/encyclopedic quality. It is the type of website I might have put together had I 1) started reading the series earlier, and 2) been more web-design savvy. So anyway, when I made my first trek around the exhibit hall, I turned the corner to one of the first rows and came face to face with Steve Vander Ark, which I was not expecting. He was there signing copies of the book the entire conference! We talked for a long time, he showed me a bunch of other stuff, and at the end, he actually invited me to come help work on and update the Lexicon website!!!!! He gave me his business card, and I'm supposed to write to him. I haven't done so yet - still trying to get organized from getting back home - but I will soon, and I'm just floored that he would extend that invitation. I know most people don't get excited by archiving kinds of things, but I really like that stuff: organizing and putting things together and fact checking - especially when it involves a subject I really know well and enjoy, like Harry Potter. So yes, this was like the highlight of my entire trip.

*****
I should also mention all the books I've won lately: Evermore by Alyson Noel, If I Stay by Gayle Forman, The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams, and a collection of short stories by Leo Tolstoy. If I include those 4 wins, that makes 50 new books altogether. My bookshelves are swelling. Jason bought two new shelves this weekend. Thank goodness.