ALA in NOLA Wrap-up and Show & Tell

I was fortunate enough to get to attend the American Library Association's annual convention in New Orleans. While I only got to go for one day, I'm so grateful for the opportunity to mingle with so many like minded book people.

This was a fabulous event. There were publishers, authors and yes, lots and lots of books.

My adventure began when I got in my car and drove MYSELF TO AND THROUGH the city of New Orleans. I think I might even be more proud of that than the actual convention. Driving in New Orleans = Scary for this country girl. But I made it and meet up with Rachel aka Parajunkee and Patti aka Book Addict who turned out to be two of the MOST AWESOME people in existence. I swear, those two just made the whole event that much better. I was also fortunate enough to meet up with Autumn from From the TBR pile, Jamie from Bookmarked and Christie from The Fiction Enthusiast plus several other bloggers.

Each publisher had their new and upcoming titles on display. I was pretty apprehensive about being just a measly little book blogger at a library convention but I was so surprised at just how well bloggers were received. I walked right up to publishers, introduced myself, told them I was a YA blogger and it was like BAM "Let me tell you about what we've got coming up/show you this book!" I met with so many wonderful bookish people who were very interested in getting to know YA book bloggers. That made me feel pretty awesome for all of us.

I think the award for the publishing rep with the most awesome went to HarperTeen. Hands down. She was so excited about each and every one of their books, wanted to know what I was into and introduced me to new titles that she swore I would love.

I caught several book signings. Ellen Hopkins (so nice), Julie Kagawa (absolute sweetheart), Ilsa Bick (very very cool), Mette Ivie Harrison (very nice) and Brenna Freakin' Yovanoff who exists on her own separate plane of AWESOME. Here is a picture of me and Miz Yovanoff. That's me grinning like an idiot because I just adore her.

So yeah, I carried what felt like 23234098298 lbs of books and I still haven't recovered full sensation in my shoulders. It was worth it because here is what I was lucky enough to find:

Starting at the top left corner:

Open Wounds by Joseph Lunievicz
The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff
Triangles by Ellen Hopkins
Ashfall by Mike Mullin
The Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon
Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick
The Gray Wolf Throne by Cinda Williams Chima
Supernaturally by Kiersten White
Darker Still by Leanna Renee Hieber
The Way We Fall by Megan Crewe
Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers
When She Woke by Hillary Jordan
His Mistress by Crhistmas Victoria Alexander
Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan
Juliet Immortal by Stacey Jay
The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
Legend by Marie Lu
Prized by Carah O'Brien
The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter
Tris & Izzie by Mette Ivie Harrison
Ashes by Ilsa Bick
Blood Wounds by Susan Beth Pfeffer
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
Dark Passages by M.J. Putney
The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross
Cut by Patricia McCormick
The Fox Inheritance by Mary Pearson
Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

This was an amazing experience. Loved loved loved it.