Mia goes to BEA...for like a bit.

A (half) day at BEA (Book Expo America)

Marirosa Mia:  I’m going to be honest. I’m not a huge BEA fan. This doesn’t mean I dislike it; it just doesn’t cause the same happy thoughts that Comic-Con International and New York Comic Con cause. It’s probably because I’m not very involved in the planning of BEA, unlike SDCC and NYCC. Usually I pop in at BEA for an hour and I pop out, which you can’t really do at NYCC because of the dangerous number of people.

So this year I was happy to tag along with my good friend Colleen and see what BEA had to offer to those of us who didn’t wait in line at 9 am and instead sauntered in around, say, 1-ish.

First off, how fantastic is the Penguin-branded book mobile and cart?

    
I love how they don’t actually say “Penguin” anywhere, but the brand speaks for itself! So adorable and classic. Gah. Love it.  Colleen and I mused about driving it all the way down to Chicago Comic Con and taking pictures with the world’s biggest ball of twine, but I doubt they’ll let us steal it!

Then I was walking down some aisles and saw this little guy!!!! (Please note that I just got back from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, so I’m freshly obsessed with HP.)

 

I think it was a display copy and not for sale, which is sad because what a great addition it would make to any library!

And of course it wouldn’t be BEA without people signing books. Got to see Paula Deen signing new copies of her next cookbook and the lovely Anna Jarzab signing ARCs of Tandem, her book coming out in October of this year!

  

And I used my super secret ‘work in publishing’ super powers to score some ARCs from my publisher friends! Super excited to read the new Nancy Farmer and Holly Black’s new book, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown. And my friend at S&S assured me that Ghost Hawk was a great read, so I can’t wait to dive in. 

And possibly the best present for the expectant geek in your life: Superhero board books!!!!!! How perfect are these?

So while it hasn’t wedged itself into my heart like the Cons, BEA was pleasantly civilized and a lovely way to spend the afternoon! Plus there was air conditioning, and they were giving out cupcakes!

What about you guys? Anyone go to BEA? What did you think? What did you snag?