6.05.2008

Revival

Wow. It's been almost two years since my last entry. What's happened since then?

Well, I've fell in love, lost that love, got a new job, then got another job, quit the first two jobs, and moved across the country.

Yeah, it's been rockin'.

But what do you really know about? Yes, the generic you.

Last weekend I visited Book Expo America, which was held in Los Angeles. Let me tell you, if there was such a sport as "extreme booking" this would be it. Of course, ALA's not for another month so my definition may change.

Still, let me spell it out for you. I walked into the LA Convention Center after driving in what I assume is a perfect spiral for six miles in order to a)find the parking for the CC and b)find a parking space in the CC parking garage. The place is ridiculously huge. And a good portion of the ceiling was taken up by a portrait of Michael Moore. It was pretty intimidating.

I had been prepared to shell out ridiculous amounts of money aside from what I'd already paid for the convention entrance fee and gold pass (which I never retrieved). There were plenty of books, but it was weird. There were a lot of single books and then there'd be a pile of one book. I thought those were for purchase, but lucky me, I was wrong. No, these were the type of book I had once been able to sort through in the back room of my public library. These were the type of book I often receive on www.bookmooch.com. Yes, my dear friends, these were arcs. Galleys. Advanced Reading Copies. And most importantly? These were free.

Without further ado, I present to you my top 10 finds (before reading and reviewing) at BEA 2008.

10. Free O.C. (Orange County) from Free Fun Guides
9. Paper Towns by John Green (of Looking for Alaska and An Abundance of Katherines fame)
8. Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link
7. Odd Hours (the audiobook) signed by Dean Koontz!
6. Dark Delicacies, a collection of horror stories by the likes of Clive Barker, Ray Bradbury and Richard Laymon
5. Don't Throw It, Grow It! by Deborah Peterson and Millicent Selsman on how to grow windowsill plants from kitchen scraps
4. Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
3. A tie between Sucks to be Me by Kimberly Pauley and Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey (two teen vampire books)
2. Parallel Worlds: Book One: Paraworld Zero by Matthew Peterson - according to the sticker on the cover it's a barnesandnoble.com bestseller, but my joy in it comes from the picture of the horrified child with the hole in his hand taking on two pixelated komodo dragons.
1. Inkdeath (signed) by Cornelia Funke, the last book in the Inkheart Trilogy which will not be available until October 2008! Which gives me tons of time to catch up on book two.

We'll see how this list changes once I actually read these books. :)