Literary Events >> ALA 2012 Annual Conference

This weekend was such a blast, as I was able to attend ALA 2012 in Anaheim for a fun-filled weekend of books, books, and more books! This was my first year attending ALA, so although I scoured blogs and other sites to get as much information and tips for a first-timer as I could find, I was still completely overwhelmed by the experience! Nevertheless, I am thrilled to have been able to attend my first official book conference and to meet so many amazing authors and bloggers during my weekend adventure! And of course, getting bagfuls of upcoming YA releases was just the icing on the cupcake!

The weekend kicked off Friday evening when me and my sister arrived in Anaheim and headed towards the exhibit hall to wait for the grand opening. We were stunned to find that ALA-ers do not queue hours in advance like the rabid fans who frequent places like Comic Con (and yes, I am one of those rabid fans). About 45 minutes before the doors to the exhibit hall opened, people started gathering outside in sheer anticipation of the unveiling. With my author schedule in hand, we were finally able to enter the hallowed halls  where I was greeted with my first real taste of an ALA event. Believe me, I was like a kid in a candy store when I saw all the publisher's booths and the stacks of upcoming titles they were giving out, along with all the awesome swag that comes with events such as these. I found myself just wandering from aisle to aisle, grabbing titles that looked interesting or were already on my TBR list. Not even a half hour into the hall and already my bags were filled to the brim with incredible literary goodness! I'm glad I didn't have to fly to Anaheim, I can't even begin to imagine how much I would have spent on shipping my books back! My favorite part of Friday was meeting the awesome Jackson Pearce, getting my copy of Sweetly signed and also getting an ARC for her upcoming book, Fathomless. Another highlight of Friday? Heading over to Downtown Disney for some beignets. I love me some beignets!

Saturday was just as exhilarating as the day before, only significantly longer. The first thing I wanted to get was a copy of Claire Legrand's book, The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls. The Simon & Schuster booth was also handing out postcards for the book which had these adorable, albeit mildly creepy, cockroach brooches and hair clips. I was also so happy to finally meet Suzanne Lazear and pick up a signed copy of her upcoming book, Innocent Darkness. My shoulders were aching by day's end, and the trunk of my car was stuffed full of books and swag and tote bags picked up between me and my sister. After an incredibly long day of checking out all the amazing upcoming titles from various publishers, it was time to head over to the YA blogger meetup. Saturday night was one of the highlights of the weekend for me, as I got to meet some really cool authors (including Kirsten Hubbard, Stephanie Kuehn and Jessi Kirby) and bloggers (including Ashley from Ashley Loves Books, Cameron from What the Cat Read, HD from Reading Writing Breathing, Jordyn from Ten Cent Notes, Maggie from YA Anonymous, Mickey from I'm a Book Shark, and Patricia and Jaime from Two Chicks on Books) at the YA Highway hosted YA Blogger Meetup. I am so glad Christine de la Creme convinced me to get business cards for my blog, otherwise I would have been completely unprepared! A big thanks to everyone who attended the meet and for being such cool people, I'm so glad to have met all of you and wished I could have stayed longer!

So excited to have an ARC of Cavendish, as well as the companion cockroach!

The last day I went to ALA was Sunday, because I was so burnt out from the entire weekend I knew I would not be able to make one last drive to Anaheim on Monday! I got to meet the incredibly witty and hilarious Mr. Lemony Snicket himself, who signed a sampler of his upcoming novel, Who Could That be at This Hour? and I got a super awesome attache case featuring goodies from the book! Yay! I was also jumping up and down like a little girl when I found out that there was a sequel to The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne Valente, and the jumping grew higher when the lady at the publisher's booth gave me an ARC when she saw me squealing over the poster. I am so grateful for that gesture of kindness! I think what really drove my happiness through the roof was snagging an advanced copy of Marissa Meyer's Scarlet, which is the sequel to one of my favorite books of 2012, Cinder, and which doesn't officially come out until February 2013! Marissa is such a cool gal, and I am seriously hoping to catch her steampunk Scarlet costume at Comic Con! I think it's safe to say that Sunday was the day I realized how giddy I get over the books that I am seriously in love with :)

My my, what a big stack of ARCs you have!

Overall, ALA was quite an experience and something I would highly recommend to anyone who loves books and who loves talking to others who love books! It was great meeting so many new people and actually being able to talk to the authors about their books. Now it's time to rest and realign my spine which has tipped to one side from carrying totes of swag. Thanks for checking out my coverage of this year's ALA annual conference! My next stop will be San Diego Comic Con in a few weeks where I will be hitting all the publisher's booths and panels, so if you are going let me know! I would love to say hi! Happy reading!

Sophie decides to claim these stacks as her own!