A YA Extravaganza indeed!

Last night, my fellow bookcase blogger Tanya and I attended Oblong Books' YA EXTRAVAGANZA with Maureen Johnson, Sarah Mlynowski, Sara Shepard (those three pictured above getting excited about free books!) & Anna Godbersen in Rhinebeck, NY. This was the first event of this type I've attended, and wasn't sure what to expect. I was more than impressed; every minute was thoroughly enjoyable. (And this is coming from someone who is a bit chagrined to admit has never read any books by any of the authors there!) It was obvious the authors were quite fond of each other, what they do, and all their fans. I don't think there is higher praise than a teenage girl who is so passionate about a book that she gets red-faced angry with the author for doing something she didn't like with a character. And that happened more than once! 

The stand out of the night was Maureen Johnson, who was so deadpan-hilarious that I wanted to buy every one of her books just to get to hear a bit more of that humor. Tanya and I both are seriously considering joining twitter just to be able to follow her on there (she made more than one comment about not comprehending anyone who doesn't communicate through twitter).

At the end of the evening, I had added 4 new books to my ever-expanding "to-read" pile, including one unexpected ARC giveaway.  Thanks to the Hudson Valley YA Society and Oblong Books for a great night! I look forward to the next event (which happens to be a Survivor-themed night July 8th with Libba Bray, Michael Northrop, E. Archer, and David Levithan)!