Thursday, June 9, 2011

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)!

4 comments:

  1. Loving your new blog!!
    These authors were at a CT bookstore tonight but I couldn't make it. Sounds like it was a great event! What ARC did you get?
    You should join Twitter! I can suggest so many great authors to follow :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Lisa! I think I am going to join twitter. I'll let you know when I do and you can give me your suggestions! The ARC I got was "Frost" by Marianna Baer. Looks interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey Laura - I picked Frost up at BEA and it's in my pile to read!

    Cool blog! Feel free to check out my student run blog too -

    http://blogs.ellingtonschools.org/larkin/

    Jen
    Ellington Middle School

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks Jen! I feel like my pile to read is growing way faster than I can ever read...I think I should quit my job so I can read full time. I'm jealous that you guys have the summer off. :) Anyway, that's one impressive blog you have there, I'll have to read through it and get some suggestions.

    ReplyDelete