And then here's a picture of my top six books from ALA.
The Archived by Victoria Schwab
Okay, go read the synposis and then come back--if you haven't read the synopsis already yet, that is. I think that pretty much explains why I want to read The Archived so badly. Also? I adored The Near Witch. In short, I have a feeling that I'm just in love with the books that Victoria puts out.
Embers & Echoes by Karsten Knight
This is book two in the trilogy--the first book being Wildefire. So, if you've read Wildefire then you know that there was a cliffhanger and that cliffhanger? It did its job.
Prodigy by Marie Lu
Loved Legend and am equally excited about Prodigy. Do I really need to say more?
Crewel by Gennifer Albin
Weaving matter? Yes please! It also happens to come out on my birthday and I have a feeling that this is going to be a book that I absolutely love.
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
Alright, not only is this written by Maggie Stiefvater, but the plot sounds amazing. I mean, seriously. Plus the cover is lovely as well!
Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes
High fantasy and I've heard nothing but good things about it!
As for ALA itself, it was absolutely amazing and if you get a chance to go, it's worth it. On Saturday, Gianna from Books to Infinity and Beyond found me at Penguin Group's booth and we got in line for Marie Lu's signing. It was so awesome to finally meet her after chatting with her on Twitter for so long and I had a blast. We went to a couple of other signings that day and unfortunately I was way too exhausted to attend either of the blogger gatherings that evening. No, really, I had a horrific headache and could barely keep my eyes open. I also ran into Ishita from The Reading Fish, Zareen from Reach for the Stars... and the Books, Jill from Swimming in YA, Molly aka Usagi from Birth of a New Witch, Stephanie from Poetry to Prose (who I also ran into again at Leigh Bardugo's signing on Thursday), and very briefly I saw Katie from Katie's Book Blog. I also met Kristi who I talk with sometimes on Twitter. Overall? It was amazing! I honestly miss everyone right now and meeting bloggers was definitely my favorite part of ALA.
As for books that I picked up from ALA, I made a video in which I go through all of the titles. They are all books that I'm genuinely interested in and intend to read (as well as hopefully review). For the most part, this is how I decided what books to pick up: Was it a title I was already interested in? If so and I hadn't e-mailed the publisher yet, I was more likely to pick up the title. Was this a publisher that I normally work with? If so, take as little as possible. If it wasn't out, I wasn't asking for it. If I was told that they didn't have a book, I thanked them and moved along. Admittedly while I still prefer print galleys to e-galleys, I also factored in what publishers I can (with relative ease) request books from via NetGalley or Edelweiss. In short, I tried to keep the number of books that I took home to a not-so-large number.
I missed the mad dash on Friday by about ten minutes (I went in, but I didn't see any pushing or shoving), had a blast on Saturday and Sunday, and on Monday I had a great time too! I really do suggest going all four days if you can--at least to hang out with other bloggers because honestly that was my favorite part of ALA--and putting your blog title on your badge (honestly my biggest regret). Also, Marissa Meyer sort of recognized me which was absolutely insane! (We'd met briefly before when she came to speak with Mysterious Galaxy RB's YA book group--which I'm a part of.) But the fact that other bloggers and readers recognized me (I didn't have my blog on my badge)? It blew my mind!
There you have it, my ALA 2012 experience! It was so much fun and I'm extremely thankful that non-ALA members are allowed to attend (and in this case, wander the exhibit floor).
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