Book Con 2014

     One word to sum up Book Con this year was, chaotic. Saturday, May 31st was the first ever Book Con. Book Con was formally known as Power Reader Day at the Javits Center in New York City. Book Expo of America (BEA) is a convention also going on in the Javits Center during the week before and the day of Book Con. Book Con is open to the public while BEA is open to publishers, bloggers, librarians, etc. I understand that Book Con was new this year so it was going to be somewhat unorganized but they should have known from previous Power Reader Day and BEA events how to make it more organized. In my eyes, they failed to make Book Con a pleasant experience. Imagine about 8,000 people in a small area where it was hard to move without running into people. I can't tell you how many times I lost my parents in the mess. They also ran out of so many books! Some signings had to close down because there were not enough books to give out. Also, they quickly ran out of tickets for autographs (for example: Cassandra Clare & Cassandra Clare/Holly Black) and we waited in line without getting any. The day mostly consisted of waiting in lines for tickets to get autographs and in line to get the book autographed. 
     Next year I am hoping to go to BEA and skip out on this madness. The one thing that made the lines, stress, and chaos worth it was meeting some of my favorite authors and getting pictures and/or pictures with them. One of the other good things about Book Con was that there were panels, authors, etc. for people of all ages, so everyone in my family got to met or see people they wanted to.
      At Book Con I got a ton of bags, bookmarks, cups, pens, pencils, etc. I was expecting more books though. People that I had heard that went to Power Reader Day last year had gotten a ton of ARCs (Advance Reader Copies) and finished copies of books. I got a few regular books and one ARC so I was disappointed in my haul but at least I got some books. Here are the books I got:

Free Autographed Books 

(ARC) The Return by, Jennifer L. Armentrout

Never Fade by, Alexandra Bracken 

(E-book) Since You've Been Gone by, Morgan Matson

(E-book) The Forever Song by, Julie Kagawa

Purchased Autographed Books:

The Whispers Of The Fallen by, J.D. Netto
Rebellion by, J.D. Netto

Pictures:

(Me)

(Kat O'Keeffe, Ariel Bissett, Me, Christine Riccio) 

(Me & Cassandra Clare)

(Alexandra Bracken)

(Half of Grumpy Cat)

(Morgan Matson & Me) 

(Me & Jennifer L. Armentrout)

~Casey