Sunday, October 9, 2011

In My Mailbox {51}: ATBF Edition!



I had an AMAZING time meeting authors, catching up with fellow bloggers, and seeing familiar faces at the Austin Teen Book Fest last weekend.  The event itself was such a treat for a book lover like myself.  I got the opportunity to talk with the authors individually & express my love for their books (some a little more than others! hehe). 

I made the trek to Austin with my local blogger buddies Sarah & Lena, where we met up with another fave blogger of mine - Jess!  The adventure began Friday night where we had the opportunity to see Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist on the big screen with David Levithan.  After wards he held a Q&A for the few of us that attended.  This was my first time to meet this amazing dude, and let me just say.. he rocks my world!  Loved hearing his thoughts on how his book got turned in to a movie.. and of course, how he felt about the end result :-)

The next morning we got up bright & early to attend the fest!  Austin put on a great show of YA authors - Scott Westerfeld, Maureen Johnson, Stephanie Perkins, Jenny Han, Andrea Cremer, Tera Lynn Childs, Simone Elkeles, & David Levithan to name a few.  I ran in to quite a few bloggers at the different panels - Katie from Mundie Moms, Jen from I Read Banned Books, Kristin from Kristin Creative, Jen D. from J.D. Nichols Writes, Britney from I Eat Words, Meredith from Mint Tea & A Good Book, Willa from Willa's Ramblings, Stacy from Girls in the Stacks, Brittany & Amy from The YA Sisterhood + so many more!!!!


I think it's safe to say my highlight of the event was meeting Jenny Han, herself.  If you know me (or have ever been to this blog before) then you know about my undying love for Jenny's Summer series.  These books are MY FAVORITES.  I will admit it, I was a complete & total fangirl during this moment.  STARSTRUCK!  My heart was racing, I couldn't stop smiling, and I honestly have no idea what I said to this poor woman - hahaha.  She was so unbelievably sweet & I hope I did not scare the crap out of her (too much lol).  She even gave me a I Heart Conrad button :-) This woman totally understood & embraced my adoration for her books.  So much love for you Jenny Han. SO MUCH. Thank you for making this book blogger's dream come true!




The event rounded out with author signings, and more blogger friend meet-ups.  By the end of the day I was totally exhausted.  Even my brain hurt!  Thank you Austin for putting on such an amazing event!  Huge thanks to Lena & Sarah for making me laugh the entire weekend.  I heart you girls SO MUCH. At the end of the event, after the signing lines had dwindled down and the tables and chairs began to be put away, I looked around the event hall... and all I saw were authors and other book bloggers.  It was like being home :-)


As promised, here is my loot that I got signed at the Austin Teen Book Fest last weekend.  Some of these books I had already owned, while others I purchased there at the fest. Each are signed, but I took pics of a few of my faves :-)



Books Mentioned:

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles
Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles
Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles
The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
It's Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han
We'll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han
Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist by David Levithan & Rachel Cohn
Every You, Every Me by David Levithan
Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by David Levithan & Rachel Cohn
Fins Are Forever by Tera Lynn Childs
13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
Vanish: A Firelight Novel by Sophie Jordan
The Name of the Star (Shades of London) by Maureen Johnson


What's in YOUR mailbox this week?
In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren

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27 comments:

  1. DUDE. Ginger. That sounds like an epic festival! I'm really sad I wasn't able to make the (14 hour) drive, hah!! But YAYAY for meeting Jenny Han! I swear I'll read the series soon....so glad you had fun!

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  2. Aryelle @ ReadingwiththeFishesFebruary 1, 2012 at 8:23 PM

    I wish that I could have gone, it seems like it was so much fun! And there were so many authors!

    Here's my IMM! :)
    With Love and Fishes,Aryelle @ ReadingwiththeFishes. :)

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  3. YAY!!! I'm so glad I got to see you!! Love all the beautiful books you listed. I can't wait for next year's festival. HAPPY READING!!

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  4. I NEED A PAPER BAG BECAUSE I CAN'T BREATHE FROM TOO MUCH AWESOME

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  5. Ah! Fantastic books. I could gush about every single one but..I won't. LOL

    Here's my IMM

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  6. Shiny books! That looks like it was an amazing event. Texas gets so much more YA book stuff going on than Louisiana does. We have a lot of book events, but pretty much none of it is YA. Or interesting. Unless you like cookbooks. I have a lot of signed cookbooks. Shame that I hate to cook. But ANYWAY, enjoy your stack of awesome!

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  7. Aww I'm so glad you had so much fun. Nick and Norah/Dash and Lily are some of my fave books. Lola too. Enjoy!

    My IMM

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  8. Okay it is decided, when I go and visit my aunt in Texas (hopefully next summer) I will go when there is an awesome author event to attend and I will meet you! You got so many great books signed and the author line-up was amazing! I am jealous, for sure. Enjoy all your pretty books :)

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  9. I'm glad you had such a good time! Thanks for sharing the photos with us :)  I really wish there was more going on (bookishly) in my area! These events always look so incredibly fun!

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  10. What a great bunch of pictures. I'm so jealous you got to go to ATBF, I mean, FYA was there and they are a good time. And and all those awesome panels and awesome authors.

    So, so jealous. Please tell me you are going to BEA 2012 because I think  you'd have an awesome time!!

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  11. OK. Incredibly jealous that you guys get to go to events like these! :D Some amazing authors you got to meet :D 

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  12. I am swooning over all of your signed copies!

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  13. it looks like y'all had SUCH a good time! so so so so so happy for you.

    and let's be real, i'm sure that Simone and Jenny were excited to meet you too. you're pretty rad AND you promote their books like nobody's business. they are lucky to have you in their corner! 

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  14. OMG I HATE YOU. I HATE YOU. LOL. Whyyyy, you're so lucky. Scott Westerfield, Jenny Han...they're all so close. And those books! You make me so jealous right now. Why do I live in Canada and have school? Why? LOL AMAZING haul~ I'm glad you had a great week :) Thanks so much for sharing, at least I can sort of feel like I was there :P

    Demi @ Only Somewhat Queer

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  15. I loooooove David Levithan!! He's amazing, I'm so glad you guys got to meet all those amazing authors and had so much fun! =D

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  16. I have such a platonic I-want-to-be-him crush on David Levithan!!!!!

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  17. That's so fantastic that you got to meet Jenny Han! These books are actually on my TBR because of you :]

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  18. It was fun! ALA in 2 months! 

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  19. Looks like you had fun. So many books, so many authors. All those books, so many signed books. Come visit me over at Livre De Amour-Books of Love Blog.

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  20. It's very cool that you got to meet all those authors. So excited for you!

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  21. That looks like so much fun! So glad you got to meet them all AND have a chance to fan girl over Jenny Han. I have a lot of vacation in Nov and plan to read a ton and the summer series is on the list to read!

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  22. This just looks ridiculously awesome and makes me wish I lived in Texas. It looks like you ladies had A LOT of fun! 

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  23. Ahh, ATBF was so much fun.  I laughed so much that weekend and had a blast.  I'm so glad we went together and love, love, love the pictures!  YOU GOT TO MEET JENNY HAN AND WON SAFETY SUIT TICKETS!

    Seriously, I'm so blessed to have a friend like you!

    *hugglessquishies*

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  24. WOW! That's a ton of books, and this sounds like a terrific event!!
    Glad you had so much fun. 

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  25. I'm so glad you had such a good time! I wish I could've been there with you (and witnessed your fangirl freakout)! ;)

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  26. Whoa! You met some AMAZING authors. I love Scott & Maureen! You've got some amazing books there too. I SO wanna read the books by Simone, the Summer series, Maureen's books, & Lola :)

    Hope you can check out my In My Mailbox when you get a chance! ^_^

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