Bookish Events

This year I’ve been luckily enough to attend lots of bookish events. However, there are lots I missed out on but am planning for next year! I thought I’d just give you an overview of the types of event I have attended and the pros and cons of each. 

Usually reserved for popular books or authors, these signings are good for racking up signatures in books. Not usually so good for spending time with the author! 

The signings that I’ve attended like this include Cassie Clare, Stephenie Meyer and Michael McIntyre. While I was thrilled to be able to meet them and get a coveted signature, you do just feel like part of an assembly line. Often it doesn’t allow much time to speak to the author. It does, however, usually involve lots of waiting around in a queue beforehand!

I think so far this is my favourite type of event. The ones I have attended have mostly been at Waterstones Piccadilly, and involve one or more authors. They have an opportunity to talk about their book, answer questions and then have a signing at the end.

As well as getting a greater insight into the author and the story behind the book, it allows for talk with other bloggers while the signing line goes down!

Obviously exclusive for bloggers, these events are great in getting to communicate with authors and publicists. My first event as a blogger was Holly Smale’s Geek Girl party. Here I met some bloggers that I consider to be great bookish friends now, and often see at other events. It’s also nice to meet the publicists behind the emails and the proofs, and to get to know them personally. 

I can say the only real negative about blogger events is not getting invited to them, especially when it seems everyone else in the world is going. I’ve definitely experienced this more than once, but its still amazing to hear about them afterwards and see all the goodies! 

The bonus of launch parties is that friends of the author quite often attend. And those friends are quite often authors themselves. I discovered this when I went to James Dawsons’ launch for Cruel Summer, and found myself face to face with people such as Patrick Ness and Tanya Byrne. While I didn’t speak to these personally (I was too in awe!) it gives an amazing opportunity to meet lots of authors in one place. The other plus is that it is such a relaxed environment, usually involving drinks and snacks and lots of conversation. 

I haven’t yet attended a book festival. I’m planning to go to one day of Bath Kids Lit Festival, but I would love to spend a whole weekend or week immersed in books. Earlier this year I swooned over all the people over the ocean going to BEA, and I hope in the next couple of years I can make this dream a reality.

A bit closer to home, and I also missed out on the London Book Fair this year due to other arrangements. Faye wrote a post about her experience, and the seminars sounded like a really awesome insight into the book and publishing world. I am definitely putting it on my calendar for next year, so watch this space!

What events have you attended? What is your opinion on the best format? Any events that you would recommend? 

Letterbox Love #23

Letterbox Love is a meme hosted by Lynsey of Narratively Speaking whereby book lovers can exhibit the books they received this week.

This week I’m doing something a bit different, and recording my first EVER vlog! I’ve got lots of books to showcase this week and figured it would be quicker. I love watching other book hauls via vlog so thought I’d give it a go. I’m still gonna link all the books to Goodreads below. Let me know in the comments if you like the vlog or prefer a blog post. I won’t take it personally! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SD-mwL8SjoE

 Won: 

Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

Beauty Queens by Libby Bray

Birthmarked by Caragh O’Brien

Wake by Amanda Hocking

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Grave Mercy by RL LaFevers

The Pledge by Kimberly Derting

Thanks to Kate Ormand for all the above!

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

Heart of Danger by Eliot Schrefer

Thanks to O’Dell from The Book Twirps for the TBD gift voucher!

Received for Review:

The Soterion Mission by Stewart Ross

Diary of a Mall Girl by Luisa Plaja

Thanks to Curious Fox for both the above.

Bought:

Invisibility by David Levithan and Andrea Cremer

The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Paper Towns by John Green

Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman

Freebies:

Metawars 1.0 by Jeff Norton. Thanks very much to Jeff and Canada House.

Pieces of Me by Darlene Ryan. Thanks to Canada House for the freebie selection.

 Ebooks: 

        

The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden by Philippa Dowding. Thanks to Dundurn and Netgalley.

The Diaries of Bluebell Gadsby: After Iris by Natasha Farrant. Thanks to Faber and Faber and Netgalley.

Day One by Nate Kenyon from St Martins Press and Netgalley.  

What did you receive this week? Have you read any of my books and do you think it should be at the top or the bottom of my to read pile?  How do you like a book haul vlog as opposed to an actual post? I’d love to hear from you!