A Week of Mega Book Events

Last week, I had the opportunity to go to some really great book events, including an amazing launch party, the Brooklyn Book Festival, and a truly wonderful reading and panel.

Last Thursday, I went down to Books of Wonder to celebrate the launch of five fantastic books: Every You, Every Me; Bronxwood; Pie; Burnout; and Eight Keys. The event was jam-packed full of people, probably because it was organized by David Levithan, and when David Levithan organizes events, they're sure to be a blast.

Adrienne Maria Vrettos, Suzanne LaFleur, and Coe Booth

Sarah Weeks, Jonathan Farmer, David Levithan

All of the readings were very fun to listen to. Here's a video of David Levithan reading from Every You, Every Me with his collaborator Jonathan Farmer:

I have to say, though, that my favorite reading was the reader's theater of Pie, featuring Sarah Weeks, David Levithan, and Brian Selznick:

Though I had to leave the event early, I still had plenty of time to mingle and enjoy some pie. I was particularly excited to meet Cialina from Muggle-Born.net, another book blogger who's been interning in publishing for a little while, and her friend Loreal, who also occasionally blogs at that site. 

Then, last Sunday, I made my way over to Brooklyn to attend the Brooklyn Book Festival, particularly several of the panels over at the Youth Stoop. So basically from noon to about 4 p.m., I was hanging out under or around this little tent, listening to a bunch of YA authors talk about everything from high school drama, the importance of history, new and interesting worlds, and making tough choices in their books. Basically, my version of a great way to spend the weekend!

Bring on the Drama: moderator Karsten Knight and panelists Kate Brian, Rachel Hawkins, and Christopher Grant

Reimagining History: panelists Judy Blundell, Nick Bertozzi, T.R. Simon, and Victoria Bond

Another World: panelists Caragh M. O'Brien, Bill Willingham, and Jewell Parker Rhodes and moderator Susan Chang

Making Difficult Choices: moderator Caragh M. O'Brien and panelists Jacqueline Woodson, Gayle Forman, and Cory Doctorow

What made these four hours so much more entertaining was being able to see some of my favorite people, including, in no particular order: Genna from Reading, Writing, and the World of Words, Erica from The Book Cellar, Rachel from Bookshelf Lust, and Beth from Bookish Bethie; authors Marianna Baer, Gayle Forman, Caragh O'Brien, and Karsten Knight; and a handful of publishing people from Scholastic, Little Brown, and Macmillan. 

In addition to the awesome and stimulating conversation, I also snagged a handful of Team Adam buttons from the most wonderful Gayle Forman. Don't know what being Team Adam means? Then head over to Gayle's blog to find out! Want to know what I'm doing with my extra buttons? Well, in addition to spreading the word about men with integrity, I might just be giving some away in a contest sometime soon...you'll just have to stay tuned to find out!

Anyway, to get back to the action, yesterday, I went to Bluestockings Bookstore, a bookstore in the city that, believe it or not, I had never been to! This event was a combination reading and panel with five fantastic authors: Matt Blackstone, Christopher Grant, Sarah Darer Littman, Gae Polisner, and Arlaina Tibensky. Yes, it's true that I have seen each and every one of these authors for an event at least once before, if not more, but the event was still thoroughly entertaining. I got to hear segments of each of their latest books that I'd never heard before (or in the case of Christopher Grant, heard last Sunday at the Brooklyn Book Festival, but hey, it's not his fault I show up to basically every YA event!).

The five amazing members of the Picking up the Pieces reading/panel

This event felt even more special to me because each of the authors recognized and remembered me from seeing or meeting me previously. How awesome is that? I still can't get over the fact that I'm kind of really in the midst of things! During the panel, Chris apologized to me for the fact that his reading was the same as the one from his panel at the Brooklyn Book Festival, and Gae even started talking about me as if I was a fully fledged member of the publishing industry. Almost makes me forget that I'm still in school and interning! And it most definitely makes me feel like I'm getting places!