BEA 2011 Highlights -- Wednesday (Day 3)

Kathy and I began the day with the Adult Book and Author Breakfast. This year's authors were outstanding -- Mindy Kaling, Diane Keaton, Jeffrey Eugenides, and Charlaine Harris. Once again, we say in the back so we could make a quick escape if we were so inclined -- we did end up leaving a few minutes early. Mindy Kaling, Kelly Kapur on The Office, was the moderator; and for the most part, I thought she was pretty entertaining. Diane Keaton spoke next about her new memoir THEN AGAIN which tells about the relationship between Ms. Keaton and her mother. Ms. Keaton was quite the speaker and, by the end of her presentation, there wasn't a dry eye in the audience. I'm not entirely sure that I could handle reading this book, but I want to at least try.

After hearing these authors talk about their latest novels, I definitely have added the four books to my wish-list. (I know you're shocked about that!) Only one of the novels, Charlaine Harris' DEAD RECKONING, was available, so I guess I'll have to wait a few more months for the rest of them. I admit that I am most excited about Mr. Eugenides' latest book, THE MARRIAGE PLOT. I found him to be rather charming and his sense of humor was fantastic!

After the Adult Book and Author Breakfast, Kathy and I headed back to the show floor. There were a few books that we definitely wanted to get today including DOMESTIC VIOLETS and Beth Kephart's new one YOU ARE MY ONLY. Kathy and I had promised Beth that we would attend her signing at 10:00 and I am so glad that we did. Beth is truly one of the kindest authors I've ever met and she's just lovely! Plus, I can't wait to read her new book since I know it will not disappoint.

Photo Courtesy of Florinda (The 3R's)

Kathy and I separated for a bit and we each collected some autographed books. Last year I didn't come home with many signed books,  but this year I managed to snag a few more -- maybe I'm growing more patient in my old age! Ha Ha! I met Marisa de los Santos (author of FALLING TOGETHER) as well as Matthew Norman (author of DOMESTIC VIOLETS.) In addition, I met one of my faves -- Lisa Unger whose new book DARKNESS, MY OLD FRIEND is getting rave reviews. (Now that I think about it, I might have met her on Tuesday, but I just can't keep it all straight!) There were a few others, but I won't bore you with all the details.

Around lunchtime, I met with Nicole (Linus' Blanket) and Jennifer (Book Club Girl) and Maggie (Harper Collins) to iron out our plans for the Cool Down with Agatha Christie event that we are co-hosting this summer. This read-along is going to be so much fun and I hope many of you will us at least for one book, short story or movie! There are also some fantastic prizes -- not that I'm trying to bribe you or anything.

And then, Kathy, Dawn, Candace and I headed left the Javits Center for a few hours to visit my "reading soul-mate" Lydia from Penguin Books. After sharing emails for over a year now, I was glad to finally meet Lydia in person at the Beth Hoffman dinner. She is gorgeous and very funny, and I just adored her. (Plus she's really fun to tease -- she did bring it upon herself though!) We met up with her co-worker Kate and headed to Jacques Torre for some frozen hot chocolate. Now I'm not the biggest chocolate fan, but I've been wanting to check out frozen hot chocolate for some time now. I ordered a dark chocolate one with a pinch of hot pepper. It was absolutely decadent. I should have stopped half way through, but of course, I finished all of it... and then regretted it because I was stuffed.

We all headed back to BEA for a little bit before the end of the day, and Kathy and I took another stroll around the floor. We went back to our hotel for a little while not only freshen up, but also to figure out how to find our evening activities. First, we went to the BEA Genre Mixer hosted by Mulhulland and Orbit at Landmark Tavern. It was a lot of fun visiting with all my blogging friends, but the highlights of the evening were meeting Michael Koryta and Megan Abbott. I had recently finished Ms. Abbott's latest novel THE END OF EVERYTHING and I was desperate to discuss it with her. Ms. Abbott was great to talk to and I hope I didn't make a fool of myself gushing about her book and the characters!

If Kathy and I were "party crashers" on Monday night, then we were "party hoppers" on Wednesday. From the Mulhulland/Orbit party, we headed to Harper Collins' party at Bill's Gay 90s. (We had issues getting a cab so it wasn't exactly easy, but we did get there!) I love the folks at Harper Collins so it was great catching up with some old friends and meeting some new ones. There were also some great new authors there that I was fortunate enough to meet -- Talia Carner (JERUSALEM MAIDEN), Matthew Norman (DOMESTIC VIOLETS), M.L. Malcolm (HEART OF DECEPTION), and Kristine Gasbarre (HOW TO LOVE AN AMERICAN MAN.) I felt bond with Ms. Gasbarre because she is from a small town in Pennsylvania not to far from my grandparents. Of course, I immediately added all of their books to my wish-list too.

After all this talking (and drinking), Kathy, Candace, Dawn, Swapna, and I decided to grab a bite to eat at a nearby Chipotle. I think our Chipotle trips just might become an annual tradition!

And that brings me to the end of Day 3. I'm getting tired just thinking about all we did!