BEA 2014 -- Day 2 (Thursday, May 29th)

As I reflect back on BEA 2014, I realize that it wasn't quite as crazy as last year; however, Kathy and I still managed to get quite a bit accomplished on Thursday. We met with some publicists that we work with and even managed to attend a party and have dinner with a friend!

Both Kathy and I are early birds, so we got up bright and early and headed to a small deli near our hotel for breakfast. As expensive as New York is, I think there are some decent places to grab a quick breakfast that are quite reasonable. And I just love that they offer so many "healthy" options for breakfast. We decided to eat "big" because we needed energy for our long day.

As soon as we finished, we hopped on the shuttle bus for Javits. We arrived very early (almost an hour before the show floor opened) so we could get our BEA badge. We were prepared for a line, but fortunately we walked right up and got them. We then ran into a few blogging buddies like Candace from Beth Fish Reads and Laura from Library of Clean Reads and talked until the show room opened at 9:00.

Kathy and I made a quick visit around the show room floor to get our bearings, but honestly, if you know either one of us, we pretty much have zero sense of direction. For most of the day, we went up and down the aisles and collected some great books. We also found time to meet with Brittany from Big Honcho Media and Barbara and Sarah from Blue Slip Media.

One of the highlights of the day was meeting with Miriam Parker from Little, Brown. Not only did we catch up a little about our personal lives, but she gave us some great insight into what books are coming out in the fall. There are quite a few that excite me including WINTER STREET by Elin Hildebrand and NEVERHOME by Laird Hunt.

Another BEA tradition for Kathy and me is to grab a hot dog from one of the vendors outside the Javits Center. This year, there were some new food trucks including a Macaroni and Cheese one and a Mexican one. Kathy had delicious mac and cheese with bacon and bleu cheese while I tried a burrito bowl (it was okay!) I was shocked by how huge the servings were, but of course, I managed to eat all of mine!

In the afternoon, we managed to get a few signed copies of books including LIAR, TEMPTRESS, SOLDIER, SPY by Karen Abbott which I desperately wanted after meeting her the night before at the Harper Collins party. I also got BIG LITTLE LIES, the new one from Liane Moriarty. I always love her books and can't wait to read this one. Kathy and I both agree that we hate to wait in lines, but very once in awhile, we manage to find a short line and score some terrific autographed books!

We didn't have quite the party line-up on Thursday evening as we have had in prior years, but we still managed to find a few things to do. First, we went to the Kensington party on at the Monarch Rooftop Lounge. It was a huge party with an amazing bar and we met up with Sheila from Book Journey and Candace from Beth Fish Reads. I can't rave enough about how gorgeous the venue was! I wish I had taken some photos. (In fact, I noticed when I went to put together my recap posts that I didn't take one photo the entire trip!)

And last but not least, the best part of the day for me was having dinner with Dawn, owner of the Concord Bookshop and former blogger at She is Too Fond of Books, at Becco. Dawn has been a good friend for years, and I hadn't seen her since we both ran the Disney Princess Half Marathon in February 2013. I loved Becco and you should make an effort to go there next time you're in the city! It has $25 bottles of wine and all you can eat pasta (three different types!) Of course, I ate and drank too much, but I had a wonderful time!

That was pretty much it for Thursday. It was a fun-filled, action-packed day and one that I will remember for a very long time!