I’m finally writing this post! Yay! BookCon was nearly a month ago, but I’m still full of excitement about how amazing my first ever BookCon experience was! I went with basically no expectations, no plan, but ready for the time of my life.
I started my day off bright and early, getting ready, and wearing my favorite bookish shirt. I was lucky enough to be selected to attend SimonTeen’s Books for Breakfast event, which allowed me entry into the venue early (so cool)!
It was my first time ever going to Javits Center, too, so the Crystal Palace was an insane view!
I waited in line for the Books for Breakfast event and chatted with some other book-lovers. I was a little starstruck to turn around and see JessetheReader in line behind me with some other BookTuber friends. I also spotted Christine Riccio, CRAZY.
Books for Breakfast with SimonTeen
Speaking of starstruck, I was so grateful and lucky to be able to attend breakfast with these six incredible authors, especially one of my all-time favorites, Jenny Han!! The other authors were Brittany Morris, Margaret Rogerson, S.K. Ali, Sandhya Menon, and Cassandra Clare!
The authors rotated around the tables spending around 10 minutes with each group. We got to chat about their books, BookCon, and other fun things!
Jenny Han shared with us her experience working with Netflix and the stars of the To All the Boys film, spilling little about the sequel, but sharing her excitement for us to see it soon! I, of course, had to ask: would she be having another cameo?! Her response: “We’ll see!”
I hadn’t read any of the other authors’ books (apart from Cassandra Clare), so it was really fun learning more about them, their experiences, and it definitely got me excited about picking up these titles. We left the breakfast with a tote bag full of books, which I’ll show later!
The Starless Sea ARC Drop @ Penguin Random House
The breakfast let out a bit early, so I took advantage of being on the show floor by booking it to the Penguin Random House booth, where people were starting to line up for the Erin Morgenstern signing of the ARCs of her upcoming book, The Starless Sea. Again, I was so lucky to have gotten a ticket for this!! The Night Circus is one of my all-time favorite books.
Wandering the Show Floor
After the signing, space was getting super crowded, but I did my best to walk around and explore. Being my first time, I was kind of just stumbling around with my jaw on the floor, but it was so fun nonetheless.
I ended up getting this incredible picture at the Bookish booth, and meeting the lovely Dana from DanaSquare!
Signings
Next up, were the signings! I was thrilled to meet the adorable Morgan Matson, the oh-so-cool Joe Hill, and the sweet Nicola Yoon.
I also went to a Book to Screen panel moderated by David Levithan, featuring Nicola Yoon, Eoin Colfer, and Alafair Burke.
The Haul
With all of that, I was exhausted but happy, and ready to trek home with my haul of books!
From the Books for Breakfast event with SimonTeen:
- Riveted tote bag
- P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han (signed)
- There’s Something About Sweetie by Sandhya Menon (signed)
- Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson (singed)
- Love from A to Z by S.K. Ali (signed)
- Ghosts of the Shadow Market by Cassandra Clare
- Cursed ARC by Frank Miller and Tom Wheeler
- Slay ARC by Brittany Morris (signed)
- Sampler of Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare
- Sampler of Of Curses and Kisses by Sandhya Menon
From signings:
- Save the Date by Morgan Matson
From the show floor:
- The Starless Sea ARC by Erin Morgenstern
- The Revolution of Birdie Randolph ARC by Brandy Colbert
For my first time, I was so thrilled with all of the books I got, the people I met, and my time at BookCon! Although I know I won’t be back next year (I’ll just be graduating college then, nbd), I’ll for sure be back as soon as I can!!
Books & Cleverness 
Ahh, that sounds like such a fun event, you must have been in bookish heaven! And you also met so many amazing authors and got really interesting books, you definitely made an experience that you would never forget! What is one part of it that you would want to do again, because it was so amazing?
It was book heaven for sure! I’d say just being surrounding by so many people that love books as much as I do is the main reason why I’d do it again. It was overwhelming in the best way to be in that kind of environment!
Great wrap up, Emily, it sounds really fun! All the authors seem really lovely ❤ And ahhh the Starless Sea! I'm super excited for its release, I hope you'll love it as much as you love The Night Circus!
Yes, authors are really quite lovely people! And I hope so too!
Ahh seems like you had such a good time!! You got to meet so many amazing authors I’m so jealous haha – especially Jenny Han!
She’s so wonderful! I hope you get the chance to meet her sometime!
Ahh what a wonderful wrap-up, thank you for sharing! I dream of going to Bookcon someday, it sounds like such a fun event and ahhh, you met Morgan Matson, so exciting, I love all of her books SO much 😀
I hope you get the chance to go some time, Marie! It was a crazy experience!
That sounds like so much fun! Loved the photos. xx
It was! Thanks, Yvo!!
I’ve always wanted to go to NYC and experience BEA and Bookcoon! The breakfast looks like it was so much fun, and I love your shirt, so cute!
Thanks, Cristina! ❤