BookCon 2018 Recap

So over the weekend I went to my third (and probably final) BookCon. For those who aren’t aware, BookCon is a yearly convention for book readers to go and meet their favorite authors, find some new great reads, and even find some new bookish friends.

In the past, my BookCon trips have been all about the books. I’m trying to get as many books as possible and pushing down anyone that gets in my way. It’s a pretty aggressive world at BookCon especially when you’re getting that rare ARC of a novel you’ve been waiting for since Book 1.

This year, my plans were changed. I did come to BookCon to get as many ARCs as I can, but what I came away with is a great experience of meeting some of my favorite authors and hanging out with my bookish friends. When you’re a bookstagrammer and you make book friends online, guess what we talk about in real life? BOOKS.

So without further ado, here’s some fun pics from my time at BookCon 2018!

My friend who went to BookCon with me this year forced me to take these pics with these two incredible authors. I’m a huge fan of David Levithan and Charlie Jane Anders and it was so fun awkwardly asking if they’ll take a photo with me.

My first bookstagrammer sighting! This girl popped up randomly calling my name and I had to get a selfie with her before she disappeared. The fun part is that I caught up with her later at the bookstagram Meetup.

The best part of my day was my best friend and her baby. Michelle and Kali are huge book readers and it’s so great that BookCon catered to the kids. Honestly, I got more stuff for children than anything else and I don’t even have a kid. Do I know any kids? Kali, can you introduce me to some of your friends at the playground? Oh, that sounds creepy.

I’m a WHIZZHERRDDDDD! I felt a little silly posing by myself, but I got to wear a Ravenclaw scarf (my house) and held the Firebolt! I will say that these brooms are no joke. They were crazy heavy! However, they didn’t help with cleaning up the pieces of popcorn and paper on the ground.

The best part of my day has got to be when I met all my bookstagram friends! This is all of us taking a sorority photo to get us all in the shot. I talk to some of these ladies EVERY SINGLE DAY and it’s so wonderful that we all finally got to me. Some of them came from the middle of the country, so it must have been a trek to get all the way out here.

My favorite moment has got to be when I bumped into Patience from @inkandfable. The best part was when she called out my name while I was perusing tote bags at Obvious State. It was so crazy to hear her yell my name when I felt like such a nobody. I’m standing amongst goddesses here! I also met the wonderful @_wolfandmoon and @therusticwindow who also inspire me so much. It’s so amazingly humbling to hear that I inspire them.

The last photo I’m saving is probably my favorite moment of the entire day. As I was walking around the convention center looking for a booth selling enamel pins, I bumped into these three authors. Immediately, I knew exactly who each of them were because I’m a huge fan of YA and I’m a huge fan of diverse reads.

I respect these women so much for being authors of color, for being incredible writers, and for sharing their stories. Two out of three of these women write Science Fiction and Fantasy, which is a predominantly white male genre. Their representation in the bookish universe means worlds to other diverse authors trying to break into the SciFi/Fantasy scene. I will basically read anything these women write.

So that’s it for me! I loved being at BookCon and meeting some amazing bookstagrammers and authors. It truly was such a great year because of the people I met and the wonderful stories we shared. I hope I get to go to another BookCon in the future, but I can’t make promises right now.

Until we meet again, Javits Center…