Three Letters for you- B E A ! (Book Expo America)

Wow... Mass Chaos is the best way to describe it. The whole Gang, including Lauryn and Sami attended BEA. (it was adorable how "special" the 2 of them felt wearing their "press" badges)Yesterday was kind of like the quiet before the storm. Today was just a crazy monsoon of everything to do with books. A gazillion people scavenging through the halls of the Javitz Center with a common theme- run around and get as many books as you can, see as many authors and get their autographs as you can, and "OMG- I am going to need an ice bath after carrying around 100lbs of books on each shoulder." Here's the one and only downside to BEA- too much is going on, all at the same time. Imagine yourself trying to be in as many places as you can at the same time in what was like 20 football fields worth of space with everyone else in the world doing the same. Lots of bumped elbows and quiet "ouches" to myself. It was basically a "right time, right place" sort of thing. Wherever we were something was going on that we wanted to do. Very difficult to get everything we had planned on. With that said, let's look at the positive, what we did do today...

Well, we sat in traffic getting into the city for long enough that we missed Dashner's signings, but thankfully Lauryn spotted him walking around right before lunch time. Like always, James was his usual friendly self and seemed super happy to see the Gang. I am psyched to confirm that Dashner has agreed to give the Gang an interview to be posted on Scorch's release date. Sort of a tradition now I guess, we had the very first interview with Dashner that was released the day Maze came out. What I love about the guy is he is genuine. Thanks Dash for keeping your word and always being friendly. Anyway, here is a pic of our "sneak peek" booklet containing the first 5 chapters of Scorch Trials. And, before you ask, or if you are wondering Dashner delivers as promised. It is only the first 5 chapters, but still you have read enough to just know that you are going to read it cover to cover straight through. LOVED the first 5 and can not wait for the ARC's to be out. Lauryn said that she THINKS she heard Dash saying they were being printed as we speak. Cool news.

What else did we get? Ok, so we got an autographed copy of James Patterson's second book in the Witch and Wizard series, "The Gift" and he was cool enough to talk to the girls and hold up a line of at least 100 people to chat it up with them. Did you know the guy holds the world record of 55 books on the NYT best seller list by Guiness Records and has sold over 170 million copies world wide?? Holy Moly. Another cool dude- he was slapping himself silly in the face (literally) when he asked, and the girls said they were 12 and 10. He couldn't believe they had a book review site! Well Jimmy, here ya go- welcome to TLGBRS!

Here is some more of the books that I, (Dave) picked up. I got:

Torment (A Fallen Novel) by Lauren Kate

Crossfire and Private (double book) by James Patterson

 The Obelisk by Howard Gordon (exec producer of "24")

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Sapphique (Book 2 to "Incarceron") by Catherine Fisher

Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

I Am Not A Serial Killer by Dan Wells (signed)

The Exiled Queen (book 2 of the Seven Realms series) by Cinda Williams Chima

Escape From Dubai by Herve Jaubert (signed)

The Hourglass Door by Lisa Magnum

Mission of Honor by David Weber (signed)

I also got a few more books and a whole bunch of chatchkies (swag). Mara and the girls got their own stuff and it seemed that everyone walked away happy. Again, so much going on so it was difficult to get everything I had planned on for today. We are not yet sure if we are going back tomorrow as today was long enough and it happened to be a HOT 90 degrees in NYC, which didn't help the mass confusion going on. Don't get me wrong, I know how fortunate we all were to go and we are nothing short of thrilled. I just wish it wasn't crammed into 2 days (BEA is 3, but the "floor" is only open 2 days), that's it.

If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask. I had anticipated getting more books to give away, but we will hold a few contests as promised. Email us on tlgbrs@gmail.com to let me know which books you would want to see up for a contest. I will take what you email me and the 3 books that get the most votes will go up. Just please do not vote on any books that we designated as autographed or signed. Those are for us :o)

Also, there is a review coming up probably later on tonight or tomorrow on "Cherub" by Robert Muchamore (LOVED IT!) We were waiting for BEA to basically be done and then we have a bunch we are about to launch here. There is a couple "triple threats" waiting in the wings, some giveaways (besides the BEA books) and more reviews from all of us. Lauryn and Sami have read some really good books recently and want to share with you guys. Mara is waiting for the completion of her "NJ Housewife" interview. Once she gets the answers back, she will post them.  

Alright, I suppose that is all for now and I am happy that I was able to report to you guys on our day. The coolest was that we did it together. Honestly, it was really cool. The kiddies were excited (50% to be there, 50% that they missed school today and it was actually for educational purposes! By the way, we bumped into Sami's librarian there!) and we seemed to work really well together as a family to maneuver through and survive the craziness of BEA.

DAVE