nomadreader

Living up to being a nomad reader: I'm back home in Albany after a whirlwind two weeks away. One of my closest friends from college got married in northeast Iowa the weekend before BEA, and Mr. Nomadreader and I drove out for the festivities. We stopped to see a close high school friend in Ohio for a couple of nights, my parents in Des Moines for one night, then spent two nights at the wedding festivities. On the way home, we spent one exhausted night in Buffalo and had sixteen hours at home to unpack, do laundry and repack for New York City. Whew! New York City: New York was wonderful. We rented a small studio apartment, through AirBnB , a wonderful site I discovered through the Frugal Traveler . It felt like I was living in New York again because I had an apartment where I could cook my own meals or easily order delivery. It was delightful. The downfall was that I didn't spend BEA: Book Expo America (BEA) was delightful, chaotic and overwhelming. I went in with a list ...

Here is my tentative BEA Plan. There are conflicts, and I may change my mind about which author I care more about on the spot. Similarly, I may not care enough to arrive at 6:45 a.m. to get tickets to the ticketed events. I tend to enjoy spontaneity, but at least I know the things I would like to do. If I don't do them all, I'm okay with that. Even after looking at the floor plan, I'm unsure how close the booths will be once there are so many people in the building. My actual document is color-coded in an attempt to highlight different locations. Here is the information: Wednesday 9:30-10:30   Kate DiCamillo Blink and Gollie (Table 19 - ticketed) 10-11 Joyce Carol Oates Sourland: Stories (Table 5 - ticketed) Justin Cronin The Passage  (Table 8) Mo Willems Can I Play Too? (Booth 3352) 11-12  Caroline Leavitt Pictures of You (Booth 3352) Nancy Pearl Book Lust to Go  (Booth 4330-B) 1-1:30 Allison Winn Scotch The One That I Want  (Booth 4341) 1-2 ...

The last two months have kept me extremely busy. School  taking two graduate classes  teaching my first undergraduate class Work  I started a new job waiting tables at one of my favorite restaurants two weeks ago, which will be wonderful now that school is done. Those extra hours have been brutal during this end of semester crunch .  The good news: the semester is over! I am looking forward to relaxing, reading more and not being stressed all the time. I love this feeling of freedom, and I'm really looking forward to a fun summer! Speaking of summer, can you believe Book Expo American and Book Blogger Con are only two weeks away? I've seen lots of posts over the past few weeks from bloggers interested in meeting up, and here is mine (in my finals haze, I don't remember where I saw it first or where all I've seen it, sorry!). If you'd like to meet up that week, please fill out this form so we can exchange information. (I'm arriving...

It's time to get excited about book conferences. I'm thrilled to be attending the 2010 Book Blogger Convention in New York City on Friday, May 28, 2010. I'm looking forward to meeting other book bloggers, networking and getting even more fabulous tips. Book Blogger Con is now officially affiliated with Book Expo America , which I will also be attending for the first time. Book Expo America is a huge deal in the publishing industry, so it's fantastic they're officially recognizing book bloggers too. Book Blogger Con was planned to be the day after BEA (May 25-27), but now it can be held in the same spot. Plus, all bloggers registered for Book Blogger Con are automatically registered for BEA. It's awesome. Do you want to go? BEA is free for press, and Book Blogger Con is $115, but if you register before February 14, you get $25 off. Register now to guarantee the $90 fee. I found a delightful studio apartment through Airbnb , a Web site that allows homeown...