Book Whore 2007 (or, Roe's Weekend at BookExpo)

I am a shameless book hussy. Those covers give me that sly wink, a subtle nod, and I'm all over them, caution flung to the wind. So you can imagine what it's like for me at BookExpo, when I'm in a place like the Jacob Javits Center - packed to the seams with books for the taking (for the most part).

I worked BookExpo this time around; normally I'm merely a visitor. Booth duty can be long and tough, but when you get a chance to wander every now and then, it makes it all worthwhile. Seeing so many of my friends was great, too. It's been a while for some of my Bookspan friends so it was a little like a reunion. And Nancy was there on Friday, so that was fun, chasing each other via voicemail to meet up somewhere (eventually, we met up - on the ride home that she and her parents were kind enough to extend to me!).

So where to begin? I brought home about 60 books and assorted other stuff. I got some great autographs and met some very cool people. Nancy got a crazy amount of autographs, I'm jealous. ;-) I did get Will a signed copy of Wizardology, which he was most excited to receive. I was Mom of the Year for like, five whole minutes or something. Wow.


I totally missed the Sabuda signings - he did like two or three - but I was determined to get this one. It is quite cool, and I'm sure we'll be curling up on the couch and reading this one after I get through Thor's Wedding Day, which I borrowed from Nancy eons ago...

The DC booth was rocking with grade-A freebies. Not only did I score tons of bookmarks for the kids, and buttons of Green Lantern, Flash and Superman, but I got hardcover copies of Justice (rocking the Alex Ross cover) and Identity Crisis, and a trade paperback of Watchmen . I also got two issues of Mad Kids magazine and an issue of Mad Magazine for Will.

Continuing in my "I'm a good Mom" vein, I scored more for Will and Alex:

- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TPB of Out of the Shadows from the Titan Books table. (They're also doing a Stargate: Atlantis companion, which I scored a copy of for Mike - I'm a good wife, too). And Supernatural fans, wait - they're doing companions for that show, too (which I'm probably going to have to get Will). Back to TMNT - it's penned by Peter David, so I may have to read it myself...

- signed copy of What Stinks? by Marilyn Singer for Alex. Come on, with a name like that, I was supposed to pass it up?

- F&Gs (folded & gathered signatures, kind of a version of a galley for picture books) for Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity by Mo Willems (Nancy got a signed copy... garrrr!), The Longest Christmas List Ever by Gregg & Evan Spiridellis (they're the brothers who did the hilarious This Land animation with Bush and Kerry; check it out on JibJab.com); and Do Unto Otters: A Book on Manners by Laurie Keller (complete with sheet of stickers!).

- Two more Hot Dog & Bob adventures, to go with the first two I picked up for Will last year.

- Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? and Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? by Eric Carle and Bill Martin, Jr. I was psyched not only to get copies of these books, but to find out that Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See? will be coming out in August. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? is one of Alex's fave books, so I was happy to bring him this news. He was even happier to get the poster.

Okay, I've got a lot more to describe but I'll pick this up tomorrow. I'm still exhausted. Later.