RT Booklovers Convention 2016 Recap! (+GIVEAWAY)

A few weeks ago I traveled to Las Vegas for the 2016 RT Booklovers Convention! This was my fourth year attending and I had a blast!

My day started at around 8 am. I stayed in the hotel where the convention was being held, with my parents, and I decided to scope out where all the panels would be before the convention started. But when my mom and I went downstairs, we realized that the book fair line already started, so we went back and got my books and got in line.

The line for the early crowd. And my mom is on the left.

The book fair didn't start until 10:30 and went for 3 hours. Basically, the book fair is where you get all your books signed. There were hundreds of authors and you went to their tables to get your books signed. You were only supposed to bring 10 books at a time. I brought over 100 books with me to Vegas, so we had to keep going back to get more (thankfully my dad was sitting with all my books outside the book fair). I got all but I think 5 of my books signed, so it was successful! And fun! I got to see so many authors!

Entering the Book Fair!

After the mad rush to get books signed, we went to the Fierce Reads Sugar Rush Party. When we walked in the door, we were given Fierce Reads bags. In the bags were books (of course) including Nemesis, Been Here All Along, Flawed, as well as some other books.We also got to spin a wheel to get another free book. I got a copy of Kiss Cam. After getting my new books signed, we heading off to the Hogwarts Trivia.

Not my own picture, but these are the bags that were handed out.

I didn't do so well in Harry Potter Trivia, because I have a horrible memory, but I had fun! My mom and I were in Ravenclaw and Brendan Reichs was our table's prefect. By the way, Brendan Reichs is hilarious!

After that we went to Family Feud, which Brendan Reichs was moderating. (Although, before family feud there was a fire alarm scare...). I'm sure you know the gist of family feud, add authors and book related questions, and you got the idea of what the panel was about.

After that we went to the Match Game. The Match Game was moderated by Gretchen McNeil and was disappointing. The game basically had the same questions asked as last year, so it wasn't as fun.

It was even moderated by Gretchen McNeil last year

Then it was time for the party, basically what I look forward to the most at RT! When we entered in the Teen Day Party, we found a table and sat down to find trivia sheets on the table. Colleen Houck hosted a trivia game. Authors were asked to pick a question, then we all answered on the sheet.

Once the trivia game finished, each table was called to go into the goody room, pretty much the highlight of the night. Each person got a pink bag filled with books and swag. The good room had tables stacked with books, mostly ARCs, and swag. Each person got to take two the first round, but there were enough books and enough swag that every got to go in line more than once. 

The bags given out (not my picture)

All of the authors!

Now, the loot!

Here are all of the books I got! I'm too lazy to link and list them all (if you really want to know what books are pictured, here's my Goodreads shelf), but some I'm really really excited about are: Girl Against the Universe, Wanderlost, The Forgetting, My Lady Jane, and Recreated.

Overall, I had a fabulous time! I love RT and look forward to it every year! Of course, my parents were super nice to me during RT and helped me with my books, so I'm so thankful to have such amazing parents! I hope I can go again, but it's the weekend before finals, so that may not be the best time. Anyway, if you you're thinking about going to RT next year, I recommend it!

GIVEAWAY!

Most of you probably skipped down to this section, which is okay. I picked up some extra copies for you guys! I'm giving away...

-ARC of Places No One Knows

-ARC The Lovely Reckless

-HC The Sin Eater's Daughter

-ARC Flamecaster

and a whole lot of swag! Including Snow Like Ashes buttons, Glittering Court preview, Epic Read magazine, Swoon Reads post its, an a whole lot of bookmarks!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Bookish Rants and Rambles: 4 Things That Would Be Handy at Book Conventions

Bookish Rants and Rambles is basically where I either rant or ramble about something dealing with books.

I'll be going to two different book conventions this month, RT and NTTBF, so I decided to create a post of things that would be handy at book conventions. Now, obviously, you should bring books. Tote bags, post-it, pens, lists, business cards, and snacks are other things I like to bring.

But I'm going to go fictional here. Here are things that would be handy, but I would have a really hard time getting my hands on.

Time Turner

Book conventions oftentimes have lots of panels to go to. At NTTBF, there are some hours where there are eleven different panels at once. And there are even more panels throughout the day. Each panel has different authors, talking about different things, and I WANT TO GO TO THEM ALL! If I had a time turner, I could.

Hermione's Bag

I oftentimes have to carry 4 or 5 bags in order to take all of my books. Wouldn't it be great if I could fit all of my books in one bag?!

Teleportation

I don't really have a gif for this one, since it's not from a specific book or show, but teleportation would be so handy! I could teleport all of my books back home, without worry. I couldn't have to deal with shipping horror stories. I wouldn't have to take an atrocious amount of suitcases. I wouldn't have to worry about the weight of the books on the airplane, or the airplane losing my books. I wouldn't have to worry about there not being enough space in my suitcase for the new books I get! Heck! If I could teleport myself, I could easily go to almost any book convention!

Doofenshmirtz's Copy and Paste-inator

I've been watching Phineas and Ferb a lot lately (don't judge me. It's a fabulous show). Anyway, there's an episode where Doofenshmirtz invents and inator that makes copies of himself. He does this just so he doesn't have to wait in lines. Just saying, at book conventions, there's a lot of line waiting. And sometimes you are under a time limit and it's hard waiting in long line when you're worried that your favorite author will leave before you finish getting books signed from another favorite author (I'll get you this time, Soman Chainani)

So, what fictional items/inventions do you think would be handy at book conventions?

BOOK CONVENTIONS!

So, I'm going to a few book conventions this month and I AM SO EXCITED! I first found out about these conventions through other blogs, so I thought I should share! Just in case any of you live nearby or if any of you guys are planning on going!

WHAT: RT Booklovers Convention

WHERE: Las Vegas, Nevada. At the Rio All-Suite Casino & Hotel

WHEN: April 12th-17th

So, in just a week (!!!) I'll be heading to Vegas for RT Booklovers Convention! I'll be going to the Book Fair and Teen Day! Teen Day includes panels, games, candy, and a GIANT party at the end full of authors and free books! This is my 4th year attending! I absolutely LOVE RT! 

NOTICE: This convention does cost money. For Teen Day (which includes the Book Fair) it's around $20

Some authors attending....

Renée Ahdieh
Jennifer L. Armentrout
Victoria Aveyard
Alexandra Bracken
Kiera Cass
Cinda Williams Chima
Susane Colasanti
Andrea Cremer
Kami Garcia
Cynthia Hand
Amanda Hocking
Rosamund Hodge
Ellen Hopkins
Colleen Houck
C.C. Hunter
Sophie Jordan
Stacey Kade
Julie Kagawa
Kody Keplinger
Katie McGarry
Gretchen McNeil
Jodie Meadows
Julie Murphy
Lauren Oliver
Danielle Paige
Mary E. Pearson
Tamora Piece
Brendan Reichs
Morgan Rhodes
Veronica Rossi
Marie Rutkoski
...AND MORE

If you want to know more about the convention, go here!

WHAT: North Texas Teen Book Festival

WHERE: Irving, Texas. At the Irving Convention Center

WHEN: April 23rd

Now, this one is in two weeks and this will be my 2nd year attending! NTTBF includes loads of panels that finish off with book signings! I had loads of fun last year, even though Soman Chainani ran off before I could get my books signed by him. I'll get you this year! *shakes fist*

This convention is free, though there is a author lunch you can buy tickets for as well as "fast passes" that allow you to cut lines, both of which are really expensive

Some authors attending....

Adi Alsaid

Holly Black
Libba Bray
Sarah Rees Breenan
Jessica Brody
Rachel Caine
Ally Carter
Soman Chainani 
Ally Condie
James Dashner
Sarah Dessen
Gayle Foreman
Claudia Gray
Bethany Hagen
E. Lockhart
Marie Lu
Jennifer Mathieu
Caragh M. O'Brien
Natalie C. Parker
Beth Revis
Carrie Ryan
Victoria Scott
Ruta Sepetys
Jessica Spotswood
Margaret Stohl
Brenna Yovanoff
...AND MORE

If you want to know more about the convention, go here!

Anyway, I'm so excited and I hope some of you guys can go to these or any other conventions! There are a ton of book conventions this time of year! :)

RT Booklovers Convention 2015 Recap

So, a week or so ago, I went to the fabtabulous RT Booklovers Convention! I had a wonderful time and while I was too busy to take pictures, here's what I did all day in booknerd heaven!

The Book Fair

The Book Fair didn't start until 11:00, but by 8:30 the lines were already starting, so my mom and I snagged a spot. We waited in line for 2 1/2 hours, though we luckily had plenty of people to have conversation with and plenty of books to read.

*not my image*

The book fair was crowded. Imagine thousands of book nerds in one place! The book fair lasted until 2:00 and we stayed for all 3 hours. Here's why:

See those stacks of books? Those are all the books I brought to get signed. Turns out that I brought over 90 books. Sounds like a lot, but it's even worse since they changed the rules this year so that you can only bring 10 books at a time per person. My mom kept taking books up and down from our hotel room (thankfully, we were only on the 4th floor, right by the elevators). Except for a few by authors who cancelled, I got ALL of them signed!

I'm not listing all the books I got  signed, but here are the authors that signed my books at the Book Fair:

Ann Aguirre, Jennifer L. Armentrout, Jenna Black, Meg Cabot, Rachel Caine, Kiera Cass, Susane Colasanti, C.C. Hunter, Andrea Cremer, Lindsay Cummings, Liz Czukas, Susan Dennard, Kimberly Derting, Bree Despain, Susan Ee, Jennifer Estep, Sarah Fine, Becca Fitzpatrick, Kami Garcia, Claudia Gray, Colleen Houck, Tara Hudson, Stacey Kade, Justine Larbalestier, Marie Lu, Mary Lindsey, Michelle Madow, Mari Mancusi, Melissa Marr, Jodi Meadows, Page Morgan, Lauren Oliver, Stephanie Perkins, Kristen Simmons, J.A. Souders, Margaret Stohl, Rachel Vincent, Kasie West, and Scott Westerfeld.

And that's not including all the authors who signed my bag and I talked to throughout the day.

The Pizza Party

By the time that we finished at the book fair, it was time to go to the Fierce Reads pizza party. I was very excited for this, but I ended up being disappointed. There were already hundreds of people in line, so we didn't get in until 2:30-ish. The first 100 people got Fierce Reads bags. I was obviously too late for this, but while I was in line someone gave me their bag, since they didn't need it. There were 4 books inside, 2 of which I already had, so I gave them to someone behind me in line. By the time we got inside, they were out of pizza. My mom waited for them to have more, but it turned out they didn't even have cheese (which I think should be a given), being a vegetarian, I had to opt out (my mom did go get me a grilled cheese from our hotel when I went to the panels, so I didn't starve). I was also expected BINGO and prizes, as that's what they said on the website, but nope. The only bright side to the pizza party was that I got to meet Katie Finn/Morgan Matson ONE OF MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE AUTHORS!

The Panels

*sorry for the bad image*

The first panel I went to was Family Feud. It's just like the usual Family Feud, but with authors as contestants and YA oriented questions. This was a very fun panel! The most interesting (and horrifying) question was "Most awkward thing [the authors] had to sign" Answer: Body parts, Baby/Child, Food, and Someone else's book.

After that we went to the Match Game, again, it's like the Match Game, but with authors and YA questions. The info is misleading because the questions weren't trivia questions, but fill-in the blank. There would be a question like "You're writing a scene and reach next to you to drink a large glass of ______" The authors would write their answers on notecards and then reveal them to see if their answers match the two teens playing. This one was also very fun! A lot of the interesting things came from Brendan Reichs, mostly since he always answered with Dumbledore and that he was (probably) the only guy in the room.

Teen Day Party

Finally, it was time for the party! We got out of Match Game early only to find that the Teen Day party was already very very long. This worried me, as the first 500 teens would get a swag bag. When we got into the room, we were told to sit at a table with an author. We just choose a random table, which turned out to have Rachel Caine, Cynthia Hand, and Alyson Noel. After everyone was in, we all played a trivia game and the tables with the most points would get to go first. This was really different than last time and I was miffed because it was obvious that some people used the google and some tables had an advantage (Richelle Mead's table for one. And that question had 3 points to it).

Here's the trivia if you're wondering (as well as our answers):

We got 7 points out of 14, so we had to wait. I ended up having nothing to worry about, as there we more than enough bags and books to go around.

Here's some of the swag I got

This is my bag by the end of the day

And here are the books I got!

Overall, I did have a very great time! I was very happy by the end of the day! I got to meet so many authors and have a good laugh! I didn't have as much fun as last year, but that's mainly because of the crowds.

I really want to go again next year, but Vegas is further away from me. Wouldn't be that much of a problem, but it's also during the school year and I can't go roadtripping during the school year. BEA will be closer to me, but it just HAS to be during finals week!

Anyway, if you ever get the change GO TO THIS! I especially recommend the Teen Day events! :)