ALA Anaheim 2012 Recap

Yes! ALA was absolutely amazing. If you didn't go this year, definitely try to make it to one soon. I went with Jenny from Books to the Sky, and we had a fab time. We met LOTS of other bloggers and authors and people in the biz. I even ran into some bloggers I've met before, like Jaime from Two Chicks on Books! It was so fantastic, even if I came home with bruises on my shoulders (and legs, though I don't know why.. lol) and a totally sore body from head to toe. Worth it, I promise! We had some great times at the exhibits and a totally fun time at the Great YA Blogger Meetup! So here are some photos of the highlighted moments at ALA:

This doesn't make it look so bad, but the crowd to get in was crazy!

Here's Jenny and me waiting to get in!

Marie Lu was signing Prodigy and Legend :o)

Then Ally Condie was signing right next to her!

Here's Libba Bray signing The Diviners for Jenny's friend Madison. She kissed it for her!

Kendare Blake signing Girl of Nightmares. Can't wait to read this one!!!!

Here's Ishita from The Reading Fish and me! Glad we finally met up on the last day, girl :o)

 Oh, and my bacon pancakes at Denny's on Friday night :o) YUM!

There were so many other fantastic moments that I didn't get pictures of. Miranda Kenneally was AMAZING and told me that I was one of her earliest fans. She's too sweet. I did see George R. R. Martin, but as I've never read his books I did not go up to him at all.. haha. Getting a copy of Scarlet from Marissa Meyer a day early at an impromptu signing was fantastic since we weren't going to be there during the signing on Sunday! Trying to get the books back on Saturday was ridiculous. I can laugh about it now, but it was HARD and sad.. haha. And I got a couple things for some fun reading friends, so it was a great trip. I know I'm forgetting stuff, but Jenny and I got lucky being in the right place at the right time for most of the weekend. 

And in case you're wondering, here are the books I brought home. In no particular order, except kind of in release order..

Andrew Clemens – About Average
Katie McGarry – Pushing the Limits*
Jennifer Brown – Perfect Escape
Ann Kelley – Lost Girls
James Preller – Before You Go
Susan Elizabeth Phillips – The Great Escape
Sarah J. Maas – Throne of Glass*
Laura Lascarso – Counting Backwards
Jeffrey Ford – Crackpot Palace
Karsten Knight – Embers and Echoes
Rebecca Stead – Liar and Spy
Cyn Balog – Touched
Kendare Blake – Girl of Nightmares*
Elizabeth Fama – Monstrous Beauty
Jessica Warman – Beautiful Lies
Shannon Hale – Princess Academy: Palace of Stone^
Alexander Adornetto – Heaven
Gina Rosati – Auracle
Margaret Dilloway – The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns*
Ellen Hopkins – Tilt
Jonathan Maberry – Flesh and Bone^
Elizabeth George – The Edge of Nowhere
Douglas Nicholas – Something Red
Gregg Olsen – Betrayal
Libbra Bray – The Diviners*
Hannah Harrington – Speechless
Elle and Blair Fowler – Beneath the Glitter
Rae Carson – The Crown of Embers*^
Maggie Stiefvater – The Raven Boys*
Lane Davis – I swear
Francine Prose – The Turning
Iris Anthony – The Ruins of Lace
Tonya Hurley – The Blessed
CJ Redwine – Defiance
Gretchen McNeil – Ten
Melissa Marr – Carnival of Souls
Ilsa J. Bick – Shadows
Jenny Han/Siobhan Vivian – Burn for Burn
Jessica Shirvington – Entire^
Lisa Mangum – After Hello*
Gabrielle Zevin – Because it is my Blood
Jasper Fforde – The Last Dragonslayer
Suzy Cox – The Dead Girls Detective Agency
Daniel Marks – Velveteen
Donna Cooner – Skinny
Janet Gurtler – Who I Kissed*
Fiona Paul – Venom
Darren Shan – Zom-B
Colleen Clayton – What Happens Next
Schulman – League of Strays
Jocelynn Drake – Angel’s Ink
Miranda Kenneally – Stealing Parker*
Robison Wells – Feedback^
Stoltz/Bass – Lucid
Sarah Crossan – Breathe
Kresley Cole – Poison Princess
Paul Griffin – Burning Blue
Mike Mullin – Ashen Winter^
Jennifer L Armentrout – Deity
Amy McNamara – Lovely, Dark and Deep
Katie Kacvinsky – Middle Groud^
Catherine Fisher – Darkwater
Janet Ruthoung – My Beautiful Failure
Christopher Pike – Witch World
Chris Howard – Rootless
Jacquelyn Mitchard – What We Saw at Night
Marie Lu – Prodigy
Leah Stewart – The History of Us
Victoria Schwab – The Archived
Various – Who Done It?
Tahereh Mafi – Unravel Me
Marissa Meyer – Scarlet*
Joy Preble – The Sweet Dead Life
Margaux Froley – Escape Theory*
Kat Beyer – The Demon Catchers of Milan
Peter May – The Blackhouse
Sarah Cross – Kill Me Softly
Myra McEntire – Timepiece^
Daniel H. Wilson – Amped
Mark Haddon – The Red House
Kady Cross – The Girl in the Steel Corset*#
Kady Cross – The Girl in the Clockwork Collar*^#
Julie Kagawa – The Immortal Rules#
Margaret Dilloway – How to Be an American Housewife*#
Susan Mallery – Barefoot Season*#
Alissa Grosso – Ferocity Summer#
Cayla Kluver – Legacy#
Cayla Kluver – Allegiance^#
Palacio – Wonder#
Elizabeth Percer – An Uncommon Education*#
Carol M. Tanzman – dancergirl*#

* = signed copy
^ = sequel to a book I haven't yet read
# = finished copy

So if you haven't had a chance to go to an ALA conference, I do highly recommend it. Everyone was really nice and helpful. I didn't get the feel of all the BEA comments I see about rude people pushing and grabbing. It wasn't really like that for us. Of course, when good books dropped, it was sometimes a difficult task to get one, but when authors were signing people were respectful of lines and waiting. I'm just really glad I went and can't wait for Chicago next year!!