Over-Booked is my book haul post, where I share my recent book acquisitions with you every couple of week or so. I’m linking up with Stacking the Shelves at Tynga’s Reviews and The Sunday Post at the Caffeinated Book Reviewer.
Well, Comic Con 2016 has come to a close, and I had a fantastic time! It’s always an exhausting five days, braving the crazy crowds, waiting in lines, trying to get a table in a restaurant, and dealing with the shuttle bus. But in the end, I’m always sad when it’s over and I can’t wait for next year! My daughter joined me, as usual, and although we did hang together for part of the time, she and I split up so I could do my book thing (which she finds extremely boring!), and she could go to the panels she was excited about (Scream Queens, for one). She also spent almost an entire day tracking down a YouTuber that she’s a big fan of (Mary Somebody, lol!) and finally met her. We poked our heads in Hall H when the lines went down and caught a bit of Joss Whedon speaking (!!). I was waiting in line for a book signing and about two feet away from me, Andy Weir was doing a funny video for something or other. And I ran into an author I met last year, Rachel A. Marks, whose book I reviewed about a year ago, and I was super excited to run into pop culture blogger Larry Fire, whose blog I’ve been following for several years (he actually recognized me!). I met lots of nice bloggers and readers while waiting in various lines, and I even ran into some friends from my home town who also go every year (we just bumped into each other, we didn’t actually have plans to meet up.) I’m always amazed when that happens, in a sea of 150,000 + people!
Oh, and did I mention the authors? Oh yeah, I met some amazing SFF authors too:-) OF COURSE I MET AUTHORS! That’s my main reason for attending Comic Con! I didn’t get to meet everyone on my list, because you’d have to clone yourself to do that. But I’m thrilled with the authors I did meet. Since I really suck at taking photos at Comic Con (I’m just too caught up with cosplay-watching that I just forget), and I’m just not the kind of blogger that feels comfortable taking photos of/with authors, I only managed to take one author photo:
I was thrilled to meet Thomas Olde Heuvelt at the Tor booth, signing his latest, Hex! You guys, he is so young, and adorable, and he has an adorable Dutch accent:-)
I felt so lucky this year to get some books that I’m just dying to read! And I managed to meet eleven authors and get their signed books! Here are the books I got signed:
At the Tor booth, I met Mary Robinette Kowal and picked up Ghost Talkers, and also got to meet Paul Cornell (The Witches of Lychford) and Seanan McGuire (Every Heart A Doorway). At the Star Wars booth I met Chuck Wendig (for the second time) and got a signed copy of Star Wars: Aftermath. I met Jon Skovron at the Orbit booth (Hope and Red) and J. Patrick Black at the Penguin booth (Ninth City Burning).
Back at Tor, I met Thomas Olde Heuvelt and picked up Hex, and I was so excited to meet Madeline Ashby, whose Company Town I absolutely loved! At the Del Rey booth, I met Indra Das and got a signed copy of The Devourers, which I recently finished (and wow, what a beautiful book! My review will be up soon. Also, I heard him speak on a panel and OMG he is SO FUNNY). That was one of only three books that I actually purchased during Comic Con! Yes, the publishers are extremely generous. After taunting us for days with a huge display for Dark Matter, I finally got to meet Blake Crouch and get a signed copy at the Penguin booth (and in case you missed it, I’ve already posted my review for this AMAZING book here!) And finally, I was super excited to meet Ben H. Winters and get a signed copy of Underground Airlines from Orbit.
More books that I’ve been dying to get my hands on:
Squee, I got a copy of Gemina!!! I also got a surprise copy of The Reader at one of the publisher panels, and at the Penguin booth I got a free copy of After Atlas with the purchase of any book. I was also super excited to snag Dead Souls from Simon & Schuster, which I just featured on a Waiting on Wednesday.
More awesome books! (Sorry, I am too tired to list and link them all up)
And even more! And finally a big stack:
On the very bottom is the graphic novel Monstress, which I’ve been wanting to read for a while, and I finally bought a copy of Twelve Kings in Sharakhai, which many bloggers have raved about.
Huge thanks to all the publishers and authors for such a fun time! And I’ll leave you with a bit of Comic Con weirdness, just one of those things that you see on the streets:
Oh, what fun! Glad it was a good time. And a magnificent book haul. Enjoy.
Thanks Marian:-)
So. Much. AWESOME! Now the pressing question. Which one do you read first? How do you choose?? Seriously looks like a great time! 🙂 and I’ve always wondered how many books are purchased versus promotional. I am in awe! And curious about the logistics of carrying them (obviously not all at once unless you are more talented than I.
Lisa (@TenaciousReader) recently posted…Backlist Burndown Review: Moxyland by Lauren Beukes
Ha ha, yes my arms were tired, but this is over a 5 day period, and we did go back to the hotel room at least once a day (mostly just to escape the crowds). Many of these are books I already have an eARC for so they are sort of already slotted into my schedule. But Gemina is calling to me!
Wow! Amazing haul, and lots of interesting looking titles. As with Lisa, I’m curious how you managed to carry all these? Back and forth to the hotel room several times a day? Looks like you had a great time.
Thanks Todd! Yes, we took one trip back to the hotel in the middle of every day, so that helped. For bloggers who go to BEA every year, I like to call Comic Con the BEA for speculative fiction:-)
That view from your hotel was awesome! It sounds like you had a blast and I hope to one day be able to attend one of those! I got to go to BEA this year and it was so fun it was my first time meeting authors. I totally get the picture thing cause I was just a bit to shy to ask for a photo and was caught up in all my surroundings that I just forgot and only got a couple of pictures of authors…lol.
The sharknado thing cracked me up…my dad can’t wait for tomorrow so he can watch it….lol.
Enjoy all those great reads!
Stormi
Thanks Stormi, there are really awesome Comic Con conventions all over the US, I hear Phoenix is amazing too!
Damn, nice haul! One of these days I’m going to have to book a vacation and do SDCC.
It’s totally worth it, Bob! So much of what I love in one place:-)
SDCC is right up near the top of my Bucket List, right along with “Move to Scotland,” but slightly more possible.
I had no idea there was so much bookish wonder there! I’m a huge Chuck Wendig fangirl–I read his blog regularly and find him worthy of geekish worship. LOL
What a great blog haul you got! Glad to hear you had a good time!
Heather Fowler recently posted…#FF Follow & Feature Friday: Do I Review DNF Books?
I love Chuck’s blog too! And he is such a nice person:-)
That is an impressive haul of books! I’m so glad you got a lot of the ones on your list, more than I few I know you’ll enjoy (Hope and Red and HEX!) So jealous of your score of Gemina, I’m really looking forward to that one! After seeing so many rave reviews of the audiobook of Illuminae though, I’ve been contemplating going audio for the sequel…with the books being so visually intensive, I’ve been curious to see how that would work 😀
Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum recently posted…Mogsy’s Bookshelf Roundup: Stacking the Shelves & Recent Reads
It seems like the audio for Illuminae would be a completely different reading experience from the visual one. I’d love to read a comparison:-)
Oh my envy! Amazing haul! I wish wish wish I could go to the ComicCon in Tampa but not going to happen anytime soon. I have a copy of Hex that I’m putting off until closer to October but I’m super eager to read it. So cool that you got to meet the author!
Enjoy your books! 🙂
I will probably save Hex for October as well:-)
Wow! You got so many books, and so many awesome ones too!
Lorraine recently posted…Read Last Week (24-30 July)
It looks like you had a blast. I see you did manage to get a copy of Dead Souls like you were hoping. I had no idea the author of Hex is so young. Wonder what he has planned next. Hope you have a chance to enjoy your books and recover this week.
I was so surprised that TOH was so young, and I hear the book is pretty amazing so he’s got a great career ahead of him:-)
There is nothing more appealing than a tall stack of new books just waiting to be enjoyed… 🙂
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…STAR TREK BEYOND: a short, spoiler-free review and some longer musings
Agreed!
Oh oh oh, I am so jealous. Sounds like you had an incredible time, and got a fantastic haul to bring back with you as well! I would love to have met Seanan McGuire, she’s one of my absolute faves.
(Also, GEMINA! AAAAH.)
Hannah recently posted…Review: In the Woods – Tana French
I’m pretty excited about Gemina! Although I have heard the finished book has way better graphics, so I may buy a copy too.
What a fabulous time:)). And WHAT a fantastic haul of books! I’m green with envy that you got a copy of After Atlas – I LOVED Planetfall and have requested the arc from NetGalley, so far with no luck… Have a great week – though I’m guessing you’ll need to take a few days just to recover – we attend Fantasycon in the UK – a MUCH smaller affair with around 400 attendees – but even so, I wish I could clone myself.
Fantasycon sounds like fun! It’s amazing how many cons there are all over the world. Good luck with getting approved for After Atlas!
Oh. My. GOODNESS. All of those books! I think it would take a paragraph to list all of the ones on there that I’m also looking forward to reading. But I’m so glad you had an awesome time! And what a beautiful view from your hotel!
I am already missing my view, Sara. I just love the ocean and despite living in SoCal, I rarely make the drive to the coast. So San Diego is always a nice change of scenery:-)
Love that pic! Nice view. Comic Con looks so fun. Nice haul- I’m looking forward to Gemina as well as Replica and The Masked City. And it looks like you snagged Dragonbone Chair with the new cover… awesome!
And that Sharknado video! Too funny…
Greg recently posted…Sunday Post #153
I was surprised to see copies of Dragonbone Chair, one of his books I’ve never read. Very excited:-)
Wow! Looks like you had a blast. One of my goals is to eventually get around to going to SDCC. Your haul is awesome too. I’ve been wanting to get my hands on Monstress as well. Same with Underground Airlines. Enjoy all your books!
Sam recently posted…Stacking the Shelves: Week of July 24
It’s so much fun and worth all the hassle to get tickets, but I guess I forget that hassle each year because I’m always excited to go again:-)
Comic Con! Gosh I really want to go someday. I can’t wait to read TORCH! You didn’t get Traitor to the Throne? That is the one book I would have gone to SDCC for, if it were possible. 😀 I hope you enjoy all of your new books!
Have a fabulous week, Tammy. =)
Alyssa @ The Eater of Books!
Alyssa Susanna (The Eater of Books!) recently posted…Review: Diplomatic Immunity by Brodi Ashton
Traitor to the Throne was there, and I actually had it on my list of books I wanted to get, but I had to give up some things, you just can’t do everything. Since I haven’t read Rebel of the Sands I just let that one go. Crazy, I know!
It sounds like you had awesome time! Eep, I met Blake Crouch at BEA. Cool dude and Dark Matter was so good! Enjoy all of your new lovelies!
I’m glad you loved Dark Matter too! It seems to be the “buzz” book right now:-)
WOWSERS. It looks like you had a wonderful time at SDCC this year. I want to go one year to SDCC, it looks like fun. Looks like you picked up a great selection of books.
Grace @ Books of Love
It’s a ton of fun, Grace! If you ever get the chance, definitely check it out.
What a fun Con you had! Impressive book haul and it’s so cool how many authors you got to meet. A Torch Against the Night was on my SDCC wish list but I can wait a few more weeks to read it 🙂
Love the pic of Zoe and the YouTube celeb! Harley Quinn was a popular cosplay this year and Zoe did a great job with her look!
Hope we get to do it all again next year 🙂
I did spend ALL my time (or at least most of it) at the publisher’s booths and I was trying to be more selective this year. It’s so easy to just pick up every book you see, but I honestly wanted to get only the books I’m excited about. And yes, Harley Quinn was THE cosplay of 2016, right??
What a great haul! It looks like you guys had a blast at Comic Con! And how amazing you ran into folks from your hometown! It’s like when the man and I were walking the River Walk with his dad (in town for the week) and I hear my name (not too popular) being screamed across the river…and it was my brother and his wife. Small world!
That is a small world!
Oh my gosh! I’m so jealous! You got so many awesome new books… really interested in what you think of them! I’m definitely going to have to add Twelve Kings in Sharakhai to my tbr. 🙂
Lauren @ Always Me recently posted…The Dark Realm (Feyland #1) by Anthea Sharp – Review
Look at all the books – just lookee – I’m literally bouncing up and down in my seat with delicious book envy! So many gorgeous books – oh, I just can’t…..*faints* LOL
Lynn 😀