New York and the BEA!!

This being the first year I've attended the BEA in New York (and hopefully not the last) I don't have much to compare it to other than reading reports from everywhere saying that attendance was down and belts were tightened in 2009. Well, that may be so, but I found the event to be exciting, crowded and for the most part filled with people exuding positive attitudes. A couple of publishers were reserving ARCs for booksellers but there was still a large number of giveaways and my arms were full not long after I arrived. I will be sharing the wealth and giving some of these to other book bloggers to review who couldn't attend.

And speaking of book bloggers, a discussion panel was organized and a committee consisting of seven bloggers spoke about the issues that we frequently come across in the book blogging world. You can listen to the discussion here.


Those empty seats in the picture (click on it for a larger view) filled up pretty quickly after I took the photo. I estimate that by the time it got under way there were about 300 people in the room. I was very pleased to meet bermudaonion. We had a chance to speak only for a few minutes but it's so nice to put the face to the name.

Other New York adventures included visiting The Strand (really, I only bought one book), getting caught in an afternoon rainstorm and having to walk about 10 km because we could not get a cab. My husband and I saw one and a half broadway shows - he did not like one at all so we left at the intermission(!). We went to the Guggenheim and Metropolitan Museums, had dinner out but also room service.

The Strand

Of course we also wandered through Central Park:

I really don't know who those people are...but they seem to be posing for me.

Now I know this is difficult to make out but this is a photo from our hotel room window looking out on 8th street. And the reason I took it is because right in the middle of the pic there is a horse. Which is tethered to a fence. And was left there for a few hours. I couldn't help picturing some person riding up to the fence getting of the horse, tethering it and then sauntering in to the nearest saloon. After a couple of hours I was getting worried about the poor animal but the last time I went to the window to check it was gone. I just hope it wasn't taken by a horse thief!