Book Con – May 30 – May 31, 2015

The set up was an improvement from last year. There was room to walk around and they gave out bracelets for the panels being held in the Special Events Hall. That prevented people from queuing up at 10AM for a panel that didn’t start till 3PM.

Started off Saturday morning getting bracelets for Mindy Kaling in conversation with BJ Novak at 11AM and Room Film panel featuring first look and cast discussion.

Mindy and BJ were very funny. I liked them both on The Office, and I can’t deny, I ship them in real life. I forgot how Mindy knew this story but it was a funny one about how when Tom Hanks and Dave Chappelle were filming You’ve Got Mail. It was at the time of the Seinfeld series finale and after a long day of filming they couldn’t find a place to watch it. So being on the Upper West Side (where much of Seinfeld took place) they figured everyone would be home watching it. They knocked on some strangers door and asked if they could watch the finale with them. Ok, when I tell the story it is lame, but look for this panel on YouTube and Mindy tells it right.

I read the book sampler of Why Not Me? and I liked the part in the first essay about when you are still best friends with your best friend and you have that inside joke that lasts for years. And even just one phrase of that inside joke will still make you laugh.

I read Room back in 2012 and had no idea it had been adapted into a film. It was because of Book Con that I found out. So I loved the book and was very excited about this panel.

Emma Donoghue spoke about her process of writing the novel and then adapting it into the screenplay. I am so happy to hear she wrote the screenplay. I have much more faith in a book to film adaptation when the author is the screenwriter.

She also said that a small Irish film company produced the film. Good, those big Hollywood suits often screw things up anyway.

Brie Larson, playing Ma, and Jacob Tremblay, playing Jack, also spoke about their roles. Brie actually secluded herself for a month to prepare for the role. She also went on a special diet and built muscle tone to be able to keep up with a energetic 5 year old.
Jacob was adorable and seemed a bit nervous but spoke really well in front of a large audience.

Then it was up to the Exhibit Hall. We were not crammed into a tiny corner like last year. There was room to walk around and not feel like a salmon swimming up-stream.

I didn’t see many book give-aways on Saturday. I picked up a few chapter samplers. I only picked up one free book, H2O, by Virgina Bergin. It came with a poncho!
Also, one of my friends gave me a ARC she picked up, A History of Glitter and Blood, by Hannah Moskowitz. 

I then went with my sister and a friend to

Your Opinion Sucks! Special Edition: Rotten Tomatoes Critics vs. Fans; Best and Worst Book to Screen Adaptations
Sat. May 30| 5:00 PM – 5:45 PM | Downtown Stage
SPEAKERS
Grae Drake
Joe Neumaier
Marshall Fine
Matt Atchily
Sarah Ricard

Face off with your favorite Rotten Tomatoes Critics when they join Editor-in-Chief Matt Atchity and Senior Editor Grae Drake of Rotten Tomatoes, along with their editorial team. As Matt and Grae invite audience members to share book-to-film and book-to-TV adaptations they love, hate or love to hate, everyone in the room uses their “Personal Tomatometer Paddle” to dis/agree with the score. Remember: Fortune favors the bold!

This was a lot of fun. There were a lot of books I didn’t read and their films/TV series I never saw, so I couldn’t give my opinion with my paddle. The ones that I did read and see though, were fun to participate in.

One girl was so upset about the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire film. My sister, my friend and myself didn’t agree. If your going to tear apart any HP film, it should be Half Blood Prince.

I would like to do that again and maybe next time I will even get up and participate.

Meeting up with my two cousins and two friends again (we kept meeting up and splitting up throughout the day) we went to see:

The Laugh Button Live! Presented by BookCon
Sat. May 30| 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM | Room 1A23

SPEAKERS
John Leguizamo
Judah Friedlander
Lizz Winstead
Robert Kelly
Sara Benincasa

BookCon highlights a lineup of exceptional stand- up comedians in this showcase brought to you by the comedy experts at The Laugh Button. Each comic on the bill either writes for TV and film, or has written and released their own book.

My friend is a big fan of John Leguizamo. He didn’t do any stand up though. Only spoke about his new book, Ghetto Klown. My friend was so disappointed.

However, it was not a total bust. Judah Friedlander was really funny in his stand-up routine. He did a bit about how we should really celebrate Columbus Day. When you are in an elevator and get off on the third floor instead of the ground floor by mistake, don’t get back on the crowded elevator. Pretend that you meant to get off on the third floor and then murder everyone on that floor. Ha!

Next, Sunday! On Sunday it was only me and my sister. Our two cousins and three friends only bought Saturday tickets. Sunday was a great day for book give aways. We spent most of the day in the Exhibit Hall, going to all the booths – picking up whatever they were handing out.

Maureen Johnson was signing free hardcover copies of The Shadow Cabinet. The HC is now out of place with the rest of the series in paperback on my bookshelf, but I was happy Maureen was there and to receive the official print edition. I told her how I loved Freddie and that she has some of the best lines in the book. I also said I loved how the series got more into mythology.

Maureen’s signing co-insided with the signing for E. Lockhart’s We Were Liars. I was hoping that since my sister and I were at the beginning of queue for The Shadow Cabinet we could still make the We Were Liars queue. Alas, it was capped. Oh well.

Here is my collection of books from Sunday:

ARC: Everything Everything, by Nicola Yoon
Delicious!, by Ruth Reichl
The Winter Sea, by Susanna Kearsley
ARC: Another Day, by David Leviathan
Een Meeny, by M.J. Arlidge
ARC: Alive, by Scott Sigler
The Shadow Cabinet, by Maureen Johnson
Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld
ARC: Illuminae: The Illuminae Files – 01, by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
ARC: The Cinder Spires: The Aeronaut’s Windlass, by Jim Butcher
ARC: The Drafter, by Kim Harrison

The only book I purchased was Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld, and he signed it at the autographing area. I read a sampler a while ago and found it intriguing. So decided to buy the HC and get it signed while I had the opportunity. I also have his other story Uglieswaiting to be read on my nook and I enjoyed his short story “Inoculata” from Zombies Vs. Unicorns.

Lastly, we went to one panel at the end of the day:

The Big Bad Theory: Tropes and Archetypes of Evil in Science Fiction and Fantasy
Sun. May 31| 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM | Room 1A06

SPEAKERS
Charlie Jane Anders
David Wellington
Ilana Myer
Michael Buckley
Scott Westerfeld

Any author can tell you that conflict is key to a good story, and there’s no one readers love to hate more than a compelling antagonist. But in Sci-Fi and Fantasy, the big bad character can go to all new levels of evilness and depravity—they can be a monstrous zombie, a power-mad tyrant with magical powers, etc. etc. The interesting bit is how authors make a fantastic take on an antagonist feel real—and scary. Let’s face it, Frodo wouldn’t be a hero if it weren’t for Sauron, and Luke Skywalker is nothing without Darth Vader.

I was so tried I didn’t retain many details from this panel. I should have taken notes. I do remember I was entertained and liked some of the points that were made. What I remember most was that every two seconds people kept opening and closing the back door because it was so squeaky and distracting. Would it kill the Javits Center to put some WD-40 on the hinges? Even Michael Buckley said that the real villain was the person who didn’t put WD-40 on it!

OMG the nightmare of leaving the Javits. It was POURING like a monsoon. I regretted leaving that H2O poncho at home. I regretted not bringing a small carry-on luggage with wheels.

Everyone was asking the cleaning woman for garbage bags to cover their heads and their books. God Bless that woman. She was so sweet and patient with everyone bombarding her.

I covered my totes full of books. We waited 30 minutes till it let up and then tried to get a taxi. I don’t think I need to get into THAT drama. All you New Yorkers know what I mean. Eventually we did get a taxi just as it started to pour again. I grabbed one as soon as I saw a man getting out.

Next year Book Con will be in Chicago, so I will wait till it is in NYC again. I have plenty of books and other NYC book events to hold me over until then.