ABA WI8 Adventures & Shenanigans

This weekend I had the privilege of attending ABA Winter Institute in Kansas City, Missouri. I had never attended such a large and awesome gathering of booksellers before. They are truly made of awesome, and they were all there for the same reasons--we love books and want to share and provide each other with good reads! You can't go wrong with such a fantastic crowd.

Have pink suitcase and Starbucks, will travel.

I arrived in Kansas City on Saturday, just after a huge storm hit the city. It made for very scenic views from the hotel room, though!

The awesome view from the hotel. Union Station!

I had some free time before meeting some booksellers for dinner, so I decided to explore KC. I went straight for the Sea Life Aquarium.

Sharks!

Rainbow jellyfish!

And adorable rays that make friends with me!

Sunday morning ABA kicked off with a fantastic talk from Malcolm Gladwell:

Talking about success, failure, and geek girl basketball teams.

Then it was a traditional KC Barbecue lunch!

Yum.

And then the author's reception! I had the pleasure of meeting MIRA author Jason Mott, whose book THE RETURNED sounds incredible! Seriously, guys, you'll want to read this one. Plus he's a fantastic guy. Funny, kind, and terrified of spiders like me. ^_^

Lookit all those ARCs O_O

Then people started to file in. So many awesome authors in one place! And even better, it was so great to meet booksellers who are passionate about great books. Hurray!

Setting up for the Author Reception

I also had a chance to go the art museum in KC, and they had an exhibit on Chinese and Japanese ink wash painting, which inspired INK and The Paper Gods.

The biggest ink and wash painting I've ever seen. Twice this length!

Totally related to INK. I promise.

And this looks like it could be Tomo's desk from INK!

I had a great time in ABA and met some wonderful people. And got some fantastic ARCs in the process! Heads up - I will be doing a giveaway at some point with some of these ARCs, possibly including an INK ARC, so stay tuned! ;D

Thanks for going on my photo tour. If you went to ABA WI8, hope you had a fantastic time too! And if not, hope you had a glimpse into my adventures and shenanigans this weekend!

では、またね♥
See you next time!