Confession: I've always been a little jealous of fandoms and their conventions.
It's not because of the fandom itself, but because I like the idea of having a group of people who like to geek out to the same things you like to geek out to.
On many occasions I've thought to myself, I wish there was something like that for book nerds. Not long after I released my wish to the universe, my favorite book news website, Book Riot, announced they were planning a live event in New York City: Book Riot Live.
Let's just talk about the speakers for a second and see if your book nerdy heart doesn't start salivating. Tumblr's meme librarian. The creator of Feminist Ryan Gosling. We Need Diverse Books team members. Author Laurie Halse Anderson. Author Daniel José Older. Author Peter Mendelsund. And more.
And it gets even better. There's an event at Strand Books on Saturday night (if you haven't heard of Strand, you need to sit down before reading any further. It's a bookstore with 18 miles of books. 18 miles!). The event will be in the rare books room, where there will be an open bar and opportunities to mingle with the speakers. No arm-twisting required--I'm so there!
I'd be lying if I said I didn't set, like, six alarms reminding me to buy tickets the minute they were on sale. But, hey, it paid off because I was one of the first 250 people to register, so I got $50 off.
Between registration, the extra event at Strand, and a Book Riot Live t-shirt (because I want other book nerd to identify me out in the wilds of New York), the total came to just under $200.
But I ain't mad! I finally get to go to a book nerd convention and geek out with people who like geeking out to the same things I like to geek out to. Worth it.
If you're going, post a comment below so we can meet and hang out at the event. If you're not going and you want to go, get your tickets here.
