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The Book Con 2018


Last weekend my college roommate and I traveled to New York for the Book Con. We went two years ago, when it was in Chicago.  This year, we turned the trip in to a tourist vacation, since neither of us had spent significant time in New York City. 

Highlights: We spend 7 hours in the Met, ate dollar slices of pizza of while watching a free (incredibly moving) performance of Othello in Delacorte Park, visited the Strand and the Flatiron Building, went on a funny little Literary Pub Crawl, pushed out way through the crowded free hours at the MoMa, and ate so. many. bagels. 

At 2016's Book Con, I felt like I met people from all over the place.  At this year's event, it seemed like not many people traveled far to get to the conference.  Most of the people I talked to were from New York or New Jersey.  Still, I met a lot of really cool people while waiting in lines.  So, hey, Katie with the cool backpack, Daniel, Maggie, Denia, Veronica- it was great to meet you. One of the best parts of Book Con, beyond the panels and the books themselves, is this suspension of social norms, and the understanding that we're all there for a mutual love of books.  

Compared to 2016, I thought this year's panels were pretty hit-or-miss.  I was disappointed by a panel on self-publishing that seemed to be closer to a sales pitch from one self-publishing company.  There was a panel on Romance and the Resistance that had it's good moments (the whole audience cheering for Stacey Abrams' primary victory) but also some not-so-pretty moments (a white moderator repeatedly directing the conversation away from the panelists-of-colors' attempts to talk about issues of race, culture, and appropriation, with what seemed like a heavy basket of willful ignorance "but what about women's rights?").  The panels on magical world building and diverse books were wonderful.  

The books were much more exciting than the ones I picked up in 2016.  Then, I feel like I came home with random books, and only a handful really stood out.  This year, I managed to get my hands on a ton of books that I am really excited about and was planning on purchasing anyway.  Now I have to go back to work, while all these wonderful books sit waiting for me at home.

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