This bookish feature is an original by me! I had the epiphany for this the other day when I was writing out my 15 bookish confessions. (See #7) A lot of times I like to go "beyond the book" and do something that will connect me with the book and characters a little more. It will pop up on Mondays! Be on the look out for which books caught my eye and made me go beyond just reading it!
So after months of waiting on this day, it was finally Saturday, November 2nd. The day of Houston Book Rave and my birthday! I wore a "Happy Birthday" tiara so that people would remember me. It was weird because no one (and I mean NO ONE) believed how old I was turning. I got 17 all day. Guys, I turned 25 lmao My mom was laughing everyone asked me how old I was.
So anyways, I got ALL THE THINGS. As soon as I walked in, I went to buy some books for the signings later. Sentinel had just come out, and I was on a mission to get it. I ended up picking up Sentinel by JLA, The Dollhouse Asylum by Mary Gray, and The Collector by Victoria Scott. I stopped over by the giveaway prizes to see what I might be able to win and lusted over the gorgeous copies of Crash Into You by Katie McGarry. Then when the staff was free I went and grabbed my VIR pass and goodies.
With my VIR pass I got this super cute little bag and it was filled with five ARC's and some swag! And one of those ARC's was Crash Into You! Mind you, I already have this as an e-ARC, but I have been wanting a physical copy because the cover is so gorgeous. Which means I'll have to get it in hardcover as well lol
Then the author parties started. I made a bee line for JLA and Victoria Scott's room because I KNEW that there would be a long line of people to meet her. And I was right. I turned around and JLA's line was literally to the door. It was pretty awesome meeting her. I got a picture of us, but the window and my flash did some random glary thing that depressed me so I had to get a pick of her signing my copy of Sentinel! And look what she put in it! If you know me, you KNOW that I LOVE Aiden. He's my number one book boyfriend of all YA. So when I saw how she signed my book, it made my LIFE!
It says, "Nikki, Aiden is your birthday surprise. SURPRISE!" <3 it!
Then I went to meet Victoria Scott. You guys, she is absolutely PRECIOUS! She was so nice and I loved talking to her. She was definitely humble, telling me thanks for being nice, meanwhile, I'm sitting there star struck haha I met her assistant Jessica over at Just a Booklover too! She's super nice as well. We talked about being star struck by Victoria and Jennifer and how there were so many things we wished we would have said lol
Then I met Rachel Vincent. She's so adorbs! I may or may not have fangirled in the line to my mom about her series. I kept it together long enough for her to sign my omnibus set. I was a little embarrassed because my copy of Volume is *ahem* well-read. She said "I prefer they look like that. Much better than them looking like the spine has never been cracked." Touche, Rachel Vincent, touche.
Next was Mary Gray. I have been coveting her book for MONTHS! Ever since I saw the cover. And then I heard what it was about and I was even more intrigued. I told her I was super excited about finally starting it and she gave me some swag, a necklace with the book cover on it, and signed my book.
Then was Jillian Dodd. Not gonna lie, I added her book Stalk Me to my TBR pile because I thought her cover model was so pretty. She thought that was the funniest thing ever, because she thought the cover model was pretty too. So, for my birthday, she gave me a free copy of Stalk Me and I had already received That Boy in my VIR bag! A huge thanks again to her for making my day with her kindness.
Lastly, I met Sophie Jordan. I didn't get a specific picture with her, because she wasn't there during the YA time, only during the signing. I went there expecting to get her new book Foreplay and having her sign it, but she said they didn't ship in there in time :( I was a little upset that I hadn't bought my ARC of Hidden because I didn't have anything for her to sign then, but she said she'd sign my VIR bag. You can see it in pink in the picture above.
As I was standing in Sophie Jordan's line, they started doing the giveaways. My mom said "I hope they call my name so that I can win something. Or at least win something for you. Or better yet, I hope they call your name." As soon as those words left her mouth, THEY CALLED MY NAME! I had no idea what I wanted because the one thing I wanted to win was already was in my possession. So, I chose something with two hardbacks that I had been wanting to read and one ARC of one that I had wanted to read, but wasn't sure if I'd really like it. I chose The Elite by Kiera Cass, Parallel by Lauren Miller, and The Blessed by Tonya Hurley. Also pictured is all the swag I got from yesterday! I answered some triia for the shirt! (Keep a lookout for a giveaway on the posters.... I may or may not do a giveaway for one or two closer to the movie's release date!)
I also attended the after-party to see if I would win any other giveaways (because let's be honest, I'm not exactly a social butterfly lol), but there wasn't really anything I just NEEDED, so I stayed for a little while and took pictures with everyone who I thought had a cool costume! I didn't go with the theme of The Day of the Dead, but that was because when I bought my costume I had decided on it back when they said it was book characters. I was dressed up as Daisy Buchannan.
So, that was my birthday and my first bookish event! I had so much fun and met so many awesome authors and bloggers and other readers!