If anyone actually went to YALC and didn’t buy a book, how did you manage? I thought I was going to be so self controlled since I had just hauled some books that week. But no. I ended up bringing home double the amount of books I went with. YALC, I love you, but my bank balance doesn’t.
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| The Waterstones tote was must-buy. I love anything with shelves on it. |
Doodle A Day and Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse by Chris Riddell
Despite Chris Riddell being my most owned illustrator, I realised while I was at YALC that all of the books I own by him are written by other people. So I picked up the first Goth Girl book which had been on my Amazon wish list for a while, and then added his Doodle A Day journal because his talk has inspired me to try drawing as a kind of emotional release. Heck, any excuse to add more Chris Riddell books to my shelves.
Nothing Tastes as Good by Claire Hennessy
On day one of YALC, I went to Claire Hennessy’s Creative Writing workshop. She just had the most wonderful energy that I bought her book and took it to get signed so I could tell her that I really enjoyed learning from her. It sounds like a really interesting book as well. I’m looking forward to reading this ASAP.
Wonder Boy by Nicole Burstein
I took Nicole Bursteins debut novel; Other Girl to YALC after adoring it last year. When I was there, I saw her new book Wonder Boy which hadn’t been released at the time, in the Waterstones stall. I had to pick it up and I can’t wait to finish this companion duology. These are the books I wish I had as a kid.
Messenger of Fear by Michael Grant
This isn’t for me, as I didn’t get along with Gone and his other stories don’t really appeal to me personally. However, he’s one of my best friends favourite authors and she’s just moved in to a new place so- what better housewarming present is there than a new book? If you read my YALC experience post you know that I stuck around an extra hour to get this signed because I’m just the best friend!
Blame by Simon Mayo
My mother was actually the enabler when it came to Blame. We went to the Join the Rebellion! Resistance and Protest in YA panel and I think she wants to read this series after hearing Simon Mayo talk about it, but used me as an excuse to pick it up. It has amazing reviews though so she’ll have to fight me for it.
Rivers of London: Body Work by Ben Aaronovitch
My mum is a big Ben Aaronovitch fan so we went to the Fantasy London talk where he spoke and it really intrigued me. Enough to download the first book from my mums Audible account. And she picked up this, then got it signed to me. My mum is so cute. I’m super excited about it as well because I love the graphic novel format and Lee Sullivans art looks beautiful.
And a whole bunch of freebies. I have a feeling my pre-orders are about to get out of control with all these samplers.
Imogen's Typewriter. 