The last day of Book Expo is always bittersweet. On the one hand, Book Expo is easily one of my favorite weeks of the year. On the other, by Friday, I’m ready to return to waking up after the sun has already risen and my back, feet and (weirdly enough my toes this year?!) aren’t crying from the fifteen pounds of paper I’m carrying around in my backpack and totes.

Friday was my earliest day at the Javits, arriving around 8:15. I had a lot planned for Friday, but it felt like a much calmer day. Much of this was because I had gotten most of my biggest or most wanted titles on Wednesday and Thursday. Maybe because Friday is the earlier end time of the three days, but the showfloor also seemed quieter. My top three somewhat achievable priorities for Friday were Christina Lauren’s Twice In a Blue Moon, Kim Liggett’s The Grace Year, and Ashley Elston’s 10 Blind Dates.

Once the showfloor opened at 9 AM, I rushed to Simon & Schuster for Christina Lauren’s Twice in a Blue Moon, which I got, and I picked up Jason Reynolds’ new MG Look Both Ways. The rushing was not over, as I sped walked to Macmillan for a ticket for Kim Liggett’s signing. Throughout the convention, the Macmillan ticket lines were long, but having early ticket pickup times was such a smart move on their part. Although it was on my schedule, I really wasn’t expecting to get a ticket for Rainbow Rowell’s Wayward Son poster signing, but I did! As much as I would love to have a currently nonexistent Wayward Son ARC, much like my feelings about Marie Lu’s Rebel and Holly Black’s Queen of Nothing, if these ARCs existed, there would be absolute chaos. I was also excited for the poster because I have the Kevin Wada) poster for Carry On.

Right after Macmillan ticket pickup, I joined the line for a 9:30 drop of Brigid Kemmerer’s A Heart So Fierce and Broken. I tried getting this on Thursday, but the line was capped decently early. My ticket (aka post-it note) marked me as 55. While waiting to get the book, I watched a crowd gather at Penguin for a secret drop of 10 AM drop of 10 copies of Erin Morgenstern’s The Starless Sea. Fortunately or unfortunately, I was not there to see the results.

After the drop, I went to Workman and picked up How to Build a Heart by Maria Padian. You can probably tell by my haul, but contemporary books were my #1 priority this convention and this 2020 release was recommended by The Book Bratz. I then went to Fierce Reads Recommends, where I met with Jess from The Book Bratz, Cait from Cait’s Books, and Ben from Ace of Bens. I received The Liars of Mariposa Island by Jennifer Mathieu. I read a lot of Cuban literature this year at school so excited for this one (plus totally on the hype train for Amy Poehler’s adaptation of Moxie).

I then lined up for The Grace Year. Since I had a ticket, I was guaranteed a signing but wanted to get there early so I could move on to my other Friday plans. Nevertheless, I was so excited for this signing because The Grace Year was my most wanted book of the day and one of my Book Expo priorities. Kim was so nice and excited to meet everyone! I really would love to see this one get added to some English class syllabuses.

From then on until about 1:30 PM, it was signings on signings for this fangirl. While there was wait time in between, I went from Brandy Colbert’s The Revolution of Birdie Randolph and then to Ashley Elston’s 10 Blind Dates. I consider Christmas to be its own season, so I’m really excited for this holiday inspired read. Please let there be a massive sale on helium balloons at Party City so I can recreate the cover for bookstagram. A few of the signings had some sort of swag included, and for Ashley’s there were gummy-shaped frogs in the cutest package.

After, I went to the signing for The Library of Lost Things, meeting up with Jess, Ben, and Tay from Stay on the Page. I love going to author’s first-ever signings, which was the case for Laura Taylor Namey! Right after, I went to the poster signing for Wayward Son. As always, it was so lovely seeing Rainbow- she is so freaking nice and loves talking to readers.

Rainbow’s signing was my last planned event of the day, so I decided to take one last lap around the showfloor. I highly recommend doing so whenever you have a break during the convention because I ended up strolling through Penguin Random House when they were giving out Renee Ahdieh’s The Beautiful and Camryn Garrett’s Full Disclosure. There was much hype for Full Disclosure this week and I was so glad to get The Beautiful, since I didn’t have time to line up for Renee’s signing earlier in the day.

On my way of the Javits, I went to Fierce Reads’ final ARC giveaway, where I received The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen. With a final photo of the Javits main entrance- you best believe the Pumpkinheads poster was included- my Book Expo was over.

Overall, my second Book Expo was my best convention experience ever. I picked up all the books that I truly wanted and awesome authors. The atmosphere was so much fun, having reunited with some bookish friends and meeting new ones this year. Here’s to diving into my haul and planning for next year!

Check out my other Book Expo 2019 posts:

• OH MY BOOKISH HEART: Book Expo 2019 Haul
• FIRST DAY OF THE BEST WEEK: My Wednesday at Book Expo 2019
• STRESSING OUT OVER BOOKS WITH FRIENDS: My Thursday at Book Expo 2019

Did you attend Book Expo or Book Con? What 2019 books are you looking forward to? Share in the comments!