I was the Evelyn Wood of trade show junkies. 

I had a crazy-busy week, but I love books and reading. I just HAD to get to Book Expo America (BEA) 2014. I raced through the aisles, voraciously “reading” as many books and trends as possible in a mere 120 minutes. Here’s the CliffsNotes version of BEA 2014.

Tape, tape, and more tape!

What’s hot this year? Books made out of paper are still alive and well. Gift products and stationery are clearly now part of the whole book store experience. Tape is all the rage…go figure.

A long line of author groupies

Jonathan Tropper with fans

And authors are still considered rock stars. More than 200 people waited on a long line to meet Jodi Picoult and get her signature on a book. Crowd control monitors were even required. (We readers are a rowdy bunch.) And I got to see one of my fave authors Jonathan Tropper.

All in all, a super-fun three hours!

(Speaking of condensing, the whale of a tale Moby Dick has been turned into a poster and tee shirt by Litographs.)

Moby Dick condensed and framed