Thursday was my whirlwind Book Expo day, so I'll hit some highlights, but will have to miss many of the books I gathered and authors I met. But even looking at what I know from my notes, this day is killer.

I started off again in the author signing area with a couple of goals, which I easily met. I have really enjoyed Maryrose Wood's series of "Incorrigible Children," so I was excited to get the fifth book, The Unmapped Sea. It was fun to share my booktalking strategy for the first book, which is howling like a wolf. Seeing a cool picture book nearby, I jumped into that line to pick up Beastly Babies by Brendan Wenzel, who asked my favorite animal and added it to the book. Cool, right?

I spend much of my time in the Erin and Philip Stead line showing off the drawing and directing fellow book lovers to Brendan's table. Except for the time I was explaining to my friend and co-waiter Jackie that, "no, I'm sorry it's not Rebecca Stead's line. Wrong award-winning Stead." But we were both pleased to pick up the team's new title, Lenny & Lucy." I had to get a picture too, because I admire these guys so darn much.

After that, we ran into Paula Wiley and all headed over to the Library Lounge for a bagel and a discussion session with Barry Lyga and Libba Bray. The talk was interesting, but situated in a weird way, so I got into a nice seat but my buddies were left watching Barry's elbow, so they left before picking up the distributed ARC's After the Red Rain and Lair of Dreams. I stuck around a bit to say hello to Barry, who I've known since his first book and who has worked on projects with my husband. Wish we could have talked more, but fabulous authors have schedules to keep.

After that talk, I hurried over to pick up one of my priority books - Hurry Up and Wait. I love Maira Kalman's art, so it was wonderful to be able to tell her so. Looking around the booths, I touched base with my BEA buddies, who happened to be nearby. We made plans to escape the Javits Center and go to a nearby diner for lunch. While I might have happily stayed out of the New York humidity, it was a great opportunity for a quieter visit with friends.

Liz Burns and I were both interested in Laura Amy Schlitz's new book The Hired Girl, and made it back in time to pick up a copy - which was quite lucky. We were both also interested in M.T. Anderson's new book, Symphony for the City of the Dead, along with saying hello to this cool guy. I may have slipped out of line momentarily to grab a book for my ballet girl, Unlovely, by Celeste Conway. Then I joined the long line for the Welcome to Night Vale book. It was something I wanted to get for my college girl who is a huge fan of the series. Sent her a text from the line and she was so happy!!!!

Afterwards, I hurried over to Capstone where my friend Gwenda Bond was signing her new book about Lois Lane, Fallout. She had such a rockstar line that I was lucky to get there in time! She ended up going through all 250 copies of the book, with not a one left for possible stragglers. (Like I had expected to be after the Night Vale line.) Can't wait to read it! Gwenda's signing was our meeting place for some of the blogger crowd, so I was able to touch base with Sheila Ruth and Charlotte Taylor. But after looking unsuccessfully for a publisher booth party, I had to excuse myself to head back to the hotel and get ready for an evening activity that turned out to be A-mazing. So, tune in for that later. For now, here's the hit list of books from Thursday.

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