Jon Stewart, Barbra Steisand, John Grisham, but enough name dropping

BEA - BookExpo in America - in NYC was amazing. My first time there, but thankfully I had good tips from past attendees and the ABA lounge saved my sanity many times.

Top things about BEA:

1) Breakfast with Jon Stewart, John Grisham, Condoleezza Rice and Mary Roach (she noted she was the "and more" of the breakfast). Jon Stewart "read" from his upcoming book: "Earth (The Book): A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race." A nice recap of the breakfast from the Dallas Morning News.
2) Barbra Streisand interview - talked about her new book on design and was quite engaging.
3) Seeing Tim Gunn autograph his book for 3 hours (instead of the usual 1 hour) because he took time to talk and take pictures with every person in his line. I can't imagine how long he would have been there had it not been a ticketed line.
4) The ABA lounge - a sanctuary.

Hanging out with Alison as we "strolled" (tried to navigate the BUSY floor), catching up with bookstore friends and meeting new ones and talking with authors about their books - passionate, excited and fun crowd. Wonderful show!