Monday, October 11, 2010

Frankfurt Book Fair + Tori Amos with Orchestra!

The Frankfurt Book Fair took place this year from October 6-10.  This is my highlights post.

Wednesday October 6th
While Daniel picked up our friend Wes from the airport, I headed to the fair to check out the set-up this year and see which hot books were on display. I walked around hall 8 for about two hours and then went home.  Reps tend to be busiest on this first day, so I only try to talk to them if they look alone and bored. Unfortunately, the ones I did try to strike up a conversation with were seriously rude to me. Only saw three galleys up for grabs in all of hall 8 - a new low.  At least I grabbed a couple of catalogs to bring home.

Thursday October 7th
Got to talk to the lovely reps at Penguin for about 10 minutes and they told me which Fall 2011 books they are most looking forward to, including the start of a new dystopian trilogy called LEGEND by Marie Lu which is based loosely on Les Miserables and set in a flood submerged Los Angeles in 2130.  They also gave me a copy of XVI by Julia Karr - yay!

Friday October 8th
I skipped the fair to go to Amsterdam to see Tori Amos' first ever show live with full orchestra!  It was amazing! I had a 3rd row center seat and loved every minute.  First time songs for me (at my 20th show) were Yes, Anastasia (not full version, but close) and Programmable Soda as well as four songs from her new seasonal album Midwinter Graces: Snow Angel, Our New Year, Holly Ivy and Rose, and Star of Wonder.  I also loved to hear Precious Things reworked for orchestra as well as favorites Winter, Baker Baker (which I will now always associate with Peeta from Hunger Games), and Flying Dutchman.  I was hoping for Winter's Carol and Strange, but you can't have it all!


Saturday October 9th
I went straight to the fair after getting off my train from Amsterdam.  There I met Ka-Yam who gave me the most amazing present: an Emmy keychain!



I picked up a few picture books and arcs as well.  Here's Ka-Yam and me in front of Bloomsbury (where I got MY UNFAIR GODMOTHER by Janette Rallison and THE LEGACY by Gemma Mailey).

Unfortunately, I couldn't stay for the afternoon because of a preplanned event at my mother-in-law's.

Sunday October 10th
I met my friend Tracy very early, and we were shocked to find a lot of the stands already packed up and picked clean. I guess Saturday afternoon is the new Sunday morning as far as giving away books goes.

After going home to take a nap, I meet Ka-Yam at Maggie Steifvater's reading event where she saved me a front row seat.  The actress who reads SHIVER (German title: NACH DEM SOMMER) for the audio book read a passage from the book while Maggie drank water. (Fun Fact: She's the same actress who does the German voice for Bella in the Twilight movies)

I took 40 seconds of video:



And then, I got to say hi to Maggie.  She was surprised to see my ARC of LINGER and commented, "Wow- you must be someone important." And I said, "Well, I'm Lenore." She got up and hugged me saying, "Yes, you ARE very important."  Then Ka-Yam took this picture of us.

All in all, not the best Frankfurt Book Fair ever (and I am definitely spoiled by BEA), but it was still fun.  Here's my fiction book pile:

27 comments:

Zibilee said...

Third row center for Tori Amos !!?!! Oh my, I am so envious of you right now! Also, it sounds like the Book Fair was a mixed bag this year, with some things being better than others. I am looking forward to hearing more about what you picked up though!

JKB said...

I'm so sad I wasn#t able to make it to Frankfurt! All those lovely books going begging! And I could have seen you and had a coffee! *cries*

Julia Karr said...

Sounds like you had a great time and ... Oooh! Lookie there at XVI sitting on the top of the pile! :)

I hope you like it!

A Story Untold said...

So sorry books, but I am way more jealous of the Tori Amos concert than of you :P
I absolutely love her!I saw her live in Athens a couple of year ago but it was in a festival and it only lasted one hour.It was amazing, though!

Amy said...

Legend sounds really good!!!

I'm sorry you didn't get more books but maybe that's better for space??? ;)

Sandy Nawrot said...

Weird, I thought Frankfurt Book Fair was like the mother of all book fairs!? Times are tough I guess. I love your story about your Linger ARC and Maggie. And she knows your name. Damn girl, I'm impressed. I'm also impressed with your seats for Tori's concert. Did you stand in line for them all night, know somebody in the business, or pay through the nose on Ebay?

Lenore Appelhans said...

JKB - Next year!

Amy - I was very picky about which books I took, so I am perfectly happy with my small haul :)

Sandy - FBF is the biggest fair as far as foriegn rights are concerned, but BEA is more fun for us mortals. I just got lucky with the Tori tickets. I happened to log into Facebook and some FB friends had just posted that the ticket sales were up early. So I managed to snag an awesome seat for face value!!

Natalie~Coffee and a Book Chick said...

What a week! But, too bad on not being able to get more books! :( However, you certainly did get a fantastic seat for a wonderful concert -- I'm so jealous!! :) I haven't read any of the books that you have in your photo, but looking forward to reading your thoughts on them.

Letter Garden said...

SO CUTE! That could be the start of 'Emmy Merchandising'. ;D

You got a copy of XVI! :D Does it mean I can keep the one you lend me?

Anonymous said...

Have I told you how jealous I am of you seeing Tori Amos? I so would've been there if only I hadn't been in Sweden. I would've loved seeing her with an orchestra. I don't think I have heard most of the songs you mentioned live before, although she does Flying Dutchman quite regularly at Dutch concerts (or Little Amsterdam) which I have both heard.

And I love Maggie Stiefvater's reaction to seeing you :)

Lenore Appelhans said...

LG - I am sure those Emmy keychains would be snapped right up. And yes, you can keep the extra copy of XVI. Enjoy!

IB - I've seen Flying Dutchman before, but it is a whole new experience with the orchestra!

Danny said...

By chance I was there on Saturday and I was surprised to see that all the people in Hall 8 already started packing their stuff. So I was lucky and could grab some books. I actually had a wonderful chat with the girls from Harlequin, those girls were awesome!

I was at Maggi Stiefvaters signing in Saturday and Oh.My.God it was so damn crowded, but she's just the sweetest person ever, so it was worth the crowd. :))

Glad to hear you had such fun seeing Tori Amos!

Mrs. DeRaps said...

Tori Amos is a goddess.

bermudaonion said...

So, the books at Frankfurt are in English? I heard Maggie Stiefvater read at SIBA and then I was a total fan girl and talked to her - she was so sweet, but she didn't tell me that I'm important! LOL

Sandy said...

Thanks for sharing this. The actress' voice is definitely full of emotions -- she makes me wish I knew German. :)

Oh, and LEGEND is definitely my most-look-forward to book of 2010. The summary of it is absolutely intriguing, and the two main characters sound to die for.

Liviania said...

I'm so jealous of your ROSEBUSH ARC! But I love your exchange with Maggie. So cute.

Beth S. said...

I haven't seen Tori Amos in concert since 2003. I've been longing to see her again. I have more Tori Amos songs on my iPod than any other artsit. She will always be one of my all-time favorites.

Steph Su said...

*gasp* A dystopian based loosely on Les Miz??? Sounds interestinggg... I definitely need to keep an eye out for that!

christina said...

Oooh, I saw Tori Amos years ago and she is amazing!

Memory said...

I'm so envious of all the Tori Amos shows you go to! She's one of my very favourites, but I haven't yet seen her live. Someday, I hope.

Alyce said...

It sounds like the Tori Amos concert was fantastic! It's too bad the book fair wasn't better. Rude people really stink.

So cool though that you got to see Maggie and get your picture taken with her!

I'm thinking I want to read The Legacy, so I'll be looking forward to your review.

Beth Kephart said...

I love this (and I love you).

Yes. Of course. You are someone very important.

Beth F said...

Yes you are important! I loved hearing the German reading.

Michelle said...

Sorry that this year didn't treat you as well as those past! I spy a couple of good books in that pile though. I've heard it's supposed to be quite good.

At least you had Tori Amos and hugs from Maggie isn't half bad either!

Anna said...

Looks like you've been really busy. I'm so jealous about the Tori concert! ;)

Jamie said...

Aw! You are indeed important! :) Sounds like you had a good time! And I'm sooo jealous of you on the Tori Amos front!!

Marie Lu said...

Wow, thank you so much for mentioning my book in your blog post! :) And I am very jealous that you got to see Tori Amos *live*!