ApollyCon is over and I have waaaay too much stuff to figure out what to do with. And I technically didn't even buy that much at the convention. I also have some orders that finally came in, so that adds to this giant list of books and swag. But anyway, let's get this massive list of started. You might want to get a snack first.
I'm going to start off with my non-ApollyCon books. My preorders from Barnes & Noble were delivered on Thursday. Husband Material by Alexis Hall is one of my most anticipated releases of the year, and I'm super nervous to read it. I loved the first book so much, so if this one doesn't live up to my expectations, I may be seriously bummed. I also have The King Will Kill You by Sarah Henning. Another sequel. I read book one, but I'm hoping to binge the last two now that the trilogy is complete.
Next, I have the July YA FairyLoot box. The book is really pretty. I don't think there's been a blue and gold book in the YA sub since I started in May of 2020. I like it. As for the socks and print album, those are awesome. I originally liked the pin banner too, until I realized the design is printed on crooked. Boo... I think all of them are like that from what I can tell from Instagram photos. The sword letter opener replica is pure ugly, sadly. I hate that handle. I do love the tarot cards, though. They're gorgeous. It makes me sad that my full box sub is ending after next month. I hope FairyLoot puts their tarot cards in the Trove regularly.
Now, we're getting to the start of the ApollyCon haul. These are the books I preordered from the authors to pick up at the event, so I paid for them in June/early July. The thickest book I got at the entire event was The Bargainer series omnibus by Laura Thalassa. It's gigantic! I also preordered Capture the Crown by Jennifer Estep, as I haven't started this spinoff series yet so it was perfect timing to buy it.
The second table I visited at ApollyCon was ArtbyStefani's shop. She was selling some of her prints. I ended up buying one of Reaver from TWOTQ and a NSFW Roth from The Dark Elements series (covered for...reasons. Lol), both by JLA. I grabbed a free sticker of Poppy and Hawke too. Later on, I bought a pin from The Bookish Box. It's a book that says Enemies to Lovers. I thought it'd be a good souvenir for the event.
Here, I have all of the books I received for free at ApollyCon. There's a 1,000 Dark Nights novella called Ride Dirty by Laura Kaye, Perfect Assumption by Tracey Jerald, an ARC of Wicked Beauty by Katee Robert, Kingdom of Exiles by Maxym M. Martineau, Blood Laws by Lexi C. Foss, The Last Wolf by Maria Vale, and a Bookish Box edition of Elise Kova's Deal with an Elf King. Sadly, a volunteer accidentally put out boxes of Bookish Box special editions during one of the events and attendees ended up grabbing them during the After Party, the last major event of the convention. I feel really bad for Bookish Box, since they probably lost a lot of money. I also feel a little guilty for taking one, but at the time, I didn't know. They didn't share that it was an accident until the Monday after the convention or I would've brought mine back Sunday morning during JLA's Q&A.
This is just a quick peek at some of the swag I received from the authors I had sign my books. I got a lot more than this from various events, but I'll share that during my ApollyCon wrap-up posts. (Yes, those are still coming. I just have to recover first.) The Amanda Bouchet Kingmaker Chronicles prints were ones I really wanted, so I'm glad I was able to get them.
Here, we have the crown jewels of the convention: the special edition A Shadow in the Ember copy that came with the high-tier ApollyCon tickets and the From Blood and Ash exclusive edition that was only available to Brunch attendees. I was a Titan ticket holder, so I automatically got A Shadow in the Ember when I picked up my badge. (I'll share a story about my copy in the wrap-up later.) As for the FBAA edition, wow. I just can't believe I managed to get a copy. I was only a Q&A ticket holder, not a Brunch one. But, they let Q&A ticket holders line up afterwards to purchase extra brunch bags, which I have a photo of below.
The bag was $50, and it was totally worth it. While I don't think I'll use the white drawstring bag or book sleeve very often, they are nice quality. And the nail file, while cool, will go to my mom. I don't like using them. It's a noise and scratch thing. Everything else that came in the bag will be used. I've already put the coaster on my office desk at work. And of course, pens and paper are always useful. And the extra FBAA bookmarks and tattoos mean I can practice putting the tattoos in my book copies without fearing I'll mess them up. Hurrah! Oh, and of course the book actually came in the book sleeve, I didn't get to buy two copies. Though that would've been cool.
What books have
you bought/received lately?
Wow! What a haul! I find myself debating about attending Apollycon next year, but ticket sales are on hold for the moment. Which is sort of good because I also reallllly want to attend the indie author event my friend is helping to create. Storybound Con! A few indie authors that I read or need to read will be there and I already feel excited even though I can't buy a ticket yet! Lol. I had about 12 authors who will be at Apollycon next year and I've met 6, but that leaves 6 I've yet to meet! So...I've got some thinking to do or a whole lot of money saving! The good thing is I can drive to the other event as it's just 4 hours away and I've driven there before. If I realllly played my cards right I could leave super late that night after the last event and go home then. So yeah...I've got some thinking and money saving to do!
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Have a GREAT day!
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