Jodi Picoult Really is as Awesome as I Thought She Was

Sometimes in our lives as readers we come across an author, a book or a series that completely blows us away. We don't know why and we can rarely explain to others but something about that person, book or series takes hold of us and just won't let go. As an avid reader I have found myself blown away by all of the above. A favorite series has come out of my reader, The Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay has become a trilogy that I have read at least four times now, 'Gone With the Wind,' by Margaret Mitchell has become my favorite book and Jodi Picoult has become without a doubt my favorite author. Saying that one has a favorite author, book or series does not diminish the love that one feels for well loved books, authors and series. For me what it means when I say Jodi Picoult is my favorite author doesn't mean I don't love J.K. Rowling, George R.R. Martin, or J.R. Ward. It means for me that no matter what she writes or when it comes out I will read it. I own all her books, some even in hardcover (and I never buy full priced hardcovers), and I always, always know when she has a new one coming out. I never thought that I would get to see her in person for some reason I just figured something that cool, for me the ultimate celebrity sighting, would just never happen. And then there was BookCon. 

At first when I heard about it I was all 'that seems pretty cool, like BEA only less expensive. Neat.' I thought about going but not really all that seriously until I found out that Jodi Picoult was going to be there. As soon as I knew that she would be there I went to my dear friend Sidney McEntyre and said 'ok let's do it for sure. We now have to go to BookCon! Thank you so much for finding it!!' And so we went, with big dreams about meeting Jodi Picoult, Sidney wanted to get he Lemony Snicket book signed by the man himself (also appearing at BookCon), and getting lots of free ARCs. For the most part we were disappointed, first of all we were only allowed to wander a third of the showroom floor. BookCon people were not allowed to go over to the BEA side which meant that there would be no free ARCs. When we got there the first thing we did was grab a program to see when Jodi Picolt was, when Lemony Snicket was and what other panels or discussions we wanted to go to. What we discovered was that besides the two we really wanted to go to there were a few others we thought about going to. One included a discussion between Deborah Harkness, author of 'A Discovery of Witches' and 'Shadow of Night,' and Lev Grossman, author of 'The Magicians.' We talked about it and thought that could be a fun panel to sit in on because I really like Deborah Harkness and Sidney really likes Lev Grossman. There were a couple of other panels we were thinking about but we noticed that most of the panels we wanted to see were all at the same times. What a decision making process that was. For me no matter what else happened I had to see Jodi Picoult, I told Sidney that and being the awesome friend she is we made that our priority and went from there. 

We got to the room for the panel early, not early enough apparently because there was already a line formed. Anyway we got in and got good seats in the second row. And then we played the waiting game, we waited not only on Ms. Picoult but on her fellow panelists Kathy Reichs, author of the Temperence Brennan series, and debut fiction author Ruth Reichl. Right in front of us sat a young woman and a couple of her friends and they were talking to an older gentleman who turned out to be the moderator. This young woman was talking about how much she loved Jodi Picoult and her writing. When Ms. Picoult walked in the moderator introduced the young woman to her as her biggest fan and they ended up taking a picture together. Damn those extroverts!! A true book nerd, in the deepest sense of the term, I have very little in the way of social skills. And so I was left to sit and stare and dream that one day that too could be me. Anyway when the discussion started I was too swept up in the discussion to really think about missed opportunities. I was impressed with all the panelists, especially Ms. Picoult obviously, but they all had good insights into what makes a writer and hearing about their writing and research processes was inspiring. They were funny and utterly intelligent and watching them speak was a totally surreal experience. I had to keep looking over at Sidney to make sure it was all real. I was a little nervous before going into the panel because authors can sometimes be a little strange in person but Jodi Picoult was eloquent and funny, spoke up for women writers but didn't vomit a bunch of 'women rule, men suck' crap. It was a really beautiful thing to watch. 

After the discussion was over there was a rush of people going up to get autographs. I went up to Ms. Picoult's assistant (I think that was who she was) and told her how important Ms. Picoult's work was to me and how she was my favorite author and was there any chance I could get a picture with her. Unfortunately she had to be rushed out of the space as soon as possible so I was unable to get a picture with her but I did get her autograph. And I got to tell her that I loved her work and that she was my favorite author. So at least I got to meet her and wonderful Sidney reminded me that Jodi Picoult would be back in New York at some point. So I gave myself a stern talking to and we went in search of our next adventure. After careful consideration we decided to go the panel involving Lemony Snicket, James Patterson, Rick Riordan (was more excited for him than I should have been), Rachel Renee Russell and moderated by Jeff Kinney. Because of the popularity of the event we decided to get in line really early so we were guaranteed a seat. And boy was it a good idea. Because the giant hall was packed with young kids in Camp Halfblood (from the Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordan) t-shirts all clambering to get close enough to see all their favorite authors up close. Despite the long wait it was so the right choice. Again this panel was full of well spoken, amusing interesting authors. I'm not a huge fan of James Patterson (although he was more entertaining than I thought he would be) but all in all in was a hilarious event. I have to say though that Lemony Snicket was by far the best. He is just such a personality. There really is no other way to phrase it. He is intelligent and darkly hilarious and I liked him so much that I started hoping I could just be friends with him. Sidney and I just couldn't stop laughing the whole time and all we could talk about was how awesome he was. Again he had to be rushed out and the line for an autograph was already too long for us to have a chance to meet him so Sidney wasn't able to get her autograph. 

Overall BookCon was more of a disappointment than I would have hoped. But I did get to meet my literary idol and see an incredible panel of children's authors speaking about how they write and why they write. And spending time with Ms. Sidney McEntyre is never a bad day. Meeting Jodi Picoult was huge for me. She is as awesome and poised and all around cool as I thought she would be. I can't wait to read her newest book that is coming out in October called 'Leaving Time.' In fact I am trying to use my connections at the bookstore to get an ARC. What can I say I got all excited about it hearing her talk. I know that I haven't reviewed many of her books here but Jodi Picoult's work is very important to me. So much so that I'm not even sure if I can describe it. But I feel like I want to try because this blog is all about sharing the books I love with all of you. For now, know this, Jodi Picoult is my favorite author, her books are all special to me even the ones that I don't love as much as others, and I will read everything she writes. And find a way to see her whenever she gives a talk, does a signing, or is appearing anywhere. I hope that you all have an author like Ms. Picoult in your reading lives because I know that having her books in my life, turned me into not only a total book nerd (reading her books pushed me over the edge into real nerdom) but into a totally eclectic reader as well. She writes about very different subjects and so she inspired me to want to learn more about many things. Basically she is really and truly awesome and I think that you all should go out and get all her books. Just because.