Category: Swag

Adult Fiction, Art, Books, Events, LGBTQ+, Memoirs, Mystery, Swag

Barnes & Noble Pride Festival @ Union Square, NYC

Michelle

I went to two out of three days of Barnes & Noble Union Square’s Pride Festival this year! 

On Sunday afternoon they had a panel of authors called “Let Me Be Perfectly Queer” moderated by author TJ Alexander and featuring authors Christina Li (The Manor of Dreams) Debbie Millman (Love Letter To A Garden) Jesse James Rose (Sorry I Keep Crying During Sex) and Prabal Gurung (Walk Like A Girl). 

It was a lovely and powerful conversation! They gave out free swag like bookmarks, pins and body art and I even got a reserved seat! There was also a cute Heartstopper backdrop for lots of photo ops!

Of course I got to Barnes & Noble early to browse and scored some other books as well! Besides the books from the events, I’m most excited to read the art books I bought. 

Here are the books I got signed on Sunday at the event:

Here is the swag I got on Sunday:

Here are the other books I scored while there Sunday:

Monday night was another panel called “GYA.” It consisted of queer YA books. The authors in attendance were Zikiya Jamal (If We Were A Movie) Alice Lin (Love Points to You), Page Powars (And They Were Roommates), Brian Selznick (Run Away With Me), K. Wroten (Everyone Sux But You). It was moderated by David Levithan.  

The second night was just as magical as the first with all kinds of incredible questions answered and audience engagement. We even got to take photos with each author as we got their books signed! The staff at Barnes & Noble Union Square is amazing; kudos to them for keeping everything flowing so smoothly. 

I had so much fun on both nights and came home exhausted! I am SO excited to read ALL the awesome books I bought 🌈📚💜

Swag

Bookish Swag Part 2: Decor

Michelle

Okay, readers! It’s time for part two of my bookish swag! In this post, I’ll show you photos of bookish decor such as the things I hang on the walls of my library, signs, and more. I hope you enjoy perusing them!

Here are two signs on the walls of my home library, which you may have seen in the post I did of my bookshelves.

Here are four plaques that I have on my bookshelves! The quote by Thomas Jefferson is definitely one of my favorites!

These two signs look great on my doorhandles, don’t you think? Shoutout to the Currently Reading Podcast, which I’ve been listening to weekly for the last seven years!

And of course I have a bookish tissue box holder and bookish coasters!

Here is my bookish pillow!

And, last but not least, I have two readerly statues that grace their presence in my library:

I hope you’ve enjoyed looking at all of my bookish decor! Keep a lookout for the last of this trilogy of blog posts, when I post everything else bookish that I own! 

Swag

Bookish Swag Part 1: Tees & Totes

Michelle

I think it’s high time I consolidated all the bookish swag I have for you all! I decided to break it down into three posts, because I have a lot of photos, and I don’t want it to get too overwhelming! This first post is dedicated to all of the bookish t-shirts and book totes I own! Here goes!

I don’t like to post photos of myself that much, but I have posted ones of me in my bookish tees on Instagram in the past. So, there. you go! Me and all my bookish t-shirts!

Now for the book totes…I have a ton of them! This is the biggest tote I have, and I put all my other book totes inside of it, and keep it in my closet. I got it at Book Expo America (BEA).

These three I got for Christmas of 2024.

Of course these two I got at Barnes & Noble while shopping, and yes, I already spent so much on books that I got them for free!

These two, and the two pouches that match, I got at Strand, one of my all-time favorite indie bookstores!

Of course I had to get a tote from Books of Wonder, one of the best children’s and teen bookstores in NYC! I love this tote, and I use it weekly to carry my music back and forth to choir.

This library check-out tote is so cute, and I also put a shushing librarian emoji face on it!

Jane Austen definitely got it right when she said: “I declare there is no enjoyment like reading”! And I’d definitely “rather be reading!”

I got this Pioneer Girl tote at BEA also, and it’s a pretty big one at that! It’s sturdy, and even zips at the top!

I do really like big books, and I cannot lie! This is another one that’s pretty big and I used it a lot back in the day to cart lots of books back and forth to the library.

Let’s face it, my weekends are always booked!

I created this tote myself! Well, I special ordered it online to say “Library Books” and I love it so much!

This “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle tote is double sided, and I love that! It’s kind of small, but I had to get it when I saw it!

I got the DK (Read Books) tote at BEA, and the BOTM (Book of the Month) I acquired back when I subscribed to the monthly book service.

I always go to the library, and I’m never in doubt! And the Jan Brett tote I got at BEA as well.

Well, that’s it folx! You’ve seen all 10 shirts, 23 totes and 2 pouches that I own! I hope you enjoyed looking at all of them. See you next time for part 2 of bookish swag!