08/06/2026
The exhibitor hall opened on Day 3 of the conference. And despite all of our resolutions, we picked up too many books and ARCs. Here we are taking our acquired treasures (the first three of five boxes) to UPS. (This involved packing our shipping scale, packing tape, measuring tape, and shipping labels in our carry-on. Borrowing scissors and a dolly from UPS. And wheeling our treasure through the hotel, down the sidewalk, across multiple large intersections, up the ramp, to UPS. The following day, despite more resolutions, we ended up with MORE books and made the trip again, this time without the dolly, and in the rain, each carrying a box and shielding it with our body the best we could 😅 ) Most of these ARCs will at some point make their way to YOU! Usually during our ARC giveaway on Independent Bookstore Day. When not in a conference session, we've also walked and explored a good deal of Baltimore's Inner Harbor and Fells Point. And although we each brought a book on our excursion just in case, we just soaked in the vibes and enjoyed watching the sunset overlooking the water.
