Book Expo 2014 - Maureen Johnson Makes Me Laugh/Think (damn her!)

Day One
Maureen Johnson is my new hero. I will likely stalk her to the end of my days. Her keynote at the start of the Blogger Conference at BEA14 was genius. She pretends to be a laid back, rambly sort of girl (the kind of girl I often find when I look in the mirror) but she's actually an insightful, deep-thoughts, whip-smart kind of author and speaker.

Her big take away? Book bloggers challenge the lazy status quo. For every broad, lowest common denominator media story designed to panic (TEENS DON'T READ! FIFTY SHADES OF GRAY IS BAD WRITING!) there needs to be (and there are) bloggers who challenge generalization. Bloggers need to shine a light on book love - because there is so much to love. Instead of click-bait rage.

She mentioned a recent article in the Atlantic that was just such click bait. (And of course, I clicked it.) But her point was that this kind of article is not engendering discussion (good) it's just a didactic rant (bad) and it's making readers sound stupid. I haven't finished reading the article, but I imagine it not only seeks to make readers feel stupid, but also seeks to make other people feel smug about not reading.

Lots of great food for thought! I've already had three cups of coffee!! If you see me buzzing around confusedly at BEA, please point me toward a bathroom/food table.

Are you at BEA? What are you looking forward to?