Leakycon: Recap and Book Haul!

So last week I attended Leakycon, the Harry Potter fan conference, which took place in the UK for the first time. I'd been so envious of previous cons so I jumped at the chance to go when it was announced last year. I can honestly say I've had some of the most amazing days of my life over the past week. It's so hard to sum up my experience, and I'm going to be doing detailed posts throughout the week to highlight each day's panels and events, but I wanted to sort of get my emotions out there and share the books I managed to buy/get signed/acquire whilst I was there!

I did Leakycon Lit which is basically where you pay a bit extra to be able to attend author panels and signings. Obviously being the massive book lover I was I wasn't going to miss that! The authors attending over the two days of Lit programming were Laure Eve, James Dawson, Dawn O'Porter, Abigail Gibbs, Samantha Shannon, Will Hill, Matt Whyman, Sally Gardner and Elizabeth Wein. Getting to meet these awesome people was an incredible opportunity.

So here's the book haul!

Bought at Leakycon:

Fearsome Dreamer by Laure Eve

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

Cruel Summer by James Dawson

Fearsome Dreamer and The Bone Season were both available early so I was super excited to grab those!  Bought those two and Cruel Summer from the Waterstones stall at Leakycon. It was run by the lovely people from Waterstones Oxford St - yes, the ones from that Twitter account. They were freaking hilarious and had signs up all over the place to encourage poeople up the 4th floor. Evidence below!

Bought elsewhere:

Going Vintage by Lindsey Leavitt

Got this on my trip to Foyles! The lovely Faye from A Daydreamer's Thoughts suggested I go and luckily it was right between the convention centre and the hostel where we were staying.

Freebies:

Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne

Slated by Teri Terry 

Boy Nobody by Allen Zadoff

Obsidian Mirror by Catherine Fisher

Picked up these from the BooksWith Bite stand. In the swag bags we got at registration we got a flyer to redeem for a free book, so I grabbed Monument 14 and my friend grabbed Slated and gave it to me. On the last day they had loads of books left so it was a free for all and I managed to grab the other two! They were giving out tote bags too - still sad I didn't get one of those! But I can't really complain, because the books made me super happy!

Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Picked this up at the Harry Potter Alliance stand where they'd set up an apparating library. You could bring a book and swap it for a new one, so I donated Hex Hall and grabbed this in exchange.

Signed:

The Savages by Matt Whyman
I, Coriander by Sally Gardner

Cruel Summer by James Dawson
We talked about Spice Girls at the signing so he wrote "spice up your life!" in my book = amazing.
Hollow Pike by James Dawson.

 Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
She went and underlined a quote in the book after she signed it too which made it extra special!
Department 19 by Will Hill

Paper Aeroplanes by Dawn O'Porter
The Dark Heroine: Dinner With a Vampire by Abigail Gibbs

 Fearsome Dreamer by Laure Eve

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

I took lots of books with me to get signed so this was the combination of books I took and bought whilst I was there. 

I also visited Platform 9 3/4, because I'm super lucky that I have to travel through King's Cross to get home. I did this last year but this year there was way more of a show, with guys there to flick your scarf in the air as you took the photo!

 And then my friend and I were hanging out at the Platform 9 3/4 shop and look who turned up! HANK GREEN. AND I GOT MY PHOTO TAKEN WITH HIM. I was SO happy. He also signed my badge at Leakycon.

As well as being awesome and taking photos with us, he also totally rocked it at the wizard rock concert. My video Hank singing Accio Deathly Hallows with Harry and the Potters is below.

So this is only a teeny-tiny bit of the awesomeness that was Leakycon. I had SUCH a good time. Hopefully there'll be more blog posts to come! If you were there then let me know in the comments!