The Last Book Bonanza . . .

An amazing time with superb surprises at the last Book Bonanza in Grapevine, TX. This is a big book signing event for more than 2500 attendees (book fans and authors.)

What is Book Bonanza?

This event is the creation of Author Colleen Hoover and her sisters, Lin Reynolds and Murphy Rae.  They dreamed of an event where readers could meet their favorite authors and also raise money to help others. Through their annual events and raffles, we have raised over $900,000 for nonprofits partners. This year's main recipients were the Michael J. Fox Foundation (Parkinson's Research) and the National Book Foundation. The event is incredibly well run with tons of volunteers and other friendly book fans and authors, so the vibe is really great. And there are unicorns. Well, lots of volunteers dressed up as pretty sparkly unicorns. It’s a Book Bonanza thing—so don’t try to make sense of that.

Initially, we were impressed by the amazing amount of goodies in our swag bags and the great backdrops for photos and the super unique room key in the form of a watch.

At the opening ceremony on Friday morning we were surprised with a visit by Blake Lively and Brandon Sklenar, stars of the movie It Ends with Us, based on the much-loved Colleen Hoover book by the same name. During their banter with Colleen we learn that we will get to attend a screening of the movie on Saturday night. Of course, we're thrilled. (That might sound a little tame for what really happened. The entire place went wild—one attendee posted her decibel level recorded on her Apple watch and it was insanely loud.) So the buzz of excitement permeated the regularly scheduled events as we inched toward Saturday night.

What are those events, you might wonder? There are two mornings of programming that are fun panel discussions with the authors and then the afternoons are for signing time. This is a massive endeavor … we line up like we’re getting on a Southwest flight by number to get into the signing hall. Most people have a map and a strategy and are on a mission—a serious mission to gain the signatures of their favorite authors. Most people are toting a wheeled cart with all their fav books. Do not get in their way. LOL (I really should have taken a short video of the initial swarm as the doors opened each day.) Here’s a list of all the authors participating.

I do not participate in this signing of the books by bringing stacks of paperbacks; however, I do like to meet authors and chat with them for a few minutes, so instead I bring along a canvas to be signed that will hang on my office wall as soon as I get motivated to find the hammer. You can see the canvas in the pictures below. Here I am thanking Colleen Hoover for the donation that Book Bonanza made to the World Orphan Fund (the charity my husband and I run.) I also took the time to stop by and get a pic with E.L. James, who is a lovely lady.

Turns out transporting 2000+ people to a movie theater takes a lot of buses — but we had staggered departure times that helped make this manageable. Once there, we're assigned to a specific theater . . . we knew that the Colleen Hoover, Blake Lively, Brandon Skelnar, and Isabela Ferrer would be coming in to give us a greeting before the show (which is the short clip below) . . . but then they stayed and watched the movie IN OUR THEATER. Brandon and Isabela (this is her first movie--by the way) had not yet seen the first cut.

We can't say a lot about the movie per the rules -- but trust me, you will want to PUT THIS MOVIE ON YOUR MUST-SEE LIST . . . it is a beautiful story. The actors did a fabulous job. It was our honor to give them a standing ovation at the end of the film. Still reeling from the emotional impact of the story, we're all handed flowers on our way out . . . which makes sense if you know the story because the main character owns a flower shop.

What an unforgettable, fabulous weekend thanks to #ColleenHoover, #BookBonanza, #Itendswithusmovie, #blakelively and a ton of volunteers and authors.