Space Pirate at work: Goodreads Choice Awards 10th Anniversary Celebration 2018

In case you haven't noticed and by the views count most of you have not I've been reading more books. Sure I read lots of articles and check different websites all the time but actual finishing of a book has picked up. So when I received an invitation to the Goodreads Choice Awards it was a unexpected but pleasant surprise. I don't know why I got one but I was happy to receive it.

I have written about my appreciation for what Goodreads has done for my reading. The quick recap goes like this, I was stacking up comics, trade paperbacks and novels. Box after box was being filled but I was barely reading 20% of all of them. They weren't even organized in a way that didn't prevent me from buying duplicates for books I already had. One day I was watching the YouTube channel Geek & Sundry and heard about a show called Sword and Laser. I watched a few episodes and heard that the community is organized on something called Goodreads. I checked it out and the world changed. I was able to organize my books between read and to-read. I discovered books and authors I never heard of before. And basically re-ignited my love of reading in an organized manner.

From that time in 2012 I've been a loyal user ever since. From the time I joined my worst reading year was actually last year at only 16 books. My best year was 2015 with 50 books. I don't include single issue comic books as a personal rule. I've joined communities, voted in polls, added quotes and just loved reading again. I even went to BookCon on year, not the best experience but still went to it. So when the invite came in the e-mail my answer was of course going to be yes. What came next was more of a little shock to them more then it was to me.

I went after work to the event which was being held in the Chelsea region of Manhattan. Goodreads headquarters is in San Fransico, California. So their holding an awards show in New York was odd but whatever. I get into a line in the lobby because there are people checking the guests. I give my name to the lady checking the guest list and move on to get my badge. There's some hold up in front of me so I wait. More people have come in behind me so we're all waiting. Someone in the check in decides to deal with the people up front but start giving out the name badges to the people on line. I'm in the line so you figure someone will ask me my name so they can get my badge. I am on the guest list so I should have a badge. So one one woman looks at me but speaks to the woman behind me. Another woman looks at me and asks if the woman behind me is being helped. Then another woman does the same thing this time to a different woman behind me since the first woman behind me already got her badge and got into the elevator to go to the event. Finally the people in front of me clear out so I'm next.

Well one of the women there sees I've already been checked in so she looks for my badge. She can't find my name badge so she just writes my name on a badge so I can go up stairs. So far this event is not cool. All those women looked at the black guy and just assumed he's not on the guest list so move on. Not cool. I get upstairs and see it's one of those wine party kind of events. A small room with a nice view and small bar, typical stuff. Been to these before, not a big deal. I do the coat check thing and go to the bar. While I'm looking around to see whose there I see I'm being checked out by the guests. The reason being, I'm the only black male there. I'm the unicorn of this party. OKAY!!!

Yep, I'm basically a mythical creature that people have only heard about. They kind of know what it looks like but they never thought they'd see one in real life. Yep, surprise to them but not for me. I had a similar experience at BookCon. I walked around there and women were looking at me like I was some kind of phantasm. I haven't gone back to a BookCon since. So I find a spot after getting a drink. At these events you have to have some kind of drink in your hand. I get the only thing I thought worth getting on a Monday night when I have to be at work the next day, a gin & juice. I'm black after all, that's what we drink, right?

Anyway, I had been wondering what I was going to eat. Their were little entrees being served so I looked at what they had. I found a little corner by the window and took in the view. I wasn't offered any appetizers so I watched them go around the room wondering if these mostly women would freak out if they saw a unicorn eating the same foods they ate. I've been to these things before. I know how to deal with the bourgeois attitudes of the intellectuals so I move on. But no hors d'oeuvres offered to the one black guy in the room, not cool.

The events starts and we get to the point which is to celebrate 10 years of fans voting on their favorite books, authors and the growth of Audible.com thanks to the audience. We have some writers in the house that I've heard of, only one whose on my list, in this case to-read list. The rest are industry people or others readers that were also invited. I didn't hobnob with the guests. At these things it's usually best to come with a friend to help break the ice or have some sense of social proof to help meet other people. When I received the invite to what I thought would be an awards show I figured it might be a small theater with seats. I figured since it was scheduled as a three hour awards show with lots of awards and guests I'd take a seat and watch the show. This was not what I was expecting. There were awards given but still I thought of something bigger.

I did meet two people. One was a nice lady who came with her friend. She's done this sort of thing before so we had a decent chat about favorite books. I took pictures as you can see. I met one of the co-founders of Goodreads and even saw the Fifty Shades of Gray writer. I have a friend who loves Colleen Hoover so I took a picture with her, mostly to make my friend jealous (love ya Steph 😜). There was some background picture taking thing so I did that. The pictures came out like crap but whatever. The funny part was the photographer for the event asked to take a picture of me. I usually avoid taking pictures at these things but in this case I made an exception. Why, because I wanted people to have proof that a unicorn was actually at the event. Yes, black, heterosexual, males actually read books. We also go to book events to celebrate reading books. No, I didn't come for the romance books, I don't read those books. I came for the Science Fiction, Fantasy & Graphic Novel categories that's what I read. It's not only what I read, check the previous posts. How many of you have read Benjamin Franklin? I came for the love of reading and learning so please don't stare. Also don't be surprised there's a lot more of us then you think.

The event was scheduled for three hours. It was honestly done in one hour. The photographer asked me what time it was. I told her then she mentioned that she has to be there until 9:30PM. I tell her the invite said it ends at 10PM but it's all right the bars over there. I had nothing else to do besides take some more pictures but after that I left. I got a swag bag and went home. Overall it was a nice event. Believe me it was I have been to longer and worse. If you haven't been to a party about rich people buying ponies trust me this wasn't bad by comparison. The only weird thing of the night was the technical problems with the Neil Gaiman video. As well as the light show at the Empire State building for about 7 minutes.

I might have to do more of these types of events. My pants needed to be tailored. I didn't look as good as I wanted to. The Apple event in Brooklyn would have been nice to go to but I think that's invite only. I have to start getting on those lists for the events in or near New York City. The worst part of the whole thing for me wasn't even the overt racism. It was the reminder that I've applied to work at Audible.com in Newark, New Jersey like 5 times. Turned down or ignored each time. Totally sucks. I got a book credit for a free book from Audible. I picked the Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin. I wan't interested in reading that book but since I had a free credit I figured, why not. So the night was not a lose. Let this be a reminder to you to enjoy yourself. And please, don't stare at the unicorn. Say, hello, don't pet it's head like you know it, just be nice. Most importantly of all go read a book. Better yourself through self education. A structured classroom can teach you only so much. The rest is up to you so go read a book. It won't bite, I promise. (Paper cut maybe but no biting.)