So you didn't make BookExpo America 2010?no sweat. Below, our editors serve up synopses of the best book panels they took in. Confession: LJ and SLJ sponsored several events, including our annual Day of Dialog sessions. While we talk up some of that programming, we only did so in light of the buzz they generated at the Javits. For from-the-aisles photos to conjure claustrophobia and celebrity worship, see our Flickr page.

Steampunk: A Doctorow-Led Discussion

Cory Doctorow and crew kicked off School Library Journal's Day of Dialog with "Steampunkery: Why Are Today's Teens Embracing 19th-Century Technologies?" (video here). Authors Scott Westerfield (Leviathan) and Cherie Priest (Boneshaker), together with Karen Grenke, library manager at the NYPL and fan girl (really, it said so on her name tag), formed the panel, ably moderated by Doctorow. While there were some great one-offs-"Steampunk is what happens when Goths discover brown," quipped Priest-each of the panelists thoughtfully provided her or his take on the genre, illuminating the curious convergence of technology and craft in its many forms, from Etsy duds to steampunk LEGOs. Having only a vague impression of steampunk, I was surprised to discover the genre's innocent appeal. Steampunk is all about the possibilities and has appeal beyond young adults. As Doctorow said, "Steampunk invites you to learn more about history and invites you to learn how to make a raygun."-Kathy Ishizuka, SLJ

A Cheat Sheet for Graphic Novel Orders

GraphicNovelReporter's John Hogan moderated "Hot Fall Graphic Novels for Libraries" with librarians Eva Volin, Barbara Moon, Jesse Karp, and Christian Zabriskie, who collectively booktalked 16 faves, plus runners-up. A few for kids: Joey Fly, Private Eye (Holt) and The Amulet of Samarkand (Disney/Hyperion). For teens and adults: Swordsmith Assassin (Boom!) and Library Wars (VIZ). Click here for the full list.-Martha Cornog

E-media Angst in "Overdrive"

"Tomorrow's Library in a World of Digits," moderated by EarlyWord.com's Nora Rawlinson, and LJ's Day of Dialog panel "Audiobooks, Music, & Movies" were notable for tackling the frustrations of digital media in public libraries, a hot issue that's only going to get hotter as the year progresses. Besides sharing in common three speakers-Michael Santangelo, electronic resource manager, Brooklyn Public Library (BPL), Brian Downing, cofounder/president, Library Ideas, and Steve Potash, CEO/president, OverDrive-the panels also overlapped on points like "device agnosticism" (not happening overnight) and the elusive nature of a sustainable business model for all parties.

During "Tomorrow's Library," Potash announced the coming of a "buy-it-now" button in Overdrive that will effectively monetize OPACs and help do away with publishers' fears about library reciprocal borrowing privileges and consortia spreading revenue too thin. Santangelo's sage advice for building an ebook collection that moves as well as the Brooklyn PL's? Take "full ownership in a collection development sense" and train front-line staff.-Raya Kuzyk & Heather McCormack

Five Thriller Writers=One Hot Book Convo

As revealed at "Thrillers: International Thriller Writers Discuss the Future of the Genre," which capped LJ's Day of Dialog 2010, thriller writers are a very funny, genuinely nice bunch. Moderated with panache and good humor by Seattle P.L.'s Jeff Ayers, a longtime LJ reviewer with thriller-writing aspirations of his own, the program featured Steve Berry (The Emperor's Tomb), Lisa Gardner (Live to Tell), Jon Land (Strong Justice), Gayle Lynds (The Book of Spies), and Brad Meltzer (Heroes for My Son, The Inner Circle), pictured here. In between good-naturedly teasing Meltzer over his new TV series, Brad Meltzer's Decoded, premiering this fall on the History Channel, talk turned to how thrillers are trending to more cross-genre novels as a market saturated with certain types of subcategories (e.g., forensic thrillers) pressured authors to figure out the next landscape to explore. [Click here for the longer version.]-Wilda Williams

Book Selectors Gone Wild

So many books, so little time. That seemed to be the theme of the "Librarians' Second Annual Shout and Share," where in ten-minute segments eight presenters breathlessly raced through their picks of the show. For sheer numbers, the winner had to be San Francisco Public Library's Jason Honig. The most frequently mentioned titles (in no particular order): Exley by Brock Clarke (Algonquin), Surf Guru by Doug Dorst (Riverhead), Packing for Mars: the Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach (Norton), The Sherlockian by Graham Moore (Twelve), Atlantic: Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms, and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories by Simon Winchester (Harper), and Life by Keith Richards (Little, Brown), which LJ's Barbara Genco, who organized the program, described as written "by a wannabe librarian who settled for life as a rock 'n' roll star."

The best category: Barbara Hoffert's Hot Dogs: Books on Saving Animals (she writes LJ's Prepub Alert [link]), which included The Lost Dogs: Michael Vick's Dogs and Their Tale of Rescue and Redemption by Jim Gorant (Gotham). All the panelists deserve a shout out: Nora Rawlinson (earlyword.com), Robin Nesbit (Columbus Metropolitan Library), Neal Wyatt ("RA Crossroads" and "Wyatt's World"), Miriam Tuliao (NYPL), and Doug Lord ("Books for Dudes").-Francine Fialkoff