It's been almost two weeks since the last booth was dismantled. BookExpo America 2009 has been praised and scorned, dissected and trisected, analyzed and psychoanalyzed by book trade pundits in both public and private conversations, online and offline. Is there anything left to say?

Well, I noticed that many indie booksellers offered their own responses to the show, posted on store and personal blogs, and in e-mail newsletters for their customers to read. That thought re-fired my BEA analysis jets and caused me to wonder: What do you tell your customers about BEA?

In an e-mail newsletter from the Next Chapter Bookshop, Mequon, Wis., Rebecca Rick noted that "Lanora, Dave, Taylor and I are mostly recovered from BEA 09 in New York this past weekend and we are excited to tell you all about it. (We would like to once again thank the generous customer who donated his frequent flyer miles to get us there.) Though the show was, by many accounts, a leaner show than in the past--meaning, not as many giveaways or galleys piled up everywhere--there was no shortage of fantastic books for fall, entertaining authors giving talks, and inspiration for us. We are all happy that we were able to go and come back with so many new ideas and information to share with you!"

"It was, if I've counted correctly, the 28th time we've attended our national convention and trade show," wrote Chuck Robinson on the store blog for Village Books, Bellingham, Wash. "So, wouldn't you think it would have become old hat? Why does my heart still race and why am I so excited each year? Well, in reflecting on who we saw and heard talk, I realize it is somewhat rarefied air we breathe at these events. . . . I'm always refreshed and renewed when I come home from BookExpo America. And, this year is no exception."

Gayle Shanks of Changing Hands bookstore, Tempe, Ariz., writing to "Bookstore Friends" in her e-mail newsletter, called the show "bittersweet" because her six-year tenure on the ABA board came to an end along with her term as president. For her, "the joy of the annual trade show is keeping in touch with my bookseller friends and connecting with authors. . . . They reminded me how much I love their writing and how lucky I am to be in this business of bringing words, ideas, and books to our community."

Green Apple Books & Music, San Francisco, Calif., reported on its Green Apple Core blog that "the first day is always remainder buying day; this involves jumping from hotel to hotel & to showrooms . . . many of which aren't always close together. We saw a lot of books & there will be some great remainder deals coming to you in the next month or so (to go along with the already great titles in the store currently) so be sure to check out the tables."

In a detailed account on his Kash's Book Corner blog, Arsen Kashkashian of Boulder Bookstore, Boulder, Colo., shared his impressions of BEA, concluding, "I hope that BEA can morph into something meaningful for publishers, authors and booksellers. There must be a way to communicate with each other, to wow each other that doesn't involve cheap Ikea-looking furniture. I think the dinners are valuable, the chance to meet authors is valuable, the empty booths are not. Something is going to change, because those vacant booths cost a lot of money."

Jessica Stockton Bagnulo of McNally Jackson Books in New York (and her own Greenlight Bookstore in Brooklyn later this year) observed on her Written Nerd blog: "Maybe I'm just lucky. But this was the best BEA I've ever attended." She praised her book world colleagues as "people who are passionate about what they do, creative and energetic beyond belief, and awfully fun to be around. I have a sense that they're the ones I'll still be talking to in twenty years, through all the changes of our industry and our careers. Maybe we'll look back on this BEA as one of the last good ones, or as a quiet moment before things got big again, or as the beginning of a long-term change for the better. All I know now is that it was a hell of a show."

What did you tell your customers about the show this year?