As I posted earlier this month, the #PenguinTeenOnTour promotion stopped at Half Price Books in Dallas last night and featured some pretty spectacular auhors: Allison Goodman, Sabaa Tahir, Rachel Hawkins, April Genevieve Tucholke, and Alwyn Hamilton. I was even given the opportunity to interview one of the authors prior to the event -- you can check that out below.
I'm one of the most introverted booknerds you'll ever meet, so I was nervous but it was an awesome opportunity that I just could not pass up. Especially after the pep talk my friend Sabrina gave me. =) Despite a couple snafus -- my hubby had to work late so he couldn't pick up the kiddo, meaning I had to drive an hour from work to home to pick her up from daycare and then back again since I only work about five minutes from Half Price Books (very dangerous, especially during lunch!), plus the author I was originally supposed to interview was delayed in Canada -- it all culminated into a very lovely event.
Before the event, I left Katie holding our seats up front and met up with the adorable Amanda from Penguin, who introduced me to Rachel Hawkins, who'd I'd be interviewing in lieu of Alison Goodman, as she was delayed en route to Dallas. Honestly, this last minute swap actually put me more at ease because I follow Rachel on Twitter and I know how down-to-earth and funny she is. Not that Alison isn't the same, but she's an Aussie and such a serious writerly-type that I was a bit intimidated. (But let's be honest...I find all authors a bit intimidating, which is why I laugh like a crazy person and mumble when it's actually time to talk to them, lol.)
So. I'm going to share my interview with Rachel -- which I recorded and it took me forever to transcribe this monring since I'm, ahem,
supposed to be working -- and then some highlights from the event itself. Enjoy! =D
With Rachel Hawkins, author of the Rebel Belles series
Jen: For those who haven’t read the Rebel Belle
books yet, give me the elevator pitch for the series.
Rachel: The
Rebel Belle series is about a Southern debutante who gets super powers and has to protect a boy who sees the future who just happens to be her lifelong nemesis.
Jen: What inspired you to write the Rebel Belle
series?
Rachel: I wanted to write something a) that was sort of set in the contemporary South which is where I’m from and b) also I wanted to write a book where I felt like a lot of the times girls like Harper the sort of head cheerleader, SGA president, overachieving type A type are the villains of a lot of YA books, and that’s not always been the case, I think. When I was in high school, those overachieving girls were actually very lovely people, they were very community-minded and that sort of thing. I wanted that kind of girl to be the heroine of her own story.
Jen: Love it! I’ve read the first book and YES to all of that.
Jen: What’s your writing process like? Are you a pantser or a plotter?
Rachel: Lololol. Uh, my writing process…a little bit of a plotter, a little bit of a pantser. So, I like to have an idea of where I’m going…I don’t just sort of dive in. I do something that I call the Mac Draft, which is when I come up with the idea for a book, I wait until I have a few scenes in mind and I go ahead and then I write those scenes, like the things that I know and then I can start sort of filling in. And so that way, it helps, too…I don’t really start writing the book until I’ve got about 15-20,000 words of those kind of scenes like that, and then it helps me see, okay, well, I was like really looking at the front of the book, like I’ve got a lot of stuff from the beginning but I really am not strong on the end and need to work there. Or, a lot of stuff from the middle, not so much from the beginning…need to work there. So, I found like that helps, and it also….I like writing things that I feel excited about. I don’t like putting off a scene that I’m really excited to write, just because it’s not the right time to write it. I feel like writing is so hard, so when you’re excited to write something like why shouldn’t you? You should sit down and write that right then and capture that, I think. And I think it comes across in the writing more often than not.
Jen: Definitely!
Jen: Which of your characters would you most like to go out and have a drink with?
Rachel: Oh, man…the aunts from the
Rebel Belle books. Aunt Jewel is the main one. I had an Aunt Ruby and so that’s my little homage to her. They seem like they would be fun to have a drink with. I love old Southern ladies.
Jen: You’d fit right in here, then.
Jen: If your characters were sorted into Hogwarts houses, which would they be?
Rachel: Oh, I got this. This has been, like, our favorite question on tour. So, Harper is for sure Slytherin, which I feel maybe a controversial statement, but as a Slytherin myself, I think she’s ambitious. And David is for sure Ravenclaw, although I think I may have called him Hufflepuff in another interview, so maybe he’s a Ravenpuff…or a Huffleclaw. Sailor is a Ravenclaw; Bee is a Hufflepuff.
Jen: I love the hybrid houses! I’m a bit of a Gryffinclaw myself.
Jen: I always love hearing what authors are reading (and getting recommendations!). So, what’s currently on your nightstand?
Rachel: I just read
Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye, which is if Jane Eyre were a serial killer and it is AMAZING, like I loved it…it is SO good. I consumed it over tour and it was the most fun. I also read – it comes out in June – Kiersten White’s
And I Darken…it’s amazing. I highly recommend it; it’s a totally different direction for Kiersten and I blurbed the heck out of it because I liked it so much. What else am I looking forward to??? I’m always excited for anything Victoria Schwab writes, and she’s got a new YA coming out in the summer.
Jen: Yes! I’ve already
read it and it was AWESOME!
Rachel: I know [she and I've] talked about it because we’re friends but I haven’t read it yet.
Jen: Yeah, you’ll like it.
Rachel: Ah, I’m excited!
Jen: So, what book are you an evangelist for, that you wish you could force everyone to read and love?
Rachel: I feel like that for everything I read…so whatever the most recent thing that I’ve been reading is. I’ve been pushing
Red Rising on all my friends lately. Because I wasn’t gonna read it because I was like, oh, I’m sort of over dystopian, things with people sorted by colors, but it wasn’t that at all. The first book, maybe a little more so, but after that it’s like space-crack, and I love it so much.
Jen: Haha, space-crack…I like that!
Jen: Is there an upcoming book that you’d battle the supernatural to get your hands on before it’s released?
Rachel: I mean, obviously,
The Winds of Winter…like everyone else in the entire world right now. I’ve been a George R. R. Martin fan since the early 2000s, and I love those books very dearly.
Jen: I’m so not with it…I haven’t read the books or watched the show yet.
Rachel: That’s okay, though. Read the books…the show has disappointed me greatly in the past couple of years. I’ll still watch it because it’s like if the Harry Potter movies were bad, you know you’d still keep watching them, and that’s how I feel about the show.
Jen: So, what other projects are you currently working on?
Rachel: I have a middle grade coming out in October called
Journey’s End and that’s also coming out from Penguin. I currently have a YA contemporary romance that my editor is looking at right now that I hope she really likes. It’s about Scotland and princes and shenanigans.
Jen: Oh, shenanigans!!!
Rachel: It’s kind of crazy.
Jen: Okay, last question! What’s one question that you never get asked that you wish someone would ask you in an interview?
Rachel: You know, I get asked so many good things. I don’t even know. If people could always ask me more about my cats because I can really spend a lot of time talking about my cats…like A LOT of time. And no one thinks it’s as interesting as I do, so yeah. People should ask me more about Nessie and Daenerys and Jasper Tudor.
About the author:
Rachel Hawkins was born in Virginia and raised in Alabama. This means she uses words like "y'all" and "fixin'" a lot, and considers anything under 60 degrees to be borderline Arctic. Before deciding to write books about kissing and fire (and sometimes kissing while on fire), Rachel taught high school English for 3 years, and is still capable of teaching you The Canterbury Tales if you're into that kind of thing.
She is married to a geologist, which means that they have incredibly strange dinner conversations ("So today at work, I wrote a chapter where killer fog, like, ATE PEOPLE." "Huh. Well, I was chased by an angry reindeer while trying to map parts of Norway." "Um...okay.")
Rachel also has a little boy whose main hobbies are playing video games, running around in circles, and plotting his Future Intergalactic Take-Over.
When not writing books, Rachel enjoys reading, travelling, and knitting (very terribly.)
Find Rachel:
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Tumblr | Goodreads
On to the event!
Despite having gotten seats in the front row, I didn't take many pictures. And since I was sitting so close, I didn't get a picture of the group as a whole either, so I borrowed the one to the left from Half Price Books, who put on a
really great event. =) I always love signings at this bookstore because they're so chill and laid back. But they're always dangerous, too...I don't think I've ever left this bookstore without purchasing
something.
Mary from
Mary Had a Little Blog was the moderator for this event, and it's always fun to see her at these things, even if we don't always get a chance to chat. If you haven't checked out her "Mary in the Library" series, you really should. It's funny and insightful and full of good information.
I recorded the audio from the event, and I may transcribe all 42 minutes of it at a later date, but for now, I'm just going to share some of my favorite moments and quotes from the panel.
- One of the questions asked was if the authors would be able to survive in the worlds of their books, to which Sabaa replied, "Absolutely not. I would be so dead."
- Alwyn, after explaining that she was sick and didn't know if she'd make it out of the airport..."If Amani could walk across an entire desert, I can walk across an airport."
- Writing advice from Rachel: "What do you do when your character has a perfect life? Ruin it!"
- On being a writer/being inspired to write, April says, "I realized I like playing god."
- When asked which literary character they'd like to be, Rachel responded that she'd love to be a hobbit, but she does "not have hairy feet. Please do not put that on the internet."
- April to Alwyn, after a discussion on weird things they've googled in the name of research: "When I drug you, Alwyn, you won't even know it."
- Writing advice from Allison: "Never have a passive character," and "Learn to love the rewriting process."
- When asked how to make action scenes better, Sabaa admitted that she makes her husband act out the fight scenes with her...and that she watches a lot of Kung Fu movies.
After the panel, Katie and I got in the signing line, though she kept wandering off to go look at books and toys. She was a real trooper, though. And she wanted to have Rachel's
Hex Hall series personalized to her since I'd already given them to her after cleaning up my shelves a bit. She's eight, and though she's a mature eight, she's not quite ready for this series, but she wanted to make damn sure that I remember they're hers now. :)
I'd already chatted with Rachel earlier so I didn't mind letting Katie take the opportunity to talk to her and have her books signed while I was chatting with Alwyn about
Rebel of the Sands. Alwyn was so gracious and chatty, despite being sick, and she wrote some of the best quotes in my copies of
Rebel! I didn't feel like I spent nearly enough time with each of the authors, but I had 20+ books to get signed and I didn't want to hold them or the line up. :( Plus, as is always the case when faced with someone I admire, everything I'd wanted to say went out the window as soon as I was actually standing in front of them. o_O
All of the authors were elated to see that despite the fact that I had ARCs for their books, I also supported each of them by purchasing finished copies, too. I mean, duh...I want them to be able to write more amazing books! =D I think April was most surprised, though, because I collect her books and had an ARC and HC edition of each, plus I was getting an extra copy of
Wink signed for a friend.
I'm kind of miffed that I was rushing myself so much that I didn't get pictures of me or Katie with the authors like I usually do, but it was closing in on her bedtime when we left as it was. Here's hoping we get the opportunity to meet these amazing women and authors again! I can't wait to read each and every one of their next books!!!
Such a great event, but the tour doesn't stop here! These lovely ladies are headed to California next, and the full event schedule can be found below:
Tuesday, March 22nd —MIAMI, FL
7:00 PM Public Event @ Books & Books
265 Aragon Ave, Coral Gables, FL 33134
Wednesday, March 23rd —CINCINNATI, OH
7:00 PM Public Event @ Joseph-Beth Booksellers
5030 Oaklawn Drive, Suite B, Cincinnati, OH 45227
Thursday, March 24th — NASHVILLE, TN
6:30 PM Public Event @ Parnassus Books
3900 Hillsboro Pike Ste 14, Nashville, TN 37215
Friday, March 25th —ST. LOUIS, MO
7:00 PM Public Event w/ Karen Bao @ The Charles City-County Library – Spencer Road Branch
427 Spencer Rd., St. Peters, MO 63376
Saturday, March 26th—ST. PAUL, MN
6:30 PM Public Event w/ Karen Bao @ Red Balloon Bookshop
91 Grand Ave, St Paul, MN 55105
Monday, March 28th—TORONTO, ON
2:00 PM Public Event @ Chapters Brampton
Market Hall, 52 Quarry Edge Drive, Brampton, Ontario, Canada
Tuesday, March 29th—DALLAS, TX
7:00 PM Public Event @ Half Price Books
5803 E Northwest Hwy, Dallas, TX 75231
Wednesday, March 30th—SAN DIEGO, CA
7:30 PM Public Event @ Mysterious Galaxy
5943 Balboa Avenue #100, San Diego, CA 92111
Thursday, March 31st—SAN JOSE, CA
7:00 PM Public Event @ Hicklebee’s
1378 Lincoln Ave, San Jose, CA 95125
Friday, April 1st—SAN FRANCISCO, CA
7:00 PM Public Event @ Books, Inc. Opera Plaza
601 Van Ness Ave, San Francisco, CA 94102
I hope you have the chance to attend one of the remaining events or that you got to attend one of the previous stops. This was a truly amazing group of ladies...so funny and charming and just all-around awesome!
Huge thanks to Penguin Teen, Half Price Books, Amanda and Rachel at Penguin, Mary, and all of the authors involved for putting this fantastic tour together! And big, big thanks to Rachel Hawkins for taking the time out of her busy schedule to be interviewed before the event!
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
#PenguinTeenOnTour Does Dallas
I'm one of the most introverted booknerds you'll ever meet, so I was nervous but it was an awesome opportunity that I just could not pass up. Especially after the pep talk my friend Sabrina gave me. =) Despite a couple snafus -- my hubby had to work late so he couldn't pick up the kiddo, meaning I had to drive an hour from work to home to pick her up from daycare and then back again since I only work about five minutes from Half Price Books (very dangerous, especially during lunch!), plus the author I was originally supposed to interview was delayed in Canada -- it all culminated into a very lovely event.
Before the event, I left Katie holding our seats up front and met up with the adorable Amanda from Penguin, who introduced me to Rachel Hawkins, who'd I'd be interviewing in lieu of Alison Goodman, as she was delayed en route to Dallas. Honestly, this last minute swap actually put me more at ease because I follow Rachel on Twitter and I know how down-to-earth and funny she is. Not that Alison isn't the same, but she's an Aussie and such a serious writerly-type that I was a bit intimidated. (But let's be honest...I find all authors a bit intimidating, which is why I laugh like a crazy person and mumble when it's actually time to talk to them, lol.)
So. I'm going to share my interview with Rachel -- which I recorded and it took me forever to transcribe this monring since I'm, ahem, supposed to be working -- and then some highlights from the event itself. Enjoy! =D
Jen: For those who haven’t read the Rebel Belle books yet, give me the elevator pitch for the series.
Rachel: The Rebel Belle series is about a Southern debutante who gets super powers and has to protect a boy who sees the future who just happens to be her lifelong nemesis.
Jen: What inspired you to write the Rebel Belle series?
Rachel: I wanted to write something a) that was sort of set in the contemporary South which is where I’m from and b) also I wanted to write a book where I felt like a lot of the times girls like Harper the sort of head cheerleader, SGA president, overachieving type A type are the villains of a lot of YA books, and that’s not always been the case, I think. When I was in high school, those overachieving girls were actually very lovely people, they were very community-minded and that sort of thing. I wanted that kind of girl to be the heroine of her own story.
Jen: Love it! I’ve read the first book and YES to all of that.
Jen: What’s your writing process like? Are you a pantser or a plotter?
Rachel: Lololol. Uh, my writing process…a little bit of a plotter, a little bit of a pantser. So, I like to have an idea of where I’m going…I don’t just sort of dive in. I do something that I call the Mac Draft, which is when I come up with the idea for a book, I wait until I have a few scenes in mind and I go ahead and then I write those scenes, like the things that I know and then I can start sort of filling in. And so that way, it helps, too…I don’t really start writing the book until I’ve got about 15-20,000 words of those kind of scenes like that, and then it helps me see, okay, well, I was like really looking at the front of the book, like I’ve got a lot of stuff from the beginning but I really am not strong on the end and need to work there. Or, a lot of stuff from the middle, not so much from the beginning…need to work there. So, I found like that helps, and it also….I like writing things that I feel excited about. I don’t like putting off a scene that I’m really excited to write, just because it’s not the right time to write it. I feel like writing is so hard, so when you’re excited to write something like why shouldn’t you? You should sit down and write that right then and capture that, I think. And I think it comes across in the writing more often than not.
Jen: Definitely!
Jen: Which of your characters would you most like to go out and have a drink with?
Rachel: Oh, man…the aunts from the Rebel Belle books. Aunt Jewel is the main one. I had an Aunt Ruby and so that’s my little homage to her. They seem like they would be fun to have a drink with. I love old Southern ladies.
Jen: You’d fit right in here, then.
Jen: If your characters were sorted into Hogwarts houses, which would they be?
Rachel: Oh, I got this. This has been, like, our favorite question on tour. So, Harper is for sure Slytherin, which I feel maybe a controversial statement, but as a Slytherin myself, I think she’s ambitious. And David is for sure Ravenclaw, although I think I may have called him Hufflepuff in another interview, so maybe he’s a Ravenpuff…or a Huffleclaw. Sailor is a Ravenclaw; Bee is a Hufflepuff.
Jen: I love the hybrid houses! I’m a bit of a Gryffinclaw myself.
Jen: I always love hearing what authors are reading (and getting recommendations!). So, what’s currently on your nightstand?
Rachel: I just read Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye, which is if Jane Eyre were a serial killer and it is AMAZING, like I loved it…it is SO good. I consumed it over tour and it was the most fun. I also read – it comes out in June – Kiersten White’s And I Darken…it’s amazing. I highly recommend it; it’s a totally different direction for Kiersten and I blurbed the heck out of it because I liked it so much. What else am I looking forward to??? I’m always excited for anything Victoria Schwab writes, and she’s got a new YA coming out in the summer.
Jen: Yes! I’ve already read it and it was AWESOME!
Rachel: I know [she and I've] talked about it because we’re friends but I haven’t read it yet.
Jen: Yeah, you’ll like it.
Rachel: Ah, I’m excited!
Jen: So, what book are you an evangelist for, that you wish you could force everyone to read and love?
Rachel: I feel like that for everything I read…so whatever the most recent thing that I’ve been reading is. I’ve been pushing Red Rising on all my friends lately. Because I wasn’t gonna read it because I was like, oh, I’m sort of over dystopian, things with people sorted by colors, but it wasn’t that at all. The first book, maybe a little more so, but after that it’s like space-crack, and I love it so much.
Jen: Haha, space-crack…I like that!
Jen: Is there an upcoming book that you’d battle the supernatural to get your hands on before it’s released?
Rachel: I mean, obviously, The Winds of Winter…like everyone else in the entire world right now. I’ve been a George R. R. Martin fan since the early 2000s, and I love those books very dearly.
Jen: I’m so not with it…I haven’t read the books or watched the show yet.
Rachel: That’s okay, though. Read the books…the show has disappointed me greatly in the past couple of years. I’ll still watch it because it’s like if the Harry Potter movies were bad, you know you’d still keep watching them, and that’s how I feel about the show.
Jen: So, what other projects are you currently working on?
Rachel: I have a middle grade coming out in October called Journey’s End and that’s also coming out from Penguin. I currently have a YA contemporary romance that my editor is looking at right now that I hope she really likes. It’s about Scotland and princes and shenanigans.
Jen: Oh, shenanigans!!!
Rachel: It’s kind of crazy.
Jen: Okay, last question! What’s one question that you never get asked that you wish someone would ask you in an interview?
Rachel: You know, I get asked so many good things. I don’t even know. If people could always ask me more about my cats because I can really spend a lot of time talking about my cats…like A LOT of time. And no one thinks it’s as interesting as I do, so yeah. People should ask me more about Nessie and Daenerys and Jasper Tudor.
On to the event!
Mary from Mary Had a Little Blog was the moderator for this event, and it's always fun to see her at these things, even if we don't always get a chance to chat. If you haven't checked out her "Mary in the Library" series, you really should. It's funny and insightful and full of good information.
I recorded the audio from the event, and I may transcribe all 42 minutes of it at a later date, but for now, I'm just going to share some of my favorite moments and quotes from the panel.
I'd already chatted with Rachel earlier so I didn't mind letting Katie take the opportunity to talk to her and have her books signed while I was chatting with Alwyn about Rebel of the Sands. Alwyn was so gracious and chatty, despite being sick, and she wrote some of the best quotes in my copies of Rebel! I didn't feel like I spent nearly enough time with each of the authors, but I had 20+ books to get signed and I didn't want to hold them or the line up. :( Plus, as is always the case when faced with someone I admire, everything I'd wanted to say went out the window as soon as I was actually standing in front of them. o_O
I'm kind of miffed that I was rushing myself so much that I didn't get pictures of me or Katie with the authors like I usually do, but it was closing in on her bedtime when we left as it was. Here's hoping we get the opportunity to meet these amazing women and authors again! I can't wait to read each and every one of their next books!!!
Such a great event, but the tour doesn't stop here! These lovely ladies are headed to California next, and the full event schedule can be found below:
Tuesday, March 22nd —MIAMI, FL
7:00 PM Public Event @ Books & Books
265 Aragon Ave, Coral Gables, FL 33134
Wednesday, March 23rd —CINCINNATI, OH
7:00 PM Public Event @ Joseph-Beth Booksellers
5030 Oaklawn Drive, Suite B, Cincinnati, OH 45227
Thursday, March 24th — NASHVILLE, TN
6:30 PM Public Event @ Parnassus Books
3900 Hillsboro Pike Ste 14, Nashville, TN 37215
Friday, March 25th —ST. LOUIS, MO
7:00 PM Public Event w/ Karen Bao @ The Charles City-County Library – Spencer Road Branch
427 Spencer Rd., St. Peters, MO 63376
Saturday, March 26th—ST. PAUL, MN
6:30 PM Public Event w/ Karen Bao @ Red Balloon Bookshop
91 Grand Ave, St Paul, MN 55105
Monday, March 28th—TORONTO, ON
2:00 PM Public Event @ Chapters Brampton
Market Hall, 52 Quarry Edge Drive, Brampton, Ontario, Canada
Tuesday, March 29th—DALLAS, TX
7:00 PM Public Event @ Half Price Books
5803 E Northwest Hwy, Dallas, TX 75231
Wednesday, March 30th—SAN DIEGO, CA
7:30 PM Public Event @ Mysterious Galaxy
5943 Balboa Avenue #100, San Diego, CA 92111
Thursday, March 31st—SAN JOSE, CA
7:00 PM Public Event @ Hicklebee’s
1378 Lincoln Ave, San Jose, CA 95125
Friday, April 1st—SAN FRANCISCO, CA
7:00 PM Public Event @ Books, Inc. Opera Plaza
601 Van Ness Ave, San Francisco, CA 94102
I hope you have the chance to attend one of the remaining events or that you got to attend one of the previous stops. This was a truly amazing group of ladies...so funny and charming and just all-around awesome!
Huge thanks to Penguin Teen, Half Price Books, Amanda and Rachel at Penguin, Mary, and all of the authors involved for putting this fantastic tour together! And big, big thanks to Rachel Hawkins for taking the time out of her busy schedule to be interviewed before the event!
{WOW} CROOKED KINGDOM by Leigh Bardugo
"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.
This week's WoW selection is...
's Pick:
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Series: Six of Crows, book #2
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Publication Date: September 27, 2016
I'm so excited for this book that I've been contemplating a re-read again. Well, probably a re-listen, but it's all the same. My anticipation knows no limits! And I want this book to be as glorious inside and out as it's predecessor. Like, gilt-lined pages and heists to match. Can we make that happen?
What are you desperately waiting for this Wednesday? Let us know in the comments or share a link to your own WoW post!
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Black London is Calling...Or, Let the Games Begin!
Author: V.E. Schwab
Series: Shades of Magic, book #2
Publisher: Tor
Publication Date: February 23, 2016
Source: ARC received from publisher
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible
I was afraid, after having loved A Darker Shade of Magic so completely, that A Gathering of Shadows might suffer from being a middle book and that I would be disappointed by it. I had an advanced copy, and yet I kept putting it off, for fear of what lie ahead. I should not have doubted. I should know from previous experience that this author never does anything by half. But I just wanted such great things from this sequel.
And I got them. I purposely didn't re-read the synopsis before starting because I wanted to be utterly surprised and captivated in turns by what was in store for Kell and Lila. For example, I did not expect the reception that Kell received from his adoptive parents after he saved Rhy's life. I also did not expect Lila to become such a badass thief aboard a pirate ship during her time away from Red London, though that really shouldn't have been that much of a surprise. I also did not remember that this sequel featured a game of epic proportions and featuring feats of magic. But it all came together so perfectly to become just the sequel I was hoping for.
There is nothing slow or methodical about this novel. It expeditiously carries the reader from one intense situation to the next, starting with the first glimpse of Lila at sea and onward. It's with Lila aboard a pirate ship that we first meet Captain Alucard Emery, one of the competitors in the Element Games. And I must say, I fell for his character immediately. He's rakish and full of secrets...just the way I like my pirates.
The interactions that featured Rhy, Kell, Lila, and/or Alucard were among my favorites. The banter and insults being flung around were the stuff of my dreams! And knowing how all four now fit together means that I'll just die if all four don't make it to the end. Especially because of how they all fit together. *insert kissy face here*
But Black London is calling, and he wants OUT. The Element Games themselves are awesome to behold, to watch as friends and foes battle it out, but knowing that a much greater peril is upon these characters made it hard to focus on just the games. I worry for them! And it doesn't help matters, Schwab leaving off where she did in this book. That was one hell of a cliffhanger.
I re-read A Darker Shade of Magic in preparation for this sequel, but I don't think it's completely necessary. It's just usually my policy to read all the previous books in a series again before the newest releases, just so I don't miss anything. But I think with Schwab's books, it would take many re-reads before I could confidently say I hadn't missed anything. She's such a master at world-building, and in this series, she's created four separate worlds, so there's a lot to take in.
If you're on the fence about this series, check out this excerpt from A Darker Shade of Magic. If, like me, you were uncertain of this sequel, here's an excerpt from A Gathering of Shadows that should set you right. I can't recommend this series enough, but if I haven't convinced you, the fact that Gerard Butler has acquired the series to adapt for television -- with Victoria Schwab writing the pilot! -- should.
Monday, March 28, 2016
Have You Seen This? | #booksfortrade - Updated 3.28.16
Big shout-out to Andi at Andi's ABCs and Brittany at The Book Addict's Guide for putting together such an awesome feature and helping the rest of us realize our dream of book
hoardingcollecting, lol.Still hoping to trade for some of the ARCs I seriously covet while also culling some books that I've already read or no longer plan to collect and keep in my "library".
I've created an ARC wishlist on Goodreads, but here is a list of my most wanted ARCs to complete my collections:
ARC of Girl Against the Universe by Paula StokesARC of Vicarious by Paula Stokes
ARC of When We Collided by Emery LordARC of Asunder by Jodi Meadows
ARC of My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton & Jodi MeadowsARC of On the Fence by Kasie West
ARC of Rebel Sands by Alwyn Hamilton (the one with the simple blue cover)ARC of Caraval by Stephanie Garber
ARC of The Rose and the Dagger by Renee AhdiehARC of Ever the Hunted by Erin Summerill
Of course, I'm also willing to trade newer ARCs for newer ARCs. ;) And finished copies for finished copies. Here's that wishlist. Those listed above are just some of the ARCs that remain the most elusive from my collection.
Recent successful trades (aw, yeah!):
ARC of Cinder by Marissa Meyer(Thanks, Sabrina!!!!)ARC of A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. SchwabARC of Vicious by V.E. Schwab(Thanks, Jessica!)ARC of Slasher Boys and Monster Girls by April Genevieve Tucholke(Thanks, Rachel!)ARC of Wink Poppy Midnight by April Genevieve Tucholke(Thanks, Nicole!)ARC of Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers(Thanks, Rachel!)ARC of The Mirror King by Jodi Meadows(Thanks, Lisa!)And below are pictures of what I have available for trade. I also have this trade list, as well as a comprehensive wishlist (2nd tab).
(for these, I will *only* entertain offers from the above wishlist of coveted ARCs)
I'd be willing to ship multiple books for anything on my highly coveted list of ARCs above -- unless you're also seeking a highly sought after ARC, in which case it's one for one -- if that helps any. =) Also, if you have something on my wishlist that you'd be willing to trade but don't see anything you want among my offerings, still hit me up because I might be willing to part with something not shown here. =D
I'll continue using the #booksfortrade feed as well, but I thought I'd spread the word a bit more here on the blog, too. If you want to make a trade, comment below, email me at mrsjbruce at gmail dot com, or hit me up on Twitter at @starryeyedjen.
For the tl;dr crowd, the books I have for trade are pictured above and this is my ARC wishlist. This is my finished copy wishlist. =) I reserve the right to refuse any trade. I might also be willing to trade multiple items for the right trade. :D
Saturday, March 26, 2016
{The Weekend Update} 3.26.16 - Under Pressure...And It's My Own Fault
For example, I was asked to interview one of the authors at the #PenguinTeenOnTour stop here in Dallas on Tuesday, and I accepted, though now I'm kind of regretting it because I always think my inherent shyness will somehow disappear when actually faced with the task at hand. Nope. It only intensifies the closer the event gets. It's going to take everything in me not to back out. Most would probably think this is a great honor - and it is - but for me, it is a BIG deal in a very different way. I am painfully, awkwardly, sometimes unintelligibly shy. I am much better on paper or behind a screen where I don't have to interact with people who make me nervous. But I've already prepared a list of questions and I'm genuinely excited to meet each and every one of the authors, so I'm going to try to suck it up and make the best of it. And it should be an amazing time with that lineup! *fingers crossed I do okay*
Okay, okay. On to the books. Here's what I scored this week...
From Publishers:
I may have only gotten one book this week, but it's one I've been looking forward to since the moment I knew it existed. So, of course, I had to start it immediately. And it's as good as I'd been hoping. =) =) =)
Traded:
I'll have a new #booksfortrade | Have You Seen This? post up soon, updating what I have left and some new additions, plus I'll have a spreadsheet with my trades and wishlist available. I'm still looking for a few high profile ARCs, like The Rose & the Dagger, The Near Witch, and Throne of Glass, plus some other 2016 releases.
Purchased:
Nothing this week, but it'll probably be a different story next week since I still have no access to a library.
Library:
My library card is expired. I use the capital's library, and unfortunately, they've reinstated the non-resident fee. Which happens to be $120/annually. That seems a little high to me...like, maybe just ask for a donation? I'd be all for that. My own local libraries, of which there are two I have access to, are very, very small with little selection. I told you I live in a town of less than 2000, right? And we don't even have our own library. We share with the neighboring city, and I'm also allowed to visit the county library, but it's located in a town of only 5k. And neither library uses Overdrive. :( :( :( So you can see my dilemma.
So, that's my haul. =) What fabulous bookmail did you get this week?
The Week in Review:
Reviews:
Check back soon! (And I mean real soon!) :D
Promotional/Discussion Posts:
Currently Listening:
I just finished my re-read via audio of The Raven Cycle, and I'm really wishing I hadn't sped through it like I did. But I couldn't help myself! Now I don't know what to listen to next, though. I have several Audible credits to use -- one of those is already allotted to The Winner's Kiss, which releases on Tuesday -- but I can't decide if I should save them since I don't have access to library titles right now and just re-listen to something else instead. It's not like I don't have a ton of audio on my phone already.
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starryeyedjen
- I work with numbers by day, and I'm a mommy and avid reader by night. I'm a self-proclaimed Spreadsheet Queen, and I'll read anything you put in front of me. I seriously love all the books! And I adore audiobooks, too!
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