Soulless by Gail Carriger

Publisher: Orbit Books
Publication Date: 01 Oct 2009
ISBN: 0316056634
Format: Paperback
Pages: 384
Websites:
Gail Carriger - Official Site
Gail Carriger - Blog
Gail Carriger- Twitter

Place(s) Traveled to: London, England (1873)

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

First Line: Miss Alexia Tarabotti was not enjoying her evening.

First off, I need to ask myself a very important question....why oh why did it take me so long to read Soulless by Gail Carriger? Seriously....why? I received this book for review back in the Summer of 2009 and then life and other events conspired against me and I didn't get a chance to pick it up until recently. Really wish I'd picked it up sooner because once I did I fell in love and just couldn't put the book down. I became so absorbed in Alexia Tarabotti's world.

Gail Carriger's characters are so rich and vibrant that you can almost reach out and touch them. The alternate England that she has created is just so clever and fun. There was even the occasional tear that was shed....from laughing at some humorous scene between Lord Maccon and Miss Tarabotti. And have I mentioned the very swoon worthiness of a certain Lord Maccon? Alexia is a smart, feisty & very proper young lady who somehow finds herself attracting trouble. Ok...so she often goes out searching for said trouble. But you can't blame her really - not when those around her don't always listen to her because of her sex.

There are so many rich layers in Soulless that I find it impossible to cover them all. Just know that this book has something for everyone. There is romance, history (albeit of the alternate variety), vampires, werewolves, mystery, evil plots, dirigibles, and of course....parasols. All mix together to make a fantastic world and a most entertaining read. I can not wait to read Changeless now.

Book Trailer Monday (38): 75 Years of Fabulous Woman Writers Presented by Diana Comet

Book Trailer Monday is where once a week I feature a trailer for a book that has captured my attention. This trailer might be for a book that is about to be published, or maybe its for a book that has already been released. There won't be any rhyme or reason to the trailer that I choose....the only common denominator will be that I liked it. That it made me stop or made me think or maybe it made me laugh. I do this mainly for my own enjoyment because I love book trailers. I find them fascinating and I hope that you enjoy the ones that I show here each week as well.

This weeks trailer is for 75 Fabulous Women Writers of Fantasy/Sci-fi....presented in the form of a Periodic Table. Can you say instant love for this science geek? I first stumbled across this video on Kristen Cashore's blog (she first saw it on Sarah MacDonald's blog) and was so glad that I did. There were a lot of great names/books mentioned in this video. Some were familiar and others were new to me but all are worth checking out. =)

What did you think of this weeks selection? Share your thoughts in the comments below.





If you know of a book trailer that you would like to see featured on Book Trailer Monday then please send me an email with a link to irisheyz_5 AT yahoo DOT com.

Slow Hands by Leslie Kelly

Publisher: Harlequin Blaze
Publication Date: 01 Jun 2008
ISBN: 0373794061
Format: ebook
Pages: 224
Websites:
Leslie Kelly - Official Site
Leslie Kelly - Blog
Leslie Kelly - Twitter

Place(s) Traveled to: Chicago, Illinois

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

First Line: "Oh, my God, I can't do this, its hopeless! We're not going to be able to pull it off."

I first heard about Slow Hands by Leslie Kelly through Alea of Pop Culture Junkie when she was reading it a few months back (her review). As it was available for free download via Barnes and Noble eReader app I decided to give it ago. I am not normally a fan of the category romance. I find them too short and have little in the way of character development. I am also the sort of person who needs a bit more in a romance book than just two people falling in love.

Slow Hands is no exception to this. Its a simple love story with the added cliched plot of mistaken identity and some crude dialogue mixed in just to spice things up. This wasn't a book that I particularly enjoyed. It took me forever to read and I never really liked any of the characters. The pacing was slow and just filled with cliches. The characters, were under developed and just came across very two-dimensional. Slow Hands was the first book that I've read by Leslie Kelly and it doesn't leave me wanting more. Not a book that I will be recommending any time soon.

Tension of Opposites by Kristina McBride

Publisher: EgmontUSA
Publication Date: 25 May 2010
ISBN: 1606840851
Format: Paperback (ARC)
Pages: 288
Websites:
Kristina McBride - Official Site
Kristina McBride - Blog
Kristina McBride - Twitter

Place(s) Traveled to: Centerville, Ohio

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

First Line: "You're taller than me," I said as I approached the thin figure standing in front of the green bench.

When I first picked up Tension of Opposites by Kristina McBride I made the mistake of doing so late on a Sunday night. For once I started it I could not put it down and ended up reading until the wee hours of Monday morning. By the time I finished the book I had only about 2 hours before I needed to start getting ready for work and knew that I was in for a hellish day. And yet, it was all worth it because I loved this story. Where there things in the book that I would have liked to see more of? yes. But I was happy with what McBride gave me.

The story starts two years after Tessa's best friend Noelle was abducted and a few days after Noelle called her family home with plan for her to come home. During the time that Noelle has been gone Tessa has stopped time within herself as much as possible. She has found it hard to move forward when she didn't know what happened to Noelle....when Noelle was unable to move forward. When Noelle returns Tessa's life is thrown off kilter and she doesn't quite know how to react. On one hand she is thrilled to have Noelle back....but the Noelle that returns is not the same girl who left.

In some ways I think Tessa expected everything to magically be better once Noelle returns and throughout Tension of Opposites she learns that isn't the case. Tension of Opposites is about self discovery and growth and learning to deal with a world where terrible things can happen. Its a story of hope and survival and I loved reading about the journey that Tessa goes through from shock, to staticness, to living her life on her terms. The one thing I found missing was the lack of perspective from Noelle. Noelle herself was a contradiction and I never was able to put my finger on who she was. Or fully understood what she was going though.

Even with the lack of POV from Noelle, I thought that Tension of Opposites was a beautiful story. It kept me up and had me turning the pages until there were no more to turn. And for me that makes a great book. Its not often that a book keeps me up all night. Especially on a night when I need to be a fully functional adult the next day. So for me this book was filled with win and I highly recommend it to all.

Round and Round the Cape I go...

Hello internet!

Yesterday I went on an adventure of bookish variety....one that I took with the amazing Pop Culture Junkie who was dragged out east, to Cape Cod, with her family. Since I only live about an hour away I drove down to the Cape and we spent the day visiting a wide variety of bookstores starting with Annie's Book Stop.

Annie's is a chain used bookstore with most of its locations in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The store we visited was in West Yarmouth and was of a medium size with signs around that welcome people to sit on the floor to browse since that's why they had it carpeted. The romance section was a store front all on its own...and almost made Alea swoon. It was either that or the fact that it was as hot as Hades inside. So we didn't spend a ton of time there but could be a great place to browse on a day when the temps are cooler.

After Annie's we went to Tim's Used Books in Hyannis. Tim's sells both old and new books and about everything in between. Its a good sized store that is loosely organized into all the usual sections you'd expect to find in a bookstore. There are even chairs scattered around the store to allow a browser a seat as they sort through the various stacks and piles. Alea and I were both really pleased by the large YA section that this store had. They had some good titles too. This was also the store where I bought my first (and only) book, Red by Jordan Summers this book had the page edges tinted in red and for what ever reason I really like that in a book plus its a book that's been on my wishlist so it was a score for me. =) (Picture from Yelp.com. Click here to see other pictures of Tim's Used Books.)


After Tim's we stopped in the Hyannis Public Library as they were having a book sale. The used book shop is located in what was the original library and is made up of two main rooms. The books are all scattered and the woman who was manning the place gave no apologies for it. She said they try to maintain some order but as books come and go so quickly that there is only so much that can be done. And well there is nothing wrong with that. The shop had a find selection of titles but nothing really jumped out at Alea or myself so we left without buying anything.

Next up was an independent bookshop in Chatam, Ma called Where the Sidewalk Ends. This store was featured beautifully last October on She is Too Fond of Books (filled with lots of great pics!) during one of her Spotlight on Bookstores posts. Alea and I both fell in love with this store. It is two stories and has a wide variety of books. There was a wonderful display as you walk in with works from local authors which is always nice to see. There was also a display in the back with bestsellers and books recommended by the staff. The upstairs hosts the children's and YA sections. Both were pretty large for a store that's not overly large and well organized. The upstairs also hosts a small sci-fi/fantasy, romance, mystery and poetry sections. Where the Side Walk Ends is the sort of store that is easy to fall in love in. If I lived in the area then I would visit it every chance I could.


We hated to part with Where the Sidewalk Ends but by this time our tummies were beginning to rumble so we headed back onto main street and started to menu shop the many restaurants located there. We ended up at the Golden Goose Tavern where I ate a scrumptious burger and fries for a reasonable price. With tummies no longer grumbling we headed back to the mean streets of Chatam and browsed through the Yellow Umbrella Books.

Yellow Umbrella Books was a small store and despite the claims in the website linked above it wasn't well organized. The place was mostly neat but series books were shelved all out of order on different shelves and some across the aisle. Alea and I tried to rearrange so that they'd be all together only to find that some of the shelves were lacking in the height department which made series grouping hard. Much to our complete and utter disappointment. Alea was tempted to play with shelf height - I could see it in her eyes - and as tempted as I was to help the person who was manning the counter didn't look like she'd appreciate that so with heavy sighs we left the store. Lamenting that poor person who didn't realize that a particular book in a series was there because they books weren't grouped together.

The day had grown hot and muggy and so Alea and I turned our thoughts to ice cream or just something cool and we headed down to this ice cream and candy shop near by. In the candy shop we ended up just picking up some salt water taffy and peaking into the toy shop next door. At the toy store I picked up this really cute farm animal puzzle for my niece and I can't wait to play with her when she visits next month. =) For the cool that we were thinking of Alea and I ended up getting coolatas at Dunkin Donuts...it was just so hot and muggy by this point that something in a cup was needed to prevent serious messiness.

We then drove to the Brewster Book Store in Brewster, MA which looked pretty big on the outside. The inside was broken up into several smaller rooms and the focus seemed to be on children. The adult and YA selection was small but they had tons of picture and books for younger readers. Although from the looks of their website they do seem to do a lot of cool events there. Neither Alea or I bought anything here but we both agreed it was a cute local store.

The final stop on our Cape Cod book store tour was a used book store called the Book Rack located in South Yarmouth. This store is apparently a chain with branches all over the US. Anywho....We got there about 10 minutes before it closed and so we didn't have a whole lot of time to browse. Which was sad because this was certainly a highly browseable store. The shop was really neat with all books on shelves which were in a loose order. I say loose because there was the usual romance, scifi, and mystery sections but there were also sections by Irish/English authors. So a person would need time to browse so that nothing was missed.

And there you have it that was how I spent my Tuesday. I had a ton of fun and am super shocked that I only bought 1 book during the entire outing! Internet...I think I might be coming down with something....can someone please call me a doctor?

Things I Know About Love by Kate LeVann

Publisher: EgmontUSA
Publication Date: 22 Jun 2010
ISBN: 1853409995
Format: Paperback (ARC)
Pages: 160
Websites:
Kate LeVann - Official Site
Kate LeVann - Blog
Kate LeVann - Twitter

Place(s) Traveled to: Princeton, New Jersey and New York, New York

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

First Line: I think this is it, I think I'm going to die.

Things I Know About Love is told in blog form primarily by Livia Stowe who is making the long journey from England to New Jersey to spend the summer with her older brother. She starts the blog so that she can chronicle her experiences and to document what she learns about love along the way. For the most part Livia is your typical teenage girl with the exception that she's been ill much of her life and so has missed out on a lot of normal teenage activities. So Livia is looking at her summer trip as a way to start fresh in a place where no one knows her past. Along the way Livia meets Adam, a friend of her brothers, another Englishman studying abroad. She inspires him to start his own blog and through these entries you see a whole other side of Livia.

I found Things I Know About Love to be a quirky and fun and I enjoyed watching Livia emerge and come into her own. I really enjoyed the relationship that developed between Livia and Adam. I expected this book to be a fun and entertaining and for the most part this book lived up to that. What I didn't expect was the serious aspect of the novel that cropped up fairly suddenly towards the end. I found this twist to be a bit jarring and took me out of the story. I also found the ending to be unnecessary and dare I say it....unrealistic. Yes I know that it is possible. But it just seemed in total opposite of everything that came before in the book. I enjoyed the book. I am glad that I read it. But its not a story that I would read again.

Book Trailer Monday (37): The Bride Will Keep Her Last Name by Jan Goldstein

Book Trailer Monday is where once a week I feature a trailer for a book that has captured my attention. This trailer might be for a book that is about to be published, or maybe its for a book that has already been released. There won't be any rhyme or reason to the trailer that I choose....the only common denominator will be that I liked it. That it made me stop or made me think or maybe it made me laugh. I do this mainly for my own enjoyment because I love book trailers. I find them fascinating and I hope that you enjoy the ones that I show here each week as well.

This weeks trailer is for the The Bride Will Keep Her Name by Jan Goldstein was published by Three Rivers Press on 01 June 2010. I LOVED this trailer. I think that its a fun and different way to get the idea of what a book is about across. Prior to watching this trailer I hadn't heard of The Bride Will Keep Her Last Name although now that I have I think I'm definitely going to have to check it out. It sounds like a fun read....just perfect for summer!

What did you think of this weeks selection? Share your thoughts in the comments below.




If you know of a book trailer that you would like to see featured on Book Trailer Monday then please send me an email with a link to irisheyz_5 AT yahoo DOT com.

The Deathday Letter by Shaun David Hutchinson

Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: 15 Jun 2010
ISBN: 1416996087
Format: Paperback (ARC)
Pages: 256
Websites:
Shaun David Hutchinson - Official Site
Shaun David Hutchinson - Blog
Shaun David Hutchinson - Twitter

Place(s) Traveled to: Moriville, Florida

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

I was very fortunate to have read an advanced copy of The Deathday Letter by Shaun David Hutchinson thanks to my friend and fellow blogger Sharon, of Sharon Loves Books and Cats (and Zombies!). I wasn't really sure what to expect from this book as I didn't know a ton about it before reading. One thing I didn't expect was that opening scene. Yeah, as an adult female I did not need to read about a teen boy doing...well...something that teen boys are known to do. I'm not a prude but there are just some things that I would prefer not to read as an opener and that is one of them.

Overall though I did enjoy the concept of The Deathday Letter it is a unique look at life and how a person might do things differently if they knew when they were going to die. Because in The Deathday Letter you receive notice in the form a crisp, almost blinding white letter that tells you the date and time you will die. A letter that is mysteriously delivered roughly 24 hours before said date/time occurs. The letter doesn't say how or where and there is nothing anyone can do to prevent it. So the question is, if you knew you were going to die then how would you live your last day on Earth?

Oliver (Ollie to his friends) receives his letter and he doesn't quite know what to do with himself. Thinking to live his last day as he's done most days before he heads off to school. But when his best friend, Shane, learns of the letter he brings Ollie on an adventure of a lifetime with the help of Veronica (Ronnie). With Shane and Ronnie's help Ollie does all sorts of things that he never thought he'd do - like jump off a bridge. Along the way Ollie and his friends really learn what it means to be alive.

I'm torn when it comes to knowing when my last day on earth would be. One hand I think it would be nice to know so that I can put everything in order and say goodbye to my loved ones. But on the other hand, knowing when might not be such a good thing because a person may not truly live the life they were meant to if they had an expiration date. Although I think that is partly why in Hutchinson's world the letter comes the day before. There is still that sense of unknown. That uncertainly that your time, or in this case, letter, could come at any moment. And yet you still get that little bit of warning that allows you to do things that you might not have normally done.

So why the 3.5 stars you might ask? I think part of my rating comes from the fact there are just some thing about the inner workings of the teenage boy that I did not need to read about. Yes in a theoretical sense I know that teen boys think a lot of sex, but do I need to read all those thoughts? No. This could be part of why I am not a real fan of John Matthew in JR Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood books....but this post isn't about her books. So moving on.

I think the concept of The Deathday Letters is unique. Its something that I haven't read it before and I really enjoyed the freshness of it. This story also makes a person think. As a reader you have to ask yourself. If tomorrow morning you woke up and knew it was your last day....what would you do? How would you spend those final moments. And its those sorts of thought provoking questions that tells me this is a book that's worth recommending, worth reading and most importantly, its worth discussing. Have you read The Deathday Letters? What did you think of it? And how would you spend your last 24hrs? Let me know in the comments!

One Dance with a Duke by Tessa Dare

Publisher: Ballantine Books (an imprint of Random House)
Publication Date: 25 May 2010
ISBN: 0345518853
Format: Paperback
Pages: 400
Websites:
Tessa Dare - Official Site
Tessa Dare - Blog
Tessa Dare - Twitter

Place(s) Traveled to: London, England; Cambridgeshire, England; Gloucestershire, England (1817)

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

I first heard about Tessa Dare's One Dance with a Duke when Alea, from Pop Culture Junkie told me about an upcoming tour on TLC Book Tours. She got me really excited for it so I immediately headed over to the site and signed up. My official tour date isn't until 12 July 2010 for the second book in the series, Twice Tempted by a Rogue, but the kind folks at Ballantine Books and TLC Tours arranged for me to get a copy of One Dance with a Duke as well. I was so excited when it came and it wasn't long before I started to read it.

Once I started I was quickly sucked in and just had to talk about it. Those that follow me on Twitter will tell you that during my train journey from MA to NYC for BEA that I was tweeting my thoughts and probably annoying all of my followers in the process. I just couldn't help myself. For there I was trapped on a train with no one to talk to...and access to Twitter on my phone. Oh the power that is modern technology!

As a whole the story started off a bit slow for me. I wasn't really engaged initially but then there was this turning point and I just couldn't put the book down. So I was very grateful to be stuck on a train for a few hours with nothing to do but read. Amelia is a strong and spunky character that isn't afraid to stand up for herself. Even when dealing with the oh so intimidating Spencer, the 4th Duke of Morland with a mysterious reputation. Spencer has earned himself the nickname of The Duke of Midnight, as he arrives at a ball on the stroke of midnight picks some simpering miss for a dance set, dances and then leaves. He is happy with this arrangement and is none to pleased when Amelia makes the decision for him one night that he dance with her.

Not because she has any romantic thoughts for the Duke but because he is, in part, the reason why her summer plans have been ruined and she wants to give him a piece of her mind. What follows is a mystery that none could have expected as well as some very humorous and touching scenes between Spencer and Amelia. Also, part of why I loved this book so much was the supporting cast. Often secondary characters aren't really fleshed out in a romance they are just there. But Tessa Dare breathes life into all of her characters and so you get angry at Jack when he messes up again. You are curious about Rhys's and why he doesn't feel his life is worth while. And you wonder if Julian will redeem himself and stop being such an ass!

One Dance with a Duke is well written and entertaining and I was so mad when my train pulled into Penn Station leaving me with 50 or so pages left to go. As eager as I was to spend a week in NYC I was wishing for just a bit longer on the train so I could see how the story ended. The wait was well worth it though and Tessa Dare is a master at wrenching your gut and making you think that maybe this will be a book where there is no happily ever after. I thought that this was a fantastic start to a series and I can't wait to read Twice Tempted by a Rogue!

Here are the official TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS for One Dance with a Duke
Tuesday, Jun 1st: The Book Binge
Monday, June 7th: Borders True Romance Blog
Tuesday, June 8th: Life of a Busy Wife
Monday, June 14th: Pop Culture Junkie
Tuesday, June 15th: Rundpinne
Thursday, June 17th: Book Junkie
Monday, June 21st: Book-Lover Carol
Wednesday, June 23rd: Princess Bookie

Thursday, June 24th: Excess Baggage

Event Recap: Jessica Leader Book Signing

Hello everyone! Have I got a fun event to talk to you about today! Last monday, 14 Jun 2010, I headed over to Wellesley Booksmith (a great little Indie in the center of town) in Wellesley, MA for a book signing by debut author Jessica Leader, Nice & Mean. I first heard about this signing through Kim Harrington who had asked me if I was going. Kim knows how much I love book signings - especially local ones - and so I jumped at the change to go. Wellesley is only about 30 minutes from me (taking the back roads to avoid traffic) but I arrived early so that I could do some bookstore browsing. Although browsing generally leads to buying and I picked up a copy of Eric Luper's Seth Baumgartner's Love Manifesto which I first heard about while visiting Pam last week (more on that trip later).

While I was browsing, Kim arrived and we head down to the Used Book Cellar where the event was going to be held. Not only does Wellesley Booksmith carry a wide variety of new books they also sell used - I think I'm in love people! We couldn't do much browsing of the shelves though as several are on wheels and were pushed against the built ins in order to make room for seating....so looks like I'll have to return on a non-event day, yes? Yes.

Around the room we also saw this:


Papers on string with a note that encouraged people to anonymously write some nice and mean memories that they had. I thought this was a cool idea and a great tie in to the book. Jessica then started the event with two readings from the book. The first came from Chapter 4 which was an intro to Sachi (the nice girl) and the other came from Chapter 7 and was an intro for Marina (the mean girl). Both were good chapters that showed important characteristics of the two main characters and also highlighted how the two have opposite personalities. Which should make for an interesting read since the two girls are paired up with each other on a video project.


Following the reading, Jessica opened up the floor to a Q&A session. Again she did something clever and had some pre-written questions taped to the bottom of some of the chairs as a way to kick off questions. This was fun and original and did get people talking. =) Here is some of what was discussed....as always the Q&A is transcribed by me based on noted I took during the event. Any inaccuracies are therefore the fault of myself and if you think I quoted anything wrong please feel free to let me know and I will make any necessary corrections:

Where did you get the idea for Nice & Mean?

Nice & Mean was Leader's first book. Her first book was called Too Soon to Tell and also ended up being too soon to publish as there wasn't much to it. Over time she got to wonder about what made mean girls tick and through those thoughts the character of Marina began to develop. Marina is basically a popular girl that people are slightly afraid of. Sachi on the other hand is loved but relatively unknown. Leader began to wonder what would happen if these too personality types were forced to interact with each other....and the plot for Nice & Mean was born.

What was the hardest and easiest parts of writing Nice & Mean?

The hardest part was writing those first few chapters and trying to get the setting just right. Those chapters went through many many changes before Leader finally settled on the final product. The easiest was writing up Marina's come backs.

How long did it take to write Nice & Mean?

Leader spent about 2 years drafting the story, starting in 2004, and then took a few years off. When she picked it up again she spent about 3-4 months revising and the wait from sale to publication was roughly 20 months.

Is there any moral message that you are trying to send with Nice and Mean? What is the target audience?

The target audience are kids between the ages of 9 & 13 and there is no real moral message. Leader just wants to get people to ask themselves: How do you get what you want without alienating people and what makes things and people popular.

How soon did you know the theme of the book?

Pretty son. The idea of popularity is what took the longest as Leader wasn't sure that she had the answers. But she always wanted to propose the idea that there are different ways to be in the world and to learn from others.

Did you always know where the plot was going?

Yes, LEader always knew what the plot was going to be. The lying/deception would be at the start and that the main arc would cover how to pick up the pieces.

Are there any insights into meanness that you could tell your 9 year old self after writing this book?

Not just my 9 year old self but my grown up one too. The basic idea that I'd want to tell my 9 year old self was that it would be ok. To not be so intense and that everything would turn out alright.

Where did you get the ideas for your characters? Are they based on anyone you know?

No, Leader's characters are more composites of people she knows rather than based on any one person. She tried to base on some actual people but just couldn't do. It requires that you make assumptions on personality that you may not really know. In the end she found it too difficult to draw completely from real people and so instead took bits and pieces.

What's Next?

Leader's next book is a YA novel that takes place on Halloween night. Its told in part in reflection from the main character to an event that took place the summer before. An accident which she blames herself for. Initially it was titled The Book of the Dead but when people asked who died and Leader said no one she realized the title had to go. Currently she just refers to it as The Camping Book

How do you think a nice girl would read Nice & Mean? A mean girl?

Nice girls have a curiosity into meanness and what might make a mean girl tick. They might take solace in Sachi's journey and be relieved when they learn of Marina's vulnerabilities. Leader was unsure what a mean girl might see when they read the book.

What sort of things feed the muse? Have they changed from writing Nice & Mean to writing the Camping Book?

Leader doesn't think of things as feeding the muse but music does play a big part in her writing. While writing Nice & Mean she gained inspiration form The Pretenders which has songs where lyrics deal with people overcomeing issues but done in sort of a happy, upbeat way. While for the camping book she's been listening to a lot of Annie Lennox. Which also has lyrics similar to The Pretenders, but they tend to be a bit darker and more moody.

What are some of your favorite authors?

Lois Lowry, E. Lockhart, Virgina Wolfe, Barabara Kingsolver, Ann Patchett. Leader also finds the book The Brothers Karamazov to be paradoxially funny.



After the Q&A Jessica signed a bunch of books and chatted some more with those who were there. Kim and I then paid for our purchases and left. Kim has also written up her recap of this signing on her blog and is also hosting a give away for a signed Nice & Mean. Which you can check out here.

The Gardener by S.A. Bodeen

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Publication Date: 25 May 2010
ISBN: 0312370164
Format: Paperback (ARC)
Pages: 240
Websites:
S.A. Bodeen - Official Site
S.A. Bodeen - Blog
S.A. Bodeen - Twitter

Place(s) Traveled to: Melby Falls, Oregon and Portland, Oregon (with a stop by Powells Books)

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

The Gardener by S.A. Bodeen is billed a dystopian novel, but after having read it I'd say that is only partially so. The Gardener, for me, is more a pre-quel to a dystopian nation. It is a time in flux when things things can go either way. If people continue to do nothing than the ship will go to these manufactured humans, organic soldiers if you will and humanity as we know it will slowly cease to exist. But if enough attention is brought to the problems and to this drastic potential solution then maybe....just maybe...the tide can be turned and such drastic measures won't need to be taken.

In all The Gardiner is a novel about warning to those who live now to wake up and realize that we all need to work together to act before it becomes to late to do anything. Its a novel about hope. That through small actions, like saving one girl, can be enough to set off a chain reaction that can evoke large change. It would have been easy for Mason to do nothing. To have listened to his mother and walked away. But he didn't do the easy thing, he made a hard choice and became a better person for it. We live in a world in which its easy to let others do the thinking for us. To listen to our parents, or our government, or to some religious extremist gunning for a cause. It can be much harder to stand up for yourself and to speak up against the majority for something that you believe in.

I found The Gardiner to be a thought provoking novel. When I stopped to think about its implications when I was done reading it scared me. To think that something like the experiments discussed in the book could really be going on - and I wouldn't put it past any government/scientific organization to be doing similar research - its a terrifying thought. Reading The Gardiner you can see that if nothing is done in Mason's world that a real and unpleasant dystopian society will eventually emerge. But all isn't lost yet. There is Mason who knows the truth, there is his best friend who helps him and then there is the girl who started it all.

A small group yes. But small groups can make a huge difference. Look back at any revolution that the world has see and it almost always starts with a small group that lights the spark....who generates the idea....and who kicks off fight. The small spark that they start eventually becomes a roaring flame as other pick up the cause and before you know it a colony isn't a colony but its own nation. Statues of oppressive government heads are toppled in town squares and a whole new world emerges.

I love the idea of The Gardener but there was just something about it that makes me hesitate to give it any more than a 3 star rating. I'm not sure what it is exactly, maybe its because some details were never fully explained. The ending is both a bit to sugary sweet and also inconclusive. I honestly can't tell you but I can tell you that I found The Gardener to be a worthwhile read and it is one that I do recommend.

Book Trailer Monday (36): Mistwood by Leah Cypess

Book Trailer Monday is where once a week I feature a trailer for a book that has captured my attention. This trailer might be for a book that is about to be published, or maybe its for a book that has already been released. There won't be any rhyme or reason to the trailer that I choose....the only common denominator will be that I liked it. That it made me stop or made me think or maybe it made me laugh. I do this mainly for my own enjoyment because I love book trailers. I find them fascinating and I hope that you enjoy the ones that I show here each week as well.

This weeks trailer is for the Mistwood by Leah Cypess which was published by HarperTeen on 27 Apr 2010. I picked this up at ALA-Midwinter for two reasons, 1) Leah was a Tenner (I think I may have yelled out Tenner! when I saw the book as well) and 2) the cover was just so eye catching - what can I say I am a sucker for castles. But then I saw the trailer and was like Whoa....not only does the cover really look good to me but it sounds like its a good story as well. I love books that deal with fantasy and mystery and the forbidden love. So Mistwood sounds like a treat all around! What about you? What did you think of this weeks selection? Share your thoughts in the comments below.



If you know of a book trailer that you would like to see featured on Book Trailer Monday then please send me an email with a link to irisheyz_5 AT yahoo DOT com.

Lover Enshrined by JR Ward

Publisher: Signet, an imprint of Penguin
Publication Date: 03 Jun 2008
ISBN: 0451222725
Format: Paperback
Pages: 560
Websites:
JR Ward - Official Site
JR Ward - Blog
JR Ward - Twitter

Place(s) Traveled to: Caldwell, New York

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Of all the brothers in the Black Dagger Brotherhood, Phury, was the one that I've always been the least interested in. He has always had this holier than though attitude towards his twin Zsadist and also a way to caviler attitude towards his own life. Its almost as if he's spent so much time waiting that he's forgotten how to do anything else. Needless to say I wasn't really expecting much from his story. And for once the book lived up to my expectations...or lived down to them as the case may be.

Lover Enshrined picks up about 5 months after the events in Lover Unbound take place and in that time the Chosen female that Phury brought over with him, Cormia, essentially does nothing. Phury does nothing with her....doesn't interact with her any more than he has too....and neither does anyone in the house. Which I find just plain weird. EVERY other woman who has been brought into that house has been immediately welcomed and made to feel comfortable. The other females will reach out to them but not so in this case. So that just didn't ring true for me.

Also, Phury's inner voice just seemed so out of character from what we've seen in other books. It was almost like a new character entirely had been written in. And I really didn't buy the whole romance between him and Cormia. There was just no real interaction between the two and most of the book was Phury strung out on a drug that had previously been described as harmless and more soothing than addictive....and obsessing over his brother's wife. Phury was also so whiny and all poor pitiful me when his life wasn't that bad. Especially compared to all that his brother went through. So you know that I thoroughly enjoyed the scene when Zsadist totally calls Phury on that one. Cormia was also just too bland and one dimensional of a character. I just couldn't bring myself to like her, but there is nothing really that she did to make me dislike her either. She was just sort of there. Like a piece of furniture or something that you really don't interact with much.

While I wasn't a fan of this book but I still love the series and the world that Ward has created. Now I just need to find time to read the 7th book in the series, Lover Avenged, which tells Rhevenge's story....after that I might take a short break before reading Lover Mine as I am in no hurry for a John Matthew focused book. I'm kinda over him since he's been such a HUGE focus in all the books since his introduction.

Lover Unbound by JR Ward

Publisher: Signet, an imprint of Penguin
Publication Date: 25 Sept 2007
ISBN: 0451222350
Format: Paperback
Pages: 528
Websites:
JR Ward - Official Site
JR Ward - Blog
JR Ward - Twitter

Place(s) Traveled to: Caldwell, New York

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Ever since first starting the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by JR Ward I have been looking forward to Vischous's story. I mean what is not to love about a tortured character who loves the Red Sox. Ok...Ok...all the males in this series are tortured....so it was definitely the love of the Red Sox that softened my heart to V. I think part of why I was able to read the other books in this series so quickly was to get to V's story. But only in part. As I've said they are book crack.

The story opens with a scene that is, well, pointless. Its Jane (the heroine) and her little sister playing with a Ouija board and spells out the name of her future husband....and just what name does it spell? Yeah you guessed it. Vischous. Wow. Shocker. As if we as readers didn't know that V and Jane would end up based on the books synopsis. Its not that they will or won't end up together that makes a book like this...its the HOW. And the HOW in this story is a bit convoluted.

One thing that I really enjoyed in this story was the lack of Lesser POV moments. As they get old and a bit distracting. I know they are a big part of this worlds mythology but, to be honest, they get boring. And I so hate to be bored in a book. But then who likes to be bored in a book? Right?

This book was just weird. Its almost as if Ward wasn't entirely sure what to do with V and Jane and so their story just seemed to drag. And the ending? Seriously? What the heck was up with that? Very disappointing. Of all the endings that could have happened I wasn't expecting that one. And while an unexpected ending isn't always a bad thing this one just makes you go huh? and not in a good way. It was almost as if Ward realized the story was just dragging out and so just sort of ended the book and didn't really care if it was a good ending or not. The ending of this book wasn't a good ending IMO. I was disappointed and the book as a whole was disappointing. Maybe because V was the character that I was most looking forward to that I had too high expectations? Or maybe it just wasn't all that great a book when compared with the others? Have you read the series? What did you think?

BEA: Day 2 - 27 May 2010

Thursday the 27 May 2010, was the second and final day of the Book Expo (BEA) and started off a little later than Day 1 as Alea and I decided not to go to the breakfast in the morning. Nor did we get any of that days tickets for the ticketed author signings. We had a leisurely breakfast at a diner near our hotel and then hopped on the shuttle to the Javits Center. We got there just in time for the doors to open for me to head over to the Simon & Schuster booth to grab a ticket for the book drop of Cassandra Clare's Clockwork Angel. Which is book 1 of her new series The Infernal Devices. Very excited about this one!

Day 2 of BEA seemed to go a little smoother than Day 1. The book drops where a little less chaotic and while the lines were still crazy long, the navigation seemed easier. Probably from the steep learning curve of Day 1. As with Day 1, Day 2 was also a blur but I do remember going to Chelsea Campbell's signing for The Rise of Renegade X....which is a book I LOVED. Chelsea also had this embosser thingy and would stamp the books with a V or H depending on if you thought you were a Villian or Hero. Check out my vlog below to see which one I chose.

I was also fortunate enough to run into Chelsea later on that day in the Egmont booth where we got to chat for a little longer and we where able to snap this photo as proof that while I stalk her and maybe beat people of the head with her book that we are still friends. =)

The rest of the day passed in a blur of signings and booth stalking and then ended in a wonderful reception hosted by Book Blogger Con. Where a small room was filled to capacity with bloggers, authors and industry peeps and so much wonderful conversations were had. There were some also very yummy oatmeal raisin cookies that I just couldn't seem to stop eating! My only regret of the evening is that I didn't take a single picture!!! =(

After the reception Alea, Erica and I were supposed to have dinner with Jayne from Harlequin but she was so exhaused from the day - she'd flowing in from the wilds of Canada that morning, was on the BEA floor all day and was at the reception. So we sent her off to her hotel to get some much needed sleep. Erica and Alea then chatted up some security guards at the Javits - where they were already working fast at tearing down all the BEA related stuff - and they learned of a local pizza place near by, La Bella Stella (or something like that). It was a fun place with some good pizza - one staff member actually served us our first slice & joked around with us. Good times.

After dinner Alea and I parted ways with Erica and headed back uptown to our hotel. We dropped off our stuff and then headed back out in search of blank business cards so that Alea could hand make some new ones. She's so talented like that.


After finding some poster board I think that Alea and I went to Pinkberry for one last bit of yummy goodness before curling up in our hotel room for the rest of the night. Alea to work on her business cards and me to start reading Clockwork Angel. I was so tired though that I crashed early. Friday was spent at Book Blogger Con, and I've already written up about that here.

As promised, here are my vlogs of what I received during BEA Day 2.



I have since learned that the sound in last 16 seconds or so of Part 1 cuts out. Feeling lazy, I decided to not reshoot. Not much was said, just talked a little bit more about The Invisible Order and then mentioned that I would pick things up in another vlog as I was running out of time.

People mentioned in vlogs: Alea, Emily (Alea's sister), Sharon, Tiffany, EG Deedy, Lenore, Daniel (Lenore's Husband)


So this wraps up my BEA posts. I am already looking forward to BEA 2011! Will you be there?

Lover Revealed by J.R. Ward

Publisher: Signet, an imprint of Penguin
Publication Date: 06 Mar 2007
ISBN: 0451229681
Format: Paperback
Pages: 480
Websites:
JR Ward - Official Site
JR Ward - Blog
JR Ward - Twitter

Place(s) Traveled to: Caldwell, New York

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Shortly after finished Lover Awakened (my review) I dove into Lover Revealed. This series is like book crack for me and I couldn't stop reading it, even with all the ups and downs of the story telling. Lover Revealed tells the story of Butch, the human cop friend of Beth that we first meet in Dark Lover (my review). In that book, Butch first meets Marissa, a vampire who is the first wife - or shellan in Ward's world lingo - of Wrath. But Wrath meets and falls for Beth never having loved Marissa the way she longed to be loved. While Butch, on the other hand, seems to fall for Marissa the moment he sees her.

Overall, I liked this story. I found it more endearing than Lover Awakened but its not a fave. Marissa isn't exactly what I would call a strong heroine. She's very self depreciating. Although in some ways that's understandable after the centuries of neglect during her time as Wrath's shellan. But I just found her a bit whiny at times. Butch...well....his whole story just seemed so convenient. History manufactured but never fully explained just to suit the plot device of turning him into a vampire.

Over the course of the book Marissa does seem to come into her own a bit. But she'll never be a very strong willed woman. But she is a good match for Butch as he does need someone to soften up his gruff ways. As with the other stories in the series this one included POVs from some of the other brothers and it was fun to see how events progressed through their eyes. This story also had a lot of John Matthew in it as well and he still isn't a fave character of mine. I really don't ever see myself liking him as a character and am not looking forward to his story even though people assure me its one of the better ones. I'm not buying it. After many of those same people loved Zsadist's story....and we all know how I feel about that. lol

Book Trailer Monday (35): Pretty Little Liars Series by Sara Shepard

Book Trailer Monday is where once a week I feature a trailer for a book that has captured my attention. This trailer might be for a book that is about to be published, or maybe its for a book that has already been released. There won't be any rhyme or reason to the trailer that I choose....the only common denominator will be that I liked it. That it made me stop or made me think or maybe it made me laugh. I do this mainly for my own enjoyment because I love book trailers. I find them fascinating and I hope that you enjoy the ones that I show here each week as well.

This weeks trailer is for the Pretty Little Liars series by Sara Shepard a series that is published by HarperTeen. The first book, Pretty Little Liars, was released on 30 Sept 2007. I hadn't heard much about this series until recently when I learned that ABC Family was going to begin a new tv series on 08 June 2010 based on the books. I'm not sure if I'll read the books, but I am curious about them. I am also curious about the show and think that I'll be checking out the pilot episode when it airs tomorrow. What about you? What did you think of this weeks selection? Share your thoughts in the comments below.



TV Show Trailer.....will you be be watching?

If you know of a book trailer that you would like to see featured on Book Trailer Monday then please send me an email with a link to irisheyz_5 AT yahoo DOT com.

BEA Day 1: 26 May 2010

Hello everyone welcome to my little corner of the world and to another post about Book Expo America (BEA). I had a ton of fun on the first official day of BEA but don't ask me for a blow by blow account. The whole day passed in a blur of author signings, booth stalking and just meeting up with various bloggers. This year the entire event was held on one floor and I think that may have been a mistake on the part of the organizers. The aisles where all a little smaller making them hard to navigate - especially when there was a booth signing going on or if there was a book drop.

The autograph area was just too close to the children's section booths. There was no place for the lines to go! So a lot of time was spent wading through a sea of people asking what line they were in. This also made it hard to get through to those authors that didn't have many peeps in line. There was also no exit rows for lines this year. Once you got your book signed and finished your short chat with the author you exited through the line of another author. So it was chaos all around. But despite the chaos I had a lot of fun and managed to meet a lot of great authors.

Waiting in line for the Children's Breakfast

Some highlights of the day where the Children's Breakfast that I attended with Alea and while there we chatted a bit with Julie from Booking Mama and Kathy from Bermuda Onion. Sadly this would be about the only time Alea & I would see these two lovely ladies. Next year we really need to plan some time in!! The breakfast was a lot of fun and I could recap it here but Beth Fish did a way better job then I could ever do, you can read her recap here. Alea and I also got to spend some time chatting with Barbara and Sarah from Blueslip Media. We've both worked with them in the past and they are two very amazing women. I was so glad to be able to meet them both in person and put some faces to the names on emails.

Autograph Area.

Sourcebooks also had a small Blogger Meet and Greet session in their booth where we heard Paul talk about many of their upcoming books and meet with Helen Ellis, author of the book The Turning Book 1: What Curiosity Kills. The Turning is a book about a girl who starts to turn into a cat. I purchased this one recently and have been looking forward to the read...even more so now after meeting with the author.

Pam at the Sourcebooks blogger meet & greet.

One of the fun moments of BEA was wandering the booths and stumbling across this display at the HCI booth. HCI is a publishing house that takes the real stories of real people, adults and teens, and publishes them. Notice in the picture below the title Rae. This is the upcoming book by fellow blogger Chelsea from The Page Flipper. (Her book title comes from her middle name since HCI already published in their teen line called Chelsea.)


I wish I had taken more photos during BEA. I had even told myself after last year that this year I'd take more pictures. But somehow in all the crazyness of the day that didn't happen. =( And the only other pic I took on Day 1 was of Jonathan Mayberry signing an ARC of his upcoming book Rot & Ruin. Which came to me as highly recommend by my Book Bully, Tiffany.


Throughout BEA people were also asking me which books I got and for the life of me I couldn't remember. There was just so much to process. I also thought about listing them all out here but friends on Twitter kept asking for a vlog so here you go....vlogs of what was in my BEA Day 1 box. I'm a bit chatty so had to expand it out to three! Eep!! There are so many books that I am excited for that I'm not sure what I'm going to read next!







BEA Day 1 was an exhausting event but the day wasn't over yet. After the last signing Alea and I headed down to the shipping area. Packed up the last of our books and then shipped them. Last year, Alea had a few books stolen and we didn't want anything like that happening again. Although apparently some thief didn't wait until the end of the day to grab books. While waiting for Alea to ship her box I overhead one woman talking to staff about how her ENTIRE box went missing?!?!? How crazy is that? And the peeps manning the shipping area were less than helpful about the whole thing. Makes me wish there was a more viable solution to ship from the Javits Center.

After our boxes were safely packed up and shipped, Alea and I rushed back to our hotel, changed and then then made our way to the Algonquin Hotel and a blogger reception that was hosted by Harper Collins.



I was so excited to go to the Algonquin....this is the place where my Dorothy Parker and so many other literary greats used to hang out in the 1920s. I even bored Alea with some of the history of Parker and the Algonquin on the way up the elevator. But I was just so excited to finally have a reason to go inside the hotel! The reception itself was PACKED! So many bloggers, publicits, and a few authors filled the room. It was a lot of fun. When it was time to go we were given a cool tote filled with, you guessed it, more books. I love this tote and see myself using it A LOT, I also loved the quote on it and took pictures so that you could see it as well.




I'm not sure if the books Manhood for Amateurs by Michael Chabron and Up from the Blue by Susan Henderson are for me. But I will give them a shot and if they don't click for me then I will pass them on to another blogger.

After the reception Alea, Lenore, Erica, April, Laura, Donna and I headed down to Max Brenner's for dinner. It was a good time to just sit and chat and spend some time with some great bloggers.

Photo from The Walk as I forgot to take an exterior shot. Doh!

After Max Brenner's Alea and I made our way back up town, found our hotel and then stumbled off to bed. To rest up for another busy day at the Javits Center!

Pre-BEA: Sunday - Monday - Tuesday (23-25 May 2010)

Hello everyone as many of you know I had the good fortune of attending the Book Expo America (BEA) in New York City recently. My journey began on Sunday 23 May in the wee hours of the morn. I was just so excited that I didn't sleep much and was up early. Which was good as my train to the city was scheduled to depart around 7am. But I was well fortified for the journey with coffee and a good book, Tessa Dare's One Dance with a Duke. Which if you were following me on Twitter for those 3 hours you already know as I was tweeting my thoughts as I read.

I then arrived in NYC and waited for Alea's bus to let her free - we'd planned our arrival within moments of each other. But during that short interval of being alone in front of Penn Station I was approached by a man in a zoot suit (really I don't know how else to describe it)...anywho he told me I had nice eyes...honest eyes...and then he hit me up for money so he could get to New Jersey. Welcome to New York!

Once Alea and I met up we cabbed it down to our hotel to see if we could check in, we couldn't, so we left our bags and went out to explore the city. We ended up at Max Brenner's for lunch where I indulged in chocolate pancakes!



They were so good and Max Brenner's was such a fun, quirky place! But what is not to love about a place that endorses chocolate so well?


We then wandered around for a bit and then made a trip to The Strand were we ran into Trish, Lenore and Lenore's husband Daniel.


We all had fun browsing and chatting and I while I did buy some books I managed to keep my buying under control this year....unlike last year!


Lucky You by Katherine Center
Forget You by Jennifer Echols (FIND!!)
The Book of Awesome by Neil Pasricha (FIND!!)
Looking for Alaska by John Green
Raised by Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Ghost Huntress Book 3: The Reason by Marley Gibson The Evil Within by Nancy Holder


Alea and I then hung out in Union Sq Park for a bit before meeting up with Joanne Renaund for dinner. We went to this ramen noodle house and it was so good. We had a blast hanging out and talking and Joanne even showed us her sketch book! Alea and I then headed back to our hotel, checked in, started to get a little restless....I mean we were in New York!! So we decided to head back out and make our first Pinkberry run of the trip! We had one within a block of our hotel...which was very dangerous indeed. Fortunately its frozen yogurt so it wasn't too terrible a treat!


MONDAY

On Monday we began our day with breakfast in the hotel, where I had pancakes once again - what can I say....I LOVE pancakes. Alea then proceeded to make fun of me for not using syrup on them. But what can I say? I find maple syrup to sugary sweet and I think hides the taste of the pancake. We then wandered around the city for awhile stumbling across finds like this:


A nice moment of calm in the bustling city....loved it! We then headed over to Harper Collins and waited for Lenore, Trish, Nicole, Amy, Natasha and Michelle. While there we got to meet with a ton of great publicists from all over the company and just talked about books and blogging and publishing. I was even given a copy of Sophie Jordan's upcoming YA book Firelight! (So excited for this one!) It was a fun time and very educational. Some of us even made a short video in the Harper Collins studio:




Alea and I then had to rush off because we were meeting Julia Hoban for lunch. We ate at a wonderful restaurant called Isabelle's. Had a wonderful chat before heading down to Magnolia's for some yummy yummy cupcakes. We also just had to run into a nearby bookstore and grabbed copies of Julia's book Willow, which recently came out in paperback, and then had Julia sign them for us. While in the bookstore I also picked up JR Ward's Lover Avenged and Suzanne Enoch's The Care and Taming of a Rogue. The first so that I could continue my love affair with the Black Dagger Brotherhood and the later because I'd recently purchased Enoch's A Lady's Guide to Improper Behavior which is apparently book 2 in a series. It was sad times to part with Julia but Alea and I needed to head to the Jefferson Market Library for the 2nd Annual Teen Author Carnival.



The event was held over 3 floors with a different panel on each: Teen Love, Real Life and Mystery/Fantasy. Getting to the 3rd floor was a bit treacherous....you could only get there via one very small, very tiny elevator....and I don't do well in tight spaces. There was also a back staircase that one librarian showed a few of us....but that wasn't much better as it puts you out on this really narrow balcony overlooking the 2nd floor....then you have to cross over a narrow catwalk to get to this small hot room. After the various panels there was a massive signing of all the authors and I got to say hello to Sarah Ockler (and pick up her next book Fixing Delialah Hannaford), Michelle Zink, Heidi Kling, Kody Keplinger (I got the last ARC of DUFF, woo!) and many many more. Also got to see bloggers Sharon, Drea, Pam, Carol, Susan and so many more! Susan even brought me a signed copy of JR Ward's Lover Eternal which she had picked up at a signing....wasn't that so sweet of her?

Pam and I

Carol, Sharon, me & Drea

After the Teen Author Carnival a huge group of us headed over to a nearby Italian place where they sat us in the back room (I think they knew we'd be loud! lol) and just had a wonderful time chatting and eating.



TUESDAY


Tuesday began with Alea and I heading down to the Javits Convention Center to pick up our BEA badges. While there we saw the this awesome sight that they had set up on the steps to promote Heather Brewer's Vladamir Tod series.



After picking up our badges there was some time wasting a nearby greasy spoon before heading downtown for a tour of Penguin. Where they gave us a tour all over the place - including the ARC room - which was really cool. Afterwards we spent some time in a conference room with various publicists where we got to chat about books and publishing. In the end I walked out with some catalogs, The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano, Promises to Keep by Jane Green and The Liar's Lullaby by Meg Gardiner.


After the tour of Penquin Alea, James, Susan, and I met up with authors Chelsea Campbell and Anastasia Hopcus and her boyfriend for a light lunch. It was so great meeting Chelsea and Stacy and it was great to sit down in the cool restaurant for a bit....for it was HOT in NYC that day! After lunch Stacy and her boyfriend headed off towards the Javits I think and the rest of us went to visit the Lion Brand Yard Studio. They had this cool lion in the window all made out of yarn...and the store itself was just a lot of fun.


After the yarn studio it was time for tea at Sweetie Pies with a bunch of bloggers: Alea, Susan, James, Pam, Erica, Khy, Khy's mom, Laura, and Cat. Now we knew going in that the place would be expensive but after tax and gratuity....damn....it was really expensive. We all had a lot of fun, but I don't think that I'll be doing the formal tea there again. Especially since a small pixish woman with a pixie voice kept trying to force this orange cake down my throat - even though I kept politely asking for chocolate. Thankfully Cat ate it before I took the darn thing and shoved it in the pixie woman's face! lol The event did make a running joke though for the rest of the week....mostly headed up by Erica - but I had my comeback for her thanks to something that happened on the first official BEA day.



The final event of the day was the Class of 2k10 signing at Books of Wonder. I brought along a couple of books from home to get signed and then had some blank labels that I used as make shift bookplates for those authors whose books I had. I would have loved to have brought all the books I owned with me to NYC, but it just wasn't practical. It was great meeting all the authors and spending some time chatting with them all. And after the event I did my very first video interview with Janet Fox, author of Faithful, which you can see here (thanks Alea for being my camera woman!!).


After the signing Alea and I headed back uptown and made another stop at Pinkberry....its just so good we kept going back! I think that we would have gone every day if we could have found a way. We got back to the hotel just in time to catch Glee....which I think was the only tv watched during the entire week. Every other night was filled with events or just chatting.