Book Nerd-palooza!

Every year, the Los Angeles Times hosts the Festival of Books on the UCLA campus. I've been to the festival before with the princess so I mostly stayed in the children's area and never ventured out to discover the book signings and author panels that also occur during the festival. Well this year, all of that changed. I had the best.day.ever!

It started with me waking up super early to drive to the campus. I had a pretty emotional Saturday which included me doing a lot of emotional eating and drinking, so the wake up call on Sunday was a little rough but totally worth it to get my book nerd on. Thanks to a traveler's mug of green tea and the Glee soundtrack I made it to UCLA feeling happy and pumped (and with a minor sore throat thanks to my most excellent freeway sing-a-long)

First stop of the day was meeting up with Jessica and Amber for a YA panel with David Levithan (squee) and John Green (squee, squee) authors of Will Grayson, Will Grayson and various other books respectively. A panel is basically a moderated discussion about the book which in this case was Will Grayson squared and a tiny Q&A afterward. The guys were SO amazing! We sat right in the front row and I could not believe how funny and charismatic they were. I had to stop myself from fangirling the freak out all over John who basically is the personification of my high school nerdy ideal crush. (Le sigh)




















After the panel, we walked around the festival for a bit and then decided to grab a quick snack of hot dogs and chips before heading off to the next signing. I'm only mentioning this because it's the first time in nearly 3 years that I have eaten meat and I was so hungry I would have chewed my own face off so I tried to convince myself that it wasn't real meat, I ate it quickly and barely chewed, and I figured it was a good way to chase away anymore bad juju leftover from Saturday night. Let's just say, not the brightest idea I've ever and my stomach is barely speaking to me right now.

Our next signing was with the fabulous Meg Cabot, author of The Princess Diaries and a slew of other books. Jessica and some of the rest of my friends had already been to a signing of hers that past Thursday which I wanted to attend but was unable to so I was way excited to finally get the chance to meet her. Can I just go on record as saying that I want to be just like her when I grow up? She is gorgeous and SO unbelievably nice! She had on the most beautiful necklace and a very smart black jacket, and did not freak out when I gushed all over her telling her how wonderful I thought she was and what a huge fan I am of her books. She just told me I was awesome for coming and braving the hot sun to see her and smiled pretty for a picture with me. Yay!! I now have 3 books signed by her and of course the world's envy since we are so obviously bff now!




















*photo courtesy of Amber and my Blackberry*

We had a bunch of time left over until the scheduled signing with John Green and David Levithan so we walked around looking at all the booths and exhibits and even saw Julius the monkey hanging around. Jess took an actual pic with him, but I chickened out at the last minute worried my hips might have been bigger than his. :-\




















One of the cooler things we saw while we were there was a huge wall titled "What Are You Reading?" Everyone wrote down the book they were currently reading on the wall, it was very cool. The book I am reading right now was already on the wall so I just took a picture.




















Since Jessica had about 15 books to get signed and she carried them around in a backpack all day long (bless her heart) we went to another signing by Gayle Forman, author of If I Stay. Jessica had just reviewed this book on her blog and both Amber and I were interested in reading it so we purchased it at the booth where the signing was held and got in line too. Gayle was also really nice! She was flattered that we had just went and bought the book to have it signed and I made sure to give credit to Jessica and Gayle gave her a high five, it was too cute! Here's Gayle talking to Jess while signing her book:




















Here's what she wrote in my book, how perfect is this?!?




















Finally the moment I had been waiting for, face time with John Green and David Levithan. It was in a word...magical. We waited in a LONG line, but luckily we were in the first quarter of it. When we finally got up there, I admittedly spazzed out and babbled like a moron but it was still good because I think John Green may have been slightly captivated by me. Notice him hanging on my every word:




















While I know he really wanted to profess his love for me then whisk me away to a tropical island where we could exalt in the delights of our nerd love, instead he just thanked me for coming out, signed my book, and inside of it told me to DFTBA (Don't Forget to Be Awesome). If I were less than a babbling moron, I would have told him that I never leave the house without my awesome, but of course like always, I think of the perfect thing to say after the fact. Chagrin.

David was equally wonderful, we could definitely be besties in real life! He was so sweet when I told him how much I wanted to read his book, Boy Meets Boy which he signed for me, he told me if I loved Tiny Cooper (one of the characters in WG, WG) then I would love this book as well. This is him signing my copy of WG, WG and laughing when I told him I wanted to be Tiny's best friend but we would have to share the spotlight because I love to be the center of attention.




















What made our time with John and David the best thing ever, (other than my amazing psychic nerd love connection) was when Jessica was able to give them the copy of the ARC that we all signed from the tour she organized. I wasn't technically a member of the tour, but since I was able to read the book before the festival and certain circumstances meant that she didn't get the book back until a few days before the signing, Jessica was sweet enough to let me sign the book as well. When presented with the book, John pretty much made our life by saying "oh, I read about this on the Internet." Meaning...he totally read her blog! I am pretty sure Jess and I fangirled all over the table at that point, I don't think we're over it yet!

Also, I think John had a fangirl moment of his own when he saw that Jess was wearing this shirt which is a reference to one of my favorite parts of the book (It reads I'm With Phil Wrayson):




















I'm sure he completely broke up with me after that and was contemplating taking her to the previously mentioned Nerd Love Island. Both guys seemed really appreciative of the entire ARC tour effort and I made sure to mention that I was the only person who signed in the back and added my contact info. (Yes, I'm shameless) Thanks to the fabulous photography skills of Amber, we have pics of the entire exchange and can relive the moment over and over (and over and over again).

After saying goodbye to Amber (awww), We attended a panel on the YA stage where authors of fantasy novels read aloud from their books and talked a little about their writing process. I didn't know the authors by name, but one of them was Margaret Stohl, the co-author of Beautiful Creatures, a paranormal teen romance which Jessica had a copy of and was able to get it signed by her and the other author, Kami Garcia. I was so happy that her lugging all of those books around all day paid off and she got every one of them signed! A little special shout out for author Michael Reisman who writes the Simon Bloom books, he read his story excerpt in a perfect Irish accent, even though he's from Jersey. Seriously...ftw.




















Oh and random celebrity sighting, Tricia Yearwood wrote a cookbook and was in the tent next to the paranormal YA authors doing a signing. I promise the blonde in the purpley-pink blouse on the left hand side of this pic, totally her:




















The Festival of Books is most definitely Disneyland for book nerds. I don't remember when I've had so much fun in a day that included walking, hiking up stairs, crowds, and the blazing hot sun. Seriously, getting from one part of UCLA to the other is a Jesus walk in itself. I pity the poor incoming freshmen. Check how many people were there, and this was only one section!




















None of that bothered me (much), I was so excited to finally meet three of my favorite authors and discover SO many more. The only bad thing about the day is that I didn't get a pic of Amber, Jess, and I together. Doesn't matter, I'm still going to sing the "We're the three best friends that anybody could have..." song from The Hangover every time I think about our awesome day together.

Book #60 - An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

Let the John Green love continue! I absolutely loved this book, probably as much if not more than I loved Looking for Alaska. It was funny, poignant, sad, heartwarming, and then funny again. I think it's the first time that I loved a book even though I didn't love the main character and there was A LOT of math I had to wade through in addition to continuous footnotes throughout the story, both of which annoy me. I was amazed at how riveted I was despite all reasons for me not to be. That my friends, is the miracle of John Green.

An Abundance of Katherines is the story of Colin, a child prodigy who has spent his short life being dumped by 19 girls, all named Katherine. After the latest Katherine dumps him, he and his hilarious (and big boned) friend Hassan take a road trip to help him get over it. The most redeeming fact about Colin? He can anagram like a mofo! I am truly impressed with how he was able to think of them instantly with little or no real thought. Other than that, I found him to be kind of whiny and clingy, two of my least favorite characteristics in anyone let alone a guy I would think about dating. I did understand the reasoning behind his less than stellar personality and he was pretty funny and trying to figure himself out which can be a daunting process. I loved his bff Hassan (or Daddy as he prefers to be called) who was the insanely funny comic relief of the entire story.

John Green is really killer at depicting the moments of adolescence so beautifully. There's no big instantaneous climax to the book, in fact the plot could take place anywhere and to anyone but I love how real the characters are and how the dialogue and humor translate so well. Truly deserving of the pretty silver award on the cover.

Category: Book on my physical TBR shelf

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater {Review}

I tried to stay away from this book. Darned series...I can't quit them, wish I could. I'm not sorry to have read this book though, it was so awesome, and I can't wait to see what happens next!

A few of my friends got into a bit of a frenzy when this book first came out last year. It was all I heard about and everyone had such visceral reactions to it. I was curious but once I heard it was about werewolves, my first instinct was to think coughTwilightripoffcough and stay as far away from it as possible. Then a few months after that, the book's author Maggie Stiefvater wrote a particularly compelling blog post on the defense of the YA genre and after reading it, I decided that I loved her and wanted to read her book.

Oh my gosh...this book is called Shiver and yea it takes place during winter in Minnesota making the imagery full of coldness, sadness, and longing but to me it was also very HOT. The beginning did kind of throw me for a loop, since the main character Grace was obsessed with a wolf and at the time of her obsession, she didn't know he could phase into a human. I was mildly creeped out by that but as the book continued, I was fully on board with the idea since Sam the boy/wolf in question kinda floated my boat. (Confession: He is 18 in the story so just this once, I will proudly wear my cougar badge even though I still find that sort of Taylor Lautner-esque frenzy appalling and disturbing.)

Anyhow, Grace and Sam are scorching couple. I love the way they communicate and the underlying heat of their relationship is hypnotic to read. Their chemistry is amazing and I love that while they are very wary of their effect on each other, they are still so committed to salvaging their relationship. It's so exciting to see how it all unfolds.

Hold the phone...no we don't get to see because we have to wait for the second book, Linger which is released on July 20th. Bah! No matter though, I'm thoroughly entrenched and must know what happens to Sam and Grace since Shiver ends (spoiler alert) on a cliffhanger.

Psst....loved this book. Loved it!

Category: Book about an animal or with an animal in the title

Book #58 - Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Have you ever wanted to be best friends with a fictional character? No? Just me? Well enter Sophie Mercer, the snarky and hilarious narrator of this fabulous new series Hex Hall.

Hex Hall is about a reform school for supernatural kids. There's a very Harry Potter-esque feel to it and even a reference or two but it is by no means unoriginal. Hex Hall has a very sexy vibe, it's difficult to explain, but to me it reads as though it was trying to seduce me, which fully drives home the idea of magic being seductive, especially to those like Sophie who are clueless about the magical world.

The best part about this book is that it's HI-larious! Full of sarcasm, wit, snark, and hijinks I laughed right out loud at some of Sophie's one liners! But...this book is also very dark and scary in some places as well. My scaredy cat status is well documented so I admit to getting a trifle nervous when all the supernatural stuff started jumping off, I tried really hard not to skim but I admit I had a few moments where my heart sped up and I was afraid for Sophie (and maybe a little bit for myself.)

I was really reluctant to start up a new series, especially since I'm still waiting (quite impatiently) for the final book of the Hunger Games series Mockingjay which isn't released until August, and Hex Hall has at least two more books as far as I know but thanks to peer pressure and my ever reliable Twitter peeps, I had to jump on the bandwagon.

Since I'm gushing, let me take a minute to yap about the awesome author of this book Rachel Hawkins. She is truly a wonderful example of how authors should use the internet to reach out to their fan base. She has a blog, a Twitter, and a Facebook (all of which I subscribe to) and always answers back, even if it's not about her books. If I ever become a famous author, that's the type I'd like to be. Accessible, funny, and most of all grateful to those who read and love her books.

Read this book so you can wait in anticipation with me for Demonglass, Book 2 of the Hex Hall series coming to a bookstore near you on March 1, 2011!

Category: Book that takes place in high school or college

Book #57 - Passion's Bright Fury by Radclyffe

Romance novels and I go way back. I was reading Harlequin romances as a tween, and by full blown adolescence I was extremely into Danielle Steel and Sandra Brown. I still read romance novels occasionally, but I have a feeling they may have profoundly scarred me as far as my expectations in relationships. (Romance novel sex is nothing like sex in reality…just in case you were wondering.)

When I was looking for gay and lesbian romance novels to choose for this category, I came across an author named Radclyffe and it looks as though she is pretty much considered the Danielle Steel of the lesbian romance genre so I figured I would be able to get a really good idea of what the standard is.

The story is about a trauma surgeon named Saxon Sinclair who finds out her ER will be the subject of a documentary filmed by Jude Castle. The two are instantly attracted to each other but pretend like they aren't for the first half of the book, in fact Jude is in a quasi relationship with another woman. Saxon is a typical surgeon very cold, calculating, and concise, (alliteration ftw) but she is obviously suffering from past emotional trauma as well. Jude is very focused on her job too but slightly less intense than Sax and is suffering from her own demons as well. The two fight their obvious attraction for one another but ultimately end up becoming intimate after an emergency occurs in the hospital forcing them to realize their feelings for one another. They share their past histories with each other and after trying to fight their feelings and realizing that they are in love, they end up together. Cue happily ever after.

This book was very typical for a romance despite the two protagonists being women. There was fear, longing, insecurity, lust, and sensual awakening. The romance genre as a whole tends to provide epiphany through orgasm, and this was no exception. Sax comes across very rigid and demanding until she and Jude are intimate and then the reader gets to see inside to her marshmallow-like interior.

I liked the story, the two main characters were interesting and it was intriguing for me to see how their relationship developed. There were a lot of lesbian stereotypes that I felt were overkill but there are also lots of stereotypes in heterosexual romance I find overkill as well so it works well with the romance genre formula.

One thing did bother me. During the love scenes, Sax was described several times as being "hard." Not in a sinewy muscle bound sense but it was an actual adjective used to describe her arousal. (I apologize for going a little blue here but this was a huge distraction for me) Also, there were several mentions of Sax "entering" Jude and there was even dialogue discussing her being hard. Now I don't claim to be knowledgeable about sex of any kind but women by nature are not hard during sex so that tendency to put the characters in masculine and feminine roles did bother me quite a bit. I as a woman tend towards the soft and squishy side so in my imagination two women together would be soft and squishy, not hard. And not squishy in a perverted way either... I am totally over thinking this aren’t I? Crap. It’s like the vampire sex/popsicle comparison all over again. :-\

Anyway…I probably never would have read a lesbian romance if it had not been a part of the challenge. I can honestly say I would interested in reading another one for comparison sake just to see if the same stereotypes would be present. I would definitely recommend Radclyffe, she is a very good storyteller and there were no overly flowery exchanges, heaving bosoms, or bulging tumescence which is always a plus.

Category: GLBT romance

Because sometimes I like a challenge...

My online book club does a quarterly book challenge for every season. I usually don't participate because I like to read whatever I want when I want whether it be fluff or classics or smut. (Hey don’t judge me, I’m a woman of varied interests!) This spring however I decided to participate for various reasons one of them being my competitive nature was awakened (awoken?) and I wanted to challenge myself to see if I could do it. This is probably another reason I haven’t really been blogging, I’m too busy reading! I am planning on reviewing all of the books I read, but they all have a specific category they fit into that I wanted to officially post about it so I could keep myself honest. Here's hoping I win or at least finish in the top 5!!

Bloggie can you hear me?

I think it’s pretty obvious that I have been a huge non-blogger lately. I don’t think my blog changes lives or anything but it is important to me and I hate that I’ve been neglecting it. I have been suffering from a writer’s block over the past few weeks, just no creative juice flowing through my head and I didn’t want to subject you all to a bunch of lame one paragraph posts about nothing special in particular. I’ve made it a goal to work some more on it this weekend, I’ve been a book reading fiend over the last few weeks and have so many great reviews to share. I also have a bunch of fun events coming up, one in particular I’m eagerly anticipating.

While I have had nothing to write about, I still have had plenty of things to say, and started vlogging (as in the previous post) about pretty much anything and posting it on YouTube. I can thank my Twitter peeps for this new enterprise as well. Check out my YouTube channel!

We’ll see after the weekend how things progress, so stay tuned, things *might* start getting interesting again.

Book #56 - Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan

For your viewing pleasure, a little vlog about my Will Grayson, Will Grayson experience.




ETA: Since I'm kind of a big deal, Jessica was nice enough to add my vlog entry as a little bonus on the Will Grayson American tour she organized on her blog.