Author Event and Giveaway – Justine Larbalestier

Nov 062009

Wednesday night after work, Daniel and I ventured out through Chicago traffic to go to Anderson’s Bookstore in Downer’s Grove where Justine Larbalestier was going to be signing books. We were alerted to the fact that she would be there by the lovely Kristen, of Bookworming in the 21st Century.

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I first heard of Justine when the controversy exploded over the original US cover to her new book, “Liar.” After reading about the premise of the book, I knew I had to read it. Plus, I wanted to support this book because I felt that Bloomsbury did the right thing by changing the cover. So a couple of weeks ago when my husband and I went on our date and stopped by a bookstore, I had him buy it for me. I meant to read it for the Readathon, but I just didn’t get to it; Tuesday, when I remembered that Justine was going to be in town the next night, I grabbed it and did my best to read it. I would have finished, too, if I hadn’t had to go to work Wednesday! I got pretty close though, within about 80 pages, because I was so enthralled with the whole thing I didn’t want to put it down (I finished later that night, so see my review soon!).

Anyway, it was a cozy little group of us there for the signing. Justine was fantastic – she didn’t even mind that Daniel kept trying to steal the spotlight! We got to learn some fun things about her process of writing “Liar,” too:

Justine wrote “Liar” almost like a jigsaw puzzle, piece by piece, fitting them all together, then rewriting pieces to make them fit where she had put them. She said it was the most fun she’s ever had writing a book and the most polished first draft she has ever had. Of course, this made it a much more frustrating revision process she has experienced to date.
Even Justine isn’t 100% clear on what, of what Micah is telling her reader, is true; she knows the basics are true (Zach’s death, Micah’s parents and school, where she lives), but not much beyond that. In fact, as people share their theories about the book with her she is changing her mind.
She reads all her reviews, but doesn’t get offended when someone doesn’t like a book. For Justine, the point is to write a book that really speaks to someone, and once the book is published it belongs to the people who are reading it, not to her.
Justine is an organic writer who does not plan ahead what she will be writing

We also discussed how covers are made, and the problems of the $10 hardcover book.

After signing my books, Justine was kind enough to pose for pictures.

Daniel and I with Justine and "Liar"

Daniel and I with Justine and Kristen

You may have noticed above that I said she signed my books, plural. I was enjoying “Liar” so much that while I was there, I bought a paperback copy of “How to Ditch Your Fairy” for myself as well. OH. I also bought a copy of “Liar” AND one of “How to Ditch Your Fairy” for you guys, as well! Signed, of course!

Here are the details:

This giveaway is totally international. One winner will get “Liar,” the other will get “How to Ditch Your Fairy.”

You can opt to be entered for either book, or both of them if you choose, I will draw the winner for “Liar” first.

To enter, all you have to do is fill out the Google Form below. Entries in the comments section of this post will NOT be counted. But please do still leave comments, I love to hear your thoughts!

This giveaway will end at 11:59 pm Central Time on Thursday, November 19th. Winners will be notified and will have until November 30th to send me their addresses (extra time due to Thanksgiving!), after which I will draw new winners if I have not heard from them.

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If for some reason the form does not load, you can view it in a website.

Library Loot – November 6, 2009

Nov 062009

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and Marg that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.

NONE THIS WEEK!

Woohoo!

I do have one book waiting for me, but I have decided to wait until the last day I have to possibly pick it up, in hopes that I might read some of what is already in the house first (yah right). I mean, I DO still have 21 books out, though. Let’s recap what I still have out, shall we?

North of beautiful / Justina Chen Headley.
The invisible mountain / Carolina De Robertis.
The strange case of hellish Nell : the story of Helen Duncan and the witch trial of World War II / Nina Shandler
Harry Potter and the deathly hallows [sound recording] / J. K. Rowling.
Cranioklepty : grave robbing and the search for genius / Colin Dickey.
How to buy a love of reading : a novel / by Tanya Egan Gibson.
Tomato rhapsody : a fable of love, lust and forbidden fruit / Adam Schell.
The sisters who would be queen : Mary, Katherine, and Lady Jane Grey : a Tudor tragedy / Leanda de Lisle
The wild things : a novel / by Dave Eggers.
Leviathan / by Scott Westerfeld ; illustrated by Keith Thompson.
Lady Macbeth’s daughter / Lisa Klein.
Savvy / by Ingrid Law.
Waiting for Columbus / Thomas Trofimuk.
Life as we knew it / Susan Beth Pfeffer.
Katherine : a novel / Anya Seton ; forward by Philippa Gregory.
Cleopatra’s daughter : a novel / Michelle Moran.
The dead and the gone / Susan Beth Pfeffer.
Shelf discovery : teen classics we never stopped reading / by Lizzie Skurnick
The food of a younger land/Mark Kurlansky
The secret bride : in the court of Henry VIII / Diane Haeger.
The House of Dance / Beth Kephart.

And just in case you were curious, my shelf space devoted to library books, which is currently over-flowing:

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I’m Outta Here!

Nov 052009

Hello, friends! I will not be around today. It is my birthday, and I’ve convinced my husband to take off of work (I don’t work on Thursdays) and we’re going to have a family fun day. Our local library has recently started a “Check Out a Museum” program, so we’re hoping to go and pick up a pass to get into the Brookfield Zoo without paying admission (Daniel should be free anyway).

I hate to leave you all here all alone, though, so here’s a hilarious video of Daniel to keep you entertained:

Where I am in the Blogosphere

Nov 042009

You may or may not already know, but I’m helping out this year over at the Buy Books for the Holidays blog.

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I have a post up today entitled “Buying Books for Those Who Wouldn’t Buy For Themselves.” Go check it out, then pledge to make books at least part of your holiday giving!

And, you know, subscribe to the Buy Books for the Holidays blog, we’re going to have lots of great content over the next couple on months.

The Last Beach Bungalow – Book Review

Nov 042009

The Last Beach Bungalow by Jennie Nash

April has officially been cancer free for five years now and she feels like her life can begin again. The only problem is that everything in her life seems stagnant. Her husband is building a gorgeous new house for their family, but something about it seems blah to her.

“It’s called Swiss Coffee,” I said. ”It’s the color he’s painted every house he’s ever built. I think he gets a kickback on it from Benjamin Moore – you know, paint three houses, get the fourth one free.”

Then April discovers a little bungalow by the beach that is for sale. It is the last of its kind, the last piece of property by the beach not covered in an overwhelmingly large house. The owner doesn’t want to sell it to just anyone, though, she wants to sell it to someone who will love and cherish it, not tear it down. April thinks she might be just that person and that the beach bungalow, not the shiny new house, might be just what she needs to get her life back in gear.

I enjoyed this book. April and her family had almost forgotten how to live while they worried about her dying, so when the magic five year mark came around, they weren’t really sure how to be with each other. This seemed very real to me. I think that Nash did a good job of infusing this book with emotion without making it become manipulative.

Definitely recommended, I’ll be reading more of Nash’s work.

Buy this book here and support this blog. Purchase from:
Powells.
A local independent bookstore via Indiebound.
Amazon.

Southerners and Incorporating the Paranormal – Guest Post by Karen White

Nov 032009

Thank you to Karen White for joining us today. I have previously reviewed her book “The Lost Hours” and in the next month will be reviewing “The House on Tradd Street” and the sequel, which is being released today, “The Girl on Legare Street.”

It’s Fall—finally! The air is cooler, the leaves are dressing up in their holiday finest, and, best of all, the children are back in school full time. It’s Homecoming and Friday night football games, bonfires, hayrides, and, my favorite, haunted houses.

Why this fascination with haunted houses? Maybe it’s because I’m a Southerner and for us it seems to be a natural leap from sweet tea, grits and good manners to believing you can speak with family members who’ve crossed to the other side.

My grandmother was known for her premonition of Pearl Harbor, and frequently saw her husband who had predeceased her by nearly 20 years. My own son, when he was about 4 years old, definitely saw something in our house one evening as I was getting him ready for bed. And my father, for no reason I can discern, used to read to me ghost stories that were supposed to be true before bedtime. I think I was a teenager before I actually slept in my own bed instead of under my parents’.

Growing up, my reading material reflected my interest in things that go bump in the night. I cut my reading teeth on Nancy Drew and quickly progressed to Victoria Holt gothics. In college, I graduated to Stephen King and Anne Rice—great stuff as long as you’re not reading at night.

When I started writing my own books, I tended to tuck in a paranormal element here and there, but never anything that might have labeled my books “paranormal.” “In the Shadow of the Moon” had time traveling, “After the Rain” had pennies that appeared from nowhere,” The Color of Light” had a little girl who could talk with people who weren’t visible to anybody else.

I suppose it was just a matter of time before the idea for a series about a Charleston realtor who sees dead people and helps solve mysteries reared its head—and thus “The House on Tradd Street” and its sequel, “The Girl on Legare Street,” was born. Whereas my other books, which I call southern women’s fiction or “grit lit” tend to be darkly emotional, these books are more women’s fiction lite, with a dash of humor, romance, mystery and, of course, ghosts. They have all the elements of the books I like to read, and they seem to have found a loyal readership, too, which tells me I’m not alone in my fascination with the unexplained. I’m thrilled that my publisher has asked for books 3 and 4 in the series so there will be plenty more adventures for my ghost-speaking realtor and her true-crime mystery writer heart throb/sidekick.

We’re heading for England and Scotland next summer to celebrate my daughter’s graduation from high school and, of course, I will look for a haunted Scottish castle to stay in because that’s what I do. I can’t really say that I actually want to experience a haunting but, being a writer, I can only hope that whatever happens will be the seeds for the next book.

Teaser Tuesday – The Private Papers of the Eastern Jewel

Nov 032009

Grab your current read.

Let the book fall open to a random page.

Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.

You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

Please avoid spoilers!

private papers of the eastern jewel picture “I hid the preserved monkey embryo from Ichyo in Zue’s wedding chest and hoped never to see it again. Amongst my other presents I had my knife from Hideo, the lychees from Sorry and a cashmere blanket from Iani, my birth-marked stepsister.”

-The Private Paper of the Eastern Jewel by Maureen Lindley, p. 80

Grab your current read.

Let the book fall open to a random page.

Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.

You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

Please avoid spoilers!

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (audio)

Nov 022009

Okay, okay, I’m growing more and more attached to Jim Dale’s performance of the Harry Potter books. The first one I listened to, “Chamber of Secrets,” I felt sort of ‘meh’ about (that is my least favorite of the books too, though), then I sort of liked “Prisoner of Azkaban,” but now I’m addicted and can barely tear myself away to listen to a non-Harry Potter audio book before going on to “Order of the Phoenix.”

I’m still slightly annoyed by the whiney way that most of the characters – and especially Hermione – say Harry’s name, but I’m able to get over it better now. What I did not expect is that “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” was a much more emotional experience for me in audio than it has ever been in print. Every time I have read books 5 and 6 I’ve cried at the end and I cried multiple places in book 7. *Spoiler alert* Cedric’s death just never did all that much for me. He wasn’t a central enough character. Sure, I liked him, but I hadn’t grown to love him so his death didn’t effect me much. However, LISTENING to Harry’s pain and survivor guilt got to me and made me mist up a bit. I’m a little worried about hearing the deaths of more beloved characters in the next three books while I’m in the middle of traffic with my baby in the car, I may have to make sure to listen to those parts in the house.

The only thing that made this listening experience less than ideal was my own fault. Evidently when I was ripping the cds to put on my Ipod, I missed a disc or two. I skipped over the entire third task, coming back in during the graveyard scene! Luckily I’ve read these books so many times I knew what I had missed, since the cds are already back at the library. I guess that makes it all the more amazing that Cedric’s death effected me as it did, since I actually missed the death itself.

This review is part of GalleySmith’s Harry Potter Reading Challenge.

TSS: Daniel’s First Halloween: A Story in Pictures

Nov 012009

Daniel had his first Halloween last night,and he was super duper adorable as a little teddy bear. I thought I should share his pictures and videos from his night out:

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