Category: books

I’m buying Wise Young Fool this week, the latest from @seanbeaudoin

Hey. Sean Beaudoin has a new book coming out this Tuesday. Wise Young Fool. I have not read it, so I cannot recommend it at this time but I am definitely going to pick it up and if you want to be a lemming and follow my lead you will too.  One of the many anticipated releases on my upcoming books page.

Like it has a guitar on the cover and it’s a raw-throated punk rock black comedy love story.

If you’re a book nerd / person with a perverse interest in publishing, I recommend reading his long post on The Horrors of Self-Promotion.

My local independent bookstore @Vromans sold me an $18 slip of paper…I can see this going poorly

Chris Colfer (of Glee!) is coming to Vromans next Sunday at noon. Preorders for the ticketed event started today. I went down to my local branch (Vromans has a main store and a satellite in Hastings Ranch which is a bit more convenient for me to go to) and I bought one.

Well I think I bought one. I have a receipt that said I prepaid $18 although it doesn’t say what I prepaid. And I didn’t get my ticket that says my place in line (B group! I swear) … making me wonder just what is going to happen. Do I come back to Hastings Ranch to get my book and ticket the day of the event and then go to the main store?

J— assured me everything will be fine. I hope he’s right.

Winger by Andrew Smith (@marburyjack) or the words won’t come.

What I really hate / love is when I finish a book and that book has caused an emotional reaction in me.  There have been a few over the years and these books are the GREAT books which keep me reading, keep me suffering through other books which are not great books.

I cannot write a review of Winger.  I just don’t have the facilities to express myself.

“Hahah[a] he broke you” – Alethea. Continue reading “Winger by Andrew Smith (@marburyjack) or the words won’t come.”

Summer of YA: Allen Zadoff, author of Boy Nobody @allenzadoff

I may not post as much about the Summer of YA event that was held today at the Barnes & Noble in beautiful Glendale California.  Basically it was a great opportunity to spend some time talking with a bunch of YA authors and I don’t know why you didn’t attend … assuming you didn’t of course.  Some of you did attend like me, Alethea and Andrew Smith.

In preparation for today I finished Boy Nobody by Allen Zadoff.  Our protagonist is a teenage assassin who infiltrates lives and murders parents.  I remember hearing about it when it first came out and I was intrigued by the premise, so I downloaded the sample in iBooks and I was pretty hooked.
Continue reading “Summer of YA: Allen Zadoff, author of Boy Nobody @allenzadoff”

The top 1% of reviewers on Goodreads! (I am one of the top 1% of something!)

Yesterday I received an email that said “On behalf of the Goodreads team, I want to say thank you.  You’re in the top 1% of reviewers on Goodreads!  Your many thoughtful book reviews help make us a vibrant place for book lovers.”  The email went on to say that the community has grown to 20 million members.  Which suggests that really, I’m one of their valued 200,000 users.  A lot of people I’ve tried to bring into goodreads but it hasn’t really tickled their fancy and they have stopped using it.  Which is why it’s not too surprising for me that I would be in the top 1%.

Dear publishers, publicists, and other people with galleys:  consider this your invitation to try and ply me with access to your wares.  I’m not asking for anything untoward, just advanced reader copies….  yes, apparently I and this sparse blog count in some circles as a tastemaker and influencer.

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court and Winger

I don’t like it when a book gives me a reading assignment.  Winger is not a short book and in part two I encountered this footnote:

Okay. If you haven’t read A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, you should.  Because it is fucking hilarious, and there’s no way you’d understand “Hello, Central” unless you read the book.

Continue reading “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court and Winger”

Upcoming Book Recommendation: Codename Zero by Chris Rylander @chris_rylander

I just finished a digital galley of Chris Rylander’s upcoming book, Codename Zero.  His previous books, The Fourth Stall (Parts 1, 2, and 3) have enjoyable reads and Codename Zero is as well.  It’s a spy action intrigue book set in a quiet North Dakota town.  There’s a new milk bar in town … that’s about as exciting as it seems to get.  (The town, not the book)

I’m recommending it for middle grade readers.  Boys may appreciate it more than girls but maybe use this as a metric:  Do you think fainting goats are funny?  Well then be prepared for GOATEMONIUM.

Apologies in advance:  the book comes out February 4, 2014.  So … be patient.

Book Soup with @rainbowrowell (and @corey_whaley)

Yesterday morning as I was going through the twitter feed when I saw a tweet from Rainbow Rowell that she was going to do a reading signing at Book Soup.  Rainbow Rowell is the author of the most excellent Eleanor and Park a young adult love story that I generally recommend and enjoyed.  She went to BEA but after I had already left town (and hadn’t finished the book yet).  And then lucky me, unexpected opportunity to see her out here (and have since finished the book). Continue reading “Book Soup with @rainbowrowell (and @corey_whaley)”

Quarantine Book Two: The Saints (@LexThomasAuthor)

9781606843376-1.600x600-75 Newest addition to the library is a signed copy of Lex Thomas’s second Quarantine (Quaranteens!) book, The Saints. Saw them at the Barnes & Noble at the Grove.

Lex remembered me from the Ontario Teen Book Fest. I declined to wear my author event jacket because it was just too hot. I should like to think that my author event jacket helps authors remember me but at the same time I never assume that there are reasons for authors to remember me. With a few exceptions of course.

I love to refer to the series as Quaranteens even though it was changed before publication.  If you’re unfamiliar basically a high school has been quarantined and all of the students fight amongst themselves for dominance… It’s going to be a trilogy.  Book one was The Loners and is already available.  Oh…. should have asked that.

I’m not great on coming up on questions for authors so it was great that Lex came prepared for questions.

Ugh.  It took me 30 minutes to get over the hill and into Hollywood.  Surface street traffic and it didn’t even seem particularly bad.