Where My Last 20 Books Came From (8)

In the interest of full disclosure (and the FTC guidelines), I do a post every 20 books detailing where my books came from.

Delirium by Lauren Oliver - Given to me during publishing house tour at HarperCollins

Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness - Bought

The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May and June by Robin Benway - Requested review copy

Still Missing by Chevy Stevens - Amazon Vine

Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson - Accepted as part of a blog tour

Viola in Reel Life by Adriana Trigiani - Picked up at BEA 2009

The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner - Bought

Forget-Her-Nots by Amy Brecount White - Bought

Love in a Time of Homeschooling by Laura Brodie - Accepted author pitch

My Double Life by Janette Rallison - Accepted author pitch

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater - Picked up at the Bologna Children's Book Fair

Comet in Moominland by Tove Jansson - Borrowed from a friend

Read, Remember, Recommend for Teens by Rachelle Rogers Knight - Accepted as part of a blog tour

Brava, Valentine by Adriana Trigiani - Accepted as part of a blog tour

Never Look Away by Linwood Barclay - Won via LibraryThing Early Reviewers

Runaway by Meg Cabot - Accepted as part of a blog tour

Being Nikki by Meg Cabot - Unsolicited review copy

Something Like Fate by Susane Colasanti - Accepted as part of a blog tour

The Tourist by Olen Steinhauer - Bought

The Clearing by Heather Davis - Amazon Vine

Hmm...lots of blog tours this reading period. Usually I don't do that many. Could be doing better on owned books vs review copies, but I just have a ton of review copies. Where are you getting most of your books lately?

The one where I join the Bloggiesta

Since I have some time this weekend, and since I've been neglecting my blog of late, and since Natasha of Maw Books Blog is such a great hostess...I'm joining in the bloggiesta fun.

Things I need to do around here:

Update tags. I've been tagging book reviews by publisher since early last year, but I still need to go back and tag earlier reviews. Candace at Beth Fish Reads has some great tag advice to think about.

Register for BBAW. I'm probably going to throw my hat into the ring in the YA category and best interviews. Just need to pick 5 posts. My LIAR review and Lauren Bjorkman interview are definites, but still need to pinpoint my other picks. Any suggestions, loyal readers?

Reply to comments. I'm way behind on this, and I'm sorry! I hope to catch up soon.

Write the guest post I promised Nat of In Spring it is the Dawn about an interesting library experience I had in Japan. I haven't forgotten!

Work on plans for dystopian August. This includes coordinating my movie vs book feature, researching and writing my author interviews, solicting guest posts, etc.

Clean out my Google Reader. There are a lot of dead blogs on there. And try to figure out how to do that sharing thing I once heard someone somewhere talk about.

Update my challenge posts. I always let this slide. No more!

Visit other bloggiesta participants. Wow - there over 100 already.

Update GoodReads, Amazon, and LibraryThing with my latest book reviews.

Delete all cat pictures. Haha. Just kidding. No hate mail, please.

Maybe I'll think of more along the way.

Four mini-reviews of forthcoming YA novels

I read the following four forthcoming books recently and wanted to share a few impressions of them. Full reviews closer to pub date!

MATCHED by Ally Condie
Cassia lives in a society that decides everything for its citizens for the greatest good of them all – even who you marry. When Cassia is matched with her best friend Xander, she is thrilled. But when viewing her matching card, another face flashes on the screen – that of mysterious classmate Ky. This seeming glitch awakens an awareness of forbidden desires within Cassia, and for the first time she begins to question a society where the individual has no right to choose.

MATCHED is without a doubt a well constructed novel, hitting all the expected beats of a YA dystopian novel. And while there may be few surprises for avid readers of the genre, there are some genuine discussion-worthy developments. I enjoyed this installment, but hope that the emotional impact quotient is raised in book two.

Come by my dystopian theme month in August for a full review of this title due to release in November 2010.


DELIRIUM by Lauren Oliver (no official cover yet)
Lena can’t wait to get the surgery, that at 18, will cure her of the disease that took her mother – the highly contagious delirium nervosa (or in layman’s terms: falling in love). Lena’s main concern is passing the exam that will determine her future status in society. But then she meets Alex and soon becomes “infected”.

While certain aspects of this dystopian society’s set-up seemed a bit implausible (i.e. why would a society that abhors love allow the family unit to remain intact, putting its most vulnerable citizens – those uncureds under 18 – at unnecessary risk?), the world-building suited the main plot brilliantly. Lena’s relationship with her best friend is heart-breakingly real, and her burgeoning feelings for Alex make the novel soar to dizzying heights of emotion. And that ending...whoa! What are you doing to me Lauren?!

Visit my dystopian theme month in August for a full review of this title due to release in February 2011.

MONSTERS OF MEN, Book 3 of the Chaos Walking Triology, by Patrick Ness

Full scale war is on the horizon for the citizens of New Prentisstown. Will Todd and Viola be able to barter a lasting peace for those already on the planet and those on the way?

This last book in a fantastic series exceeded even my highest expectations. A third POV, from a spackle no less, adds even more to our understanding of the world’s politics. Todd and Viola are amazing protagonists – noble yet conflicted, but it is with the antagonists, Mayor Prentiss especially, that Ness really excels. I don’t think I have ever encountered such a layered villain. He’s someone you hate and wish dead – and yet – Ness makes you hope for his redemption. It is really an amazing achievement.

Visit my dystopian theme month in August for a full review of this title due to release in the US at the end of September (already available in the UK).


THE EXTRAORDINARY SECRETS OF APRIL, MAY AND JUNE by Robin Benway
April, May and June are sisters who suddenly gain superpowers. April can see the future, May can become invisible and June can read minds.

There are a lot of clever ideas at play here, but overall, this novel was kind of a downer. The only one who has any fun at all with her power is June (I love how she used her mind-reading ability to try to get in with the popular crowd) while April and May just generally mope around. Despite the consistently witty/snarky dialogue, I got a bit exasperated with the sisters constant drawn-out squabbles. Group hug already, girls!

This one releases at the beginning of August.

Have you read any of these yet? If not, which ones are you excited to get to? If so, what did YOU think of them?

This article was originally published by Lenore for Presenting Lenore. It cannot be republished without express written permisson. If you are reading this elsewhere, it has been stolen.

BEA 2010 Recap 3: Thursday and the Book Blogger Convention

Read my BEA Recap 1: Pre-BEA Activities
Read my BEA Recap 2: Tuesday and Wednesday

My plan for Thursday was to get to the Javits by 6:45 am so I could get a ticket for Mary Higgins Clark’s signing. I woke up late though, so I didn’t arrive until a little over 7 am – but fortunately, they still had 1 ticket left for MHC. I also picked up a ticket for Tim Gunn and R.L. Stine. Then I went and got in line for the Adult Author Breakfast with Candace, Dawn, and Swapna (S. Krishna Books). While in line, Donna came by, and I was able to give her my ticket for R.L. Stine, which she put to good use (she's a HUGE fan). Once we were allowed in, we hustled over to a good table (facing forward) and dug into our bagels.

I was very excited about the line-up. I don’t get to watch The Daily Show often, but Jon Stewart always cracks me up, and the breakfast was no exception. I was very touched by Condoleezza Rice’s speech about her parents raising her to be extraordinary. I’ve only ever read THE FIRM by John Grisham, but he’s a legend, so it was cool. And Mary Roach was probably funnier than Jon in her speech, which really got me looking forward to PACKING FOR MARS (the only actual book we got, since the rest all still need to be finished apparently).

Once they opened it up to audience questions though, the program went rapidly downhill. Why is it that no one in the room could ask a non-embarrassing, non-self serving question? There were a bunch of self-pubbed authors promoting themselves and aspiring authors asking the wrong questions (i.e. asking John frakking Grisham how he deals with conflicting feedback from agents). I couldn’t bear it any longer and had to leave early.

My first stop was Simon & Schuster to see if they had any copies of Cassandra Clare’s CLOCKWORK ANGEL left (it was 9:10 am already, and only 300 copies were being put out at 9 am, so I had my doubts) and they had a couple, so score!

I wandered around the booths again, eventually ending up at Sourcebooks for Cameron Stracher’s signing of WATER WARS. I then joined the LONG line for Mary Higgins Clark, and ended up waiting with Kathrin (Secret Dreamworld of a Bookaholic) who also came over all the way from Germany. Since the next line over was so short, and Author Staci Boyer looked so motivating in person, we scooted over there to get a copy of MOTIV8'N U.

Next I went to Chelsea Campbell’s RISE OF RENEGADE X signing. She had these cool embossers where you could choose to be a villain or hero. I asked her which she thought I was, and she pulled out a third, which was just an X, to emboss my book. I’m a mystery, I guess. While in line, I met Rebecca (Rebecca’s Book Blog) and we decided to go over to Laure Halse Anderson’s FORGE signing. We were more than a half an hour early and the rep insisted the line hadn’t formed yet, so Rebecca agreed to hold my place while I went to say hi to PJ Hoover at her EMERALD TABLET signing. When I got back, I noticed the line was SUPER long…as in no end in sight. Fortunately, Rebecca had staked us out a pretty good spot (next to Natasha, in fact).

After that, I thought it was time for the Tim Gunn signing, so I went over and stood in line for that. Turns out I was an hour too early…which ended up being a good thing, because that was the slowest, longest line there was. Tim spent quality time with each and every person in line, posing for pictures and sharing stories. I was maybe 30 people back in line, and I had to wait 45 minutes (on top of the hour) to get to the front. This was partly because at least 25 people also used their front of the line passes for this (a perk you pay for). Anyway, here’s my picture with the star of BEA:
When I made my way over to Beth Kephart’s DANGEROUS NEIGHBORS signing, I found out the time had been postponed, so that was a real disappointment. Instead I decided to go to the YA Authors of the Editor’s Buzz panel where I again ran into Michelle, Angie and Jenn. Authors on the panel were Erin Bow (PLAIN KATE), Rebecca Maizel (INFINITE DAYS), Ally Condie (MATCHED), Sophie Jordan (FIRELIGHT ) and Kody Keplinger (THE DUFF). (BTW - Look for my mini-review of MATCHED tomorrow.) All read a short excerpt and all sounded like winners, so we’ll see!

I walked with Angie over to Jeri-Smith Ready’s SHADE signing where I met Diana Peterfreund. Afterwards, Diana and I met Daniel at a diner close to the Javits and he gave her a special illustration of his Buffalo slaying a unicorn (a nod to her killer unicorn novel RAMPANT). We had a great time chatting, though I wasn’t aware I could have pressed her for details on her upcoming dystopian retelling of Jane Austen’s PERSUASION. Why didn’t you tell me Angie?!

Now since it was our 4th wedding anniversary, I decided to skip the Book Blogger Con Author Reception and hang out with Daniel instead. Since it started POURING rain, we ended up in the hotel diner again. Unfortunately, this meant we had to miss The Book Smugglers party too, which is a total shame. But hey, you can’t do it all!

Since Daniel was leaving on Friday to go back to Germany, I skipped the BBC breakfast to dine with him one last time. He escorted me to the Javits and we hung out with Michelle at the registration desk for awhile (meaning I missed most of Maureen Johnson too) before he left.

If you want to know more about the panels, allow me to direct to you to Kim’s (Sophisticated Dorkiness) recap. I thought they were…fine. Panelists were well chosen for the topics and the topics were interesting in theory, it was just that they did not always lead to the most exciting of discussions. It seemed there was too much like-mindedness and not enough dissenting opinion.

For example, during the social responsibility panel, someone suggested e-mailing others and asking them to promote your causes. This is something that bothers me, because I’ve seen it so often happen that certain people while promoting certain causes get belligerent if you don’t immediately jump on their bandwagon with them. Of course it’s fine to ask friends to help you spread the word, but you also need to be able to take no for an answer. Not everyone has time or space or inclination to promote every cause that comes their way. It would have been nice to hear someone say this (I had my hand up, but wasn’t called on.)

In any case, my favorite part of the BBC was the social aspect, especially getting the chance to hang out with Sarah (Forever Young Adult, one of my new favorite blogs) and Angie (I forced both of them to stay longer than they wanted to).

Me with Sarah (photo curtesy of Sarah)

I would’ve loved a “getting to know you” panel, where everyone in attendance had a minute to introduce themselves and their blogs. I feel like I missed out on meeting so many people just because I didn’t know what they looked like. That said, it was so cool to finally meet Chelsy (Big Honcho Media), Nat (In Spring it is the Dawn – thanks for the red bean candy from Japan!), Avis (She Reads and Reads – didn’t recognize you without your cat), Beth Kephart and so many others.

Me with Beth Kephart (photo curtesy of Beth)

After BBC ended, Amy, Natasha and I slowly made our way towards a big blogger dinner at Dos Caminos. This was so much fun as I finally had some time to hang out with Allie (Hist Fic Chick), Jen (Devourer of Books) and Carey (The Tome Traveller). I also said my teary goodbyes to Trish (you rock, you know you do!).

Allie, Carey, Trish and me at Dos Caminos

I needed to go back to my hotel to pick up my bags, so I went on the subway with a group that was headed back downtown, including Amanda (The Zen Leaf) who told me all about the dystopian books she is writing (fascinating!!). After spending half an hour begging the hotel to release my bags to me (long story), I hurried off to Nicole’s for our post BEA slumber party and a fun edition of THAT’S HOW I BLOG (which you can listen to here).

After carrying suitcases full of books up and down many a flight of stairs and getting lost in the subway on the way to the airport (I made it with literally 1 minute to spare), It was time to relax (which is why it took me so long to post these recaps, sorry). But guess what?! I’m all ready to do it again. See you next year?

BEA 2010 Recap 2: Tuesday and Wednesday

Read Part 1 of my BEA recap.

On Tuesday, I started off the day at MacMillan for a tour with the awesome Ksenia Winnicki. This is also where I got to meet Angie from Angieville for the first time. Ksenia showed us around the narrow offices (they are located in the Flatiron Building) and gave us a bag full of books and swag. Probably the book I’m most excited about from the bag is HALO by Alexandra Adornetto. We also met Amy, Nicole and Natasha there, so afterwards we all decided to eat brunch at a diner. Daniel ordered carrot juice because Nicole did, but soon discovered he was allergic to it! So Nicole got to enjoy a double dose.

Angie and I continued on to Penguin (on our way we discussed our love for Gen from THE THIEF by Megan Whelan Turner) - but just the adult division. I confess I would’ve preferred to visit the children’s/YA offices, but they are located in a whole different building. In the lobby I met Wendy (Caribousmom) and Deborah (Books, Movies and Chinese Food), as well as a bunch of other bloggers (sorry for my bad memory). We split into three groups. Our designated publicist took us around a few floors, showed us the Penguin reviewers database (I was in it, yay!), and let us loose in the Viking book closet.

She “sold” us Paolo Giordano’s book THE SOLITUDE OF PRIME NUMBERS by showing us the author’s photo (he’s hot!). After that, we gathered in a meeting room with the other groups and introduced ourselves one by one. I had to slip out early though because Daniel and I were meeting up with Author Lauren Mechling for a tour of the Wall Street Journal (amazing place) and for lunch.

It was so much fun to talk to Lauren about books, publishing, her upcoming wedding, her uncanny resemblance to actress Rena Sofer and her new venture on Slate (the serial novel MY DARKLYNG). We got a picture together, but I looked so ridiculous, I had to crop myself out (yes, Sarah, I was in the dreaded foreground). Sorry!

Lauren and Daniel

After lunch, Daniel went to HarperCollins to meet with his editor. The author of his book, Audrey Vernick, was also there so they got to meet for the first time. While he was there, he signed a bunch of copies of IS YOUR BUFFALO READY FOR KINDERGARTEN? and turned in the final artwork for the sequel, TEACH YOUR BUFFALO TO PLAY DRUMS.

Meanwhile, I met up with Kathy (Bermuda Onion) and Julie (Booking Mama) at the M&Ms store. I was hoping to score Mint M&Ms, but no luck. Kathy, Julie and I talked and laughed as we trekked the 14 blocks and 3 avenues to the Javits to pick up our badges and attend the Editor’s Buzz for adult titles. While in line, I got to meet Candace from Beth Fish Reads finally, but didn’t have my German chocolate with me (this would happen to me repeatedly, meaning Candace never got her chocolate…oh no!). We were a little worried we wouldn’t get a seat, but we did, towards the back, which turned out to our advantage later.

If you want to know a little more about the 6 books presented, Candace has a great write up about them on Beth Fish Reads. While the last editor was wrapping up, Julie, Kathy and I ducked out to get first crack at the ARC tables. I ended up picking up copies of ROOM by Emma Donaghue (I’ve already started it and the voice is sensational) and THE EMPEROR OF ALL MALADIES: A BIOGRAPHY OF CANCER by Siddhartha Mukherjee. I dared Julie to get THE EVOLUTION OF BRUNO LITTLEMORE by Benjamin Hale (the book with a monkey/human sex scene) but she wouldn’t bite.

Then Daniel and I met up again to go to the Class of 2010 signing at Books of Wonder. I met a whole slew of bloggers and authors here too, but my most memorable chat was with Shannon Delany, author of 13 TO LIFE, when she assured me that there was no werewolf sex to be found in her book. A group of us went afterwards to Rosa Mexicana (I love their guac!) but were too many to fit at one table. Daniel and I ended up at a table with Esme (Chocolate and Croissants) and Vania (Reverie Book Reviews). I loved hearing all the behind the scenes drama of Vania’s book trailer business (Vania’s Life Captures). She’s so much fun! Oh, and I should have gotten her to take a pic of us together, because the one I had taken with my camera did not turn out…like AT ALL. Next time!

Wednesday Daniel and I met up with Bri (Bri Meets Books) for breakfast, and she asked, casually, if Chelsea Campbell (author of THE RISE OF RENEGADE X) could join us. OMG – yes! Bri and Chelsea were dryly entertaining, and a perfect start to a BEA day. And because the Tick Tock Diner would not let us split our check (and neither Bri nor Chelsea had cash on them), I got to treat them.

Daniel and I booked it to the Javits and met Angie going in. We had to stop off at Chronicle first, because usually they have the best tote bags. I picked up PRISONERS IN THE PALACE by Michaela MacColl, which looks good. From there, we went on to Candlewick where I got a copy of STORK by Wendy Delsol. Then I went to Richard Peck’s signing and got THREE QUARTERS DEAD.

At this point, I sent Daniel off to Marla Frazee’s BOSS BABY signing and I went to the YA dystopias panel. Initially, I thought it would just be Ally Condie (MATCHED, which I am reading now) and Adam Dunn (RIVERS OF GOLD) but Lesley Hague (NOMANSLAND) and Sigrid Nunez (SALVATION CITY) were also on stage. I ended up getting all but Lesley’s book and got them all signed after the panel. The panel itself was a tad uneven, but still fascinating. I’ll probably wait to do a write-up (based on my copious notes) until Dystopian August – unless you all just can’t wait that long.

I went around the booths some more before heading to the Harlequin Teen signing. This was total chaos! A line had built up, snaking around single file for miles (it seemed) but once the authors arrived, everyone just made a mad dash for the front, making a lot of people very angry. I managed to meet Rachel Vincent and get MY SOUL TO KEEP signed – after being shoved around a bit. Craziness!

I next went to Mitali Perkins signing of BAMBOO PEOPLE and Alison Winn Scotch’s signing of THE ONE THAT I WANT. While in line for Alison’s book, I met Melissa (Sweet on Books) and noticed that Paul O. Zelinsky was signing his new picture book DUST DEVIL, so I had to get a copy of that too (and say hi).

I ran into Trish (Hey Lady!) and we visited a few more booths before meeting Jennifer Hart at Harper Collins to go to meet Adriana Trigiani and 4 other bloggers for the tea we won at Alice’s Teacup. I was a bit bummed to miss signings for Lemony Snicket, Lauren Oliver and Diana Peterfreund (Daniel stood in line for me to get ASCENDANT though), but what an experience! Adriana is so warm and welcoming, she made us all instantly feel like we were hanging out with a long-time friend. She told us stories, asked us about our lives and blogs, and insisted we try the pumpkin scones (to die for!). Sheila (Book Journey) has a great recap if you’re interested in hearing more and seeing lots of pictures!

Kathy, Julie, me, Adriana, Sheila, Dawn (She's Too Fond of Books), Trish, Jennifer

After dropping my bags of books off at the hotel, I walked to the Algonquin to HarperCollins’ blogger bash. I was so exhausted, I found a nice spot to sit next to Sharon (Sharon Loves Books and Cats), Laura (Laura’s Review Bookshelf) and Donna (Bites), and didn’t move the rest of the night, making people come to me. We were soon joined by Angie and Janice (Janicu’s Book Blog) and then visited by a ton of different bloggers including both of the Book Smugglers (Ana and Thea) and “my enemy Amy”. I also got to meet Marie (The Boston Bibliophile) and many others.

Me, Angie, Ana, Janice, Thea (photo curtesy of Angie)

As the party wound down, Donna gathered up a group of us and we took a subway to Max Brenner’s to indulge in some decadent chocolate creations. Unfortunately, we filled up on non chocolate, and didn’t end up even getting desert. Oh well!

April (Good Books, Good Wine), Laura, Donna, Alea, Erica (The Book Cellar) and Gail.

I shared a taxi with April and crawled into bed to get rest up for the next day’s adventures.

Stay tuned for more BEA recap! Coming soon…

Tuesday (109) = Picture of Emmy

While I was in Ohio last week, Daniel sent me this sweet picture of the kitties spending quality time together.

My Darklyng hacks Presenting Lenore

Hello book (blog) lover!

Lauren Mechling, author of the Dream Girl books, here. I have hijacked Lenore's blog in order to convey some Very Important Information.

You might not know it by looks alone (no pink hair, no metal bar through my septum), but I've become a total hacker worthy of her own "Dragon Tattoo" installment. And I'm not just talking about how I've cracked the code and broken onto Presenting Lenore. My new book MY DARKLYNG, which I co-wrote with Laura Moser (my hilarious co-author on the "10th Grade Social Climber" books), is a YA thriller chockablock with multimedia awesomeness that will be appearing in serialized form on the awesome website Slate.com. The first installment runs today, and there will be more excitement every Friday for the rest of the summer. Also: it's free!

Slate is calling MY DARKLYNG its "juicy summer read for vampire lovers (and haters!)." It's about a normal 10th grade girl named Natalie Pollock whose own fiction addiction gets her into major trouble. She's been reading Fiona St. Claire's yummy "Dark Shadows" book series since middle school and when she sees a post on Fiona's blog about an open casting call for the model for the next book's cover, well, she can't resist. What she had thought was just a random field trip turns into a dark and terrible new-best-friendship, scarier and more thrilling than any of Fiona St. Claire's vampire novels.

MY DARKLYNG is different from anything you've ever read before--it's a first-of-its-kind story told in simultaneous platforms. Huh? you ask. Okay, so here's the deal: While you are perfectly free to follow the MY DARKLYNG chapters on Slate and leave it at that, we have been milking the magic world of the Internet for all its worth. Why limit a story to mere words? What about pictures and videos and weird Tweets and scary Facebook wall posts that bring texture to the story and bring the characters to life? With that in mind, we found real (and really awesome) teenagers to play our characters. Here's a picture:

Pretty, right? Expect to get to know these faces really well over the course of this book.

Without further ado, this is the Slate page that will host the chapters.

Here is Natalie's Facebook page--well worth "liking" so you can follow when weird things start happening on it.

Natalie's Twitter page is here.
Fiona's (the vampire writer) Twitter page is here.
Natalie's best friend Jenna tweets here.
James (the vampire model) tweets here.
And Fiona's loving sister Tilly uses this Twitter page.

Natalie and Jenna post Youtube videos here. Here's a sample video that shows them getting ready for the audition that will change their lives.

Now YOU can help make our great experiment in Internet fiction even more amazing. There is an upcoming scene that has a missing detail. We need to come up with a cliche that's all-too-often present in vampire novels. Again, we are desperately seeking A CLICHE THAT YOU HAVE SEEN A ZILLION TIMES BEFORE IN CHEESY VAMPIRE NOVELS. Please write in your suggestions in the comments section. The winner will be chosen in a week and featured in MY DARKLYNG--if your answer is selected, it'll be like the story is actually winking at you from the screen.

I know this is all a bit much to wrap your head around. Sorry for any confusion--just read the first installment and take it from there. Please please post comments or send us emails telling us how you're finding the series. We can be reached by my website.


And if you find yourself feeling afraid, don't say I didn't warn you!

your humble hacker,
Lauren Mechling

BEA 2010 Recap 1: Pre-BEA Activities

After worrying for over a month that the Iceland volcano would ruin our trip to New York, Daniel and I were just happy to get on the plane on the Friday before BEA. But it was nice, too, that Delta upgraded us to business class (medallion status is sooo worth it).

Upon arriving in NYC, Daniel and I checked into our hotel, and headed over to Brooklyn for a dinner party hosted by the very fabulous Lauren Oliver. That’s right, not only can she write and sing, she can also cook and put together a super-fun mix of people. I got to meet four of Lauren’s good friends including two who are upcoming debut YA authors: Leila Sales (MOSTLY GOOD GIRLS, SimonPulse Oct 2010) and Jessica Rothenberg (THE CATASTROPHIC HISTORY OF YOU AND ME, Dutton 2011).

Leila is hilarious (she made us watch a clip of Tyra Banks flipping out over Vaseline on YouTube) and has inspired me to join the Facebook group “pretending Jim is short for Jimothy”. My brother has also joined this important cause. I hope you will consider it as well. In any case, she brought me an ARC of MGG, and after I pretty much read the first 20 pages aloud in our hotel room, giggling, Daniel stole it from me.

Lauren with her bookcase.

I was amazed to see just how many owned books we have in common – there’s probably a crossover of about 80%. No wonder we click so well! Read more about the evening at Lauren’s blog.

Saturday was a “free day” for Daniel and me. We shopped and napped and walked around a lot. Then we met Amy (My Friend Amy) and Nicole (Linus’ Blanket) for dinner at an Italian locale. It was so nice to see both of them again and to discuss their new business venture Winsome Media Communications as well as Daniel’s book IS YOUR BUFFALO READY FOR KINDERGARTEN? (written by Audrey Vernick).

Sunday we met up with Trish of Hey Lady! Watcha Reading? at the Strand bookstore. While there, we ran into Alea (Pop Culture Junkie) and Gail (Ticket to Anywhere). Alea, Gail and I plundered the YA ARCS (I got PLAIN KATE by Erin Bow & RAISED BY WOLVES by Jennifer Lynn Barnes) and I also picked up hardcovers of RAMPANT by Diana Peterfreund and SHADE by Jeri Smith-Ready. Then Trish, Daniel and I headed over to The Cupping Room for a delicious dinner of hamburgers with avocado.

The evening was dedicated to a LOST viewing party in Michelle (Galleysmith) and Trish’s hotel room. Also present were Natasha (Maw Books) and Amy. We also had a few other bloggers drop by including Pam (Bookalicious), Laura (I'm Booking It) and Jill (Fizzy Thoughts). During commercials, we chatted and laughed and Trish made us do the Fake vs Real smile test. I got 16 out of 20 right. The finale itself was a bit of a head-scratcher for me. I am still not sure if I liked it or not. Maybe I need to watch it again. Maybe I need to watch the entire series again.

At Random House (photo curtesy of Maw Books)

Monday morning I met Amy, Nicole, Trish, Natasha, Michelle and Ann Kingman (Books on the Nightstand) for a tour of Random House. We ate breakfast in their caf and then got to walk the hallowed halls. We met a bunch of cool people there including cover designer Peter Mendelsund who talked a bit about the process of creating cover art. (He blogs at Jacket Mechanical – check it out!) I finally got to meet the lovely Meg O’Brien and compliment her on the fun Random Buzzers site. She gave me a couple of ARCs including AS King’s PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ *squee*.

The Random Buzzers Cube

Then we set off to our tour of Harper Collins set up by Book Club Girl Jennifer Hart. We met Alea and Gail in the lobby and were soon ushered into a conference room where we were joined by a ton of HarperCollins publicists including Elyse Marshall who I’ve been in contact with for ages. We talked about expectations from both sides which was awesome. Elyse also brought me a copy of Lauren Oliver’s DELIRIUM which made me deliriously happy (I should note that Ive already read it and it is fantastic)! A few of us also did a video in their studio. We really needed a make-up artist to take care of all that shine. Moving on…

Scholastic tour group and the NYC skyline

Our next tour was at Scholastic, but we were a tad late due to the amazing lunch provided to us by Harper Collins. Tyler Reed met us in the lobby and we wandered around a bit looking for the rest of the group (including Daniel). Scholastic had a bunch of surprises in store for us, including a quick visit with Rick Riordan (in the office signing 800 copies of 39 Clues), a talk/signing with Aimee Friedman, and a visit to a free-for-all book table (I picked up Eliot Schrefer’s THE DEADLY SISTER, which was cool, because I was able to get it signed later at the TAC). We also got to visit the massive archives where they have copies of many of their published books including a ton of rare first editions.

This is where the magic happens. Who thinks there is a copy of MOCKINGJAY locked in David Levithan's office?

Then we headed over to the Teen Author Carnival where I met a ton more bloggers (Steph Su and I had a very nice chat) and authors. I really enjoyed the panels and even asked a question in the fantasy panel that garnered me a set of books (including Linda Gerber’s TRANCE) and a Ghost Girl pillowcase (I LOVE pillowcases!). The signing afterwards was insane and loud. But I did get a chance to chat with Elizabeth Scott, Melissa Walker, Sarah Ockler, Amy Brecount White and so many others my brain fries just thinking about it. After being kicked out of the building by an irate cleaning staff, Daniel and I walked with Linda Gerber to the subway and went back to our hotel to rest up for our busy Tuesday.

Eliot Schrefer, Maryrose Wood and Linda Gerber at the Fantasy/Mystery panel

Stay tuned for more BEA/NYC recap fun! And if you've done a BEA recap or an Armchair BEA post, please give me your links in the comments! I'd love to read about your experiences too.

International Book Blogger Mentor Program Featured Bloggers (3)

I'm a bit late with this (thanks BEA!), but the International Book Blogger Mentor program is in its' 4th month! Today I am introducing April's participants.

First up is Kate from Read this Book! For privacy reasons, she does not publicize her location, but rest assured that it is outside the US and Canada and postage to her country is astronomically pricey. Kate chose Maggie Steifvater's LINGER, the highly anticipated sequel to SHIVER, and provided a review after only reading 3/4 of the book. Check out her blog to find out why!

Kate's enthusiam for YA books is infectious and I always love to see a new tweet from her. Follow her too @readingthisbook

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My author sponsor for April was Karen Mahoney who sent four books to UK based blogger Jessica of Nayu's Reading Corner. And guess what?! Jessica read and reviewed ALL four already (wow!). Here's what she had to say about THE ETERNAL KISS, an anthology which features one of Karen Mahoney's short stories:

"I now will happily embrace anthologies. They are an opportunity to get to know an author's style (well, several authors) before committing to one of their novels. Thanks to this book, I am now eyeing up several, new-to-me authors." Read the whole review.

Jessica is super friendly and her book blog is a lot of fun to hang out on, so go on over and say hello!

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Megan at the Cape Eleuthera school in the Bahamas sends her thanks for all the boxes of books generous bloggers have sent so far! There is still time to donate (until June 15th) and possibly win an amazing BEA swag bag from me (it could include a copy of Cassie Clare's CLOCKWORK ANGEL if you wish). See last month's post for all the details. NOTE: Megan has requested that you include a note for customs listing all books included in your package and assigning them a value of $1 each. Thank you!

Tuesday (108) = Picture of Emmy ... oh, wait that's Finn again

We find Finn relaxing in the strangest places...

Yes, our flowers are long dead.