Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson {review}

Kiss of Deception
by Mary E. Pearson
♦publisher: Henry Holt & Co
♦release date: July 8th, 2014
♦hardcover, 489 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦series: The Remnant Chronicles, book 1
♦source: from publisher for honest review

In this timeless new trilogy about love and sacrifice, a princess must find her place in a reborn world.

In a society steeped in tradition, Princess Lia’s life follows a preordained course. As First Daughter, she is expected to have the revered gift of sight—but she doesn’t—and she knows her parents are perpetrating a sham when they arrange her marriage to secure an alliance with a neighboring kingdom—to a prince she has never met.

On the morning of her wedding, Lia flees to a distant village. She settles into a new life, hopeful when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive—and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her. Deception abounds, and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets—even as she finds herself falling in love.

Review: Oh, Mary Pearson.  You clever author.  Kiss of Deception fully and completely captured me from beginning to end.  I found myself mesmerized by the extraordinary writing, engaged in this gutsy heroine who fled a world she felt entrapped in, and blindsided by a plot that somehow completely pulled the rug from under my feet. 

Lia has never fit the roll of princess, always running with her brothers and getting into mischief. At 17, she is forced into a marriage to bring together her kingdom of Morrighan to the neighboring Dalbreck. Terrified and unable to imagine a life in a loveless arranged marriage, she takes her life into her own hands and runs away with her best friend, Pauline. They flee to Terravin, a quaint colorful town, and take up as tavern girls to earn there keep.  I had to applaude her, she knew how she wanted to live her life and she took it, and despite being raised among royalty, didn’t hesitate to get her hands dirty. But she does start to see how it’s not so easy to walk away from her old life without it affecting those she cares about, and it’s beautiful to see her slow growth into a young woman and maybe even a true princess. 

There are three alternating voices throughout the story: Lia, Kaden and Rafe.  There is a love triangle, which doesn’t bother me, but to those of you who hate them: don’t write this one off just yet! Of Kaden and Rafe, one is the Prince Lia was suppose to marry and the other is an assassin sent to kill her.  Pearson cleverly wrote this so you don’t know which is which.  As much as I was sure that I had it figured out, I was so wrong, and when the truth is finally revealed, it turned the whole story on its head for me. 

This world is fantastical but set to feel much like our own in ancient times.  The imagery is exquisite though, creating beautiful visuals in my mind for this story to play out in: A cold loveless castle, a welcoming and quaint tavern, a village festival full of noise and games, colorful gypsy caravans, a stark unforgiving desert, and a dangerous wild forest.  Even small intricate details like the swirls and symbols of a painted tattoo were brought to life in gorgeous prose. 

There are fast-paced excitements throughout, but also some long stretches of Lia just settling into her life in Terravin, getting to know all the new people in her life, being there for Pauline, worrying about their safety---there are a lot of low-key moments, but in nearly 500 pages I never found myself bored.  As some stories do, sometimes in completely inexplicable ways, this story just clicked for me. Its a courageous and touching story with all the makings of an epic fantasy, and I can't wait to see what's to come for these characters.

Find Mary E. Pearson online: Website  •  Twitter  •  Facebook

Purchase Kiss of Deception:  BN.com  •  BookDepository  •  Indiebound

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It lets us all gush about what soon-to-be released books we are jumping-up-and-down excited for.

I Am Her Revenge
by Meredith Moore

hitting shelves April 7th, 2015
from Razorbill

description:
She can be anyone you want her to be.
Vivian was raised with one purpose in life: to exact revenge on behalf of her mother. Manipulative and cruel, Mother has deprived Vivian not only of a childhood, but of an original identity. With an endless arsenal of enticing personalities at her disposal, Vivian is a veritable weapon of deception.

And she can destroy anyone.
When it’s time to strike, she enrolls in a boarding school on the English moors, where she will zero in on her target: sweet and innocent Ben, the son of the man who broke Mother’s heart twenty years ago.

Anyone…except for the woman who created her.
With every secret she uncovers, Vivian comes one step closer to learning who she really is. But the more she learns about herself, the more dangerous this cat and mouse game becomes. Because Mother will stop at nothing to make sure the truth dies with her. 

My thoughts:  This sounds like a great character who is about to find her way into her own. And the crazy obsessed mother scenario is intriguing. :)

GIVEAWAY! Maze Runner Movie Tie-In Books

Who's excited for the Maze Runner movie, coming out in September?? I haven't yet read this series, but I will say that the excitement for the movie adaptation has been contagious (especially in my house, Hubby is a huuuuge fan of the whole series.)

Check out the official movie trailer:

So today I have some cool movie tie-in stuff to give away, thanks to the lovely people at Random House!

Here's what one winner will get:

•Movie tie-in edition paperback of The Maze Runner

•Inside the Maze Runner: The Guide to the Glades

This companion book gives you a close-up look at the new movie and an introduction to each character with glossy full-color photos. 

Giveaway rules:

•Must have US mailing address

•Must be 13 or over or have parent permission

•Ends  8/11/14

Enter below to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

New Shelf Goodies & The Weekly Nutshell {96}

For New Shelf Goodies, I'll be showing you what lovely books I acquired this week, whether from publishers, or the library, or from whatever half-crazed book-buying binge I happened to go on. :D (Inspired by Tynga's Stacking the Shelves) The Weekly Nutshell will be just that...my week here at Stories & Sweeties, in a nutshell. (inspired by Ginger @ GReads and her recaps at the end of the TGIF posts)

Traded for:

One Past Midnight by Jessica Shirvington

Been wanting to try this author and I love the sound of this one!

The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco

This looks really creepy! Might save it for closer to Halloween!

For review:

Stray by Elissa Sussman

Gahhh! One of my most anticipated reads of the Fall!

Unwept by Tracy & Laura Hickman

Hearing good and spooky things about this one, so I'm excited to be reading it next!

The Fire Wish by Amber Lough

This sounds incredibly fun---part Prince and Pauper, part Arabian Knights. 

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

This came to me in a book-movie promo pack, which also included a special edition paperback copy and a really cool behind-the-scenes movie companion book. I'll be giving those away this week so watch out for that!

Many thanks to Harper, Tor, & Random House for the review books!

The Weekly Nutshell: 
{Monday} Meet You on Monday: Adaptations

{Wednesday} Waiting on Wednesday: Ticker

{Thursday} Review: Dream Boy by Mary Crockett & Madelyn Rosenberg

Lots of things going on this past week, fun little day trips as summer vacation comes to a close, beach, movie days---somebody please tell me why I always get stuck near the noisy annoying people in the theatre---oh and my wedding anniversary ;) ♥ 
Consequently, I've been reading super slow, but I'm so close to finishing Kiss of Deception and, guys, I can't tell you how much I am loving this book. I know it's getting mixed reviews but I'm just one of those people who it is just truly taken by this story and the way it's written.  So, I'm kind glad to be taking my time with it and savoring a bit.  I'll also be reading Unwept this week---hearing mixed things about this too, so I'm keeping my expectations mediocre and maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised! :D 

Have a great week, everyone! 

 

Dream Boy by Mary Crockett and Madelyn Rosenberg {review}

Dream Boy
by Mary Crockett & Madelyn Rosenberg
♦publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
♦release date: July 1st, 2014
♦paperback, 336 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦source: from publisher for honest review

Annabelle Manning feels like she’s doing time at her high school in Chilton, Virginia. She has her friends at her lunchtime table of nobodies. What she doesn’t have are possibilities. Or a date for Homecoming. Things get more interesting at night, when she spends time with the boy of her dreams. But the blue-eyed boy with the fairytale smile is just that—a dream. Until the Friday afternoon he walks into her chemistry class.

One of friends suspects he’s an alien. Another is pretty sure it’s all one big case of deja vu. While Annabelle doesn’t know what to think, she’s willing to believe that the charming Martin Zirkle may just be her dream come true. But as Annabelle discovers the truth behind dreams—where they come from and what they mean—she is forced to face a dark reality she had not expected. More than just Martin has arrived in Chilton. As Annabelle learns, if dreams can come true, so can nightmares.

Review:  With a surprisingly humorous voice and an intriguing take on blurring dreams and reality, Dream Boy makes a stunning double-debut for these authors. The idea of dreams coming to life may sound familiar to some, both in books and movies, but they’ve managed to give us a world and a group of characters that is all at once funny, thrilling, and imaginative. 

When the boy she has spent countless nights dreaming about comes waltzing into her classroom one day, Annabelle is shocked, confused, and starts to question her own sanity.  She is even more thrown for a loop when he reveals that he is, in fact, that same boy. I can’t say much more without spoiling the curious workings of this world, but things take a frightening turn when she begins to dream of a creepy little girl who threatens to come through as well and kill her.  

Annabelle and her friends were completely relatable and real, feeling much like a normal crew you might encounter at any high school.  I love that she felt comfortable enough with her two friends to tell them what was happening, even though she feared they’d think she was certifiable. I love even more that they stayed by her, whether they believed her or not.  The Dream Boy himself, Josh, later known as Martin, was amusing and mysterious. He almost seemed as flabbergasted at his own presence in the real world as Annabelle was, though he played it cooler.  I would have actually enjoyed just a little more build-up of Annabelle's draw to "Josh" within her dreams to give his sudden appearance in her real life a little more impact.  Will is a charmer, and poor guy, so hopelessly stuck in the friend zone despite his obvious affection for Annabelle.  I loved the easy way they had between them. His playfulness and useless geeky knowledge had me completely endeared to him.

There were twists and turns that came as complete shocks, and even those that may have been a little predictable, but in the best way…meaning at one point I screamed out "I knew it!"  And then caught myself grinning with sheer delight at the turn the story had taken.   If a book can pull that kind of reaction from me, I’d say it’s proof-positive just how invested in the story and characters I am.  There were small story points that seemed just a little muddied, like the story behind the bottle tree and its connection to dreams. Still, what little flaws there were in these pages were mostly overlooked in the name of a fun, surprising, and well-told story.

 Find Mary Crockett online:  Website  •  Twitter  •  Facebook

Find Madelyn Rosenberg online: Website  •  Twitter  •  Facebook

Purchase Dream Boy:  BN.com  •  BookDepository  •  Indiebound 

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It lets us all gush about what soon-to-be released books we are jumping-up-and-down excited for.

 

 

Ticker 

by Lisa Mantchev

 

hitting shelves December 1st, 2014 from Skyscape

 

description:

A girl with a clockwork heart makes every second count.

When Penny Farthing nearly died, the brilliant surgeon Calvin Warwick managed to implant a brass “Ticker,” transforming her into “the first of the Augmented!” But soon it was discovered that Warwick kidnapped and killed dozens of people striving to perfect another Ticker for Penny.

The last day of Warwick’s trial, the Farthing factory is bombed, Warwick disappears, and Penny and her brother, Nic, receive a ransom demand for all of their Augmentation notes if they want to see their parents again. Who is trying to stop their work? Or to control it? Or is the motive more sinister?

Determined to solve the mystery and reunite their family, the Farthings recruit their closest friends: fiery baker Violet Nesselrode and gentleman-about-town Sebastian Stirling. Unexpectedly leading the charge is Marcus Kingsley, the young army general who has his own reasons for wanting to lift the veil between this world and the next. Wagers are placed, friends are lost, romance stages an ambush, and time is running out for the girl with the clockwork heart.

 

My thoughts:  Yay for more from this wonderful author! Her Theatre Illuminata was a most bizarre and mezmerizing series, and I loved it!  I can't wait to see what she does with a steampunk setting! :)

Meet You on Monday: Movie Adaptations

 

Hello, all! Welcome to Meet You on Monday! This is a very new semi-regular feature here: I’m going to be posting a fun question or subject (sometimes book related, sometimes not!) and of course, answer it myself here.  Feel free to answer it also, in the comments or grab the banner and do your own post! Through this feature, I hoping we all get to know each other better! :)

Here's a question for today:

Movie Adaptations: Love them or hate them?

So I'm not just talking about Book-to-Movie, I'm encompassing them all: Cartoon-to-Movie, TV Show-to-Movie, Play or Musical-to-Movie.  But I think as book lovers, movie adaptations are an especially touchy subject for us. Especially YA readers, because after Twilight and Hunger Games and Harry Potter, turning YA/kids books into movies seems to be THE THING TO DO in Hollywood. 

As for me...I don't love them or hate them; but I always go into them with a mixed bag of emotions, mostly excitement with nearly equal parts absolute dread.  And the closer the book is to my own heart, the more extensive the level of dread. Don't get me wrong, I would love to see some of my favorite stories brought to shining life on the big screen.  But as strong as that desire is, the worry is even stronger.  Will they do it justice? Will they change important plot lines? Will the chosen actors completely annihilate my own vision of my favorite characters? Will it just plain suck?

Here's some adaptations that I've loved:

• Now is Good (adapted from Before I Die by Jenny Downham)
• How to Train Your Dragon --- LOVE these movies :)
• Harry Potter
• Hunger Games
• Perks of Being a Wallflower
• Maleficent (I wouldn't say I loved it, but I liked it a lot and I like how they twisted the original story)

And some that I didn't:

•  Most of the Twilight movies---I actually really liked Breaking Dawn pt 2 :)
• Beautiful Creatures (far too many changes made and cheesy acting)

A few forthcoming that I'm really excited about:

• Mockingjay (They've done such a fantastic job of these so far)
• Fallen (Excited but also a bit worried)
•  Maze Runner
• Into the Woods (adapted from the musical,...can't WAIT) 
• The Giver

And lastly, here's a few adaptations that I'd love to see done (done well, that is)

 These would be stunning on-screen.  Though I think I would worry myself sick that it wouldn't be done justice. 

This book is so chock-full of cool steampunk imagery, I would love to see this world come to life. 

Sisters Red would make an awesome movie with all the fenris butt-kicking that goes on.

It would be a bit gruesome with the plague scenes, but awesome with ghostly photography.

With the coming of Into the Woods and Jersey Boys and Les Mis...I'd be happy to see the trend in Musical-to-Movie continue with a Wicked movie.  Then it can be a Movie-adapted-from-a-Musical-adapted-from-a-Book. :D

What do you like? Love adaptation movies or hate them? Fear them, maybe? Any coming out soon that your especially excited for? Any you've really loved that I need to check out?

New Shelf Goodies & The Weekly Nutshell {95}

For New Shelf Goodies, I'll be showing you what lovely books I acquired this week, whether from publishers, or the library, or from whatever half-crazed book-buying binge I happened to go on. :D (Inspired by Tynga's Stacking the Shelves) The Weekly Nutshell will be just that...my week here at Stories & Sweeties, in a nutshell. (inspired by Ginger @ GReads and her recaps at the end of the TGIF posts)

Some lovely stuff came through my mailbox this week...

 For review:

Made For You by Melissa Marr
I've ended up with two of these, so I'll be passing one on to...

Stone Cold Touch by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Interesting! I almost dismissed this because it looked like a NA (I haven't gotten into those) but it turns out it YA! I'll have to track down book 1 now!

Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins
Weeeeeee! :D  That is all...

The Young Elites by Marie Lu 
Oh this looks Gooooood.

Stranger by Rachel Manija Brown & Sherwood Smith
So intrigued by this one! Have you read the description yet? If not, do!

Atlantia by Ally Condie
This one was a surprise, but I'm excited! Will be interesting to see Ally Condie take on a this underwater world!

Many thanks to Goldberg McDuffie, Harper Teen, Harlequin Teen, and Penguin for these! 

The Weekly Nutshell:

  In case you missed it:   ALA Vegas Recap
{Tuesday} Top Ten Tuesday: TV Favorites! 
{Wednesday} Waiting on Wednesday: A Murder of Magpies

{Thursday} Review: Strange and Ever After by Susan Dennard

This week I finished up Dream Boy, which was such a fun read---I'll be reviewing it this week. Now I'm reading Kiss of Deception, which I am loving so far.   The main character..wow. She had me rooting for her after the very first chapter. Hopefully it holds up its fantastic pace and tension.  I've set aside My Last Kiss for now; maybe it's just not the right time for it or maybe it wasn't for me...not ready to officially DNF it just yet. I just couldn't get into it.  Other than that, things are pretty low key in life right now LOL. It's a bit nice, for once.  :)

Have a great week, everyone! Happy reading! 

Strange and Ever After by Susan Dennard {review}

Strange and Ever After 
by Susan Dennard
♦publisher: HarperTeen
♦release date: July 22th 2014
♦hardcover, 400 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦series: Something Strange and Deadly, book 3
  review of book 1
  review of book 2
  *NOTE: description and review may contain slight spoilers for book 1 in this series! *

In the conclusion to the trilogy that Publishers Weekly called “a roaring—and addictive—gothic world,” Eleanor Fitt must control her growing power, face her feelings for Daniel, and confront the evil necromancer Marcus...all before it’s too late.

He took her brother, he took her mother, and now, Marcus has taken her good friend Jie. With more determination than ever to bring this sinister man to justice, Eleanor heads to the hot desert streets of nineteenth-century Egypt in hopes of ending this nightmare. But in addition to her increasingly tense relationships with Daniel, Joseph, and her demon, Oliver, Eleanor must also deal with her former friend, Allison, who has curiously entangled herself in Eleanor’s mission.

With the rising dead chomping at her every move and Jie’s life hanging in the balance, Eleanor is convinced that her black magic will see her through to the bitter end. But there will be a price. Though she and the Spirit Hunters have weathered every battle thus far, there will be consequences to suffer this time—the effects of which will be irreversible. And when it’s over, only some will be able to live a strange and ever after.

Susan Dennard will leave readers breathless and forever changed in the concluding pages of this riveting ride.

Review: In this third and final quest for Eleanor and her friends, this steampunk adventure trilogy comes to a fantastic end.  Strange and Ever After starts off with a daring airship rescue of their friend Jie, and then sweeps the reader off to exotic Egypt in their pursuit to stop Marcus, the man responsible for raising the dead across two continents.  Along with that, Eleanor and Oliver seek out the mysterious The Black Pullet, a feat that will fulfill his final command from Elijah and allow him to be set free.  As they come closer and go deeper into danger, Eleanor’s magic heightens, often pulling her unwillingly “behind the curtain” into the afterlife where a spirit jackal seems to trying to get her attention. 

Once again, this trilogy had me completely mesmerized. As with the second book in the series, I found myself having to force myself to put it down.  I’ve only grown more attached to this fun band of characters, especially Eleanor and Daniel and their slow growth towards letting each other in. Their relationship proves a complicated one, with the constant tension over Eleanor’s use of magic and also because Daniel’s love lies with Eleanor, but his strongest trust and loyalty lies solidly with Joseph and Jie. As for Oliver, despite several moments of doubting the sincerity of his friendship, he completely captured my heart by the time all was said and done. 

Eleanor is tested to the very limits of her magical and emotional strength and beyond.  In the rage of this final battle, she and her friends will both triumph and lose so much. This series definitely doesn’t tie itself up in a pretty little Victorian bow; a few harsh twists, one in particular, are likely to rip reader’s hearts right out. The grand finale to this wonderful series gives us a perfectly imperfect ending. If you love action, adventure, magic,  steampunk, and can stomach a bit of gore that comes along with the rising dead, this series will thrill you from start to finish.

Find Susan Dennard online: Website  •  Twitter  •  Facebook

Purchase: BN.com  •  BookDepository  •  Indiebound

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It lets us all gush about what soon-to-be released books we are jumping-up-and-down excited for.

A Murder of Magpies

by Sarah Bromley

hitting shelves October 28th, 2014 from Month9Books

description:

Winter in Black Orchard, Wisconsin, is long and dark, and sixteen-year-old Vayda Silver prays the snow will keep the truth and secrecy of the last two years buried. Hiding from the past with her father and twin brother, Vayda knows the rules: never return to the town of her mother’s murder, and never work a Mind Game where someone might see.

No one can know the toll emotions take on Vayda, how emotion becomes energy in her hands, or how she can’t control the destruction she causes. But it's not long before her powers can no longer be contained. The truth is dangerously close to being exposed, placing Vayda and her family at risk.

Until someone quiets the chaos inside her.

Unwanted. That's all Ward Ravenscroft has ever been. To cope, he numbs the pain of rejection by denying himself emotions of any kind. Yet Vayda stirs something in him. He can't explain the hold she has on him--inspiring him with both hope and fear. He claims not to scare easily, except he doesn't know what her powers can do. Yet.

Just as Vayda and Ward draw closer, she finds the past isn't so easily buried. And when it follows the Silvers to Black Orchard, it has murder in mind.

My thoughts:  This sounds dark and mysterious, and I love the tagline on the cover. It has me so intrigued.  And can I just say---Month 9 Books has the most amazing art department! I don't think I've seen a dud cover yet from them. This one is especially gorgeous!

Top Ten Tuesdays: TV Show Favorites!

I don't know why I don't participate in this meme more often...I love making lists :D Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  To find out more and check out future topics, click on over there!!

This weeks topic is TV shows or Movies. I love way too many movies, but strangely I don't really get into too many TV shows. Here, though, are a few that I've really loved.  Seems like the shows I love don't always make it past two seasons LOL, not sure what that says about my taste xD. Quirky, I guess? 

The Twilight Zone

 I grew up watching Twilight Zone rerun marathons with my Mom, pretty much everytime we caught one on TV. I suppose it's part of what gave me love for the eerie and paranormal!

Dead Like Me

This show was so fun, about a girl who gets killed by a toilet seats that falls back to earth from an exploded space shuttle. She gets tapped to be a grim reaper and must learn the ropes of taking souls. Great, great hilarious dialogue. 

The Catherine Tate Show

 

This a british skit comedy which I started watching just to see what else "Donna" from Doctor Who could do! I thought it was kind of stupid at first, but it quickly grew on me and it's now probably one of the most quoted shows in my house. :D

Gilmore Girls

LOVE me some Gilmore Girls. We have the collector's edition full series...my daughter and I do a rewatch every year. I'm thinking it's almost that time again...

Pretty Little Liars

 I turned up my nose at this one at first, but my daughter got me watching it eventually and now I'm hooked.  Oh, those outits---sometimes really cute, sometimes completely ridiculous! But always fun to watch.

Monk

Aw, Monk. OCD detective in San Francisco. Hubby and I loved this one, but I think watching it only made us more germaphobic right along with Monk. :)

 Wonderfalls

 Like I said...quirky. And director Brian Grazer does quirky so well. Dead Like Me is also one of his. This one was about a girl who starts hearing voices from stuffed animals and statues, basically anything inanimate with a mouth would talk to her. 

Pushing Daisies

 Another Brian Grazer.  Loved this show so much. The style of it is so cool, kind of retro and fun. And a bit dark, since Ned ( Lee Pace) can bring people back the dead with a touch, so of course he uses it to solve crimes for the reward money LOL.

Downton Abbey

 Gorgeous and soapy...and the costumes!! I swoon for vintage frocks.

 Doctor Who

 I admit it. Freely and proudly. I'm a Whovian. I adore this show...little nervous about the new Doctor but I'm sure it will be ok (please, be ok). David Tennant will always be my Doctor (and this scene above will always be one of my favorite heartbreaking moments of the show).  He was the hands-down best Doctor, but Matt Smith had most of the best stories (Vincent and the Doctor---favorite episode ever. Makes me cry every time).

  Sherlock

 I've seen all different version of Sherlock Holmes, but with this show, BBC nailed it. It's so amazing. Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch are absolutely perfect in these roles. It's freaking torture that there are only a few episodes per series and looooong lengths of time between each one.

So there it is! My TV life!  Pretty much the only other things I watch on TV are HGTV (House Hunters International is my fave) and The Graham Norton Show on BBC (most hilarious talk show ever!). Oh and the occasionally competition show (Face Off, The Voice)  What's your TV life like?

ALA Las Vegas Recap!

In the last days of June, at the height of the Las Vegas heat, librarians, publishers, teachers and book enthusiasts from all over the country converged on Sin City for the American Library Association Annual Conference for a week full of learning sessions, networking, and books, books, books.  This was a big one, people. I’ve been to ALA twice before, and this one was more crowded and just a little wilder that normal.  Must have been the Vegas vibe creeping in. Or perhaps it was, at least partly, because of a special appearance by comic book creator, father of Spiderman himself, Stan Lee.  The exhibits opened with a frenzy, as Disney-Hyperion had announced earlier that only 100 coveted wristbands would be handed out, and only those with wristbands would get to meet Mr. Lee and get his new novel.  Needless to say, there was some pushing and shoving and running—but what can you do. The man is a legend, I suppose. Luckily it wasn't a top priority for me, so I let the sea of craziness waft by me, and made my into the Exhibits. :)

book vending machine!

Some know this already, but along with being a book blogger, I’ve also worked at my public library for nearly 14 years.  It makes ALA doubly fascinating for me, getting to see what newfangled ideas
are coming to the libraries of the future! Things like book vending machines, automated check-in machines, fancy robotics that take books from one floor of a library to the next.  Such cool ideas.

As always, the best thing about ALA is the fact that you are in a giant room full of thousands of book lovers.  Chatting with all the publishers that I usually only email back and forth with is fantastic, hearing what books they are most excited about and also hearing about how much they love the libraries and what we  do.  Meeting other book bloggers is the best, and also catching up with those that I’ve met before. Somehow I never remember to get pics with anyone! LOL, we just chat away and don't even think about it for some silly reason! Next time! :)

So the amount of signings this time around was what really astounded me.  Little Brown especially seemed to have signing after signing, one right after the other.  I found myself choosing my battles this time around, usually because there were other signings I wanted to make it to at the same time, and when it came to the especially hairy lines (Maggie Steifvater's line looped across three aisles!), I decided to pass. But I definitely had a blast meeting all of these authors!

 From top: Colleen Gleason, Josephine Angelini, Kendal Kulper, Marcus Sedgwick, Ryan Graudin, Victoria Schwab, and Kate Boorman.  There were more that I didn't photograph...the whole experience is just too overwhelming sometimes! LOL

Some of my Fangirl-ier moments:

Meeting David Levithan for the first time!!!

I almost completely lost it when I met Judy Blume. The woman is the pinnacle of my childhood and teenage reading and I told her so. :) She gave me this awesome sweet smile and told me how much it meant to her to hear it. My life is more complete for this moment! :)

A.S. King holds a special place in my heart! Her Dust of 100 Dogs was one of the first books I reviewed here at Stories & Sweeties...it was actually the one I was currently reading when I decided to start this little blog almost 5 years ago!

Here's Jay Asher.  It was incredible to meet him, and tell him how much my daughter and I loved his book.  He told me to tell her hi and I passed on the message. And a few days later, this happened:

OMG I can't tell you how much this made her day!  She was jumping up and down like a puppy. The girl has met many authors before, but she was so thrilled to get this tweet from one of her very favorites!  Best post-conference moment ever! :D 

SOOOO, I don't suppose you want to see what lovely books I picked up?

 You do?

Well, ok then! 

There were a few more than this...and some lovely cookbooks from the What's Cooking stage (we brought the husbands with us, and this was their favorite part LOL) and quite a few kids books that I grabbed for my son. But these are some of my favorites from the YA finds:

If I had to pick one that I am absolutely MOST excited about it would have to be Jackaby (see my WoW post about this to see why!).  And there was only one book that I heard S&S dropped and I missed it and I was so crushed...was Winterspell (if anyone has it and wants to do some trading, let me know please!)

 I feel so fortunate to have been able to make this trip, to have met so many awesome people, and gotten some really incredible books! Over the next few weeks, I'll be sorting through everything and doing some ALA giveaways and also some shelf-clearing giveaways.  It was another fantastic conference, we had a great time, but I am glad to be back from the 110 degree weather! Dry heat or not, 110 hurts!

Hurrah for next ALA Annual being in San Francisco!! Right down the road from me AND (usually) gorgeous weather in the summertime!  Anyone already planning to go?

Cover Story

Gorgeous covers popping up all over the web lately!!

 A Wicked Thing

by Rhiannon Thomas

HarperTeen, February 25th, 2015

Beastkeeper
by Cat Hellison
Henry Holt, February 3rd 2015

The Boy with the Hidden Name

by Skylar Dorset

Sourcebooks Fire, December 2nd, 2014

The Cemetery Boys

by Heather Brewer

HarperCollins, March 30th, 2015

Charisma

by Jeanne Ryan

Dial, March 3rd, 2015

I Was Here
by Gayle Forman
Viking Juvenile, January 27th, 2015

Liars, Inc.

by Paula Stokes

HarperTeen, March 24th. 2015

Lifer
by Beck Nicholas
Month9Books, December16th, 2014

The Stars Never Rise

by Rachel Vincent

Delacorte Press, June 9th, 2015

Waistcoats & Weaponry
by Gail Carriger
Little Brown BYR, November 4th, 2014


Ahhhh! The steampunk fan!!! Gail Carriger mentioned that the new cover would feature this intricate weapon at her Petaluma signing! I'm so excited to finally see it!




What do you think? See any new faves? I am loving the Stars Never Rise cover, A Wicked Thing is just gorgeous, and I adore the Beastkeeper cover---reminds me of the original Sisters Red series covers. Oh, how I miss those! Also love the uniqueness of the bunny cover on Charisma. Definitely gets it's point across!