Super Six Sunday: My six favorite author encounters!!

Super Six Sunday is a meme hosted by the fabulous Bewitched Bookworms. Join in the fun...see upcoming themes here!!

One of the most exciting things about being a book blogger and all-round book lover is meeting the wonderful people who give us these amazing stories to read.
In the past three years, I've definitely been lucky in being able to meet some of my very favorites.  Here are my top 6!!

Anna Carey
Such a sweet person to chat with. When I met her I had recently interviewed her on the blog and she remembered the cupcake question.  She signed my book "To Becky, My Sweetie!" :D

 Stephanie Perkins

This girl has so much fun energy!  I saw her and Maureen Johnson together in San Francisco and they both looked like there were have a blast together.

Tahereh Mafi

If you ever have a chance to meet this amazing author, TAKE IT.  She is so inspiring and fun to hear speak.

Jackson Pearce

I got meet Jackson Pearce at ALA. She is one of my favorites, so I was just so greatful to finally catch her on one of her rare visits to the west coast!

Ransom Riggs

Another amazing author to hear speak. SO much great writing advice and lots of funny stories. That's Michelle Gagnon and Tahereh Mafi on either side of him, and the three of them together were hilarious.

Kendare Blake

I met Kendare at ALA last year and her's was my most-wanted book at the conference.  I think she was the first author to tell me she knew my blog so you can image just how much that made my day!!

So that's my list!!  It's always fun to meet great our favorite authors and I hope I can meet many more in the coming years! :) 

Event Report! Maureen Johnson and Stephanie Perkins in San Francisco (& signed Anna and the French Kiss Giveaway!!)

This past Wednesday, I was lucky enough to be able to attend an awesome book event in San Francisco. Maureen Johnson and Stephanie Perkins were there to talk books and sign copies of their two new releases, The Name of the Star and Lola & the Boy Next Door. OH,...and they served cupcakes. :P


Yummy Books AND Yummy Cupcakes!

These two ladies are completely hilarious together. They play so well off of each other, it's like watching stand-up comedy. They came out wearing pirate hats that they had just bought on their tour of the city. They later explained that they had gotten them at 826 Valencia, a local San Fran non-profit organization that holds teen writing workshops.

An audience Q & A session began and the hilarity continued. There was talk of books and writing, the pointlessness of book banning (I didn't know one of Maureen's books had been challenged! I will be reading The Bermudez Triangle very soon!), characters, themes, and not letting anything stop you if you want to write. They talked about NaNoWriMo (November! It's coming up soon!) They talked about where they get their ideas and inspirations---Maureen let the secret out that there are tiny raccoons in her head that go forth and gather shiny pieces of ideas and information and bring it back to her head. xD Stephanie talked about how she researched Paris for Anna and the French Kiss just through books and movies and internet research and the awesome satisfaction of finally getting to travel there and finding that she'd portrayed it right. It was the perfect lesson for any aspiring writer: don't let anything stand in your way. Even if you can't travel to your story's location, there is always a way to make it come alive on the page. I was glad to have my daughter with me so she could hear all that, as she's decided she wants to be a writer someday!

Sorry for the blurry pics! These were from my phone and my husband snapped it in mid-animated conversation! Stephanie was so sweet and completely adorable. I was completely floored that she remembered the blog when I mentioned I was a book blogger!







Maureen & Stephanie graciously signed tons of books (one girl brought a total of 11 books---that number won her Maureen's pirate hat when they gave them away!) and were sweet enough to pose for pics. This is Stephanie, me, and of course, my silly boy, Declan (recognize him from my profile pic? He's gotten big since then!) The kid will talk to anyone, and happily chatted away to both authors!




Here's my lovely signed books! I did also get my copy of Anna signed.

* * * * * * *

So I DID get one more thing!! I picked up an extra paperback of Anna and the French Kiss and got it signed by the wonderful Stephanie Perkins. I got it just for one of YOU!! If you want to win it, comment below with your email and I'll choose one lucky winner!! I have to keep this one in the US (sorry!) and I'll run this one until 10/31. Good luck, St. Claire fans!! :D

Review: Anna and the French Kiss

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

publisher: Dutton

release date: December 2, 2010

hardcover, 372 pages

intended audience: Young adult

rating:




source: purchased copy

description: Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris—until she meets Étienne St. Claire: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.

As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near-misses end with the French kiss Anna—and readers—have long awaited?

Review: You'd be hard pressed to find a less than glowing and slightly giddy review of this book. So before you even read this review, I will tell you right now---you won't find one here either. Anna and the French Kiss is about as close to a perfect reading experience as one would ever hope to find. It's nearly impossible to focus on whether the writing technique was exceptional or the story arch was perfect (which I'm quite sure they were), because once you start reading about Anna and St. Clair and Mel and Rashmi and Josh---you are completely and utterly immersed in a feeling. This will be a book that I'm going to reach for time and time again whenever I feel like I need my spirits lifted, or I need to lose myself in a far off place, or I need the comfort of friends when mine are all away. Anna and the French Kiss is comfort food in book form.

Anna's experience in Paris was sheer wonder. I would love to go to Paris someday, but who knows if I ever will. The sights and surroundings are so beautifully described that I feel one step closer to being there and experiencing it. But that was not what made this story so great for me. Her experience with this little group of close-knit friends and with Etienne St. Claire were so spot-on and real and were about so many situations that eveyone can easily relate to. Things like facing a new and unfamiliar world head on and being brave enough to get out there and experience it on your own. And having friends you can really lean on in rough times and want to stand up for, and sometimes those that unintentionally hurt us, and the question of whether or not to forgive. And of course, falling in love, and the doubt and miscommunications and uncertainty that comes with it...and the wonder of finally getting there. The chemistry between Anna and St. Claire both as best friends and two people who are falling for each other is irresistible. There are all these delicious little romantic scenes that I found myself going back to read four or five times. And with Anna being overseas, and each of them being sort of one their own and far from family, it beautifully touches on the subject of "home" and what exactly that can mean to each person. What more can I say...it was just wonderful.

Ah, St. Claire---next to my husband, I don't think any man has made me laugh so much in a long time! :D

On a side note: I'm glad St. Claire face wasn't shown on the cover---ever girl should have to chance to create a vision of their own St. Claire! While both my daughter and I would love to see this on the big screen, I would be terrified of the casting of St. Claire. I think a lot of fans of this book would agree, it would be hard to live up to the picture of him in my head and also to pull off his impeccable sense of humor! ;)

Visit Stephanie Perkins site here.

Purchase Anna and the French Kiss at: Amazon • BN.com • BookDepository • Indiebound

One more side note: Another reason I giggled through this book---my daughter, who read this way before me, kept interrupting me to ask "Isn't is awesome?" :D