My Meg Cabot Story: A Meg-A-Readers Blog Hop Post

My Meg story starts about 10 or so years ago. I saw The Princess Diaries movie and absolutely loved it, but it took me a while before I found my way to the book. There was actually a time where I wasn't much of a reader and like all I read was V.C. Andrews and Terry Pratchett.

Eventually I did find my way to the Princess Diaries series but since I had no idea how book-to-film adaptations worked (and also thought the first book was in prose, for some reason, and I didn't like that, I guess), I skipped the first book and started with the second. I was in for quite the change. But even so, I LOVED it and continued reading all of Meg's books that were out at that time and kept tabs on her upcoming books, buying each new release the day it came out. In 2004, I joined Meg's new book forums and have been a member of it since then and that broadened my perspective on reading, giving me more new authors to read like Louise Rennison, Rachel Vail, and Michele Jaffe.



In 2007, I started this blog a month before Meg's stand alone release Jinx came out and I wanted to interview her to help promote the release, though she doesn't really need promoting. I emailed her a month before I wanted to post the interview because I knew she'd be busy. She replied less than 48 hours later, saying yes and also offering an advance copy of Jinx. I, being new to this whole blogging thing, was like "Oh no, I'm just a regular person. I'll buy the book." But she was having none of it, saying that ARCs were for people like me (i.e. bloggers/reviewers). I'm not gonna argue with Meg, so I gave her my address. She ended up sending me all her 2007 summer releases and lots of swag- it was my first package as a blogger. Meg continues to be a champion for bloggers and I absolutely love that she values all that we do.

Since then, we've kept in touch (I've interviewed her like 3 more times) and I absolutely love that I can email with one of my favorite authors. We've met in person twice, once in 2005 at the National Book Festival and the other time last year at a Scholastic blogger event. It was fantastic having Meg recognize me immediately and give me a hug. It was amazing to chat with her in person and we got a picture together, which made me happy!

Meg Cabot has been a huge influence on me and I cannot thank her enough. My life would've been so different without her books and support. Meg, you're an inspiration and I hope you continue writing books for a long time to come!

In My Mailbox- BEA Edition

I have two parts of my BEA haul- so many books! I also didn't realize that I was holding the books too high- sorry!






Books Shown:

Beta by Rachel Cohn (signed)
The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde
Once Every Never by Lesley Livingston (signed; thanks to Cindy of Cindy's Love of Books!)
Tim Gunn's Fashion Bible by Tim Gunn (signed sampler)
Skylark by Meagan Spooner (signed)
The Butterfly Clues by Kate Ellison (signed)
When You Were Mine by Rebecca Serle (signed)
Burn for Burn by Siobhan Vivian and Jenny Han
Daylight Saving by Edward Hogan
Freakling by Lana Krumwiede
Gold Medal Summer by Donna Freitas
Devine Intervention by Martha Brockenbrough
The Spindlers by Lauren Oliver
The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
Matched by Ally Condie
Stella Batts #1 and 2 by Courtney Sheinmel (#2 signed)
Carnival of Souls by Melissa Marr
Demon Eyes by Scott Tracey (signed)
The Blessed by Tonya Hurley (signed)
Venom by Fiona Paul
Innocent Darkness by Suzanne Lazear (signed)
Drink Slay Love by Sarah Beth Durst (signed)

Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes
Shadows by Ilsa J. Bick
Rift by Andrea Cremer (signed)
The Future We Left Behind by Mike A. Lancaster
Hourglass by Myra McEntire (signed)
Narc by Crissa-Jean Chappell (signed)
Ferocity Summer by Alissa Grosso
Flock by Wendy Delsol (signed)
Prodigy by Marie Lu (signed)
Eve and Adam by Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate (signed)
The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer (signed)
The Diviners by Libba Bray (signed)
Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger (signed)
The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth (signed)
Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick (signed)
False Memory by Dan Krokos (signed)
Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone (signed)
The Innocents by Lili Peloquin (thanks Emily of Emily's Reading Room!)
Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans
Adaptation by Malinda Lo (signed)
Origin by Jessica Khoury
Eternally Yours by Cate Tiernan
The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken (signed)
Fathomless by Jackson Pearce (signed)
The Art of Men (I Prefer Mine Al Dente) by Kirstie Alley (signed postcard)
Chosen Ones by Tiffany Truitt
Redemption by Veronique Launier

3 Below by Patrick Carman
Willow Springs by Toni Blake
And When She Was Gone by Laura Lippman
Welcome Back to Pietown by Lynne Hinton
And Laughter Fell From the Sky by Jyotsna Sreenivasan
Because Sometimes You Just Gotta Draw a Cover With Your Left Hand: A Pearls Before Swine Collection by Stephan Pastis (signed; not shown)

BEA Fun!

I will be at Book Expo America this week so there will be no posts unfortunately! But when I get back, I'll have tons to tell you. I'm so excited to be going.

If you're going, I hope to see you there!! I'll be on the BEA floor every day and then in the evenings, I have a Scholastic party on Monday night, Teen Author Carnival and a Little, Brown party Tuesday night, and then an Author/Blogger Rooftop Party on Wednesday night.

If you're not going, be sure to check out Armchair BEA for tons of awesome stuff (including giveaways!!)!

See you next week!

In My Mailbox- Week of May 27 + Retrospective

I did a vlog this week to show off all my pre-BEA books so that when I get back from BEA, the video will only be 16 minutes long instead of 20 minutes. :) Enjoy!



Books Shown:

Beach Colors by Shelley Noble (paperback, June 2012)
Dreamless by Josephine Angelini (hardcover, May 2012)
Arise by Tara Hudson (hardcover, May 2012)
The Lost Code by Kevin Emerson (hardcover, May 2012)
Until I Die by Amy Plum (hardcover, May 2012)
Insurgent by Veronica Roth (hardcover, May 2012)
The Turning by Francine Prose (ARC, Sept 2012)
Glass Heart by Amy Garvey (ARC, Sept 2012)
Ten by Gretchen McNeil (ARC, Sept 2012)
Crown of Embers by Rae Carson (ARC, Sept 2012)
The Dead Girls Detective Agency by Suzy Cox (ARC, Sept 2012)
Sweet Shadows by Tera Lynn Childs (ARC, Sept 2012)
Fang Girl by Helen Keeble (ARC, Sept 2012)
What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang (ARC, Sept 2012)
The Other Normals by Ned Vizzini (ARC, Sept 2012)
Hidden by Sophie Jordan (ARC, Sept 2012)
A Fractured Light by Jocelyn Davies (ARC, Sept 2012)
All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin (paperback, June 2012)
Because It Is My Blood by Gabrielle Zevin (ARC, Sept 2012)
Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone by Kat Rosenfield (ARC, July 2012)
Tokyo Heist by Diana Renn (ARC, June 2012)
No Safety in Numbers by Dayna Lorentz (hardcover, May 2012)
Rescue Me by Rachel Gibson (paperback, May 2012)
Destined by Aprilynne Pike (hardcover, May 2012)
Arranged by Catherine McKenzie (paperback, May 2012)
The Unquiet by Jeannine Garsee (ARC, July 2012)
For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund (hardcover, June 2012)
Ascendent by Diana Peterfreund (paperback, June 2012)
Delirium by Lauren Oliver (paperback, February 2012)
The Selection by Kiera Cass (hardcover, April 2012)
Rivals by Lauren Kunze and Rina Onur (hardcover, March 2012)
The Fame Game by Lauren Conrad (hardcover, April 2012)
Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris (hardcover, April 2012)
Summer and the City by Candace Bushnell (paperback, March 2012)
Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver (hardcover, March 2012)

and here's my retrospective:

Tuesday- I reviewed Another Jekyll, Another Hyde by Daniel and Dina Nayeri, which is out in stores now!

Thursday- I reviewed Keep Holding On by Susane Colasanti, which is out in stores now!

Saturday- I reviewed The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater, which is out in stores now!

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
"Some race to win. Others race to survive.

It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line.

Some riders live.

Others die.

At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.

Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn't given her much of a choice. So she enters the competition - the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen."- summary from Amazon

So I read this book in a weird way- the first half on audio, then finishing with my ARC because I had to take the audiobook back to the library. But it was a nice way. I keep meaning to listen to Stiefvater's books on audio and I heard such wonderful things about this one, I decided to give it a try. I really thought the voice actors did a great job reading the book. I seriously felt as if I were there, which in part is due to Stiefvater's atmospheric prose. Both actors did their respective parts well (I particularly enjoyed hearing the Sean narrator say "Sean" at the beginning of each of his chapters- I know, weird.) and kept the secondary characters' voices consistent throughout the book. The audio is definitely worth a look; plus, there's music by and an interview with Stiefvater included.

Reading the book was different. It was interesting seeing all the names and places that I'd heard spelled out in front of me. I did still feel the same way though, as if I were there on Thisby with these characters following their story. Stiefvater did a great job writing both Puck and Sean and I liked seeing their perspectives on the same events. I also liked their relationship- it felt natural with how slow it moved and what eventually ended up happening. It was handled really well.

I will say though that this book took me like a month to read/listen to because I just didn't feel compelled to read on. I was interested while I was reading, but it wasn't necessarily an appointment book for me. So that's a bit of a drawback.

Overall though, a good standalone effort from Stiefvater.

FTC: Received ARC from publisher (at BEA last year!); audiobook came from local library. Link above is an Amazon Associate link; any profit goes toward funding contests.