SLJ: Day of Dialog:

Last Wednesday, I was lucky enough to attend the SLJ Day of Dialog. It was my first time and it was amazing! It was a day filled with laughter, information, and best of all books! For more insight into the day, check out the official hashtag on Twitter: #sljdod13

Read more at the Hub

BEA 2013 Recap: Part 2

After the Harlequin Teen Blogger Breakfast, I hit the floor. While I had a plan, I didn't go too crazy.

I loved talked with people in line and meeting different librarians and bloggers and book people. I love meeting people who adore books as much as I do!

I started by hitting up the publishers' booth, checking out the galleys and the book cover posters on the wall. I loved these Lego statues in the DK booth. They were amazing and every time I walked by, people were always taking pictures.

I saw these really fun balloon animals, which were really fun. 

I saw Eloisa James and chatted with her. She was SO nice! 

I met Brad Meltzer, who was really funny.

I saw Arthur Levine and Kazu Kibuishi posing in front of the new cover for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

I hung out with Greg from the Wimpy Kids books

I met Lauren Kate, who signed Teardrop - which will make a great summer reading prize for a teen at my library.

I got to meet Stephanie Evanovich who signed Big Girl Panties, which I can't wait to read

Super excited for both the Evanovich books! I came upon the Heist unexpectedly as well as Awaken. I hadn't heard of Mister Max, but loved Cynthia Voigt's Tillerman series. Excited to read something new from her and it sounds great. Also happy for the new sister book from Roeckers.  

Big books that I got at the SLJ Day of Dialog the day before (Post appearing on Friday at the Hub) that I'm really exciting to read! Getting Crown of Midnight was the one book I wanted and I can't wait to dive into it and savor it!

These books look like great summer reading prizes for teens and I know they will LOVE them. 

I picked up some signed romance books for the library collection. Romance books are HUGE at our library. I can't wait to read a few of them.

Now I need to update my purchasing list for the library as there are SO many great teen and tween books coming out soon!!!! Happy I could learn about them.

BEA: Harlequin Teen Blogger Breakfast

On Wednesday morning, I was lucky enough to attend the Harlequin Teen blogger breakfast.

Here's the room set up:

And a snapshot of the tables with books: 

The panel featured: Elizabeth Scott (Heartbeat), Julie Kagawa (Eternity Cure), Katie McGarry (Dare You To), and Amanda Sun (Ink)

Each of the author spoke about her book. Then they (along with the editors for Harlequin Teen) sat at each table for five minutes. We chatted over breakfast, had books signed, and mingled with our tables. 

As a librarian blogger, it's interested to watch the dynamics of the room. The YA blogger community is tight. So many hugs happened. So much excitement to see everyone. It was refreshing and sweet. 

At our table: 

Editors/Publishers talked about Netgalley and how what they look for when approving bloggers. They take a look at the whole first page of your blog - checking for over 100 followers, a few comments on posts to see the interaction, and how often your blog.  It was interesting to hear what they determined successful in order to gain access to e-galleys. 

We talked about negative reviews vs critical reviews and RESPECT. There was talk about the author/blogger relationship in regards to RESPECT.

We talked about how we got into blogging.

Elizabeth Scott talked about her inspiration for her book - how her husband reads the obituaries and pointed one out to her. She saw a very short one about a pregnant woman who died. She had a what if moment - what if the baby survived while the mother didn't....and that became Heartbeat.

Julie Kagawa talked about her hobbies - creating clay dragon figures.

Katie McGarry talked about switching it up with the golden boy falling for the bad girl. 

Amanda Sun talked about her love for Japan and her mission to bring more hot Asian boys to YA Lit. She spend time in Japan and made Ink come alive so much, it's like taking a trip to Japan yourself. Plus, she loves food - which you'll find in her book.

It was a fabulous way to start off the morning! 

What's On My Hold List (51)

My Librarian friend Jess from I Read to Relax came up with a great idea.  It's to highlight the books on hold 

Because BEA was last week, I don't have too much this week and I won't be putting too much on hold in the near future. But here's what I do have...

 I haven't been reading enough mysteries.

Good, the Bad, and the Witchy: Really enjoy this series - looking forward to the celebration turned deadly.

Diva Frosts a Cupcake: So curious to where this book is going after the last one! Love this series.

Gluten for Punishment: 1st in a new series which features a bakeshop!

Tween Tuesday Review: Lawless

M. Freeman knows nothing about her parents' past, but she's about to find out. Her father was a legend at the Lawless School - where she just had an interview.

When she accepts the position, she unknowingly sets pieces into motion. Upon her arrival, she makes a grand entrance. She's different from the other students - she's been trained for this her whole life with homeschooling but she knows nothing about the school history.

Now M has a chance to join the society her father created - the Masters. In order to be accepted, she must plan and pull off a heist. There's only one target she wants to acquire - the takeaway Rembrandt but does she have the skills to make her one of them?

My Thoughts: I'm a sucker for heist books and I'm so happy this is the first of a new series. I love that it combined boarding school with art and heists. I love books that make me look up things (like the Takeaway Rembrandt). I enjoyed the plot twists, not knowing which characters to trust, and the games played at the school. I liked unraveling M's family history along with her and understanding more about the school. Already looking forward to the next book in the series!

Cover Thoughts: I love it! I love how there's a different photo on the back.
Source: My Library
The Takeaway Rembrandt - most stolen painting (4 times)

Top Ten Tuesday

This week's topic: Top Ten Books Featuring Travel In Some Way (road trips, airplanes, travelogues, anything where there is traveling in the book!). I'm splitting this up into Road Trips and Travel.

- meme from The Broke and the Bookish

Traveling

1. Anna and the French Kiss
2. Statistically Probability of Love at First Sight
3. In Your Room
4. A Year in Europe
5. Great Call of China 

Road Trips

1. Amy and Roger's Epic Detour
2. Drive Me Crazy
3. Wherever Nina Lies
4. Ex-Mas
5. How to be Bad

Review: Maid Of Secrets

I was able to participate in the Maid Of Secrets blog tour where I interviewed Jane. Now, here's my book review. 

Meg's a master of disguises, which she puts to good use stealing from the crowd gathered around the acting troupe. When she's caught, she's given a choice: work for the Queen or rot in a dungeon cell where her fellow actors of the troupe would be hunted down and killed.

Without much of a choice, Meg chooses to work for the Queen. She's amazed to discover the spy service for the queen. She's taught proper courtly manners and defend herself. She has not let learned to read, though she would rather die than tell anyone. She can recite back anything she hears, but doesn't want to let out her secret. Meg soon learns there are rarely secrets among spies.

As she's given her first assignment, Meg comes to understand just what's at stake. Someone's plotting against the Queen. Someone wants to stir up trouble at court. Someone wants to force the Queen to marry and have a male helping her rule. Meg's job is locate the source of the trouble; but it's hard to root out evil when she doesn't know who she can trust.

My Thoughts:  I loved this book for the court intrigue, the secrets, the maids, the secret passageways, and the romance. I loved watching Meg understand her role as a Queen's spy, figuring out who to trust and finding friends. I loved watching her playing the games of court. Meg's fierce, loyal, and determined - everything I like in character. I liked learning more about Elizabethan England and her court. I loved the cat and mouse games played by Meg and Rafe.  Plot twists, danger, and an intriguing romance kept me furiously turning these pages!

Cover Thoughts: Love it!
Source: My Library
Try it if you like: Grave Mercy