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- Top Ten Tuesday: Authors I Want to Meet
  
  Posted at 3:45 am by Laura, on May 12, 2015
  
  Top Ten Tuesday, a concept started by The Broke and the Bookish, is a themed post that connects bloggers to bloggers, bloggers to readers, and readers to readers. Every Tuesday has a special topic, and this Tuesday is Top Ten Authors I Really Want to Meet.
  
  I’m assuming this meant authors who are still alive today. That is why Charlotte Brontë and Jane Austen aren’t on this list. (That is the only reason why they are not on this list.) Those who are on the list are ones I’m dying to have a face-to-face conversation with. I want to take them out for coffee/tea/long islands and chat books, movies, music, history, travel, life. But I guess a short meet-and-greet in a signing line would be fine, too…
  
  Rainbow Rowell
  I’ve seen that you’ve been to my city so many times and yet, every single time, without a doubt, I’ve been working that day. Curses!
  
  Stacey Lee
  Thank you for writing Under a Painted Sky. Seriously.
  
  Anne Blankman
  And along that same vein of YA historical fiction: thank you for writing Prisoner of Night & Fog and Conspiracy of Blood & Smoke.
  
  Megan Shepherd
  Good thing I’m (hopefully) meeting you at BEA!
  
  Kate Morton
  Where in the world do you come up with these great stories?!
  
  Juliet Marillier
  Same to you – how do you do this? You make me fall in love with fantasy the way no author ever has.
  
  JK Rowling
  Because of reasons.
  
  Jenny Han
  I hear you’re fabulous. Good thing I’m (also hopefully) meeting you at BEA!
  
  Sarah Dessen
  Once again, you’re an author I narrowly missed meeting this month because of work. You are my go-to YA author, and it would be a pleasure to finally meet you.
  
  Patricia Bracewell
  I just want to pick your brain and chat English history with you. Can we do that? Please?
  
  Honorable mentions: Jodi Picoult, Erin Morgenstern, Sara Raasch, Charles Finch, and Tana French
  
  Which authors made it onto your Top Ten list?
  
  Posted in books, Top Ten Tuesday | 12 Comments | Tagged authors, books, top ten tuesday
- Authors in the Flesh: Jennifer Niven, Trisha Leaver, Sharon Biggs Waller, & more!
  
  Posted at 6:15 am by Laura, on May 6, 2015
  
  In the last week of April, I met five spectacular authors. Jennifer Niven (All the Bright Places), Sharon Biggs Waller (A Mad, Wicked Folly), Trisha Leaver (The Secrets We Keep), Shannon Lee Alexander (Love and Other Unknown Variables), and Lisa Aldin (One of the Guys) came to the bookstore for signings.
  
  I told Niven I was so excited to meet her that I wanted to apologize if I fangirl-screamed. When she walked through the store doors, we grabbed arms, squealed, and hugged. Her book chat with readers went really well, and the signing was packed. She signed books, chatted with each person for several minutes, took selfies with everyone, had readers sign her copy of her book, and even offered advice or networked with readers deeply moved by the book or bloggers looking to make more contacts. Bless her heart, she was still signing books and talking to readers after the store had closed. If Niven is going to your area, you must meet her. She’s a beautiful person, inside and out!
  
  Shannon, Sharon, Trisha, and Lisa — sorry for the blur!
  
  Later that week, the store had a Teen Author Panel, with all but one author from Indiana. I was most excited to meet Waller, as she and I have been chatting about books, BBC TV, history, and all things Anglophile since A Mad, Wicked Folly came out. I tapped her on the shoulder, and mid-conversation she turned around and gave me a hug. “You’re real!” Leaver was incredibly helpful to me, as well, dispensing advice and suggestions regarding editors she knows at various imprints. Alexander and Aldin are regular customers at the bookstore, so it was really neat to see them acting as authors, mini-celebrities, and watching them enjoy the discussion. My favorite question of the night was, “If you could be any character from any book, who would you be and why?” (asked by Mary Claire @ Real Rad Reads) and Alexander and Waller had their immediate responses: “Cath, cause Levi” (Alexander), and “Claire, cause Jamie” (Waller). Haha!
  
  Have you read any of these books or met any of these authors? Share your story!
  
  Posted in Authors in the Flesh, books | 0 Comments | Tagged authors, books, genre: contemporary, genre: historical fiction, genre: romance, genre: young adult, personal, signings
- Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Authors I Own the Most Books Of
  
  Posted at 8:24 am by Laura, on July 29, 2014
  
  Top Ten Tuesday, a concept started by The Broke and the Bookish, is a themed post that connects bloggers to bloggers, bloggers to readers, and readers to readers. Every Tuesday has a special topic, and this Tuesday is Top Ten Authors I Own the Most Books Of.
  
  (Oof, that may be grammatically incorrect, but I’ll ignore that for now.)
  
  *claps hands* All right! Let’s get started! First off, the
  Authors I Collected On Purpose!
  
  1. JK Rowling — Specifically the Harry Potter books. I have three full collections (half paperback/half hardcover of the US originals, the 15th anniversary edition, and the UK Signature Collection edition), plus the UK children’s edition of Book 1, UK adult edition of Book 3, and UK adult edition of Book 7. Plus Tales of Beedle the Bard and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I do not have Casual Vacancy or her Robert Galbraith books, but I fully intend on reading them…eventually.
  
  2. Jane Austen — 7 of Pride and Prejudice, 7 of Northanger Abbey, 4 of Persuasion, 3 of Sense and Sensibility, 2 of Emma, and 2 of Mansfield Park. I also have a copy of Two Histories of England, which is a duo book with Charles Dickens.
  
  3. Charlotte Brontë — All bazillion copies of Jane Eyre. I’m not alone on this one.
  
  4. Emily Brontë — Another million copies of Wuthering Heights.
  
  5. Laini Taylor — I’m so in love with her Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy that I own multiple editions. There’s the US hardcover, UK paperbacks, and UK hardcovers. Still need to get the UK hardcover for the final book and later the paperback.
  
  And now for the
  Authors I Follow Religiously!
  
  6. Jodi Picoult — I own all but 5 of her books. The short of it is I own all of her courtroom books. She takes up the most space on my shelves.
  
  7. Kate Morton — Her four published books plus an ARC! My favorite book is House at Riverton, which was the second I’d read. Her latest, The Secret Keeper, is stellar.
  
  8. Tana French — AHHHHH I cannot begin to explain how much I love her psychological murder mysteries. Thank goodness for The Likeness. It haunts me to this day, and my copy is so worn!
  
  9. Shakespeare — I love the Folger Shakespeare Library editions and actively collect them — but only the ones I know I actually want to read. The comedies, the love stories, but not so much the historical ones. I’m beginning to wonder if I should include the historical kings plays, simply because I love The Hollow Crown (Tom Hiddleston is too perfect to be real) and want to read the original work.
  
  10. Cassandra Clare — The first three of The Mortal Instruments series (which is the way it was meant to be, coughcough) as well as the Infernal Devices hardcovers. ID, in my opinion, is the better of the two. Her writing improved, the storyline killed me, the setting and plot is so very Dickens I died over and over. Seriously. There are tear stains in my copy of Clockwork Princess.
  
  Honorable mentions include Sarah Dessen (4), Charles Dickens (4), and Gayle Forman (4).
  
  Edit 10 minutes later: CS Lewis’s Narnia series! How in the world did I forget that?! I’ve got the original paperback collection, a hardcover edition collection, and an all-in-one collection edition. Jeez. This is what happens when your books are all packed away for a big move.
  
  Posted in books, Top Ten Tuesday | 10 Comments | Tagged authors, book hoarding, books, top ten tuesday
- Authors in the Flesh: Victoria Schwab, AC Gaughen, & Tiffany Schmidt
  
  Posted at 8:25 am by Laura, on March 20, 2014
  
  Tuesday evening I had the pleasure of hearing three great YA authors read from their books and meeting one in particular, Victoria “V. E.” Schwab!
  
  Children’s Book World of Haverford, PA, regularly hosts children’s and YA author events and signings. Tuesday night Schwab (The Archived, The Unbound, Vicious, etc), A. C. “Annie” Gaughen (Scarlet, Lady Thief), and Tiffany Schmidt (Bright Before Sunrise, Send Me a Sign) gave us a brief synopsis of their latest books and then opened up the discussion to the floor. Instead of reading pre-selected passages, they asked us to choose between pages 1 and 100 and they would read a sentence (“My sentences are short!” –Schwab) or small passage from that page. Gaughen’s were steamy, Schmidt’s revealed sneak-peaks into the minds of two characters, and Schwab’s were philosophical.
  
  The best moments were when the authors became passionate about why they wrote these particular books. For Gaughen, it stemmed from a love of history, particularly Robin Hood lore and Eleanor of Aquitaine, of creating a fierce, frustrated, independent female character to take place of the poorly represented female of Hood lore. Schmidt wanted to debunk the whole “mean girl” high school hierarchy, that some of the popular girls are that way for being friendly, nice, people-pleasing. The issue lies in identity: if she’s too busy trying to make others comfortable, then who does she want to be? And Schwab’s inspiration stemmed from a desire to write about a hotel-turned-apartment building (setting 1) and a library of the dead (setting 2). The library of the dead came from her fear of death: that, as humans, we are composed of memories and experiences for a short period and then we disappear forever — unless these bodies filled with memories (Histories) are later stored for safe keeping. There’s a possibility for us to wake. Combine the two settings, and voila! rief introductions about their latest books and then opened up the floor for a game: rather than read a pre-selected passage, they wanted us to shout out a random number between 1 and 100 and they would read a sentence (“My sentences are short!” –Schwab) or small passage from that page number. Gaughen’s passages were filled with heavy breathing and sexy times (which we all enjoyed), Schmidt’s had a great selection of two perspectives stating their thoughts, and Schwab’s were existential and philosophical.
  
  I also really enjoyed how fired up they got regarding female authors in the industry. There’s so much I can state on this — how degrading it feels when a male says, “I’m surprised how great you are in this genre even though you have lady parts,” etc etc — and it was clear they had a lot to say as well, but there’s only so much time in an evening. What are your thoughts? Particularly thriller and sci-fi/fantasy readers? Does it matter to you if a male or female wrote the book, and why/why not?
  
  When it came time for signing, I went straight to Schwab and reminded her of my tweet from earlier that morning. She remembered and we immediately went on about YA Gothic, wanting to live in the UK, and her plans to move to Edinburgh for graduate school. She claims her degree has nothing to do with writing, but I suspect what she’ll study will seep into her already brilliant books.
  
  Final plug: when you see A Darker Shade of Magic in the future, note that what Schwab really wanted to call it was Pirates, Thieves, and Sadist Kings.
  
  Posted in Authors in the Flesh, books | 0 Comments | Tagged authors, books, genre: gothic, genre: historical fiction, genre: romance, genre: young adult, personal, signings
- Top Ten Tuesday: Popular Authors I’ve Never Read
  
  Posted at 8:30 am by Laura, on March 4, 2014
  
  Top Ten Tuesday, a concept started by The Broke and the Bookish, is a themed post that connects bloggers to bloggers, bloggers to readers, and readers to readers. Every Tuesday has a special topic, and this Tuesday is Top Ten Popular Authors I’ve Never Read
  
  The Oldies
  Ernest Hemmingway and Kurt Vonnegut
  
  The Brands
  Nora Roberts (that’ll change, though!), James Patterson, John Grisham, David Baldacci
  
  The Awarded
  Kate DiCamillo (that’ll change!) and Rainbow Rowell (that’ll change, too!)
  
  The Ones Advertised Everywhere
  Marissa Meyer and Sara Shepherd
  
  Which authors have you never read? Apart than the ones I said were changing in the near future, do you think I should pick up a book by any of the other authors? Which book and why?
  
  Posted in books, Top Ten Tuesday | 18 Comments | Tagged authors, books, top ten tuesday
- Bookshop Goldmine
  
  Posted at 8:09 pm by Laura, on December 30, 2013
  
  One of my college friends visited me while I was home for Christmas and asked if I wanted to visit Von’s Books. I had heard him describe this place multiple times — a haven of used and new books, a miracle of bookstores, a goldmine — and not once were we free at the same time to visit. But a few days ago, we did just that, and drove an hour outside of my hometown visit this glorious bookshop.
  
  Do not be deceived by the poor website, because the store is heaven! I found several Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights editions I’d been searching for for eons. My friend shook his head and laughed when I snatched them off the shelves and held them close to my heart.
  
  Wuthering Heights (blue and black profiles) — Harper Design / HarperCollins
  Wuthering Heights (field of leaves) — Vintage
  
  Jane Eyre (fire) — Harper Perennial Modern Classics
  Jane Eyre (profile) — Vintage
  Jane Eyre (purple leather quotes) — Canterbury Classics
  
  What books can you not keep your hands from grabbing (and prevent your wallet from emptying) when you see it?
  
  Posted in books, Update Post | 5 Comments | Tagged authors, book hoarding, books, bookstores, genre: classics, genre: gothic, genre: romance, personal
- Top Ten Tuesday: New-to-Me Authors in 2013
  
  Posted at 8:05 am by Laura, on December 17, 2013
  Top Ten Tuesday, a concept started by The Broke and the Bookish, is a themed post that connects bloggers to bloggers, bloggers to readers, and readers to readers. Every Tuesday has a special topic, and this Tuesday is Top Ten New-to-Me Authors I Read in 2013.
  
  There were many new-to-me authors I read this year, partly because of my thesis and partly because I enjoyed so many debuts. This list, seemingly easy, became rather difficult to narrow down. Here I go!
  1. Laini Taylor (her website, her Twitter)
  2. Rachel Hartman (her website, her Twitter)
  3. Patricia Bracewell (her website)
  4. Laura Bickle (her website, her Twitter)
  5. C.J. Redwine (her website, her Twitter)
  6. Page Morgan (her website, her Twitter)
  7. Jo Baker (her website)
  8. Neil Gaiman (his website, his Twitter)
  9. Jessica Brockmole (her website, her Twitter — also an Indiana native!)
  10. Matt Phelan (his website, his Twitter — met him in one of my graduate courses!)
  Posted in Top Ten Tuesday | 14 Comments | Tagged authors, top ten tuesday
- End of Year Publishing Thoughts
  
  Posted at 7:05 pm by Laura, on December 7, 2013
  
  Now the school year has come to a close, I’ve been able to catch up on articles I found and thought I’d share some of the most recent ones with you.
  
  Why are Middle Grade books so successful? Author R.J. Palacio, the one who wrote the hit Wonder, found that even though she meant for her book to be for young readers, adults latched onto it anyway. The theory a “good book is a good book” rings true for many middle grade (and young adult, for that matter) novels. And what has contributed to the success of middle grade novels? Adult readers — particularly of the Harry Potter fan variety.
  
  Speaking of Harry Potter, author J.K. Rowling is one of the first to be named Britain’s “Literacy Hero.”
  
  The campaign was set up by the National Literacy Trust in order to find those who are looked up to because of how much they have helped others or progressed themselves with reading and writing skills, whether famous or not.
  
  Book Marketing Predictions for 2014 — Sansevieri begins her predictions with observations from this year:
  
  So, what’s the biggest change I’ve seen in 2013? Well, pretty much all things traditional flew out the window. Reviews are still important, but reader reviews took precedence over that. Engagement is still key, but direct reader engagement is even more crucial. What does this mean for you in 2014?
  
  She goes on to predict that more books will be published faster (YA market has this down, with a book a year per series, little novellas from other characters, etc. Keep pushing content out, and sales increase), shorter will become popular (in that, instead of having a couple tomes every few years, authors will sell one large tome and several little books/novellas to keep people entertained), focused writing on specific topics will be desired (to fit the “I want to know everything right now in one sitting” instant gratification that seems to be happening these days), authors will need to be everywhere to interact with their readers (because readers are becoming more and more important), there will be a higher demand for presence on social media (a publisher or author may not be on every site, but whichever one they’re on they need to keep it up to date), and many more.
  
  I’ve gotta say…I agree with her predictions! I predict they will come true. I’d also add that the YA market has a good handle on this, and the YA authors are already way ahead of the game.
  
  Posted in books, Link, publishing | 0 Comments | Tagged authors, books, genre: middle grade, marketing, news, publishing, reading
- Scholastic Reveals 3rd Potter Cover!
  
  Posted at 8:02 pm by Laura, on June 28, 2013
  
  Don’t mind me, I’ll just be hyperventilating in a bag for my favorite cover thus far for my favorite book of the series!
  
  Scholastic reveals the 3rd Harry Potter 15th Anniversary Edition cover!
  
  Posted in books, Link, publishing | 0 Comments | Tagged art, authors, books, publishing
- “Chamber of Secrets” 15th Anniversary Edition Revealed
  
  Posted at 11:39 am by Laura, on May 30, 2013
  
  Remember a few months ago when Scholastic announced the new cover artist for the 15th Anniversary Harry Potter Collector’s Set?
  
  Well, the second cover is public!
  
  What do you think?
  
  Posted in books, publishing | 1 Comment | Tagged art, authors, books, publishing
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- Hello, I’m Laura!
  
  I'm a bookish bookworm and book hoarder. By day I'm a literary agent, and by night I'm forever rearranging my bookshelves. I could talk your ear off about Gothic literature, and in my past life people thought I'd become a professional musician. I have a fluffy black cat named Rossetti, I love to knit, tea is my drink of choice, British TV is the best, and I'm obsessed with popcorn. Welcome to Scribbles & Wanderlust! Grab your favorite hot beverage and let's chat books!
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