Last weekend, I was fortunate to be able to attend ALA Midwinter 2012 in Dallas, TX! Stacy from Girls in the Stacks generously let me stay in her home, along with Katie of Mundie Moms. Really, I can't thank Stacy and her family enough! We had such a fun weekend together.
#ALAMW12 was... awesome, fun, and overwhelming! I mean, with all the BOOKS and publishers, beautiful displays, and everything... Friday evening, opening day, was a sensory overload. After just a couple of hours I somehow managed to leave with an overflowing bag of books. Then we went to the blogger/author dinner at Campisi's which was organized by Jen Bigheart at I Read Banned Books and the TX bloggers. It was crazy fun, 80+ bloggers/authors attended! Below is a picture taken at the dinner by Jen Bigheart.
Katie, Andye & Amy @ReadingTeen, Stacy, Yara @OnceUponaTwilight, Nancy, and me
Saturday was a full day visiting all the exhibits and hanging out with fellow book bloggers! We couldn't resist posing for a photo with the Muppets :). Unfortunately, even though we had the guy take something like 5+ pictures... all of them turned out blurry!
Stacy & Nancy @GirlsintheStacks, Me, Katie @MundieMoms, and Ginger @GReadsBooks
Another highlight from Saturday was chatting with THE Katherine Tegen, of the Harper Collins imprint Katherine Tegen Books (think Divergent, and Love & Leftovers)! Yes, she exists, and is so nice! We all geeked out and had to take turns getting a picture with her... here's mine:
The fabulous Katherine Tegen... and me.
John Green @ Dallas Library
Sunday was pretty much a day of John Green, and also the YA Romance Panel. Stacy and I went to see Green's social media presentation in the morning, and also his talk about banned books at the Dallas Library that night. He is full of awesomesauce. I had him sign my copy of Paper Towns and personalize my signed copy of The Fault in Our Stars (BTW, mine has a red J squiggle). I wanted a picture with him but they weren't allowed... I was a little disappointed but I understood, if he took pictures with everyone the line would have been crazy long... It was really cool to see so many teenage nerdfighters at the library's public event. They were sooooooo excited to be there and to see him.
Me, Lauren @ 365 Days of Reading, and Katie @Katie's Book Blog
I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to attend this conference. I shipped 4 (yes four) book boxes home via media mail and I hope they arrive soon! It will seriously be like Christmas morning :). I'm exhausted, but I'm already looking forward to the next event, when we can all meet up again (BEA anyone?).
Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 12, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now.
Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault.
Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind. (Goodreads)
It's going to drive me bonkers waiting for the UPS truck to arrive today! I'll be jumping up at every sound of a truck, and then pacing in disappointment until it arrives. I know some peeps received their copy early. Did this happen to you? If so, did you wait to start reading it until today? If you aren't one of the 150,000 that pre-ordered to get a SIGNED copy, do you plan to pick one up today?
"When did we see each other face-to-face? Not until you saw into my cracks and I saw into yours. Before that, we were just looking at ideas of each other, like looking at your window shade but never seeing inside. But once the vessel cracks, the light can get in. The light can get out." - John Green,Paper Towns
Publisher: Dutton and Brilliance Audio Release Date: October 16, 2008 Format: Audiobook (8 hours) Source: Library Age Level: Young Adult My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars Buy:Amazon | IndieBound
When Margo Roth Spiegelman beckons Quentin Jacobsen in the middle of the night-dressed like a ninja and plotting an ingenious campaign of revenge - he follows her. Margo's always planned extravagantly, and, until now, she's always planned solo. After a lifetime of loving Margo from afar, things are finally looking up for Q . . . until day breaks and she has vanished. Always an enigma, Margo has now become a mystery. But there are clues. And they're for Q. Printz Medalist John Green returns with the trademark brilliant wit and heart-stopping emotional honesty that have inspired a new generation of readers. (Goodreads)
Paper Towns was the first John Green novel I picked up. I have no idea how I missed out on this for so long! I finally understand the awesomeness of Green’s books. His characterizations are right on – his characters realistic and relatable. The writing is clever, with dialogue that’s honest and… real.
There are so many things that I loved about Paper Towns… I loved how insightful Q, the protagonist was and how he observed people around him and analyzed himself. I loved the message about accepting a person for who they really are, not how you think they should be, and being real – finding your own truth.
“What a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person.”
The storyline is witty and realistic (have I said that word enough?), about Q’s quest to find Margo that includes an epic road trip with his crew. Paper Towns is somewhat of a mystery as Margo leaves clues for Q when she up and disappears. I loved the road trip – there’s excitement, adventure, and parts were downright hysterical. It made me feel nostalgic and seriously had me laughing out loud! I also really enjoyed how Green incorporated Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, and referred to The Great Gatsby and Moby Dick.
I listened to the audio version of this book. I felt that the narrator, Dan John Miller, suited Q perfectly… I never doubted that he was the character. I think he did a great job with timing and the voices.
Paper Towns was a great introduction to John Green’s novels, and honestly I think it’s my favorite (I’ve read/listened to 4). Add this one to your TBR list, or better yet, go pick up a copy today! DFTBA.
This week, while waiting for the arrival of my signed copy of The Fault in Our Stars, I'll be posting some reviews. I had grand plans leading up to this week to finish writing/scheduling review posts for all of his books, but with the holidays that just didn't happen. So... now I'm thinking I'll just write mini reviews of them all... we'll see how many I can post :).
So... now that I've pretty much declared my fan girl status... what about you? Are you a John Green virgin, or are you a Nerdfighter and/or fan girl/boy already? If you haven't read any of his books yet, what are you waiting for!? I hope you join us this week! You can sign up and find out all the details here.
Hi there! I'm Jennifer of the blog Little Shelf and I'm a nerdfighter! :D
Don't know what that is? Great! I'm here to tell you all about Nerdfighteria. If you already know what a nerdfighter is, then French the llama, that's fantastic! Come chat about it with me!
Who are the VlogBrothers?
So, I think the best place to start is to tell you that there are these two funny, witty, and just all around nice brothers on Youtube called the Vlogbrothers. They began an experiment years ago where they would communicate with video rather than emails or texting. This little experiment, that they started for only themselves, has now blossomed into over half a million followers on YouTube who tune in every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to hear what they have to say.
Why, I'd be delighted to! So, one of the Vlogbrothers is John Green, a prize winning author. You may have heard of some of his books: Looking for Alaska, Paper Towns, and An Abundance of Katherines.
He is currently writing a novel at the moment called The Fault in Our Stars, and even though it does not release until Spring of 2012, it has already hit number one in sales on both Amazon's and Barnes and Nobles' websites.
How is this possible? Well, he has promised that every pre-ordered book, no matter what store you buy it from, will be signed by him, personally. As long as it is the US version, it will be signed. Why? He wanted a way to give back to (and do something special for) his fans. You better believe that I'm going to be pre-ordering at least one copy, maybe more!
Who is the other brother in the VlogBrothers?
Hank Green! He's just as awesome as John! I know, it's kind of tough to live up to his author brother, but he has lots going for him. For starters, Hank runs EcoGeek, an eco based company on the web. He is the science nerd! Being that I have a degree in Biology, this tickles me pink. Plus, he writes super fun and quirky songs!
Ok, then what is a nerdfighter?
Well, that is a little bit harder to answer. I think that it's easier for me to share this video that explains it, instead:
My definition? To me, a nerdfighter is someone who has a bit of nerdy-ness to them. They are fun and nice and silly and .... just a whole bunch of things!
Awesome, right? Are any of you now nerdfighters, too? :D
#ALAMW12 was... awesome, fun, and overwhelming! I mean, with all the BOOKS and publishers, beautiful displays, and everything... Friday evening, opening day, was a sensory overload. After just a couple of hours I somehow managed to leave with an overflowing bag of books. Then we went to the blogger/author dinner at Campisi's which was organized by Jen Bigheart at I Read Banned Books and the TX bloggers. It was crazy fun, 80+ bloggers/authors attended! Below is a picture taken at the dinner by Jen Bigheart.
