Something Bookish

It's NaNoWriMo Time! (plus a NaNo 'rap')

2011-11-07T07:40:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,

Are you guys doing NaNoWriMo this year? I am! Here's a quick video (with a 'rap') about NaNo:

Add me on NaNo:http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/participants/genevievethursday

Recklaw's channel:http://www.youtube.com/user/RecklawYeller15

Follow me on Twitter:http://twitter.com/#!/Genevieve_Thurs

Let me know how your NaNo is going!

More later,

Genevieve

INTERNATIONAL Contest alert: Win an iPad2

2011-10-20T18:07:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

Awesome INTERNATIONAL contest alert:

Win an iPad2! Support a great book while trying to win an iPad.
Enter >>> HERE <<< now! Or enter here:

http://www.kimberlypauley.com/c/GenevieveThurs

It's a fun contest so go check it out.

More later,
Genevieve

Library Lost All Childrens, MG, & YA books in hurricane

2011-09-01T13:19:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

Wells Memorial Library in Upper Jay, NY lost ALL of their children, MG, and YA books because of the recent hurricane. The library was flooded and all of the books on the lower shelves were destroyed. As of yesterday, they only had FIVE picture books left in the entire chidren's department! A blogger, Kate Messner, has been helping with getting the info out about this terrible event.

What can you do?
Spread the word! Reblog, retweet (link here), repost, ect. I first heard about this on twitter.

Wells Memorial Library is accepting donations of hardcover books! If you have any new (or like-new) children's (picture books, novels, ect), MG, or YA books that you are willing to part with, you can mail them to Wells Memorial Library. Also, they're setting up wish lists through their local bookstores and various ways to send a monetary donation. NO ARCs or paperback books!

What am I going to do?
I'm going to go through my books and see if I have any spare hardcover books. I've already found 3 YA books that I am willing to part with to help rebuild this library. It's too bad that they don't accept ARCs because I have a ton that I'd donate. Remember, it's cheaper to send books if you use media mail!

Go HERE for more information and spread the word!

More later,
Genevieve

Pottermore

2011-08-17T02:28:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

So who got into Pottermore? I received my "Congratulations" e-mail but not access yet. A lot of my friends have been getting in and it's making nervous that I wont end up in the house that I expect to be in. I've always said that I'm a Gryffindor but a lot of my friends aren't getting into their expected houses. I signed up on Day Two of the clues so I may not get in for a while but I'm excited!

Also, my friend Sama made this AWESOME song parody about how she wants to be in Hufflepuff. Check it out HERE. I started getting really teary when I heard the song because it really reflects what I've been feeling about it all.

What house do you expect to get into?

More later,
Genevieve

P.S. My name on Pottermore is ErisedRose! Pretty awesome, huh?

Day 9, BEDA

2011-04-09T23:31:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

I got City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare in the mail today. I'm about 150ish pages in, it's very good so far. Well, I'm off to go finish it. Bye!

Genevieve

Day 8! (BEDA)

2011-04-08T22:57:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

Very, very short post today.

I want to point you in the direction of "The Greatest Craigslist Room Rental Ad Ever". Apparently it's over a year old but it had me laughing out loud. One of my cousins found via stumble upon and posted it on her facebook page. I found it so funny to read because it sounds a lot like how my friend, and fellow blogger, Devyn Burton talks/writes.

More later,
Genevieve

P.S. Follow or tweet me on Twitter: @Genevieve_Thurs

Day 7! BEDA

2011-04-07T23:50:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

What counts as enough for a blog entry? Can I write one sentence and make it count for an entire day's worth of blogging? Because I didn't get home until 10PM tonight. I was at work for 6 hours and then at school for 5 and half hours. So very, very burned out. To top it off, my dad decided that he was going to take me out to this awesome Irish pub in town to listen to authentic Irish music, eat fish & chips, and drink Guinness. Of course, I'm not a beer drinker (I had a few cokes instead, although I am 22) but I did participate in the eating of the fish & chips and the listening of music. I couldn't avoid it because we were also going to meet up with one of my clients (I do marketing for him). Normally I would have loved an opertunity to go listen to Irish music (and eat fish & chips) but as I mentioned, it had already been a long day. In the end, today was 15 hour day, jam packed with lots of stuff!

This morning, one of my friends, Maria, was trying to convince us on Twitter that Thursdays were happy days and a day worth saying "Happy Thursday" in the wee hours of the morning. I was starting to buy into her joyful assertions but then the entire day came tumbling down. It was like any other Thursday, incredibly LONG. At the end of the day, she tweeted to me on Twitter: "It almost worked! Damn my relapse into adolescent psychosis." Which just made me laugh. Every time you think that you have tricked yourself, you fall back into old patterns or habits. Thursdays will always be long days!

Short post but I guess it counts for blogging everyday. What do you think about Thursdays? I used to love them but since last fall, I sometimes dread them. Thursdays end up being my longest day.

OH, and I still have not received my copy of City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare. I'll be so upset if I don't get it by Saturday. I'd love to spend a few hours reading it this weekend.

More later,
Genevieve

P.S. Follow or tweet me on Twitter: @Genevieve_Thurs

Click for the Clique- day 6! (BEDA)

2011-04-06T22:22:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

You guys... I almost forgot to blog today! I thought I had already done today's entry but I was actually remembering yesterday's post. Silly me! Luckily I remembered before it was past midnight.

Today I'm going to talk about one of my favorite YouTubers/authors. I've talked about her before but this time is for a different reason. Robyn Schneider (aka Violet Haberdasher, author of the Knighley Academy series) has an awesome YouTube channel called Robyn Is Rarely Funny. She has Doctor Who commentary, YA stuff, fun skits, giveaways, and more. She is participating the NextUp Competition on YouTube. There will be 25 partners who will each win $35k and get to attend YouTube camp together in NYC.

There's a list of awesome YouTubers who made it to the semi-finalists. What can you guys do? You can VOTE EVERY DAY until Friday, April 8 at 5PM PST/8PM EST. Voting takes 2 seconds... no sign-up needed. Vote for EVERYONE on the list (you can vote for multiple people!). Just click each of the links below and hit the thumbs up vote button!

Luke Conard: http://dft.ba/-LukeConardVote
Alex Carpenter: http://bit.ly/nextalex
Winterspringpro: http://bit.ly/dWQ3Y9
Jimmy Wong: http://bit.ly/hgb58e
RobynIsRarelyFunny: http://dft.ba/-voteforrobyn
Kaleb Nation: http://bit.ly/votekaleb
Catrific: http://bit.ly/fSNnb4
Meghan (Strawburry 17): http://bit.ly/ecFUyc
Nanalew: http://bit.ly/g3rfKU
Josh: http://bit.ly/fJUiou
TylerOakley: http://is.gd/rfma70
Kayley (Owlssayhooot): http://dft.ba/-owlsnextup
RockstarRaquel: http://dft.ba/-raqwin
Corridor Digital : http://bit.ly/fJsDGR

You can also Tumbl this list at: http://clicktheclique.tumblr.com/

On Facebook there's an awesome Event page which reminds everyone to vote everyday. ALSO, if you decide to 'attend' the group on Facebook, you'll get awesome 'secret' messages everyday. I loved the last two messages, they were pretty awesome. Although, I already knew Robyn's secret message from the first day (which was a good story!).

So go vote the next couple of days! I wish that I had thought about posting this here earlier in the week.

More later,
Genevieve

P.S. I copy/pasted most of this information directly from their facebook Event page, which you can go attend to get the secret messages!

P.P. S. Follow me on Twitter: @Genevieve_Thurs

P. P. P. S. Follow Robyn on Twitter: @robynschneider (she's an awesome Tweeter!)

Day 5! BEDA

2011-04-05T22:57:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

So... Today has been a CRAZY day. I was at work for 7 hours where I got to do some new stuff that I've never done before, which was fun! I'm a marketing major (at an airport) but sometimes they need me to work on projects that don't relate to marketing. I was sent to work on an archival project today and it was SO interesting. They had photos and papers that dated all the way back to the '40s. I wish that I had a larger knowledge of airplanes because we found some real treasures (photographs mostly) that they were excited about. It was fun seeing all of the photos, there were even some with some famous people that had been to the airport!

Later, I went to a Native Daughters of the Golden West event. It was a lot of fun because it was a special event. I had been asked to 'present' something during the presentations. Basically as a 'presenter' I brought a special item to the stage and held it like Vanna White. But it was an honor to be chosen because only a few of us were 'presenters'. It's nice that I'm being included in the group so much when I just joined in September, I was worried that since I was a newbie I would have to work hard to be accepted in the group.

Also, I cannot wait until I get my copy of City of Fallen Angels! Barnes and Noble shipped it out today so hopefully I'll get it in a few days. In December, we had a Barnes and Noble close AND a Borders. Now the last Borders in town is in the process of closing down. Our only indie bookstore is cute but it doesn't stock new books that often. Plus, I wanted to get an autographed copy of CoFA! I wish that I was able to go and purchase it today at a bookstore but it wasn't possible.

Are there any Cassandra Clare fans that read my blog? Were/are you looking forward to CoFA? Please no spoilers! I've been avoiding going on twitter very much... I hope that I don't get spoiled.

Geeze, I need to stop doing late night posts! But hey, I haven't failed posting yet... key word yet!

More later,
Genevieve

P.S. Follow me on Twitter: @Genevieve_Thurs

Day 4: Hunger Games casting thoughts! (BEDA)

2011-04-04T15:28:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

If you've been on twitter today, you probably saw that two more characters have been cast for The Hunger Games movie. I saw on twitter today an article about the newly casted male leads.

Now we have:

Jennifer Lawrence

Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss. Her most recent credit includes Winter's Bone. I haven't seen Jennifer act before but I heard that her preformance in Winter's Bone was amazing (hence an Oscar nomination). I'm very interesting in seeing how she'll portray Katniss in the movie. After she was cast, I looked up a lot of interviews/clips of her on YouTube and I have a feeling that she'll be able to pull it off nicely.

Josh Hutcherson

Josh Hutcherson as Peeta. His recent credits include The Kids are Alright & Journey to the Center of the Earth. The only role I can recall seeing Josh in was Journey to the Center of the Earth. It was a cute movie but I don't think that it's enough for me to decide if I'll like him for the role of Peeta. Apparently he was campaigning to be Peeta and really identifies with the character. Well, it's always good to have a fan!

Liam Hemsworth

Liam Hemsworth as Gale. His recent credits include The Last Song. Again, I haven't seen him act at all. All I know is he dated Miley Cyrus and is orginally from Australia. I've heard a lot of people upset about him being cast as Gale.

Overall, I'm slightly annoyed that they changed the hair colors to blonde for Gale/Katniss and brown for Peeta. It's just a little thing that I was hoping would remain the same as the books but I doubt it'll make a difference to the movies. Eye color and hair color gets changed all of the time when books are translated into film. For example, Daniel Radcliffe has blue eyes and through out the Harry Potter books, it's brought up repeatly that Harry has his mother's green eyes. Does that annoy me that he doesn't wear contacts? A little. But does it change the essense of the movie? Not really.

Also, maybe I'm not remembering it correcting but isn't Peeta tall? I'm fine with any height changes (if there were any) but I remember Peeta being considered tall. Josh is about 5'7" according to IMDB (Jennifer: 5'7", Liam: 6'4"). Plus with camera angles, Hollywood is able to make people look taller or shorter than they are real life. That's why people are surpised that Tom Cruise is only 5'7" (although, I've heard that he also wears lifts!).

I'm looking foward to the movie and hearing about who gets cast for the rest of the roles. Now that three of the main characters have been chosen, it'll set a tone for the movie. I can't wait to see who they choose for Primrose and Haymitch.

What are your thoughts about the cast for The Hunger Games? Happy? Sad? Angry? Waiting to hear more?

If you're participating in BEDA or VEDA, let me know and I'll try to check out what you're doing!

More later,
Genevieve

P.S. Follow me on Twitter: @Genevieve_Thurs

Day 3 (BEDA)

2011-04-03T12:17:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

Today is DAY THREE in Blog Every Day April. So far I haven't quit but I guess it's a little early to be patting myself on the back for a good job. I'd like to point out a few people that I know who are participating in BEDA/VEDA:

Mel at Perspicacious Garbage
Ruth at Irissel2007 (VEDA)
Cassandra Cassandra Yorgey.com

Cassandra claims in her first BEDA post of this month that I 'inspired' her to participate this year. I was excited until I realized that this means I HAVE to do well this April and actually blog every day now... what kind of an inspiration would I be if I ended up slacking off? An unsatifactory one, that's what I would be.

To round off this short, short post, tell me if you're participating this April in BEDA/VEDA. Did anyone inspire you or did you just decided to do it. Personally I was inspired by Maureen Johnson in the 1st year. This year I didn't decided because of one person or group of people.

More later!
Genevieve

Sewing, fabric, & car trouble

2011-04-02T23:50:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

I guess that it's cutting it close but I've got this post up before midnight on DAY TWO of BEDA. I had planned on writing a post about Anna and the French Kiss because I got a CUTE $5 tote yesterday that said 'Paris' on it and it reminded me of how awesome a book Anna was! Instead I'll tell you about my day.

As I mentioned yesterday, I really love to sew. I inherited a brand new sewing a few years ago after my grandmother passed away. I wasn't exactly sure why I got it because my sewing skills were limited to hemming pants. I started taking sewing classes about 4 years ago (off and on) and have been progressing slowly (mostly due to lack of time to actually sew). My mother has been sewing for years and last year decided that she wanted to learn how to tailor and learn couture techniques. She and I take two classes together (I take only two a week, she takes 5 a week!). Today my mother and I went to a cute little town about an hour north of where we live. They have a great fabric store there that sells fabric for $1 a yard. It ranges from really cheap fabric to fabric that is normally sold for $20 at an average fabric store (they buy everything in BULK and proceeds go to a children's hospital). I brought patterns from home with an idea of what I wanted and we purchased about 25 yards of fabric! I'm excited about my new projects. I have a pattern for 50's Vogue cotton summer dress that I plan to start in a couple of weeks when sewing classes come back after the break. The pattern is a reproduction of ones they actually sold in the 50's! It says it's an 'easy' pattern but it'll be my first Vogue dress so it may take me a while to make it. I've made a few other things from Vogue patterns before and I really like them. I love the retro dresses. We also have some that were originally from the 60's, aka Mad Men era! Overall, my experience at the fabric store was great. Lots of good finds for me and mother.

Well, after the fabric store we stopped off at Subway. Who can resist a $5 foot long?Actually I got a $4 6 inch turkey sub but still a great price and low calories (280 + cheese, in case you were wondering) for fast food. When we got into the car, it wouldn't start! We were too far from home to walk (60 min) and we couldn't find our AAA card. SO, we called my dad. For 4 hours. It turns out that my dad was watching a basketball game stream live on his computer (we don't have cable anymore) with headphones on and didn't hear his cellphone or the land line ringing. We ended up calling people who would know where he was & 411-ing people that weren't in our phones. My phone was quickly running out of power and we were getting really worried that we'd have to go to a hotel for the night.After a few tries, we managed to remember our neighbor's last name & he was able to inform my dad that we were stranded an hour away. In the end I got home around 11PM after my dad came, inspected the car (we couldn't jump it, I don't know why), called the tow truck, and took us home. Total time waiting = 6 hours. It was funny because I was ten times more stressed out at the fabric store (because it was really messy this time & I hate shopping in messy stores) than being stranded, I was mostly annoyed that I didn't bring a book! Moral of the story: Learn your neighbor's last names! Oh, and keep your cell phone near you even if it is March Madness.

So, who is doing BEDA/VEDA? Leave links, I'd love to check out what everyone else is doing this month!

More later,
Genevieve

P.S. Oh! And I also got a really cute skirt today that I plan to wear to BEA in May. But that wasn't bought at the fabric store, of course. I've been looking for things that I can take that will not wrinkle & I can wear to the conference.

Blog Every Day April? (BEDA)

2011-04-01T23:02:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

So I am going to attempt to do Blog Every Day April (BEDA) this year. I have a bad track record with trying to do BEDA so I'll probably fail miserably again this year. BUT I wont get anywhere if I don't TRY, right? My main goal is to just blog every day this month. I may not be always talking about book stuff but I'll try really hard!

In case you don't know me or don't remember me, here is a basic introduction:

I am 22 years old and live in Southern CA, I've lived in the same town my entire life. I am part beach girl and part bookworm but the bookworm has been winning the past few years! I'm part of the YouTube group call FiveAwesomeYAFans, we vlog about bookish/YA things and started back in fall '08. I've had this blog since January '09 and I love blogging, even if I do take a few months off at a time.

I used to be a Global Studies major (kind of like International Studies, lots of Political Science with a huge language requirement). I took 5 quarters of Italian plus a few years of private lessons. I can understand, read, and write a lot but my speaking skills aren't as good as I'd like. I also took two quarters of Spanish for the language requirement but Spanish was my 1st language so it was easy. We only spoke Spanish at home until I was about 6(ish) and then I refused to speak it but I understand about 75-80% of most Spanish.

When I had only a year left to finish my major, I decided to leave my school and pursue a degree in Marketing. Now I'm a Marketing major! I'm the Marketing intern an airport (don't ask which one, I'd like to keep my exact location somewhat unknown) and president of my school's Marketing Club. I'm pretty much in love with Marketing! I love working at the airport, I get to do all of their social networking (Twitter, facebook) and work on more traditional marketing (newsletter, marketing an event, and more).

I write a lot and plan to be a published author someday in the YA arena. Reading has help my writing SO MUCH! I've tried NaNoWriMo a few times but November is such a busy month for me. Last NaNo ('10), I got about a third the way into my goal before I started a new job that required a lot of my time. I haven't finished anything that I feel comfortable with querying but I'm okay with that. I don't have this undying need to be published by a certain date. It may be in a few years or maybe in twenty, but either way it'll happen someday.

My other interests include: sewing, photography, reading (of course!), baking, Doctor Who, Harry Potter, dancing (native California days dances from 1800-1850's, mostly folk dances), marketing, and more!

You can find me on:
Twitter: @Genevieve_Thurs
Facebook: Genevieve Thursday
Tumblr: Genviehoney (Vie, Amore, and Me)

Oh, and in case you were wondering, Thursday is not my last name. It's just the name I use for blogging/vlogging. I'm Thursday on FiveAwesomeYAFans! I started using as a fake last name ages ago and it just kind of stuck.

I'm looking forward to April! Let me know if you're participating in BEDA or VEDA (Vlog Every Day April), I'll check out what you're doing.

More later,
Genevieve

W.O.W. (34)

2011-03-30T05:24:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!

So I decided to do my own version of Waiting on Wednesday. Waiting on Wednesday is a way to showcase books that are not yet released but excited to see they are coming out. It's hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. My version isn't for just books that haven't come out yet but any book that I am wishing to get. Each week I'll put up a book that I'm "Wishing for" or "Waiting on". I just kind of like the name Wishing for Wednesday better. : )

This week is a book that I'm "Waiting on":

Circle of Fire

by Michelle Zink

Summary from Goodreads.com:

"With time dwindling but her will to end the Prophecy stronger than ever, Lia sets out on a journey to find the remaining keys, locate the missing pages of the Prophecy, and convince her sister Alice to help--or risk her life trying. Lia has her beloved Dimitri by her side, but Alice has James, the man who once loved her sister--and maybe still does. James doesn't know the truth about either sister, or the prophecy that divides them. And Alice intends to keep it that way.

There are some secrets sisters aren't meant to share. Because when they do, it destroys them."

Release Date: August 1st, 2011

I can't believe that this trilogy is almost over! I've enjoyed every single page of the 1st two books and am looking forward to reading this last book. I'm not exactly sure if that is the final cover but it was the one I found on Goodreads when I wrote this post.

What are you waiting on this week? Links to your blog are always appreciated!

More later,

Genevieve

W.O.W. (33)

2011-03-23T05:11:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!

Between Here and Forever

by Elizabeth Scott

Summary from Elizabeth Scott's website:

"Abby accepted that she can’t measure up to her beautiful, magnetic sister Tess a long time ago, and knows exactly what she is: Second best. Invisible.
Until the accident.

Now Tess is in a coma, and Abby’s life is on hold. It may have been hard living with Tess, but it's nothing compared to living without her.
She's got a plan to bring Tess back though, involving the gorgeous and mysterious Eli, but then Abby learns something about Tess, something that was always there, but that she’d never seen.

Abby is about to find out that truth isn't always what you think it is, and that life holds more than she ever thought it could..."

Release Date: May 10th, 2011

I always enjoy reading Elizabeth Scott's books. She has such a wide range in her writing style from the romantic comedy to the dark & slightly creepy. Her romantic comedies are cute but I really love the darker novels (Living Dead Girl, Grace). I'm looking forward to this one because it's supposed to be in the darker category.

What are you waiting on this week? Links to your blog are always appreciated!

More later,

Genevieve

W.O.W. (32)

2011-03-16T05:04:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!

Beauty Queens

by Libba Bray

Summary from Goodreads.com:

"From bestselling, Printz Award-winning author Libba Bray, the story of a plane of beauty pageant contestants that crashes on a desert island.

Teen beauty queens. A "Lost"-like island. Mysteries and dangers. No access to emall. And the spirit of fierce, feral competition that lives underground in girls, a savage brutality that can only be revealed by a journey into the heart of non-exfoliated darkness. Oh, the horror, the horror! Only funnier. With evening gowns. And a body count."

Release Date: May 24th, 2011

I have always loved Libba Bray's books. I've been a fan of her books since found the 1st book in the Gemma Doyle Trilogy came out in 2003 at my high school's library (I was 14 then!). I'm not a huge fan of this cover but I bet that the book will be amazing!

What are you waiting on this week? Links to your blog are always appreciated!

More later,

Genevieve

W.O.W. (31)

2011-03-09T04:52:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone!

What Happened to Goodbye

by Sarah Dessen

Summary from Goodreads.com:

"What Happened to Goodbye is about a high school senior who, after her parents’ divorce, has taken up the practice of assuming a new identity in each of the four towns she’s lived in."

Release Date: May 10th, 2011

Short summary but I don't think that we even need a long one with Sarah Dessen books. I love her books, they're always so good! I am looking forward to this book, we haven't had a new one since Along for the Ride (2009). Although, does it bother anyone else that there isn't a question mark in the title? Because it looks like a question to me more than a statement. I also keep calling it "What Ever Happened to Goodbye", which reminds me of the movie What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (which has a question mark! Good movie, by the way...), rather than the actual title of What Happened to Goodbye. Anyways, title aside, I am looking forward to this book.

What are you waiting on this week? Links to your blog are always appreciated! : )

More later,

Genevieve

W.O.W. (30)

2011-03-02T04:45:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone!

Kiss of Death

by Lauren Henderson

Summary from Goodreads.com:

"Scarlett thought Dan McAndrew's murder was long behind her, but when she and her classmates arrive in Edinburgh for a weeklong field trip, she's startled to be joined by her old St. Tabby's cohorts--and enemies--who are visiting the area on a field trip as well. Even more startling, Callum, Dan's surviving twin, is in the area--and his cold treatment leaves Scarlett wondering what's changed, especially when a series of attacks makes her believe that someone's out to get her for her past mistakes. Would Callum ever hurt her, though? And what's Scarlett to make of her conflicting feelings for Callum, now that Jase isn't around? Even more upsetting, why is her most trusted confidante, Taylor, acting distant and dismissive?"

Release Date: May 10th, 2011

This is the 4th book in the series! I actually didn't know that there was another book coming out. I'm glad that there is going to be another because I've enjoyed reading these books. Isn't the cover gorgeous!? I'm such a cover person. I hate to admit it sometimes but I am very influenced by covers even though the logical part of me knows that the important part of a book is the inside, where the words are.

What are you waiting on this week? Links to your blog are always appreciated!

More later,

Genevieve

W.O.W. (29)

2011-02-23T04:36:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone!

So Much Closer

by Susane Colasanti

Summary from Goodreads.com:

"Scott Abrams is the love of Brooke's life. He just doesn't know it yet. So when his family moves to New York City the summer before senior year, Brooke has no choice but to follow Scott. It's her last chance to prove to him that they're meant to be together.

What will Brooke do when her biggest dream finally comes true, but instead she wants something more?"

Release Date: May 3rd, 2011

I always love Susane Colasanti's books. They are such fun reads and I always find myself getting really into her books quickly. I'm sure that this one wont disappoint at all. She always has some of the best titles to grab your attention. Although, I do have to admit that this is my least favorite cover of her books... the guy's hair reminds me of a mullet! It also seems a bit early 90's to me. But I was in love with the Something Like Fate cover, it fit the book perfectly. No matter what the cover looks like, I'll still continue to read and enjoy her book!

What are you waiting on this week? Links to your blog are always appreciated!

More later,

Genevieve

W.O.W. (28)

2011-02-16T02:06:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone!

The Last Little Blue Envelope

by Maureen Johnson

Summary from Borders.com:

"Seventeen-year-old Ginny Blackstone precipitously travels from her home in New Jersey to London when she receives a message from an unknown man telling her he has the letters that were stolen just before she completed a series of mysterious tasks assigned by her now dead aunt, an artist."

Release Date: May 1st, 2011

I first was introduced to Maureen Johnson back in 2008 through some friends before I started blogging here or on FiveAwesomeYAFans. Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes was my 1st MJ book and my favorite. I am very excited about this sequel! I've made a lot of people read 13LBE over the past few years, it's one of those books that is fun but stays with you forever.

What are you waiting on this week? Links to your blog are always appreciated!

More later,

Genevieve

W.O.W. (27)

2011-02-09T01:53:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone!

Bumped

by Megan McCafferty

Summary from Megan McCafferty's website:

"WHEN A VIRUS makes everyone over the age of eighteen infertile, would-be parents must pay teen girls to conceive and give birth to their children, making teens the most prized members of society.

Sixteen-year-old identical twins Melody and Harmony were separated at birth and had never met until the day Harmony shows up on Melody’s doorstep. Until now, the twins have followed completely opposite paths. Melody has scored an enviable conception contract with a couple called the Jaydens. While they search for the perfect partner for Melody to bump with, she is fighting her attraction to her best friend, Zen, who is way too short for the job.

Harmony has spent her whole life in religious Goodside, preparing to be a wife and mother. She believes her calling is to convince Melody that pregging for profit is a sin. But Harmony has secrets of her own that she is running from.

When Melody is finally matched with the world-famous, genetically flawless Jondoe, both girls’ lives are changed forever. A case of mistaken identity takes them on a journey neither could have ever imagined, one that makes Melody and Harmony realize they have so much more than just DNA in common."

Release Date: April 26th, 2011

I have to say that this is one of the most original books that I've heard of in a while. From the summary, would you call this book dystopian? I think that I would. There are a ton of dystopian books out there and I've read my fair share but I am really intrigued about this one. At this point, I've only read one other book by Megan McCafferty (Sloppy Firsts, which I loved! ) and I look forward to reading more of her books.

What are you waiting on this week? Links to your blog are always appreciated!

More later,

Genevieve

W.O.W. (26)

2011-02-02T01:40:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone!

Abandon

by Meg Cabot

Summary from Meg Cabot's website:

"She knows what it's like to die. Now Death wants her back.

Seventeen-year-old Pierce knows what happens to us when we die.

That's how she met John Hayden, the mysterious stranger who's made returning to normal life—or at least life as Pierce knew it before the accident—next to impossible.

Though she thought she escaped him—starting a new school in a whole new place—it turns out she was wrong. He finds her.

What does John want from her? Pierce thinks she knows... just like she knows he's no guardian angel, and his dark world isn't exactly heaven. But she can't stay away from him, either, especially since he's always there when she least expects it, but exactly when she needs him most.

But if she lets herself fall any further, she might find herself back in the place she fears the most.

And when Pierce discovers the shocking truth, that’s exactly where John sweeps her:

The Underworld."

Release Date: April 26th, 2011

I am very excited about this book. Meg Cabot is my favorite YA author and she's the only author that I've ever freaked out about meeting (it was embarrassing). This book is based on the Greek myths of Persephone being taken down to the Underworld. I love Meg's romantic comedies but my favorite books she wrote were The Mediator series. Her paranormal books have to be my favorite ones, so you can see why I'm excited for a new paranormal series!

What are you waiting on this week? Links to your blog are always appreciated! : )

More later,

Genevieve

W.O.W. (25)

2011-01-26T01:22:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone!

City of Fallen Angeles

by Cassandra Clare

Summary from Goodreads.com:

"City of Fallen Angels is the fourth book in the bestselling series The Mortal Instruments.

City of Fallen Angels takes place two months after the events of City of Glass. In it, a mysterious someone’s killing the Shadowhunters who used to be in Valentine’s Circle and displaying their bodies around New York City in a manner designed to provoke hostility between Downworlders and Shadowhunters, leaving tensions running high in the city and disrupting Clary’s plan to lead as normal a life as she can — training to be a Shadowhunter, and pursuing her relationship with Jace. As Jace and Clary delve into the issue of the murdered Shadowhunters, they discover a mystery that has deeply personal consequences for them — consequences that may strengthen their relationship, or rip it apart forever. Meanwhile, internecine warfare among vampires is tearing the Downworld community apart, and only Simon — the Daylighter who everyone wants on their side — can decide the outcome; too bad he wants nothing to do with Downworld politics. Love, blood, betrayal and revenge: the stakes are higher than ever in City of Fallen Angels.”

Release Date: April 5, 2011

I AM SO EXCITED FOR THIS BOOK! I follow Cassie on Twitter (which you should totally do if you love her books) and she's been releasing teasers from this book since last year. I cannot wait for it. I loved the first three books SO much and her Infernal Devices series looks like it is going to be just as good because I loved Clockwork Angel. The cover is also SO amazing! Clary AND Simon on the cover! I was squeeing for days when Cassie released the cover.

What are you waiting on this week? Links to your blog are always appreciated! : )

More later,

Genevieve

W.O.W. (24)

2011-01-19T00:56:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone!

Faerie Winter

by Janni Lee Simner

Summary from Goodreads:

"The war has been over for 40 years, and finally Liza's town is accepting children born with fairy talents. Then a nearby town is destroyed, and Liza discovers that the war might not be over after all. It seems some faeries survived and have crossed over into the human world to continue the fight. And the most powerful and merciless of them all—the Queen herself—may be among them...

Liza is a Summoner. She can draw life to herself, even from beyond the grave. And because magic works both ways, she can drive life away. Months ago, she used her powers to banish her dangerous father and to rescue her mother, lost in dreams, from the ruined land of Faerie.

Born in the wake of the war between humanity and Faerie, Liza lived in a world where green things never slept, where trees sought to root in living flesh and bone. But now the forests have fallen silent. Even the evergreens’ branches are bare. Winter crops won’t grow, and the threat of starvation looms. And deep in the forest a dark, malevolent will is at work. To face it, Liza will have to find within herself something more powerful than magic alone.

Here at last is the sequel to Bones of Faerie, for all those fans of dark fantasy and dystopian adventure who thrilled to Janni Lee Simner’s unique vision of a postapocalyptic world infused with magic."

Release Date: April 5th, 2011

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the 1st book Bones of Faerie when it came out two years ago. I have been anticipating this book for a while and it sounds like it will be a great sequel. I highly recommend reading Bones of Faerie and following Janni on Twitter. She's a pretty awesome author who is a fan of Doctor Who and Madeleine L'Engle.

What are you waiting on this week? Links to your blog are always appreciated! : )

More later,

Genevieve

W.O.W. (23)

2011-01-12T08:42:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone!

Cryer's Cross

by Lisa McMann

Summary from Lisa McMann's website:

"The small town of Cryer's Cross is rocked by tragedy when an unassuming freshman disappears without a trace. Kendall Fletcher wasn’t that friendly with the missing girl, but the angst wreaks havoc on her OCD-addled brain.

When a second student goes missing - someone close to Kendall’s heart - the community is in an uproar. Caught in a downward spiral of fear and anxiety, Kendall’s not sure she can hold it together. When she starts hearing the voices of the missing, calling out to her and pleading for help, she fears she’s losing her grip on reality. But when she finds messages scratched in a desk at school - messages that could only be from the missing student who used to sit there - Kendall decides that crazy or not, she’d never forgive herself if she didn’t act on her suspicions."

Release Date: February 8, 2011

I really loved Lisa's Wake trilogy and I cannot wait for this book. I've heard mixed reviews about it so far but I doubt that it will disappoint. Lisa McMann was one of the 1st authors that I ever interviewed in person (for FiveAwesomeYAFans) so I will always be a fan of her books. I am also in love with the cover. Even though it is not part of the Wake trilogy, it has similar feel and font so it will look very nice on my shelf with her other books. It's the type of cover that I'd pick up if I was browsing in a bookstore.

What are you waiting on this week? Links to your blog are always appreciated! : )

More later,

Genevieve

100 Books Challenge

2011-01-12T01:43:00.000-08:00

Hey!

So I've been thinking about joining a few challenges but haven't really found that many. Do you guys know of any good ones? I have also decided that I'm going to try to read 100 books this year, which wont be too hard because I usually read around 100 or more books. However, this time I'm actually going to write it down rather than guessing at how many books I've read. So far in 11 days, I've read 6 books (total of 2,067 pages) and I hope to read another 10 this month before school is in full swing.

What challenges are you doing this year? Link back to the good ones that I should join!

More later,
Genevieve

P.S. You can see my progress HERE of the books that I've read so far this year.

Books Read in 2011

2011-01-07T11:30:00.000-08:00

This is where I shall keep track of all of the books that I've read in 2011. I'm aiming for a minimum of 100 books!

JANUARY

1. Title: Anna and the French Kiss

Author: Stephanie Perkins

Pages: 372

2. Title: Insatiable

Author: Meg Cabot

Pages: 451

3. Title: Second Helpings

Author: Megan McCafferty

Pages: 349

4. Title: Fall for Anything

Author: Courtney Summers

Pages: 230

5. Title: Seth Baumgartner's Love Manifesto

Author: Eric Luper

Pages: 293

6. Title: The Dark Divine

Author: Bree Despain

Pages: 372

7. Title: Charmed Thirds

Author: Megan McCafferty

Pages: 360

8. Title: Fourth Comings

Author: Megan McCafferty

Pages: 308

9. Title:

Author:

Pages:

10. Title:

Author:

Pages:

11. Title:

Author:

Pages:

12. Title:

Author:

Pages:

Total as of 1/16/11
Books: 8
Pages: 2,737

W.O.W. (22)

2011-01-05T00:19:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone!

Have I really not done a Waiting on Wednesday since April '10?! I think that we need to fix this because there are a TON of books that I am looking forward to buying and reading this year.

Prom and Prejudice

by Elizabeth Eulberg

Summary from Elizabeth Eulberg's website:

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single girl of high standing at Longbourn Academy must be in want of a prom date.

After winter break, the girls at the very prestigious, very wealthy, girls-only Longbourn Academy are suddenly obsessed with the prom, which they share with the nearby, equally elitist, all-boys Pemberley School. Lizzie Bennet, who attends Longbourn on scholarship, isn't exactly interested in designer dresses and expensive shoes, but her best friend, Jane, might be-especially now that Charles Bingley is back from a semester in London.

Lizzie is happy about her friend's burgeoning romance, but less than impressed by Will Darcy, Charles's friend, who's snobby and pretentious. Darcy doesn’t seem to like Lizzie either, but she assumes it's because her family doesn't have money. Clearly, Will Darcy is a pompous jerk—so why does Lizzie find herself drawn to him anyway?

Will Lizzie’s pride and Will’s prejudice keep them apart? Or are they a prom couple in the making?"

Release Date: January 1st, 2011

This book just barely came out on Saturday so missed my time slot for posting it as a "Waiting on" book. I am the biggest sucker for anything Pride and Prejudice related. I own so many versions of the movie and various parodies of it. I've read a few YA books that were P & P influenced that I've enjoyed. And, of course, I've read the original Pride and Prejudice at least twenty times, it's honestly one of my favorite books. Erica from The Book Cellar was tweeting about Prom and Prejudice the other day while reading about it so I had check out the author's website. I loved the summary of the book and have put it on my wishlist. There can never be too many Pride & Prejudice influenced books!

What are you waiting on this week? Links to your blog are always appreciated! : )

More later,

Genevieve

It's my birthday! (and blogoversary!)

2011-01-01T13:32:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!

It is my 22nd birthday today. I've been having fun so far and hope to have some more. It is also my 2nd blogoversary today (yaaaay!). My New Year's resolution is to BLOG more. So, expect to see me around again. I missed you guys, hopefully some of you missed me. : )

Maybe I'll give away a few books this month.

Until I write again,
Genevieve

NaNoWriMo?

2010-10-26T02:07:00.000-07:00

Who's doing NaNoWriMo this year? I am! I've been pretty amazed at how many people I know who are doing NaNo. I keep randomly finding irl and online friends by complete accident.

Don't expect to see me here in November... I've been going crazy the past few days trying to draft an outline in time for November 1st. I was a bit of a late joiner this year, I didn't sign up until Thursday. This wont be my 1st attempt at NaNo though. I tried back in '05, '06, & '07 but my writing trailed off after a week or two each time. I didn't plan out any outline and I didn't time manage my homework. Generally I write well without an outline but with a 30 day time line and a goal of 50K, I've discovered that an outline may help! My goal this year is to write for all 30 days of NaNoWriMo and not fade away after a week. It'd be brilliant if I hit the 50K word count but I don't know if it's a reasonable goal at this time of year. Maybe I'll actually write 1,667 words a day and surprise myself!

I'm going to work on a YA fantasy. Right now I have a solid beginning and various motivations for the plot to move forward. The middle needs work and the end is completely non-existent! In the past, having no end would not bother me at all but because I have reevaluated my former approach to NaNo, I think I need an end soon.

If you are doing NaNo, what's your Username if you want to be buddies? What genre are you going to write? Did you outline it or are you going to wing it? Any other interesting tidbits?

~Genevieve

Quick update

2010-09-30T23:16:00.000-07:00

Quick update:

I just saw an advance screening of the movie "It's Kind of a Funny Story" (based on the YA book by Ned Vizzini)! It was such a good movie! I liked it a lot. A lot, a lot. : )

It comes out October 8.

Expect my official review some times this weekend. But unofficially: GOOD MOVIE!

~Genevieve

Link Love

2010-09-13T15:03:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

I'm back from an unintentional hiatus. I've still been reading and vlogging on FiveAwesomeYAFans... however I've somehow failed to blog. I honestly do not know how it happened this time. I've got some links that I'd love to share with you guys.

Link Love:

Pamela Wells' new website is up and running. It's really cute and easy to navigate. She has a few contests on there to win the newest Heartbreakers book that comes out soon. She also has some movie news (and a contest to meet her!). I love how so many YA, MG, and children's books are being turned into movies.

Elizabeth Scott's newest book Grace comes out this Thursday. I've officially read Grace 3 times now. I highly recommend reading it. I even had my irl book club read it in July with the two ARCs I had (we shared the copies between us). Grace deserves a real review AND video blog... perhaps do it for Thursday?

Have you seen Robyn Schneider's, author and YouTuber, newest vlog? It is advice to college freshmen. I've been in college for a few years and I've got to say that she gives some awesome advice. Check it out, it's cute, funny, and useful!

Meg Cabot's blog entry about 9/11 makes me cry year I read it. It's an amazing blog. I do not cry that much from books and rarely from blog posts, but her accounts of 9/11 cause me to have tears streaming down my face.

A.S. King wrote an amazing blog last week about pirated books. You've probably already seen it, I know that I retweeted it moments after she posted it, but here are the links to her original blog post and response. I I had the opportunity to have lunch with her last year with a bunch of bloggers. She an amazing person with a lot spunk. You'll want to read the original post knowing that she is very witty and sarcastic at times.

More later,
Genevieve

P.S. I read Fixing Delilah by Sarah Ockler this weekend. It was AMAZING! Better than Twenty Boy Summer and the love interest is very yummy. I'll have to post a real review this week. Go pre-order it, it comes out in December.

Giveaway!

2010-07-30T00:49:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!

I'm back! And in honor of Michelle Zink's new book coming out next week (Guardian of the Gate), I am giving away a signed ARC of her 1st book Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink and 4 book marks!

Prophecy of the Sisters

by Michelle Zink

Summary from Michelle Zink's website:
"Twin sisters Lia and Alice Milthorpe have just become orphans. They have also become enemies. As they discover their roles in a prophecy that has turned generations of sisters against each other, the girls find themselves entangled in a mystery that involves a tattoo-like mark, their parents’ deaths, a boy, a book, and a lifetime of secrets.
Lia and Alice don’t know whom they can trust.
They just know they can’t trust each other."

Giveaway Information:

What You Win:
A signed ARC of Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink
or
a Prophecy of the Sisters bookmark

How Many Winners:
One for the book
Four for a bookmark
(total of 5 winners!)

Open To:
Addresses in the United States only

Last Day To Enter:
August 4th, 2010
11:59 PM PST

How To Enter:

Leave a comment and tell me what has been the best part of summer so far
***Make sure I you put a a way I can contact you via e-mail. No e-mail address, no entry.***(OR, send an email to: caprubia(at)gmail(dot)com with “Bookish giveaway” in the subject line and make sure that you list everything you did in the e-mail

How To Get Extra Entries:

+1 entries for following me on Twitter. Please @ reply to me and tell me in the your comment. I will check at the end to make sure that you're following.
+2 entries for blogging about this contest. Make sure you give me the link. Sidebars are AWESOME. (2 entries per each place, no maximum number of places... Twitter, blog, sidebar, etc. Make sure I can see it)
+2 if you were referred--please name the person whom you were referred by
+2 if you referred anyone-- they have to name you, you can't say that you referred someone.
+3 entries for following me (new and old followers!)
.

Please put all of the entries in one comment and tell me everything you did with links and your e-mail address. (OR, send an email to: caprubia(at)gmail(dot)com with “Bookish giveaway” in the subject line and make sure that you list everything you did in the e-mail)

Also, I made my first FiveAwesomeYAFans video for Season 2! Check it out, I'm also opening up the giveaway to people on YouTube.

More later!
Genevieve

Insatiable Winners!

2010-06-19T20:09:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!

It's that time to announce the Insatiable winners! I received a large amount of entries both here on the blog and even more were e-mailed to me. The person who referred the most amount of people was Meg Cabot herself because she retweeted about the contest. I tallied up all of the entires and then used a random number generator. The winners were:

#22 and #109

Drum roll...
Diana (who e-mailed me) and Donnas from www.donnasbloghome.blogspot.com

Congrats! I'll e-mail both of you today. If I don't hear back from you in 48 hours, I'll pick a new winner(s).

Thanks everyone for entering!

~Genevieve

Bloggiesta Day One!

2010-06-12T01:35:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!

Today was the 1st day of Summer Bloggiesta '10. I've been working on some of the mini challenges all day. I'm rather tired at this point but I want to show you my new header:

New Header!

Old Header!

So, what do you guys think? Thoughts?

Because of Bloggiesta, I decided that I needed a new header. So I grabbed some books in my house, took a few pictures on my iPhone, uploaded it, and ended up with this new header! Bloggiesta has been really fun so far. : )

More later,
Genevieve

P.S. I know that the new header doesn't match the blog layout... yet! That's the next step.

Insatiable Giveaway!

2010-06-08T20:20:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!

As you may have noticed, I've been absent from the blogging world for a significant amount of time... well, I'm back! I don't have school this summer so I'll have plenty of time to read books and blog. To kick off my return, I am hosting a contest for Meg Cabot's newest Adult book, Insatiable. I haven't had a chance to read it yet but I cannot wait!
(scroll half way down this entry and you'll find the giveaway information)

INSATIABLE

by Meg Cabot

Summary:

"Sick of hearing about vampires? So is Meena Harper. But as a writer for Insatiable, the second-hottest daytime soap (thanks to her burdensome if lucrative psychic ability to see into the future and determine how people are going to die), Meena’s being forced to use a vampire story line to boost ratings. But, just as Insatiable is switching to a vampire theme to attract a younger demographic, a spate of chilling murders-by-exsanguinations grips New York City.

Enter Lucien Antonescu, a sexy, melancholic Romanian history professor / vampire who recognizes that the murders are the work of rogue vampires who have broken away from his order (Lucien happens to be the son of Vlad the Impaler, whom Bram Stoker gave such a bad rep). Lucien's opposition: Alaric Wulf, a sympathetic detective from the Palatine Guard, who hopes to use Meena and her prophetic gift to stop the murders and track down Lucien. Unfortunately for Alaric, Meena is a little in love with Lucien.

Meg Cabot winningly applies her trademark likable fallible protagonists and breezy storytelling. With INSATIABLE, she injects some much needed Gothic romance (and humor) back into the vampire oeuvre, and once again stakes her claim as the “master of her genre.”"

Here's a fantastic book trailer for Insatiable:

For more information visit Meg's site.

Giveaway Information:

What You Win:
Insatiable by Meg Cabot

How Many Winners:
Two!

Open To:
Addresses in the United States only

Last Day To Enter:
June 16, 2010
11:59 PM PST

How To Enter:

Leave a comment and tell me what you are most looking forward to this summer with an e-mail address

***Make sure I you put a a way I can contact you via e-mail. No e-mail address, no entry.***(OR, send an email to: caprubia(at)gmail(dot)com with “Bookish giveaway” in the subject line and make sure that you list everything you did in the e-mail

How To Get Extra Entries:

+1 entries for following me on Twitter. Please @ reply to me and tell me in the your comment. I will check at the end to make sure that you're following.
+2 entries for blogging about this contest. Make sure you give me the link. Sidebars are AWESOME. (2 entries per each place, no maximum number of places... Twitter, blog, sidebar, etc. Make sure I can see it)
+2 if you were referred--please name the person whom you were referred by
+2 if you referred anyone-- they have to name you, you can't say that you referred someone.
+3 entries for following me (new and old followers!)
.

I look forward to seeing all of your entries and I can't wait to read the book myself.

More later,

Genevieve

P.S. I'm going to put up a NYC/TAC/BEA post some time in the next few weeks. Also: expect reviews on BEA books this summer!

Are You Going To BEA?

2010-04-29T20:52:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!

So I saw at The Story Siren that she put up a form to find out who is going to BEA. Sooo, I'm going to steal the idea (and she borrowed the idea from other people also).

Loading...

Thanks! I look forward to see who is going. : )

~Genevieve

Tech Help Please! Essay Emergency!!!!

2010-04-20T00:24:00.000-07:00

Heeelp!

How do you retrieve a file that you saved over? B/c I kinda just deleted about 80% of my essay by accident (by copy pasting one bit over the ENTIRE essay, then saving and not noticing until afterwords... it's late and I'm tired, mistakes happen). And I NEED this essay. It's due tomorrow. And I don't have the time/energy to re-write. It is due in 13.5 hours! Blah, this really sucks. Because I was about 95% done. And I only have a few bits left. I can't believe that I did this. I've done it a few times before, but never this much of an essay and never this close to the due date. I'm desperate and I've posted on twitter, facebook, and here searching for some help.

Please, if you have any ideas, tell me!

Thank you,

Genevieve

Wishing For Wednesday (21)

2010-04-07T21:53:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!

So I decided to do my own version of Waiting on Wednesday. Waiting on Wednesday is a way to showcase books that are not yet released but excited to see they are coming out. It's hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. My version isn't for just books that haven't come out yet but any book that I am wishing to get. Each week I'll put up a book that I'm "Wishing for" or "Waiting on". I just kind of like the name Wishing for Wednesday better. : )

This week is a book that I'm "Waiting on":

Please Ignore Vera Dietz
by A.S. King

Summary from A.S. King's website:

---Is it okay to hate a dead kid?
---Even if I loved him once?
---Even if he was my best friend?
---Is it okay to hate him for being dead?

Vera's spent her whole life secretly in love with her best friend, Charlie Kahn. And over the years she's kept a lot of his secrets. Even after he betrayed her. Even after he ruined everything.

So when Charlie dies in dark circumstances, Vera knows a lot more than anyone—the kids at school, his family, or even the police. But will she emerge and clear his name? Does she even want to?

An edgy, gripping story, Please Ignore Vera Dietz is an unforgettable novel: smart, funny, dramatic, and always surprising.

Release Date: October 12, 2010

I can't wait for this book! I read A.S. King's book Dust of 100 Dogs and loved it. I really hope that this one will be as good, I have high expectations of Please Ignore Vera Dietz.

More later,

Genevieve

Interview with Lisa McMann and Becca Fitzpatrick

2010-04-06T20:27:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

SO I mentioned in my last post about me interviewing Lisa McMann and Becca Fitzpatrick for FiveAwesomeYAFans. I've been meaning to post it here since late February. Here it is:

I had such an awesome time meeting both authors! It was my 2nd time meeting Lisa and 1st meeting Becca. I hope you guys like the mini interview.

~Genevieve

Updates and my blog needs a make over

2010-03-23T13:58:00.000-07:00

I haven't been blogging much lately but here are some updates:

School is great! I've been moderately busy and starting next week it's going to be crazy busy. But I plan to start blogging again anyways.
I interviewed Lisa McMann and Becca Fitzpatrick back in February for FiveAwesomeYAFans, I'll post that video later this week.
I read Knightley Academy by Violet Haberdasher, it was AMAZING!
I have now paid for my plane tickets (for me and Adam, my boyfriend and fellow blogger) to NYC for BEA.
I bought Scarlet Fever by Maureen Johnson, I can't wait to read it!
And I want a blog make over.

Going on that last bullet point, I decided in order to start blogging again, I'm going to give my blog a make over. New layout, new header, etc.

SO, should I just try to find all of this stuff on my own over the next month or two, or should I have a contest for someone to make me a new header (and/or layout)? Because I haven't had a good contest since October.

Tell me what you think!

~Genevieve

BEA tips!

2010-02-08T01:38:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,

This is a special blog for a blog tour about tips about last year's Book Expo America (BEA).

Last year I was hearing from my blogger friends about how excited they were to be going to BEA. I felt really left out and on the Sunday before BEA I made the decision to go! Since I did not plan out any of it in advance, I jumped in feet first without knowing what the heck I was doing. I wish that I knew beforehand because my trip could have been even easier than it was. Although, I had an AMAZING time! I highly recommend to any bloggers, authors, or book lovers to go to BEA if they have the opportunity.

As I mentioned, I decided on that Sunday that I was going to fly from California to New York City to attend BEA. I was able to convince my boyfriend Adam, of So Adam, How's That Book?, to join me on an adventure to NYC! By Wednesday afternoon were in JFK airport making our way to Manhattan for the first time in our lives. I'm Thursday on the YouTube group FiveAwesomeYAFans and Monday, Devyn Burton (also of The Faerie Drink Review), had been planning to go to BEA for months with our fellow blogger Korianne, of Korianne Speaks. Devyn, Korianne, Adam, and I spent the entire trip together and it was amazing!

I've had so much fun reading all of the blogs with tips for BEA. I'm going to try my best not to give the same tips that the other bloggers have given.

Tips For Book Expo America

You're Not Married To Your Friends

It was the first time that all four of us had been to BEA and because of that we decided to stick together. As children, we're always taught to use the buddy system but we ended up using the group system. On the first day of BEA we mapped out which booths we all wanted to attend. It turned out that there wasn't as much overlap between the four of us as we expected. By the end of the day we had a nice amount of books and met a good number of authors. However, we were all secretly wishing that we could go off on our own and maybe just meet up for lunch. At the start of the second day Devyn announced to us that he was sorry but he was going to go off on his own. Instead of hurting our feelings we all went “Oh my god! I've been trying to figure out how to tell you the same thing.”

Because we split up, we were all able to get the books we really wanted. Plus, we would save a space for each other in the lines for the signings that we all wanted to attend.

Oh My Freebies!

As you probably know, BEA is the it place to get ARCs (Advanced Readers/Reviewers Copies) from fall's top books. I came back from BEA last year with about 50 ARCs and apparently it was a slow year. Now, the ARCs are not the only fun freebies you can get. A lot of the sellers will have a ton awesome promotional merchandise like bookmarks, posters, or pins. Scholastic gave out buttons with MockingJays for the Catching Fire promos and Little Brown gave the first few chapters of Witch and Wizard on a CD. These awesome freebies can be compiled and be made into great prize packs for your blog's readers.

Bags, Bags, Bags

Have you ever stood in lines for hours at a time carrying 20 books in your arms? Well, that's what the first day of BEA was like for me. A lot of the book sellers give away bags with their logo on them to help you out. I ended up with about 5 different bags and still use them weekly for my groceries. One of my blogger friends, Mitali from Alley of Books, went around and collected the mother load of bags! She had SO many bags that ranged from the cheap junky plastic bags to some nice ones that looked almost like a gym bag. Now the bags sure help with carrying the books around but still, when you have 20 books and you're in a line for more than 15 minutes, the books get REALLY heavy! At the end of the 1^st day I noticed that there was a bag and coat check area. I can't remember how much they they charged to check your bag/coat but I decided that it was a reasonable enough price. On the 2^nd day of BEA I dumped out the contents of my carry-on suitcase onto my bed and took the empty bag with me to the conference. Yes, it was awkward taking it on the subway. Yes, I looked like I was traveling to the airport. And yes, it saved my back and I was able to walk around with only one or two books at a time. They let you return to your bag as many times as you need, so through out the day I'd drop off the books to save my back. Plus, when the people at the booths see you with only two books, they're much more eager to fill up your empty arms with freebies!

Panels vs. Signings

Most of the panels at BEA are not targeted towards the bloggers but there may be a few that you might want to check out. It's always good to look through the booklet beforehand to map out what you're interested in seeing or attending. You probably wont be able to see everything you want so it's good to plan it out the night before. Last year I only made my way to one panel and I did not regret that decision. The panel I attended was hosted by YA author Robyn Schneider and it was about how the marketing on the internet and social networking can really help an author promote their books.

Hostel Takeover

If you're on a tight budget, like myself, you may want to look into staying at a hostel. Korianne and Devyn were recommended a great hostel in Manhattan. After I decided to go to BEA, we called the hostel beforehand and made sure that the four of us were in the same room, a four person room with two bunk beds. It was about $23 a night and we had a blast! Before BEA Devyn, Korianne, and I had never met in person but we knew each other well enough to trust that we weren't creepers. It was great because a few other people that were attending the conference were also at the hostel so we were able to hang out with other bookish people!

So when looking for a place to stay, check out the hostels. It's important to read reviews online and make sure that they have free wifi. You're a blogger! Adam and Korianne brought their laptops so the four of us would share them. Our hostel had free wifi in the lobby and we were able to give updates through out the duration of the conference. This year I am going to bring my netbook. If you're worried about someone stealing you're laptop, usually you can check your valuables in at the desk for the day (for a small fee, of course).

O Twitter! My Twitter!

Do you have a twitter? I do (check it out HERE)! I love twitter and find it to be a useful tool to keep in contact with my author and blogger friends. I've built up relationships over time with those 140 words. Now you're probably wondering how this relates to BEA... Well, Book Expo America has it's own twitter! Yes, it's true. You can go and follow them HERE to hear the latest news about BEA.

But the thing is, there are also other really cool organizations on twitter that can be useful for your trip to BEA. I follow Orbitz and they will give promo codes to their followers that give discounts off of plane flights! The other day I saw a promo that had flights for March-May (from select locations) at really, really cheap prices. They had a round trip flight listed from LA (LAX) to NYC (JFK) listed at $180! I haven't bought my ticket yet but I almost did when I saw that price. I've also heard that other notable travel sites have similar promotions available only on their twitters. If you didn't have a twitter account before, I bet that you are seriously thinking about getting one just to track the promos because in the end it may be the difference between going to BEA or not. Just make sure that you keep watching their feeds and you might just snag yourself a flight to New York City!

Clothes Case

At BEA I saw people wearing everything from jeans and tee-shirts to suits. There is no dress code for the general area and you are allowed to wear whatever you'd like. However if you want people to take you seriously, jeans and your school sweatshirt may not be the most professional look. If you're there to network and meet people, wearing a polished version of your street wear is my recommendation. If you plan to blend into the crowed, jeans are perfectly fine. Also, keep in mind that you'll be in those clothes for the entire day, so no matter what you decide to wear make sure that it's comfortable---the lines for signings can be minutes long or last for over an hour.

Bring a hanger and a portable iron (or steamer)! I had a pair of pants that looked terribly wrinkled after the trip to NYC. Luckily I brought a hanger and a portable steamer, so I was able to layout my clothes the night before and my pants looked wrinkle free for the conference.

The Early Bird Gets The Special Signings

In the list of signings you'll see some that mention there is a limited number of signings for the booth. With these signings, you'll have to get to the conference early to obtain a ticket. I was able to grab an ARC of Catching Fire on the 1^st day of BEA but on the 2^nd day Suzanne Collins was signing books. The group of us got to the event center early and it turned out that they ran out of tickets. We were not able to get our ARCs of Catching Fire signed. But we were able to grab tickets for some of the other ticketed signings. So, moral of the story is the early bird gets the special signings.

Events and Places to Check Out

2^nd Annual Teen Author Carnival

Last year Devyn Burton, Korianne, and Mitali hosted the Teen Author Carnival at the Jefferson Marketplace Library. It was an AWESOME event and I had the wonderful opportunity to help out. I wasn't an official host because I jumped on the BEA train only days before so I hadn't helped prepare for the Teen Author Carnival until day of. It was a free event where about 40 authors showed up for a Q & A, meet & greet, and an autograph area. Since it was carnival themed, authors brought tons of candy and we gave away over a hundred and fifty books to the guests as prizes. As I said, the event was free so if you can't afford to attend BEA , you can always go to the Teen Author Carnival. It is a great way to meet some of your favorite YA authors and hang out with other bookish people. It is an RSVP only event because of limited space and last year there were at least a hundred guests!

I expect this year's Teen Author Carnival to be bigger and better than the last! For more information:

May 24, 2010
5:00 - 8:00 PM

Check out the website HERE or the twitter HERE, or e-mail us at:

TeenAuthorCarnival@gmail.com

Book Blogger Convention

Have you heard about the Book Blogger Con? I am so excited for it! It is going to be at the Jacob Javits Center along side BEA on the Friday after BEA. Originally it was going to be a separate event from BEA but now they are associated with BEA. It is a one day convention hosted by bloggers for bloggers to meet each other. They have tons of interesting panels planned and it sounds like it is going to be AWESOME. You can now just buy a ticket for the Book Blogger Con and it will also be your entrance fee to BEA. Pretty easy, huh? Anyways, check out their website because they are always updating with new cool information and you can see other BEA tips for this blog tour.

For more information go to:

http://bookbloggerconvention.com/

Strand Bookstore

18 miles of Books! YES, they say that if you line up all the books in Strand you'll have 18 miles of books. It is a book lover's paradise. So many books! No matter what sights you have planned to see, make sure you go to Strand.

Books of Wonder

Last year I was able to see Libba Bray preform with her band Tiger Beat at Books of Wonder. During BEA week there are a bunch of signings and events at Books of Wonder. Last year I missed Kristin Cashore's signing of Fire at BEA (which made me sad). Days later, I found out afterward that she did a second signing at Books of Wonder! If I only knew, I would have gone. So I am still missing a signature on my ARC of Fire. This year I'm going to cross check with Books of Wonder! (oh, and they have a cute cupcake cafe)

***

Overall BEA was an amazing event and I had so much fun. It was amazing to meet so many bloggers and authors. I'm still in contact with many of the people I met from last year's BEA. I was only in New York City for two weeks but I felt like it was much more than that. I have many fun and random stories that will last me a lifetime. And yes, the ARCs were amazing but honestly it was the relationships I made me want to go back again. BEA was like a high school reunion but 10 times better! I look forward to making the most out of this year's conference.

Thanks for reading and until I write again,

Genevieve

Wishing For Wednesday (20)

2010-01-06T12:25:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone!

So I decided to do my own version of Waiting on Wednesday. Waiting on Wednesday is a way to showcase books that are not yet released but excited to see they are coming out. It's hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. My version isn't for just books that haven't come out yet but any book that I am wishing to get. Each week I'll put up a book that I'm "Wishing for" or "Waiting on". I just kind of like the name Wishing for Wednesday better. : )

This week is a book that I'm "Waiting on":

Scarlett Fever by Maureen Johnson

Summary from Barnes and Noble.com:

"Ever since Mrs. Amberson, the former-aspiring-actress-turned-agent, entered Scarlett Martin's life, nothing has been the same.

She's still in charge of the Empire Suite in her family's hotel, but she's now also Mrs. Amberson's assistant, running around town for her star client, Chelsea - a Broadway star Scarlett's age with a knack for making her feel insignificant.

Scarlett's also trying to juggle sophomore year classes, her lab partner who is being just a little TOO nice, and getting over the boy who broke her heart.

In the midst of all this, her parents drop a bombshell that threatens to change her New York life forever..."

Release Date: February 1st, 2010

I CAN'T WAIT FOR THIS BOOK TO COME OUT!!! I love Maureen Johnson's books. I loved Suite Scarlett and cannot wait until Scarlett Fever comes out. I'm pretty sure it comes out on Feb 1st because that's what Amazon and Barnes and Noble say but on her website it said April. February sounds much nicer to me, don't you agree??? I can't wait to read more about Scarlett (and her brother Spencer! *Squee!*)

And can I just say that I'm in LOVE with the key on this cover?? It is SO cute. I want it.

SO, what are you waiting on this fine Wednesday?

More later,

Genevieve

P.S. Also, don't forget that Maureen Johnson is giving away ebooks of Suite Scarlett HERE and you should totally check it out. It's available until January 15.

It's my birthday AND blogoversary!!!

2010-01-01T20:42:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!

My blog is now officially ONE years old! And I am 21 years old. I had a ton of fun today. I went out for brunch with my family and boyfriend. Then we went wine tasting for a few hours, my 1st wine tasting ever. It was so much fun.

Guess what, I got a Flip Mino HD (8GB)! I'm soooo excited. I can't wait to use it. : )

More later,

~Genevieve

Merry Christmas + link to online book!

2009-12-24T19:53:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone!

I hope that you're having an awesome winter break (if you have a break from school like me). I just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas (if you celebrate it)! I am looking forward to spending some time with my family and Christmas morning tomorrow. My mom always makes the best Christmas breakfast (homemade waffles or crepes!). And maybe I'll get some books as presents. : )

Anyways, I hope that you have an awesome week! And I'd just like to leave you with a link of one of my favorite books-- Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson! Maureen Johnson is giving away ebooks of Suite Scarlett HERE and you should totally check it out. It's available until January 15.

Happy Holidays!

Genevieve

Vlog review of Teen Inc.

2009-12-22T12:01:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!

Here is a video review I did for FiveAwesomeYAFans. I did a review on the book Teen, Inc. by Stefan Petrucha. Here it is:

More later,

Genevieve

Vlog review of Dream Factory

2009-12-20T00:01:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone!

Here's another video I made for FiveAwesomeYAFans, I did a review of Dream Factory by Brad Barkley and Heather Hepler.

More later,

Genevieve

Project For Awesome 2009!

2009-12-17T21:15:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!

It's that time of year, Project For Awesome is here! I spent more than nine hours yesterday making the P4A video for FiveAwesomeYAFans.

I would like to encourage you to check out the FiveAwesomeYAFans' video for this year's Project For Awesome. Project For Awesome was started by John and Hank Green back in 2007. The goal of Project For Awesome is for hundreds of YouTube videos about charities to go up on December 17th (today!) and 'take over' YouTube.

The FiveAwesomeYAFans decided to highlight the charity The Book Transfusion, which was founded by Devyn Burton (a FiveAwesomeYAFans member). The Book Transfusion was founded to create to a getaway for Young Adults admitted in hospitals by collecting and donating age appropriate books. The Book Transfusion staff, YA Authors, Businesses and Volunteers work together to make any hospital stay better with a good book.

I would love it if you viewed our Project For Awesome video and perhaps spread the word about The Book Transfusion. Thanks!

Happy Project For Awesome!

~Genevieve

P.S. Go HERE for more information on The Book Transfusion!

Wishing For Wednesday (19)

2009-12-16T00:01:00.000-08:00

Knightley Academy by Violet Haberdasher

Summary from Robyn Schneider.com:

"Henry Grim has never been in trouble for borrowing a sword from the headmaster’s private stores. He has never discovered a forbidden room in a foreign castle or received a death threat over breakfast.

All Henry knows is life as an orphaned servant boy at the Midsummer School, bullied by the privileged sons of aristocracy. But all that changes when Henry is the first commoner to pass the entrance exam for the prestigious Knightley Academy, where he will be trained as a modern-day knight alongside the cleverest and bravest fourteen-year-olds in the country.

Henry and his roommates, two other students from decidedly un-Knightley backgrounds, are not exactly greeted with open arms by their classmates. In fact, it soon becomes apparent that someone is going to great lengths to sabotage the trio’s chances at becoming knights. But Henry soon learns that there is more at stake than his future at Knightley, and only Henry can sound the alarm. Is anyone going to believe a former servant on the brink of expulsion?"

Release date: March 9, 2010

I honestly can't wait to get my hands on this book in March. I met the author Violet (a.k.a. Robyn Schneider) back in May at BEA in NYC. She told us about her book and proudly displayed the cover art on her cell phone. Then she proceed to give us autographed Violet Haberdasher bookmarks (and I still have mine!). Since May, the cover of the book has changed like 2 or 3 more times and each time it looks better than the one before! I've been waiting to post Knightly Academy as my Wishing for Wednesday post for a while now. It sounds like SUCH a good book, and I'm not saying that because I've met the author. Tamora Pierce called the book "Steampunky, subversive and enthralling!" and that makes me want to read it even more than before! So, I know what book I'll be reading this spring.

What are you Waiting on or Wishing for this week?

~Genevieve

Word verification

2009-12-15T13:03:00.000-08:00

Quick note:

This blog has been getting spammed up a lot. A LOT. So I had to put the word verification on, I know that you hate it (well, I hate it) but it will cut down in the spamming of the blog. Just an FYI.

~Genevieve

Vlog review of DupliKate by Cherry Cheva

2009-12-15T12:01:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,

So I mentioned that I have been doing videos for FiveAwesomeYAFans and back in October I did a review of DupliKate by Cherry Cheva. SO, here it is and I hope that you enjoy it!

More later,

~Genvieve

I'm BACK!

2009-12-14T15:20:00.001-08:00

Hello my loyal followers that did not abandon me when I had an unintentional hiatus,

My life has been crazy busy the past few months-- hence the lack of blogging. Like non-existent blogging. I did participate in FiveAwesomeYAFans videos (okay, I only did about half of them) and I'll post them over the next few weeks. I didn't forget that I have a blog, but every time I had some free time I ended up doing other things that did not include blogging. But I have been pretty active on Twitter, so if you really did miss me you can always go follow me HERE.

How are YOU? I seriously have no idea what has happened in the blogosphere since about early October. I haven't read that many blogs and I haven't entered in any contests (okay, I think I entered in one but it didn't count. I normally would enter in about 10 contests a week! I like to have the "contests in the blogosphere" links on the sidebar up to date for my readers.). Any new news about bloggers or authors that I should know about? I've kept up to date on the author blogs of: Melissa Walker, Elizabeth Scott, Meg Cabot, Lauren McLaughlin, and Robyn Schneider. But other than those five authors, I'm pretty much clueless of the happenings of everyone else.

Also, I really haven't been reading very much. I have only averaged one book per week this quarter which is a terribly low number for me. I was reading maybe.... 5 books a week in the spring and who knows how many I read during the summer.

Anyways, I've got to work on my "Christmas Wish List" and "Birthday Wish List" soon. My parents want to know what I want for Christmas and my birthday (January 1st! I'm going to be 21 years old soooon!). Does anyone have any suggestions of this years "MUST READ" books?? I'm trying to come up with as many books as possible to give my parents a variety.

Oh, and since I mentioned my birthday which is coming up in a few weeks.... It happens to also be my Blogoversary (how do you spell that????). I started my blog on my 20th birthday! I'll probably host a contest or two, we'll see how it goes when we get closer to the date.

More later,

Genevieve

vlog review of Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

2009-10-29T21:52:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

First off, can I just say "Ooops!" because of not posting. I thought that I had some scheduled posts but apparently they were just drafts. So, again "Ooops!". I'll try to figure out a way to make it up to you guys.

So I haven't abandoned my blog, I was just really busy with starting school (and a big "Ooops"). Life has been hectic with being at a new school. Hopefully I'll get into the swing of things soon. But for now, here's my FiveAwesomeYAFans video from two weeks ago where I reviewed Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld:

I also need to choose the winners of my recent contest, so I'll announce that later this week!

More later,
~Genevieve

Wishing For Wednesday (18)

2009-09-30T23:11:00.000-07:00

Ice by Sarah Beth Durst

"When Cassie was a little girl, her grandmother told her a fairy tale about her mother, who made a deal with the Polar Bear King and was swept away to the ends of the earth. Now that Cassie is older, she knows the story was a nice way of saying her mother had died. Cassie lives with her father at an Arctic research station, is determined to become a scientist, and has no time for make-believe.

Then, on her eighteenth birthday, Cassie comes face-to-face with a polar bear who speaks to her. He tells her that her mother is alive, imprisoned at the ends of the earth. And he can bring her back — if Cassie will agree to be his bride.

That is the beginning of Cassie's own real-life fairy tale, one that sends her on an unbelievable journey across the brutal Arctic, through the Canadian boreal forest, and on the back of the North Wind to the land east of the sun and west of the moon. Before it is over, the world she knows will be swept away, and everything she holds dear will be taken from her — until she discovers the true meaning of love and family in the magical realm of Ice."

Release Date: October 6, 2009

This book sounds pretty good and it comes out next week. Too bad I'm trying not to buy books! I'll have to put it on my wish list for Christmas. : )

What are you Waiting on or Wishing for this week?

~Genevieve

I've got a problem...

2009-09-29T21:05:00.001-07:00

My problem is I want to read the last book in The Hunger Games trilogy!

THE HUNGER GAMES and CATCHING FIRE ARE SOOOO GOOD!!

Who told me to go and read The Hunger Games? Because I love and hate that person. Catching Fire had such a cliff hanger that made me want to pull my hair out (figuratively, of course). They were both such good books and I was amazed at how awesome they are. I'll probably read them again soon! And Catching Fire had me crying, around page 60 I had tears streaming down my face-- I rarely cry when it comes to books. I almost wish that I had waited until the last book comes out because I want to read the next book SO BADLY! I haven't felt like this with a book series since Harry Potter. Anyways, I'll have to post a proper review later.

I'm now off to go read about Italian Opera, Avante-Garde Theatre, and Global Ideologies for school.

Until next time,

Genevieve

P.S. Don't forget to check out my contest HERE for Sophomore Switch.

Contest: Sophomore Switch + swag

2009-09-28T12:00:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

Today is my 1st day at a new school! I'm starting at UC Santa Barbara as a junior, where part of the book Sophomore Switch takes place.

Sophomore Switch
by Abby McDonald

Summary from Barnes and Noble.com:

"Take an administrative snafu, a bad breakup, and what shall heretofore be known as "The Hot-Tub Incident," and you’ve got two unprepared sophomores on a semester abroad. For American party girl Tasha, an escape to Oxford may be a chance to ditch her fame as a tabloid temptress, but wading Uggs-deep in feminist theory is not her idea of a break. Meanwhile, the British half of the exchange, studious Emily, nurses an aching heart amid the bikinis and beer pong of U.C. Santa Barbara. Soon desperation has the girls texting each other tips — on fitting in, finding love, and figuring out who they really are."

I read Sophomore Switch and loved it! I've grown up in Santa Barbara my entire life so it was fun reading about my hometown. Some of the UCSB college life was very accurate, but some of it wasn't. Overall it was a good book! In honor of me starting at UCSB I'm going to give away one copy of Sophomore Switch and some UCSB swag (I'll add pics after I buy some).

How to enter:

Leave a comment and make sure I can a way to contact you via e-mail. No e-mail address, no entry. Or e-mail me at: caprubia(at)gmail(dot)com

Please put all of the entries in one comment and tell me everything you did with links and your e-mail address.

How to get Extra Entries:

+1 entries for blogging about it. Make sure you give me the link. Sidebars are okay. (No limit to number of places you post it at)
+2 entries for being awesome! Tell me why you're awesome. (basically this is a freebie for anyone who actually reads all of these... but you have to give a reason why you're awesome.)
+3 entries for following me (make sure you let me know)
OR
+4 entries for my current followers (as of 9/28)
+5 entries for joining the Five Awesome YA Fans Ning (make sure you let me know if you did, and what your user name is there!)

Please put all of the entries in one comment and tell me everything you did with links and your e-mail address.

Ends: You have until October 28th midnight PST to enter.

Open to: Open addresses in the United States ONLY (Sorry, I'm just a college student!)
Good luck!

~Genevieve

Vacation, sunburns, and books!

2009-09-27T19:56:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone,

So right now I'm on vacation with my family (NOTE: Actually, I wrote this while on vacation, I'm now home). I'm having a great time! Although, I have this annoying sunburn on half of my face. I don't burn very easily and when I do, it is pink but it doesn't actually hurt. This sunburn doesn't hurt but it looks SO funny. I had asked my mom to put the sunscreen on my face because I didn't have a mirror and she'd be able to rub it all in. Well... apparently she didn't put enough sunscreen on the left side of my face (and nose) and I was in the sun for more than 5 hours on Tuesday. Luckily it doesn't hurt but next week I have to get my ID card for school and I really hope that I wont have a half burnt face in the picture.

Anyways, I've been able to get some reading in while on vacation. Can you believe that I actually took an ARC on the beach? Yeah, I did! I was so worried that it would get ruined but I didn't want to stop reading. I was going to write up some reviews but I realized that I didn't have any word program on my new netbook and had to wait until I found some free wifi before I could download Open Office.

Right now I'm going to start to read The Hunger Games! Can you believe it! FINALLY. I can't believe that I've had Catching Fire since the end of May but wasn't able to read it because I hadn't read The Hunger Games. Well, now I have my very own copy of The Hunger Games sitting on my lap right now. I would have gotten the book sooner but I didn't want to buy a hardback book.

So, this brings me to my main idea of this blog: why I'm glad that I am friends with a 6^th grader. My boyfriend's sister, Jenny, is in the 6^th grade. She is a cute kid and loves to read. I've been friends with her ever since I played 100 games in a row of Connect Four with her 3 years ago. Neither one of us has ever wanted to play Connect Four. I love that she loves to read, I've loaned her so many of my Meg Cabot books and a few other YA books. Last month she was looking through the Scholastic catalog that they give elementary school kids and I got really excited because I wanted to see what she was going to buy. Then I saw it, I saw that they were selling paperback copies of The Hunger Games for $7! I was totally jazzed. I went through the catalog and decided on The Hunger Games (for $7) and Among The Hidden (for $1). I told Adam that his sister could get a copy of The Hunger Games for a pretty cheap price and he bought himself a copy. Then I made Jenny promise to show me the Scholastic catalog every time she got them. Yes yes, I know that I'm 'using' a 6^th grader to get books but hey, she was excited to help me out. And yes, I've seen hardcover copies of The Hunger Games online for reasonable prices but I like that I bought it through Jenny.

Well, I have to go now but I hope that you're having an awesome day!

More later,

~Genevieve

P.S. Look forward for a new contest soon!

Wishing for Wednesday (17)

2009-09-15T23:43:00.000-07:00

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Summary from Barnes and Noble.com:

"There were no surprises in Gatlin County.
We were pretty much the epicenter of the middle of nowhere.
At least, that's what I thought.
Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong.
There was a curse.
There was a girl.
And in the end, there was a grave.

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything."

Release Date: December 01, 2009

I've been seeing this book around the blogosphere and I can't wait for it to come out. It definitely sounds like a good read. I know that Beautiful Creatures was at BEA in late May and we didn't get a chance to pick it up. Now I wish more than before that I didn't miss grabbing a copy. Oh well, December isn't too far off.

What are you waiting on?

~Genevieve

Busy busy busy!

2009-09-15T19:39:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

So things have been pretty darn busy around here. I am getting ready to start school on the 28th, hopefully it'll be great! Here are the highlights of my life from the past few weeks:

I made an new YouTube account, I didn't like my old one as much. It's called genevievevlogs. Nothing is there right now but I hope to be making a few videos. : )
I have a new computer! It's an HP Mini netbook. I've decided to name it Minnie, not too original but it fits! I'll still be using my main computer and Minnie will be for school, it's less than 3lbs! Sadly it doesn't have a CD drive but it's was worth the price (I got it for $300 with tax!).
I also bought three cute pairs of shoes. I loooove shoes. The a nice thing about recessions is sales. I got this one pair for $12 and they were normally about $150! Pretty nice, right?
I read Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick last week and it was amazing. I loved it. I don't even know where to start because it was really good. A review is bound to come, but it might take me a while to form my thoughts.
I just started Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev. So far it's pretty good. : )
You know that new computer I mentioned? Yeah, it came with Skype. So I have a Skype account now! I don't have a headset but I'm working on that. Message me if you want my username to chat.
I signed up for a fencing class! It's going to start in a few weeks, 2 times a week for 10 weeks- $45 in total! Pretty good deal. I can't wait. Fencing sounds like a lot of fun, and I've heard that it's a great work out. I'll update you more after I take the class.
I need to work out some interviews with bloggers and authors for Friday's Featured Friend. Hopefully we'll have a nice interview this Friday! (again, contact me if you would like to participate.)
Tomorrow I'm going to get my hair cut. I have decided that I'm going to get short hair. Okay, okay... not short short. But closer to my sholders. Like an inch or two longer than my sholders. And trust me, that is short for me. I haven't had it that short since I was 12 years old. We'll see if I follow through or chicken out.

Well, that about sums up the important highlights in my life. Okay, there were some more important things over the past week like making sure my school tution was paid for, and luckily it was! But those were stressful things that we don't need to talk about anymore.

More later,

Genevieve

Friday's Featured Friend: Emma from Booking Through 365!

2009-09-04T14:59:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone,

This week for Friday's Featured Friend we have Emma from stopping by from Booking Through 365! I've known Emma for a while so I'm excited to feature her this week.

***

Hi Emma, why don't you tell the readers a bit about yourself!

Alright! I am a teen girl who loves books, writing and emus. My favorite author of all time is Libba Bray and I'm writing a YA novel involving parallel universes, the apocalypse and fantasy worlds. Right now, my life revolves around the online book blogger universe!

So when did you start blogging and what prompted you to do so?

Well, I decided I wanted to challenge myself this year and read a book a day (currently I am failing at this). I had tried to blog for a while but I never stuck with it, and since I've always loved books, I decided a YA book blog would be a great idea.

If you had to sum your blog up in 5 words or less, what would you say?

Young Adult Book Obsessed Central!

What is one book you would recommend to everyone?

I am a big fangirl of Libba Bray, who wrote The Gemma Doyle Trilogy. The first book is called A Great and Terrible Beauty and for anyone who enjoys complex characters, fantastical worlds, good writing and historical fiction, it's an absolute must.

What book really surprised you after you read it because it was different than your expectations?
Can I mention two? I had high expectations for Twilight by Stephenie Meyer because my best friend really adores her series. But I absolutely hated it. My short opinion is that Twilight is a book that was written by a woman who was vicariously living through her main character who gets the author's own secret fantasies. The author got lucky and it was published.

One that I had a really great experience with was Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson. While I liked her most popular book Speak, it wasn't my favorite. Wintergirls really surprised me. The writing was amazing and it was really interesting getting inside the head of a girl who had an eating disorder and who cut herself. I loved the book so much it is now my third favorite book of all time.

What fictional character(s) are you secretly in love with?
Everyone who knows me knows I love Kartik from The Gemma Doyle Trilogy but what they don't know is that I'm even MORE in love with Weaver from A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly, which is my second favorite novel ever. He's sweet, intelligent and doesn't let things get to him.

What are some of your hobbies (other than blogging and reading)?
I've been doing this non-violent martial art called Aikido for five years. I'm very passionate about it. I also do yoga and I have a very close relationship with my yoga teacher.

What is a question you wish you were asked, and can you answer it for us?
It'd be how did I meet Genevieve. I met Genevieve on YA for Obama, a site created by the YA author Maureen Johnson to spread the word about Obama and his policies. Then Genevieve and four of my other YA for Obama friends created this youtube channel called FiveAwesomeYAFans, and I became the sekrit sister. Genevieve and I have kept in touch ever since!

Thank you so much for interviewing me, Genevieve! I adore your blog!

Thanks Emma for stopping by! If you are an author or a book blogger and would like to be interviewed for Friday's Featured Friend, just e-mail me with your info (Name and blog/website URL) to:

caprubia(at)gmail(dot)com

More later,

~Genevieve

Tuesday Thoughts: Perspective & Weight

2009-09-01T20:06:00.000-07:00

Hey,

So, I was looking through old pictures of me and my friends from high school. I found a picture of me from February '06 and thought "Wow, I was skinny then. Jeeze, I need to get back into shape." After a few minutes of thinking I remembered that day perfectly and what was happening at the time. Since I was in ballet, I'd have to drop like 10-15 pounds at any given time if I realized that I didn't fit into a costume. A lot of times you'd have to change yourself to fit the costume, not change the costume to fit you. Here's the picture of me:

At the time this picture (above) was taken, I was trying to drop 10 pounds. Three weeks later I had dropped the weight (through exercise and diet, don't worry I've never had an eating disorder of any kind) and I took this picture (below):

Here I am March '06 and about 8 pounds lighter than the 1st picture. You know what's even more interesting? The costume fit just a little snug but they took it in half an inch so that meant that I'd I have to loose at least another 5-7 pounds before the performance.

And guess what? I was one of the two or three 'fat' girls. If I actually gave into an eating disorder I probably would have been one of the skinny girls.

I was going to ballet 6 days a week, about 20-30 hours a week plus the gym 5 days a week (about 2 in the gym each time I went).

Funny thing was when I went to the doctor one year ('04), she walked and w/o looking at me, told me that I was about 15 pounds over weight (at 120 lbs). She told me that I had I needed to start exercising to get into shape. I stood up and told her that I took ballet 5 days a week and worked out at the gym 4 days a week (this was when I was 15) to cross train. She finally looked up from her charts and saw that I was a zero in jeans size and then proceeded to tell me that I had an eating disorder. Yeah, I know. One minute I'm overweight and the next I'm supposedly anorexic. Needless to say my mother and I walked out in the middle of the appointment and then changed doctors.

Overall, my point of this post is everything is about perspective. From one point of view, I needed to loose more weight and from another I was perfectly fine. I've never bought into the media's bullshit about girls needing to be super model skinny but it's crazy realizing how thin I was back in high school. Over time the facts start to change. Back when I took the 1st picture, the facts were that I needed to loose weight because I wouldn't fit into any of the costumes if I didn't. Now the facts are that I was perfectly fine and I really didn't need to double up my gym time and amp up my fruits & veggies intake.

And again, no I was never anorexic or bulimic (ew!), my caloric intake was insanely high-- more like a swimmer's diet than the typical ballerina. I would eat about 6 medium meals a day + fruit for snacks (I LOVE FRUIT!). When I stopped ballet and exercising, I put on about 40 pounds in a blink of an eye. I stopped ballet, but I forgot to adjust my eating habits to match my lack of exercise (aka I was still eating 6 meals a day). Of course, now I've lost most of that weight but still, it's all about perspective.

The thing is, if someone tells you that you are fat-- don't listen. Do you think that I was fat in either of those pictures? Yeah, I didn't think that I was at the time and I definitely don't think so now. But at the time I had people pressuring me to join them in their anorexic or bulimic 'clubs', I was put down for being larger than the other girls in ballet. You know, the double edged comments that your frenemies will say like "Oh, these jeans would look SO cute on you if you were smaller”.

More later,

~Genevieve

My Life in Pink And Green

2009-08-31T12:33:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

Lets just pretend that I haven't had any written reviews in ages, okay? Because I feel really bad that I haven't posted any in a while. For me, my 1st priority is FiveAwesomeYAFans and I know that I've reviewed a book almost every week for FiveAwesomeYAFans.

My Life in Pink And Green (ARC) by Lisa Greenwald

Summary from Barnes & Noble.com:

"Twelve-year-old Lucy Desberg is a natural problem solver. After the local homecoming queen shows up at her family’s struggling drugstore with a beauty disaster that Lucy helps to fix, Lucy has a long line of makeover customers for every school dance and bat mitzvah. But all the makeup tips in the world won’t help save the pharmacy. If only she could find a way to make the pharmacy the center of town again—a place where people want to spend time, like in the old days. Lucy dreams up a solution that could resuscitate the family business and help the environment, too. But will Lucy’s family stop fighting long enough to listen to a seventh-grader?"

My Review:

This book is geared towards the middle grade crowed more than YA. I found this book to be really cute. Lucy, the main character, was very mature for her age in her quest to help save her family's pharmacy. I would have loved to have Lucy as a friend in JR high, I could have used the general beauty tips on putting on makeup, I knew how but it took me a few years to figure out that less really is more. I also like how each of the chapters started with a beauty or business tip. Lisa Greenwald did a good job at capturing the voice of a twelve year old, it reminded me of how I used to speak when I was that age. Overall, it was a cute book. The arch of the storyline was done with ease and perfection, I was very satisfied with each part-- beginning, middle, and end.

Star Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars. I say that this book is worth checking out from your local library or buying in paperback (when it's available). It definitely was cute.

Release date: March 2009

Pages: 267

More later,

~Genevieve

152 followers!

2009-08-31T11:57:00.000-07:00

Hey!

Guess what?? I have 152 followers. HOW COOL IS THAT!?!? Every time I notice that I have a new follower it makes me happy. But I restrain myself from giving daily updates on how many followers I have and stick to the milestones like 50, 100, and now 150! If I wasn't already having a contest for a three book giveaway, I'd totally throw one. SO we'll have to wait until the next milestone (200!) before I have a celebratory contest about followers. Maybe next month I'll have 2 contests just because I hit 150 this month. : D

~G

Friday's Featured Friend: Jaime from Revenge of the Book Nerds!

2009-08-28T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone,

This week for Friday's Featured Friend we have Jaime from stopping by from Revenge of the Book Nerds!

***

Hi Jaime, why don't you tell the readers a bit about yourself!

Sure! A little bit about me hmmm. Well, to start I am a single mother and am raising my daughter Emma who is 6 and has multiple disabilities due to being a victim of Shaken Baby Syndrome when she was 11 months old. She is my world, my sweetheart, joy and headache all in one! I just decided to return to college for a career switch. I worked in the medical field with cancer patients (Nuclear Medicine- PET Scanning) and now I want to be on the business end of it!

So when did you start blogging and what prompted you to do so?

I was let go from my job in April, with my daughter's pending surgery, I decided I would read all the books in my TBR pile (Yeah, don't laugh.. you know you have the same goals! Hahahahahaha. Oh and yeah.. my pile has GROWN since I began this "project") and write reviews on a blog. I have always been such a book lover and my taste so eclectic, that I thought why not blog and write reviews and discuss books!

If you had to sum your blog up in 5 words or less, what would you say?

Revenge of the book nerds!!!!

(Genevieve's note: Before this interview, Jaime's blog was named "For The Love of All That is Written"... Notice the new change in blog name!)

What is one book you would recommend to everyone?

That is so hard! One book. Gosh, I could recommend 20! haha. "Of Mice and Men" Wait. Can I add another one? "Stinky Cheese Man"

What are some of your hobbies (other than blogging)?

What?? You mean there are hobbies outside of blogging? I am in Arizona and right now it's indoor season with the unbearable heat, so when it cools down I love to hike, rock climb, visit zoos, museums, science centers, and I love to bowl! I also enjoy game board night with my girlfriends. We all bring a dish, we crack a bottle of wine (or 4.. shhhh don't tell anyone) and play boardgames while we chat about relationships, kids, music, books, etc.

What is a question you wish you were asked, and can you answer it for us?

Man, oh man, this is the one that had me thinking the hardest and longest.... hmmmmmm let's see.. I wish I was asked... Am I happy with my life? The answer is.. YES! Wouldn't change the past for anything. Thank you so much for having me on your blog, you keep up the great work!

Thanks Jaime for stopping by! If you are an author or a book blogger and would like to be interviewed for Friday's Featured Friend, just e-mail me with your info (Name and blog/website URL) to:

caprubia(at)gmail(dot)com

More later,

~Genevieve

Last day to enter!

2009-08-26T18:36:00.001-07:00

One last reminder- today is the last day to enter in my half birthday contest. It ends tonight at 11:59 PST. Enter HERE!

Wishing for Wednesday (16)

2009-08-26T17:20:00.000-07:00

Shrinking Violet by Danielle Joseph

Summary from Danielle Joseph's website:

"High school senior Teresa Adams is so painfully shy that she dreads speaking to anyone in the hallways or getting called on in class. But in the privacy of her bedroom with her iPod in hand, she rocks out doing mock broadcasts for Miami's hottest FM radio station, which happens to be owned by her stepfather. When a slot opens up at The SLAM, Tere surprises herself by blossoming behind the mike into confident, sexy Sweet T to everyone's shock, she's a hit! Even Gavin, the only guy in school who she dares to talk to, raves about the mysterious DJ's awesome taste in music. But when The SLAM announces a songwriting contest, and a prom date with Sweet T is the grand prize, Sweet T's dream could turn into Tere's worst nightmare. . . ."

This book has been released since May and it's been on my radar for a while. Lately I've read a few books that have music in their themes-- i.e. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, Audrey Wait!, and Pop Princess. So far I've enjoyed them and Shrinking Violet looks like it'll be an awesome read.

Any good books you're looking forward to?

~Genevieve

P.S. Have you checked out my newly cleaned up sidebars? I made posts yesterday to clean up my blog. I'm very proud of how it has turned out so far!

Blog Awards List

2009-08-25T19:58:00.001-07:00

Here is a list of various blog awards I have received:

Lanna from A Community For Bookworms gave me the I Love Your Blog award:

Yan from Books By Their Covers and Lanna from Warped [to the] Max! both gave me the Sisterhood Award:

Korianne from Korrianne Speaks gave me the Your Blog is Fabulous! award:

Morgan from Books and Literature for Teens gave me the One Lovely Blog Award:

Amber{ella} from Must Lust for Books! gave me the Splash Award:

Sites you can find Genevieve

2009-08-25T19:22:00.000-07:00

Here are some sites that you can find me at:

Facebook:
Genevieve Thursday's Profile

Create Your Badge

Five Awesome YA Fans ning:

Visit FiveAwesomeYAFans

Maureen Johnson ning:

Visit Maureen Johnson

Nerdfighters ning:

Visit Nerdfighters

YA Book Club:

Blog clean up

2009-08-25T19:20:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

I'm just doing some blog clean up today. So don't be confused if you see random posts about Promotional Information or other things like that. I need to clean up my sidebars a bit. : )

~Genevieve