Sana's BEA 2014 Write Up

So before BEA Jessica and I got together and had a talk.  We both agreed that we were going to have a different game plan this year.  We realized that since we are from the same blog there is no reason for us to pick up the same books.  Plus recently we've both had different reading taste.  For example I've been reading and reviewing contemporary and sci fi books.  And Jessica fantasy and paranormal.  Sometimes there are some that we both are interested in and have to decide who gets to review it.  For example we both wanted Anna Carey's Blackbird and Amy Ewing's The Jewel  (I am reviewing Blackbird and Jessica is reviewing The Jewel).  Bottom line is, we don't want to be greedy.

New York Comic Con 2013 Write Up

I love Comic Cons!  But New York Comic Con will always have a special place in my heart because it was the first Comic Con that I attended way back in 2008.  Back then I wasn't much of a reader yet.  I had attended the convention to see a Japanese pop musician perform.  Last year I returned to NYCC and I was amazed at the growth of the convention in just 4 years.  It has grown to become the biggest Comic Con of the east coast, and the second biggest Comic Con in the United States.

Stephenie Meyer The Host Book Signing + Giveaway

In the past I've written on this blog about how big of a fan of Stephenie Meyer I am.  You can read my experience of the first time I met her here.  On Friday February 22nd, I had the pleasure of meeting her for the third time.

Stephenie Meyer

Breathless Reads New York Author Event

Last night was the New York tour stop of the Breathless Reads tour!  I have been looking forward to this book signing for quite some time.  I am very thankful to Penguin Teen for putting this tour together.  I am also thankful to Books of Wonder for hosting yet another amazing event.

Books of Wonder & Hooray for Books Author Events

So, I was thinking about doing a write up of the Books of Wonder signing featuring Jodi Meadows, Teri Terry, Cynthia Hand, Jocelyn Davies & Brodi Ashton but then I decided, you know what? I’m seeing Jodi twice in one week, why not just do a joint write up of both events? So that’s what I’m doing…

Maggie Stiefvater and David Levithan Signing Write Up

The day after Maggie Stiefvater's latest book The Raven Boys was released she did a book signing at Books of Wonder in New York City.  Back in August I read and reviewed "The Raven Boys." Unfortunately I couldn't go to the release party the day before in New Jersey because of work.  But I was happy because Jessica was able to come with me to the New York signing.

Jessica and I have both gone to book signings at Books of Wonder.  I'm pretty sure I've mentioned before how much I enjoy signings at smaller book stores as opposed to major chains.  Book signings at independent book stores and at libraries always feel more intimate and personal.  Plus there usually isn't a limit to the amount of books you can have signed.

San Diego Comic Con Write Up

San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) was just about 2 weeks ago.  It is a huge convention in San Diego that happens once a year.  It's a convention with a little bit of everything.  There is something for comic book fans, movie buffs, television junkies, and of course book worms.  Now I've attended conventions in the past such as anime conventions and New York Comic Con, but there is nothing like SDCC.  It's like the convention of all conventions.  Just to get a ticket is a hard thing to do (Side note I wasn't even able to get a Saturday ticket).  And the guest list every year just seems to get bigger and bigger.

Author Event: Meeting Veronica Roth

Veronica Roth reading an excerpt from Insurgent 

It's no secret among my friends that I am a huge fan of the Divergent series. I have raved about this book series to anyone who would listen to me. And even to some who didn't want to listen to me. So a couple of months ago I decided to take the release day of Insurgent off from work, so I can stay home and read it. Then a few weeks ago, Jessica texted me that the author of the series Veronica Roth would be doing a book signing on release day in New York City. Needless to say, I decided to go even before I finished reading the message.

Author Event: Meeting Jeri-Smith Ready

Go Ravens.

Sorry - I had to start my post out with that. Like Jeri said, we Ravens fans have to stick together ;)

Told you, Go Ravens!

Sana and I drove to the Harrisburg area to attend Jeri's midnight Shine release party at Cupboard Maker Books.

Author Event: Spring Into the Future (NYC)

Jessica attended the Washington DC tour stop, and I (Sana) was lucky enough to attend the New York City tour stop on April 15th. The authors in attendance were Tahereh Mafi, Lauren Oliver, Anna Carey, and Veronica Rossi. I've always enjoyed book signings. Authors can be some of the most vibrant people you can meet. And it's always nice to put a face behind the book series that you love and enjoy.

The New York City stop was at the lovely book store Books of Wonder. I've had the pleasure of attending previous book signings at Books of Wonder. I have always had an enjoyable experience. The employees at the store allow for personalization of books and allow you plenty of time with the authors. At other chain book stores, you can usually be rushed and sometimes not even say more than 2 words to the author. Or your book is pushed in front of the author before you are actually near the author to keep the line moving, and you don't even get the chance to say anything to the author. That's never the case at Books of Wonder. Everyone is given a plethora of time with the authors, and you are even allowed to take pictures with the authors.

Author Event: Spring Into The Future (DC)

On Saturday, April 14, I got to meet the incredible Tahereh Mafi (Shatter Me), Anna Carey (Eve) and Veronica Rossi (Under the Never Sky) at their Spring Into the Future event in Alexandria, VA (DC). This is the first book signing I've gone to by myself but I didn't really care because I really wanted to meet these wonderful authors and I definitely had an amazing time.

Author Event: Meeting Jodi Meadows

Yesterday I drove 3.5 hours to attend Jodi Meadows' Incarnate release party in her hometown of Harrisonburg, VA. It was such a nice, easy drive. . . and we saw plenty of cows. And by plenty, I mean soooooooo many cows. I should've picked up some milk for Jodi's release party ;)

We got to the Books-A-Million before noon and we actually saw Jodi as we were waiting to use the restroom. Yeah, I know. . . weird place to meet up, right? :P But the employee room was right across the hall. One thing I learned, right off the bat is that both of us are shy. I talk to her ALL the time on twitter but it was this awkward 'hello' and then we kind of looked at her and then she was like 'Are you Jessica?' lol We talked for a few minutes...she was super nice and so were her husband (I'm assuming?) and the other lady who was with her.

Author Event: Meeting Megan Miranda, Beth Revis & Julie Cross

On Tuesday, January 17 I made the three hour bus trip up to New York City to meet a few amazing authors at Books of Wonder. I was especially excited to meet Megan Miranda who is the amazing author of FRACTURE, which happened to be released the same day as this event (along with Julie Cross' debut novel, TEMPEST).

Author Event: Meeting Cassandra Clare & Michelle Hodkin

I got the chance to meet Cassandra Clare (for the third time) and Michelle Hodkin (for the first time) in Bethesda, MD on December 8, 2011. So, third time is a charm - you know that saying? Yeah, its totally legit. This was my third time meeting the always wonderful Cassandra Clare but I have to say this was my best experience, hands down. She took so much time with each person, she made a point to have a conversation with me. It was amazing. When I met her in NYC two days before this appearance I didn't get to say anything besides a simple Thank You. It was a bit of a letdown, if I'm being honest. It's not her fault, per say. She was talking to the girl in front of me (about her hair dye and how the box was in spanish, it was an entertaining conversation, I'll give her that) and I felt kind of rushed at this signing. (Though, there were a lot of people there, so its understandable) At this signing, the wait didn't seem long (I met some amazing people in line, so it was a lot of fun to talk about different books and such) and when I got up to her, I had plenty of time to tell her what I thought of Clockwork Prince (like the fact that I dropped it multiple times from shock) and then we talked about the Hunger Games, Julie Kagawa and her Iron Fey series...and just talked about books. It was nice, it was relaxing and it was probably the best book signing I've gone to, yet.

Author Event: Meeting Stephenie Meyer, Author of the Twilight Saga

I'm pretty sure everyone can say that there are certain moments or points in their life that really stand out. One of mine was when I first started reading Twilight. I was on vacation in Los Angeles. My travel mate and I decided to go take a bus ride to from Los Angeles to Las Vegas for a weekend while we were on the West Coast. A few days prior before we set out, she told me about this book series she started to read. Now mind you my travel mate did not read books for pleasure. She was the type of person that had an active social life, and was not one to stay home and read a book. The last book she read before Twilight was assigned reading for school. So I was very intrigued that she was so into these books. She was currently reading Eclipse, and it was the week that the last book in the series Breaking Dawn came out. I remember on the plane ride to LA her getting really excited because the girl sitting in front of us was reading Breaking Dawn. She tapped my shoulder and said, "Look, she's reading the latest book!" After rolling my eyes at her, she then proceeded to tell me that she brought the first book Twilight with her for me to read while we were in LA. I told her that since she was so into these books, I will give them a try. So on our 4 hour bus ride from Los Angeles to Las Vegas my journey with Twilight began. It is definitely a moment that I will never forget.

Author Event: Meeting Becca Fitzpatrick, Author of The Hush, Hush Series

Jessica and I drove to Wellesley, Massachusetts for Becca Fitpatrick's signing for the Silence tour. I live in New Jersey, so Massachusetts is about 4 hours away from me. Jessica lives in Maryland which is a whopping 7 hour drive. Luckily for me, since I do not drive, Jessica was willing to drive us to the signing. We both went back and forth trying to decide what would be the easiest way to get to the signing. After discussion Jessica chose to drive us, instead of taking public transportation. After spending the night in Staten Island, New York, so Jessica wouldn't have to drive overnight to get us to the signing on time we headed to Wellesley.

Now why would we drive that far for a book signing? The Massachusetts stop was the only East Coast stop for the Silence tour, and since Jessica and I had not met Becca before we both wanted to go. Plus we both are huge fans of the Hush, Hush series. Silence had come out about a week and a half before the Wellesley signing so I hadn't finished reading the book yet. Jessica is a super fast reader so of course she already finished the book. Majority of the ride I tried to finish reading the book, and even though it is a very good book (Jessica and I both agree it's the best in the series so far) I couldn't finish it.

Author Event: Meeting Julie Kagawa, Author of THE IRON FEY

Sana and I happened to be in Ohio at the right time on Friday, August 26 because we found out that Julie Kagawa was doing a book signing along with a few other local authors. We’re HUGE fans of the Iron Fey series and we couldn’t believe our luck. Unfortunately, all our books were sitting at our homes in Maryland & New Jersey but oh well, what’s another set?

Julie Kagawa was the special guest at this specific GIRLS TAKING OVER THE WORLD Discussion & Signing. The other authors, who were at every appearance were: Lara Zielin (Donut Days & The Implosion of Aggie Winchester), Rhonda Stapleton (Stupid Cupid, Flirting with Disaster & Pucker Up), Christine Johnson (Claire de Lune & Nocturne) and Saundra Mitchell (Shadowed Summer & The Vespertine).