The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Remember how roundabout this time last year, Aaron gave me the best early Christmas present ever? Well, the book closet is all decked out for the holidays this year and it's making my stressed out/overworked/longing-for-Christmas-magic heart lift each time I walk down the hallway.

And now that it's a mere week until Christmas, I've been spending the most enjoyable and large part of the time that I wasn't stressing out/overworking/longing handing out book recommendations right and left to loved ones far and near. I absolutely adore it when the emails/texts/calls begin pouring in and I get to happily sift through everything I've read over the last year to find the perfect ones for the people on their lists. No joke, I have said the words, "Six of Crows" no less than 12 times in the last 24 hour period alone. A Desperate Fortune has been not far behind it. In other words, these are the ~~droids~~ books you're looking for.

I'm certainly passing on the two I mentioned above. And as I always seem to, I've wrapped up some lovely Juliet Marilliers, Deanna Raybourns, and Sherry Thomases this year. With some excellent Jandy Nelson, Rebecca Stead, and Lisa Kleypas thrown in for good measure. As for my oldest, he's deeply and ecstatically enmeshed in the Septimus Heap and Hero's Guide series just now, so there's a better than fair chance his stocking just might be sporting the next ones in both of those.

I love knowing which books are headed to good homes. Will you share with me the ones you're gifting (or have reced other people to gift) this year?

Comments

Interview with April Lindner + Jane Giveaway!

I'm very excited about today's interviewee. As you know, I had been looking forward to the publication of Jane for months when a review copy happened in my lap and I let out a gasp of joy. Being a modernized retelling of Jane Eyre with a rock star-ized Mr. Rochester named Nico and a cover that hits every last one of my aesthetic buttons, it was sort of made to order for this reader. Needless to say, it more than lived up to my not inconsiderable expectations and I have been recommending it on a pretty much daily basis to family, friends, co-workers, neighbors . . . you get the picture. It's now just under a month until the book is out and, in anticipation of the release, I invited April Lindner over to dish about all things Jane. She kindly accepted. Please welcome April! First things first: The Cover. I am in deep smit with that cover. Did you have any input and what was your reaction upon seeing it for the first time? I adore the cover too, and was blown away the...

Terms of Endearment

Have you ever been reading a book, moving along quite nicely, and then-- bam --a character whips out a particular term of endearment that just yanks you right out of the story? It happened to me recently, and I'm sad to say I couldn't recover. I did try. But she just kept using that term and I . . . I had to get the hell out of Dodge. Buh-bye, story. Don't let the door hit you on the way out. I'm not saying this is the norm (thank goodness). I can put up with a certain amount of treacly back and forth when it comes to the exchange of terms of endearment, especially if they fit the characters, their background, culture, the tenor of their relationship, etc. And the history of these terms at home and from around the world is often fascinating (at times hilarious). But there comes a point where I can't see past the cheese and/or weird anymore and I do not want to be with these people any longer . Shallow? Perhaps. But it's a very individual thing, isn't it?...

Ballad Giveaway!

I think it's time for a giveaway, don't you? Thanks to the generous people at Flux , I have one copy of Ballad by Maggie Stiefvater to give away to one lucky commenter! I'm very excited about this giveaway because I thought it was such a great read and an excellent companion novel to Lament . You can find my review of both books here and here , as well as an interview I did with Maggie last month. I've posted Maggie's awesome book trailer here before, but here it is again because it's totally worth a second viewing. Maggie has since put together a playlist for Ballad , which you can also check out here . The rules for the contest are simple. To enter please leave a comment telling me your favorite ballad or love song. One extra entry if you become a follower, two for current followers. Make sure to leave me a way to contact you. The giveaway is open to U.S. and Canada residents only and closes on October 1st-- Ballad ' s official release date!

Angieville

Search This Blog