Road Trip Wednesday- You Can Never Have Too Many Books

This Week's YA Highway Road Trip Topic:



What's your favorite use for a book besides reading it? 
 

My answer for this is probably the most common one:


I'm not just a book reader, I'm a book collector.

This started young. I can still remember the sight of my first books on the bookshelf my dad made me. The Little House collection, all in order. A few Nancy Drews. My children's Bible and a pocket New Testament of my dad's from when he was young. And a copy of Born Free (a non-fiction story about some lions) that my grandpa had given me.

I never even read Born Free, or all of the Little House series for that matter, but I still own and treasure them today.

Through the years, my collection grew and got displayed in different manners. That bookshelf my dad made for me is now in an upstairs closet of our Cape Cod, hidden from view (so, sorry, no pics). In fact, moving from a rather spacious home in the Midwest to a much more expensive tiny home in New Jersey has meant stuffing most of my immense collection in totes, in closets and under beds.

They are about one fourth sentimental favorites, one fourth picture books, one fourth writing/research books and one fourth rainyday/TBR fiction books. 

I've learned to donate some along the way...in my younger years, I kept everything, so I'm not a complete hoarder anymore, but deep down I still believe you can never have too many books.

What about you? Book collector or reader only?   

 

RELEASE DAY- A Spy Like Me

I'm going to do my May I Tell You About Someone Else post a little early this week...because it's my writer friend and critique partner's release day. YAY!!! And she's got some fun things planned:

In celebration of the official release of A Spy Like Me, Laura Pauling is hosting a three-week blog series: A Spies, Murder and Mystery Marathon. Woot! Woot!

 

Authors galore, guest posts and book giveaways almost every day!

Gemma Halliday, Cindy M. Hogan, Elizabeth Spann Craig,
Nova Ren Suma, Elisa Ludwig, and Anne R. Allen....Just to name a few!

And here's why she's celebrating!

Stripping your date down to his underwear has never been so dangerous.

After dodging bullets on a first date, Savvy must sneak, deceive and spy to save her family and friends and figure out if Malcolm is one of the bad guys before she completely falls for him.

Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Smashwords

Head on over to Laura’s blog for the start of the Spies, Murder and Mystery Marathon. You won’t want to miss this sizzling series as we head into summer. Stock up on some great thrilling reads! If you dare…

How Many Have You Read/Heard Contest (my April listens)

I'm participating in Sara McClung's great May blogfest with different prompts every day.

 Thursdays are: May I tell you something about someone else?



Well, today I'm going to tell you about someone else's books...many books...all my great YA listens last month.

I'll also be giving away someone else's books/ARCs...again, many of them. 

You can enter to win any or all of them, but let me know which of my April listens you've read/heard and you can have extra entries.

The books/ARCs (Goodreads links included) are:

Annexed- Sharon Dogar
The Gray Wolf Throne (Seven Realms #3)- Cinda Williams Chima
Ten Things We Did (and probably shouldn't have)- Sarah Mlyowski 
Guardian of the Gate (Prophecy of the Sisters, book II)- Michelle Zink
The Forgotten Locket (finale of Hourglass Door trilogy) Lisa Mangum
In Darkness- Nick Lake 

My April listens:

One major screwup, including the killing of a lawn gnome, lands Alex in community service at an old folk's home. What he learns there will transform more than just his life.

Sequel to Carter Finally Gets It, this book should be called (IMO) Carter Really Gets It This Time.

Another sequel (to Rot and Ruin). A dangerous zombie world where the zombies aren't your worst enemy...not even close.

I already blogged about this one HERE.

It's Anne Frank's story from Peter's point of view.

Just mild-mannered teenagers, living a double life.

This is my surprise favorite of the month...I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did.

Oh wait, this one was a surprise favorite too...for different reasons.

I blogged about it HERE.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone author, Laini Taylor, wrote this.

Three supernatural stories, all revolving around a single kiss.

A Canadian set thriller about two street kids trying to find their way out of/into trouble.

I blogged more about this one HERE.

A virus is killing off a community and may be spreading farther.

If you liked the Life as We Knew It series, you should like this one too. The tone felt similar to me.

A historical Veronica Mars, set in NYC during World War II.

Loved it, especially all the slang...so enjoyable.






What about you? Read any of these? Want to?

Let me know which books/ARCs you want to win and how many of my April listens you've read/heard (for extra entries).

Road Trip Wednesday- YA IRL?

This Week's YA Highway Road Trip Topic: What IRL people can you talk to about YA?     

You mean there are people in my non-cyber life who might enjoy YA? It doesn't just exist at my library and online?

 

 

Ha! It's not really that bad, though no one I've met offline is as crazed as I am on the subject.

 

 

I have a few fellow-mom friends who read YA. We discuss things and they ask for my recommendations. I've been especially proud of turning a few Hunger Games fans into Divergent fans too.

 

 

The best part is yet to come. I'm transitioning from elementary to middle school mom. I've already been able to talk MG with my child and some of her friends. Many have read the Percy Jackson series, and now many have also read the Hunger Games.

 

 

Too bad the day may come when my child says I'm too uncool to talk YA with her and her friends, and would I please stop:( 

 

 

"But I write it too," I'll say, and my daughter will act like she doesn't know me. 

 

 

What About You? Who in your life loves YA?

MAY I tell you a few things?

First off, Happy May day!

Sara McClung has come up with this great Blogfest idea for May that's way less daunting than the A-Z April Challenge (which I did last year, but not this year, though I still enjoyed many of the posts).

It's: Blog Me Maybe, with a different "May I..." prompt every weekday.

Not that you have to post every day (that's the less daunting part).


Tuesdays are: May I tell you something about myself?


To start, I'll tell you that I drew a little blank on where to go with this post...I like prompts, but this one was still a little too broad.

Then all these S words started rolling around in my head: Silly, Sad, Sublime and Surprising, so I decided to roll with them and tell you something of each.

Something Silly: Because of my years as a preschool teacher, I LOVE sensory things. Bubbles, homemade playdough or slime, and my personal favorite, cornstarch and water...I wish I didn't feel like I needed a teacher or mom reason to play with these things.

Something Sad: I lost both my dad and my mom by the time I was thirty-seven. I'm sad for their shortened lives, for their sake, but I'm constantly shaken by how big a hole they left in my life and how much I still miss them. There is no easy time to become an orphan.

Something Sublime: The times of the year (like now) when you don't need the heat or air conditioner on. First, it appeals to my frugal nature (lower energy bills). It also appeals to my Goldilocks nature...not too hot, not too cold...that's what I need. Plus, I love the smell of a fresh breeze and snuggling under the covers with the window open as I sleep.

Something Surprising: Even as an English major, I only remember writing three short fiction stories. All as an undergraduate. And they all sucked. I only remember even halfway enjoying the writing of one. So, no one was more surprised than me when I wrote my first novel in my mid-thirties, in less than six weeks. I didn't even know how to punctuate dialogue at the time.

What about you? Anything Silly, Sad, Sublime or Surprising to share?