Archive | November 2013

Book Signing Adventures: Giada De Laurentiis

What did I say about the book signings right? This one was slightly different, I was joining my friend S in order to make sure she got some photos, but I didn’t get a book myself. 

It was still such an experience! 

So this book signing by the amazing chef Giada De Laurentiis, which was held by Williams-Somona, the location at Bellevue Square Mall (WA of course). 

WS

It was held for up to 400 people!

Here is my friend staking her spot in the queue, she got there at 4pm when it started at 6pm! There was still 60/80+ people ahead of her!

Sarah with book

I popped off to see how long the queue was. 

Queue 1

It went on.

Queue 2

And on.

However, since WS was hosting the signing, there was free food being handed out! It was all mini versions of Giada’s recipes in her book! SO GOOD!

Free food!

Yum!!!!! Then it was suddenly S’s turn! I tried to take as many pics as possible, for the amount of people, it was one of the quickest signings I have ever been too! It was very conveyor belt-y, but she was super sweet to S!

Sarah and poster

Sarah Giada smiling

We also made sure to get the money shot of S smiling with the book and Giada! Then we were out of there and off to taste samples at the fancy popcorn place. 

Sarah and Giada

A truly delicious book signing! I don’t know about you, but I’m going to keep my eye on Williams-Sonoma book signing events from now on!

Advertisement

Book Signing Adventures: Allie Brosh

November is going to be one fantastic month for book signings!

There is a little home for one of the funniest, wittiest and extremely talented blogs on the Internet: Hyperbole and a Half.

If you’ve never read it, DO SO IMMEDIATELY!

Anyways, the amazing author/creator/illustrator Allie Brosh has complied some old and new web comics into a fantastic book!

Allie and my book

My friend K and I were lucky enough to snag tickets to the reading and boy howdy I made sure we got there early! The event was put on my University Bookstore and they sectioned groups of people into signing groups according to letter. 30 people were in each group. K and I were in group B, SO WORTH the wait! They ended up going to P there were so many people!

After being introduced, Allie came up and read one of her comics with a presentation. For us she did ‘God of Cake’.

Allie reading 1

Hilarious! After, it was time for Q and A. Some questions were moving, others were funny and some, well, there’s a reason it was only 30 minutes. 

Allie Q and A

Then we played the waiting game. University Bookstore staff handed out blank pieces of paper for us to draw pictures for Allie. K did a ‘Not so scary dragon’. I folded mine into a thank you card with a Space Needle that looked like a Christmas tree. 

We truly didn’t wait too long, and it was such a fantastic experience. K went first. She had Allie sign one for her with a doodle of her dog Jude. 

Allie and kyrie

Allie and kyrie 2

Allie and Jude

She hugged people! SOOOOOOOOO COOOOOL!!!!!!!

Then came my turn. I was a bit excited. 

Allie and me 2

Allie excited

She hugged me too!

Allie and me

AND SHE DREW ME A UNICORN!!!!!!!!!

Allie Unicorn

Please support your local bookstore so authors can do such fun and spectacular events like this! It was such a fun, light-hearted and engaging evening! Thanks so much to University Bookstore, Allie Brosh and my friend K for joining me for the event!

Stolen by Vivian Vande Velde

Stolen cover

Screen shot 2013-10-08 at 21.45.57

“The same day that the villagers of Thornstowe finally hunt down a witch with a reputation for stealing children, a 12-year-old appears in the woods with no memory of her past. Is there a connection between Isabelle, the girl who doesn’t know who she is, and the girl the witch stole six years earlier? One of the few things Isabelle remembers is a chant that keeps running through her head: 

Old as dirt,

dirty as dirt.

Ugly as sin,

mean as sin.

Don’t let the old witch catch you!

Could Isabelle have been stolen by the old witch of the woods, or has she lost her memory as the result of an accident? And what about the baby the witch stole right before the villagers attacked? Did either the witch or the baby survive the fire the villagers set?”

What I see:  This short middle grade book was thrilling! The author takes the reader on a tale in the past that makes a complete 180 towards the end. It’s stunning, fantastic and I didn’t see the ending coming! For its age range it’s easy to read and engaging enough to keep them turning the pages.

It’s a bit longer than short story length, but I was able to finish it in a day. It’s simple, well executed and I personal feel well written. It doesn’t fit the mould and I liked that. It’s perfect for autumn and I’m so glad my reading challenge helped me come across such a spooky kind of tale!

Freshly Published: November

There are a few really hot titles being freshly published this month! If you’re in need of books to give for the holidays, check out a few of these new titles! They’re all publishing just in time for Hanukah and Christmas!

All summaries are from Goodreads, click the book cover to go to TheBookDepository.com for purchase. 

Crash Into You (Pushing the Limits #3) by Katie McGarry

1

From acclaimed author Katie McGarry comes an explosive new tale of a good girl with a reckless streak, a street-smart guy with nothing to lose, and a romance forged in the fast lane 

The girl with straight As, designer clothes and the perfect life-that’s who people expect Rachel Young to be. So the private-school junior keeps secrets from her wealthy parents and overbearing brothers…and she’s just added two more to the list. One involves racing strangers down dark country roads in her Mustang GT. The other? Seventeen-year-old Isaiah Walker-a guy she has no business even talking to. But when the foster kid with the tattoos and intense gray eyes comes to her rescue, she can’t get him out of her mind. 

Isaiah has secrets, too. About where he lives, and how he really feels about Rachel. The last thing he needs is to get tangled up with a rich girl who wants to slum it on the south side for kicks-no matter how angelic she might look. 

But when their shared love of street racing puts both their lives in jeopardy, they have six weeks to come up with a way out. Six weeks to discover just how far they’ll go to save each other.

World After (Penryn and the End of Days #2) by Susan EE

1

In this sequel to the bestselling fantasy thriller, Angelfall, the survivors of the angel apocalypse begin to scrape back together what’s left of the modern world.

When a group of people capture Penryn’s sister Paige, thinking she’s a monster, the situation ends in a massacre. Paige disappears. Humans are terrified. Mom is heartbroken.

Penryn drives through the streets of San Francisco looking for Paige. Why are the streets so empty? Where is everybody? Her search leads her into the heart of the angels’ secret plans where she catches a glimpse of their motivations, and learns the horrifying extent to which the angels are willing to go.

Meanwhile, Raffe hunts for his wings. Without them, he can’t rejoin the angels, can’t take his rightful place as one of their leaders. When faced with recapturing his wings or helping Penryn survive, which will he choose?

Twinmaker by Sean Williams (Twinmaker #1)

1

High-stakes action combines with issues of friendship and body image in this timely and thought-provoking exploration of the intersection of technology and identity.

You can be Improved….

In a near-future world in which technology can transport you anywhere instantly, can a coded note enable you to change your body—to become taller, stronger, more beautiful? Clair is pretty sure the offer is too good to be true. But her best friend, Libby, is determined to give it a try, longing for a new, improved version of herself.

What starts as Libby’s dream turns into Clair’s nightmare when Libby falls foul of a deadly trap. With the help of Jesse, the school freak, and a mysterious—but powerful—stranger called Q, Clair’s attempt to protect Libby leads her to an unimagined world of conspiracies and cover-ups. Soon her own life is at risk, and Clair is chased across the world in a desperate race against time.

Action and danger fuel Sean Williams’ tale of technology, identity, and the lengths to which one girl will go to save her best friend.

The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

1

Seventeen-year-old Cassie is a natural at reading people. Piecing together the tiniest details, she can tell you who you are and what you want. But it’s not a skill that she’s ever taken seriously. That is, until the FBI come knocking: they’ve begun a classified program that uses exceptional teenagers to crack infamous cold cases, and they need Cassie.

What Cassie doesn’t realize is that there’s more at risk than a few unsolved homicides— especially when she’s sent to live with a group of teens whose gifts are as unusual as her own.

Sarcastic, privileged Michael has a knack for reading emotions, which he uses to get inside Cassie’s head—and under her skin. Brooding Dean shares Cassie’s gift for profiling, but keeps her at arm’s length.

Soon, it becomes clear that no one in the Naturals program is what they seem. And when a new killer strikes, danger looms closer than Cassie could ever have imagined. Caught in a lethal game of cat and mouse with a killer, the Naturals are going to have to use all of their gifts just to survive.

This Wicked Game by Michelle Zink

1

Claire Kincaid’s family has been in business for over fifty years.

The voodoo business.

Part of the International Guild of High Priests and Priestesses, a secret society that have practiced voodoo for generations, the Kincaid’s run an underground supply house for authentic voodoo supplies. Claire plays along, filling orders for powders, oils and other bizarre ingredients in the family store, but she has a secret.

She doesn’t believe.

Struggling to reconcile her modern sensibilities with a completely unscientific craft based on suspicion, Claire can’t wait to escape New Orleans – and voodoo – when she goes to college, a desire that creates almost constant conflict in her secret affair with Xander Toussaint, son of the Guild’s powerful founding family.

But when a mysterious customer places an order for a deadly ingredient, Claire begins to realize that there’s more to voodoo – and the families that make up the Guild – than meets the eye.

Including her own.

As she bands together with the other firstborns of the Guild, she comes face to face with a deadly enemy – and the disbelief that may very well kill her.

That’s it for now! Happy reading everyone!