Top Ten Tuesday: Books I've Recently Added to My Collection

So... in an effort to reconnect with the blogging world and attempt to keep this thing going, how about I give the Top Ten Tuesday thing a try again. Wow, it feels like a blast from the past to even say that!

This week's topic:

Top Ten Most Recent Additions to My Book Collection

I was realizing that we didn't get many books for Christmas this year. But each of us (there's three in the household at the moment) got one.. and they were all memoirs. Interesting.

My husband loves Julie Andrews, so it only made sense that he ended up with this book. I think he's actually even started it! I wonder how it's going. Once he's done, I plan to see what I think. I'm sure it will be quite interesting.

My son gave me this book, not that I'm a huge Will Smith fan, but he thought it looked interesting and figured I'd think the same. I do like Will Smith and I'm sure he has a fascinating story, so I look forward to getting into this one at some point. 

My daughter got this one because I'd heard a lot of great things about it and it's on a topic that we all find fascinating around here. I for sure plan to read this one soon too. 

Before that I can't remember what new books we've acquired! So this will be a top three today! Way to start me re-entry into the community! LOL!

Have you read any of these? Were they awesome? Do you recommend?

If you want to participate in Top Ten Tuesday, be sure to head over to ThatArtsyReaderGirl's blog and join the fun!

The Shadow Prince by Bree Despain: Teaser One

That's an excerpt from one of my favorite books of last year, The Shadow Prince by Bree Despain. It comes out in paperback next week, so if you missed your chance last year, give it a try now! It's a fascinating page turning experience. Here's my review if you're interested. Keep a watch out, there just may be more teasers to come!

Random Time!

STUFF THIS WEEK:

** This week I was featured on my library's blog! Awhile back they asked all the staff to list ten things they love that can be found at the library. So I thought back to some of my favorite library checkout experiences and came up with a pretty eclectic list. That list showed up on the blog this past week and I KNOW you all want to go see what I came up with!  Maybe you can even guess a few of them before you click over there.

** We seem to have acquired some new books these past two weeks. I want to read them all really bad. Imagine that.

** Kyle Chandler was featured in my Entertainment Weekly magazine today! That makes me so happy! I guess he's going to be in a new show. Cool.

** Well, so guess who's coming out with a new album in April? All Broadway show tune covers! I love it! I can't wait!




 ** I desperately need to do something with my hair. So I made an appointment finally. Then the next day my hair person texted back to say she'd broken her knuckle and could we reschedule for two weeks from now. This is the definition of going crazy!!!

** So it's official. We are going on a European vacation again this summer. SWEET! And scary. Travel is the best but it also seems to cause a lot of anxiety, you know? Anyway, my son is going to Nice France for study abroad and when he's done, we plan to meet up with him and then travel around seeing Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Italy. (The half we missed last time around!) So, if you've been and you have "must not miss" suggestions, I'm all ears.

My great grandpa immigrated from Wimmis Switzerland.
I can't wait to make the pilgrimage to see this village!

** I decided this week that I like Fallout Boy. Hmmm. Who knew?

Wow. That drummer.


** One night this week I didn't get to sleep until four, the next night I woke up at four and couldn't go back to sleep. Don't you love it when that happens. My brain just needs to chill out already.

** Okay, I really want to read for a bit, so. BYE!!!

Cover Reveal and Giveaway: Rewind to You by Laura Johnston

I'm happy to be participating in the cover reveal for what looks like an awesome new YA. In this post you will find:

•  the Cover Reveal 
• a bit About the Author
•  a Sneak Peek of REWIND TO YOU 
• and Rafflecopter Giveaway

Goodreads * Amazon * Barnes & Noble

Author: Laura Johnston

Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp.

Genre: Clean Contemporary YA Romance

Release Date: September 15, 2014; Available for PREORDER now

One last summer before college on beautiful Tybee Island is supposed to help Sienna forget. But how can she? This is where her family spent every summer before everything changed, before the world as she knew it was ripped away.

But the past isn’t easily left behind. Especially when Sienna keeps having episodes that take her back to the night she wants to forget. Even when she meets the mysterious Austin Dobbs, the guy with the intense blue eyes, athlete’s body, and weakness for pralines who scooped her out of trouble when she blacked out on River Street.

When she’s with Austin, Sienna feels a whole new world opening up to her. Austin has secrets, and she has history. But caught between the past and the future, Sienna can still choose what happens now…

About the Author:

Laura's Official Website * Facebook Page * Twitter * Goodreads

Laura Johnston lives in sunny Arizona with her husband and two children. Growing up in Orem, Utah with five siblings, a few horses, peach trees, beehives and gardens, she developed an active imagination and always loved a good story. Laura enjoys running, playing tennis, sewing, dancing (deduced to dancing around the kitchen while cooking dinner these days), traveling, writing, writing and more writing, and above all, spending time with her husband and kids. REWIND TO YOU, her debut novel, was inspired by the loss of her father as a teenager.

A Sneak Peek of REWIND TO YOU:

Giveaway: Signed Copy of REWIND TO YOU and $25 Amazon Gift Card

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. The winner, chosen by Rafflecopter, will be announced here on April 29th as well as emailed. The winner will have 5 days to respond at which point a new winner will be chosen. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning.

Cover Reveal: A Change of Plans by Donna K. Weaver

This post should probably go up on a Wednesday with that Waiting on Wednesday meme that I've never actually participated in, but I couldn't wait. So I'm sharing now!

There's a new book coming out in June (June 1st to be specific, published by Rhemalda Publishing) that I'm really looking forward to! It's called A Change of Plans by Donna K. Weaver, yet another awesome Utah author, and one that works just down the hall from me besides! How cool is that?

Here's what it's about:

When Lyn sets off on her supposedly uncomplicated and unromantic cruise, she never dreams it will include pirates. All the 25-year-old, Colorado high school teacher wants to do is forget that her dead fiancé was a cheating scumbag. Lyn plans a vacation diversion; fate provides Braedon, an intriguing surgeon. She finds herself drawn to him: his gentle humor, his love of music, and even his willingness to let her take him down during morning karate practices. Against the backdrop of the ship’s make-believe world and temporary friendships, her emotions come alive.

However, fear is an emotion, too. Unaware of the sensitive waters he's navigating, Braedon moves to take their relationship beyond friendship--on the very anniversary Lyn is on the cruise to forget. Lyn's painful memories are too powerful, and she runs from Braedon and what he has to offer.

Their confusing relationship is bad enough, but when the pair finds themselves on one of the cruise's snorkeling excursions in American Samoa things get worse. Paradise turns to piracy when their party is kidnapped and Lyn's fear of a fairytale turns grim. Now she must fight alongside the man she rejected, first for their freedom and then against storms, sharks, and shipwreck.

It's a cruise romance! And then pirates? I love it!

How about a book trailer:

More about Donna:

Donna K. Weaver is a Navy brat who joined the Army and has lived in Asia and Europe. Because she sailed the Pacific three times as a child, she loves cruising and wishes she could accrue enough vacation time to do more of it with her husband.

At fifty, Donna decided to study karate and earned her black belt in Shorei Kempo.

After recording city council minutes for twenty years, Donna decided to write something a little longer and with a lot more emotion--and kissing.

Donna and her husband reside in Utah, they have six children and eight grandchildren who live all over the world.

Here are her links:

Website and blog
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads

Stay tuned for a review in a few months!

Reasons Why I Should Win Some Arcs!

I am not much of contest enter-er, it always seems pretty pointless to me, because frankly, I never win. Well, rarely anyway.

But this ARC contest for three books I'd LOVE to read (details found over here at Robison Wells' blog) I just couldn't seem to pass up. One of the ways to enter was to blog about it and say reasons why I should win.  So here goes.

1. I should win this contest because I never win anything and it's about time,
2. but mostly I should win because I love to read.
3. And since I have this lovely book blog, you KNOW I will read these books and review them and love them (mostly likely,) which tends to be pretty good publicity for them.
4. And the there's the awesome sweet interview I did of Rob Wells just recently for Utah Book Month! Which makes me especially deserving somehow, yes?
5. Besides which, I'm dying to find out what the HECK is going on with Benson and company!
6. I've been singing the praises of this book Variant before it became the thing to do...you know.. I had even bought the book BEFORE the big book bomb event!
7. And speaking of Kiersten White, I think she is pretty much the funniest tweeter out there, and I love her books too.
8. And did you know, my sister knows her sister? Yep, it's true.
9. Sadly, I'm not familiar with this author Erin Bowman, and I should be. So let me read her book already!
10. And finally, all those books have cool covers and would look so very nice on my shelves!

See, so, don't you agree? I should win, right?

Or do you think YOU should win? If so, you better come say why quickly before the contest ends on Thursday! 

More New Books!

And suddenly I find myself with another stack of new books! How does this happen? This is how:

From Amazon:

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson... because Ibeeeg and Carl are leading a buddy read and dang, it was too tempting and I just couldn't be left out!

Under the Dome by Stephen King.... because Jenny wants to also do a buddy read and I'm ready to try more Stephen King!


From Ibeeeg:

A Soldier's Wife by Margaret Leroy.... because she thought I needed to read this book so bad that she simply sent it to me! You must go and read her post about it here. Deanna you are the best.... thank you so much!

From Armchair BEA... which I won during the Twitter parties:

The Fox Inheritance by Mary Pearson.... I loved all things I've read by here, so that's a good sign for this one.


All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zavin... I loved Elsewhere, excited to try this one.


Ten Rules for Living with my Sister by Ann Martin... this arrived on the day that my girls were driving each other crazy. I thought that was very appropriate. We giggled quite a bit.

A random book in the mail from the publisher (Simon and Schuster):

Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans.... this sounds like something different from what he usually writes, don't you think? I'm intrigued.

Isn't that just a lovely pile of books? It makes me happy. And stressed, because I also need to finish A Crown of Swords and start and finish Middlemarch for book club sometime this summer! And not only that, I seem to be in a slump... because I just don't feel much like reading. This is a problem I better soon fix!

Book Sale Stack!

I thought I'd do another book stack picture. Everyone seems to enjoy those. So remember last week when I said was going to book sale? At least I said it somewhere anyway... here's what I bought... 25 cents per book! What do you think? Anything good? Anything crappy?

Ugh, can you even see it?

ttyl
The Last of the Mohicans
The Beloved Dearly
Tuesdays with Morrie
Icy Sparks
Things Fall Apart
Son of the Mob
Interpreter of Maladies
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

And yes I already have the Harry Potter book, but is just so happens it's the one that fell apart!

Hopefully I get in a better review mood soon so I can get caught up with those, and then get going on my next stack of books to read.

Another Author Stalking Day

Today was quite the fun bookish day! One of our local Barnes and Noble stores hosted an Authorpalooza event this afternoon, with thirty authors stationed around their store signing books. I almost didn't go, since I have what's turning out to be one doozer of a head cold.

But I couldn't stand the thought of missing out on the fun, so I piled the whole family in the car, and drug them off with me on my latest author stalking adventure! Luckily, they all went willingly, for the most part anyway.

So here's the thing.... how am I supposed to keep track of all these authors and get all their books read? It's like, almost painful to me, to walk around, meet them all, and seriously want to buy and read all their books.

But I ended up buying only three books... and can you guess how much that cost? Three books? Fifty dollars!!! For three books! Sheesh.

But I did gather up a bunch of cards and bookmarks, so I can remember everyone I met and read their books sometime down the road. And I did try my best to come out of my stupid shy shell for a bit and actually talk to them too.

I even took a camera, but do you know, I didn't take one single picture. But Natasha was there taking all kinds of pictures and videos, so I'm really looking forward to seeing her post about this soon.

Books I bought:

The Last Waltz by G.G. Vandagriff: an historical romance set during WWI
The Hourglass Door by Lisa Mangum: a time traveling YA romance
Hashbrown Winters and the Mashimoto Madness by Frank L. Cole: an MG comedy

Books I brought from home to get signed:

The Maze Runner by James Dashner
The 13th Reality Book1 by James Dahsner
The Princess and the Hound by Mette Ivie Harrison
The Princess and the Bear by Mette Ivie Harrison
The Dark Divine by Bree Despain

Books I forgot to bring to have signed:

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George

Books I would have bought if they wouldn't have run out:

Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George

Books I wish I could have bought if books didn't cost so dang much:

Second Chances by Linda Chadwick
My Big Nose and Other Natural Disasters by Sydney Salter
My Fairy Grand Mother by Aubrey Mace
Reiyalindis by Cory Poulson
The Dragon War Relic by Berin Stephens
... just to name a few

Anyway, it was fun to meet some "new to me" authors and to say hi to some "old to me" authors. Next week, maybe I'll see some of them again at the next local bookish event. As far as bloggers go, I saw Natasha from Maw Books, and Heather from Fire and Ice, and I tried to catch Brodi Ashton, but wasn't fast enough. And so.... where were all you other Utah bloggers, hmmmm???? Next time, right?

Christmas Book (and Movie) Loot

Today's the day I really look forward to during the holidays. Christmas day is good and all, but there's still "stuff that has to be done" and all that visiting and such. But today, it's sort of an unofficial readathon, a real "do nothing and no guilt involved" sort of day. It's truly the part of Christmas I live for.

And besides that, there's time for blogging again! Well, sort of.

Anyway, it was a great Christmas. This year, we had quite the book and movie Christmas. Sometimes it's an electronic Christmas, but this year, and you know what I have to say next, it was.... All About Books! :)

Here's our book loot list, because I know you're dying to know:

(This includes everyone's books, and isn't that the great thing about books... and music.... and movies... it doesn't really matter whose name is on the present, everyone gets to enjoy, I love that.)

Gregor the Overlander series by Suzanne Collins

The Luxe series by Anna Godbersen

Intro to Mind and Brain by Angus Gellatly

The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness

The Crow by Alison Croggon

The Asthonishing Life of Octavian Nothing Vol. 2 by M.T. Anderson

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George

The Riddle by Alison Croggon

The Pendragon Traveler series (before the war) by various authors

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

A Kiss in Time by Alex Flinn

Epic by Conor Kostick

Nation by Terry Pratchett

The Rice Krispie Treat Cookbook (I think my 10 year old should do a recipe a week and blog about it... what do you think??? )

The Princess and the Bear by Mette Ivie Harrison

Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg by Gail Carson Levine

13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Hannah Montana Sweet Niblets Cookbook (we could add this to the cooking blog!)

The Help by Katherine Stockett

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith (THANK YOU MY SECRET SANTA KAREN from BOOKS AND CHOCOLATE!!)

New York by Edward Rutherford

The Illustrated 1776 by David McCoullough

Opitcal Illusions by Inga Menkhoff

Ummm.... see what I mean about not having to worry about what to read next? Insane I tell you.

Movies and TV series added to our collection, in case you're interested in that too:

Star Trek

Up

Harry Potter 6

Firefly series

Moonlight series

Gilmore Girls Seasons 1 and 2

Monk Season 1

Pushing Daisies Season 1

Smallville Season 6

I'm feeling like a little Firefly right now... followed by a little Moonlight! Mmmmmm........

Book Fair Loot

I bought a lot this time.... but it's all for a good cause, right? Right! Here's what I came home with:

Purplicious by Victoria and Elizabeth Kann: For Toto to give to her teacher.

The Haunting of Derek Stone by Tony Abbott: Because Toto said she really wanted it!

Models Don't Eat Chocolate Cookies by Erin Dionne: Because the author commented!

The 39 Clues: The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan: For Moder's birthday, and because we need to see what these books are all about.

Fairest by Gail Carson Levine: Because Toto read the first page and decided she HAD to have it... besides, she won the student drawing and got to pick a free book!

The Boy Who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti: Because everyone's been saying how good it is... and besides, my water bottle totally leaked on it and so I HAD to buy it! Poor book.

Violet Raines Almost Got Struck by Lightning by Danette Haworth: Because we had a great book talker that made Toto decided this was also a book she really needed to read.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw by Jeff Kinney: Because we need book three for our set and besides that, the series is one of the best!

Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass: Because our great book talker said it was good.

Gossamer by Lois Lowry: Because it was a good hardback, and it's on my Dewey Challenge list.

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson: Because this one has been making a buzz and I need to read it.

Palace of Mirrors by Margaret Peterson Haddix: Because it was another great hardback deal and looks so good!

Yeah! Fun books! I'm so excited!

Gift Card....Gone!

We just got home from Barnes and Noble and here's my latest stack. I need more time now. Anyone have a gift card for that?

The Book Loot or What We Got

For those interested, here's the list of books that ended up under our tree:

For The Mr.:

Everyman by Philip Roth

The Lighthouse by P.D. James

1001 Places to See Before You Die (USA/Canada version)

For me:

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke

The Reluctant Widow by Georgette Heyer

501 Must Read Books

Marked by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast (from my secret santa Ruthie )

Dashing Through the Snow by Mary and Carol Higgins Clark (from my neighbor)

For Bud (19 year old son):

The first three books in the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan

The new John Lennon biography

For JJ (17 year old daughter)

The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray by Chris Wooding

Princess Ben by Cathrine Murdock

The Twilight Movie book thing

A huge Ansel Adams coffee table type book

For Moder (13 year old son):

Books 2, 3, and 4 of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan

For Toto (9 year old daughter):

Ever by Gail Carson Levine

Princess Academy by Shannon Hale

I can't wait to read them all! In fact, this evening I've finished The Hunger Games. Wow! Amazing. Stinkin' cliff hanger though so I hope that means this is a series and there's more to come. (It did say "End of Book One" at the end... that's a pretty good clue, right?) I didn't realize it was, so now I'm hoping. I need to read four more books to get to the year end 100 mark. It's possible, but not probable. I should be reading right now instead of playing on the computer. But I needed to blog something!

Sad Margo!

For those of you who are into John Green, Nerdfighters, Vlogbrothers and/or Paper Towns... just a note here to say my package finally arrived yesterday (the replacement one, not the original one) and I've got Sad Margo! I have no idea if this is good or bad... I was actually kind of hoping for Happy Margo, but I'm just glad to have any Margo at all!

Lost: One Amazon Package!

If an Amazon package shows up in your mailbox with these two books in it:





Then can you please just send it my way! :)

Yeah. So, I ordered these books way back in August. And as some of you know, Paper Towns was just released last week, so I was so excited to finally get them sent out. I got the message from Amazon saying it was shipped on the 13th, and due to arrive the 20th. And they STILL aren't here!
And I'm watching and hearing all the Nerdfighters talking about Paper Towns and it's making me crazy that I don't have mine yet!


So I already emailed Amazon and they said they can send out a replacement package. So let's hope it works this time!


Meanwhile, if it ends up at your door, you'll know where it goes! :)

Inkdeath!

Why did no one tell me me the third Inkheart... Inkdeath... was out? How did I not know this? Where have I been? And here I've been dying for it for... years... or whenever Inkspell ended with it's troublesome cliff hanger! Well, I guess there's yet another book to add to the teetering pile.

By the way, I saw the trailer for Inkheart today. Looks pretty good I'd say. See for yourself:

New Books!

So the other day I went to that amazing book sale I've talked about before. It's at someone's house, like a garage sale, and they sell novels for 25 cents, paperback or no. I spent $9 and here's what I came home with:
And here's the kids' book pile of that day. Sorry a bit blurry.


But today, here's what I got, even though I have no time at all to read it, but that's beside the point! I'm so excited! Do remember my reaction to the end of Eldest? Let me just refresh your memory:



"First of all, his writing is amazing. Second, his imagination and story and plot detail are amazing! Then, at the end, there was a surprise twist that I SO didn't see coming that I sat up from my nice relaxed position, gasped, moaned, grabbed my head, felt instant tears coming, moaned some more, tried to breathe, etc.! Sheesh!!! Yes, I do get a bit emotionally involved in certain books. Bud, who was in the room with me said, "Is your head okay? What's wrong? The book? What, mom, what?!!!" It goes without saying that I can't wait for the third of this trilogy."







Then, the other day I got this book from Borders using a gift card that I had:

Hmmm.... I don't think I'll be running out books anytime soon.

The Sunday Salon: About Saturday

Today for my Sunday Salon post, I'd like to report on my Saturday, not my Sunday!

First, we were awakened bright and early at 9:45 a.m. (can you say... sleeping in!) by a loud knock and doorbell ring. Was it the UPS man? The mailman maybe? YES! My Amazon order that I've been waiting for arrived!

Here's what I got:

Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr

Sweethearts by Sara Zarr

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie

I'm so anxious to read them all! But can I read them yet? No. That's because I need to read some books that are being promoted at the book fair this year, which is coming up in a few weeks. What am I reading for that you ask? This is my pile so far:

Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Deep and Dark and Dangerous by Mary Downing Hahn

Elephant Run by Roland Smith

Schooled by Gordon Korman

What else should I be reading that I REALLY hope to find time for in the middle of everything else? The book for my next blog tour experience coming up next month: The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff. It's quite the big one, so I really need to make sure I find time before the last minute!

What happened next on my Saturday?

After gathering kids from here and there, I took a couple of them, along with a friend and her daughter, to J. Scott Savage's release party for Farworld: Water Keep... the book for which I did a blog tour awhile back and reviewed HERE. That was fun to meet him (again) and have him sign some posters and to buy the official, final version of his book which will be a Christmas present for someone. :) It was also fun to say hi to his wife, because as we know, behind every successful.. and married... author is an amazing supportive spouse! So that was all quite fun!

Let's see. Then I read a bit, and have just a chapter left to go on Found. Great book for all those who are fans of the Shadow Children series.

Then the excitement of the day continued when my 13 year old son, the drummer, had his first band gig! Playing at a girl's party! And having people dance while they played, and girls giggling all around him! And some of them even singing the lyrics. Wow! This is my son that is so shy, that when I took him to say hi to J. Scott Savage earlier in the day, so he could tell him in person that he thought his book was "better than Harry Potter", he hid behind a tree and refused! It was an exciting night for him and his friends who have been dreaming about being a band for awhile now, and it seems that perhaps it just might actually happen!

It was a great day.

Book Signings....Old Books and New!

We found ourselves (me and a couple kids) at yet another book festival this past weekend. This one held at the local library, a free event geared toward the kids. There were a ton of local authors and illustrators there, so of course, I had to be there!

First, we listened to a reading by the three authors I was most interested in... James Dashner, Brandon Sanderson, and Brandon Mull. They each read from their latest kids fantasy books. That was lots of fun. Then, we went to a Q and A panel that they, along with Mette Ivie Harrison, did where we learned more about them, their background, interests and style. While there, they did a raffle and gave away a bunch of books and t-shirts. JJ won The Candy Shop War by Brandon Mull! Cool.

After that, it was book signings. I took along five old books (well some old, some sort of new... but books I already had anyway) to be signed. Four of them (the Jimmy Fincher series and the 13th Reality) by James Dashner, and one (Enna Burning) by Shannon Hale. Plus now we had another Brandon Mull book to get signed. (We'd already taken our other Mull books to be signed a few months ago... remember?)

But first, I had to buy some new books to be signed. Of course. That's the whole point, right? So, I bought two Brandon Sanderson books, Alcatraz vs. The Evil Librarians (that I just recently read) and Elantris, which I've heard is just as good or better than Mistborn, which I also just recently read. Then, of course, I decided I better try one of Mette Harrison's books, having just listened to her on the panel... so I bought Mirror, Mirror.

Armed with all those books, we tracked down all the authors! We were first in line for James Dashner. He was very cool and made my son promise to email him once he finished the book and tell him what he thought. (Now he feels pressure... silly kid!) Then we got our two new Brandon Sanderson books signed. Then, waited just for a bit for Brandon Mull to sign the book that JJ just won. Shannon Hale's line was long and she wasn't even quite there yet since she was stuck in traffic, so we gave up on that one. Then, we met and talked to Mette Ivie Harrison and got that one signed. Fun, fun!!

I wish we'd had more time to talk to all the illustrators too. They were drawing fun little pictures for all the kids that stopped by their tables. They also had fun crafts and things going on that we didn't have time for. Anyway, a very fun event that I hope the library continues doing in the future.

Two things I decided you must have to be an author:

1. You must have a great sense of humor and be witty and funny.
2. You must have perfected the completely illegible signature! Something that's even worse a scribble than a doctor's!

Both of these must come with the creative brain territory I'm thinking.

"New" Books!

Yep. I went to a book sale. I bought ALL these books (yes it took three different pictures!) for just over $12! Some of them I'm swapping at paperbackswap.com (one is actually missing from the picture 'cause it's already on it's way to someone!) Some of them I'll read first, THEN swap, and some of them are keepers. I'm not going to list them all, so you'll just have to look at the pictures to see what I ended up with. Comment if you have any major insights on any of them!

Now... to find a place to put them......