Decatur Book Festival Recap Part 2

The second day of the festival was just as amazing as the first and for those of you who haven't seen day one, you can check that out here, or just scroll down. :)

Day two I started my day with coffee. A lot of coffee. For some reason I just could not sleep so I ended up arriving at the festival around 11 and immediately met up with Lori and her husband Beau. We were trying to figure out what our schedule would be when we saw Kirsten Miller. Lori had a surprise breakfast with her, so I was relatively bummed about missing my chance to meet her when she just walks by. I instantly freaked out because this means I didn't have to try to track her down! (kidding guys!)

So, I stopped her and begged her to sign my books which she did because she was such a sweetheart!

The first panel we went to was Kirsten Miller's and this was one of the ones I was most looking forward to throughout the festival because I LOVED The Eternal Ones!

Then after her panel we were off to Cassandra Clare! We were in a bit of a hurry to get there because there was already a line forming outside of the door, but we ended up getting pretty good seats.

Jackson Pearce dressed up as Magnus Bane which was pretty amazing because her costume was hilarious!
Cassandra then came out and read from City of Fallen Angels and then took the audience's questions.

After the signing we were taken outside to this little side tent to wait in the enourmous line for her signing. The line wrapped around the street, but it was completely worth it.

Me and Cassandra Clare! Who cares if I look dumb? It's Cassandra Clare!!

After the signing we went and ate at the Raging Burritto (who had great Queso dip) and then went back to the Old Courthouse for the Jackson Pearce, Michelle Zink, and Robin Benway signing. We got our times slightly mixed up but we arrived in enough time to witness them speaking and get our books signed!

Jackson Pearce, Michelle Zink, and Robin Benway!

Me and Robin Benway!

Michelle Zink! She was so sweet, she got up and gave me a hug and everything, plus she signed my books with nice notes!

Then the festival was sadly over, the end to one amazing weekend! I can't wait until next year and I find myself even more eager to find a way to get to BEA.

Here I am with Lori from Pure Imagination aka, my signing partner in crime!

Here are all of the books I got signed!

Here's the swag! Carrie Ryan was so sweet signing all of those bookmarks for us! We were still in line when she did it. Notice the stickers: Eat, PREY, Love. How amazing is that?!

So that was my amazing weekend. I loved meeting all of the awesome authors and bloggers and I can't wait to see you guys again at the next signing we all happen to attend!

-Christina

Decatur Book Festival Recap Part 1

There are so many amazing things I could say about the Decatur Book Festival but I can sum it up in only one word for you.

Amazing.

It was amazing and it surpassed my expectations.

I had been planning to go to the Festival for a few months now and Saturday morning, at 5 it finally happened. We left at 5 in order to make it to the blogger/author breakfast at J.Christophers and when I arrived there I was greeted with a massive table. It was a bit weird at first because I only recognized a couple people, Lori from Pure Imagination, and Kelsey from Just Blinded Book Reviews but about ten minutes after I arrived guess who comes walking up to our table?

Carrie Ryan and Jackson Pearce.

I almost spazzed out. I didn't actually think there were going to be any authors there so when they walked up it was the equivalent of having Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter, he's my R. Pat) show up at my house.

Carrie Ryan and Jackson Pearce then sat down, Carrie Ryan sitting next to me (remember I'm already freaking out guys) and so I did the hug, OMG thing and then retained my cool.

There were so many amazing authors and bloggers at the breakfast. The authors included: Nancy Werlin, Jackson Pearce, Carrie Ryan, Mari Mancusi, Christina Gonzalez, Jennifer Jabaley, Liz Maverick, and new upcoming author, Michelle Hodkin.

Some of the bloggers that were in attendance were: Vania, Lori (book signing buddy/neighbor!), Kelsey, Jeremy & Jeffrey, JP, and Shalonda. I think that's everyone, if I'm missing you please let me know!

Here's some breakfast pictures!

Do you see that?! That's Carrie Ryan beside me! Me = green shirt

The breakfast table!

The authors!

Carrie Ryan and myself after breakfast! I look goofy... but it's Carrie Ryan!

Breakfast was awesome and it involved a lot of talking, laughing and bookmarks.

The first panel was David Levithan and Terra McVoy so after breakfast Kelsey and I went to go look around and prepare for the panel.

Davith Levithan is so funny and I definitely agree with Lori that it may have been my favorite panel. After David's reading from Will Grayson, Will Grayson, I was in awe of the writing and now find it to be one of my life goals to read that book.

Favorite David Levithan quote during the panel, about getting material:

"Remember to always take the Taylor Swift approach, for each ex boyfriend you have get at least five songs out of it."

The next panel was the fantasy panel with Saundra Mitchell, Jessica Verday, Cinda Williams Chima, and Kathleen Duey! I love fantasy and I was really looking forward to this panel and actually finding out what goes into the creating of entire worlds. Also, I was happy to hear the issue of maps come up during the panel as I have always heard the mark of a true fantasy is if it contains a map!

Saundra Mitchell!

The next panel was Carrie Ryan and Alyxandra Harvey's Vampires vs. Zombies panel and sadly we were late getting to it because the signing ran over. :(

What we did see was awesome though, especially Carrie discussing her research being playing Zombie video games and watching Dawn of the Dead! (I think it was Dawn of the Dead...)

The next and final panel of the day was the Real Issues in an Unreal World panel with Rachel Hawkins and Nancy Werlin! After this panel I really want to read Rachel Hawkins' book Hex Hall, if only to find out how to write a fan fic about the cat on the cover.

After that panel I was thoroughly exhausted and it was time for me to head back to the hotel and await the next day!

Part two of the Decatur Book Festival awesomeness will be up tomorrow and among tomorrow's authors are Kirsten Miller, and Cassandra Clare!

In My Mailbox - Week of September 5th

In My Mailbox

So you guys remember how I said I had scheduled posts right? Well, while I was in Decatur I realized something.

They're not scheduled if you don't press publish. *palm to forehead*

Sorry about that, but in my defense I was packing and rechecking books to make sure I had all of them and I was quite giddy with excitement. So here is my In My Mailbox for this week, though I won't be including any books I purchased at the festival.




This one came as a total surprise as I have never heard of it, and it's a Middle Grade second in a series, but the first line made me laugh and that's always a good sign right?

What did you guys get this week?

I'm posting my Decatur post tomorrow, and I'll go ahead and say the trip was amazing!

-Christina

Off To The Festival!

Most of you know at around 4:00 this morning I will be heading to Decatur, and I'm not bringing my laptop with me.

I have a scheduled post or two but I probably will not be able to check my email until Monday so just a heads up if you send me something, I probably won't reply till then.

Wish me luck and prepare yourself for some epic pictures when I get back!

-Christina

The Book Blogger Hop!

The Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Jennifer at Crazy-for-Books!

This Week's Question:
Do you judge a book by its cover?

My Answer:

Absolutely. I feel like I should be ashamed to admit this but the cover is very important when picking a book. Not only are covers the first thing you see but normally they hold clues to the story, plus adorable and cute covers just make me want to hold the book and keep it forever. The cover isn't the main say or the only say in me reading a book, but great covers that I love are definitely more likely to be picked up by me.

If you're here from the hop, I hope you enjoy your stay! Please leave a comment so I can return the favor and visit your blog. :)

The Decatur Book Festival is Two Days Away!

I. Am. So. Excited!!!!!

I can't even imagine a better end to my first week of college. I'm so excited and even though I will probably be dead on my feet I just can't wait and will give up the sleeping in opportunity to meet authors and fellow bloggers!

Here is a small list of some of the authors who will be attending the festival:

Michelle Zink

Jackson Pearce (meeting her... again!)

Nancy Werlin

Carrie Ryan

Alyxandra Harvey

Robin Benway

David Levithan

Kirsten Miller (squeee!)

Lisa Klein

Saundra Mitchell

Rachell Hall

and...

Cassandra Clare!

Who's excited? I'm excited! I have mentioned that fact several times already but if you're attending I'm sure you know the feeling yourself.

(Watch me go off and forget to bring all of my books. Seriously, I would do that.)

Let me know if you'll be there!

-Christina

Waiting On Wednesday!

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, and it's purpose is to spotlight those titles we can't wait for!
With her rare ability to breathe fire, Jacinda is special even among the draki—the descendants of dragons who can shift between human and dragon forms. But when Jacinda’s rebelliousness leads her family to flee into the human world, she struggles to adapt, even as her draki spirit fades.

The one thing that revives it is Will, whose family hunts her kind. Jacinda can’t resist getting closer to him, even though she knows she’s risking not only her life but the draki’s most closely guarded secret.

*This one just seems amazing... I can't really describe it in any other way.