Saturday, November 30, 2019

Adventures at YALLFest 2019

2019 YALLFest Program

November has become one of my favorite months because it means it's time to go to YALLFest again! This was the fifth trip for Ally, Melissa, and me to Charleston for the two day young adult book festival, and it was just as much fun as the first year we attended.

After the requisite stop for coffee before hitting the road, we were on our way by around 3:45AM. It's about a 6 hour drive from Central Florida to Charleston, and for us, a big part of the adventure is the road trip itself. Will we have enough room in the car for our book hauls? What item did Lee forget to pack this year? Who will get hangry first? (It's usually me, Lee, but this year it wasn't me haha!)

Friday is YALLCrawl, which features some author signings and events. Jenny Han was signing as part of YALLCrawl again, so I got my copies of P.S. I Still Love You and Always and Forever, Lara Jean signed:

While I was at the signing, Ally and Melissa headed off to check out the official YALLFest merch. We learned the hard lesson in our first year at the festival that we must buy our T-shirts and any other YALLFest goodies on Friday or they will be sold out by Saturday.

Since some of us had been awake since 2:30 in the morning, we opted for an early dinner again and then took our exhausted selves to the hotel to get a good night's sleep in preparation for a very, very busy Saturday.

We usually grab bagels for breakfast, but this time we tried a charming café called La Pâtisserie that we'd passed while browsing King Street on Friday. I had a ham and cheese croissant, and it was amazing! The delicious coffee also hit the spot on a chilly morning.

After breakfast, we headed towards the Charleston Museum, where the line to pick up tickets for the Fierce Reads ARC giveaways already wrapped around the corner. We happily each received our tickets to return later for the ARCs and then got down to the business of running from line to line.

I've collected Shadowhunter posters from the Riveted/Simon Teen booth for the last 3 years, so I was thrilled to add another, this time of Matthew Fairchild from the upcoming Chain of Gold:

Here's one of the better pics of us, lol, taken at the Pique booth during their ARC giveaway of Jordan Ifueko's Raybearer:


L to R: Lee, Melissa, Ally

Nic Stone was signing ARCs of her upcoming Shuri at the I Read YA/Scholastic booth, and she noticed the Marvel sweatshirt I was wearing and said it was perfect!

Around 4PM, we realized that we were starving and practically sprinted to Five Guys to grab dinner. Back at the hotel, we collapsed for a bit and then organized our goodies to make departing in the morning a bit easier.

Once again, the weekend flew by in a blur of books. I can't wait to start reading these!


Blood Countess by Lana Popvić
Rogue Princess by B.R. Myers
The Iron Will of Genie Lo by F.C. Yee
The Last Confession of Autumn Casterly by Meredith Tate
The Stars We Steal by Alexa Donne
The Winter Duke by Claire Eliza Bartlett
Most Likely by Sarah Watson
Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales
We Are the Wildcats by Siobhan Vivian
Between Burning Worlds by Jessica Brody & Joanne Rendell
The Small Crimes of Tiffany Templeton by Richard Fifield
Rules for Being a Girl by Candace Bushnell & Katie Cotugno
Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko
Shuri: A Black Panther Novel by Nic Stone
You're Next by Kylie Schachte

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Bookmarks

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week's topic is:
Favorite Bookmarks

I LOVE collecting bookmarks, probably as much as I love adding books to my shelves, lol! And just like choosing my favorite books, it was also tough to choose my favorite bookmarks. Quite a few of them, like the Lisa Simpson bookmark in the photo below, have grown in sentimental value over the years because I've had them for so long. Often I'll try to find bookmarks of my favorite characters, and not just from books, but from movies and TV, too, as you'll also see from the photo. :D

1. The Millennium Falcon
A Star Wars bookmark is an absolute must have for this fangirl.

2. The Avengers
This bookmark was a tie-in for Endgame. It's currently holding my place in Neal Shusterman's Scythe.

3. The Raven Cycle
I got these adorable bookmarks of the characters from Maggie Stiefvater's Raven Cycle from Happy Hello.

4. Lisa Simpson
I've been a Simpsons fan from the beginning, and I love the inspirational quote on this bookmark.

5. YALLFest
I just picked this up over the weekend during YALLFest 2019, and this bookmark features this year's artwork for the festival.

6. Ron Weasley
How cute is this bookmark of Ron?!

7. Keep Calm and Read On
What I tell myself all the time. :D

8. Dumbledore
I know I included two Harry Potter-themed bookmarks, but this is my favorite Dumbledore quote and one of my favorite quotes from the whole series.

9. The Infernal Devices
Another set from Happy Hello, featuring Will, Jem, and Tessa.

10. New York
I got this at The Cloisters museum a few years ago during a trip to New York to always remember my hometown. ♥

What are your favorite bookmarks?

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Book Loot (38)

Yikes—it's another Book Loot post already! I've dubbed this my Pre-YALLFest Haul because I'm taking some of these to hopefully get signed at YALLFest in Charleston this weekend. :D

I'm about halfway through Neal Shusterman's Scythe, and all I can say is: why didn't I read this book, or any of Neal Shusterman's books, sooner?! It's definitely going to be one of my 2019 favorites.

What books have you added to your shelves lately?


Won:

Angel Mage by Garth Nix
Much thanks to Epic Reads!

Bought:

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
I Believe in a Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo
P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han
Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han
Scythe by Neal Shusterman
The Vanishing Stair by Maureen Johnson
Reveal Me by Tahereh Mafi