Harry Potter Moment of the Week (108)

Harry Potter Moment of the Week is a meme hosted by Uncorked Thoughts and Lunar Rainbows. The aim of this meme is to share with fellow bloggers a character, spell, chapter, object or quote from the books/films/J. K. Rowling herself or anything Potter related! A list of upcoming topics can be found here.

This week's topic is:
Rename the Books from Hermione's Point of View

These rename-the-books-from-another-character's-POV posts are so much fun! I did get a little stuck trying to come up with Hermione-centric titles for OotP and HBP, and even after taking a break for a while and giving them some more thought, I still couldn't do any better than these, lol.

• Hermione Granger and the Three-Headed Dog That Nearly Got Us Killed or Worse—Expelled
• Hermione Granger and the Polyjuice Potion Mishap
• Hermione Granger and the Amazing Class Schedule Balancing Act
• Hermione Granger and the Very Bothersome Beetle
• Hermione Granger and the Walk on the Rebellious Side
• Hermione Granger and the Love Drama
• Hermione Granger and the Incredible Beaded Handbag

Fandom Mashups (29)

Fandom Mashups is a feature hosted by Lunar Rainbows Reviews. There's a different scenario each week, and you choose a "dream team" of five characters from five different fandoms whom you think are best suited for the situation.

This week's topic is:
You've stumbled onto a portal that leads into a parallel world, but you have no clue what dangers lurk on the other side. Who do you bring 'through the rabbit hole' with you?

1. The Tenth Doctor: This guy. He's seen just about everything, and this kind of scenario is exactly his thing.
2. Luna Lovegood (Harry Potter): I'm going with Luna because she's fearless and adventurous and wouldn't get easily freaked out by the unknown. Plus she can use magic, so we're good if things suddenly go bad.
3. Spock (Star Trek): Exploring new worlds is pretty much his job, and with all of his logic, he'd keep us out of trouble.
4. Gansey (The Raven Cycle): Gansey has seen lots of weirdness in his search for the sleeping king Glendower, so I think he would be very comfortable with this mission. Plus, I just want to hang out with Gansey, okay? :D
5. Bender (Futurama): Although I think Bender would be more prone to causing trouble even though he could be pretty helpful with all of his space travel experience, I'm still bringing him because he makes me laugh so much.

Adventures at YALLFest 2015

This past weekend, Ally, Melissa, and I headed to Charleston, South Carolina for YALLFest. It was our first time attending, as well as our first time visiting Charleston. The amazing lineup of authors included Richelle Mead, Alexandra Bracken, Gail Carriger, Gayle Forman, Scott Westerfeld, Brandon Sanderson, Libba Bray, Marie Lu, Veronica Roth, Leigh Bardugo, Marissa Meyer, and many more. Since BEA was not in the cards this year and Charleston was reasonably manageable travel-wise, we decided to go for it.

Our plans hit a pretty big snag the night before we were supposed to leave. Melissa was ecstatic to be seeing Rick Yancey, whom she worships, and he was THE author she had to meet at the festival. Unfortunately, he had to cancel due to illness, and I saw the announcement on Twitter on Thursday night. I broke the news to Melissa, and she was heartbroken. But, she still wanted to go, and so we did.

On Friday afternoon, a small group of authors was scheduled to sign at various venues. Ally wanted to see Scott Westerfeld and I wanted to see Gail Carriger, so after scoping out where we each needed to be, we went our separate ways (we were actually only a block away from each other) and got on line.

Gail Carriger's signing started a little early, and the line moved quickly. I got this feeling of unreality when I found myself next in line, like this couldn't possibly be happening. She was super sweet, and I was giddy to have a signed copy of Soulless:

Melissa went with Ally to wait in Scott Westerfeld's line, so I joined them over there in the tent next to Blue Bicycle Books. Ally got Leviathan signed, and after getting some much needed coffee, which would be our fuel throughout the weekend, we called it a day and headed to the hotel.

Ally & Scott Westerfeld

Saturday was the main day of the festival, and we knew that a game plan was absolutely necessary with all of the panels and signings that would be taking place at the same time. We thought that we'd arrived downtown early, but there was already a line outside of the Charleston Music Hall at 8 AM for Richelle Mead and R.L. Stine's opening keynote, which didn't start until 10. We were useless without coffee, so we went to Starbucks first and then got in line for the keynote.

You needed a wristband for Richelle Mead's signing following the keynote, and a limited number were being distributed to those waiting in line. We were among the lucky recipients, which totally surprised me because a good number of people were in line ahead of us. I hadn't even taken my copy of Vampire Academy out of the car, so guess who had to go back to the parking garage to retrieve it?

After the doors opened and we went inside, we were each given a sampler of Richelle Mead's upcoming The Glittering Court. We made a strategic decision to sit toward the back of the music hall so that we could make a hasty exit for the signing afterwards. Margaret Stohl said a few words before the keynote moderator, Kami Garcia, introduced R.L. Stine and Richelle Mead. We got to see a clip from the Goosebumps movie, and R.L. Stine was just hilarious throughout the keynote. I never read Goosebumps or Fear Street, but I so want to now.

We scooted out of the keynote the second it was over, and as we were exiting, there were some ARCs available. I just about freaked out when I saw Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys, which is already garnering a ton of buzz. So I was very, very, very happy at this point, and the day had only begun.

Melissa and I got in line for the Richelle Mead signing while Ally went to explore some of the booths. We were the last two people in the first group that was allowed into the train museum where the signing was taking place, and it wasn't long before it was our turn to go up. Again, I had that incredulous feeling, like I couldn't believe this was actually happening. Richelle Mead was so, so sweet, and I'm still in a little bit of disbelief that we were able to go to her signing.

Me Meeting Richelle Mead!

After meeting up with Ally outside, we went to two panels back-to-back. The first focused on world-building in historical fiction and was moderated by Libba Bray. Then we went straight to the next panel, which also discussed world-building and was moderated by Alexandra Bracken. Gail Carriger spoke at both panels, and Richelle Mead was at the second one. Both panels were excellent, and I just loved listening to some of my favorite authors talk about writing. There were so many great panels going on, but alas, with all of the signings happening simultaneously, we could only make these two.

Next we headed back to the train museum so that Melissa could get on line for Gayle Forman. Ally and I thought we were super early for Alexandra Bracken’s signing, but there was already a huge line, so we just got on it. Melissa kindly got my copy of If I Stay signed for me while Ally and I stood on our line; we ended up waiting for about two hours, but it was totally worth it when we finally got to meet Alexandra Bracken!

Ally & Alexandra Bracken

We hadn’t had time to eat lunch and were completely famished by this time, so we had a nice pizza dinner, grabbed more coffee, and retired to the hotel for the night. It was an exhausting day, but also extremely exhilarating.

We spent our last day in Charleston browsing some of the cool shops downtown and walking around a bit. The weather was very fall-like throughout the weekend, which we enjoyed since it’s still been in the mid to high 80’s in Florida. We also checked out the Charleston Museum and toured one of the historic houses before heading home. We all agreed that we could have used another day to just explore the city and will file that bit of knowledge away for next year, because we absolutely loved the entire YALLFest experience and would go again in a heartbeat.

Melissa's Haul

Why I Read

Why do I read? That sounds like a simple enough question to answer, especially for those of us who also blog about books, right? Lately it seems like this question has been cropping up with some frequency, or at least my response of "Caught up on some reading" in reply to what I did over the weekend or what I do in my spare time has been garnering some slightly quizzical looks. So I gave some thought to why I prefer staying home on a Friday night with a good novel over . . . pretty much anything else, and here's what I've come up with.

For me, reading has always been about escapism. It's a break, and often a much needed one, from real life. I can literally lose myself in the pages of a book for hours, and it's an immersive experience that I've never been able to duplicate by watching TV or a movie, no matter how much I love whatever's on. Maybe it's because with books, your imagination takes over to shape the written words into scenes in your mind's eye, whereas TV and movies supply the visuals for you. My mom read often to me when I was little, so I got off to an early start picturing fictional characters and places in my head.

I think the reason why I love paranormal and fantasy so much is because both genres explore worlds that are different from our own. They're a mini-vacation from the everyday grind, and I think that we've all at one time or another discovered a fictional world that we didn't want to leave. Taking a breather from things that are weighing on my mind by visiting a place that's far removed from them definitely helps me to recharge my batteries. I struggle a lot with keeping my stress levels manageable, and I can't imagine where they would be without the calming effect that reading has on me.

Reading is usually a solitary activity for me, and I have to admit that I embrace that aspect of it. While I also very much enjoy its social side—blogging being the obvious one—I also like my quiet time alone with a book in hand. I've always been an introvert, and although I feel that I've made significant progress, particularly in the last few years, in stepping outside of my social comfort zone, I'm never going to be the person who effortlessly strikes up conversations with strangers in the supermarket checkout line. That's just not me. In fact, I need my daily alone time, and more often than not, it's spent in the company of a book. Now, I know that readers come in all personality types, and I'm in no way trying to generalize here. What I am saying is this: if you happen to be an introvert who loves reading, too, I get you. Completely.

And that's the long answer to why I read. I'm not sure if it makes sense to anyone but me, lol. As always with these types of posts, I'd love to hear your thoughts—why do YOU read?

Review: Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

* This review contains spoilers for the previous books in The Wolves of Mercy Falls series.

Forever (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #3)
By Maggie Stiefvater
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
Buddy Read with Micheline of Lunar Rainbows Reviews

To Sum It Up: Sam is still human, but Grace has finally shifted into a wolf at a time when all of the Mercy Falls wolves face imminent and grave danger. As the all too few minutes tick by, Sam, Grace, and some unlikely allies work to find a way to save the wolves. What does become clear is that Sam needs to lead them, but he may have to become one of the pack again for the rescue plan to even have a sliver of hope for success.

Review: Oh man. Where to start talking about this book?

I feel like I’ve already used all the words, especially superlatives, to discuss Maggie Stiefvater’s The Wolves of Mercy Falls series. Forever continues in the brilliant footsteps of Shiver and Linger with compelling characters, exquisite storytelling, and insanely beautiful prose. I can’t get enough of the latter; it’s terribly addictive. It’s writing that makes me look forward to the next word on the page. Whether she’s describing the wolves or the Mercy Falls weather, animate or inanimate objects, the abstract or the concrete, Stiefvater does so with such effortless grace (no pun intended). She always selects the perfect word/perfect phrase for every scene and finds a story in even the most seemingly ordinary details of everyday life.

Sam and Grace have absolutely become one of my favorite YA couples. Ever. “Epic” doesn’t even begin to cover the depth and strength of their love for each other. It’s impossible to imagine Sam without Grace and Grace without Sam; they are truly as one.

Sam’s mettle really gets tested in Forever, as of course first, he must cope with Grace shifting and the growing suspicions of the Mercy Falls residents that he’s responsible for her disappearance. He also finds himself increasingly questioning how well he actually knows Beck, the man who’s in all essence been his father for most of Sam’s life. Finally, a huge threat looms over the entire pack, and with Beck no longer shifting back to a human, it falls on Sam’s shoulders to take action and save the wolves, including Grace. Sam is far from comfortable with this role, which frustrates Isabel, who goes through her own struggles in Forever (most of them Cole-related). Sam’s troubles are all interconnected, and when they converge, reading this becomes simultaneously heart-shattering and heart-pounding. I had about fifty pages left in the book and very, very stupidly thought I could read just a few more before leaving for work. Well, naturally I had to pry myself away from the book at a most inopportune point. Trust me, you do not want to read Forever in stolen moments here and there; you need to be able to spend quality time with it.

I must gush for at least a sentence or two about my other favorite couple, Isabel and Cole. They’re technically not a couple here, but they so are in my head! Forever sees Cole find a purpose, one that is integral to the wolves’ survival. Isabel finds that she’s really grown to care for a certain handful of people. Come on, Sinner: please let Cole and Isabel now find that they belong together!

I have devoured every book in this series. While I know that it’s not quite over yet and as much as I’m dying to jump into Sinner (GAH—more Cole and Isabel!), I’m going to miss Mercy Falls. A lot. Sam and Grace sent my heart spinning in every possible direction, and I loved every single minute of it.

All in All: There are no more words that adequately convey all the things Forever made me feel: happy, sad, fearful, and whatever adjective that best captures how you feel after reading some stunningly gorgeous writing.