SDCC 2017: Authors!!

I met so many authors and they were all awesome! Some authors I (mostly) internally freaked out about and others I either heard of or were pleasant surprises. I only took a picture of one author because I was too excited by books and meeting people. I will do better next year.

* Robin Hobb and Vic James

I randomly stumbled onto this book signing. I had heard of Robin Hobb as an amazing fantasy writer, but never read any of her work. I had not heard of Vic James before, but the beautiful cover of her book and the later random people spouting the book's praises won me over. Robin was very nice and Vic was exhuberant. She had never been to Comic Con before and wasn't expecting it to be so huge after some smaller cons she had been to. I will definitely be reading The Fool's Assassin and Gilded Cage and, if I like them, I will be looking into their other works.

* Sarah Beth Durst

I was so excited to see Sarah Beth Durst! She is one of my favorite authors and one that I don't think I've reviewed any of her books for one reason or another. My favorites of hers are Vessel and Conjured, both of which I will reread and review sometime soon. She was as excited to see me as I was to see her and she signed a copy of Queen of Blood, the start of her newest series that I hadn't read yet.

* Gail Carriger

Gail Carriger signed at the Mysterious Galaxy booth. Her new series that includes her newest release The Sumage Solution take place in the Soulless universe and focuses on the romantic relationships. I'm excited to read the change of pace for her unique literary world. I see her at Comic Con fairly often and it was nice to see her again. She had cinnamon roll oreo cookies which were delicious.

* Stephanie Perkins

Stephanie Perkins is famous for her contemporary romance series that starts with Anna and the French Kiss, an emotional series that I love despite not usually enjoying the genre. Her newest book is There's Someone Inside Your House, a thriller/horror about mysterious murders. I received a sampler that cruelly has only half the book, but it was nice to see her and chat about all her books. I never thought she would write a horror book and I'm eager to see how it turns out.

More SDCC to come!

SDCC 2016: Mysterious Galaxy Signing and Shopping Spree

Mysterious Galaxy is an amazing indie bookstore in San Diego that puts on so many awesome author events. I hadn't been to their new location since they moved, so it was a bit hard to find. However, the interior layout is so much better organized and open than the old store. Check it out if you're ever in San Diego.

Friday night of Comic Con, they held a Gail Carriger book signing for her new releases, Imprudence and Poison or Protect. The first hour or so was a loose Q&A session where fans asked questions and Gail answered as best she could. She gave her book recommendations (Uprooted by Naomi Novik and Court of Fives by Kate Elliott), character name creation (usually having some hidden meaning about the character), and easter eggs of minor characters showing up in other book series in the same world. She also spoke of her past as an archaeologist specializing in ceramics which she studied and excavated all over the world. Next year, she will be entering a writing hiatus, but will still be attending events.

Poison or Protect is a self published romance novella feature Sophronia from the Etiquette and Espionage books. Gail admitted to being a bit squeamish about writing romance especially the "nookie" scenes (her words). She decided to self publish in order to write in a shorter, harder to sell format and also continue the series with LGBT characters in perhaps a more explicit way than her publisher would like. I'm excited about it (even though romance really isn't my thing) since it delves into minor characters in her world we wouldn't normally see as closely. Needlessly to say, the signing was awesome and informative with many fun people who exchanged book recommendations with me.

On the Monday after Comic Con, I went back to the store to go on a shopping spree with my left over money. Here are all the books I bought (which I meant to take a picture of before I put them all away):

Your Brother's Blood by David Towney
The Dark Earth by John Hornor Jacobs
Dinner by Cesar Aira
Thirst by Benjamin Warner
Imprudence by Gail Carriger
Poison or Protect by Gail Carriger
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
Bird Box by Josh Malerman
We Are All Completely Fine by Daryl Gregory
The Girl Who Raced Fairyland All the Way Home by Catherynne Valente
The Boy Who Lost Fairyland by Catherynne Valente
My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix
Disappearance at Devil's Rock by Paul Tremblay
Fellside by M.R. Carey

I love this bookstore because I never would have heard a lot of these books and authors in a bigger store or Amazon. This store focuses on mystery, horror, science fiction, and fantasy and is willing to include lesser known books alongside the big names. I hope to have you all read reviews for most if not all of these books whenever I finish them.

Bout of Books Read-a-thon: Scavenger Hunt

Today, I didn't read as much as yesterday, but the read-a-thon continues! This challenge is a scavenger hunt with 5 objectives: a book that begins with "B," a book I'm planning to read for Bout of Books, a blue book, a book from my favorite genre, and TBR books. I've opted to put all the books in one picture and my super fluffy cat Einstein has deigned to help me display them. (Please excuse my fuzzy bed. Einstein sleeps there a lot.)

1) Beauty by Sarah Pinborough starts with B, plus the cover is soooooo pretty.
2) I plan to read Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
3) Alive by Scott Sigler is blue.
4) Anna Dressed in Blood is from the horror genre, my favorite (also see the last challenge for some good horror novels).
5) The small pile in the back is a very tiny part of my TBR books: Alive by Scott Sigler, Armada by Ernest Cline, and The Familiar by Mark Z. Danielewski.

Join the Bout of Books Read-a-thon for more bookish fun!

My Mailbox: Comic-Con Edition

Comic-Con is the one time of year I can go on a shopping spree plus there is tons of free stuff everywhere. Here is some of the stuff I got.

* Books

- Conspiracies and Curtsies by Gail Carriger - sequel to Etiquette and Espionage. So excited!
- Krampus by Brom - A twisted retelling of the Santa Claus tale.
- White Trash Zombie Apocalypse by Diana Rowland - 3rd in the series that just keeps getting better. The author was there, but I didn't get to see her. :(
- A Conspiracy of Alchemists by Liesl Schwartz - Fun looking steampunk novel!
- Magic Kingdom for Sale by Terry Brooks
- Hounded by Kevin Hearne
- Newsflesh series box signed by Mira Grant

* Plushies

- Harley Quinn Skelanimal
- Chlamydia giant microbe
- Intestines! from I Heart Guts

* Hasbro stuff

- Magic the Gathering M14 planeswalker promo exclusive

- Vinyl Scratch figurine
This stuff was the biggest hassle to get due to the Hasbro Toystore having the most insane situation ever. I'm so happy and lucky to have gotten these and I hope Hasbro either gets their shit together and fixes their mob situation or they don't have anything I actually want next year.

* Pins ad Miscellany

- My Little Pony voting pins - got them all! It was so hard to get Rainbow Dash!
- Princess series pins from Adventure Time
- Plants vs. Zombies 2 pin
- Carrie pin
- Luigi gold coin from Nintendo zone

- super awesome cephalopods made from cured leather made by William Thomas Damon. The purple one is also a hair clip or a pin.

* Book swag

- hand sanitizer from Parasites by Mira Grant - clever marketing AND practical. Con crud is very real and disgusting.

- candy from Fiend by Peter Stenson - fake crystal meth to market the novel based around meth addicts during the zombie apocalypse. Tasteless or funny? I can't really decide.

Panels tomorrow!

Mailbox Goodies 6

Books from my mailbox for the past couple of weeks and I went on a shopping spree at Barnes and Noble with Christmas gift cards.

* Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff, purchased from Barnes and Noble

I've been waiting for this book for so long! The cover is amazing and I always love Brenna Yovanoff's writing. I hope it's awesome. I will probably review it in February for Women in Horror Month.

* Mind Games by Kiersten White for review from Amazon Vine

I haven't read anything by Kiersten White, but the supernatural premise seems interesting and I've heard a lot of good things about the Paranormalcy series.

* The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord for review from Amazon Vine

I immediately recognized the title as a reference to Voltaire's Candide, which I love, plus the plot sounds kind of a like an awesome science fiction version of Romeo and Juliet.

* Splintered by A.G. Howard purchased from Barnes and Noble

I had to get this dark retelling of Alice in Wonderland. I'm such a sucker for retellings and the cover is gorgeous!

* Flesh and Bone by Jonathan Maberry purchased from Barnes and Noble

I also had to get the latest book in the Benny Imura zombie series for September Zombies (or maybe a mini zombie week sometime between now and then). Dust and Decay was amazing and I need to know what happens!

What have you gotten that you are excited about?

Mailbox Goodies 5

Goodies in my mailbox from the past couple of weeks!!

1) Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan for review from Amazon Vine

Sarah Rees Brennan is hilarious and a great YA author, so of course I can't wait to read this.

2) Ashen Winter by Mike Mullen, a gift from my sister

Great timing since I just read Ashfall and I'm eager to see what happens to Alex and Darla.

3) The Elementals by Francesca Lia Block for review from Amazon Vine

I will read anything by Francesca Lia Block. Her prose is always so lyrical and beautiful and the magic she brings to mundane things is wonderful.

4) vN by Madeleine Ashby, purchased from Barnes and Noble

I had to read this after io9 reviewed it as the most messed up book about robot consciousness ever.

5) Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake, purchased from Barnes and Noble

After Anna Dressed in Blood, I had to buy the next book because it was one of the best YA horror novels I have ever read.

6) Lullaby by Amanda Hocking for review from Luxury Reading

I have the first book for review and I've heard a lot of good things about it. I hope it's better then her Trylle series.

7) Sweet Shadows by Tera Lynn Childs for review from Luxury Reading

I'm a sucker for Greek mythology and I really liked the first book, even though it basically ended in the middle of the story.

8) Fathomless by Jackson Pearce

I have been waiting for this book forever!!! I LOVE The Little Mermaid and I need to see how Jackson Pearce makes it her own. So excited!!!!!!

Any opinions on these books or want to share your own mailbox goodies?

Mailbox Goodies 4

Books I got in my mailbox this week!

1) The ENTIRE Autumn series by David Moody

I won this from Forces of Geek just in time for September Zombies preparation! I will be reading Autumn: The City next.

2) Wake by Amanda Hocking from the Amazon Vine program

3) The Infects by Steve Beaudoin from Librarything Early Reviewers

Have you read any of these? What did you guys get in your mailboxes?

What Are You Reading Mondays 2

It's Monday! This is what I read in the past week:

* Equus by Peter Shaffer
* Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

* The Lost Steps by Alejo Carpentier

* Hatter M Vol. 2: Mad with Wonder by Frank Beddor

* Dark Visions 2: The Possessed by L.J. Smith

* Princess Alyss of Wonderland by Frank Beddor

* How to Take Over Teh Wurld: A LOLcat Guide 2 Winning

Books I plan to read in the next week:

* Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin

* Siddhartha by Herman Hesse

* Dark Visions 3: The Passion by L.J. Smith

and I have no idea what else. I have a to read list about a mile long and have recently bought a whole bunch of books I want to read right now. I guess we'll see!

Mondays and RIP IV Challenge

I've decided to join in on this What Are You Reading on Monday thing. You can join in the fun here.

So, this last week I have finished:

* Jennifer's Body by Rick Spears

* The Sandman: World's End by Neil Gaiman

* Never Slow Dance with a Zombie by E. Van Lowe

* Dark Visions #1: The Strange Power by L.J. Smith

* The Zen of Zombie by Scott Kenemore

Currently Reading or About to Read:

* Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

* The Lost Steps by Alejo Carpentier (for my Music and Literature class)

* Equus by Peter Shaffer (for my Mythology and the Stages of Life class)

* Dark Visions #2: The Possession by L.J. Smith

What are all you guys reading right now?

I have also decided to join another challenge: R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril IV! I am taking on Peril the First: Read 4 books of any length, from any subgenre of scary stories that you choose. I haven't chosen any specific books, but I will definately review them all and share them with you here. Have a great Labor Day!