Throwback Thursday! Stephanie and NYCC 2016! (Part 1)

October 6:

Thursday my sister, Victoria, and I got to the Javits Center around noon.

We didn't go to any of the panels we possibly wanted to see. Some were at Book Con @ NYCC a block away: A World Unlike Any Other: The Importance of Setting in Fantasy and Sci-Fi and Villain Squad: Villains and Anti-Heroes in Literature.

Instead we went around the Javits looking at Artist's Alley and picking up free books in the Exhibit Hall.

Thursday's haul.
The Star Wars book is just excerpts from Star Wars and Del Rey novels.
Wolf's Mate (Wind Dragons MC #5) by Chantal Fernando (I didn't know it was part of a series. I just grabbed it).
Gilded Cage (Dark Gifts #1) by Vic James - ARC
Blood Rose Rebellion by Rosalyn Eves - ARC
Nemesis by Brendan Reichs - ARC
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden - ARC - signed

At First In Line I showed them the email I received in exchange for the Blood Rose Rebellion. I got very excited when I read the jacket because I have a friend from Hungary named Noémi (No-amy). I messaged her about the book and asked if her name is popular in Hungary.

She said:
"It's not a very common name, actually. It was a writer who came up with it in 1872. In that book the main guy is an aristocrat and he goes on his boat and discovers an island where only a mom and the daughter lives. He falls in love with the daughter, whose name is noèmi. It means beautiful. So then he starts going back and forth between his real life and the mysterious island with his beautiful lover. And writers like to use the name in their books ever since."

While passing by Her Universe and checking out the Marvel apparel I saw Ashley Eckstein. I am glad I got to see her and speak with her because the next day the Ahsoka book signing was a bit of a disappointment. More on that below.

I told Ashley how excited I was to hear her narrate the audiobook and just how perfect it was that she did so. She was humble and nervous about her performance and hopes the fans like it. I told her she is a pro and have a feeling it will be good.

We spoke about the differences between acting out Ahsoka's lines for The Clone Wars series and reading an audiobook.

She said that for the series you feel the emotion and can ad-lib the lines a bit but for an audiobook every word must be correct. Victoria and I assured her we have read along with some audiobooks and we caught some mistakes. So she shouldn't fret if it is not perfect.

Besides reading the text as correct as possible, there is also expressing the different emotions and doing different voices for the other characters.

I told her that at past Comic-Cons (they didn't do it this year) that the Penguin Booth has had a recording booth for people to read excerpts from Star Wars novels and I have tried it. It is really difficult and I give narrators so much credit.

I finished Ahsoka and I likeed. Ashley did a good job and I like the added sound effects and classic Star Wars score they have added.

While checking out the Del Rey-Penguin Random House booth I saw editor Mike Braff. Mike is the editor of the Red Rising trilogy. I was wearing a new Red Rising shirt. I ordered a Howler t-shirt from etsy and it came with extra decals: the symbol for House Mars, the sigil for Reds, and a scythe. I bought a black t-shirt and placed the House Mars wolf on the center front, and the Reds sigil and scythe on each sleeve.

So when I saw Mike I walked up to him and pointed at my shirt. I asked about Pierce and Sons of Ares (I had hoped they'd be there to collect some pins).

He said Pierce wanted to come, but Mike told him no. He has to write. Mike had just read the first 250 pages of Iron Gold and mimicked locking his lips about it but expressed it's awesome. But he sent notes to Pierce and now he must look over those notes while writing the next 250 pages.

And since the Sons of Ares is run by Pierce's sister, they were not there.

I said I understood and hope to see Pierce at Book Con in May and next year's NYCC. I told him how I bought the prints of the Red Rising maps from the Kickstarter and hope to get them signed.

I also asked for a photo, because why not?

My sister and I also asked what else he edits:
The Dire Earth Cycle and Zero World by Jason M. Hough
The Clash of Eagles Trilogy by Alan Smale
Sleeping Giants and Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel
The Devourers by Indra Das

Mike also told us about the scheduled signings at the booth.
Victoria had heard about the The Bear and Nightingale and there was to be a signing that afternoon at 4pm. So we decided we'd skip the NaNoWriMo Meetup and go to the signing.

Katherine Arden said that this was her first signing ever and that Victoria was her first. So she signed that in Victoria's book! And I am the second. She's really cute.

Friday, October 7:

The first thing my sister and I did that Friday morning was go to the Disney Booth. I had gotten an email that there would be a signing at 6:00pm with E.K. Johnston (the author) and Ashley Eckstein (the narrator) for the new Ahsoka novel. I wanted to ask if we would need bracelets for the signing. No bracelets required. I was just told by a woman who worked there to be there 15-30 minutes before it started.

Yea right. This is Ashely and Ahsoka we are talking about. I planned to be there no less than an hour before. But when I got there before 5pm I just missed them selling their last copy of Ahsoka and capping the line. They said people had been lined up since about 3 or 4PM, after they heard about the signing at a Star Wars panel that morning.

I was heartbroken. I think the man there felt bad because before someone told him the line was capped he offered to sell me another book for them to sign. But that's not the point. Why would I want them to sign a book they have no involvement with? He also said Ahsoka would be on sale in bookstores on Tuesday. But then it won't be signed and that is the point.

Why didn't the woman that morning tell me to BUY THE BOOK NOW? That that would be my "ticket" to the signing. I also kicked myself for not thinking of it, but honestly, she made it seem like it would be a give away. And let's be honest, Disney can afford to give a few out for free at NYCC.

I got over it and ended up downloading the audiobook instead. I really wanted to hear Ashley narrate it anyway.
After going to the Elementary panel we went to Stories of Imagination: Your Must-Read Book Review from Harper Voyager and Epic Reads

I took some notes of the books that interested me. They would compare it to other stories, so say if you like Gotham and Dead Like Me then you'll like This Savage Song (Monsters of Verity #1)by Victoria Schwab.

So I have a whole list of books to check out.

When we got there we had to sit in the back. At the end of the panel they gave out Epic Reads tote bags with books inside. Well, they underestimated the attendees and ran out of tote bags. We did get one book.

Friday Book haul:
A Crucible of Souls by Mitchell Hogan
Beheld by Alex Flinn - ARC

Both are from Harper Collins so I can't remember now which was a given at the Epic Reads panel and which was a give away at their booth.

There was also an Epic Reads: Fantasy Frenzy Meetup.
Epic Reads invites readers of all ages to join a round-table where fantasy authors Heidi Heilig (The Girl from Everywhere) and Maria Dahvana Headly (Magonia) will dish about their books and other fantasy favorites. Bring your books and get them signed; it’s an Epic Reads Book Club! Free advance reader copies and fun Epic Reads swag will be up for grabs!

Nothing was said about clearing the room after each meet up group finishes. Vic had been waiting in the room early, and after the Pokémon Meet Up ended the Epic Reads people kicked my sister out of room and made her get on the queue. Again, they ran out of tote bags and books. My sister was pissed off so she didn't stay. Neither did the others who missed out on the swag.

She wishes she fought to stay in the room because another group of girls refused to leave and were not kicked out and they all got books.

We complained the next day to the people at the Harper Collins booth. The girl there just shrugged and said sorry. So we pushed the issue, next time make it damn clear as crystal that you clear those rooms. And get more tote bags. If your room capacity is 100 people, get 120 bags filled with books.

So after that disappoinment with Disney and Epic Reads we went to dinner.

We came back in the evening for the Your Opinion Sucks! – Rotten Tomatoes Critics vs. Fans panel.

They capped the line but my sister and I didn't GAF. We stayed on the queue, as did others, and the capped line because a "no guarantee you'll get in" line. We ended up getting in and standing in the back for a hilarious panel. The Rotten Tomatoes panel is always a good time.

Lazy Discussion: Book Con this Saturday in Chicago!

This Saturday is Book Con, but it is in Chicago. I wish they would rotate cities throughout the year. May can be New York City's month. I hope it's back in NYC next year.

Also, as my luck would have it, the year I can't attend is the same year a few of my favorite authors will be there. That just made me make a mock schedule of my imaginary day at Book Con:

8:00 AM -10:00 AM - Queue up for wristbands in the Autographing Area. 
Definitely get wristbands for Pierce Brown and Nicola Yoon. After I have those try for Scott Sigler and David Levithan.

11:15 AM - 12:15 PM - Unwritten: Stories You Haven’t Read (Yet)

Authors write more stories than they ever get published… and even more remain in their heads, unwritten. How do Authors choose one idea from the many? What makes a story worth telling, and what deserves to be cut? Learn this and more from bestselling Authors Pierce Brown (The Red Rising Trilogy), Justin Cronin (The Passage Trilogy), Naomi Novik (Temeraire series, Uprooted) and Scott Sigler (The Generations Trilogy). Moderated by editor at Del Rey Books, Michael Braff.

Speakers:
Justin Cronin, Scott Sigler, Pierce Brown, Naomi Novik, Michael Braff, 

Pierce Brown Autographing 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM, BookCon Autographing Area 
I could have gotten my copy of Golden Son signed.

Depending on the time and the queues:
Scott Sigler Autographing 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM, BookCon Autographing Area
A free galley will be provided for singing.

I want the sequel to Alive!

A must see panel:
1:15 PM - 2:00 PM - The Power & Importance of Historical Fiction for Teens

Following in the long literary tradition of Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl and Lois Lowry’s Number the Stars, Ruta Sepetys and Monica Hesse mine untold stories and perspectives of young people during WWII, making them fresh and relatable to today’s teens. In Salt to the Sea, Sepetys uncovers the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff, the single worst maritime tragedy in history. In Girl in the Blue Coat, Hesse tells a counterpoint to The Diary of a Young Girl, exploring how a non-Jewish teen in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam could navigate the outside world to join the resistance. This spirited discussion of historical fiction will be moderated by a journalist from Bustle.

Speakers: Ruta Sepetys, Monica Hesse, Sam Maggs.

I am currently reading Salt to the Sea and added Girl in the Blue Coat to my TBR pile.

2:45 PM - 3:45 PM - Reality Bites – Contemporary YA Takes the Stage

YA authors David Arnold, David Levithan, Jennifer Niven, John Corey Whaley and Nicola Yoon come to BookCon to talk about their beloved bestsellers and their latest novels, all grounded in reality. Greta Johnsen, co-host of WBEZ-Chicago's Nerdette Podcast, moderates.

I've read and enjoyed David and Nicola's books.

4:00 PM - 5:00 PM Ruta Sepetys In-Booth Signing 
Penguin Random House Booth: 2433
Cost for Autograph Free (Item provided for signing)

After meeting Ruta and already having a wristband I'd run over to the Autographing Area for

4:15 PM - 5:15 PM Nicola Yoon Autographing
Come meet Nicola Yoon! A free galley will be provided for this signing and Fans can bring their own books from home to be signed. 

And I would hope to hop on the queue for David Levithan. His singing is at the same time and place.

Then the day would be over. :(

Since I won't be there a friend and I will be doing our annual book crawl. It's when we weed out some of our books, go to the city to sell what we can at Strand and donate the rest to Housing Works.

Will you be at Book Con this Saturday? What are your plans?

Lazy Discussions: The Waiting Game!

There are many things I'm guilty of when it comes to reading habits. But there are a few that I've noticed around that people do. I've noticed that when it comes to series, some people will wait until the series is completed to start so they don't have to wait until the next book comes out. 

Now, I can be a binge reader and I know for a fact that I'm a better binge watcher than anything. I will binge watch a show I've seen before than catch up on a current show and wait a week for a new episode. Just easier when there is more to keep going. 

When I was younger, waiting for the next Harry Potter book was part of the fun. It was all about the build up and the anticipation that got me almost more excited than anything. Seems like adolescence Nikki had a lot more patience than adult Nikki. Now, I go crazy waiting for a book to come out.

When it comes to reading, I sometimes will pick up a series after it is all done and then read my way through book by book. I recently did that with the Melanie Harlow series Frenched. I loved it and when I finished, I was in a serious book hangover. I remember when I was in the Fanfic world, people would wait until a story was finished to start reading. It's the same principle I believe.

Then there are the times when lets say, 4 out of 6 books are out in a series and I binge the first 4 and then have to wait 6 months to the next one. That happened to me with Jay Crownover's Marked Men series. By the time the last book came out, Asa, my drive for the series went down. Many factors went into that though. The wait seemed like forever, I read a lot of other series since I finished the 5th book, I forgot some stuff, and I think just time. Part of me wishes I had waited. 

On the other hand, I still love the anticipation of a book I've been waiting for to come out. It is one of the reasons why I love the Waiting On Wednesday meme so much. Builds the hype. 

My question today, is it better to just wait till a series is completed to start? Or does the wait for a new book make the series better?

Lazy Discussions: Morning Star by Pierce Brown Book Event! (@Pierce_Brown)

This was a wonderful informative and entertaining discussion. I had so much fun. Pierce has an easy going and charming personality.

I took a lot of notes so I'll get started and share some photos I took.

My sister and I showed up right after work, bought our books and waited on the queue for the events room.

A woman on the queue with us went around and handed out a notebook with the Sons of Ares symbol and a Morning Star keychain that she made herself. Cute.

There were about 10 to 15 people ahead of us so when we entered the room it was easy to pick the seats we wanted. We sat in the center of the second row.

Warning: There are a couple of spoilers below the cut for Red Rising.

The discussion was led by Pierce's editor Mike Braff. They made a joke that Mike already knows the answers to his list of questions but I think that makes the q&a more relaxed and allows for more spontaneity. 

One of the first things discussed is that Pierce is working on a new trilogy called Iron Gold. USA Today broke the story that it is set in the Red Rising world and what happens after the fall of an empire.

Pierce wrote Red Rising in about two months and while he was writing it he was reading the Sophocles play Antigone. There is a similar theme about a woman who stands up against a corrupt system, to do what is right even if it means her death. When Pierce was creating Darrow he was thinking of what kind of man would Antigone fall in love with.

The Color-code hierarchy was inspired from the abandoned city of Burma, Naypyidaw.
"In the city’s residential zones, rooftops are colour-coded according to where people work in the “ministry zone”. Many rank-and-file government workers live in dormitories and military-style barracks while the top officials have opulent mansions. It is rumoured that opposition politicians have smaller lodgings than the ruling party honchos – a petty touch, perhaps, but entirely in keeping with this monument to hierarchy." It's an interesting story. (Read more.)

He'd written six novels before Red Rising and they were pretty bad. He told a funny story about catching his mother in a lie when she said she had read one of his stories. He asked her what she thought of a certain character, she said that character was her favorite, but Pierce made it up.

Now his mom does read his books. She loves Sevro and doesn't want him killed off.

Everyone loves Sevro. I always think of my questions too late. I should have asked Pierce if he has ever encountered a person who dislikes Sevro. I doubt it.

He jokingly described himself as pretentious kid because he read the children's editions of classics. When he told his grade school teacher that he read Voltaire she looked at him with doubt. That story got a lot of laughs. Trust me, I am just lame at retelling it.

When it came to writing Morning Star it took Pierce nine months to write.
He said for him writers block is not about having no ideas but having about 35 different ideas. The other reason it took more time to write is because Morning Star was written for the fans. (Red Rising was for himself, Golden Son for the characters.)

Of course the question of the movie came up. Universal has the rights and there are drafts written. With Deadpool being rated R and coming in number one that changes the paradigm. Gives us fans hope that the Red Rising films will be rated R too, as they should be.

(I personally would have preferred a TV series on HBO or Showtime, but if we can get these films to be rated R then I don't have to worry about content being edited down.)

As far as casting, and I totally agree with Pierce's idea for Darrow, he'd like to see someone unknown. That way we can grow up with the character. I think Mustang should also be an unknown actress.

For the Jackal Pierce said he pictures Eddie Redmayne, because he has cheekbones that can cut glass. Someone in the audience added, "Or your own hand." Poor Eddie! LOL

For Mickey he mentioned Gary Oldman. I always pictured Godfrey Gao. He played Magnus Bane in The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.

And although Sevro's potential casting was not mentioned, I picture Moises Arias. He was in The Kings of Summer and Ender's Game.

Two more fan questions that really stood out to me were:
1) There are a few shout outs to Star Wars and Lord of the Rings (among other beloved stories) in the books that the fans catch and get excited about, so what does Pierce fanboy over?

It's the little easter eggs in movies, like seeing the hieroglyphs of C-3P0 and R2-D2 in Raiders of the Lost Arc. Or seeing E.T. in one of the prequel's Senate scenes. Pierce couldn't remember which Star Wars it was so I called out, "The Phantom Menace."

2)Pierce mentioned that he doesn't make outlines, but did he know who would survive at the end of each book?

While there are no plot outlines he does write each character's story on post-it notes. If he can't fill that post-it then he hasn't developed that character. When writing the end of Red Rising, he didn't know who he would kill off so he put all the characters' post-its in a hat and he drew out Pax's name. It broke his heart and he almost put it aside to draw again. Apparently it threw off his idea to have Darrow join the Telemanus House and be under their protection from the Bellonas. There was also the potential story for Pax and Ragnar to become friends. That would have been awesome to see. (An Alternate Universe novella, maybe?)
The story would have been so different, but at least it wasn't Sevro's name. Servo's name should never be put in the "who do I kill off?" hat.

The Upper East Side Barnes and Nobel was really organized. When it came time for the signing we went up to the stage row by row. No one was chased away, everyone got a photo with Pierce, and our books were personalized. I do wish I brought my copy of Golden Son. I called B&N a few days to before to ask if he'd sign his other books and they said he would only be singing Morning Star. Some people had the whole trilogy and I saw one person with 5 copies of Morning Star! Next time I am bringing Golden Son so I can have the set signed.

That night I was 50 pages away from finishing Morning Star. I read 100 pages on Sunday and another 100 pages on Monday. By Monday night my right eye was blood shot. When it was my turn I told this story to Pierce and he asked in jest if I read with only one eye. He was also really sweet because he remembered we met before at a past event.

My sister told him she's scared to start reading and because she can't handle a Sevro death scene. He told her he has faith in her inner strength. Awww.

My review of Morning Star will be up later. Still sorting my feelings.

Welcome our part-time Lazies! (@Lisey978 & @frostbitsky)

Hi all! This isn't really a discussion but I didn't have a header for this. And what this is, is we have upgraded two of our regular guest reviewers into part-time lazy girls!

Elisa and Stephanie are now going to be part-time bloggers here on the site. What that means is that they will continue to review but sometimes they may participate in some of our memes.

Now's lets get to know the new lazies a bit better with a few questions.

Describe yourself in 5 words.
Faithful, caring, loving, funny, nurturing

Who is your current book crush?
Book crush? I don't have just one, there are too many to list.

What's your TV guilty pleasure when you're not reading?
Vampire Diaries

Who would play you in the movie version of your life?
Melissa McCarthy

If you could trade places with anyone in the world for one day, who would it be?
Trade places with Blake Lively so I can spend a day with Ryan Reynolds

What's your favorite website?
Amazon

What's the last song you listened to on your iPod?
iPod broke, last CD I listened to was Adele's 25

What's the last book you bought?
Clubwhore by Kim Jones

Describe yourself in 5 words.

I'm organized, petitie, funny, artistic, and geeky. 

Who is your current book crush?
My current book crush is Sevro au Barca from the Red Rising trilogy. He is completely mad but so entertaining. He has some of the best lines in the story. 

What's your TV guilty pleasure when you're not reading?
I watch a lot of TV - I'll go with Nashville. It's such a cheesy soap opera but it has country music, so I like it. 

Who would play you in the movie version of your life?
Everyone says I look like Heather Matarazzo. 

If you could trade places with anyone in the world for one day, who would it be?
I'd trade places with J.K. Rowling. Then I can see all her Harry Potter journals. 

What's your favorite website?
Fanforum.com. I have been posting on that message board since 2000 and used to be a moderator for 3 of their boards: Star Wars, Ewan McGregor, and Hayden Christensen. 

What's the last song you listened to on your iPod?
"Satellite of Love" - Lou Reed. Because David Bowie died I was listening to the Velvet Goldmine soundtrack. 

What's the last book you bought?
Never Broken: Songs Are Only Half the Story by Jewel. I did just preorder the ebook version of Morning Star by Pierce Brown.

Look out for more of their reviews and other things they'll bring to the blog. You can follow both of them on Twitter and Goodreads! Elisa is @Lisey978/Goodreads and Stephanie is @frostbitsky/Goodreads

Give them both a follow and warm welcome!

Lazy Discussions: Reviews! Does size really matter?

It's been almost a month and a discussion still hasn't happened. I apologize for that. A few weeks ago, my mother passed away, it was extremely sudden, so our focus on the blog had shifted. 

However, I've come to love this blog as if it was a child and I don't want to abandon it. So, let's discuss something that's been bothering me from day one of blogging.

This topic has been bugging me almost every day it seems. I'm a lover of Goodreads. Sometimes, I would even call myself a Goodreads snob. If a book has a rating below a 3.7, I probably won't check it out. But that's not what has been bothering me. 

What bothers me is when I go to look at reviews and I'll come across some that are pages long. Now, I'm not saying they are bad. Some of them are hilarious and really insightful. When I read these long reviews, it makes me look at my own reviews and start to question; Am I reviewing wrong? Are my reviews too short and repetitive? 

The old question comes to mind when I think about this, does size matter?

This topic has probably been brought up many times before but regardless of that, it's something I deal with every day when I go on GR or when it's time to sit down and write a review of my own. 

When I write my reviews, I try to use the outline of what one of my professors gave us when we had to write readers responses to classmates. First start off giving a brief explanation of the story. What happened? Then, write down some things you liked about it and maybe a few things you didn't think worked. Finally, we had to give suggestions on what we thought would work better. When it comes to reviews, I skip that step and go straight into my final thoughts. 

I thought this was a good idea. But then I read the goodreads reviews...

So my question(s) are, are longer reviews better? Does it change your opinion on the book if the review is filled with details upon details? And what do you look for in a review?

Guess that's where I'll leave this first discussion!

2016 Discussion Challenge #LetsDiscuss2016

One of this year's resolutions was to blog more. On first thought, AWESOME! On second thought, how in the hell am I going to do that?

Ding! Ding! Ding!

During my lurking of blog posts, I saw Eva at All Books Considered had joined a 2016 Discussion Challenge, hosted by Feed Your Fiction Addiction and It Starts at Midnight.

What is a discussion challenge you ask? 

This challenge is to help get us discussing books and book blogging, so talk about whatever you want as long as it’s relevant to book blogging. Discussions can be book related or book blogging related (or generally blogging related – no discussions about things that are completely off-topic like travel or fashion, etc). Discussions can also be about you personally if it’s a get-to-know-you type post.

Great idea! Hopefully this will be the incentive I need to blog more and talk more about other things. And also help making more blog friends. 

You can find all the discussions for this year under the Lazy Discussions tab.