Five Great Miracles

Persnickety's FIVE is all about what restored your faith in the genre you love to read OR what got you to read more!

These are my FIVE miracles that got me to read more:

1. GRADUATING with my MLS this August! Holy cow.....I had to put off reading SO many fantastic books because there wasn't enough time in the day. After finishing school, I swear I read for a month straight. This is me and my favorite professor, Dr. Maria Cahill, at the ceremony a few weeks ago! Awe...we will be presenting at ALA together in June. *shakes in boots*

2. ZOMBIES! I fell in major love with Carrie Ryan and The Forest of Hands and Teeth. Major love! I would read it aloud and my old man would make me stop. He hates zombies! Can't wait to meet her at TLA in April!

3. The Hunger Games... FULL disclaimer: I LOVE DYSTOPIA! I wish to be an expert some day. The Giver literally changed my life and The HG reassured me that YA was where I needed to be. I blog about Suzanne Collins often. I think she is a genius. She could write awful love poems on a roll of toilet paper and I would buy it. ;)

4. Texas Library Association - this event is like the Disneyland of events for Texas! I walked about with over 120 books and spent $78! I scored so many ARCs and signatures. It's where I met Suzanne Collins too! I REALLY encourage you all to go to author events. Even if you don't know a single soul there, you will have a great time! I have met some really awesome authors, stalkers, and bloggers in my area.

5. I Read Banned Books & Literary Lonestars - I started this blog for school in 2009. I stuck with it and I love what it has become. The blog is like my literary diary. I don't complain about the kids or what the husband did to upset me, but I do vent about not so great stories and fantastic reads. It has been very therapeutic for me. The blog is a perfect blend of computer nerd and book nerd = perfect for me!

Happy Reading!

Five Great Author Moments

The Persnickety Snark Five continues...

Today's post features my top 5 author moments from 2010. There were so many great author meet-ups this year that it will be hard to choose just five.

TLA (Texas Library Association), April - Meeting Suzanne Collins was THE highlight of my year. Okay, graduating was up there too, but seriously folks.....Suzanne Collins! I was the second person in line and we all watched her lay out her things carefully. Then...she brushed her hair! It was amazing...her hair gets huge (like mine if I brush it out). I think we look like we could be related. After her signing, she spoke for an hour about her career and growing up in a military family. I wrote about the entire day HERE if you care to read.  

Austin Teen Book Festival, October - I was very fortunate to be the moderator for the Dastardly Daydreamer panel at the #ATxTBF this year in Austin. The panel made up of Kiersten White, Sophie Jordan, Melissa de la Cruz, and Nancy Werlin were some of the sweetest ladies to hang out with all day. They put up with all my prying questions, and squeeee moments. (there were many). I wrote about the awesome event HERE

Beautiful Darkness Signing @ Book People, October - Austin has a fantastic book community and we were all more than pleased when Mari and Kami stopped on by to promote Beautiful Darkness. Who should come along too? Anastasia Hopcus, a local author that we all love to hang out with. I wrote about being a swag hag for the tour stop HERE

Texas Book Festival, October - I was happy to volunteer at the signing tent at the Texas Book Festival this year. The highlight of the festival was meeting (and hugging) Laurie Halse Anderson and M.T. Anderson. I was assigned to host Laurie's table, and she was so warm and welcoming to every fan. She gave out a lot of hugs and plenty of smiles. She was engaging and funny, and made the day totally enjoyable. M.T. Anderson and I talked about his awesome book, Feed. I had just finished the audio version and was blown away by it. We talked about all of the extras the producers made for the audio book. I highly recommend it! It was a fantastic day! 

Smart Chicks Tour, September - I think a lot of people will post about the Smart Chicks Tour today! The Austin stop welcomed Rachel Caine, Alyson Noel, Kelley Armstrong, Holly Black, and Cassie Clare. It was SO incredibly crowded and hot, but the night was fun. The authors were hilarious and I'm sure they were exhuasted from signing hundreds of books. It was a packed house! 

Five Great YA Movie Deals

Before we get on to my list, I have a few points to make about "movie deals". One - just because your movie is optioned does not mean that the movie will be made. There are thousands of books and scripts that get optioned, but until the money comes through....nothing happens. Two - is it just me or has every book under the sun been optioned?

Was there really any other movie that would be in my #1 spot? I think not! It would be an understatement to say that I am excited about this movie. I do have some concerns though. Will they pick the right actors? Will they follow the plot line closely? There are SO many variables that could make me worry to death!

The Giver has been optioned for years, and hopefully it will be made by 2012. IMDB says that it is "in development," but I haven't heard anything lately. Even though I heart The Hunger Games, I hope The Giver gets a chance. This is my favorite book and it changed everything for me (as far as what I read).

I think this would make a fantastic movie! Shadowhunters, vampires, warlocks, werewolves....this story has it all.  I hope they pay careful attention to the special effects. I think the effects will make or break this movie.

The book came out only a few weeks ago, and yet Matched gets optioned. Fine with me - I loved this book! I think this is a great dystopian and I hope Cassia, Xander, and Ky's story gets the go...

I really enjoyed Firelight and I hope this movie gets a greenlight for production. This book takes on a more 'Twilight' feel for me over the others. 

Five Hope For YA...

My hopes for YA literature are pretty simple:

1. No more"fall in love at first site, and I get physically sick to be aways from my boyfriend" girls. I know teenage girls are emotional roller coasters (so are boys!)m but enough is enough with this "Bella Syndrome". I would love to see the desperateness slip down a few notches. Maybe wait until the third or fourth time characters meet before they fall head over heels.

2. More male protagonist's written BY males! I can think of around 10 YA authors who are male that write for males. We need more! Something needs to be written for these reluctant readers and boys who don't fancy vampires. Jon Skovorn, Kenneth Oppel, James Dashner, and Sherman Alexie are fantastic and we need others to join them.

3. Lessen the amount of series. We talked about this a little this year, but I'll say it again, "Seems like everything I read is part of a series." For me, 9 times out of 10 a book I am dying to read is part of a collection. We need some good solid stand alones out there!

4. Zombies, we need more zombies! I'm done with vampires, I won't even begin to tell you about how many times I've been scorned by angel books, and I don't do dragons (okay, I love draki - Firelight).  I need zombies!

5. Lastly, we need AUTHENTIC, contemporary, multicultural books with an insiders perspective. Meaning, a Native American Indian writing about Indians in today's society that are actually Native American. Doesn't too hard does it, but you will be amazed how many Caucasians (try) writing with an African American or Mexican American voice. Although these stories may be outstanding, we need more titles written with first-hand experience.

That's it!

Happy Reading!

Five Most Anticipated....

A little late, but I am giving the Persnickety Snark FIVE Challenge a go. What's going on? Head on over to
Persnickety's site and get the low down. Here we go for Saturday...

The Five Most Anticipated Titles of 2011:

First off - 2011? I can't believe it! I remember writing 1980 something on my school papers. Wow....time is flying by! Here are the titles I can't wait to read.

Carrie Ryan's The Dark and Hollow Places is without a doubt at the top of my must have list for 2011. I am going out of my mind waiting for this book. Literally.... This series is one of my favorite's EVER and I can't see how it all wraps up. Check out The Forest of Hands & Teeth to get started. Don't let the zombies scare you!

Book three in the Prophecy of the Sisters series by Michelle Zink is also a must read for me. I can't wait to see the sisters face off in Circle of Fire. I hope it goes down like a UFC fight and Lia kicks the snot right out of Alice! By the end of book two, I was ready for Alice to jump off a cliff.

Give me some Cassell! Red Glove by Holly Black has a total 1984 Dynasty cover, but I'll go ahead and forgive the art department, and read the next book in the White Cat series. Seriously, this cover is redonkulous.

Is this really any surprise? I am almost through City of Glass as I type. Clary's wonky eye can't scare me...I'll stick with the series even if they move to the Meat Packing District and become street walkers. I'm in it for the long haul! 

Matched by Ally Condie was one of my favorite books this year. So, I leave you with Crossed. So can't wait for this series to continue! 

Welp, that's my list. There are several that debut in 2011 that I have already read and that is why they did not make the list. Across the Universe for example....can't say enough about how great that book is! 

Happy Reading!