Finale Launch | Roseville, CA

First and foremost -- happy book birthday to Finale, which released yesterday!

Stephanie Garber launched her Finale tour at the Barnes & Noble in town in Roseville yesterday, stocked with a dessert bar that I overheard by someone who works with Stephanie's dad that the treats were homemade by an aunt of hers. It was difficult to not eat all of the cookies and the cookies n cream dessert from the three-layer tier (if you know me, you know that cookies n cream anything is my weakness). They were so delicious. It was amazing to see so many readers come by and support Stephanie. Adrienne Young (Sky in the Deep) was there moderating.

Stephanie kicked off the launch with a (non-spoilery) talk about Finale, then went into Q&A's with fans from the audience, a quick-fire game of this or that. On the topic of villains, Stephanie said her inspiration for her villains derived from Damon Salvatore from The Vampire Diaries, as well as Klaus Mikaelson! She also prefers enemies to lovers over the friends to lovers trope. Out of all of her book boyfriends from her books, Stephanie would choose to hang out with Julian in a zombie apocalypse, to no one's surprise. ;-) To top it off, she threw a trivia question for one lucky winner in the audience to win an advanced readers copy of Adrienne Young's upcoming novel The Girl the Sea Gave Back. It was a fun launch and I can't wait to see what Stephanie has in store next after Finale.

Add Finale to your tbr!

Title: Finale (Caraval #3)

Author: Stephanie Garber

Publication Date: May 7, 2019

Publisher: Flatiron Books

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

♥ Are you guys excited to read Finale? ♥

yallwest 2016 | santa monica, ca

Hamilton singalong

yallwest, the sister festival to yallfest, had their second annual festival in santa monica, california at the santa monica high school and santa monica library this past weekend, and it was a blast. 

other than books galore, there were fun activities as well such as giveaways, spin the wheel and dress up in costumes at the Epic Reads tent, the HAMILTON sing-a-long, food trucks (the mac n cheese grilled cheese from the grilled cheese food truck was the best), a dj, meet + take a pic with your favorite authors, ARC giveaways, panels, other fun interactive activities/workshops and more.

every single line were so long, so it was impossible to meet all the authors. but i did get to meet nicola yoon, who was signing next to holly black (darkest part of the forest) and tarehi mafi (shatter me trilogy)! i also saw andrew of endlessly reading just a few spots in front in nicola's line!

many YA publishers set up tents as well and displayed their books in all their glory. periodically, they also did arc drops and games and other prizes. it's never a dull moment stopping by.

and yes, there was a HAMILTON sing-a-long. confession: this was the first time i ever heard a hamilton song gasp! and i wouldn't have it any other way. the yallwest ambassadors and volunteers were absolutely outstanding. watch the video here.
and that's a wrap! although i only went for 8 hours, it was still so much fun. surrounded by books and readers alike, games, bookish friends, authors, games, music, FOOD. until next year, yallwest.

authors i met:

nicola yoon (everything, everything)

evelyn skye (the crown's game)

erin summerill (ever the hunted)

bloggers i met:

andrew from endlessly reading

stacie from shybooknerd

books i obtained:

ruined by (bought)

what light by jay asher (arc drop)

our chemical hearts by (arc drop)

we know it was you by (arc drop)

out of my mind by (won at epic reads game)

ala annual 2015 book haul

i experienced my first ever book conference: ala annual conference (alaac) in san francisco a couple of days ago, and as promised in my last post, here's my book haul!

books i obtained (in no particular order):

• salt to the sea by ruta sepetys (bound manuscript)
• everything, everything by nicola yoon
• black widow: forever red by margaret stohl
• walk on earth a stranger by rae carson
• vengeance road by erin bowman
• daughters unto devils by amy lukavics
• when we collided by emery lord
• first & then by emma mills
• the scorpion rules by erin bow
• hunter by mercedes lackey
• madly by amy alward
• tonight the streets are ours by leila sales
• beastly bones william ritter
• melt by selene castrovilla
• naked by stacey trombley
• modern monsters by kelley york
• better when he's brave by jay crownover
• risking it all by tessa bailey
• more than music by elizabeth briggs

thank you to the publishers and folks working the booths. y'all were amazing and very helpful. thanks for getting the books out there to readers and educators. i can't wait to attend more conferences and meet more of my favorite authors.

♥ did you go to alaac15? or are there books that you cannot wait for?

comment your recaps or anticipated books below! ♥

ala annual 2015 | san francisco, ca

ala (american library association) annual was in san francisco this year, so we went off on a 2 hour drive to the city and attend for a day. having never been to book conferences before (unless you count the california capitol book festival), i first strolled down each aisle, checking out all the books on display and snapping photos along the way. after knowing where some of my favorite publishers were stationed was when i finally went to snap some books. first timers mistake because they run out so fast! don't make the same mistake. get those books you want when you see them!

for my first book conference, it honestly wasn't that bad. hearing stories of the madness of how these turn out, it was kind of daunting to me, but while there was a lot of people, it wasn't too crowded nor was there any shoving, so that was good.

shoutout to the publishers. y'all do an outstanding job to get those books out there.

♥ have you been to an ala (annual or midwinter) before?

if you did, how did you like it? ♥

bay area book fest 2015 | berkeley, ca

the bay area book festival was this past weekend in berkeley, ca and it was packed with readers, authors, local booksellers, food trucks/booths, interesting art installations, free books and more. the teen stage was the platform where ya authors come up on stage and answer questions from readers in the audience, talk about their books and read a bit from their books before signing. 

i was only able to make it to sunday's events but it was still a blast nonetheless. to cap off the day, i also got to meet dear blogger friend kaitlin of last page please! in person for the first time!

sunday's teen stage authors:

11am // kim culbertson (catch a falling star)

11:30am // morgan matson (since you've been gone)

12pm // virginia boecker (the witch hunter)

12:30pm // tamara ireland stone (every last word)

1pm // greg weisman

1:30pm // danielle paige (dorothy must die)

2pm // tricia stirling (when my heart was wicked)