Armchair BEA Day 3 - ISO Books and Giveaway

Okay, today's topic:

ISO Books: As readers, we are always looking for our next book to read or a stack to fill our TBR shelves. This is your opportunity to ask using our Armchair Book Expo Book Suggestion Generator (aka YOU!). Are you wanting to expand your horizons with minority characters? Are you in search of your next book club read? Do you want to explore your graphic novel or comic book options? Or, are you looking for a book that broaches a mental health or childhood issue to help you grow in understanding and knowledge in your personal life? YOU ask and YOU answer. 

So, this is a little bit hard as well!  Honestly, most of my ISO books are ones that are completing series I've started and loved, or maybe new authors to read that are similar to ones I already love and have read all of their books.  Since I'm hoping/planning to attend ApollyCon next year again, there will of course be more authors that are new to me, that I'd like to try to read at least one of their books since I'll have the chance to meet them.  Here are a few of them that are new to me:

AJ Pine
AL Jackson
Alex Grayson
Andrea Joan
Barbie Bohrman
Debra Anastasia
J. Daniels
Jennifer Blackwood
Kendall Ryan
Kristen Callihan
Lexi Bissen
Nichole Chase
Penelope Ward
Pintip Dunn
Rebecca Shea
Rebecca Yarros
Riley Edgewood
Robin Covington
Tonya Burrows
Whitney G.

Are any of these authors that you have read before and would recommend I start with?  

And here at last is a giveaway from me!  I'm going to mail a box of mystery ARCs.  All are from 2016 or 2017.  Unfortunately I have to make this giveaway for the US only because I am poor.  And because I need my next paycheck from my school library job, I will run this giveaway until the 15th so that I have the money to mail out a box.  Just enter the Rafflecopter below.  All you have to do to enter is follow me in some way.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Armchair BEA Day 3 - Dining With the Authors

Dining With the Authors: Every year at Book Expo, children and adult authors are featured during breakfast. Who would you dream of enjoying a meal with? Would it be breakfast, lunch, dinner, or simply coffee? What would your meal be? What would you discuss? 

I can't remember which year it was, but one of the years that I attended BEA I went to the children's author breakfast.  I paid the extra for the ticket that you got to sit at a table and get some extra books/stuff, etc.  I guess I'd hoped by paying the extra I'd actually get to sit at a table WITH one of the authors, which I did not.  It was totally worth it anyway though.  I think.  The cool authors I got to hear speak were Chris Colfer and Lois Lowry. I got a chance to meet, for a second, Chris Colfer, later on at the publisher's booth with a ticket.  Unfortunately I was unable to make it to Lois Lowry's signing.  

But now, let's think about what author I really want to enjoy a meal with.  I'd like to think that I'd have a blast sitting and talking with Jennifer L. Armentrout. We could discuss Supernatural and all her awesome books. 

 After meeting Anna Todd, I think I'd also love to sit and just talk with her, fangirl about all kinds of things like Harry Potter, and boy bands, and writing, etc.  

Nicole Archer is a newer author that I've loved her books Road-Tripped and Head-Tripped.  I think it would be a blast to hang out with her as well.  

Samantha Young would also be so much fun I think.  

I've met Jay Crownover and she was so much fun in just the short amount of time I got to talk to her, that I think she would be so much fun as well!  

And then, Kylie Scott, I want to talk to her about writing and her rocker book boyfriends that I love so much!

Okay, what meal would I pick?  Hmm, not sure.  I'm not really much of a breakfast person.  Maybe it would be fun to just sit and have drinks and snacks with them?  Maybe play a round of Cards Against Humanity?  

I'd love to discuss all the things we love, like  Supernatural with JLA.  Harry Potter with probably all of them!  Twilight with some of them. And then I'd like to talk about writing with them as well, as I begin to dabble in possible novel writing myself.  And for those that aren't continuing certain stories, I'd like to know where they see the characters going maybe.

So, if you could have a meal with any authors, who would you choose? 

Armchair BEA Day 2: What Readers Want and Let's Collaborate and Listen

 Day 2 of Armchair BEA!!  Okay, I'm going to do my best to answer the two questions below, then I hope you'll chime in to the comments and let me know your thoughts as well.

• What Do Readers Want?: What makes or breaks a book? How do we rate the books, or determine if it is good literature or a good story? What do we want from an author event? 

 I think that this first question is a very subjective one.  I think that every reader wants different things.  And that is why there are so many different books out there. With different writing styles, genres, formats, etc., there is something for everyone out there.  It's why I don't say that any other genre or type of book is bad, or not good, it's just not my type of read.  I don't know that I always care if a book is "good literature".  I just want it to be a good story that captures my attention and makes it hard for me to put down. Characters are usually the biggest part of a story for me.  If they are someone that I think I would like to hang out with, or someone that I definitely connect with on some level, it usually is an automatic check mark that I'll enjoy that book.   

However, very simple writing, or else very poorly written - meaning grammar and spelling issues - can definitely ruin a story for me.  

At an author event, I love hearing them speak and answer questions.  I also like a chance to get to have a book autographed, or more important to me, get my picture taken with them.  

• Let's Collaborate & Listen: The online book community has changed so much over the years. How do we keep up within our own book-sphere as well as within the community as a whole (i.e., libraries, bookstores, authors, publishers, etc.)? 

I try really hard to keep up with my fellow bloggers by visiting their blogs, and subscribing by email to those that I want to make sure to keep up with even when I may not have the time to actually go and visit their blog daily.  I feel like keeping up with authors more happens on Facebook these days, compared to Twitter in the past.  I follow so many people on Twitter that I rarely have the time to read through  my timeline.  It's almost like I only go to Twitter in order to post something, or specifically seek a certain author out to ask them a question.  I've gotten a little braver with contacting publishers.  I feel like my blog has a good enough standing that I can reach out and request ARCs of books that I am very eager for.  I also like traveling to conventions when I can afford it and have the time.  I love meeting my fellow book bloggers in person, and it's an opportunity to meet authors that I love as well, and also a chance to meet new authors that I may then become huge fans of.

Armchair BEA 2017 Introduction Post

So!  I have not participated in this for awhile, but since I had actually really, truly planned to attend this year, at least until other trips came up (ApollyCon back in March, family trip to Orlando in July), I want to participate in this fun event.  If you're interested in joining in, you can go HERE.  There are lots of fun people to meet, as well as giveaways galore!  Here are my answers to the introduction post prompts.

I am a high school librarian in Kansas City, Kansas.  I also work part time at a Barnes and Noble bookstore, as well as blogging here at Lisa Loves Literature. 

Currently I am enjoying my first few days off from school for the summer and looking forward to a busy summer!

I love books (obviously), meeting authors, and my two dogs, mini-dachshunds named Dora and Argyle, not to mention any dachshund that I see!

My favorite author at the moment is Kylie Scott.  She is doing an awesome YA story on Wattpad right now and I cannot stand the wait in between chapters!

My least favorite thing about this past year is all the friendships and family relationships that have suffered due to silly small things.  I have so much trouble giving up on people, and so still find myself wanting to reach out to some of them to see if there is any way we can overcome whatever the problem was, even though my friends and family around me often say just to move on.

My current read is not just one, but a couple different books.  I'm usually listening to a book in my car.  Have one on my phone Kindle app, and a book that is probably for review, as well as one more that is sitting by my bed.  Let me list all of them off here:  Write Naked by Jennifer Probst, What I Lost by Alexandra Ballard, Kaleidoscope Hearts by Claire Contreras, and Challenge by Amy Daws (audiobook).

My summer plans include lots of reading, catching up on blogging - specifically review books and actually getting reviews caught up on other books I've read.  I also want to actually complete one of my stories I've started over the past years during NaNoWriMo and try to publish it as an ebook on Amazon to see if anyone even wants to read it.  I'd also like to get into more freelance editing and proofreading.  My last hope is to get back to walking and get back in shape, or at least on the road!

My buddy is my writing buddy that I lost earlier this year because she didn't like the way I reviewed her book.  :-(  The sad thing is that every time I reviewed one, I shared the link directly to it, and she didn't even bother to read those reviews until someone else pointed them out. 

My blog/channel/social media include this site, as well as my Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 

The best ... well this is a hard one, the best what?  Um, I don't know.  I'm going to skip this one. 

Hope you decide to join in if you're not attending BEA, if you are attending, and you can grab an ARC of Maggie Stiefvater's upcoming book, please send it to me.  :-)

Stacking the Shelves - July 21st, 2013

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.  It is a way for us to share the new books we have collected. This week I hit the jackpot on Edelweiss and Netgalley, but only got one physical book.  Let's start with the huge haul I got from Edelweiss:

E-galleys from Edelweiss:

First is Uninvited by Sophie Jordan, the first in a new series that is described as The Scarlet Letter meets The Minority Report.  Sounds intriguing!  Next is House of Ivy and Sorrow by Natalie Whipple.  Haven't read anything by this author before, but it sounds interesting!  Now the 3rd book I was so excited when I found it, In the Age of Love and Chocolate by Gabrielle Zevin.  I love, love, LOVE this series so far.  So much that, since my first two books were ARCs, I emailed the publisher and asked if I could get an ARC for the 3rd and final book so that I would have a matching set.  Unfortunately the publisher emailed me back and said they wouldn't be making physical ARCs.  So, I was extremely pleased to see it available as an e-galley, although I will have to go out and buy a copy when it is published, because I do love the series, here are links to my reviews of book 1 and book 2.  The next book you see is Resistance by Jenna Black, which is the sequel to Replica.  As I know I've mentioned before.  I always hate when I've read the first book in a series early as either an e-galley or an ARC, but then have to wait for the next book to actually be published. Because there are so many new books I get as e-galleys that expire, I often then end up not getting around to the 2nd and 3rd books until I make myself go buy them, which isn't often that I have the money to do that. So, as a librarian, I've had to remind myself, that I can check them out, I don't have to own them all.  And the last book I got from Edelweiss this week is Expiration Day by William Campbell Powell.  This is a bit of a dystopian/futuristic science fiction story.  

E-galleys from Netgalley:

The first book, The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater, is the sequel to The Dream Thieves.  This is the book that made me soooooo sad I wasn't able to make it to BEA this past summer.  I entered so many giveaways for this book from people who did get to go, but sadly didn't win.  So, I was so excited to see this available.  Of course, like the one I mentioned above, I will have to buy a copy of this once it is published as well.  The 2nd book here is All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill, which I've been seeing a ton about it on other blogs.  In fact, when I first requested it, I actually requested the Australian version I think, so I was denied, but only because it was for people in Australia.  I did some more searching on Netgalley and found the American version and again requested, this time getting approved.

Actual physical book:

This is a book I was lucky enough to win from this summer's Armchair BEA.  Can't wait to read R.L. Stine's re-imagining of a Shakespeare classic.  

Not too bad of  a haul.  Can't wait to dig into these book!  How about you? What books did you add to your shelves this week?

Armchair BEA Day 5: Genre: Children's Literature

So up until now I've only been following others posts on Armchair BEA, which is kind of a virtual convention for those of us who really wish we could be there but are unable to attend for whatever reason. After winning a prize through the Twitter party yesterday, I decided to get more involved.  So today's topic is about children's literature, which I find an appropriate topic considering my blog tends to be mostly YA.
I'm a 40 year old teacher, so why am I almost exclusively reading and reviewing YA?  I like to think back and figure out how did I get started on this.  I mean about 4 or 5 years ago, I occasionally read YA, but was still mostly reading adult authors like Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and lots of what I call Chick Lit.  But then, I started getting involved in my state library association, partly trying to help get myself a library job, and partly to be involved with my students were reading.  And I discovered just how great YA books truly are these days!  I've even gone back to some of my favorite authors, Dean Koontz to be specific, and had trouble getting through the book.  I think maybe what is so great about YA is that the stories usually move pretty fast.  And when you're really busy, it is nice to not always have to read through tons of character background and development, sometimes when it all seems a bit too much or unnecessary for the story.

Okay, let me share a list of my favorite YA books:

1.  Twilight
2.  Harry Potter
3.  Divergent
4.  Rot & Ruin
5.  Hunger Games
6.  The Lightning Thief

As a kid, some of my favorite books/series included:

1.  The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe
2.  A Wrinkle in Time
3.  Nancy Drew
4.  The Giver
5.  The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

What about you?  Are you a YA book fan?  I assume many or most of my followers are, as that is mostly what I post about.  But do you, like I do, also read adult fiction?  And how would you compare them?