Sometimes I Do Cool Bookish Things

Before I came to London, I didn't really do any cool, bookish/blogger things (except for meeting Alexa). Granted, before London I'd only been blogging for a month and I didn't really know where or when signings were happening. But THANKFULLY, Faye and Daphne adopted me basically the minute I got here and dragged me to all kinds of events, where I've met SEVERAL lovely bloggers who I'm gonna miss BIG TIME when I leave (Caroline and Michelle, I'm looking at you two IN PARTICULAR). But more on that when I do my "I'm leaving London WHAAAT?" post in a week or so. For now, I just want to talk about all the events these four lovely ladies have alerted me to and/or got me invited to!

1. Laura Lam Signing

I've already blogged about my first every signing. So I won't recap.

But I will leave this here as a reminder

2. Geek Girl Launch Party

I was the lovely Daphne's plus one to the Geek Girl launch party where I got a little swag bag and a copy of the book. 

I set the glasses on the book. You can see the shadow, right?

Can I please just tell you all that Holly Smale is absolutely adorable and totally Geektastic? Not to mention following her on Twitter is INCREDIBLY entertaining. And she makes excellent fashion choices. Because she was a model? Because she's brilliant? Because she schools all the bullies? I DON'T KNOW, but it works (yes we creep on your outfits. LOVE US FOR IT).

Daphne, Michelle, Luna, Faye and Me <3 <3

Caroline is missing from this picture. I think she took it. ALL OF THE SADNESS that I don't seem to have a picture with said lady because she is phenomtown. So lovely, so sweet. She, plus the lovelies pictured above, make me SO SAD I ever have to leave London.

And now, please note how pixie-like and adorable Holly Smale is:

We played ping pong (aka TABLE TENNIS) with hipster visors. Daphne and I had a little wine. Faye and Michelle didn't. And yet, somehow, we were fairly evenly matched. I don't know what this says about ANY of us. But yeah. I had so much fun. THANKS FOR ALL THE FUN GUYS.

Oh, and THANKS TIMES A MILLION BAJILLION to Harper Collins for hosting such a fun event. For for giving me things (including a book). AND for having sweets.

3. Stephanie Meyer/The Host signing 

THEN I went to go meet Stephanie Meyer. It was just a signing and Waterstones had the whole thing set up like a well-oiled machine, but I got to talk to her for like a minute, have my picture taken and, most importantly, she personalized a copy of The Host for me. Now, I'm not a big Stephanie Meyer fan, but I was getting a book signed for Daphne and I wasn't going to stand in a queue and have nothing to show for myself. Besides, afterwards Daphne, Caroline and I got dinner and it was the most fun (obviously).

SO MANY PEOPLE.

4. Random House Bloggers Brunch

For my fourth and final London event, Faye snagged me an invite to the Random House Blogger Bunch. First of all, Random House is SO COOL because they have cardboard cutouts of the different Doctors in their lobby. I ALMOST took a picture with the David Tennant cutout but I decided that would be TOO MUCH even for me. 

Then Random House had to go and be COOLER by feeding us and letting us know about some titles they've got coming up. But what makes RH the COOLEST is that they brought in two authors to speak to us: Jonathan Stroud and Amy McCulloch.

Jonathan Stroud presented his new book, Lockwood & Co. and OH MY GOD YOU GUYS I WANT THAT BOOK RIGHT NOW. September you are TOO FAR AWAY. It's a series about ghosts and teenage ghost hunters. I want it. And not just because Jonathan Stroud brought in a ghost hunter kit, iron chain included, for show and tell (guys, when an author's that clever and quirky you HAVE to read their books).

Amy McCulloch is a debut author (ooooh). She wrote a fantasy novel called The Oathbreaker's Shadow (aaaaaah). Her fantasy world is based on Mongolia (woahhhh) and it sounds amazing (yaaaaay). It's a duology, which has me ALL HAPPY because, as much as I love MOAR BOOKS, I need some shorter series in my life to keep me sane (don't worry, Jonathan Stroud, I will still read all 4ish books in your Lockwood & Co. series. Because it sounds amazing). 

And then there's this: 

I don't know what it is. They wouldn't tell me. But they said I could share it on my blog. AND SO I AM. Get excited for a heart explosion? A grenade of love? I don't know. Help me out here, guys?

Random House also gave out some swag - A copy of Where The Wild Things Are, the first chapter of Lockwood & Co., a finished copy of The Last Minute by Eleanor Updale, an ARC of The Oathbreaker's Shadow, and ARC of Acid by Emma Pass, some postcards and other bits and bobs. Here's a picture of all of it: 

I was pretty much over the moon about all of this since this was my FIRST EVER BLOGGER BRUNCH. And my first ever ARCs I got from a publisher and not as a gift from someone else. Granted, I got to the event itself because of Faye, so maybe not quite so impressive, but I'm feeling fairly pleased. And grateful. Don't forget the grateful. 

What events have you guys been to recently? Haven't been to anything in the last few weeks? Tell me about the best event you've ever been to instead! I want to hear all about it.

Stacking the Shelves (10)

"Stacking the Shelves" is a weekly feature hosted by Tynga's Reviews

Twas a busy buying week for me, so let's get down to it.

BORROWED

1. Summer and the City by Candace Bushnell

I'm ALMOST done with The Carrie Diaries so I clearly need this one at the ready.

BOUGHT

             

        

 2. The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
Bought in e-book form because it sounds awesome. And it was on sale.

3. 52 Reasons to Hate My Father by Jessica Brody
This one also sounds great. And was also on sale in e-book form. Holla!

4. The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
I've been meaning to pick up this one FOREVER and so, yet another GREAT e-book sale convinced me it would be a VERY GOOD IDEA to snag it immediately.

5. Whatever After by Sarah Mlynowski
This week's stacking the shelves is brought to you by e-book sales on Amazon. HURRAY.

6. Splintered by A.G. Howard
Okay, this is also an e-book but it WASN'T on sale. I bought it because Hobbitsies is hosting the Debut Author Challenge and there's a Goodreads Book Club for it. Since I offered to help run said book club, I figured I should actually read the book. And so I bought it.

7. Everneath by Brodi Ashton
ANOTHER e-book sale for an awesome sounding book.

8. Touched by Corrine Jackson
As much as I LOVE actual books, all these crazy awesome e-book sales are REALLY DOING IT FOR ME.

9. Mister Monday by Garth Nix
E-book sale plus Garth Nix. WHAT IS MY LIFE? HOW DID IT GET SO AWESOME?

10. The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd
I bought the hardcopy of this book with the coupon I got from BN last week. Hurray 15% off!

11. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
British book purchase #2. It was the only copy in the store. My hands got all grabby. IT WAS AMAZING.

12. Pantomime by Laura Lam
I went to the signing Thursday night and blogged about it in my Friday Coffee Clutch (discussion) post. It was SO MUCH FUN. Especially since I got to go with some lovely blogging friends.

13. Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger
If there was ONE new release I had to buy while in London, It was absolutely, without question, THIS ONE. It's so pretty and I'm so excited and YES YA STEAMPUNK FROM GAIL CARRIGER. *sigh*

Them be the books, BUT WAIT. THERE'S MORE. I've decided to add a new section to this post. *Drumroll please...*

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

On Sunday I reviewed My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick.

Monday marked the start of The Carrie Diaries Read-Along I'm doing with Harley Bear Book Blog. You guys wanna check that out. There's a GIVEAWAY involved.

I listed my Top Ten Best Bookish Memories on Tuesday. I really enjoyed making that list. Everything on it holds a special place in my heart, but I think #10's my favorite!

Just Like Fate by Cat Patrick and Suzanne Young was my Waiting on Wednesday pick is past week. Absolutely CANNOT wait until August for this one!

On Thursday I reviewed Sever by Lauren DeStefano. The trilogy might be over, but there's a new series on the horizon and I can't wait to get my grabby hands on it.

Friday I told you all about my VERY FIRST AUTHOR SIGNING and how awkward these kinds of things make me feel. I still feel pretty awkward, so if you do too, please come discuss with me, okay?

I would say my week went pretty well. How did yours go? Let me know in the comments below!

I'm Super Awkward, What Else is New?

Fact: I don't like coffee. I just like saying Coffee Clutch in my best and deepest New York accent. Considering I'm a New Yorker, I'm pretty freaking good at it. So I've got my tea and I hope you have your heated beverage of choice, because it's time to gab the day away.

So the topic for this week is Author Signings/Events/Lauches.

I'd like to make it VERY CLEAR to everyone that I went to MY VERY FIRST author signing yesterday with Faye from A Day Dreamer's Thoughts and Daphne from Winged Reviews. The event was glorious for MANY REASONS (Now's when I make a list):

1. I GOT TO MEET FAYE AND DAPHNE. And since meeting bloggers/making blogger friends is basically my favorite blogging thing, I'd say meeting these girls made me amazingly happy.
2. I got to meet a really cool debut author. Her name is Laura Lam and her book is called Pantomime (which sounds really cool, BTW, so CHECK IT OUT). It was her first signing and my first signing and obviously this is a bigger deal to her than it is to me, but STILL SO COOL.
3. The event itself was held in this super nerdy store called Forbidden Planet. I would like to live there, please.

Anyway, here's what went down:

I met Faye at Forbidden Planet at 6pm. We've never met before, so when I finally found her, Faye was in the process of asking someone who was definitely NOT me if they were me. It was very entertaining and I would have it no other way. Daphne met up with us soon after and, after browsing some of the nerdy stuff in the store (Notably: Game of Thrones, Doctor Who and Pokemon), we went down stairs to the signing. When we got there, Laura Lam had JUST started reading from her book. We were all gathered in this tiny little area in the basement of the store. The whole thing was very intimate and cute and lovely. Not to mention the book sounded totally magical based on the excerpt Laura read.

Once the reading was over, there was a question (Actually. Just one.) and then we all grabbed books and got online to get them signed. Faye had her own copy and Daphne had an ARC, but in the end Daphne ended up buying a copy (to giveaway on her blog maybe? LOOK FOR THAT!) and we got all 4 books signed.

I was a little nervous, so I went last, but Laura was really sweet. We chatted a little and then she even asked me how I spell my name, which is when I knew I really liked her because how awful would it be if the first book I ever got signed had my name spelled wrong? Gaby's a REALLY easy name to get wrong and people misspelling it is actually one of my pet peeves so THANKS FOR BEING AWESOME LAURA LAM.

And then Daphne took a picture of me and Laura. CHECK IT:

Yes I'm kind of awkwardly hiding behind Laura. THAT'S FINE.

After that, we met up with Faye's friend and then all four of us had a delightfully bookish dinner. A couple of hours later, we all said our farewells, got on our respective Tubes and made our ways home (aka the worst part of the night. LET'S ALL BE BOOKISH TOGETHER FOREVER OKAY GUYS?).

So. Besides for recapping my Thursday night (it was pretty great, guys, really), I do have another thing I want to discuss and that is: Awkwardness when meeting authors.

The truth is that this awkwardness doesn't just exist when meeting authors. It's kind of a celebrity thing. I mean, I'm totally awesome when I meet PEOPLE. As in, I really LIKE talking to people and making new friends and setting up regular lunch dates. Ask Faye and Daphne. I will insert myself in your life if you let me. But when I have to stand in line to have someone who's awesome and famous sign something as we exchange a couple of words, all of the social skills I take for granted most of the time just disappear. I NEVER know what to say and it feels so awkward. It's like, "Hey, I've just met you, and this is crazy, but please sign this book you wrote so I can I fawn over it forever. And personalize it, maybe?" Then you walk away and maybe they remember you and maybe you continue to Twitter-stalk/interact with them, but it's not like you're making lunch plans (or maybe you are. In which case, TEACH ME YOUR WAYS). 

I don't know. I just like meeting people and making friends and it makes me sad when I have like 3 minutes max to say anything to a person, whether it's something meaningful or just "WHOA YOUR BOOK SOUNDS/IS AWESOME" (AKA the pinnacle of fangirling). Ultimately, I just don't love being awkward if I can help it. Sure, it's entertaining when it happens every now and again, but I definitely don't want it to be a defining part of my bookish future. I want to go to signings and feel awesome and giggly, not stalker-ish and giggly. But I guess my example from above isn't such a great one. Pantomime was only kind of been on my radar before Faye told me about the signing, so I wasn't nerding out TOO hard, but what if it had been Tamora Pierce or Gayle Forman or John Green or Sarah Dessen? The flailing would have been so out of control I'm not even sure I would be coherent enough to spell my name if asked and that would be a MAJOR BOOKISH DISASTER.

And now, fellow bloggers, I turn to you. HOW do you keep your cool when you meet your favorite authors? What do you say? What do they say? HOW DO YOU PREPARE YOURSELF? PLEASE share your stories in the comments below so I might be a better author event attendee in the future!

**Please note: I'm aware that these authors, no matter how many book signings they do, are likely similarly awkward and flaily. As such, I send them all of my love and support through the Interwebz, because to go on tour and continuously feel like this must be EXHAUSTING.**