Sunday, January 20, 2013

Things of Awesome: January Edition

Back in December I put together a little fun-book-related-things post and promised I would try and turn it into a monthly feature if my inherent laziness didn't kick in and prevent me from doing so. Surprisingly enough, I've managed to put together this mini feature for the second month in a row! *self high five*

I've made a slight alteration to the format though. From here on out I'm going to list 4 bookish Things of Awesome and then share a book-related conversation between me and my husband. I did a post a few weeks ago about the differences between the romance of my reality and that of fiction, and many of you expressed an interest in reading more of the strange conversations I force Kevin to have with me, so I figured we'll see after this if it's still something of interest to you. Enjoy!

1. HARPERTEEN'S DARK DAYS TWITTER CHAT


HarperTeen is the publisher behind some of my most anticipated reads of 2013, and they're starting out the year in rather epic style with their Dark Days Tour.  You can find all the information about the tour stops and the participating authors on their website, and I'm crazy jealous of all of you lucky people who get to attend the various signings. Unfortunately, neither of the first two legs of the tour is coming even remotely close to me *sobs* but I've got my fingers crossed that they stop in Ohio at some point!

Though I won't be able to attend any of the actual signings, there is going to be a Twitter chat with Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, Tahereh Mafi and Veronica Rossi on January 30th at 8:15pm EST, and I will be there with a big dorky grin on my face. Luckily, given it's Twitter, no one will be able to see it. I hope lots of you will join me in following @PitchDarkBooks!

2. THROUGH THE EVER NIGHT TRAILER

I absolutely adored Under the Never Sky and cannot wait to finally get a copy of Through the Ever Night. I've been reading tons of reviews for it and they're all glowing, so I have absurdly high hopes that my love for this series will only grow with the sequel. Check out the trailer:



3. SPIRIT ANIMALS

In September of 2013, Scholastic is going to be publishing a new multi-platform, multi-author fantasy adventure series. What does that mean you ask? Well, I'll let the fabulous people at Scholastic tell you:

Spirit Animals centers around the fantasy world of Erdas where children who come of age go through a ritual to determine if they have a “spirit animal,” a rare bond between human and beast that bestows great powers to both. In this breakthrough series, four children from different cultures undergo an annual ritual and discover that they have been chosen for a greater destiny. Each book in the series will unlock expanded gameplay on the immersive Spirit Animals online game site. The role-playing online game—available through any web browser—will allow kids to customize their own unique heroes, choose their spirit animals, and go on quests to help save the world of Erdas.

“With Scholastic’s latest entry into multi-platform, readers are transported into a whole new fantasy realm with
Spirit Animals,” said Ellie Berger, President, Scholastic Trade. “Spirit Animals has a compelling premise, a relatable cast of multi-cultural characters, magnificent animals, and a vibrant online game—this is 21st century storytelling at its best. We cannot be more excited about introducing this epic series to kids everywhere.”

The first book will be written by New York Times bestselling author Brandon Mull (releases September 10th), and the second book will be written by none other than Maggie Stiefvater (releases January 2014).

4. BOOK EXPO AMERICA


BEA Registration is now open! YAY! Anyone that registered last year will know that it was a bit of a debacle with things being unclear as to what type of badge bloggers were supposed to register for and what fees were associated with our badge. Fail. This year, the organizers of the BEA Bloggers Conference (formerly the Book Blogger Convention) have written a post outlining how registration this year has changed. Very helpful. The only problem at the moment (at least for me when I tried) is the registration for the BEA Bloggers Conference (which also includes the 3-day BEA pass) is not currently open, so when you try to go through the registration process, you get held up on the second page. I'm sure that will be remedied soon, unless I'm the only one having that problem in which case I'll need to call them. *sigh*

If you're not registering for the blogger conference though, you should be able to breeze through registration just fine. I'm so looking forward to seeing a lot of you there!

5. ROMANCE IN REALITY

A bookish conversation with my husband:

Me: Question.

Kevin: Yeah?

Me: How come you never say anything exceedingly romantic to me?

Kevin: Like what?

Me: “If I were to live a thousand years, I would belong to you for all of them. If we were to live a thousand lives, I would want to make you mine in each one.” (The Evolution of Mara Dyer)

Kevin: Guys don't talk like that.

Me: I feel like some do.

Kevin: No.

Me: So what you're saying is I shouldn't expect any such heartfelt and swoon-worthy statements from you?

Kevin: Let me ask you this–

Me: Does your question answer my question?

Kevin: In a roundabout sort of way.

Me: Okay.

Kevin: Has the guy who said that ever walked into the bathroom he shares with the girl to whom he said it, climbed in the shower, and proceeded to snake the drain because it was clogged and both guy and girl were standing ankle deep in water whenever they showered?

Me: I'm not sure how this is at all relevant. But no, I don't believe so. Not many romance heroes take the time to snake a shower drain. At least on page.

Kevin: I feel like the above action proves I'm a hero in my own right.

Me: How so?

Kevin: Because, when I snaked said drain and then proceeded to pull out a two-foot long wad of smelly, disgusting hair, I heroically managed to refrain from vomiting.

Me: I'm not sure I'm entirely clear on the point you're trying to make here.

Kevin: I have many points, all brilliant. One, if this guy–

Me: His name is Noah.

Kevin. Right. Well, my point is that if Noah had to actually snake the shower drain of this girl he wants for a thousand lifetimes and was subjected to the misery that is pulling out monstrous clumps of wet hair like I do for you in our current lifetime, he might revise his statement. Some of the romance and mystery leaves a marriage when faced with massive shower drain hairballs. My second point is that I am a man of action, not words.

Me: You are a man of action.

Kevin: Yes.

Me: And?

Kevin: And therefore you know how I feel based on what I do, not what I say.

Me: So you're saying your lifetime-spanning love for me is expressed through an act of plumbing?

Kevin: For the sake of this argument, yes.

Me: It's possible you've made a good point. Though I feel it necessary to mention that if Noah did snake Mara's drain–

Kevin: *snorts*

Me: A little maturity please, Kevin. Honestly.

Kevin: You're one to talk.

Me: Anyway, if Noah was to snake Mara's drain in lieu of a romantic declaration, I don't think he would make Chewbacca noises while he did it.

Kevin: That just goes to show you he is clearly the lesser man. The noises were appropriate based on what I pulled out of that drain.

Me: Fine. You win this one.

Kevin: I fall in love with you a little bit more every time you admit defeat.

Me: If that's the best you can do, I guess I'll take it.

46 comments:

  1. You had me at "If Noah did snake Mara's drain...", Jenny! Lolololol!

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    1. Hehe. My mind goes in the gutter even when I don't mean it to:)

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  2. AWWWWWWWWWWWW JENNNYYYYY! I LOVE these conversations you have with your husband<3 They never fail to make me laugh out loud :) I love how Noah and Mara made an appearance :) I only recently finished reading Evolution and I seriously died a little when I read that quote<3 Can't wait for the Feb edition Jenny!<3

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    1. I died a little when Noah said that too. *swoon* Apparently I will never hear such things from Kevin. But my shower drain will be sparkling:)

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  3. Aww I love these conversations between your husband and yourself that you share with us! I really thought that you had outwitted him with that line, but your husband had a great comeback! I'm rooting for you totally next time Jenny! Also I'm so insanely jealous you're going to BEA again this year! I hope the website gets sorted soon so that you can register! :)

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    1. I always try to outwit him, but he's clever and sometimes he bests me. Only sometimes though ;-)

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  4. BHAHAHAHAHAHHAHHHAHAHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. I'm probably a lunatic, because I laughed so hard at this convo that my Dad had to stand up and go grab a beer for himself after giving me a look that looked like this: O_o

    It's 2 pm here and I'm pretty sure this was the sweet of my day. Don't take it personally, but I love your husband, haha. This was as much fun as Cassie Clare and her husband's bantering.

    Oh and I feel for you that you can't go to the signings right now. I never get to go and that's probably one of the reasons I wish I was living in US/Can. Hmhh.. But I hope you get to go soon and then you can blog about it and I can live that experience through you. OK, I gotta run, hope you're having a f-a-b-u-l-o-u-s sunday and a big smile on your face :) *hugs*

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    1. He's hard not to love. He's a bit of a lovable sarcastic a-hole:) I'm hoping the Dark Days tour might come to Ohio during legs 3 and 4 and then maybe I'll have a chance to go. *fingers crossed*

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  5. LOL I love these conversations with you and Kevin! More, please. ;) And I'm so excited to hear Maggie Stiefvater will be writing a book for this new Scholastic series. It's an interesting approach! I hope it will work out. :)

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    1. YES! I'm a complete Maggie Stiefvater fangirl. I can't wait for her addition to this series:)

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  6. Your man is definitely a realist. A man of action. LOL.

    Not sure if I'm going to BEA this year -- I hope so but we're still in school & I think that's exam week...but maybe! It'd be great to see you again, if I get to go.

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    1. Hahaha yeah. No grand romantic declarations from him ;-)

      PLEASE COME TO BEA!

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  7. Haha! That conversation just had me laughing out loud! Great post! :)

    xx
    Meredith

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  8. LOL! I just love your conversations with your husband, Jenny! ;) Also, thanks for putting the chat with Veronica Rossi on my radar - I can't wait! :D I love the idea of spirit animals, but it sounds a little like the world in The Golden Compass, which is really cool! Thanks for sharing, Jenny!

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    1. SO excited for the Twitter chat! It's going to be awesome:)

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  9. Awesome news! And LOL Jenny! My husband is the same way. Every time I ask him something about being romantic he gives me some sarcastic answer.

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    1. Seems to be a guy thing. Apparently they don't talk like fictional romance heroes. Who knew?

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  10. Not usually a fan of book trailers, but I quite like the one for TTEN! ^^ Aww Jenny, the convo between you and your hubby = awesome!

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    1. I loved it too, I can't wait to read more Perry and Aria!

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  11. Jenny, THANK YOU for including the conversation with your husband. His man of action comment is such a GUY thing to say. (I can totally see my boyfriend saying something similar.)

    Thanks for the heads up about the Twitter chat... I definitely want to check that out. :)

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    1. You. Are. Welcome. He's not super thrilled I post our conversations online, but he's being a good sport about it:)

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  12. Your conversation with Kevin had me busting up again, Jenny!! This is so true of real life vs. fiction. The lines said by Noah in Mara Dyer are written by a woman, and that is usually typical. Normal guys do not talk like that. And unfortunately, yes, everyday life make some of those romantic declarations difficult at times. Btw, my husband has had to unclog the drain for me, too. I say: "you like my hair long so please don't complain too much," lol! (He doesn't complain. :) )

    I don't want to make you jealous, but I'll be going to Dark Days out here on Feb 4th!! Squeeee!! But you get to go to the BEA, so I think things sort of even out.

    I'll let you know when I get Iced. It's in the mail on it's way to me. :)

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    1. Kevin likes my hair long too, so he just has to take the bad with the good right? Right.

      Also, I hate you a little bit right now that you get to go to the Dark Days Tour. You're great about taking pictures and doing recap posts though, so I'll live vicariously through you:)

      YAY ICED!!!

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  13. OMG! Haha! Jenny! :) The conversation with your husband was hilarious! You totally just made my day! Tell me, do you guys always have similar conversations? Because that would be pretty awesome! ;)

    You're going to BEA! That is very exciting news! :) I hope you'll keep us updated on the whole event! :)

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  14. OMG... your conversation with your husband had me in actual tears, to the point where mine walked in and asked me what was the matter and I couldn't even answer. It totally made my day... probably because something similar may have happened in my house recently *blushes*(except of course without the hilarious dialogue and the Mara Dyer reference... I'm going to have to try that next time, lol).

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  15. OMG...I love you! LOL I'm trying to hard not to laugh to loud and wake hubby!

    PS. I am having the same issue with BEA registration. Guess we just have to sit tight until BEA Bloggers registration is open. And we totally need to hang out there:)

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  16. I totally just shared this with my husband. Too, too funny! (especially the Chewbacca noises, lol!)

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  17. OMG! ROTFLMAO! This is so good. And what is so funny is I've never read this series and downloaded Book 1 sample last night and read it. Thinking about buying it. I even texted a friend this morning to ask if she had read it.

    Actually Kevin Rules! LOL!

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  18. That conversation with your husband had me laughing out loud! I was seriously in stitches! Chewbacca noises, haha! It was also so cute :')

    And congrats on going to BEA this year! Hope you have a lovely time (you obviously will, it's about books for goodness sake!) Haha! :D

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  19. You are hilarious, as always!

    Oh! And I'm right near Decatur - my favorite bookstore, Little Shop of Stories, is one of the stops for the Dark Days tour. Jealous??? :3

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  20. Hahaha, Jenny, I live alone and have no one to snake my shower drain, so trust me when I say that's an act of love, my friend. Even with the Chewbacca noises. You and your husband are hilarious, btw.
    And I'm thrilled and a bit jealous that you're going to BEA. Have fun for us poor souls who are forced to stay home.

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  21. The conversation you had with your husband just made me laugh out loud. You guys are hysterical...love it!

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  22. Oh, Jenny, I love reading about your conversations with your husband! You should definitely post more of them.

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  23. Loved the conversation! I have the same problem about my hair, so I guess no romantic plumbing for me, though ;D.

    Thanks for letting me know about the Dark Days tour dates! Didn't realize they were going to visit southern California. I might go to one of those signings then!

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  24. Absolutely the FUNNIEST post I've read in a long time!! Tears are rolling down my cheeks while I'm snorting with laughter. Keep the conversations coming - they're just awesome!

    Can't wait to go to BEA!!!!!

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  25. I am in the same boat with most of the other commenters. I just wiped away all the tears from laughing so hard. That conversation was hilarious! Thanks for sharing it!

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  26. OMG. After that conversation I forgot everything you said previously! HILARIOUS! Thank you for the laughs!
    Yeah if they'll snake a drain they're a keeper. ;)
    Today my hubby cut our 3 year olds hair and gave him a mowhawk. Pretty sure I love him even more now. And my son is cute enough to eat. So adorable!

    I'm not going to BEA (pry need to wait for kids to grow up a bit) but I am going to ALA midwinter at the end of this week! Woo hoo! Dark days is also coming here, so I hope to make it. Also got Through the Ever Night yesterday. Yay!

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  27. bahahaha, snake Mara's drain... it's true, unclogging hair out of shower drains is a pretty disgusting and perilous task - so good on your husband, haha!

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  28. I think if you have children, they will laugh every day and will be the funniest kids in the school! I was shaking the bed I was laughing so hard. I know my husband wishes I would stop! After you're married almost 20 yrs, you get to snake you own drains. Yucko!

    Heather

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  29. LMAO! I absolutely love the conversations between you and Kevin (Noah). He'll clean your pipes any day. *snickers like a YA heroine*

    And a high five to you for two months in a row!

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  30. Oh, I can't stop laughing. Love it!! I wonder what would happen if I tried something like that with my hubby! I would probably get something like yours.LOL

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  31. BEA!!!!! I can't wait to go again this year! I will definitely be on the look out for you. :D

    You husband sounds absolutely awesome.

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  32. You and your husband make the best posts, Jenny! "I feel like some do," AND, "His name is Noah" = LOVE.
    I was so disappointed about Ohio not making either of the first two legs either (last year was so fun). However, let's hope they come back to Dayton (or even Cincy) at some point. I'd love to run into you again! If not, I'll see you at BEA.
    Looking forward to February's post :)

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  33. Omg, you and your husband are completely adorable!! This totally cracked me up! Especially "if Noah did snake Mara's drain..." (yes I am completely immature too :D)

    PLEASE do more of these soon. You guys are hilarious!! :-)

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