Armchair BEA: Wrap Up

Design credit: Sarah of Puss Reboots

Well, another Armchair BEA has come and gone. I find that I'm a little frustrated with myself for my performance in this week's event because I did a lot of posts last minute and didn't even write posts for every discussion (which is because I was doing everything last minute...there are only so many minutes!) Last year I had everything all planned out the weekend before and that left my evenings free to hop around and "meet" new bloggers and comment on other people's posts. That didn't happen this year. I had great intentions, really, I did. Part of the problem with this week is that it falls on the same week as my birthday. Throw in some birthday celebrations the weekend before the event started and being busy the night of my birthday and that really cuts into blogging time. Excuses? Maybe. I like to think that I balanced everything well but the fact that I'm feeling badly about not venturing to many other blogs shows that I wish I had done more.

I was lucky enough to be a winner twice this week from the wonderful crew behind Armchair BEA. I must say that it took me awhile to figure out what I wanted to win and it wasn't really because of volume (though there were a ton of prizes). No, my issue was having to weed out all of the US only prizes. Then I had to weed out all of the YA titles. Then I was left with some options. I admit, it wasn't as bad as it could be but it's still a constant frustration for myself and my fellow Canadian bloggers. I get it when it's an individual blogger making those decisions but when publishers can't send things over the border I get a little annoyed. I also won a prize from one of the giveaways on day...er...whatever day the prize day was (four?) but I have a feeling I may not actually be able to claim it. I always make sure the contest is open internationally before entering because I don't want to annoy anyone by being one of those people who can't read the rules. Checked this one giveaway, liked it, didn't see any rules on location, entered, won, and then received an email asking for my US address. Um. This is a problem. I even double checked the post to make sure I didn't miss it. I haven't heard back from the blogger yet but I'm hoping something can be worked out. *rereads paragraph* Well, that was a bit ranty, wasn't it? Sorry! I just think it's important for people to realize that there are lots of bloggers up here in Canada who can feel alienated sometimes. Just my two cents!

As much fun as I had with this event, it was bittersweet for me this year. I had said last year that if I was still living in the same city I would go to BEA (while I do live in Canada, I'm only about 40 minutes away from the Buffalo airport...it would take me almost twice as long to drive to Toronto). I'm really not that far from NYC. However, I decided to become an intern this year which means no money for fun things, like a super awesome book conference. Oh well. Next year!

I'm hoping I'll be able to find some time over the next couple of nights to visit some other blogs and see what they have to say about things - particularly on keeping things fresh and on blogger development. I have found a couple of new bloggers to follow, which is nice. There's one in particular, Melissa at Confessions of an Avid Reader, that I'm happy to have met because she's also Canadian and a Toronto Blue Jays fan, woot! Hopefully I'll find some new online blogging friends when I visit other blogs.

Overall, this was another successful Armchair BEA even if it wasn't quite as successful as I'd hoped. Life has been good but nutty over the past week so I have to be OK with how I did. Thank you to those of you who stopped by over the week. I appreciate and enjoy all of the comments.

Until next year!

Armchair BEA: Keeping it Real

Design credit: Sarah of Puss Reboots

Ah, keeping things real and fresh. I think that's something a lot of bloggers struggle with on occasion. Or maybe you have a fabulous idea but just no energy to implement it. I frequently hear about bloggers going through slumps either with their reading or reviewing. Let me set the record straight here...I'm no different.

I go through little funks just like everyone else. Earlier this year I did an internship that required me to do a two hour commute...each way. Since part of this was on a train I got a ton of reading done but I was so exhausted when I got home that I couldn't bring myself to turn on my computer and write. I was also doing an online course that cut into my free time too. I'm still trying to figure out how to get myself back into the swing of things but I'm getting there. I just started a new feature to help me read the books that have been sitting on my shelf for over a year. It's called Taking it off...the shelf and the book I read last month had been on my bookshelf for almost four years (and if you're interested you can read the review here.) I've also started doing little bookshelf "tours" because I love inspecting other people's bookshelves and I figure others do too. (My first photo tour can be found here.) I really like the idea of writing things other than reviews but I'm so behind on reviews that I need to get ahead so I can get to some other things. This week has been great for reminding me that I like writing about the book world as much as reviewing the actual books.

I've been watching what other bloggers have been doing and have been trying to get inspired by some of their stuff (and by inspired I mean I like the idea, I mention it came from them, and put my own spin on it...not plagiarising...which was probably discussed earlier this week in the ethics discussion that I didn't end up writing about!) Jamie at The Perpetual Page-Turner has been doing a lot of great stuff lately and it's been a lot of fun to read.

This probably isn't too helpful for other blogger's looking to pick up some tips but it shows you how I'm feeling about blogging at the moment and some thoughts I have to keep things interesting and fun for me. It's all about finding what works and what makes you happy. The minute it stops being fun is when you need to rethink what you're doing. Let me know if you have any fun tips or tricks. I'm open for suggestions! As for right now, I have a bunch of other reviews to go write so I can enjoy the rest of my Saturday! :)

Armchair BEA: Non-Fiction

Design credit: Sarah of Puss Reboots

When I’m looking for a book to read I don’t normally reach for non-fiction. In fact, I could probably count on one hand the number of non-fiction books I’ve read in the last couple of years. OK, I just created a non-fiction shelf for Goodreads and it appears I have read eight non-fiction books in the past two years. Because there are so few titles I thought I’d list them for you! (Links lead to my reviews.)

Under the Tuscan Sun – Frances Mayes

Bitter is the New Black – Jen Lancaster

The Book of Awesome – Neil Pasricha

The Tall Book: A Celebration of Life from on High – Arianne Cohen

All Roads Lead to Austen: A Yearlong Journey with Jane – Amy Elizabeth Smith

Happier at Home: Kiss More, Jump More, Abandon a Project,Read Samuel Johnson, and My Other Experiments in the Practice of Everyday Life – Gretchen Rubin

Mick Jagger – Philip Norman

The End of Your Life Book Club – Will Schwalbe

They’re all pretty similar, right? Some travel, memoirs, biographies with a couple research type books thrown in there too. Obviously I don’t really stray from what I like when it comes to non-fiction. Which, I suppose I sort of knew when it comes to wandering bookstores. I’ll always look in the same few sections.

One of the reasons I don’t read a lot of non-fiction is because I’m really slow at reading them. This is odd and frustrating because I’m such a fast fiction reader. About half of the above books took me forever to read, even though I liked the majority of them. The ones that I gobbled up were The Tall Book, Happier at Home, and The End of Your Life Book Club. (The Book of Awesome is one of those books that I read a few pages at a time over a few months but it could easily be read in an afternoon.) I loved The Tall Book because it was interesting and relatable to me (I’m 6’ tall!) and was full of interesting stats and research. I love the way Rubin writes and combines her research with personal experience and have thoroughly enjoyed both her Happiness Project books. The End of Your Life Book Club was such a moving story and I highly recommend it to everyone.

What I discovered with Mick Jagger was that I’d rather read memoirs than biographies. It also didn’t help that I didn’t like the way Norman wrote or that Jagger didn’t have anything to do with the book. Sure, memoirs may not be super objective but I didn’t feel like this particular bio was objective either (Norman thought the sun rose and set with Mick, I think).

So those are my thoughts on non-fiction! I know I was very specific in titles but I think it does show what kind of books I like when it comes to non-fiction. What about you? Do you read any non-fiction? What are some of your favourite titles?

Armchair BEA: Literary Fiction

Design credit: Sarah of Puss Reboots

When I’m searching for books to read, I don’t normally turn to literary fiction. The silly thing is that I do enjoy the odd literary novel. I just don’t give enough of them a chance. As I mentioned yesterday, I love chick lit and women’s fiction so those are the books I turn to because I know I’ll enjoy them. I want to focus on one particular part of literary fiction: Canadian fiction. (In case you didn’t know, I live in Ontario.)

Confession: I never used to read much Canadian fiction. Why? In part it’s because I like my chick lit and there aren’t many Canadian chick lit authors out there. Happily, since I’ve started blogging and reading self published works, I’ve come across more chick lit authors (Heather Wardell, Kathleen Kole, and Samantha Stroh Bailey are just a few amazing Canadian chick lit authors).

Another reason is that I had a stereotype in my head that I’m sure is shared by many others: that Canadian fiction is boring. I had kind of bad experiences in English classes in high school and read two really uninteresting Canadian novels (Shhhh…don’t tell anyone but one was a Margaret Atwood novel!)

Now, you’re probably wondering what I’m getting at with this post. I’m here to tell you that I was wrong about Canadian fiction. I will also say that I would not have come to this conclusion had it not been for my current internship. Right now I’m working for a non-profit called ProjectBookmark Canada and this is what they’re all about:

Project Bookmark Canada is a national, charitable organization that places text from stories and poems in the exact, physical locations where literary scenes are set. We’ve established 12 Bookmarks (poster-sized ceramic plaques bearing up to 500 words of text) since 2009, with installations in Ontario, Newfoundland and British Columbia.
Our vision is a network of hundreds of Bookmarks around the country, so that Canadians and visitors can read their way across Canada. Our mandate is to establish a permanent and prominent presence for literature set in Canada—enhancing Canada’s reputation as a nation of storytellers; expanding the readership for fiction and poetry set in Canada; and encouraging residents and visitors to see our literary landscapes, adding to local and national tourism.

Pretty cool, eh? (I figured I may as well play up the whole Canadian thing.) Part of my job right now is to read up on Canadian books – specifically ones set in Calgary, Alberta. I’ve also read two of the books that have already been Bookmarked – one in Ottawa and one in my small hometown. Even though some of them have confused the hell out of me, a lot of them have been really enjoyable. I’m so glad that I’ve gotten the chance to be exposed to so many great Canadian reads and authors through this internship. And, hey, if you’re feeling particularly charitable and think Project Bookmark Canada is a good cause, we’d love donations. (If I can’t use my blog for good, what’s the point? Hehe) I’ll even make things easy…all you have to do is click right HERE to be taken to the donation page. 

Because we all love book recommendations, I’m going to give you a little list of books that I’ve read recently for Bookmark. I realized after I'd posted this that I definitely listed a couple of books than aren't technically literary fiction. Silly me. I've left them in because I think they're good reads!

The Bone Cage – Angie Abdou. Do you love the Olympics and sports? Read this one. It’s about a swimmer and a wrestler who are off to the Sydney Olympic Games. (Amazon.com, Amazon.ca)

Swallow – Theanna Bischoff. Darcy has to deal with the aftereffects of her younger sister’s suicide. It’s not what you’d call a light and fun read but it’s a really good story. (Amazon.com, Amazon.ca)

The Enchantment Emporium – Tanya Huff. This book is for the fantasy fans. Alysha inherits a junk shop from her grandmother but there’s a whole lot more going on than meets the eye. (Amazon.com, Amazon.ca)

The Space Between Us – Jessica Martinez. YA fans, this one’s for you! Amelia is always covering for her younger sister Charley. Those antics go a little too far and the girls are forced to move from sunny Florida to wintery Banff, Alberta. (Amazon.com, Amazon.ca)

The Queen of Unforgetting – Sylvia Maultash Warsh. This is the one that’s set in my hometown and was really great. I had no idea how it was going to end and I loved the little history lessons throughout (the main character is researching a Jesuit priest who tried to convert the natives in the area.) (Amazon.ca)

Of course, I’m also a huge fan of Anne of Green Gables and I’ve loved all of Catherine McKenzie’s novels. I also cannot wait to read The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan and Studio Saint-Ex by Ania Szado – two books that have been on my shelf for far too long.

What are your thoughts on literary fiction? How about Canadian fiction? Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go check on my igloo and pet moose and have some maple syrup :)

Armchair BEA: Genre Fiction

Design credit: Sarah of Puss Reboots

Because of birthday celebrations over the weekend and last night, I'm only just now finding the time to write about the second topic for today - genre fiction. These are the books that the snooty English majors wouldn't be caught dead reading, you know, romance, sci fi, fantasy, horror. All that good stuff. (Please note: I know not all English majors are snooty. I know several and they're lovely people with interesting reading tastes. So please don't hate me.) I don't read any of those genres but I do love one that is constantly being ridiculed: chick lit.

I love chick lit and I'm one who doesn't mind calling it that. True chick lit lovers know there's more to the genre than bubblegum pink covers adorned with shoes and cupcakes. Personally, I'm glad the covers are all so bright and distinctive as it's immensely helpful when sifting through books at a used book sale! (True story. Recently I snapped up a copy of I Heart New York because the pink stood out against the books.) Back to what the books are all about...when I think of chick lit, I think of funny, feisty, and occasionally flighty, heroines. They could be in their twenties or their forties. They could be single or married. They could have kids or they could stress about even looking after a plant. They're your every day woman and could easily be your friend (Let's not get into the whole "likeable" debate right now, k?). A romance is usually present, that's true, but it's not really the main point of the book. There could be a career issue, family drama, or backstabbing best friend. Or all of the above. The story is usually light but that doesn't make it mindless.

I've written about chick lit before, on a few occasions, so I don't really want to repeat myself. A year ago I wrote a post about the genre in honour of International Chick Lit Month, which is just wrapping up. The post, which you can read here, talks about why I read the genre and why I don't make excuses for liking it. A week or so later I wrote about the "queens of chick lit" - the authors who immediately come to mind when talking about this genre. For a recent Top Ten Tuesday post, we listed ten books we turn to when in need of light reading. Seven of the ten authors I chose are chick lit authors.

You can see many authors in the links I listed about but I'll give you a quick list here: Emily Giffin, Sophie Kinsella, Jennifer Weiner, Cecelia Ahern, Carole Matthews, Beth Kendrick, Heather Wardell, and Talli Roland.

What genres do you like to read? Do you ever find yourself defending your choices or judging genre readers?

Armchair BEA: Blogger Development

Design credit: Sarah of Puss Reboots

Today’s post for Armchair BEA is all about blogger development. I like to think I’ve come a long way since I started my blog two and a half years ago. I probably have, but I also know there’s a lot more I could do. Even though I’m not always sure what those other things are!

One thing I know for sure is that I’m always a little jealous of the professional looking blogs out there. One blogger I follow just redesigned her site and brought on a friend to be another reviewer. I adore her new site (you can see Bookish Comforts here) and was blown away when she said they did it themselves. This made me realize it’s time to learn some new skills, brush up on some old ones, and design something myself.  Of course, I just need to find the time to do these things. These sites just look so clean and fresh and I want something like that for myself.

About a year into my blog I because an associate reviewer at Novel Escapes. This has helped me read even more books that I wouldn’t have otherwise and it’s helped me gain a new friend in Lydia, the woman who runs the site. I don’t think I could have asked for a better person to work with because she has been so incredibly when I’ve been delayed in sending reviews or reading books due to several crazy life changes. The reviews I write for her are still in my own voice but I notice that they’re just a little bit different from what I write for my own site. Interesting to note, I think.

When I first started reviewing I didn’t realize how big this book blogging community really is. Because of that, I just started writing in a way that felt right to me – and I still do that. If something reminds me of a story from my own life, I’m going to include it. I love personal touches when I read other blogs and I try to make mine fun and entertaining – and personal.

I also think it’s so important to be honest when writing a review. Let me be clear on what I mean by honest. I don’t mean trashing the book or the author. That’s just rude and inconsiderate. I mean actually writing what I think instead of worrying about hurting the author’s feelings. Is that easy? Absolutely not. Thankfully, I haven’t had to deal with this too often. There are really only a handful of books that I didn’t love, or didn’t like as much as I thought I would, and have caused me some issues when writing the reviews. What makes me feel better about my being honest approach is that I’ve had a few authors tell me that they love my reviews simply because I’m honest. I’m very careful with my five star reviews on Goodreads (Side note: I don’t star things on my blog because it was just one more step I didn’t feel like taking and I also usually don’t put up my reviews on Goodreads – not because I don’t want to, just because I’m lazy. That will be changing soon. I hope.) and will only rate a book that high if I was absolutely, positively in love with it. That does happen though, I promise!

One of the other things I really want to do is create a review archive type page. My mom even suggested I do that, which I thought was cute. It’ll mean a lot of work since I have so many reviews now but it’s something that should be done. I can’t decide if I want to list the review by author, title, or rating. Thoughts or suggestions on that?

I also want to get in touch with more publishers. I have a fabulous relationship with Random House of Canada (the fact that I interned there earlier this year definitely helped matters) but there are still a few other houses that I’d like to work with. Progress is being made but these days I’m more focused on getting myself a job in publishing than getting myself on a list for review copies!

Well, this has been a pretty rambly post but that really shows you what I’m like. I tend to go off  on tangents but I usually always end up back where I wanted to be. I hope you enjoyed this post! Tonight I’ll bounce around the blogosphere and see what everyone else has to say about their own development and see if I can pick up any tips!

Armchair BEA: Introductions

Design credit: Sarah of Puss Reboots

Welcome to my intro post for Armchair BEA! I participated last year and had a lot of fun and since, once again, I wasn't able to make it to NYC for BEA (*sobs*) I'm taking part in this great event again. There will be many posts throughout the week (you can see the whole agenda here if you want to know what's coming up or if you want to take part in the event). For now, I hope you enjoy getting to know me!

Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging? 

This is my bunny Tonks!

First things first, my name's Kaley. As of today, I'm 26 (happy birthday to meeeee!). Technically, I started blogging over four years ago but the first two blogs I made were for my university seminar course. Books Etc. has been around for two and a half years. I started it because I was already familiar with how blogs worked and wanted a way to talk about books all the time. 

Where in the world are you blogging from? 

I'm blogging from St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. For those of you who have no idea where that is, I'm about 20 minutes away from this:

And in case you can't tell what "this" is, that's Niagara Falls. I've only been down to the Falls a handful of times. It's always magnificent and I'd love to go a bit more but trying to find parking and then having to pay a ridiculous amount for it is a bit of a negative. 

What are you currently reading, or what is your favourite book you have read so far in 2013? 

As I write this (the weekend before the post goes up), I'm reading The Queen of Unforgetting, a novel that takes place in my small hometown. Very cool.
I've also decided to cheat a bit and list some favourites in different genres (hey, we all love book recommendations, right?). Literary Fiction: The Bone Cage. Fantasy: The Night Circus. YA (contemporary): Anna and the French Kiss. Chick Lit: Finding Lucas. 

If you could eat dinner with any author or character, who would it be and why? 

I would love to hang out with Sarah Dessen. She's my favourite author and when I saw her speak about a year and a half ago when she came to Toronto and between that and her excellent tweets, I think we could be good friends. 

What literary location would you most like to visit? Why? 

I really want to visit Great Britain and would love to see Jane Austen's England, particularly Bath. 

Armchair BEA: The Future of Blogging

It's the final day of Armchair BEA! It's been an awesome week and I'm so glad I decided to sign up for it. That being said...as much as I loved it I'm definitely making sure I'm at BEA next year! :) It was great to meet so many of you through this and I have some awesome new blogs to read now. Also, thank you to all my new followers and to those who left comments. I can't tell you how much I appreciate that.

For today's post we're supposed to "ask the experts" or offer our own blogging tips. As I mentioned in Wednesday's post (you can read it here if you missed it) I don't feel like I have many tips. I'm looking to grow my blog and I'd love to figure out a way to do some freelance writing as well. Do I have many ideas on how to do that? No. Would I like some tips myself? Absolutely. 

I've been looking at bloggers I admire and seeing how they do things. It helps that I've developed a good relationship with one of them and feel comfortable asking her any question I may have, even if it may be simple to her. I think I'm doing ok with making connections and participating in conversations. You never know what will result from a Twitter conversation (I was once offered a Kindle ebook because the author and I had an indepth convo about sock monkeys. Only sucky thing is that I don't own a Kindle...haha). I guess my approach has been a studious one. I've been quietly watching what my favourite bloggers have been doing and trying to emulate that. Is it working? Kind of. Even though I'm not really sure what exactly I consider a "success." Comments? Twitter replies? Review requests? Actually, I think that last one factors heavily for me. It shows that authors, publishers, publicists, or other reviewers are noticing my work and that means a lot to me. It's not even about the free books (though that's a definite perk). It's more that they think my writing and reading tastes fit with their work. What about you guys? When do you think/know you're being successful with your blog?

I have to say that I'm totally envious of those bloggers that seem to have amazing connections with authors and publishing houses. I've tried the sign up forms for doing blog tours through some of the big publishers and that hasn't resulted in anything. I have been approached by some smaller publishers and it's so awesome to create relationships with them. Would I love to get an ARC of, say, Emily Giffin's latest book? Abso-freaking-lutely. Have I found other, equally amazing, authors through challenges, tours, and Twitter? Abso-freaking-lutely. Blogging opened my eyes to the various ways books get published and promoted. Just because the author isn't well known or marketed doesn't mean they won't be awesome. This week I also made a list of seven of my favourite books I've read so far this year (here's the link). I had a couple of people comment that they hadn't heard of any but Kinsella's. That was odd to me. Then I got to thinking and realized it's because I'm so connected with some of those authors (or at least pretend to be, hehe) that I think everyone should know who they are. It was an interesting revelation for me.

I know I haven't really asked any questions or offered any tips, so thanks for sticking with me. This week has allowed me to see how other blogs work and what I like immediately and what appeals to me after looking more in depth at other sites. Once again, I appreciate all the love and comments I've gotten this week. I hope some of you stick around to see what else I write. I've got a busy summer coming up that will feature a lot of great books. Thanks for a great week and, as always...

Happy reading :)

Armchair BEA: Beyond the Blog

 

Today's an interesting sort of day on Armchair BEA. We have a couple of choices for what we'd like to talk about: tips for moving beyond the blog (monetizing, freelance, making professional connections) or sharing a fun aspect about our blog or life that may be completely separate from books. I'm doing kind of a combo deal today, so let's start with the moving beyond part, shall we?

I don't really have any tips. I'm going to be blog hopping and visiting many other blogger's posts today because I am looking for tips myself. I really love books. Everything about them. Reading them, writing about them, talking about them. I want to find a way to play with them all day long (and not work in a book store because I did that for too many years!). I have yet to come up with a brilliant way to accomplish that. I don't think I'm cut out for a library (I also used to work as a page in my public library when I was in high school). I also don't relish the idea of doing more school right now. I could try to get into publishing but the majority of publishing houses are in Toronto and I don't ever want to live in or near Toronto (sorry to those who do - I'm a small town girl at heart!). I'm trying to think creatively and have so far come up with nothing. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Sometimes I wonder if I should focus more on the writing side of things. Whether that's my own stuff or trying to branch out and do some freelance work. I've always been a scribbler. I've got poems and stories from when I was a kid and teen (that are probably quite bad). I've also got a couple of other ideas right now that are rattling around in my brain. Do I dare try to put them on paper (or screen)? Through Twitter and the blogosphere I've met enough first time authors to see the absolute joy they got from getting their work published. Do I want to have that feeling? Yeah, maybe I do. Am I terrified of what kind of stuff I'd come out with? Yes. I've read quite a few first time books that have had so many problems and I don't want to be that kind of author. I know I can't be perfect but I'm a little scared of being so totally far off from perfect that I write something awful. I think the only way to get over this is to just start writing my own stuff down. Maybe I will. Someday...

So, since I don't have any tips and am clearly in need of some myself, I've been searching my brain for something fun about my life that's totally separate from books. This is difficult because books are such an integral part of my life that I feel like everything is somehow related back to them. Stumped, I told one of my closest friends that I had trouble coming up with something. Her response? "Because your fun is books." This then led into an odd train of thought process and I landed on an amusing anecdote for you all.


I'm a little biased but I think
this is pretty awesome :)

One of the courses I took in university was graphic design. It was a theory class (I was in university, not college, after all) but everyone in the class had some sort of interest and talent in design. Our final project had us create something that reflected us and our interests (and of course looked good). What did I do? I decided to make myself a book reviewer and editor (and keep in mind this was over two years before I started my blog). I created a fake book, you know the ones that have a hiding spot inside for things but it looks like a real book? It was part of a package I, as the reviewer and editor, would drop off to publishers and authors and the like. Included inside the little book were notepads (that I designed and got printed) that had "Kaley Stewart, book reviewer" on the bottom. I had totally forgotten about this assignment (like I said, this was a few years ago) and it didn't help that I wasn't able to get the final product back and have lost the electronic copy in the Land of Lost Computer Files. When I was back home for the May long weekend I came across one of the extra notepads. I showed it to my mom and we had a little laugh over it. It was cool because I had this seemingly pipe dream of being a book reviewer back in university and now I am one. Sure, it's not "official" and it's not for a publishing company or newspaper or magazine. But it's something. I had a goal and I managed to work my way to it. And that I like.

Which sort of brings me full circle. I think what this shows me is that I need to trust my gut. If I want something I need to work towards it. Think I can do it? :)

Armchair BEA: Real Life Bookish Experience

Welcome to day 3 of Armchair BEA! Thanks for visiting :)

Today they suggested we talk about a positive "real life" book experience. Immediately I thought of when I got to meet my all time favourite author - Sarah Dessen!



Squee!! Me and Sarah Dessen!



Sarah Dessen made her first book tour trip up to Canada back in September to promote her latest novel, What Happened to Goodbye. I vowed to attend one of the two appearances in Toronto and one of my best friends agreed to come with me (it wasn't hardship as Dessen is her favourite author too!) On a whim I decided to enter a contest hosted by Penguin. For the life of me I cannot tell you what it was or what I had to do to enter. Cue huge surprise when the email arrived two days prior to the event letting me know I had won! I called my friend and alternated between loud squeals and speechless wonder as I relayed the news. We were going to meet Sarah Dessen! Wheeee!!!!!

I was told that the winners of the contests were to arrive a half hour early and had to check in. So, away we go to where we are supposed to be and we come to the registration area. The guy asks for my name and says something along the lines of "Oh, you're one of the bloggers." Apparently I was modest Kaley that day as I said something like, "I guess so" while my BFF totally had my back and said "Yes, she is!" After the initial surprise, I had to admit it was really awesome to be identified as a blogger by someone outside my circle of friends and family.

Our evening began with a chat with Sarah Dessen. She is amazing. Totally down to earth, funny, and super nice.



This pic was posted on her blog.



In the picture above you can see her talking with us. And no, my friend and I are not in the picture. We're just beyond the left side. Shucks. We didn't make it on her blog.

After we had our group chat, we were all told to line up so we could get our books signed. We were also given a copy of either Along for the Ride or What Happened to Goodbye and a lock and key necklace. I couldn't believe that we actually got the chance to talk to her one on one while she signed our books! Surreal!

After we wrapped up the signing, we went out to our reserved seats to settle in for the interview. It was really interesting and we learned a lot about Sarah Dessen as an author and a person. I really liked learning that This Lullaby was her favourite to write as it's my favourite book.

Overall this was probably my best bookish experience, so far! I hope to have many more experiences in the years to come. Perhaps attending BEA in person next year? Time to start saving!



All my signed books!

Armchair BEA: Best of 2012

Design Credit:
Emily's Reading Room

It's Day 2 of Armchair BEA!

Today we're sharing either some of our favourite books so far this year, and/or the books being promoted at BEA that we hope will end up among our favourites for the year. I decided to focus on seven books I've read this year (and not necessarily ones that were published in 2012) that I've really enjoyed. "Why seven?" you ask? Because 5 was too few and 10 was too many. :)

A visual representation of some of my faves!

Blank Slate Kate - Heather Wardell. Published November 2011. Read January 2012. Review.
Heather Wardell never ever disappoints. This is one of her latest novels and was full of excellent twists and turns and was a wonderful story. Think The Vow but better!

I've Got Your Number - Sophie Kinsella. Published February 2012. Read February 2012. Review.
While I didn't LOVE Kinsella's latest novel, I still enjoyed reading it. It was amusing and cute and I had fun diving into it.

The D Word - Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke. Published May 2011. Read March 2012. Review.
The ladies at Chick Lit is not Dead are not only great bloggers but excellent authors as well. Good story, multiple perspectives, and an all around great novel.

Favorable Conditions - Kathleen Kole. Published December 2011. Read March 2012. Review.
This is Kole's third novel and by far my favourite of the three. I loved it because it was written in such a way that I was able to connect with the main character even though she was at a completely different stage in life (divorced and with two kids in college). Great read.

How to Eat a Cupcake - Meg Donohue. Published March 2012. Read March 2012. Review (for Novel Escapes).
How can you go wrong with a title like that? Answer: you can't. This book was fantastic and had a much deeper storyline that one may expect from a sweet title like this. Definitely a must read.

Forgotten- Catherine McKenzie. Published May 2012. Read April 2012. Review.
Catherine McKenzie is one of my favourite authors so I was anxiously awaiting her third novel. It didn't disappoint! Interesting and unique storyline and great characters. I'm hoping for a sequel that focuses on the main character's best friend!

The Tall Book: A Celebration of Life from on High - Arianne Cohen. Published June 2009. Read April 2012. Review.
I was drawn to this one because I'm 6'. I wasn't sure what to expect but I ended up getting an amusing and informative look into the world of talls. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and encourage all my fellow talls to read it as well!

Fun observation: 3 of the 7 authors are Canadian! (Wardell, Kole, and McKenzie) I'm a proud Canuck and love finding amazing Canadian authors.

Hope you enjoyed the glimpse into some of the great books I've read this year. Make sure you head on over to the main link up page to check out all the other posts! Come back tomorrow for another Armchair BEA post - a positive "real life" experience with books.

Armchair BEA: Introductions First!

Sarah of Puss Reboots  

It's Book Expo America time! Since I didn't have the funds to head to New York myself for this conference (sad) I decided to take part in Armchair BEA! This gives everyone a chance to get a taste of BEA while staying comfortable in our favourite armchair (or couch, or bed, or beanbag chair...you get the drift).

Today marks the first day of Armchair BEA and it's the day everyone involved is introducing themselves. Once you read through my answers make sure you head over to the interview page and see who else is participating and what they have to say.

Without further ado, here's a little bit about me!


Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging?

This is me! Hi!

My name's Kaley and I'm the voice behind Books Etc. where I've been blogging since November 2010. I was familiar with blogging because of my fourth year seminar in university (woo, Laurier!) called "Citizen Media and the Public Sphere." This is a confusing name for a class where we talked about media, the internet, Facebook, and the emerging social media phenomenon Twitter. Two of my major projects for that class were done in blog form (they're still live and you can see them here and here if you're interested) and I had a lot of fun doing them. Fast forward a year and a half and I'm at my first "grown up" job. I realized I wanted some sort of outlet for babbling on about books. After toying with the idea for awhile I finally dove into the blogosphere (again) and Books Etc. was born. I decided on the name because I didn't set out to talk strictly about books. Every once and awhile a movie or TV post will find its way onto my blog but for the most part you'll find ramblings and reviews about books, books, and more books.

If you could eat dinner with any author or character, who would it be and why?
This is a tough one but I think I'd go with Jane Austen (J.K. Rowling comes in at a close second). From what we've been able to learn from biographies and biopics, Jane seemed to have quite the sense of humour and I've love to have the chance to see that in person. You can tell from her writing that she had an interesting view on society and I think it would be so much fun to sit at a dinner party with her and gossip about the other ladies. We'll never have access to Austen through social media like so many authors these days so we don't get a peek inside her world. I'd love to hear about her journey as a female author. And, of course, I'd want to find out the real reason she never married!

What literary location would you most like to visit? Why?
I'm going to cheat a bit here and name two - one is a totally made up location and another is based on a real town.

1. Hogwarts
I really mean anything and anywhere in Harry Potter world but I figured you'd all understand if I just said Hogwarts. I just went to Universal for the first time in February and got to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Ah-maz-ing. It was so cool to step inside the world as Rowling saw it. Could you imagine how cool it would be to actually visit the real school? Or Hogsmeade? Or Diagon Alley? Oh, man it would be so awesome!

2. Colby
If you read Sarah Dessen's blog you'll know she loves summer and the beach. It doesn't come as a surprise to note that her books take place in the summer and almost always in and around the same beach town, Colby. Now, this town doesn't actually exist. Dessen modelled it after her home town of Chapel Hill in North Carolina. If it did exist, however, I'd be on the first bus there. Of course, the pull of the beach is strong but it also seems to have a lot of neat shops and restaurants. I'm a small town girl at heart so I'd love to see what this little town would really be like.

What is your favorite part about the book blogging community? 
I love that the book blogging community is just that - a community. Everyone works together and helps promote each other. When issues arise when one blogger is being attacked, for example, they will find many other bloggers in their corner ready to offer support. More experienced bloggers always seem to be willing to help out newbies and offer advice. It allows us to learn about new books and authors we may not have before. We find out about author events and signings and whose books are being made into films. And, of course, this community gives us the opportunity to talk at length about our favourite thing - books!

Have your reading tastes changed since you started blogging? How?
My first reaction to this question was no. My actual tastes have not changed. I've always been a chick lit fan and that isn't any different now.
What has changed is that I'm more open to trying more unknown and/or indie authors. Just because a book isn't published by a traditional or large publishing house or just because it's not a big name author doesn't mean the book won't be fabulous.
I'm definitely reading more now but I can't attribute that solely to my blog. I had just finished my fifth (and final, thank goodness) year of post-secondary school the April before I started Books Etc. so once all those boring textbooks were out of the way I had time to read more books. I do have deadlines now since I take part in challenges and tours but those give me even more opportunities to read more. More reading time = a happier Kaley. :)

Stay tuned tomorrow when all participants in Armchair BEA will be talking about their favourites of 2012. And if you're around later tonight there's a Twitter party happening. It's starting at 11pm EST and will wrap up at 1am. Make sure to follow @ArmchairBEA, the host of each of the events, as well as the #ArmchairBEA hashtag.