Robbie's Reads

Over on the Rath (click "forum") I give away 6 books I like every 6 weeks or so.  In doing that, I've already given away a lot of books. Some are by authors whose books I read & loved before writing (Holly Black, Tithe); some are books I've blurbed & gushed over (K Cashore Graceling; Kami Garcia/Margie Stohl Beautiful Creatures; Kim Derting, The Body Finder; Gillian Shields, Immortal), and others I just really liked and wanted to give to my readers (Sarah Rees Brennan, Demon's Lexicon; Malinda  Lo, Ash; Lauren Kate, Fallen; and Janni Lee Simner, Bones of Faerie).

I was in a mood the week before Solstice, thinking about the books that were a factor in my world & the authors who have kept me from falling to pieces. So I went shopping & requesting bookplates & signed copies from a few friends :)

By the time I was done, I had around 60 books . . . you have about 6 weeks to enter to win them.

TO ENTER/DETAILS:
Reply to this blog post with the number of your entry (count off!!!)  ETA: I give up on the numbers. Just reply. I'll count them later :)

ALSO: If you don't have a LJ acct, use a signature/blog link.

DON'T include your email address for privacy reasons. 

Winners will be announced here at or on the 14th of February. At that time, I'll announce the winners names/numbers, & you will email to say which book(s) you want to claim. Prizes will be on first requested basis at that time NOT now.

THE BOOKS YOU CAN WIN:

"Lyric Poems" John Keats (6 copies, NOT signed)-- In WL, Ash is in Lit class & reads two of my fav poems. The first is "La Belle Dame Sans Merci."  I used to love teaching this poem.

"Goblin Market and Other Poems" Christina Rossetti (6 copies, NOT signed)--This includes second poem from that class in WL. Rossetti is the reason I became an English major.

The Hollow Kingdom Clare B. Dunkle (6 copies with signed bookplates)-- In WL, Seth has all sorts of books including a "Clare Dunkle novel." I didn't expect that the book would sell when I wrote, but when it did . . . I panicked. I am a huge fan of hers (hence Seth reading her book). So I looked Clare up online & sent her an odd email asking if she'd be offended to be referenced in my book. Yeah, it was neurotic. Clare not only was okay with it, but she asked to read the book, became a mentor, a friend, & when I needed a new agent, I remembered Clare telling me how fab HERS was, so I queried her agent (but didn't tell Clare until afterwards bc I didn't want a reference).

American Gods: A Novel Neil Gaiman(3 copies--with signed bookplates)-- The short story "Stopping Time" has a character reading this. Plus, Neil is my favourite living author (one of the only 2 authors I ever went to see for a book signing prior to becoming a writer), and oddly, the person I was having dinner with the night I got the call that I'd sold my first adult novel. The bizarreness of that happening cannot be overstated. I wasn't sure if I was more stunned by him or by selling my book, but either way it was an amazing day.  

and

Coraline Neil Gaiman; Hardcover (3 copies--with signed bookplates)-- Reading this makes me want to go back to teaching so I would have an excuse to study this book over & over again.

Flowers of Evil: A Selection (translated) Charles Baudelaire; Paperback (1 copy, NOT signed)--I'm not sure if it'll make the final version, but the current start of Darkest Mercy (aka WL Bk #5) includes a reference to a Baudelaire poem.

The Blue Girl Charles de Lint; Paperback (2 copies, NOT signed)-- Quite simply, I love this book. I love the characters. I love the lore.

Don't Bet on the Prince: Contemporary Feminist Fairy Tales in North America and England Jack Zipes; Paperback (1 copy, NOT signed)-- This was one of those books that influenced me to be a fairy tale & folklore based writer. Zipes is brilliant. Before writing, I considered getting another degree just to have an excuse to take a class taught by him.

Sanctuary: The Corrected Text William Faulkner; Paperback (2 copies, obviously NOT signed)-- I did my thesis on this book.  Faulkner is my fav dead author.

This Heart of Mine Susan Elizabeth Phillips (3 copies--with signed bookplates)

and

It Had to Be You  Susan Elizabeth Phillips (3 copies--with signed bookplates)-- At a conference, this amazing woman swooped up to me, told me she loved my book & informed me she was adopting me. I mostly stuttered. Like Clare, Susan has been right there offering advice, support, & words of wisdom.

And then there are the poor folks who keep me from running screaming into the dark.. .

One of each of the 4 Night Huntress books (Halfway to The Grave, One Foot in the Grave, At Grave's End, & Destined for the Grave) Jeaniene Frost (4 signed copies)-- J is my crit partner. (Yes, that means I get to read all the Cat & Bones books first. *happy dances*). It would take pages to explain all she does to keep me on solid ground.

Skin Deep (Laura Blackstone series Bk #1 Mark Del Franco (1 signed copy)
and
Unfallen Dead (Connor Grey series Bk #3 Mark Del Franco (1 signed copy)
--Mark & I have an odd research overlap (which makes shopping together fun). Sometimes I get to swap crits w him, and often, he's my 1am phone call.

City of Souls Vicki Pettersson (6 signed copies)--Vic and J and I proposed an anthology (Unbound) to get to share a table of contents, & then we critted each others stories. I get lost in her worldbuilding, & then I get lost when I talk to her. Someday, when I'm a grown up, I want to be as funny as she is.

Stray Rachel Vincent (3? signed copies)-- Rachel & I have these lovely-unpredictable chats & great bar outings. She never complains either when I forget to say hello, but dial her up mid-thought. . . and, well, I read all of her books (even though I rarely get early looks despite plaintive sighs).

On the Edge Ilona Andrews (3 signed copies) Ilona tells the world's best late night stories. If we reach an endstates, I want her on my side.

Nightmare Academy Dean Lorey (6 signed copies)-- My son was a beta reader for Dean (who, as my son tells it, is Much Much Cooler & writes Great Funny Stuff . . . which, "by the way, Mama, he lets me read . . . unlike YOU.") Once I quell the the temptation to envy Dean for the coolness, I remember that he's also a helluva friend, who did me the huge favour of talking me through the film deal for Wicked Lovely  AND prepped me for the meeting with my producers.

Ballads of Suburbia Stephanie Kuehnert (3 signed copies)-- Every tour, I get to go to Chicago, & every time, Stephanie reveals an amazing bar . . . and then I find myself thinking that life in a freezing cold city isn't that bad, really, I could do it. I realize after I leave again that I really & truly hate the cold, but she's awesome enough that she makes me forget that detail. Also? Her books make me cry, & sigh, & remember things I often set aside. She writes powerful stuff.

I read 50 books this year and am so happy I met my goal, but I'm even happier that I read some really great books!

( books read in 2009 )

Best reads of 2009: Q&A, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, The Hunger Games, Catching Fire

Worst reads of 2009: The Shack, The Alchemyst, Sundays at Tiffany's, A Wrinkle in Time

Just a quick note to wish you all a happy & safe start to the New Year.

Traditionally, I'm not much for resolutions & introspection at this point in the year (I tend to reserve such things for my birthday, as that's my "start date" & therefore the date from which counting fwds & bkwards makes the most sense to me). There is, however, appeal in a group date for such things too.

Top Moments of the Year (never in order):
1. Being w Daughter when she fell in love w a Dali painting at the Met.  She's loved art in general, but rarely has she been so utterly smitten.
2. Son & Daughter & Spouse video-skyping to have dinner with me when  I was on tour.
3. Stretched out on the beach (off season when it's deserted w Spouse AND during summer w Spouse & son).
4. Niece curling into my lap & announcing that she needed purple boots "just like yours, Aunt Miss"
5. Floating in the pool with son & spouse.
6. Late night conversations in the dark listening to frogs & insects.
7. Owl perched on a branch outside my window
8. Outside w kids & Spouse w telescope & seeing one of Jupiter's moons pass in front of the planet (THIS might be the top moment for me)
9. Building bird feeders w my beasties (& then watching birds).
10. All of those random moments that are so fleeting, yet one pauses & realizes that I Wish This Instant Would Last Forever.

. . . and at the end of it all, that's what it's all about: the moments.  It's why I like photography, why I write, why I enjoy meeting new ppl whom I'll never talk to a 2hnd time.  There are these things we do, these attempts to pause the world & fit all of the living we need into a space less than a second.  At the end--whether that's this instant or many years away--I want to have a collection of moments to think on.  I suspect  that the desire to fill moments to bursting, to freeze them when they happen, is what causes us to think of afterlives and of folkloric immortality. 

I hope your year has been filled with many moments & that your next year will be overflowing with them.

If you are so inclined, I love hearing of moments, so pls feel invited to share some of yours.