Books I got this week
Pre-ordered:
- Starflight by Melissa Landers, signed & personalized
- This package came with a signed poster, Starflight themed nail wraps, and a bookmark!
I pre-ordered Starflight from Joseph Beth because I heard that there might be posters thrown in and I didn’t want to miss my chance to get one. I didn’t expect the package to be so awesome! They had Melissa personalize my book (I didn’t ask for it, so total surprise!), the poster was signed too, AND they threw in those amazing Starflight nail wraps! I wore the nail wraps to the signing, and they are absolutely lovely!
This was my first experience ever with nail wraps, and while they’re not perfect, I think I did a pretty good job for it being my first time! It’s pretty easy – peel the sticker off, stick it to your nail and smooth it out, and file off the excess. For most people I’m sure it would be a piece of cake. For me, it was a pain in the ass because my nails are tiny and even the smallest one was too big for my pinky (actually, the pinky sized one was the size of my pointer finger nail!). So I had to cut them all down to size first. I’ve always had that problem, though – I could never use the fake stick-on nails because they never fit my little fingernails!
From the Melissa Landers signing:
- Starflight by Melissa Landers, signed
- Invaded by Melissa Landers, signed & personalized
- Signed Starflight poster
- Starflight bookmark & nail wraps
- The Love That Split the World bookmark
- “John Green and I Go Way Back” button
- Preview of Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
Notice that I got an extra signed copy of Starflight? (I got some extra goodies too!) I’ll be doing a giveaway on Instagram as soon as I reach 10k followers, so keep an eye out ;)
From the publisher:
Thank you SO much Tor Teen, especially for that beautiful finished copy of Riders! That was such a wonderful surprise!
Weekly Recap
Posts on the blog:
- [1 Feb] Passenger by Alexandra Bracken ★★★★
- [2 Feb] 3rd Annual Love for Books Readathon Sign Ups
- [5 Feb] The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine ★★★½
- [7 Feb] Heartbeat Weekly (73): Melissa Landers Signing!
Blog news:
The 3rd annual Love for Books Readathon kicks off tomorrow morning! Are you excited?! I’M EXCITED!!
What I’ve been up to this week:
Not much to report here! I do have exciting news from the job, though – I’m getting a raise and possibly a promotion soon! Our groomer left, and my boss is planning to train me to (eventually) groom in her place. I’ve always groomed, but I’ve never been a REAL groomer – I don’t have a license and I can’t do breed cuts, just shaves and minor trimming. I’ve decided recently that this is the career path I want to stick to. It’s all I’ve known since I’ve had a job (I’ve been in the field for 9 years), I know I can do it, and it’s really good money. If things don’t work out where I’m at, I plan to find a place that will send me to school, because I’m ready to get a grooming license. I am more than ready for a true career path, not just a job. I’m tired of working jobs. I want a career, something I can do with my life. I’m almost 30 and up until now I had no clue what to do with my life! I’m tired of living paycheck to paycheck and feeling like I’m not going anywhere. It feels wonderful to finally have a direction!
Melissa Landers Signing
The signing took place at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Cincinnati, which is only about an hour from me! My boyfriend went with me – and I didn’t drag him, he wanted to go! He’s a keeper! Parking was an absolute ZOO for some reason, I’ve never had that much problem parking for an event at Joseph-Beth. It was crazy! We got in and got our seat, and I went to look at the YA section. As I was looking, I heard someone call my name – I turned around and Kristen Simmons was there! It was awesome to see her again! I should have known she’d be there, though – she’s local so I see her there all the time haha. We talked for a little bit about books we’d read, and she told me this awesome little snippet: Jay Kristoff flushes her out an airlock in Illuminae! She said she actually had to sign something from his lawyer saying that she knew he didn’t actually want to kill her. Lmao!! I got a kick out of that!
The panel started not long after that. I learned a lot of awesome stuff about Melissa’s background as well as her books! She got the idea for Starflight from a movie she loves called Overboard, starring Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell. In the movie, though, it’s the woman that’s a horrible person. Melissa just switched the roles. The idea to put them on a luxury space liner instead of a boat came from Carey Corp (who was at the signing, too!). She relates most to Solara the most because Solara makes her own family, and Melissa was adopted. She teared up a little talking about it, it was adorable! She said that she didn’t think that the space pirate scene in Starflight was going to make it past edits, and was surprised that it did. I’m totally glad it did, because it was my favorite scene! I also learned that Melissa used to be a teacher! Her advice to aspiring authors was: Protect your joy. If there’s something that’s bringing you down, walk away from it. Don’t look at reviews on Goodreads if it upsets you. Stay away from things that ruin your joy. Great advice!
The third book of the Alienated series, called United, will be coming out in August! I totally thought it was just a duology, so exciting news! The second book of Starflight will be called Starfell. I think it’s looking like a next winter release.
Melissa was really nice, the signing was so fun! Today I’m going back to Joseph-Beth to see Marissa Meyer, I’ll recap that signing next week :)
Adventures on Bookstagram
January wrap up
- Riders (Riders #1) by Veronica Rossi – ★★★★½
- Winter (Cinder #4) by Marissa Meyer – ★★★★
- Bluescreen (Mirador #1) by Dan Wells – DNF
- Starflight (Starflight #1) by Melissa Landers – ★★★★
- The Shadow Queen (Ravenspire #1) by C.J. Redwine – ★★★½
- Passenger (Passenger #1) by Alexandra Bracken – ★★★★
- The Hunt (The Cage #2) by Megan Shepherd – ★★★★
- In the End (In the After #2) by Demitria Lunetta – ★★★★
- Saga, Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan – ★★★★½
- Saga, Volume 2 by Brian K. Vaughan – ★★★★½
- Saga, Volume 3 by Brian K. Vaughan – ★★★★½
Average rating: 4.15 (That’s crazy high for me!)
Pages read: 3,833
Favorite book of January: Riders
What’s in your mailbox, loverlies? Link me up!
Ooooh very nice!!! Yay for signings!! I still need to read Melissa’s books, so I wasn’t up for a long road trip this weekend, because I had considered it earlier! LOL! But it was like over 6 hours I think? And I just wasn’t feeling it just yet! Especially since we’re still in winter and who knows what the weather might throw at us! Glad you had a good time and got some awesome books and signed copies too! Happy Reading!
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Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower :)
What a cool signing experience!! (you’re so lucky that your BF WANTED to go with you!! Def a keeper) :) That’s so great to hear about your job Jessi! I’m so happy for you and your new sense of direction. So, the one negative to me now getting your posts by emails is that I never actually come visit here to comment. But I promise I’m reading all your posts. I’m so happy to see more of your posts in my mailbox.
I’m drooling over all of your great books. LOL Sounds like a fantastic signing too! The nail wraps are lovely also.
My Sunday Post – http://fuonlyknew.com/2016/02/07/whats-new-on-my-bookshelf-146-and-the-sunday-post/
My co-worker’s daughter grooms for a LOT of show dogs. She makes lucrative money. It makes me want to quit teaching and become a groomer because it really is good money. I hope the promotion works out for you, and go for that certification!
OMG how awsesome your signing was!! I definitely have to get this book as Overboard is one of my ALL time favorite movies!!(Top 10 for me). I love all the goodies you got (lucky duck) and I could never do nail wraps either..I am so happy for you!!