The last month has been a whirlwind of book-related activity. High time I sat down to post about it!
First things first…
In reality, it all started back in February or March, when my good friend Shanella said, “Hey, you want to go to Hogwarts?” And I said, “Are you KIDDING? Of COURSE I do.”
There was only one small problem: we hadn’t received our invitation letters…yet.
We made our reservations and patiently waited. And waited. And waited.
With only 3 days to go, I realized we were going to have to take matters into our own hands. So, I found Dumbledore’s email address and sure enough, he said there had been an owl strike – something to do with Weasley’s Wildfire Whiz-bangs – and he had them faxed over straight away.
Since toting a faxed invitation around with us would have been totally lame, we had them put on t-shirts instead.
We were the coolest kids in school.
(No, seriously, 18 – or was it 16? – different people stopped us in the middle of the park to ask where we’d gotten them.
Others simply took pictures without our permission. It felt good to be popular.)
Hogwarts itself, however, was WAY cooler.
(If you don’t see the slide show below, you can click to go to my Hogwarts photo album instead.)
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Just before we left for Hogwarts, we went to see Maureen Johnson at Books of Wonder, which was downright awesome. It was the release of her new book The Name of the Star, a Jack the Ripper ghost story set in modern England. There were even 2 Jacks present. Spooky!
Maureen’s very fun in person…which one would probably gather from her not-in-person outlets, such as her Twitter @maureenjohnson. Check her out. You’ll see what I mean. If you’re familiar with the #yasaves hashtag, then you already know who I’m talking about. *wink*
(Sorry the pic is so grainy. I left my camera at home that day…and well, let’s just say my iPhone is a “circa babyboomers” gen.)
Finally, just last week there was the amazing Fantastic Fiction event at the self-same Books of Wonder (best bookstore in the city!), starring authors Scott Westerfeld, Maryrose Wood, Jeff Hirsch, Sarah Beth Durst, Jon Skovron, Gabrielle Zevin, and Alison Goodman.
I snagged copies of Westerfeld’s and Hirsch’s books, and then some photo ops with the gents while they were signing.
Lost in conversation with Scott (sorry, may I call you Scott?), I failed to noticed that Shanella was trying to get my attention and take a picture.
Thankfully, she was persistent.
Only bad thing about going to these AWESOME author events?
TBR list now has 3 new additions . . .
Up next: Halloween, YA Lit style. (Hint: think ultramarine)
Booknotized 