Last year I wasn't the most social girl or promotional girl either. I maybe passed out a dozen business cards. Ack! I also had to keep telling myself not to dig out my paperback in my backpack and find a quiet corner away from all the chatting. I do remember how good the food was and how much restraint it took not to get another plate of cheesecake. Oh, and one of the keynote speakers made me cry, but since I hate crying in public she made me contort my face into ridiculous expressions to keep from crying. So my plan this year is to chat, listen, promote, eat super good food, bawl my eyes out freely if the situation calls for it, and most importantly throw my business cards at as many people as possible. Okay, okay, my only real goal is to have a good time.
In the mean time, here are a few books and movies that rock the planet.
Guardians of the Galaxy! 5 STARS because this was so much freaking fun and the music is the best! The beginning is emotional, the rest is action-packed, funny, and sometimes sweet. The cast is supreme. The snark is smart and so good! I loved it. I'm going to own it when it comes out. Yep.
Divergent (the movie)! 5 STARS because I just loved it. Sci-fi/futuristic/dsytopian movies have a special place in my heart and this one did not disappoint. There weren't many surprises (even though I haven't read the book), but the story and characters compensated for that. Plus there's a sexy factor going on probably because even when you have to take a test that determines where you will spend your life, you look pretty dang good.
The Fault in our Stars (the movie)! 5 sobbing, smiling, sobbing some more STARS. Man oh man, I freaking loved this movie so much. I know I'm a terrible book girl that I like to watch the movie before reading the book, but movies, not books, offered me comfort and escape when I was a kid. It will always be that way for me, I think. This story had the most amazing characters, no villains, unless you can count cancer as a character. Maybe you can. The parents stole my heart. The love story is precious, beautiful, breathtaking, and forever.
Fanning the Flames by Victoria Dahl is such a fantastic novella and start to the Girls' Night Out series. It's sweet, sexy, and relatable. Not every empty-nester wishes her kids back home. Some are ready to let loose and this story speaks to that lying-in-wait group. Plus there are firemen. Enough said, right? 5 STARS for sure!
Daylighters (Morganville 15) by Rachel Caine is the last installment of one of my favorite series. I put this book off as long as I could and now I wish I had more pages hiding somewhere. I want more and not because Caine left us with loose threads. She did right by the fans and I am so close to starting the series all over just to enjoy it from the beginning. The gang is back with the snark and terrible life-threatening plans to save the day. The bad guys are supremely awful and deserve a manic session with the trapdoor spider that we all know and love. Who knows how the web series will be, but the book series will remain one of my top favorites. 5 STARS! Good job Caine!
Slammed by Colleen Hoover is not new to almost anyone in the blogosphere. And I am late to the party, but so what? I fell so easily into the story and even though there weren't any surprises for me I still have to get it 5 STARS because I fell in love with Layken and Will. They both chapped my hide something fierce at different times and I wanted to throw something at them, but no matter. Hoover still got me. Plus the kids were so cool! What characters.
Chained by Night by Larissa Ione is just fantastic! From the first page I fell right back into the world Ione created in Bound by Night. And never once did I feel bogged down by backstory. How did she do that? I'll have to go back and see because that's good stuff. In the set up for book 2 in Bound by Night there was a shift in the story from a great dystopian vampire story to the addition of demons. I wasn't sure at all about that. Ha! I want more of the demon now. He should at least get a novella hook up. The romance in Chained by Night was never over the top for me or too far out of the story, which happens a lot in urban fantasy. Oh, and the multiple POV's have a bit of a Nalini Singh vibe, but the style of writing is completely different. Ione is very straight to the point without too many flourishes. 5 super STARS!!That's all I got for you. Have a great weekend!
Have a great time, Robyn! Go there and chat them to death this year! :) hehe. Have a super time!
ReplyDeleteI haven't read Divergent either, and I'm trying to decide between the book and the movie. We'll see!;)
I think I chatted myself to death. By Sunday I was pooped and ready to hug my boys and start writing. I've hugged the boys, but haven't started writing yet.
DeleteI'm not sure what you'll think of the movie if you read the book first. I'm going to read the book I think. I know I'd go watch a sequel for sure!!
How's the flying?
Really enjoyed FIoS book and movie, so smart and heart breaking
ReplyDeleteI plan to read the book...next year I think. After the holidays. I loved the movie so much. I'll probably watch it again.
DeleteSo jelly bout the conference. Stick to the plan and live it up. Give them cards out. Plus I still haven't seen Guardians of the Galaxy and I really really need too
ReplyDeleteOh you really do have to see Guardians of the Galaxy. There was one scene that reminded me of the line up scene in the Usual Suspects with Kevin Spacey and it totally cracked me up (which now seems like completely random information to give you). I hope you have a great week, Matt!
DeleteI hope the conference was amazing, Robyn!
ReplyDeleteI agree about The Fault in Our Stars movie! I cried so much! Even at the very beginning, when Gus and Hazel first met, because I knew how it was going to end... my daughter didn't understand why I had fat tears running down my face for almost the whole movie... until the very end. And ever since, we've been saying Okay? a lot.
Have a fantastic weekend, Robyn! *hugs*
Lexxie @ (un)Conventional Bookviews
See, it wasn't just me. I hadn't read the book, but I could tell from the previews exactly what was going to happen so really, I started crying as soon as I put the DVD in. What a beautiful story. I just loved it. I forgot the okay bit. I need to read the book and then watch the movie. For that story I'll put myself through all that.
DeleteI hope you have a fantastic week too, Lexxie!!! Oh, and the conference was so cool and inspiring.
I'm glad the conference was both cool and Inspiring, Robyn! I really, really hope I'll be able to come to a blogger/author conference next year. I would love to go to BEA in NYC :D
DeleteOh, I really hope you get a chance to go!
DeleteI hope you had a really fun super awesome time at the conference, and I can't wait to read your post about it! Did you chat people up? Did you pass out more cards? Did you get a second plate of cheesecake? I totally would - cheesecake is my weakness just like kryptonite is for Superman. ;)
ReplyDeleteWe took Jack and Janie to see Guardians of the Galaxy, and I agree - it was so much fun!! What a cool movie! I really enjoyed TFIOS and Divergent. Can't wait to read Slammed! The cover is really pretty since it's been changed. :)
Wasn't it such a great movie? The beginning was heartbreaking and both boys kept asking me what happened to his mom and I promised them I'd talk about it after the movie and they were both on me about it as soon as we were in the car. I found a little twig on the ground that looked so cool and John immediately said it was baby Groot and sure enough it looked just like a baby Groot. I think you'll really enjoy Slammed.
DeleteI will write my conference post this week and I did not have a second slice of cheesecake. Dangit! I should do a post on just cheesecake because I did not like it until last year's conference so I've only had about 4 slices in my life.
You're so lucky!!! I hope you had an awesome time at the conference!:)
ReplyDeleteI haven't watched Divergent yet (or the Maze Runner or the Giver- one of these days I need to go on a book-to-movie movie marathon ;) ), but I heard it was really similar to the book, so I'm really looking forward to it!
Thanks for sharing! :D