Guest Post: Bloggers I Would Include on my Conference Panel! (@eventbrite)

Hello everyone!  I was asked by Eventbrite to do a little post on which bloggers I would like to feature on my conference panel?  There are so many great things to talk about when talking about books and I have made acquaintances with many awesome book bloggers over the years!  So, here's a list of book bloggers that I would like to include in my conference panel!

1. Cait @ Paper Fury : Cait from Paper Fury would bring an element of fun to the conference table as her comments regarding reading are full of humor and wit and would help anyone who is interested in checking some books by her witty comments alone!

2. Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer: Due to being the host of the popular book meme "The Sunday Post," Kimba would be great in attracting readers from around the web to discuss about various books!

3. Rabid Reads:  This blog has a great collaboration between Jessica, Carmel, Lorna and Melanie and they would be great in giving out group opinions about the books being discussed on the panel.

4. Yvo @ It's All About Books: Yvo is very committed to reading as many books as she can and she would be a great speaker for giving out advice on how to read your favorite books fast!

5. Alyssa @ The Eater of Books: Alyssa is very good at generating conversations with many book bloggers and she would be able to start up a conversation about books very easily!

6. Bonnie @ For the Love of Words: Bonnie reads many audiobooks and she would be a great person to spread the word about audiobooks during the panel!

7. Emily May and Brandi @ The Book Geek: Both Emily May and Brandi are very passionate about the books they read that they would be interesting to have in the panel as they explain about how they are able to take such excellent photos of the books they've read!

8. Jeann @ Happy Indulgence: Jeann and the crew from Happy Indulgence also do Youtube videos about the books they have read and they would be a great addition to the panel about discussing about Booktube!

9. Sarah Elizabeth @ Sarah Elizabeth's Bookshelf: Sarah Elizabeth is another book blogger who reads a large amount of books in a short time and would be great in discussing about reading multiple books at one time!

10. Greg @ Book Haven: Greg is excellent at starting up conversations about books while also detailing his personal life, so he would be a great addition to the panel!

Questions asked during Conference Panel:

1. What are your favorite books?
2. For anyone who reads multiple books at one time, how do you manage to read many books at one time without getting too mixed up on what you are reading?
3. What unknown books do you think everyone should read?
4. What was your most hated book?
5. How do we get more people to read?

Where will it take place?

If I were to have a conference panel, I probably would choose a book event to attend such as BookExpo, so that way we can meet many people at the same time!

Are you interested ?

Are you interested in doing this topic? What book bloggers would you like to include in your panel?  What questions will you ask? Who will moderate your panel? Where would you hold the panel?

Eventbrite

[BOOK REVIEW] Cinderella or the Little Glass Slipper by Marcia Brown

Title:  Cinderella or the Little Glass Slipper

Author:  Marcia Brown

Genre: Fairy Tale / Fantasy / Royalty

Year Published: 1954

Year Read: 2010

Publisher:   Charles Scribner's Sons

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 4+ (Mistreatment of a Child)

Buy on:  Amazon  // Book Depository

“Cinderella or the Little Glass Slipper” is the winner of the Caldecott Medal and is one of the earlier books by Marcia Brown that retells the French fairy tale “Cinderella” about how a miserable girl named Cinderella tries to go to the grand ball with the help of her fairy godmother.  “Cinderella or the Little Glass Slipper” is clearly one of Marcia Brown’s most memorable books yet!

Marcia Brown has indeed created many children’s books throughout her life.  Imagine my surprise and excitement when I read her first children’s book!  Marcia Brown has made this version of Cinderella much more tame than in the other versions of “Cinderella” I have seen as Cinderella’s stepsisters in this version seem a bit nicer to Cinderella by easily telling Cinderella about their time at the ball, although they still maintained their cruel nature by teasing Cinderella about not going to the ball, which is a bit unusual for in most versions that I have read of “Cinderella,” the stepsisters were always mean to Cinderella regardless of the situation that Cinderella was in.  Marcia Brown’s illustrations are truly beautiful and simplistic in this version of the classic fairy tale as Cinderella truly looks beautiful with her wavy golden hair and beautiful black eyes.  Also, the illustrations are a bit simplistic due to the fact that there is barely any color in the background, but the color is mainly focused on the characters, which allows the characters to stand out more, which I have never seen done in any other book that have simplistic illustrations.

“Cinderella or the Little Glass Slipper” is a brilliant retelling of the classic fairy tale that I think will be more suitable to children who want to read the more tame version of the fairy tale and will be a great hit for children everywhere.  I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book other than the stepsisters’ poor behavior towards Cinderella.

* 1955 Caldecott Medal

You might also like:

• The Water of Life by Barbara Rogasky

• The Six Servants by Brothers Grimm
• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs retold by Randall Jarrell

Waiting on Wednesday #45: What to Say Next by Julie Buxbaum

Hello everyone! "Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, that is hosted by Breaking the Spine and the purpose of this event is that we spotlight upcoming releases of books that we are excited for!  This will also tie into Wishful Ending's Can't Wait Wednesday post!

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

Title:  What to Say Next

Author:  Julie Buxbaum

Expected Publication Date:  July 11th, 2017

From the New York Times bestselling author of Tell Me Three Things comes a charming and poignant story about two struggling teenagers who find an unexpected connection just when they need it most. For fans of Sophie Kinsella, Jennifer Niven, and Rainbow Rowell.

Sometimes a new perspective is all that is needed to make sense of the world.

KIT: I don’t know why I decide not to sit with Annie and Violet at lunch. It feels like no one here gets what I’m going through. How could they? I don’t even understand.

DAVID: In the 622 days I’ve attended Mapleview High, Kit Lowell is the first person to sit at my lunch table. I mean, I’ve never once sat with someone until now. “So your dad is dead,” I say to Kit, because this is a fact I’ve recently learned about her. 

When an unlikely friendship is sparked between relatively popular Kit Lowell and socially isolated David Drucker, everyone is surprised, most of all Kit and David. Kit appreciates David’s blunt honesty—in fact, she finds it bizarrely refreshing. David welcomes Kit’s attention and her inquisitive nature. When she asks for his help figuring out the how and why of her dad’s tragic car accident, David is all in. But neither of them can predict what they’ll find. Can their friendship survive the truth?

Oooh boy! What a way to start a friendship!  Anyway, a murder mystery with friendship at center stage?  Sounds like an interesting read to me! 

So, what upcoming books are you looking forward to?  Please respond below!

Top Ten Tuesday #51: Top 10 Best Books I've Read So Far in 2017!

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.


This week's top 10 Tuesday topic is "Top 10 Best Books I've Read So Far in 2017."  Oh man!  I've been waiting for this moment to come since I've managed to read a lot of awesome books so far this year!

So here's my top 10 Best Books I've Read So Far in 2017 (in no particular order, since that would be hard)!

1.  Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

I seriously can't believe that I waited for over 5 YEARS to finally read this book!  Where was I for the past 5 YEARS?  Anyway,  this book blew me away and I seriously need to get the rest of this series ASAP!!!



2.  Wicked Intentions by Elizabeth Hoyt

I've never read any books by Elizabeth Hoyt before and this first book I had read by her is enough to get me on the Elizabeth Hoyt bandwagon pretty soon!




3.  Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers

I just read "Grave Mercy" like a few years ago (a LOOOONNNNNGGGG few years ago) and after I just read the sequel to the "Grave Mercy" series "Dark Triumph," I was pumping my fist for more adventures from our favorite Lady Assassins!


4. Alice by Christina Henry

You know, with my issues about my trigger warning buttons being pushed (in this case, this book is all about RAPE), I was actually surprised that I enjoyed this book and I can't wait to check out the next book in this series!

5.  Monstress by Marjorie Liu

It's been a LOOOONNNNNGGG time since I've last read the first two issues of Marjorie Liu's PUMP FISTING, ACTION PACKED and CREATIVE series "Monstress."  But now I finally got the chance to read the rest of the issues from Volume 1 and I'm STOKED for the next volume!


6. Lio: Making Friends by Mark Tatulli

I just love the CREEPY yet HILARIOUS adventures of this weird kid who loves hanging out with monsters and creating weapons of mass destruction.  I am now on a serious "Lio" drive now!



7.  Love You Forever by Robert Munsch

Why did it take me like DECADES to get around to reading this book?  I must have been one careless little kid when I was little since I didn't read this book until just now and I didn't see how AWESOME and SWEET this book really was!



8.  The King's Stilts by Dr. Seuss

I'm a huge Dr. Seuss fan and even though I've read like over A MILLION Dr. Seuss books when I was little, I've never read this RARE LITTLE GEM until just now and I loved it to DEATH!




9.  Garfield Brings Home the Bacon by Jim Davis

You and I both know that "Garfield" was going to make this list anyway, since I'm a huge GARFIELD fan and this volume didn't disappoint me at all!

10. D.W. All Wet by Marc Brown

Another book that was going on my "BEST OF" lists anyway since I have always been a huge fan of Marc Brown's "Arthur" series and this "D.W." book is definitely an UNIQUE experience for me!

Cover Characteristic #10: Face in the Sky

Hey everyone! This is a meme that was created by the folks over at Sugar and Snark called "Cover Characteristic" and here are the rules for this meme:

Each week we will post a characteristic and choose 5 of our favorite covers with that characteristic. If you want to join in and share your 5 favorite covers with the weeks particular characteristic, then just make a post, grab the meme picture (or make your own) and leave your URL in Linky (so we can visit). You don’t even need to participate, just stopping by and saying hi would be great! Don’t forget to stop by the other participants!

This week's theme is: Face in the Sky!

1.  The Creep: King of the serial killers by John T. Foster:  This is my pick of the week! I just loved the mysterious and frightening look of the face overlooking the city!

2. Slated (Slated #1) by Teri Terry : Such a lovely cover with a woman's face overlooking the city below her!

3. Jump Into the Sky Shelley Pearsall: Such a powerful looking cover of a girl looking with uncertainty on her face and you can see the plane hovering around her face which gives it a mysterious feel.

4. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: This one is a pure classic and I just loved seeing the disembodied eyes overlooking a city!

5. The Vampire's Curse (Things in the Night #1) by Mandy Rosko  : This was my second pick of the week and I just loved how beautiful the couple looks kissing over the city.

Next Week's Theme:

Marilyn Monroe

New Releases on the Horizon #23: June 25, 2017 - July 1, 2017

Hey everyone!  I just started this new thing on my blog called "New Releases on the Horizon!"  It's where I list all the new books being release throughout the year and I choose from 10 books that I have the most interest in checking out and I also will list the dates the books will be released and where you can find them if you are interested.


So, be on the lookout for some new books on the horizon!

Now I Rise (The Conqueror's Saga #2) by Kiersten White  

Expected Publication: June 27th, 2017 by Delacorte Press  

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee  

Expected Publication:  June 27th, 2017 by Katherine Tegen Books  

  

Aftercare Instructions by Bonnie Pipkin  

Expected Publication:  June 27th, 2017 by Flatiron  

If Birds Fly Back by Carlie Sorosiak   

Expected Publication:  June 27th, 2017 by HarperTeen   

Girl on the Verge by Pintip Dunn  

Expected Publication:  June 27th, 2017 by Kensington  

The Impossible Vastness of Us by Samantha Young   
Expected publication: June 27th, 2017 by Harlequin Teen 

Duke with Benefits (Studies in Scandal #2) by  Manda Collins  

Expected publication:  June 27th, 2017 by St. Martin's Paperbacks  

  

Three Weeks with a Princess (The Improper Princesses #2) by Vanessa Kelly  

Expected publication:  June 27th, 2017 by Zebra   

The Day of the Duchess (Scandal & Scoundrel #3)  by Sarah MacLean  

Expected publication: June 27th, 2017 by Avon

  

The Waking Land by Callie Bates 

Expected publication:  June 29th, 2017 by Hodder & Stoughton 

[BOOK REVIEW] In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories by Alvin Schwartz

Title:  In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories

Author:  Alvin Schwartz

Artist:  Dirk Zimmer

Genre:  Short Stories / Horror / Drama / Monsters

Year Published: 1984

Year Read:  2017

Publisher:  HarperCollins Publishers

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 6+ (Death and Some Scary Imagery)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

Now, I have been introduced to Alvin Schwartz’s works before through his famous and controversial “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” series and after I found out that Alvin Schwartz had written another pair of horror stories for children called “In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories,” of course I had to give this series a whirl!

This is a collection of horror stories for children and there is a total of seven stories being told in this book.  The stories featured in this collection are:

1. The Teeth
2. In the Graveyard
3. The Green Ribbon
4. In a Dark, Dark Room
5. The Night it Rained
6. The Pirate
7. The Ghost of John

Wow!  Alvin Schwartz really knows how to create stories that are both scary and tame for any child and all of these horror stories contain a mixture of humor and horror that made me both smile and cringe at the same time.  I loved the fact that Alvin Schwartz did some research on these stories and allows the readers to understand where these stories came from as he mentions it in the “Where the Stories Come From” section at the end of the book as I wanted to know where these stories came from.  I also enjoyed many of the stories in this book with my favorites being “The Green Ribbon” and “In a Dark, Dark Room” as I believe that those are the creepiest stories in this collection, especially “The Green Ribbon!”  Dirk Zimmer’s artwork conveys both horror and comedy in this book as the characters have exaggerated features which includes some of the characters have large noses and wide eyes and I also loved the way that the characters look so pale and frightened in most of the images as it shows what kind of horrors the readers will be introduced to when they start reading this book!

The reason why I took off a half point from the star rating was because I felt that there were too many abrupt endings in each story and I wanted to see some closure in these stories, although given the short length of this book, that was to be expected.  Also, even though I have enjoyed Alvin Schwartz’s work on “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark,” I felt that this collection of horror stories was not as scary as “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.” Maybe it is because the artwork was not as scary as Stephen Gammell’s artwork in “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” and that took away the creepiness of the stories, although stories like “The Green Ribbon” still remained creepy no matter how the illustrations looked like.

Overall, “In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories” is a great collection of horror stories that children will gladly enjoy during Halloween time!  I would recommend this book to children ages six and up since there are some scary stories in this book that might creep out younger readers.

*  1992 North Carolina Children's Book Award

\

You might also like:

• Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz

• More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz

• Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones by Alvin Schwartz