Helloooo!
Day 3 of blogging!I'm going to say it's "A Post a Day, until Thanksgiving".CANADIAN Thanksgiving, guys! Which is next Monday.So you have me for a whole seven days straight.
LUCKY YOU
No? Okay.
Really though, I'm so thankful anyone is even reading this.You guys are great, and hopefully you enjoy what I have for you guys.
So I noticed that yesterday I said would post both my review of the HarperCollins fall preview, and a writing blog.Oops.Apparently, I got over excited.So I decided that my review would go up today, and the writing one tomorrow, since it's the first in a series and will make far more sense that way!
So the HarperCollins conference took place at Novotel Hotel, downtown.I'm going to go through this in a similar way that I did for my , but this won't be a comparison.Both events had a unique environment and I can't possibly pit them against each other.Both publishing companies have been responsible for many of my favourite books, so I'll leave it at that.
So arriving at the Novotel, and I were immediately impressed.The d cor at this hotel is awesome.Retro but classy. Is that a thing?
Anyways, our hosts for the evening were Cory Beatty and Shannon Parsons.They were really great.Not only were they incredibly friendly, they were also entertaining.They make a great duo, playing off each other's humour and keeping the mood light and fun throughout the evening.So much time was spent laughing that time just flew by.
We had a special guest come to talk to us as well.And it's good they had already supplied us with food, because I had been starving, and this guy was about to make everyone salivate.Ricardo Larriv e, Quebec's best known chef was there to talk about his new cookbook,(out October 22nd).Now, I'm not a cook.I've never really tried to be one.Maybe one day.But like many non-cooks, I still love cookbooks.It's always "I'll start to cook if I get it," and "oooh, look at the pretty pictures".This new book by Ricardo though, is also filled with fun comments.He mentioned how he wanted to be able to poke fun at himself," which came off completely charming.He's such a good story teller, and really made me want to make his slow cooker chocolate pudding recipe.He also talked at length about a pulled pork recipe and also one for ribs, but those aren't really my thing.Sam though, who really enjoys red meat, thought it sounded delicious.Ricardo's books may be first published in French, but they are always translated into English and are populate with both communities! He also has a magazine which he mentioned may be getting released in an English edition soon.I know the French one sells like crazy at work.So keep an eye out!
Before moving on to fiction, which we all know is my main interest, I want to talk about one more chef with an upcoming book.
Yes, that's UK's Jamie Oliver.Don't even try to tell me you don't know him.He's WONDERFUL.
He's got an accent.He makes simple recipes even I could follow, in minimal time.He's involved with making school food healthier for children.He's brought his kids on his show, and they're all adorable.He's got an accent.He had a show called The Naked Chef.He's funny.He's got an accent. He's dreamy.
I love looking through his cookbooks at work.They're beautiful! And not just cause he's on the cover.His new books are , where we learn how to save money but eat healthy, and not waste food & , which is an even better version of his 30 minute meals (for which he had a TV show as well, which I enjoyed watching for fun).
I want a copy.Can it come with my very own Jamie?
Photo-bomb time!
Yeah. He's great.
So on to the fiction books I'm interested in checking out!
Firstly, we received free books once again.This time they were:
Mitch Albom's(YAY!!) (OUT NOVEMBER 12TH)
* The title pretty much says it all.A small town begins receiving phone calls from the afterlife.A story about the power of belief.Bound to be a moving read.
Brian Payton's (OUT JANUARY 7TH, 2014)
* From Goodreads:
"Following the loss of his brother to the war in Europe, Canadian writer John Easley feels duty-bound to report the story that seems to have fallen into his lap: the 1943 Japanese occupation of the US Aleutian Islands and the Allied attempts to drive them back into the sea. But when his plane is shot down over the island of Attu, he is exposed to the full fury of a wilderness known as "the Birthplace of Winds." He soon discovers that the island's indigenous residents (U.S. citizens) have all disappeared and that he has one choice: surrender or face starvation and madness alone.
Meanwhile, 3,000 miles away in Seattle, Helen Easley will not sit idly by. She invents a new identity, one designed to take her from her from the safety of her childhood home to the war in the North Pacific. There, Helen believes, she will find her husband and reclaim their love-if only her determination can overcome their fate.
So begins this moving and spellbinding portrait of lives forever altered by one of the least known battles of WW2, the only battle fought on American soil."
Ann Patchett's (OUT NOVEMBER 5TH)
* For writers who like her work, you'll love this one.
From Goodreads: "The New York Times bestselling author of State of Wonder, Run, and Bel Canto creates a resonant portrait of a life in this collection of writings on love, friendship, work, and art.
"The tricky thing about being a writer, or about being any kind of artist, is that in addition to making art you also have to make a living." Bringing her narrative gifts to bear on her own life, Ann Patchett uses insight and compassion to turn very personal experiences into stories that will resonate with every listener. These essays twine to create both a portrait of life and a philosophy of life. Obstacles that at first appear insurmountable--scaling a six-foot wall in order to join the Los Angeles Police Department, opening an independent bookstore, and sitting down to write a novel--are eventually mastered with quiet tenacity and a sheer force of will. An irresistible blend of literature and memoir, This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage is a unique examination of the heart, mind, and soul of one of our most revered and gifted writers."
Anders de la Motte's (OUT DECEMBER 10TH)
* Swedish author, with a new trilogy! Sounds really cool.
From HarperCollinsCanada (couldn't find the Goodreads link!):
"Aimless young Henrik "HP" Petterson finds a cellphone on a Stockholm train that invites him to play a game: in no time, he's embarking on daring, high-stakes missions that turn his ordinary life extraordinary. HP loves the thrill, and the rewards, but is there a sinister side to the seemingly innocent contest?
Meanwhile, ambitious Detective Rebecca Norm n is moving up the career ladder in the Swedish Secret Service but is troubled by the handwritten notes she keeps finding in her locker. Whoever writes them knows way too much about her past. HP's and Rebecca's worlds inevitably collide. But if reality is just a game, then what is real?"
All of them sound really interesting, and I will let you know what I think as I get through them, if that interests you guys!
So of the other books that we talked about, these were the highlights in my eyes (most of these are now available in your bookstores:
Robyn Schneider's
* For John Green fans (who isn't?):
"Golden boy Ezra Faulkner believes everyone has a tragedy waiting for them--a single encounter after which everything that really matters will happen. His particular tragedy waited until he was primed to lose it all: in one spectacular night, a reckless driver shatters Ezra's knee, his athletic career, and his social life.
No longer a front-runner for Homecoming King, Ezra finds himself at the table of misfits, where he encounters new girl Cassidy Thorpe. Cassidy is unlike anyone Ezra's ever met, achingly effortless, fiercely intelligent, and determined to bring Ezra along on her endless adventures.
But as Ezra dives into his new studies, new friendships, and new love, he learns that some people, like books, are easy to misread. And now he must consider: if one's singular tragedy has already hit and everything after it has mattered quite a bit, what happens when more misfortune strikes?"
Madeleine Roux's
* "For sixteen-year-old Dan Crawford, New Hampshire College Prep is more than a summer program--it's a lifeline. An outcast at his high school, Dan is excited to finally make some friends in his last summer before college. But when he arrives at the program, Dan learns that his dorm for the summer used to be a sanatorium, more commonly known as an asylum. And not just any asylum--a last resort for the criminally insane. As Dan and his new friends, Abby and Jordan, explore the hidden recesses of their creepy summer home, they soon discover it's no coincidence that the three of them ended up here. Because the asylum holds the key to a terrifying past. And there are some secrets that refuse to stay buried."
Caroline Carlson's
* For fans of Lemony Snicket; deals with gender empowerment.Great for young girls and boys. And adults too, of course.
"Hilary Westfield has always dreamed of being a pirate. She can tread water for thirty-seven minutes. She can tie a knot faster than a fleet of sailors, and she already owns a rather pointy sword.
There's only one problem: The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates refuses to let any girl join their ranks of scourges and scallywags.
But Hilary is not the kind of girl to take no for answer. To escape a life of petticoats and politeness at her stuffy finishing school, Hilary sets out in search of her own seaworthy adventure, where she gets swept up in a madcap quest involving a map without an X, a magical treasure that likely doesn't exist, a talking gargoyle, a crew of misfit scallywags, and the most treacherous--and unexpected--villain on the High Seas."
Adam Mansbach's
* "On both sides of the Mexican-American border, girls are going missing and bodies are beginning to surface, a deadly epidemic of crime that plunges a small-town police chief into a monster of an investigation he's unequipped to handle.Sherry Nichols is one of those disappeared girls. Miraculously, she's managed to escape. As the young woman soon discovers, freeing herself was the easy part. Lost and alone, she's got to make it through the desert. Alive.
In a Mexican jail, an unjustly-imprisoned man named Galvan is offered a devil's bargain. Freedom and the beloved daughter from whom he is estranged if he successfully carries a sinister package across the border in twenty-four hours.
But there are more than coyotes (human and animal) roaming the desert in search of prey. An ancient evil has returned, and now everyone must face their deepest terrors."
And just because this was amazing to look at:
Carli Davidson's Shake (OUT OCTOBER 22ND)
OH WOW. Enough Said.
So I've put it off until now, but the BIGGEST fall release for HarperCollins (maybe even for all YA) is going to be this one:
Veronica Roth's
I don't think I need to say much here.With an upcoming movie based on the first book, Divergent, and this being the conclusion to the trilogy that's been compared to The Hunger Games, I really can't do much better.If you're interested in YA, you probably already have it pre-ordered, don't you?It's less than two weeks away now.Get excited!
There were many, many more books discussed, but those are the ones that immediately caught my attention.If I want to mention any more, I will update!
A big thanks to the team at HarperCollins Canada, it was a great event!
Hope you like the sound of at least a few of them. Let me know what you think if you pick one up! I'd love to hear from you!
Night guys!
Be back tomorrow with another post!
Sarah
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