West Hollywood Book Fair

I'm going to need a lot of coffee. Fast.

This weekend, I'm off to LA to take part in the West Hollywood Book Fair. If you live around the area, I hope you'll come out and say hi! It's free admission and I would love to meet you.

It's on Sunday, October 2nd, and I'll be interviewing three fantastic authors at the Teen Stage as well as signing copies of RAE. I'm really excited to get a chance to sit down with such great writers.

You can check out all the details at westhollywoodbookfair.org, but here's my schedule of events:

I'll be interviewing:

Cecil Castelucci (Rose Sees Red, Beige) from 11:15am - 11:30,

Blake Nelson (Girl, Paranoid Park, Destroy All Cars) at 12:50-1:05, and

Cherry Cheva (Duplikate, She's So Money) at 3:35 - 3:50

Signings will follow directly after at the Once Upon a Time Books Teen Booth.

There are a lot of other great events and authors, like a reading of "A Wrinkle in Time" from actress Marg Helgenberger (CSI) alongside great YA authors. There's a "tales of the supernatural" panel with authors Kendare Blake (Anna Dressed in Blood), Ransom Riggs (Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculair Children), and Kathy McCullough (Don't Expect Magic). There's a live book trailer event, where teens create live trailers for books like Epic Fail and My Life, The Theater, and Other Tragedies. And there's a lot more to see, so check out the Teen Stage section of the website for YA events, and the home page for everything else.

There's also a map there, if you're going, which you can use to not get lost.

I hope to see some of you guys there!

The Fox Inheritance by Mary Pearson

The Fox Inheritance is a companion book to The Adoration of Jenna Fox, but I think they can be read in any order without any kind of lack in storyline. They are both very strong, solid books, and they don't need the other to support the plot.

Ultimately, this is a book about identity. It's one of those books that raises questions, one after the other, in a string of unanswerable wonder, until your mind is a mess. But it's not overly philosophical. It's a fast-paced thriller, but it's one that makes your brain work as fast as your heart, which is rare in that genre.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox hooked me from the first chapter. Jenna was saved by her scientist father after The Accident - the details of which are murky and mysterious and mixed inside of a scientific test tube. Her friends Locke and Kara weren't so lucky, and ended up with their memories trapped inside a computer. The Fox Inheritance is about what happens when they break out.

This is the kind of book I would label as horror. It's one of the most horrific books I've read, mostly because it mixes technology with religion and personal identity beliefs (the kind of beliefs you never knew you had an opinion on) and then it chops and grates it all together. At the root of it all is one basic question: what does it mean to be human?

The Fox Inheritance dug even deeper into that issue. It's told from the point of view of Locke, and being inside his head is one of the most interesting character experiences I've read. There's more of an obvious difference in the society, as it takes place many years after Jenna Fox, but you experience it alongside Locke. The technology is interesting, realistic, and enthralling. It feels like you've been thrown into the actual future, without a clue of how anything works, but it's a journey to figure it out. It's a book that's very high on ethics, but it's such an excitable book, you don't really realize how much it messes with your mind until you set it down.

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My new standard is to discuss and give away four books a month (this being #3) but I just gave away a ton of prizes for the Witch Eyes scavenger hunt I did on Twitter (I hope some of you guys won!) Next month we'll be back to four.

To win either The Fox Inheritance or The Adoration of Jenna Fox, plus the other books discussed in September (The Scorpio Races and The Name of the Star) just leave me a comment. You can say anything, but I'll always leave a discussion question. U.S. only due to shipping costs. If you don't leave a way for me to contact you, (Blogger profile, twitter handle, etc) then please check back at the start of next month, or you can subscribe by email, etc in the sidebar.

Question: Locke and Kara were trapped, semi-consciously, in a kind of black void for 200+ years, but now they can live even longer than that. If you could make that choice, would you choose that kind of lifestyle? Would you still be sane?

Again, all you have to do to enter is comment - about anything! And you can comment on the other two books, linked above, that will be included in the prize pack. If you've already read/own any of the books that I've discussed this month, you can substitute one of them for any book discussed on Coffee & Cliffhangers before.

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

What makes Jack the Ripper one of the most famous serial killers in the world? There's basically nothing known about him - a lot of his legend is based around speculation and whispers. He was never caught, which is maybe why it's so intriguing, this idea that he could have lived a normal life. He could have walked dogs, gardened, talked about literature over tea, disemboweling people only in the dead of night.

But one thing is definite - Jack the Ripper is a legend. Because of his name.

The Name of the Star centers around the legend that is Jack the Ripper, told in a modern retelling. Right off the bat, you know there's some tone of paranormal to it. Rory is the only one who sees the suspect of the killings happening in London - killings that mimic almost exactly the deaths that Jack the Ripper had been accused of originally. There are "shocking powers" described in the summary. It all has a hint of mystery to it, and even though it's slightly predictable, once you hit the revealed storyline, things get interesting.

I'm always surprised by Maureen Johnson's writing. Reading her Twitter stream makes her seem slightly diabolical and insane, but that madness tones down into some semblance of sanity in her books, and it's almost disturbing because you know she can plot. So her writing took me aback because I expected it to be a little less organized and a little more Virginia Woolf.

I'm terrible at transitional sentences, but I'm a huge historical ficton lover. I love the idea of taking history - something that actually happened, or even just legend - and weaving it into a story. Taking cold facts and turning them into real people. This isn't technically historical fiction, but it has that kind of feel to it. The reweaving of history. A very fantastical reweaving of history, but all the same, it makes you think about other people's pasts, and that's something that really interests me.

Speaking of bad transitioning - the fact that there's a Doctor Who reference? Earned so many awesome points. Because, oh, that show is brilliant. Oddly, I've read three books in the last month with Doctor Who references. I do fear it's slightly taking over the world a bit, but it's great.

But let's get back to The Name of the Star. Specifically, the ending. Oh, the ending. I'm a big fan of cliffhangers. I love the way they just drop you and leave you stunned with an open book in your lap. Almost like it grew a paper hand out it's binding and smacked you in the face. The Name of the Star perfected the art of cliffhangerdom and booksmacking. It got ACES in it. If there were report cards for cliffhangers, Johnson would no doubt have hers hung on her fridge.

Very interesting book. I had high hopes for it and even though it wasn't what I initially expected, I found it pretty dang fascinating.

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If you want to win a copy of The Name of the Star alongside the other three books I discuss this month, just leave a comment. If you've already read/own a copy of any of the books I talk about, don't let that stop you from entering because we can exchange it for another book I've discussed at any time.

Other books reviewed in September : The Scorpio Races.

I'll always give a discussion question to talk about, but you can say anything you'd like. Contest open to U.S. only right now, due to shipping costs. Ends September 30th, but I give away a book every week, so there are plenty of chances to win. If there isn't a way to contact you (on your profile, etc,) you'll have to check back at the start of next month to see if you win or you can subscribe by email in the sidebar.

So. If you were to write a book taking place at any period in history, what would it be? What fascinates you the most about our past?

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

I had a nightmare the other night that involved the capaill uisce, huge water horses that tear up the pages of The Scorpio Races. They're not awwwwpony horses. They're horses that rise out of the water only to immerse themselves back into it - with you in tow. They want to drown you and eat you and then come back for seconds. And the characters of Maggie Stiefvater's latest book decide to ride them.

The Scorpio Races takes place on the island Puck and Sean, the main characters of the story, both live on. While Sean has ridden in the races for years, Puck is the first girl to take up reigns in them, and it's her first year entering. The stakes are high, and only one of them can win. Which is pretty problematic after they meet (cheeeeemistry.)

You don't really know who to root for in this book. It's told in alternating chapters and there's reasons you want each of them to win. But of course only one of them can.

Maggie Stiefvater can flippin' write. From reading her books from Shiver to this point, her writing has gotten ridiculously gorgeous. Her writing has always been good, but in this book I could practically experience it - I could hear the sound of the hooves on the sand and smell the iron salt water and taste the icing off of the November cakes they sell in stands. Steifvater's imagery is some of the most beautiful I've ever read. And if I'm comparing these to her last books, this is by far my favorite. I enjoyed the Shiver series (Linger in particular), but this book - this book I adore.

I've always loved mythology and folklore, and I've read a pretty wide amount of retellings and re-imaginings. When you read so many of them, they can sometimes blur together because they feature some of the same characters. The Scorpio Races was so unique and refreshingly different, I don't think it will ever mingle pages with another book.

Faerie folklore is something I've been interested in for a while, because I love the idea of glamour hiding something so dark and sinister. Faeries are wicked, and Stiefvater takes the idea of something you might know more commonly as kelpies and twists them into the real world in a way that seems entirely realistic. And hella scary.

This was just an overall fantastic book. I wish I could read it for the first time again, but I'm going to have to settle myself with having all of you read it for the first time.

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Thanks to everyone who commented during the month of August! Every comment on my book discussions entered you to win all of the books I reviewed within that month. The same goes for September. I generally discuss one book a week, and I give away a copy of each book. The winner, thanks to random.org, is Jessica, who commented on Blood Red Road! I'll be emailing you.

If you want to win a copy of The Scorpio Races alongside the other three books I discuss this month, just leave a comment. If you've already read/own a copy of any of the books I talk about, don't let that stop you from entering because we can exchange it for another book I've discussed at any time.

I'll always give a discussion question to talk about, but you can say anything you'd like.

What are some of your favorite myths, legends, or folklore? Have you read any retellings about them?

Check back weekly for more chances to win, and a new winner will be announced in October! If you don't leave a way for me to contact you (a blog link, etc) make sure you check back at the start of next month.