Weekly wrap-up: October 19-25

To say this week was insane is a gross understatement. Last Saturday, I was at Texas Teen Book Festival. It was a lot of fun to see many of my fellow Texas bloggers and hang out with authors like Gayle Forman, Lauren Oliver, Becca Fitzpatrick, Cory Doctorow, Will Ritter, and many others; however, the event was partially outside, which is a problem in Texas (I GOT SUNBURNED. IN OCTOBER). We were hot, tired, and pretty smelly at the end of the day. Also, news of you-know-what broke right at the beginning of the festival, and I was outraged the entire day. I have rarely been so livid in my life. How dare an author research personal details about a blogger who wrote a negative review and then use that information to stalk the review AT HER HOME? That is absurd, and I refuse to fall for her lame attempts at humor and to pretend she is the victim in this situation. Here's my public declaration: I will not EVER review that author's book or give her any further publicity on Mary Had a Little Book Blog. I will not stand for it. Instead I will focus my time and energy into authors who actually appreciate their readers and who write dang good books!

Reading wise, I enjoyed myself this week. I mean, Jennifer Echols, come on! She's my favorite!! <3 <3 <3 And I just got back from the Texas Book Festival, which was fantastic. It wasn't wall-to-wall ya authors, but that almost made it better because it seemed more personal, less of a people version of a cattle drive.

Completed:

Most Likely to Succeed (Superlatives #3) - Jennifer Echols: 5 stars. SAWYER OH MY GOSH THAT IS ALL.

The Secret Diamond Sisters (Secret Diamond Sisters #1) - Michelle Madow: 3 stars. Cute, but a bit chaotic. There are a few too many characters for my liking, particularly all the love interests running around. Hoping things will settle in book 2, although one question I had in 1 has already been answered in 2, and I am somewhat disappointed by it. So...we'll see.
Lead (Stage Dive #3) - Kylie Scott: 3 stars. This was a fun book, but I didn't outright love it the way I loved Lick and especially Play. I really enjoyed Lena, but Jimmy....I'm just not the kind of girl who likes bad boys.

Reread:

Behemoth (Leviathan #2) audiobook - Scott Westerfeld & Alan Cumming: 4 stars. Still an amazing reading by Alan Cumming, but I liked this a little less than Leviathan. I might be burned out on the story by listening to them back-to-back, though.

Currently Reading:

Isla and the Happily Ever After - Stephanie Perkins. I'm rereading so I can review it for a friend and loving it just as much the second time around.

Diamonds in the Rough - Michelle Madow

New to my bookshelf this week:

Library:

None. I should probably go restock my audiobooks...

Bought:

B&N:
The Infinite Sea - Rick Yancey

All Broke Down - Cora Carmack x2

My True Love Gave to Me - Stephanie Perkins

Parallel - Lauren Miller

Spellcaster - Claudia Gray

Famous in Love - Rebecca Serle

Half Price Books:
The 5th Wave - Rick Yancey
Tiger's Curse - Colleen Houck
The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp - Rick Yancey

Events Attended: 
10/25-26: Texas Book Festival in Austin, TX. Saw Claudia Gray, Shannon & Dean Hale, Lauren Miller, Stephanie Perkins, Jennifer E. Smith, Rebecca Serle, Lindsay Cummings, Rick Yancey, Dayna Lorentz, Meg Wolitzer, Lindsey Lane, Sherry Thomas, and Cora Carmack.