Favorite Comics

A while back, I did a post about my favorite Marvel comics, which you can read about here. Since the, I've fallen down the rabbit hole. Literally. Into the world of Marvel, DC, Image comics, Darkhorse comics and more. I have a pull file at my local comic book shop and I'm constantly adding and removing titles, following way too many series and just have become a bit obsessed with comics this past year. 

I thought that for those interested in getting into comics or slowly getting into, I would share some of my favorite comics. Most of these series are well into like the 19th issue, or close to being completed. But this is a good thing because this means the collected bind-up either in hardback or trade paperback will now be available which is a lot easier to find (and cheaper too ;)). 

Anyways, below are my all-time favorite titles that just are amazing series:

1. Black Widow (Marvel)

Unfortunately, Black Widow is ending with the Secret Wars and will not be renewing with the All-New marvel series reboot which will happen in the fall. But that only means beautiful paperbacks! This series is just amazing and it gives a closer look into the avenger that we all know and love. We get Natasha's background story and we get to see how she thinks with current missions. I love the story arcs in this series so much and it never disappoints! 

2. Ms Marvel (Marvel) 

Kamila Khan. What a fantastic protagonist. This comic is basically seeing a fan of marvel become a superhero. It is just wonderful to see how Kamila's home-life (her culture, her beliefs) tie into the story arcs. The art is also really lovely and you get to see some familiar faces pop up in the series which will definitely delight marvel fans (Hello Loki). I really liked how it also ties into the world of the inhumans. Ms Marvel will continue again in the all-new marvel reboot and I'm so excited to see where Kamila ends up next. 

3. Deadly Class (Image Comics)

Let me just preface this comic with saying, it is pretty messed up. But in the best way. This story follows Marcus who joins a school where they train assassins. Failure is punishable by death. Besides the regular problems one face's in high-school, like getting your work done on time and love problems, Marcus and his friends face a lot more. Like how to stay alive amongst all the chaos. I just love how this series really pushes the envelope and brings you something that blows you away issue after issue. The art style is also very different but in a wonderful way. This was one of the first series I started and I still love it! The past issue was just all kinds of crazy, so I recommend you start catching up so you can also go "Omg" with me! 

4. Sex Criminals (Image Comics) 

AHH this series. I don't even know where to begin with this series. I just love Fraction and Zdarsky so much. I've had the pleasure of meeting Chip twice now and he is just a riot! The story follows John and Suzie who are connected through the place the enter during "sex" - it is quite strange to explain.. but know that it goes beyond that. It focuses on relationships and somehow saving a library? I think the art is fantastic and there are a lot of hilarious moments in it. The end though with notes from Zdarsky and Fraction is what I look forward to EVERY. ISSUE. 

5. Saga (Image Comics)

Saga!! I remember when this first came out, there was so much hype surrounding it. But it deserved every bit of it and more! The story follows Alana and Marko who are both from worlds at war but both in love. Kind of a forbidden romance. Throw in some crazy Princes, creatures and oh, the regular family problems.. that is Saga. I really love this series so much. The art is FANTASTIC and the storylines really blow you away. 

6. Harley Quinn (DC)

So this is the only DC series I read and really enjoy. I was always intrigued with the Harley Quinn character and all that I knew from before was her connections to the Joker. This comic series really goes beyond that and shows Harley trying to make a life for herself away from all of that. There are tons of familiar faces from the DC-universe and it is just a lot of fun to see what Harley gets up to! 

7. Ant-Man (Marvel)

I did not think it was possible to love Scott Lang more while reading this comic and after recently seeing the movie, my love for him is with FULL-FORCE now. My goodness the art in this comic is just so detailed, vibrant and all around beautiful. I love the storylines that the comic has gone on so far and I really enjoy that it moves away from the movie storyline a bit and offers a really good scope on Lang entirely. Please read it, you will LOVE it! 

 Oh and a few honourable mentions: 

L to R: All-New Hawkeye (Marvel), Lumberjanes (Boom) and Silk (Marvel) 

The new Hawkeye series just started but the art. THE ART. The artist is going to be at Fan Expo this year and I am over the moon excited. Lumberjanes has been a favorite of mine for a while, it is a lot of fun and the art is done by Noelle Stevenson who is an absolute sweetheart! Lastly, Silk, this is a newer series but still really enjoyable and offers a deeper look into Cindy Moon. 

Well that is it for me today. Let me know in the comments below if you have read any of these comic titles and what you think of them. Please also let me know what titles are YOUR favorite because I would love to check them out! :D 

The Taylor Swift Book Tag

I was tagged last month by the lovely Nicole from Nicole's Novel Reads for the Taylor Swift Tag. I did not know this was a thing until I was tagged and I was so excited. I'm a big fan of Taylor Swift! Actually kind of counting down the days until her Toronto stop on the #1989WorldTour ;) 

Anyways, the tag was originally created by The Book Life! I will leave my tags for the end of the post. 

1. For ‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together’ pick a book (or book series) that you were pretty sure you were in love with, but then wanted to break up with. 

After the "Twilight" craze, I remember looking to the Blue Bloods series by Melissa De La Cruz. I've read every single book from that series and while in the beginning, I really enjoyed it, towards the end of the series, I no longer connected with the characters like I used to and I felt that the narrative was dragged out over too many books. 

2. For ‘Red’ pick a book with a RED cover. 

This one was easy! I chose the most vibrant red book sitting on my shelf! It is also my favourite book from the Hunger Games trilogy. 

3. For ‘The Best Day’ pick a book that makes you feel nostalgic. 

Always. (I think that says enough) 

4. For ‘Love Story’ pick a book with forbidden love.

I would definitely categorize Sydney and Adrian as forbidden. 

5. For ‘I Knew You Were Trouble’ pick a book with a bad character you couldn’t help but love.

Warner, for obvious reasons. 

6. For ‘Innocent’ (written b/c of Kanye West!) pick a book that someone ruined the ending for.

This one was unfortunately spoiled for me. I couldn't believe it! It was literally the first sentence of someone's review on goodreads. Unbelievable! 

7. For ‘Everything has changed’ pick a character from a book who goes through extensive character development. 

For this one, I am most definitely going to pick Snape. JK paced it really well for Snape and I really enjoyed seeing how it all unfolded and I was so happy (bittersweet really) by the end of it. 

8. For ‘You Belong With Me’ pick your most anticipated book release. 

I couldn't choose just one. These are currently my most anticipated releases - Dumplin' by Julie Murphy, Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling and Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare! I am so excited for all of these and I wish I could read them right now! 

9. For ‘Forever and Always’ – Pick your favourite book couple. 

Ron and Hermione forever. I am going to ignore JK's recent edits to cannon :P 

10. For ‘Begin Again’ pick a series that deserves a second chance.

One of my favourite series ever by one of my favourite authors ever. I know this series did not get a lot of love, but I definitely recommend going back and checking it out. If there's one book you should buy this year, it is this one. Seriously. Do it. I want the third book. 

11. For ‘Wonderland’ pick a book that features your favourite fictional world.

This one was a no-brainer. I can get my bags packed instantly. Please take me to Hogwarts. 

12. For ‘Last Kiss’ pick a series that you’re not ready to let go, even though it ended. 

Harry Potter once again. I decided to change it up to feature the new covers. Although it has ended, these new editions that have been coming out just reignite my love for the series. 

13.  For ‘Clean’ pick a series where you’re glad it’s over.

Unpopular book opinion coming - but I'm so glad that this series is over. Surprisingly enough, I enjoy the movies a lot, but the book series just wasn't for me. I liked the first book and from there it just went downhill. It was a struggle for me to get through the final book. 

14. For ‘Wildest Dreams’ pick your favourite fictional guy–it’s preferred but he doesn’t have to be a bad boy. 

Warner. Warner. Warner. Warner. Warner. 

15. For ‘Enchanted’ pick a book you found by chance that you ended up loving.

I was browsing chapters one day when I came across this. What a wonderful read. It totally blew me away and I just get emotional thinking about it. Incredibly beautiful book. 

16. For ‘All You Had to Do Was Stay’ pick a book you didn’t finish that you wish you had given another chance.

I stopped after Beautiful Creatures. I also recently purged my books to a friend of mine. I want to give it another chance at some point because so many people love this series, but at the moment, I am just not feeling it. 

17. For ‘Come Back, Be Here’ pick the book you would least like to lend out, for fear of missing it too much. 

All of my books? I don't usually lend out books. I do sometimes to a selective few, but even so, I'm not a big fan of doing it because I will miss my books. I also worry about my books. 

18. For ‘Teardrops on My Guitar’ pick a book that made me cry a lot. 

I cried like crazy the first time I read it. I did not know what to expect because I went into this book blindly and wow. I will say though, if I were to read it today, I don't think that would happen. 

19. For ‘Shake it Off’ pick a book I love so much that I just shake off the haters.

Winger has some mixed reviews and I can see why the main character can be annoying at times.. but I just love this book SO. MUCH. Ryan Dean has such great character growth! 

20. For ‘Blank Space’ pick my favourite autographed book. 

Meeting Ishiguro will forever be a moment that I will cherish. You can read my full recap from when I met him -> here!

21. For ‘Today was a Fairy Tale’ pick my favourite retelling. 

The Lunar Chronicles of course! There are fairy tale retellings with influences from Sailor Moon. 

Well that was a lot of fun! Thanks again to Nicole for tagging me. I hope that you all enjoyed my answers for this tag. I will tag the following lovely people:

Michele from JustALilLost

Patty from BookishwanderLove

Lynne from WordsOfMystery

Amanda from Brains, Books and Brawn

Melissa from YABookShelf

The Candid Cover

If you do this tag, please link me it below in the comments! <3 

The Fourth Annual Book Blogger Meet | July 25, 2015

Hi everyone! I hope that you are all having a lovely start to the week. This past weekend, I attended the Fourth Annual Book Blogger Meet. It was the first year I've attended and it was SO. MUCH. FUN. For those of you that don't know, it is a great group of girls that put together this event yearly where book bloggers, publishers and authors come together to mingle and chat about all thing books! The website is Book Blog Ontario!  

The event was held at The Ballroom in Toronto. I've been there a few times now and I was ecstatic when I was told the event was being held there. It is incredibly spacious. We all walked in and we got wonderful swag bags filled to the brim with books. We were also told to bring some extra tote bags because there were a ton of extras. They were not kidding. The tables also had extra books and there was so much swag as well! :D The girls and publishers definitely spoiled all of us bloggers. 

This was the pins/swag table by the end of the event. So many amazing pins. There are also some #simonsower for the instagram challenge, which I'm currently participating in. You can follow my progress at @soufflegrl. 

There was also a book swap at the event and on top of all the extra books we got, we also traded some books. It was so great to finally put a face to a name for so many bloggers and it was so awesome to meet some new faces! I had a wonderful time catching up with some friends and meeting new bloggers. The food at the event was also amazing. I just have to mention it because I am a big foodie and the staff was rolling out some pretty delicious food for us all. 

These are the incredibly swap items I got. I want to thank Amanda (BBBblogCA) for the lovely card and for the books, Tiff (mostlyyalit), Jaclyn (jacqua83), Hayley (HayleyAG) and Michele (justalillost)! I am so excited to read these and the book swap was such an amazing idea!  

The organizers also had some amazing authors come visit. I was able to speak to Sally Christie and Danielle Younge-Ullman who were both incredibly lovely and I got my books signed by them! All in all, it was such an amazing way to spend a Saturday. I had a wonderful time with my fellow book lovers and I walked away with so many books. My blogger heart is incredibly happy. I want to thank the very hardworking organizers once more - Michele, Liz, Angel, Wendy and Christa, you guys are all so amazing! Thank you for a wonderful event. Lastly, I want to thank the wonderful authors and publishers for donating so many books and to the authors for spending Saturday with all of us. I simply can't wait for the next blogger meet next year! 

I will end this post on a picture of all the wonderful books and swag I received at the event. I am so excited to dig in to all of these books - they all sound WONDERFUL. 

Review: Let Me Explain You by Annie Liontas

Let Me Explain You - A Novel by Annie Liontas

Publishing Date: July 14, 2015
Publisher: Scribner
Pages: 352 pages
Family Life

The Premise: From the newly debuted Annie Liontas, comes her first novel, Let Me Explain You. The story follows the Mavrakis family patriarch, Stavros who believes that he has ten days to live. To prepare for this, he writes an email to his ex-wife and their three daughters together, offering some advice on how they should make their life better. All of them dismiss this letter thinking that Stavros is acting out to seek attention. Everything changes however when Stavros does go missing and his family are forced to consider the possibility that perhaps he was right about his premonition of death.

My overall thoughts and review: When I first started this book, it opens up with the email that Stavros sends off and I was kind of shocked by just how "crazy" Stavros came across in the letter. It was clear to see why his family chose to laugh it off. I was immediately struck by Liontas' writing and how she was able to convey Stavros' voice phonetically. There were many laugh out loud moments with some things Stavros had said, but the way he was written, it really felt as if the character was coming off the pages. It was so easy to imagine the characters and the settings because Liontas offers so much detail, but also a lot was said through dialogue. I like that the novel offers perspectives from all the generations and in a way speaks to the struggles of family dynamics. Liontas pushes it further by offering the dynamics of immigrant families and what it means to be and live. Some moments of the book, I was quite surprised how far Liontas exactly pushed it, because let's be real for a moment: Stavros can be pretty ignorant and just all-around not likeable in some moments. But that only demonstrates how strong Liontas' writing is. She is able to convey hilarious laugh-out-loud moments and also moments that really tug at your heartstrings and make you sad, all at the same time. I am not going to spoil the plot for you, but know that the book does shift from past to present, offering many perspectives and memories that put the entire picture together. Some internal monologue moments can be a bit hard to follow, so I had to slow down at some parts to really get a grasp on those sections. My favorite character overall was definitely Stavroula. I think the book is a wonderful read for those looking for a "family saga" type of book that focuses on the hardships of being an immigrant, family relationships, and what it means to be "you" - I really enjoyed it and I would highly recommend it. This is a wonderful debut novel for Liontas and I will be sure to check out her future books!

My rating of the book: ✮✮✮✮ (4/5 stars) 

Now available for purchase at:
Chapters/Indigo and Book Depository (Free Worldwide Shipping)

Disclaimer: A copy of this book was sent to me by Simon and Schuster Canada for consideration/review. All opinions are my own.  

Join The Word on The Street Book Club

Hi everyone. If you follow me on twitter, you would've heard the news that I was selected as one of this year's The Word on the Street Book Club Leaders. My book is "The Deadbeat Club" by Dietrich Kalteis.

 

 

Here is an excerpt of the book from the Word on the Street website:

Grey Stevens took over the family business after his uncle passed away and now grows the best pot in Whistler. It’s called Eight Miles High and the word on the street is it rivals anything on the planet. Happy to fly under the radar in this mountain playground, Grey just wants to take life easy and snowboard the cold months and bike the hot ones. But demand for his pot among the locals and tourists keeps growing. Everybody wants to get their hands on it, including the two rival gangs in town to take over the dope trade. When Grey steps in and rescues a girl from a beating at the hands of one of the gang members, he finds himself in the middle of a turf war and a new relationship at the same time. After one of his roommates gets attacked and another one goes missing, Grey has to decide whether he’s going to play it safe — take off with the girl and start over someplace new — or stay and fight for what is his.

 

For further information on Word on The Street this year and the Book Club, you can check out their website -> here! There are some remaining spots to sign up. The WOTS team have a few copies left of the book and all you have to do is email programming@wordonthestreet.ca to claim your copy. You would start reading it as soon as you get it and for every week in August, we would discuss it on their Book Club blog -> here!

 

So what are you waiting for? Claim your copy so we can be book club buddies in August! ;)

 

Join #ReadTheGirl - Reading The Millenium Series

Hi everyone! I have an exciting post to share with you all. If you aren't on twitter, there is a current read-a-long event going on in anticipation of the next Lisbeth Salander book.

 

The read-a-long started on June 30th for the first book, but there is still lots of time to catch up and start reading. The dates are below, but people have been joining even past the date. The discussion is going on via twitter under the hashtag: #ReadTheGirl

 

 

I've had these books on my shelf for FOREVER. I watched the movie a while back and I really enjoyed it so I'm excited to jump on this read-a-long and join the discussion. Even if you've already read the series, now is the perfect time for a reread! :D

 

 

If you are going to join this read-a-long, please let me know in the comments or tweet me @padfootslibrary so we can discuss the book! Happy Reading! :)



Review: Armada by Ernest Cline

Armada by Ernest Cline

Publishing Date: July 14, 2015
Publisher: Crown/Archetype
Pages: 368 pages
Science Fiction / Fantasy

The Premise: The story follows Zack Lightman, who has been waiting for life to become more like his videogames. Zack has a great group of friends, a mother who loves him and all seems swell, but he just wants more. Everything changes when he sees a flying saucer one day similar to the one in one of his favorite game's Armada. Zack tells himself that he is definitely dreaming, but it is definitely real. Many players of Armada like him are coming together to save the world. As Zack dives into this new found role, he also begins to unravel the mystery behind his father's death.

My overall thoughts and review: To preface this review, let me begin to say that this is my first Ernest Cline book. I've owned Ready Player One for quite some time, but I just haven't found the time to get around to it. I will definitely start it soon after reading Armada.  In fact, please give me all things written by Ernest Cline because his writing is just wonderful. Armada was something out of this world (pun-intended). It felt like The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy meets Guardians of the Galaxy meets Ender's Game. There were a ton of nerdy references which I really enjoyed. It was so much fun to spot those while reading. But what really surprised me was just how multi-layered the text was. There was the game itself that the story focused on and from there, there were different plot points that sprung from Zack. There was Zack's friendships, Zack's relationship with his mom, the mystery of his father, and then the whole bit about the world-coming-to-an-end. I loved how it was multi-layered but it did not feel like Cline was bombarding you with so many things. Everything was strung together nicely and was really well-paced. I did not anticipate the story playing out the way it did, but overall, I really enjoyed this book. I think it's a fun read that video game lovers in general will enjoy, but also those looking for a different sci-fi/fantasy kind of read: this is definitely one to check out!

My rating of the book: ✮✮✮✮  (4/5 stars) 

Now available for purchase at:
Chapters/Indigo and Book Depository (Free Worldwide Shipping)

Disclaimer: A copy of this book was sent to me by Random House Canada for consideration/review. All opinions are my own. 

Review: Miss Emily by Nuala O'Connor

Miss Emily by Nuala O'Connor

Publishing Date: July 14, 2015
Publisher: Penguin Canada
Pages: 256 pages
Historical Fiction

The Premise: The novel reimagines the life of Emily Dickinson through the eyes of her family Irish maid, Ada Concannon. In a Downton Abbey-esque style, the novel offers the perspectives of Emily and Ada. Both of their stories are intertwined and as Emily retreats further away from society, she finds friendship and solace in Ada. Ada also finds herself in some conflict which threatens to ruin her reputation and she finds herself relying on Emily to help with the situation.

My overall thoughts and review: I love stories that give the Downton Abbey style of giving both the perspectives of the individual, Emily and also the maid, Ada. I've studied a bit of Emily Dickinson in my undergrad and I don't know much about her history besides the fact that Emily did have a household maid by the name of Margaret Maher who was born in Ireland, like Ada Concannon was. I don't know for sure whether this Ada is to be a fictional representation of Margaret, but there are connections that can be made between the two. I really enjoyed that the story offered both of their perspectives. Seeing Emily's beautiful poetic verses intertwined within the narrative was wonderful. It definitely made me want to go out and pick up more of Emily's poems. For a smaller novel, O'Connor definitely offers a lot within it. The narrative is sure to demonstrate Emily's strong friendship with Sue and Ada's developing relationship with Daniel Byrne, along with the main relationship: Emily and Ada. I really enjoyed the dynamics of all the relationships and it was very clear how significant Ada was to Emily and vice versa. I think because I did not know so much about Emily Dickinson's history to begin with, I was able to approach the text without preconceived notions which allowed me to really enjoy it and not nitpick over details. O'Connor has beautiful writing and I really felt as if she did Emily justice and I could feel Emily's presence come alive within the pages. I thoroughly enjoyed this and I think fans of Emily Dickinson will definitely appreciate this! This is a great novel for those who enjoy the upstairs and downstairs narrative!

My rating of the book: ✮✮✮✮  (4/5 stars) 

Now available for purchase at:
Chapters/Indigo and Book Depository (Free Worldwide Shipping)

Disclaimer: An advanced reader's copy of this book was sent to me by Penguin Canada for consideration/review. All opinions are my own. 

Review: The Night We Said Yes by Lauren Gibaldi

The Night We Said Yes by Lauren Gibaldi 

Publishing Date: June 16, 2015
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Pages: 304 pages
Young Adult Contemporary

The Premise: The story follows Ella, who had a plan to get over her ex-boyfriend, finish high-school and move away. However, her plan did not include Matt, the cute bassist player that joins her friend's band. The first night they meet, together with her bestfriend Meg and her on-and-off again boyfriend, Jake, they plan a night where they say yes to everything. Fast forward to a year later, Matt has left abruptly, leaving Ella completely heartbroken, but now he returns hoping to recreate that night where it all began.

My overall thoughts and review: The premise of this book sounded incredibly interesting when I first heard about it. I liked that there was a love relationship, but there was also a big focus on friendship. I also really enjoyed how the story moved from the past to present with every chapter. It was interesting to see how Ella's and Matt's relationship was in the past, but not in so much detail that it takes away from the significant point of moving towards the picture. I really enjoyed how this book tackled issues of moving away from home to university and how that affects relationships and friendships. I think what Gibaldi did was focus on the different types of love relationships: ones that seem problematic and ones that don't, but Gibaldi was very sure to emphasize that everyone has different experiences when it comes to relationships. Even when Ella did not always agree with how Jake was with Meg, or vice versa, with Meg not always agreeing with how Matt was with Ella, the take away was that as friends, they were able to support one another in their decisions and choices. I really enjoyed this book so much. It was well written, it definitely had some swoon-worthy moments and it was more than simply saying Yes, but also about being brave as well. I give this book an easy 5 stars because this is a really well-rounded young adult contemporary read. I think it is a definite must-have in your beach bag this summer! :D Well done, Lauren! I can't wait to read what you write next! :)

My rating of the book: ✮✮✮✮✮  (5/5 stars) 

Now available for purchase at:
Chapters/Indigo and Book Depository (Free Worldwide Shipping)

Disclaimer: This book was sent to me by HarperCollins Publishers (HCC Frenzy) for consideration/review. All opinions are my own. 

Review: Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls by Lynn Weingarten

Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls by Lynn Weingarten 

Publishing Date: July 7, 2015
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pages: 336 pages
Young Adult Contemporary/Mystery

The Premise: Delia and June used to be the best of friends, the kind where they were so close they sometimes did not even have to speak to convey what they wanted to say to one another. This however ends abruptly because of one night that changed everything. Time has passed and on returning to school, June hears from the school that Delia has passed away. The rumor is that Delia killed herself and burned herself to death in her father's shed. June does not believe this though because she is aware of Delia's big fear of fire. In this Gone Girl-esque narrative, the story follows June as she tries to unravel what really happened to Delia and the reader tries to figure out what really changed their friendship in the first place.

My overall thoughts and review: So the premise of this book really interested me. I LOVED Gone Girl, so hearing about it being compared to that instantly intrigued me. I was immediately drawn in by the mystery of Delia's death and also what was it that caused them to not be friends anymore. You follow the story from June's perspective and it was really interesting seeing her try to piece everything together. June is incredibly self-aware as a character which was good to have in a protagonist. Unfortunately, the story falls short for me in the second half of the novel. There is a big reveal of what ultimately happened, but it ended up moving incredibly fast that I felt a lot was left unanswered. I also think that the ideas surrounding, friendship, death, suicide, family, growing up and, identity were all themes that were touched upon in the book, but at certain moments, a lot of these ideas got lost and it came across a bit more confusing. I know the topic is quite dark and is not necessarily for everyone. I was not expecting it to be so raw for a young adult read. But I think that if you are a fan of YA mystery/thrillers, this is one you should check out.

My rating of the book: ✮✮✮ (3/5 stars) 

Now available for purchase at:
Chapters/Indigo and Book Depository (Free Worldwide Shipping)

Disclaimer: A copy of this book was sent to me by Simon and Schuster Canada for consideration/review. All opinions are my own.  

Judy Blume Author Talk & Signing at the Toronto Reference Library | June 29, 2015

Hi everyone! I have another event recap for you all today. I got to meet one of my favorite authors ever this past Monday... JUDY BLUME. Yes you heard that right, Judy-Blume!!! When the tickets went on sale at the beginning of June, I was so nervous I wouldn't be able to snag some, but I ended up getting online and getting two, one for me and my friend. It was such a terrific night!

 

It was a full house, packed with so many fans of Judy. The lovely girls at Random House Canada came around with #IHeartJudyBlume pins which were so cute and adorable!

 

Judy's talk was just wonderful. She talked about how she has been writing for 46 years now and this story of In The Unlikely Event, which she had put away, came to her all at once when she was at the Key West Literary Seminar to hear writers. A young writer was talking about her mother's life in the 50s and hearing those words "in the 50s" was when Judy realized that she had a story to tell.

 

Judy talked a lot about her experience as a child during this time (the time of the airplane crashes that are the focal point of In the Unlikely Event). This period was when the Cold War was going on and people were still trying to make sense of the Second World War and there was also the Korean war. The plane crashes were happening within a period of 58 days and when something like that happens, Judy mentions that as children, you try to come up with reasons, you don't simply want to think of it was a coincidence. Judy was asked if her experiences and writing about it, affected her wanting to fly and she mentioned that this happened when she was fourteen and she did not fly until she was seventeen and she "couldn't wait to fly."

 

The full author talk will be available on youtube online, but I just wanted to share some interesting snippets. Judy covered a wide range of topics, talking about parenting, genres, experiences, sexuality and more. It was such an educational moment!

 

 

When the time finally came to meet Judy, I was so nervous. It went really quickly, but I got to tell her how much I loved the book and a current paper idea that I have for the book. She was so sweet and lovely and her very kind husband also took some time to come around to the lines to speak to us all. They are seriously the cutest couple!

 

 

It was truly an evening that I will never forget. It was a childhood dream come true to meet Judy! <3