I was so lucky to be invited to “Bloggers’ Book Feast” at the Scholastic UK offices today! The event was so much fun. We were surrounded by bloggers, authors, publicists, books, and food! That’s basically reader heaven.
The mini ham and cheese baguettes were delicious. I had two.
The folks from Scholastic introduced us to some of their hot, upcoming YA titles in 2015. They talked about the anniversary edition of His Dark Materials, the new limited edition Hunger Games copies, a new book by Maria Farrer, and so much more!
Here were two of my favourites:
An Island of Our Own
From one of the brightest talents in children’s fiction and the winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book prize comes a new novel about family and friendship. Siblings Jonathan, Holly and Davy have been struggling to survive since the death of their mother, and are determined to avoid being taken into care. When the family’s wealthy but eccentric Great-Aunt Irene has a stroke, they go to visit her. Unable to speak or write, she gives Holly some photographs that might lead them to an inheritance that could solve all their problems. But they’re not the only ones after the treasure…
The Game of Love and Death
Antony and Cleopatra. Helen of Troy and Paris. Romeo and Juliet. And now… Henry and Flora.
For centuries Love and Death have chosen their players. They have set the rules, rolled the dice, and kept close, ready to influence, angling for supremacy. And Death has always won. Always.
Could there ever be one time, one place, one pair whose love would truly tip the balance?
Meet Flora Saudade, an African-American girl who dreams of becoming the next Amelia Earhart by day and sings in the smoky jazz clubs of Seattle by night. Meet Henry Bishop, born a few blocks and a million worlds away, a white boy with his future assured—a wealthy adoptive family in the midst of the Great Depression, a college scholarship, and all the opportunities in the world seemingly available to him.
The players have been chosen. The dice have been rolled. But when human beings make moves of their own, what happens next is anyone’s guess.
Achingly romantic and brilliantly imagined, The Game of Love and Death is a love story you will never forget.
This book is one I’m SO INCREDIBLY EXCITED FOR!!! I was disappointed that this ARC wasn’t in our goodie bags (I believe because they weren’t ready yet). First of all, I love how different this cover is. But then, the whole idea of the book also blows me away. The way the publicists talked about the book hooked me IMMEDIATELY. This is definitely one I’m getting my hands on ASAP.
The two featured authors
Two authors attended this feast to talk about their upcoming titles! Melinda Salisbury was there chatting about The Sin Eater’s Daughter and Eve Ainsworth talked about her book, Seven Days.
Afterwards, the authors were kind enough to sign books, and we spent some time mingling and eating.
I’m particularly interested in Seven Days. It’s a book about bullying but told from the perspective of both the bullied and the bully. I think that’s such an interesting twist! Plus, Eve described the book as being short, snappy, and fast-paced. I like that!
The final loot!
Scholastic was so kind to give us each a goodie bag containing some of these titles!! Squeee!
My Scholastic goodie bag contained:
- Seven Days by Eve Ainsworth
- A Scholastic journal (the red book that’s a bit hidden)
- The Sin Eater’s Daughter by Melinda Salisbury
- An Island of Our Own by Sally Nicholls
- A collection of post cards showing the covers of upcoming titles.
The kind folks from Scholastic were kind enough to give me their copy of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han. This was just one of the books sitting on the windowsill. 🙂
Thanks so much for the invite, Scholastic! It was a lot of fun to just relax and hang out with fellow book lovers… and those ham and cheese baguettes that I’m STILL thinking about.
I’m really looking forward to The Game of Love and Death, too! I fell in love with it the minute I read the summary. That activity seemed like all kinds of fun. Enjoy all your books, Ashley 🙂 Also, now I’m kind of drooling thinking of baguettes ;P
I know, it sounds AMAAAAZING! So different from anything else. 🙂
I wish things like that would happen closer to me, I really need to live in a bigger city..lol. That looks like a lot of fun! I work at a Scholastic call center and they are really nice people to work for and they have a bookstore were where can get books super cheap! It’s a killer on my paycheck..hehehe. 🙂
They’re all SO nice!
Honestly, not a lot happens here, but at least I’m within an hour of London on the off chance that something *does* happen though haha.
ALL THE BOOKS! Lol, hope it wasn’t awkward because of you know what ;p
I really LOVED To All The Boys I Loved Before! Also ALL THAT FOOD OH MY GOSH. GIVE MEH. It’s times like this I wished I was English 😉 Anyway, I’m most excited for Seven Days. I think it’s REALLY interesting and I haven’t even read it yet!
Haha only a little awkward. A lot of people were talking about how excited they were and I was just… silent. Hah.
That’s totally why I snagged To All the Boys I Loved Before! I know so many people who have adored it. It sounds really good!
Their office is so pretty! Aaah it’s just so calming with all the white and pops of light colors. I wish more things happened near me, but I’m going to my first event next month!
I LOVE their office! I even took a picture of the hallway because it was all white with different coloured doors/panels. AWESOME!
Ohh I bet your super excited for your first event! 🙂
Oh what a fun time!! You’ll have to let us know how 7 days is asap, I’m really curious now too! I love the twist of having both povs!
Will do! I’m really curious to see what the bully has to say for herself. One of the publicists I was talking to said she was constantly switching sides. Like, she’d read from the bullied’s POV and totally be on her side. Then she’d read from the bully’s POV and totally understand her and then be on her side.. back and forth like that. That’s SO interesting!
I actually don’t care about your books, and more about that journal! Like, yes, of course I’m interested in the notebook. LOL. I just really love notebooks. But I’m glad you had a good time, and that you had books!
Haha the journal is totally cool! That was a real surprise. I expected the ARCs, but nor a Scholastic notebook.
Okay, The Game of Love and Death and 7 Days sound AMAZING – both have been added to my TBR list! So glad you had an awesome time at the event! 😀
The Game of Love and Death sounds SO different from anything else that’s out there. I love the whole Greek Mythology aspect. You know, with powerful ‘beings’ taking control over humans and fate and all that.
Wow, that looks soooooo amazing. So jealous!
It was an amazing time and I love how I learned about a bunch of books I hadn’t heard of or thought about before.
Amazing! I used to go to these events in my country with other bloggers, etc 🙂 and is always nice because we get toknow each other and get freebies :D…and also nice food!
Absolutely! 😀 The food was really good, haha.
Ooh that looks fab, glad you had a good time. I’d never be able to attend a fancy event like this. I’d be too nervous (even if there were baked goods on offer!) I’m really looking forward to reading The Sin Eater’s Daughter, I know you weren’t a fan though!!
I hope you like it! 🙂 The author was super nice! It made me feel horrible that I didn’t like the book, lol.
Oh, you lucky duck, you! It looks like you had an amazing time. And that goodie bag! I want the notebook because I am a chronic notebook hoarder. 🙂 Also, I would totally read 7 Days and An Island of Our Own.
This looks like an absolutely amazing event, and your photos are stunning! I’m especially interested in The Sin Eater’s Daughter, so it’s really amazing that you got to hear about it straight from the author!
Thank you Cristina! 😀 I really hope you enjoy The Sin Eater’s Daughter. The author was super nice!
What an amazing day! So jealous of your experience.
Wow, I didn’t know this was a thing! I learn new things from you all the time Ashley! What a cool even to attend, I’m also jealous of your experience. I definitely want to get more involved in book events – its on my to-do list (which is a mile long – of course!).