I Met Maggie! Toronto Tour Stop #1

I  had the chance to meet one of my favorite authors on Saturday...Maggie Stiefvater!!!! ***squee*** She is on tour right now for Forever, the conclusion to her Wolves of Mercury Falls trilogy. I have always been fascinated with wolves and one of the things I love about this series is the way she has kept that animal instinct in them while they shape shift into a wolf. Here's some pictures from the signing I was at.

A few fun facts I learned about Forever:

• One cover of Forever had what looked like maple leaves ,but since the story doesn't take place in Canada Maggie had them change it. She also mentioned that Sam would not wear skinny jeans...she didn't have enough say to change it LOL
• Forever was handed two weeks prior to her deadline, then she had second thoughts & scrapped it :o  She felt the first copy was written more with what the readers would want and not really how SHE saw the story...it just didn't feel right.
• One of the major scenes in Forever involves a wolf's struggle in the forest (sorry for being vague here, trying hard to avoid spoilers) and this is actually based on a real wolves plight. One website she used as part of her wolf  research actually tracked the wolves and logged how they died. She thought it was such an awful way to die...then figured it would be good to use!

See that big stack of books on the table, yep all mine...I brought every single book I had, plus an extra Forever for a contest coming up soon!

And I couldn't resist, feel sorta stalkerish but I HAD to see this car of her's up close!

Thanks Maggie for making the trek up to Canada and both Scholastic Canada and Chapters for making it happen :D

Maggie Stiefvater takes on Ontario!

To celebrate the release of Forever, New York Times bestselling YA literature sensation Maggie Stiefvater is coming to Ontario this weekend, as part of her North American book signing tour!

Driving a ’73 Camaro, she will make the following stops:

Saturday, July 16th, 12:00pm
CHAPTERS OSHAWA CENTRE
OSHAWA, ON
For more information call: (905) 438-8593

Saturday, July 16th, 6:00pm
INDIGO YORKDALE
TORONTO, ON
For more information call: (416) 781-6660

Sunday, July 17th, 2:00pm
CHAPTERS SOUTH LONDON
LONDON, ON
For more information call: (519) 685-1008

There will be trivia, giveaways, DJs and more!


See more information about her tour here:
http://maggiestiefvater.blogspot.com/

and here:
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/storeevents/
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Maggie is an author I have always wanted to meet. When I found out she was coming to town, I did a little happy dance and have been counting the days ever since. I'll be at the Oshawa stop with my bestie Jackie.
Are you coming?

Review: Forever by Maggie Steifvater

Hardcover, 386 pages

Released: July 12, 2011 (today)

Publisher: Scholastic Press

ISBN13: 9780545259088

Other Places To Find The Book:
Goodreads.com
Amazon.com
Book Depository.com

The thrilling conclusion to #1 bestselling Shiver trilogy from Maggie Stiefvater

then.

When Sam met Grace, he was a wolf and she was a girl. Eventually he found a way to become a boy, and their love moved from a curious distance to the intense closeness of shared lives.

now.

That should have been the end of their story. But Grace was not meant to stay human. Now she is the wolf. And the wolves of Mercy Falls are about to be killed in one final, spectacular hunt.

forever.

Sam would do anything for Grace. But can one boy and one love really change a hostile, predatory world? The past, the present, and the future are about to collide in one pure moment - a moment of death or life, farewell or forever.

My Rating: 5 / 5

My Thoughts: ****warning: as this is the last book of a trilogy, you will find spoilers ahead***


In Forever, there is trouble looming for the wolves. Isabel's father is determined to get rid of the wolves and organizes an aerial hunt. Sam is fearful as Grace is still changing into a wolf and Cole makes it his mission to find a cure, or at least something to control the disease.

I was nervous how it would end and began reading it with no expectations (I didn't even read the synopsis prior to pasting it above) but Maggie blew all my expectations out of the water! Forever is just beautiful.What makes this series so special is the love story between Grace and Sam (then Isabel and Cole) feel so real. This is not a case of  instantly falling in love, instead we watch it grow naturally. It's amazing what people will do for love and how it has the power to change you, this is what Forever is all about. How far would you go to save the one you love?

I have read that this was a slow read for some and I have to admit is wasn't full of non-stop, nail biting action but I see it rather as something to savour. This is a book that ties up many loose ends and is all about character growth. We see Sam become stronger, Grace take a stand for herself, Isabel open herself up and Cole be the good guy that he's tried to mask for so long. I loved that the ending wasn't forced, but rather was left open for the reader to imagine just what the future holds for everyone. Thanks Maggie for showing us the power of love.

Review: Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. Now in Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past…and figuring out a way to survive in the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack. And Isabelle, who already lost her brother to the wolves…and is nonetheless drawn to Cole. At turns harrowing and euphoric, Linger is a spellbinding love story that explores both sides of love-the light and the dark, the warm and the cold-in a way you will never forget.

Publisher: Scholastic

Released: July 13, 2010

My Rating : 4 / 5

Book Two in the Wolves of Mercruy Falls Trilogy introduing a lot of new things. We learn that picking up and moving to warm, sunny Florida isn't the answer to the shifting problem. Linger is told in four voices: Grace, Sam, plus we are introduced to Isabel (whose brother eas killed at the end of Shiver) and Cole (one of the newbies Beck brough back from Canada).

One of the things I loved about Shiver was the love connection of Sam and Grace. As this book brings into focus the "what now" I found this took a backseat...and I instead found a new clone worthy guy in Cole! Cole is a musician (score!) with a dark past (yay for bad boys!) and a tad cocky. Once he starts to open up and let you see who he is deep down inside, you can't help but crave more of him. Isabel is another great addition as she says what's on her mind and is super confident - put her & Cole together and you've got some fun times to be had :)

Maggie's writing is once again beautiful, poetic & flows so smoothly. Reading her books is like endulging on your favorite dessert. Mmmmm, chocolate!

Stop by tomorrow for an interview with Maggie...and a chance to win your very own copy of Linger!

Linger Trailer!

One of my highly anticipated boosk for 2010 is almost here!



Are you guys counting the number of sleeps too?

Review: Ballad by Maggie Stiefvater

Publisher: Flux

Released: October 1, 2009

Paperback: 360 pages

ISBN: 978-0738714844

Recommended for: lovers of YA, romance, angst, faeries

Teaser quote:
"It took me a long time to go back to the dorms after he'd gone. In the ordinary night he'd left behind, I sat on a hill, the wind whispering through the long grass that surrounded me. I stared at the stars and wanted more than what I was and more than what the world was and just - wanted." (pg 96)

My rating: 4/5

My thoughts:

I should start off by saying that I have read Ballad without Lament (though that will change) it just took a bit to understand the complex past James & Dee share. This was also my first foray into the world of faeries so there was a little bit of a learning curve here.

Ballad is a dark but beautiful story told from two points of view: James & Nuala. James and his friend Dee are attending Thornking-Ash, a school for talented musicians. Poor James is still pining over Dee while she is struggling to come to terms with Luke and faeries in her life (this is where the background of Lament would have come in handy). Nuala is a Leanan Sidhe who attracts musicians with offers of help to make them the best...but at a cost - years of their life. She's near the end of her sixteen year life cycle and has chosen James as her last target.

James is such a witty character, I loved him from the start. Nuala doesn't hold her tonge either and this made for some hilarious moments. For Nuala, it was evident from the begining that her dark life had more to do with 'what' she was rather then 'who' she was. As we know, the land of Faeries isn't nice and James was left with a tough choice to make in the end: should he save Dee (who he has loved for years and would do anything for) or Nuala (whose interest in James turns out to be so much more then just his musical talent). I loved how this all played out.

I'm such a sucker for a happy ending, the ending was so beautiful. Then BAM she throws a curve ball at me! I can't wait to read more of Maggie Stiefvater's Faerie world, though I'm making an assumption that Maggie won't leave us hanging :)

Teaser Tuesday - October 27, 2009

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"I don't remember the details, but after a couple of weeks of the study, the classical music rats were peacefully climbing the corporate ladder and wearing Birkenstocks and the rock music rats had gone cannibal and torn each other to bits. Without knowing what band the rock rats had to listen to, I'm not sure what the study was supposed to prove. All I know is, if I had to listen to Pearl Jam for two weeks solid, I'd eat my roommate too." Ballad by Maggie Stiefvater (pg 5)

Growing up listening to Pearl Jam, I literally laughed out loud when I first read this line! Too funny.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (October 19, 2009)

Books I completed last week are:
What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures by Malcolm Gladwell

The Christmas Cookie Club: A Novel by Ann Pearlman


Books I am reading this week:
Cleopatra's Daughter: A Novel by Michelle Moran

Ballad: A Gathering of Faerie by Maggie Stiefvater I'm really hoping to have time for this one too :)

Tomorrow is a big day for me...I'm participating in my first blog tour!!!!!
Stop by for my guest post, review & giveaway for Pendragon's Banner by Helen Hollick

Review: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Recommended for: YA, Twilight & cutesy romance fans

Teaser quote:
But he was always there. Watching me watching him. Never any closer to me, but never any further way, either.
And so it was an unbroken pattern for six years: the wolves' haunting presence in the winter and their even more haunting absence in the summer. I didn't think about the timing. I thought they were wolves. Only wolves.
(pg 7, ISBN 978-0-545-12326-6)

My rating: 4.5/5

My thoughts:

Grace was only eleven when she was taken from her backyard by a pack of wolves. As she lay there, not sure what was happening, she noticed a wolf with a set of yellow eyes in the background. Rescued by 'her wolf', her fascination with wolves begins. Six years go by and one day Grace finds a boy, with those yellow eyes at her door. Sam is a boy in the summer & wolf in the winter but time is running out and soon he will just be a wolf. This is a heartbreaking story of the struggle to overcome anything for love.

I must admit, I wanted to shake Sam sometimes. It was frustrating, time was of the essence but he wanted to do things 'the right way'. I mean, come on, they've been stalking each other for years, don't they want to know EVERYTHING about each other before it's too late??

Each chapter is written in alternating point of views as either Sam or Grace. It took a few chapters to get into the groove but it works to emphasize their struggles in their different worlds. Stiefvater's take on werewolves (maybe shape shifter is more appropriate?) was unique and I am interested in where she will go with the trilogy.

It looks like we will be seeing Grace & Sam on the big screen soon! Just a few weeks ago, it was announced that Unique Features has acquired screen rights :)


http://www.maggiestiefvater.com/