"The Month I Finally Read John Green" (February/March Wind-up)

In this month's (double) wind-up: Jackson Pearce (surprisingly) doesn't trigger my wolf!hater alarm, Ally Carter continues to be up to no good (but still in a really good way), and John Green ruins my life. Meanwhile, BEA beckons...

➢ The Reads

Because of a super-intense exam season, my February TBR pile turned into my March TBR. Alas. Thank goodness everything I read was amazing, else I don't think I would have made it through a single book!

First off, there was Quantum Drop by Saci Lloyd (review). I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this one. It was high-tech sci-fi that seemed very "of the moment". Up next was Sweetly by Jackson Pearce, which I was stunned by. I had no desire to read her book Sisters Red because I have serious issues with negative portrayals of wolves in literature/movies/life. It's a serious issue for me - I even did my Masters dissertation on it! But Sweetly, despite having a few "wolf" mentions, didn't hit any of my triggers. As a result: I could enjoy it as the great book it was!

Then, breaking my habit of storing series I love for years upon years, I read two books in a row from Ally Carter's Heist Society series (review of first book here): Uncommon Criminals and Perfect Scoundrels. I'll be reviewing them both tomorrow, but "brilliant" will suffice for now.

Stitch finishes The Fault in Our Stars.

March will also go down in history as "The Month I Finally Read John Green". I was utterly hooked by The Fault in Our Stars, even though I knew he was manipulating the hell out of me emotionally. I felt like a total masochist while reading this book, and oh-my-GOD I would totally do it again.

➢ On the Blog and around the blogosphere

I've had a bit of a flurry of author interviews lately: Ally Carter, Saci Lloyd and Julianna Scott all stopped by the blog. My first Shelf Analysis of the year went up last month, covering typography on this year's YA covers. Typography is kinda my new obsession and suddenly I am seeing it everywhere.

If you're a still in a rut about Google Reader's demise, check out my post about where I'll be headed next. Feedly seems to be the new "it place", though it will continue to be tied to your Google Reader until July 1st.

March also saw Amazon buying up GoodReads and I... am feeling iffy about it. I was ready to recommend Librarything as an alternative but, while putting this post together, have discovered that Amazon own 40% of them as well! I don't hate Amazon at all, but I don't like the monopoly they have on the online book business. Remember 2011 when Goodreads and BookDepository were the free peoples of the internet?! Sigh. Check out Shelf Awareness' great post for more on the subject.

➢ BEA Beckons!

That's right folks: I'm going to Book Expo America! I've wanted to go forever, but could never justify the flight to all the way to the US. But my mother and I have wanted to go back to NYC for years (we went when I was a wee child) and when she suggested we do it this year I may have adjusted our flights to coincide with BEA. Mwaha! I know she'll have a blast as well, but I for one cannot contain my excitement!!!