House of Random

Have you read my related IMM about the books Random House gave me?

As I mentioned the other day in my IMM post, I went to Random House Canada on Thursday as part of a “school field trip”. My entire program –which is less than 65 people BTW- was divided into small groups and sent to various publishers who specialized in Educational, Trade, or Childrens’ publishing.

Only eight of us girls were the chosen few to go to Random House, which is Trade. Well, first we stopped for lunch to get some delicious pizza.

I have to say that it was probably the best classroom excursion I’ve been on all year! I’m not counting volunteering at Word on the Street or the Giller Light Bash, as those were events, but Random House is right up there.

First we were brought into a boardroom and stuffed with timbits (for non-Canadians these are also donut-holes) while listening to various employees from different departments and imprints.

i think this is the right photo...

Then we were taken on a tour of the office that is three-quarters of an entire floor. I had been chatting with some of the online department via twitter, so I got to meet them. We waved at one of the guest speakers we had in class the previous week, and the guy who was coming to our class as a guest speaker the next day!

We were brought back into the boardroom and given gift bags! Each of us was  three books: a hardcover, a trade fiction, and the ARC for a book already out, as you’ve seen in my IMM yesterday. One was signed!

I had been eyeing up the novel since I found out about it and they gave it to me *happy dance* Not everyone got the book I wanted and received; there was also a book from Kelley Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld. I might borrow that from one of the other girls…  I wasn’t the only one to get a book I had been wanting; another girl was dying to read the book we were given the ARC of. It’s an unedited version, but I’m sure it is close enough to the final result.

Between the talk we had with Adria at Random House and Scott, the guest speaker the next day, I have become a bit interested in the publicity department. They were such interesting and energetic speakers that the job seemed like it might be fun! So not only am I going to apply for my “dream job” that I always wanted, but I am going to apply at Random House too for both their editorial and publicity departments.

Yes, I would like to do my internship at my “dream job” to see if it remains my dream, but thanks to Thursday’s field trip I am now have a much more open mind as to where I want to end up…

If you could work at any publishing company, which would you choose?

 

 

Previous Posts: And So It BeginsTruth about Book BloggersMaking a Difference

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Books In My Mailbox (Feb-5)


This meme is hosted by The Story Siren

As some of you may know, I had the pleasure of visiting Random House Canada this past week. I’ll tell you a little more about it either tomorrow or next Monday, but the relevant part for today -seeing as it’s IMM day- is the parting gift they gave each of us! You will not believe how excited each of us were when we were handed a “gift bag” containing three books that the company publishes!!!

The Bells -Richard Harvell
Angelology – Danielle Trussoni
A Cold Night For Alligators – Nick Crowe (arc)

A Cold Night for Alligators is the ARC version of a book that I believe has already had its pub date. I think it is tres kewl as it is my first ARC, after a fashion. Now, at some point,  I shall just need to get an ARC before the book is published to make everything perfect *L0L*

I had been looking at Angelology for a while now, thinking I wanted to read it, and -low and behold- it was in my bag! It has a beyond gorgeously metallic cover that wraps around over the spine, and a really rough texture that I can’t stop rubbing my fingers over.

The other book I can’t stop touching is The Bells, for the red ribbon is raised and given spot varnish. Every time you pet the book, you can feel all the lumps and gloss. And, unobservant me, never noticed one tiny thing when I was looking at the book after receiving it…

When I opened the cover to read the dust jacket flap I wondered why there were some pages stuck under it, but never thought twice about it. Taking the book out again to write this post I realized that it opened to the title page. THE SIGNED TITLE PAGE! That’s right, Richard Harvell had autographed my book making it the second author signature I have ever received *happy dance*

So what did you get in your mailbox?

 

 

Previous IMM: Feb-1Feb-2Feb-3Feb-4

Simple Smile Saturday (Feb-3)

Thanks to Jen Armentrout and hannahelt, I came up with this meme. They claimed I get excited over the simplest things, so I decided that every Saturday I would post something “simple” that I get excited over just to prove that the smallest things really do make you smile :0)

Today’s smile is… Fuzzy Socks!

I was up until 4am chatting with Carissa, and have slept in until 11am. When I woke up and put my feet on the cold, fake wood floor… Well, it’s not my idea of a pleasant awakening. I don’t have a pair of slippers, so what I put on are my fuzzy socks!

The left pair are my Christmas socks which I bought myself this past year. They are identical to a pair I had been given prior but wore a hole in the bottoms. Someone told me they were Elmo in a blender or some such, but isn’t he navy?

The right is my blue spotted cow which was part of a set my mum gave me this past Christmas. She bought them because there was a solid black pair and she thought those would match the black and grey plaid pajama boxers she also bought me.

What made you smile today?

 

 

Previous Simple Smiles: Heart SocksValentine’s Day Card

Book Review: The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong

Have you read my review on the previous books of this trilogy?
The Summoning and The Awakening

Warning: may include spoilers

Synopsis: Chloe and her friends are still on the run, still in danger, and still having issues controlling their powers. Throughout it all, Chloe has to decide which brother she likes more: the socially acceptable cutie or the grumpy werewolf.  Chloe is ready to take a stand and fight for her heart, her friends, and her family.

Theme: In this final novel of the Darkest Powers trilogy there is an underlying running thread about social acceptance.  In fact, it flows throughout the entire trilogy. Chloe trying to fit in with her friends by pretending to have a crush on a boy. Chloe trying to come to terms with a mental illness and discovers how terrifying a psychological disorder is for others. Chloe learning to accept the different powers each teenager has rather than fearing them. Chloe having to choose between her feelings and fitting in with her friends. In the end, the only way to be truly happy is to be true to yourself.

Quote: “You know how blind people need seeing-eye dogs? Well, apparently werewolves could really use door-opening poltergeists.”

The Verdict: Go out and buy The Gathering, the first book of the Darkness Rising trilogy.  I can’t get enough of this series!

If you had to choose between someone who is socially accepted, but you didn’t love or the person you did love, but could cause you to become an outcast, what would you do?

Previous Reviews: The SummoningThe Awakening

Waiting on Wednesday (Feb-2)

Yes, I know these two books are already published, but I am waiting for them to become available at the library! The novels are Catherine McKenzie’s “Spin”, and more recently published, “Arranged”.

Spin

Katie Sandford has finally gotten an interview at The Line, her favourite music magazine. Only she shows up to the interview drunk, because she went out to celebrate the night prior. The Line gives her an assignment for its sister magazine of celebrity gossip: following a alcoholic socialite into rehab. Kate just needs to last the thirty days required, but things get complicated when she starts making friends… especially with Henry, the cute celebrity handler.

Arranged

Anne Blythe is always a bridesmaid, but never a bride. When her best friend announces her engagement, Anne is desperate enough to call a dating service she happened to see advertised… Except she didn’t noticed it was actually one that arranged marriages instead! A few months later, Anne finds herself on her way to Mexico to meet her “fiance” and discovers neither Jack nor the company are as they seem.

 

 

 

Previous Waiting on Wednesday: Feb-1

Teaser Tuesday (Feb-3)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Should Be Reading Share the title & author, so that others can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!

A Duke’s Temptation by Jillian Hunter

Everyone deserves at least one wicked evening in London.

Do not explore this house late at night if you know what is good for you.

I don’t know what either of us would do if some lady skeleton stuck her head through the stones and said, ‘Stop trying to resurrect me. I’ve earned my eternal repose.’ I supposed I might faint like a maiden myself.


 

Previous Teasers: Feb-1, Feb-2

Making a Difference

Yesterday I went into Chapters to purchase a couple books –more about that on next week’s IMM post- but I also “purchased” something else. Something even more important…

I donated money to Indigo’s Love of Reading Foundation. As careful as I need to be with my money right now, I had to do something to share my love of books with others in a more profound way than just writing about them on my blog.  How can I do nothing to help others learn to love reading?

In Canada, schoolbooks are abysmal. Our textbooks were old and ratty, and the school libraries were never au currant with very little selection. Schools are underfunded and understaffed when I attended over ten years ago; I can hardly imagine what grade schools and high schools are like now.

I have only just discovered that annual funding provides as little as one-third of a book per child and most kids don’t own any books themselves. Is it any wonder that students are failing their literacy tests and forty-two percent of adults lack basic literacy skills?

My cousin, now in high school, hated reading and did everything she could to avoid picking up a book. I started loaning her my books, ones that were more recently published, and now I sometimes borrow books from her. It is not that students are not willing to try, it is that they have no incentive to. Just like my cousin, they just need to be given something they feel worth reading to awaken their imagination.

Indigo’s Love of Reading Foundation selects an elementary school each year to receive funding for three years towards books and literacy programs. You can donate money, purchase LOR merchandise, and sign an online petition to the government to make literacy a priority in schools. Last year, 1.5 million dollars in grants were given to schools in need. In the six years this program has been running, 9 million dollars has been given.

LOR is also partnered with ECHOage, a North American charity-driven online birthday party service.  Guests of the party donate to ECHOage with half the money going to the charity and the other half goes to purchasing a gift the birthday kid wants most. One of the charities is, obviously, Indigo’s Love of Reading Foundation and in the States there is the Reading is Fundamental organization.

 

My cashier asked if I was willing to round up my purchase to the nearest dollar to give to the LOR foundation. That is it, just eighty-six cents. Most people dislike having change in their pocket, so why not give it to a good cause? I did.

 

I recently saw on the Reads, Reviews, Recomends blog that two girls in Texas, Farrah and Britney, are trying to raise awareness and raise money to buy books for two hospitals. You could donate to them, or start your own campaign for your own local hospitals and charities.

Perhaps, getting children interested in reading again will prevent our local libraries from closing like is happening in England, and from other bookstores going bankrupt like Borders in the States. Can you imagine life without books? Because if we don’t do something about it, we may soon be living it.

Don’t just talking about it, do something to make a difference.

 

 

Previous Blog Posts: And So It BeginsTruth about Book Bloggers
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