rainbow rowell – Zakiya N. Jamal

The Pros & Cons of BookCon 2017

Posted on June 12, 2017June 9, 2017 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Blog

When it was announced BookCon was returning to NYC this year, I knew, without a doubt, I was going. Last year was my first time attending the event and I absolutely loved it so I knew I had to return. This year was a bit more stressful but I left knowing I’d be back next year.

One of the best things about BookCon this year was that it was two days, not just one. Naturally, I had to attend both days. The first day was difficult because I truly was not prepared for just how crazy it would be. The show floor opened at 10 a.m. and I think my friend and I arrived around 9:45 a.m. and, of course, there was a line just to get to the show floor.

There was an ARC signing that I wanted to go to at 10:30 a.m. and by the time I made it to the show floor the line was already capped. That was pretty much the mood for the whole day. The majority of the signings and ARC giveaways I wanted to get into the lines would cap before I even had a chance.

Still, day one was a blast. I attended Rainbow Rowell’s panel, which was hilarious, and then I went to her signing and actually met her, which was great. The line for Rowell’s signing was incredibly long and my feet were killing me, but again totally worth it. Also, what was great about this year was you signed up for signings beforehand online so even though the lines were long you knew, without a doubt, you were getting in because you already had a ticket. However, this was only the case for signings in the autographing area, not in booth signings.

Anyway, after waiting so long for Rowell’s signing I’d learned my lesson and just waited around the autographing area for Victoria Aveyard’s signing and was in the front of the line so it was a much shorter wait and my feet thanked me.

This was actually the second time I’ve met Aveyard and she was just as awesome as I remember. She looked through my tabs in King’s Cage and approved of where I had them placed. Overall, I’d say the signings were my favorite part of the whole day.

I also randomly met Jenny Han and Morgan Matson during the day. I’d met them both before (Han at BookCon last year; Matson at a signing in NYC) and they were both just as sweet as I remember. I also love that they’re friends and they always seem to be together. It’s super cute.

For day two, I was way more prepared. First, I got there earlier so while I was still stuck in the queue line to get to the show floor I was much closer to the front of line and actually made it to the show floor by 10:10 a.m. Because I was so early, I was able to just stumble upon a signing with Sarah Mlynowski who was signing an ARC of the latest book in her Whatever After series. While I haven’t read the series, I’ve loved so many of Mlynowski’s other books that I couldn’t pass up the chance at meeting her, and since I was so early there were only three people in line when I got there so it was super easy.

After the struggles I went through on the first day I was also more prepared for the ARC signings on day two, particularly at the Penguin Random House booth. For the Penguin ARC signings you had to have a ticket and it was one book per ticket so things were super cut throat over there and filled up very fast.

For instance, I knew for the E. Lockhart signing, which was happening at 11 a.m. that I’d need to be hovering around the booth at around 10 a.m. Therefore I jetted over pretty quickly and was able to somehow get to the front of line and not only meet Lockhart and get the ARC but I also got a cute little makeup bag too.

From there I met up with some bookstagrammers, Mags and Len, who were super cool and really helped me out a lot. I accredit a lot of my day two success to them. I stuck with them for a little bit and then met up with my friend for lunch, because I unfortunately was too late to get into the Cassandra Clare panel (it filled out so fast!) so I had time to kill.

For the record, finding time to eat at BookCon is difficult. It’s basically either you have to be willing to sacrifice missing something in order to find time to eat or you better have a bunch of snacks in your bag that you can eat while standing in line. There’s really no in between. I think that’s partly why I was also so miserable on day 1. I didn’t take a break to eat at all and just snacked on honey nut Cheerios all day. Having lunch on day 2 truly saved me.

After that I once again successfully hovered around the Penguin booth and was able to get into the Leigh Bardugo signing, which included an ARC of her Wonder Woman book. I’m super excited to read it and was glad I was able to snag a ticket because that line was insane and my friends, Mags and Len, were unable to get one.

Also, shoutout to Mags who snagged me an ARC of Krysten Ritter’s novel Bonfire after her panel. I also caught a glimpse of Ritter who was doing a signing at Penguin but I was too tired to try and fight for a spot in yet another line.

Instead, Mags, Len, and I got in a much more chill line for a partial ARC of Stephanie Perkins’ new novel There’s Someone Inside Your House, and let me just say, standing in line with friends is way more fun than standing in line by yourself. Get yourself a line buddy if you can. They’re fantastic. Then, we saw there was another ARC signing at the SOHO teen booth and it was just one of those things where we were like, “We don’t know what this is but it looks free so let’s do it.”

We ended up getting signed ARCs of Love, Hate, and Other Filters, which I’d actually heard about before and was excited to read, so that was a nice surprise. Also the author, Samira Ahmed, was incredibly sweet and funny, and my only regret was not snapping a pic with her.

Sometime during the day I also found time to meet Jeff Giles and get my copy of The Edge of Everything signed. I’ve actually spoken to Giles on the phone before and he gave me writing advice and I wasn’t sure he was going to remember that but he did, which was super nice. I told him I got into grad school and I’d be getting my MFA in Creative Writing and he congratulated me and it was great.

To close out the day I went to a panel with Kevin Hart and Charlamagne tha God it was honestly one of the funniest events I’ve ever been to. I’ve only seen Hart live once and it was at one of his Move With Hart events so he didn’t really talk much. However, this panel was almost like getting a little stand up from him. He was so funny and honest and he said a lot of motivating things that made me feel like I could do anything.

It was quite possibly the best part of my day, to be honest. I loved it so much I ended up buying his book, I Can’t Make This Up, right after the panel. My mom’s reading it now, and I hope to get to it soon.

Overall, I was definitely exhausted by the time BookCon was over. My feet were killing me and my back and shoulders ached and I still think I need to a get massage. Still, it was totally worth it. In totally, I got 13 books, only two of which I actually purchased, and I got nine books signed. I can’t wait to go back next year.

Did you go to BookCon? Do you hope to go next year? Let me know in the comments below!

Woman Crush Wednesday: Cather “Cath” Avery

Posted on December 16, 2015December 22, 2015 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Blog

Woman Crush Wednesdays are BACK!!

After a long break I’m bringing these weekly posts back because I missed them and I’ve been reading so many books lately that there’s so many wonderful ladies to discuss.

First up is Cath Avery from Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell.

Cath is pretty, quirky, shy, and anxious. What I love most about her is she’s not starting a revolution or a princess or anything crazy. She’s just a normal girl going through her first year at college and dealing with the stress of being away from her dad, and her twin sister, Wren, isn’t really there for her.

I related to Cath a lot. She loves books and writing and she does a lot of fanfiction. She’s basically the queen of fanfiction actually. Moreover, I liked that Cath had her own issues. She’s painfully shy to the point that she sometimes doesn’t eat because she didn’t know where the dining hall was and didn’t want to ask.

I liked that Cath wasn’t this crazy confident character that kicked ass but instead was a normal, relatable girl who eventually learned how to stand up for herself and went after what she wanted. She’s so relatable and I just wanted the best for her and rooted for her throughout the novel.

If you haven’t read Fangirl yet you should definitely check it out. It’s worth a read.

Favorite Line:

“How do you not like the Internet? That’s like saying, ‘I don’t like things that are convenient. And easy. I don’t like having access to all of mankind’s recorded discoveries at my fingertips. I don’t like light. And knowledge.”

Dream Cast: Jane Levy

Man Crush Monday: Levi

Posted on December 14, 2015December 13, 2015 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Blog

If you haven’t read Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell yet you are seriously missing out. Besides the fact that it’s just an all around great novel, Levi is the perfect book boyfriend.

He’s cute, funny, quirky, and a gentleman. He’ll run out to Starbucks and get you your favorite latte, without you even having to ask. He doesn’t mind if you want to use him as a pillow and more than anything he totally understands your fangirl ways.

He’ll listen to you read your fanfiction and he’ll think it’s adorable when you gush over characters. He won’t mind if you’re a little obsessed with a book series but instead just take it in stride.

Also, did I mention he’s cute?

Seriously he’s so sweet and always knows the perfect thing to say. Plus, he can sometimes be shy, which makes him even more cute. Honestly, if Levi doesn’t make you swoon, even if it’s just a little bit, than I don’t know who will.

Swoonworthy Line:

“I choose you over everyone.”

Dream Cast: Austin Butler

Book Review: Attachments

Posted on November 17, 2015November 16, 2015 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Book Reviews, Books to Buy

Synopsis from Amazon.com:

Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder know that somebody is monitoring their work e-mail. (Everybody in the newsroom knows. It’s company policy.) But they can’t quite bring themselves to take it seriously. They go on sending each other endless and endlessly hilarious e-mails, discussing every aspect of their personal lives.

Meanwhile, Lincoln O’Neill can’t believe this is his job now- reading other people’s e-mail. When he applied to be “internet security officer,” he pictured himself building firewalls and crushing hackers- not writing up a report every time a sports reporter forwards a dirty joke.

When Lincoln comes across Beth’s and Jennifer’s messages, he knows he should turn them in. But he can’t help being entertained-and captivated-by their stories.

By the time Lincoln realizes he’s falling for Beth, it’s way too late to introduce himself.

What would he say . . . ?

I had never read a book by Rainbow Rowell until I read Fangirl and since that was a masterpiece I knew I needed to read more. After looking around and hearing that Eleanor & Park was the greatest book ever, I naturally chose to read Attachments because I dare to be different.

First of all, I love Lincoln. He’s so weird and quirky and awkward and just plain adorable. Of course if this is real life and someone did this to me I’d probably be totally freaked out but that’s great thing about fiction. In this context all of Lincoln’s seemed kind of romantic.

Plus, the way the story is set up we follow Lincoln for most of it and only see Beth through her emails with Jennifer. Therefore I couldn’t help but feel sympathetic for Lincoln. If this was told from Beth’s point of view I might’ve felt differently but because I got to know Lincoln and understand his romantic history and why he does the things he does, I actually really liked him.

And I loved Beth and Jennifer. I kind of liked their emails more than the chapters that were about Lincoln, to be honest. They’re so funny and honest with each other and the way they emailed each other is the way I usually text my best friends.

Overall, I really liked the book. The ending was a little to abrupt for me but otherwise this one was a winner. Fangirl is better though.

Borrow or Buy: Buy! This is one you’ll want on your shelf.

Stars:

Favorite Line:

`“He knew why he wanted to kiss her. Because she was beautiful. And before that, because she was kind. And before that, because she was smart and funny. Because she was exactly the right kind of smart and funny. Because he could imagine taking a long trip with her without ever getting bored. Because whenever he saw something new and interesting, or new and ridiculous, he always wondered what she’d have to say about it–how many stars she’d give it and why.”

Other Reviews

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Book Review: Fangirl

Posted on October 22, 2015October 22, 2015 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Book Reviews

Synopsis from Amazon:

In Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl, Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan, but for Cath, being a fan is her life–and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.
Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words . . . And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?

Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

Rarely do I purchase a book that I haven’t already read or haven’t read something by the author before. However, this was the collector’s edition of Fangirl, the cover is gorgeous, and it was 20 percent off at Target. Plus, I had just finished the book I was reading and didn’t have anything to read on the train.

So I bought it and I have never been more happy about a spur of the moment purchase. This book was everything I wanted it to be and more. I came into this book with no kind of expectations. I heard about it before and heard that it was good but it wasn’t like The Hunger Games level of fame or anything. My expectations were of the “This book will probably be a cute, fun read” variety.

But it was so much more than that. This book dealt with mental health, romance, dealing with change, and it’s set in college. Do you know how hard it is to find a good book set in college these days? It’s either high school or adulthood. No in between. But Fangirl is the perfect in between.

The main character, Cath, is so relatable. Her love (obsession?) with Simon Snow (the book’s version of Harry Potter, basically) is understandable, especially for any book lover. Her relationship with her sister, Wren, and her father is amazing to watch. She’s protective of them in a way that is ultimately harmful for herself. Cath is also very anxious and shy but she’s so sweet and passionate and I love her. Definitely one of my favorite protagonists ever.

The characters overall in this novel were fantastic. Cath’s roommate, Reagan, has the mean/bad girl vibe that is perfect but not cliche. Levi, the boy always hanging around Reagan and Cath’s room, is adorkable in the best way. He’s sweet and caring and is always smiling in a way that confuses Cath who keeps her smiling to a bare minimum. Then you have Nick, who’s a questionable character, and Cath’s teacher, Professor Piper, who’s chill.

I loved the little twists in this book that didn’t feel forced but instead felt perfectly right. I liked watching Cath come out of her shell and speak up for herself and what she wanted. Most of all, Cath’s dedication to her writing and her fanfiction about Simon Snow was great. I totally understood her need to write and why it was so important to her and I loved watching her succeed.

Fangirl brought me on an emotional roller coaster that made me miss my stop on the train once, almost made me miss my stop twice, and made me stay up four hours later than I was supposed one night, just so I could keep reading. This is definitely a book you’ll want on your shelf and I’m so glad it’s now on mine.

Borrow or Buy: Buy!

Stars:

Favorite Line:

“I choose you over everyone.”

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