It’s been a while since we’ve had a Question of the Week, so I thought it was about time to ask you guys something! What I’m wondering about this week is: Where do you like to buy books?

I used to prefer taking a trip to the actual bookstore so I could frolic among all the pretties, but I’ve come to learn that I buy books I don’t need when I go to the bookstore, while I generally only get books I’ve been really wanting when I shop online. And thus, shopping online has become my preferred method for obtaining new books.

I blame it on the sale tables at the bookstore. I can’t resist the sale tables because I know I just might find an old favorite, or the next-in-a-series in hardcover for a steal, but most of the time I end up with books that sit on the TBR pile indefinitely. Sometimes I just end up passing these on without ever reading them, which seems like more of a waste of money than any great savings. The only catch I find with shopping online, is that I always buy enough to qualify me for free shipping, which results in multiple book purchases. The difference between the two is that I pick off a small wish-list when shopping online (rather than the whole store) so I never end up with books that won’t be read. Plus, they send the books right to my door when I shop online, and that’s just so convenient.

So, what about you? Do you prefer to shop online, or are you a hands-on, real book-store-only type of shopper? Do you prefer independent booksellers or a nice big  Chapters or Borders type of store? And if you’re so inclined, tell us about your favorite book store… Maybe someone else will fall in love with it too!

And now the second part of our interview with Seanan McGuire (read the first part here). This part is all about Feed and contains MAJOR SPOILERS for the book. If you have any plans to read it, please skip this post until you’ve finished it. (And in that case, make sure to enter our Feed giveaway for your chance to win an autographed copy!)

Continue reading for part 2 of our interview with Seanan Mcguire. CAUTION: CONTAINS MAJOR PLOT SPOILERS FOR FEED.

Happy Friday folks! As you may have noticed, we’re all about the zombies today! It’s FEED day here at WAGB and as such we’d like to remind everyone about our awesome FEED giveaway!

If you still haven’t entered the giveaway or if you’d like to score some extra entries, head over to the  FEED giveaway post!

Don’t miss part 1 and part 2 (to come) of Rae’s interview with FEED author Mira Grant (aka Seanan McGuire).

For even more FEED goodness, we also have a recap of the FEED launch party where Rae shares some love for the book.

Last week I gushed over Feed and told you all about the release party I attended. This week we’ve got an interview with the author, Mira Grant (aka Seanan McGuire)! We talk to her about having books out under two names, writing, and Feed. No worries, though, you don’t have to have read the book for this first half of the interview.

Welcome Mira! I mean, Seanan. And Mira. Whatever! Thanks for taking the time to answer some of our questions.

Thanks for having me! I love interviews.

Do you feel at all like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde at the moment? How do you handle having books out under two names? Literally. Is there a difference in how you present yourself as one persona versus the other?

I dress a bit differently. For Seanan events, I tend to look like a happy pumpkin, while for Mira events, I focus on red, black, and camo prints. I have a lot of chainsaw jewelry, and that comes out for Mira. Mostly, it’s the topics that vary, since I don’t talk fairy tales when I’m Mira, and I don’t tend to get quite as many questions about virology when I’m Seanan.

I know you’ve probably explained this a thousand times by now but can you quickly touch on why the Newsflesh Trilogy has been released under a different name than your October Daye books?

I tell people it’s like when Disney created Touchstone to allow them to release R-rated movies. They were good movies, they were sometimes awesome movies, but they weren’t movies that were necessarily “Disney movies.” I love the books I write as Mira Grant, but they’re very, very different from the Toby books, and I want to set up that expectation right from the beginning. I don’t want people to pick up Feed going “Oh, I loved Rosemary and Rue, this is the same author, so it must be the same thing!” Even if you know that I’m both Mira and Seanan, the different name creates a different expectation.

You’ve got other books in development. Do you anticipate possibly having to publish those under different names too?

It’s possible that I may wind up picking up more pseudonyms in the future, since I want to write YA and maybe even straight romantic comedy. Maybe I can pull a Neil Gaiman and be able to publish as myself in a bunch of different genres, but that’s much more of a long shot than me someday announcing that I am suddenly three people.

Speaking of the Newsflesh Trilogy, you know I love Feed but why do you think it’s going to appeal to others? Or what about it do you hope will appeal to others?

Feed is about the truth. It’s about fear. It’s about family. And it’s about zombies, which are pretty popular these days. I think all those things will have a lot of appeal, especially in combination. Plus a lot of things explode, and people tend to like that sort stuff.

One only has to read a few entries in your blog to see that you’re clearly fan of horror, is that where this book was born? And what else, if anything, had a big influence on the story?

It is! I love horror, and I love virology, and these loves combined to give me functional viral zombies. It all sort of spread from there. Aaron Sorkin’s The West Wing was also a big influence, as was Transmetropolitan, by Warren Ellis, and, weirdly, all those really lousy killer virus movies where no one respects the quarantine.

Continue reading Part 1 of our interview with Seanan McGuire.

To celebrate the launch of Something Wicked, Lesley Anne Cowan will discuss writing and working with at-risk youth with Hugo-Award winning author Emily Pohl-Weary. An extended Q&A will follow the conversation.

I’ve recently finished reading both of Lesley Anne Cowan’s riveting novels which focus on the struggles of troubled teen girls, and I can tell you that Lesley is a wonderful story teller! She handles some really difficult subjects with grace and amazing insight. We were also lucky enough to have Lesley answer a few questions for us, and after reading her answers I really wish that I was able attend this event because I would LOVE to hear her talk about her work!

If you’re unfamiliar with Lesley’s work  you can read my review of As She Grows here, and be sure to check back June 1 for my review of Something Wicked and a great interview with Lesley.

So for those of you in the Toronto area, be sure to take advantage of this free opportunity!

Click for directions to the Gladstone Hotel

www.smallprinttoronto.org •  Penguin Group Canada •  Gladstone Hotel • Torontoist.com

Kicking off our summer Book Club reading is Get Lucky by Katherine Center. This fun little story about family, love and major life changes makes for a perfect book club selection since it touches upon so many big issues.

There were no discussions points available for Get Lucky, so I’ve gone ahead and written up some questions that I thought might spark our discussion on the book. Please be sure to answer the final question where I solicit YOUR ideas for discussion!

Discussion Questions

1. Did you enjoy Get Lucky? What did you like and dislike about it?  Have you read Katherine Center’s other books? How do you feel Get Lucky compares to her other works?
2. The story centers around sisters Mackie and Sarah, who are very alike, but also very different. Could you relate more to one sister than the other? Which one and why?
3. Get Lucky focuses on the bond between the two sisters. Do you have sisters? Are you as close as Mackie and Sarah? Do you feel that same sex siblings have a closer relationship than opposite sex siblings? (ie sister/sister vs. brother/sister)
4. Surrogacy can be a heavy topic, but Get Lucky took a lighthearted stance. Would you ever be a surrogate for one of your family members? Why or why not?
5. Going back home can be hard. Sarah not only returns to her hometown, but also moves back in with her family, which can be difficult at the best of times. Do you think she made the right decision to live with Mackie and Clive? How could things have been different if they weren’t living together? Have you ever gone home again? How did it work out?
6. Sarah’s inappropriate crush on Clive seemed to be a case of misdirected emotions. Were you bothered by her feelings for her brother-in-law? Have you ever had an inappropriate crush? How did you get over it?
7. Many families have one central figure that acts as the “glue” of the family. The Harper family had been without such a figure until Dixie came along. Do you feel the story would have been different if Dixie had not come into their lives? Is there a “Dixie” in your family?
8. Losing her job ended up being a blessing for Sarah. Even though she was quite content in her old life, in the end she had a completely new – and more fulfilling – life. Do you think changes of this scale sneak up on us (like they did with Sarah), or do you feel they have to be sought out and made into reality?
9. The above questions all touch on topics I thought about discussing while reading Get Lucky. Now I’m turning things over to you… What other thoughts/ideas/questions came to you while reading Get Lucky? What would you like to discuss about the book? (Feel free to bring up ANYTHING!)

This week’s Friday Freebie is another really great giveaway! We have not one, but TWO copies of the new release FEED, which are SIGNED by the author Mira Grant!!

If you haven’t read Rae’s post about the FEED Launch Party, and how awesome this book is you should definitely check it out! It’s hard not to feel the love when you read her account of the book and event. If you’d like to know more about the book, check out the very impressive FEED website.

In order to be entered in the giveaway, simply comment and let us know: When the zombie outbreak occurs in the year 2014 which famous figure/celebrity would you like to see  turned into a zombie?

• Post or tweet about this giveaway for an extra entry. (Don’t forget to direct us to your post or tweet to get credit for the entry.)
• For an another entry, comment on our UPCOMING interview with Feed author Mira Grant.  Check back next week for the interview and your chance for extra entries!

Deadline for entries is midnight on Sunday, June 6, 2010.

*Our sincerest apologies to readers outside North America, but due to high mailing costs this giveaway is only open to those with Canadian or US mailing addresses.

I know these monster mash-ups are not a new thing, but two new mash-ups that came out this month that have finally got me interested in this trend.

Little Women and Werewolves by Louisa May Alcott and Porter Grand, and Little Vampire Women by Louisa May Alcott and Lynn Messina were both released on May 4, and are the first mash-ups that I actually want to read. I’m more interested in Little Vampire Women, but I think they both sound like fun!

I think my biggest issue with the mash-ups so far is that I’m not a huge reader of literary classics, so even though they’ve been getting lots of great reviews and now have monsters added, I’ve been wary of them. It just doesn’t seem right to have your first introduction to a classic be an impure version of it. But I’ve already read and thoroughly enjoyed Little Women, AND I’m a huge fan of vampires and werewolves so they’ve added the perfect incentive for me to re-visit this classic!

I must admit to also being curious about Jane Slayre as well. (Vamps, werewolves AND slayers? All things that I love!) But since I’ve never read the original I won’t start with that one. I have downloaded the original Jane Eyre to my e-reader though.

What about you? Have you read any of these mash-ups? If so, did you enjoy them? Would you recommend them? If not, what’s your reasoning for staying away? And if you could have your wish, what mash-ups you would like to see?

Feed
by Mira Grant

This piece is opinion. Take it as you will.
But get your opinions the hell away from my news.

I love this book.

And I want all of you to read it. Except, if you hate it, I kinda don’t want to know. That’s horrible, right? But that’s how much I love it. I don’t want to hear people ragging on it. Every time I see a review of it posted somewhere, I hesitate before clicking on the link, fearful that it’ll be bad and I won’t be able to deal. I may have issues.

Mira Grant (a.k.a Seanan McGuire) is a good friend and, while I love her other books, Feed was the one I couldn’t wait to own. The one I was dying to place on my bookshelf. From the moment I read the very first beta pages (and it’s only gotten better with each new draft!), I knew she’d sell it someday.

It’s not my book but having essentially watched it evolve from a few cryptic comments in an instant message to a honest-to-God book on sale at your local bookstore, I’m a tad protective of it. Which is exactly why I told Jody I didn’t want to review it. Quite frankly, it’d be impossible for me to assure you I’m capable of looking at it objectively. Instead I’m just going to reiterate my love for it and strongly recommend you check it out for yourself. I’m pretty sure you’ll be standing on my side of the Feed fence before you get to the last page.

In related “Objectivity, what’s that?!” news, I totally flew out to San Francisco just to attend the Feed release party!!

Sadly I’ve had to miss Seanan’s other release parties but there was no way I wouldn’t be at this one. We’ve literally been planning my attendance for months. It was everything I could have hoped. Seanan even read something! (She’s not a fan of this reading thing. I say she better get used to it.)

The party was at the nifty Borderlands Books in downtown San Francisco, complete with cats! It’s an awesome store. We had a bunch of other sugary treats from Cups and Cakes. YUMMY! Oh! And we had brains! Ok, ok, brains cupcakes but, really, isn’t that the same thing? Since the book takes place after the zombie apocalypse (stop judging, it’s good I tell you!), you can’t have a zombie book release party without people eating brains. Pretty sure you’ll find that in a rule book somewhere.

As I said, Seanan read the first chapter of Feed which is pretty damn fun. Later she read again, not from Feed this time but one of her Fighting Pumpkin short stories dealing with the undead. Even more fun. Or, more importantly, funny. The story got lots of laughs and was the perfect way to wind things down. In between her readings she also answered a crap load of questions pertaining to both Feed and writing in general. If I were a better blogger, I’d have written some of these down so I could share them with you. Suffice to say, Seanan did a lot of research for this book and is well-known at the CDC. The vote’s still out on whether this is something to be celebrated or not. But I’m pretty sure it’s a huge honor for Seanan.

If you can’t tell, I had a great time. There’s nothing like celebrating a friend’s success with other friends. And those piles of Seanan’s books on the bookstore counter? Amazing. I’m so incredibly proud of her and happy I there in person to show her.

Oh! And I picked up couple copies of the book that Seanan was nice enough to sign during the party and we’ll be announcing a giveaway for those soon. Plus, those answers I didn’t write down? Turns out we may have a few of them to share with you after all. Check back in a few days for With A Good Book’s interview with Seanan!

After our trip to Universal Studios complete with glimpses of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, I got to dreaming of all the fictional places I wish I could visit. But there are so many amazing places that exist only in books, I solicited Rae’s help in choosing just 5 fictional book places that I’d visit if I could.

Top 5 Book Places to Visit

1. Hogwarts (Harry Potter Series) This was the #1 choice for both of us. Is an explanation really required? Mail owls! Quidditch! Wands! Brooms! Spells! Magic.
2. Fablehaven (Fablehaven Series) Another one we both agreed on. This magical preserve really has it all for fantasy lovers. Fairies, trolls, centaurs, a magical cow and so much more!
3. The Great Library in Bookworld (Thursday Next Series)  The Great Library serves as a public gateway onto any book ever created! Plus, the Cheshire cat is the librarian! Any book lovers dream.
4. Ellesméra in the great forest of Du Weldenvarden (Inheritance Cycle) There were many places from the Eragon books on our list, but the forest was one we both wanted to see. The elves created the city of Ellesméra by singing the trees and plants into structures. It sounds absolutely beautiful in the books, and I wish I could see it for myself!
5. Rangeman HQ (Stephanie Plum Series) Since they don’t make it sound very appealing in the books, neither Rae or I were eager to see New Jersey (where the Plum stories take place).  BUT we were both eager to get a glimpse of the ultra-swank Rangeman HQ. (My main are of interest would be Ranger’s apartment where Stephanie occasionally takes refuge.)

So, what do you think of our list? If you could visit any of the wonderful fictional places you’ve read about where would you go? We’d love to hear your Top 5 list! As an alternative, are there any fictional places you’d never want to go?