50 Book Pledge Giveaway

I was so worried I’d fail this challenge that I almost did not try! Well I was wrong, folks. I completed the 50 book challenge with 4 month to spare!

Here are my stats:

Total books: 50

Full manuscripts: 20

Fiction books: 43

POC books:  28

Books by women:  38 

Book number 50 was The Palace of Curiosities by Rosie Garland and it was a great way to round out the challenge. I won’t say too much about it now since it won’t be on sale until March 2013, but it was a lovely, lovely book with a heart-wrenching characters and a touching romance. If y’all ask very nicely, I’ll review it before the new year :)

But now for the GIVEAWAY!  THREE lucky winners (from the US or Canada only) will receive ONE book of their choice from the list of published books I’ve read this year. You have until Sept 14 to enter! Good luck, everyone!

Click the links for my reviews or check out my Goodreads page for ratings.

1. The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
2. The Obamas by  Jodi Kantor
3. Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan
4. Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Nemat
5. The Whore of Akron by Scott raab
6. The Book of Negoes by Lawrence Hill
7. Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi
8. Slumdog Millionaire by Vikas Swarup
9. Their Eyes Were Watching God  by Zora Neale Hurston
10. Ru by Kim Thuy
11. Talking With My Mouth Full by Gail Simmons
12. Wicket Season by Gabrielle Prendergast
13. The Headmaster's Wager by Vincent Lam
14. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
15. When Apples Grew Noses and White Horses Flew by Jan Andrews
16. We are in a Book! by Mo Willems
17. Salsa Nocturna by Daniel José Older
18. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wien
19. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
20. Miguel Street  by VS Naipaul
21. Throne of Glass by SJ Maas
22. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Cathrynne Valente
23. Daughters Who Walk This Path by Yejide Kilanko

               

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Armchair BEA: Networking—Leonicka does Festival of Trees

Bonus post! Networking is fun for me (under the right circumstances), so I’m happy to share another fabulous industry experience I had last month. Because she is an amazing human being, children’s literary agent Ali McDonald took me to the Forest of Reading Festival of Trees in May.

Oh. Em. Gee. Thousands of kids running around along the harbour screaming out of excitement for books. It was a beautiful sight. 

It was a little rainy in the morning so Ali and I had to huddle under umbrellas and awnings to stay dry as kids introduced the authors of their favorite books and explained why they wanted that book to win. I could always tell which book would win by how ear-splitting the cheers were. “Is that book good?” I asked the little girl behind me. “Yeah! You should read it. Even if you’re a grown up.” A glowing endorsement if I ever heard one. 

Between award presentations, Ali and I had lunch. Strengthening old relationships is as critical as forming new ones, y’all. I don’t even remember what we talked about but after several of these one-on-one chats, I totally feel comfortable asking her for professional advice. It’s great to have a mentor. It’s better to have several.  

Other highlights of the day included a lovely talk with Kari-Lynn Winters, a prolific children’s book author; a visit with Angela Wood, one of the founding members of Kids Can Press; and the best party ever at Groundwood Books.

Overall  it not only a fantastic day for making contacts but an eye-opening one in terms of my career path. I had always considered children’s publishing  a completely different realm that I could never understand. I was wrong. It is a different world but I could see myself thriving in it! I am now 100% sure that my career will include children’s books one way or another. Not bad for one day of networking, am I right?

BDE: Update 3

Wow. I totally forgot about this. That should tell you the approximate success of my strategies.

That's not to say I haven't had my good days. But they certainly weren't best days. And they certainly didn't come as often as I would like. Strategy 1 failed. Saying hi to strangers is too hard. Strategy 2 failed because of sheer laziness.

Looking at what makes my good days good and my blah days blah, I've noticed that routine and monotony induces the "flatline" feeling. After awhile the days just run together and everything seems gray and dull. Conversely the happy days are marked by productivity and novelty.

Which leads me to Strategy 3: "Complete at least one task and/or do one new thing every day." Now I already know the "productivity" part of that strategy is going to fail; I'm a chronic procrastinator. (Yes, I know it's a terrible character trait. I'll fix it... later. :P) The novelty thing shouldn't be too difficult though. Especially with summer coming soon.

If you have any other tips and strategies or general words of encouragement, feel free to leave a comment. Ta ta for now!

BDE: Update 2

So my two strategies were abysmal failures.

Strategy 1 failed because I got nervous and tongue-tied and instantly retreated into my private nooks like a baby turtle.

Strategy 2 almost succeeded! I packed my gym clothes, went to the building where the gym is, and then.... checked my email. Mistake. Checking my email inevitably leads to spending at least two hours online, by which time I had to catch the bus home.

I did however have good weekend! I was very busy but very productive so it was worthwhile.

As I have said before it isn't the weekend that's the problem. It's those five torturous days leading up to the weekend that continue to thwart me. But I shall prevail.

Strategies 1 and 2 are still go for next week. Wish me luck.

Best Day Ever: Update 1

I have come to a conclusion. Weekends are easier to make best than weekdays. I know. Shocking. But! My pledge was to make "every day" the best day ever, not just "the days I can lounge around the house in my PJs with a bag of chips in one hand and the TV remote in the other." With the help of my BFFs I created new strategies to address this conundrum (ooo big word :D).

Strategy 1: Say Hi
My university has more people than some small cities. As such it is very easy to get the "alone in the crowd" feeling. Starting Monday, I am going to attempt to say hello to every person next to whom I sit. Sounds simple enough but I'm already getting butterflies in my belly. Hopefully I'll meet someone nice by doing this.

Strategy 2: Excersize!
I don't work out. I have a legitimate excuse really. I'm allergic to sweat. It's icky and gross and smells bad. Why would I willingly endure such torture? But desperate times call for desperate measures. So excersize I shall. To paraphrase the ever fabulous Elle Woods, excersize give you endorhpins; endorphins make you happy; and happy people just don't kill their husbands... or stare at a wall contemplating the futility of life :)

By weeks end I will have an update on how this worked out. Wish me luck!

Flatlining

I am flatlining. No, it’s not cardiac arrest but it’s just as painful. “Flatlining” is the term my friends and I use to describe those blah moment; the moments where you're just kind of sitting there watching the world whiz by. The peaks and valleys of life – the little blips on the EKG – are gone. You’re just… there. Flatlining. Yup. That’s me.

So today I’ve come to a decision. I won’t let this “run its course.” I’m not going to “wait it out” or sit idly by as I go through this “phase.” I have decided to make an effort to – you're gonna love this – make every day the best day ever! It sounds ridiculous, I know. After all, life is so mundane. Expecting each day to be the very best day, is setting oneself up for failure. But hey, I’m already trudging along with my head down. It can’t possibly get any worse.

I’m not sure exactly how I’m going to do it. Maybe some days I’ll do something productive like finish my To Do list (ha! What a day that would be indeed!). Other days I may indulge myself with a treat (a poutine… or maybe ice-cream… or a poutine and ice-cream!). Or perhaps I will have a normal boring day and simply endure with a smile on my face. No matter how I do it, my goal is to never utter the words that have haunted me for the past few months: “Ugh. What a waste of a day.”

I’m going to try to update my progress on this blog. Any tips and tricks would be appreciated. But mostly I’d like encouragement… to make this the best day ever!