January: Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck

Looking for something to read over Christmas Break?  Grab the tiger by the tail and get to reading our book for January:

Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck

Passion. Fate. Loyalty.

Would you risk it all to change your destiny? 

The last thing Kelsey Hayes thought she’d be doing this summer was trying to break a 300-year-old Indian curse. With a mysterious white tiger named Ren. Halfway around the world. But that’s exactly what happened. Face-to-face with dark forces, spellbinding magic, and mystical worlds where nothing is what it seems, Kelsey risks everything to piece together an ancient prophecy that could break the curse forever.

And if all of that's not enough, the guy in this book is totes dreamy.

We didn't have copies of this book to hand out at the last meeting, but we do now!  Come to the teen room reference desk to sign up and claim your copy.  We have a few library copies and an audiobook available to check out!  I'll see you at the meeting on January 9th, 6pm @SPL!  

Now check out this sweet book trailer for Tiger's Curse:

December Highlights: SKYPE-tacular!

Sarah Maas with the German cover for Throne of Glass!  Celaena's wearing some sweet threads, no?  Photo credit: magazin.dtv.de

So last weekend's weather was a little bit incredibly intense (Winter-pocalypse 2013!)...

Fortunately, Skype still works in bad weather, so we still got to talk with Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight author Sarah Maas during our meeting last Thursday (the weather was fine in California, apparently)!

In case the ice kept you away from the library, here are some highlights from our conversation with Sarah:

• She started out writing fanfiction: Sarah didn't start out writing bestselling books.  Back in the day, she wrote fanfiction for fun - even mash-up fanfiction about, for example, Harry Potter with Sailor Moon!  "It was terrible!" she says.  Read some fanfiction on the site Sarah used to post hers:  Fanfiction.net

• She started writing Throne of Glass at 16!: She had the idea while watching Cinderella - the music was so dramatic when Cinderella runs away from the ball, it sounded almost as if she had done something criminal.  "So I started thinking, 'What could she have actually done that would deserve being chased from the ball like that?'"  Like... try to assassinate someone?  Hm... 

• Throne of Glass had tons of fans before it was even published:  Before it was called Throne of Glass, Celaena's story was titled Queen of Glass and was posted on a website called Fictionpress.com, where people can publish original works of fiction online.  At one point, Queen of Glass was the most read story on the website!  "It was my refuge," says Sarah.

Unofficial cover art.

• Cool background info on the Crown of Midnight cover art:  Sarah says that Celaena was originally illustrated as being craaaaazy thin on the cover art for Crown of Midnight, and Sarah took a stand to have her illustrated at a healthier weight (is Sarah awesome or what?!).  Besides being an unhealthy image for teens, she says, it's also untrue to Celaena's character*!  

• She's working on a new series: Aside from working the Throne of Glass series, Sarah's working on a new series called A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES.  It's a retelling of Beauty and the Beast in which the character Beauty is a huntress.  It's for an age group a little older than teens called "New Adult", and it'll be out in Winter 2015!  For more info on the story, click here; for more info on this series, click here; to read a snippet, click here.

• Check out her new online project, The Starkillers Cycle!:  After some vacation-fueled brainstorming, Sarah and her BFF, Susan Dennard (author of the Something Strange and Deadly YA series - visit Susan's website here), have started a collaborative work of fiction that will live online and can be read on the series' tumblr.  Titled The Starkillers Cycle, it's a type of sci-fi called a space opera (think Star Wars, kinda); read the authors' intro and disclaimer about content, then read the first chapter (also this hilarious interview with the two of them).

• WE GOT SOME INFO ON Throne of Glass BOOK #3!!:  ... very little info, though.  No, she didn't tell us the title of Book #3, but we now know that it will have three narratives following three different storylines: one for Celaena, one for Chaol and Dorian, and one for a new character - someone who is connected with the Iron Witch Clan of the Western Wastes.  Remember Yellowlegs, the witch with iron teeth in Crown of Midnight?  Oh yeah.  THOSE Iron Witches.

• She's got some book recommendations: Looking for something to read until Sarah's next book is out?  She's got some suggestions:  Sabriel by Garth Nix, Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta (Sarah told us the hilarious story of when she met the author... and got a little too excited: "I was crying hysterically"), Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, and, of course, the Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien (she went to all see all the movies at midnight when they came out - and dressed up. As who?  "Eowyn!").

A ginormous THANK YOU to Sarah for skyping with us!!  We got so much good info and insight into her inspirations, being a writer and her new projects (I'm definitely checking out both of them)! ... although I'm such a fan of this series that she could have just read aloud from the phone book and I'd still call the meeting a win.

Did you enjoy Crown of Midnight, and are you looking forward to Sarah's next projects?  Are you a fan of fanfiction, or a writer yourself?  Let us know in the comments!

* So why wouldn't Celaena be super-skinny, as she was first illustrated for the Crown of Midnight cover art?  Celaena was malnourished as a slave in Endovier in Throne of Glass, and if there's something Celaena DOES NOT LIKE, it's slavery.  Being skinny was a reminder of her time as a slave, so she's unlikely to have stayed that way on purpose once she was freed!

A Real-Life Crown of Midnight

The Midnight Tiara.

While you're finishing up reading Crown of Midnight for tomorrow's skype sesh with Sarah Maas, chew on this:  there's a real, non-fictional "crown of midnight"!

More specifically, it's a tiara of midnight - the Midnight Tiara, worn by Crown Princess Mary of the royal Danish court*.  Don't be fooled by the twigs, leaves and berries: this tiara's 31 flower buds are made of over 1,300 small diamond brilliants and polished moonstones, and its leaves and branches are hand graved in 18 carat rose gold, white gold, and black oxidized silver (nope, none of that creepy black substance from the Crown of Midnight novel). The colors are meant to look like a starry moonlit sky at midnight, hence the name "the Midnight Tiara."



Crown Princess Mary wearing the Midnight Tiara with matching earrings and broach.

*Call me immature, but this is what I think of

 every time I read "Royal Danish Court". Mm,

 danishes.

It was designed by Charlotte Lynggaard of the jewel firm Ole Lynggaard, a jeweler to the Danish royal court.  It's a more modern-looking tiara, and it has an unusual, modern ownership deal; instead of the Danish royal court owning the tiara, the jewel firm, Ole Lynggaard, retains ownership of the tiara, but Princess Mary is the only person allowed to borrow it from them. It's a pretty sweet deal - Princess Mary gets another cool tiara to wear, and Ole Lynggaard gets publicity.  The tiara even has a matching broach and earrings - fashion win!

That's it for now!  Don't forget to come to tomorrow's meeting (6pm @ SPL) to skype with Sarah Maas herself (tiaras are optional).  Have your questions for Sarah ready - see you then!

Weird Wyrds? CROWN OF MIDNIGHT Pronunciation Guide

Feeling tongue-tied?  If you've been reading our book for this Thursday's meeting, Crown of Midnight (or its predecessor, Throne of Glass), then you've probably noticed that spellings of names and places are a bit... different.  And hard to pronounce.  Seriously - "Eyllwe"?  "Anielle"?  No idea how to say those.

Lucky for us, author Sarah Maas has provided a super-helpful pronunciation guide for the tricky bits!  Check it out here on the blog to learn all the lingo just in time for Thursday's meeting.  You'll sound like a native of Adarlan in no time!

Are any of the pronunciations different from what you'd expected? Which words, and what was your pronunciation?  Let us know in the comments! Don't worry - since these are all made-up words, there isn't really a wrong way to pronounce them.

And don't forget to come tell the author what you think of these pronunciations when we skype with her at the next meeting - this Thursday, December 5th, 6-7pm at the library!

Prequel Stories for CROWN OF MIDNIGHT - read them NOW!

Have you started our book for December's meeting, Crown of Midnight?  Already finished and want some more?

Sarah Maas has written two prequel short stories for Crown of Midnight, which you can read online for FREE!  These are "bridge" stories, meaning they take place after Throne of Glass  and before Crown of Midnight. 

Both short stories have been posted in little pieces on different book blogs, a.k.a. a blog tour.  You can read each part by clicking on the links below.

Here's the first story -

The Assassin and the Princess

Part 1                    Part 7

Part 2                    Part 8

Part 3                    Part 9

Part 4                    Part 10

Part 5                    Part 11

Part 6                    Part 12

But that's not all! The second short story one isn't exactly a "bridge" story; instead, it takes place right at the beginning of Crown of Midnight, though it's not included in the book, making it more of a deleted scene! Use the links below:

The Assassin and the Captain

Part 1                    Part 3 

Part 2                    Part 4

Be sure to snoop around these blogs once you finish reading the short stories     you might find a review for a new book to read!

And don't forget to come to our next meeting on December 5th at 6pm to skype with Sarah Maas!

SKYPE with SARAH J. MAAS: the Sequel

Hey look, it's Luke Skype-walker!

Sometimes, sequels really aren't as good as the original. But here's your lesson for the day:

SOMETIMES THEY'RE EVEN MORE AWESOME.

If you haven't heard, we're reading an even-more-awesome-than-usual book for our next meeting:  Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas, the sequel to Throne of Glass, our book pick for LAST December (read all about it here; read a synopsis for Throne of Glass and put it on hold here).

But wait!  There's more sequel-ness:

SARAH MAAS IS GOING TO SKYPE WITH US AT THE MEETING!! AGAIN!!  

That's right - AGAIN:  she skyped with us once already (last April), and Sarah's agreed to skype with us again at our next meeting on December 5th, 6pm, at SPL.  That makes this meeting ...

SKYPE WITH SARAH J. MAAS,

THE SEQUEL:

SKYPE-IER THAN EVER

- OR -

THE EMPIRE SKYPES BACK

THE DARK SKYPE
LIVE FREE & SKYPE HARD

I'm pretty excited.  Here are some more details about Sarah:

"Sarah J. Maas was born and raised in New York City, but after graduating from Hamilton College in 2008, she moved to Southern California. She's always been just a tad obsessed with fairy-tales and folklore, though she'd MUCH rather be the one slaying the dragon (instead of the damsel in distress). When she's not busy writing, she can be found geeking out over things like Han Solo, gaudy nail polish, and ballet."

Not gonna lie - she sounds pretty adorable. Check out her website for more about her and to get Throne of Glass extras! She also has a blog and is on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest. There's also a Throne of Glass Facebook page!

We still have FREE COPIES of the book to give out for those attending the meeting, so if you haven't signed up for the meeting yet, get to the teen room! And don't forget to come to meeting - December 5th, 6pm.  See you there!

December: Crown of Midnight

Thanks to everyone who came to our meeting last week!  We talked about Kelli London's Uptown Dreams and ate Halloween candy.  Oh yeah, I'm talking about gummy Crabby Patties.  Mmmmm.

On to the next book!  Get excited - it's time to read Crown of Midnight, the sequel to last December's read, Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas!!!

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

After a year of hard labor in the Salt Mines of Endovier, eighteen-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien has won the king's contest to become the new royal assassin. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown – a secret she hides from even her most intimate confidantes.

Keeping up the deadly charade—while pretending to do the king's bidding—will test her in frightening new ways, especially when she's given a task that could jeopardize everything she's come to care for. And there are far more dangerous forces gathering on the horizon -- forces that threaten to destroy her entire world, and will surely force Celaena to make a choice. 

Where do the assassin’s loyalties lie, and who is she most willing to fight for?

.  .  .

Um, YESPLEASE.  If you haven't signed up yet, get to the library stat - we still have several FREE COPIES of Crown of Midnight to give away when you sign up for the next meeting!

The fun begins with Throne of Glass; check out a library copy from the teen room, then get caught up with all our so be sure to read it first - check out all our previous posts about Throne of Glass!  Keep watching the blog - I'll be bringing you some special content for Crown of Midnight soon, as well as a SUPER AWESOME ANNOUNCEMENT about the next meeting!  [EDIT:  click here for the announcement!]

November: Uptown Dreams by Kelli London

Sorry about the radio silence - or rather blog silence; there've been some technical issues with blog posts on our library computers.  Technology FAIL.

Time for a new book!  Get ready for Uptown Dreams by Kelli London:

Uptown Dreams by Kelli London

At the prestigious Harlem Academy of Creative and Performing Arts, students are destined to realize their uptown dreams—as long as friends, haters, and crushes don't trip them up. . . 

La-La Nolan's killer voice could make her a superstar, but she's more focused on scoring the attention of Ziggy Phillip—the cute Jamaican boy in her class. But a singing competition against her arch rival could cost her both Ziggy and her spot at the Academy. . .

The daughter of the school's director and voice coach, Reese Allen has to work harder than everyone else to prove herself. But all Reese wants is to be a hip hop producer—a path her mother will never approve of. . .

Even though it's clear that Ziggy loves the ladies, he has to keep his passion for dance a secret from his father. But then his brother discovers Ziggy's ballet shoes and threatens to tell all—unless Ziggy gets him into the Academy too. . .

No one's a better actress than Jamaica Kincaid Ellison. She's even acted her way out of the boarding school her parents think she's still attending and into the Academy. She'll do anything to achieve her dream—unless her lies destroy everything. . .

If that weren't enough drama, rumor has it that the Academy may close at the end of the year. Can these gifted students put their talents to the test to save it?

We're out of free copies to hand out at the library, but you can still stop by the teen room to get on the wait list (we'll call/email you if we get any more copies of the book to give away).  If you have Uptown Dreams already, get to reading!  Our next meeting is November 7th, 6-7pm at the library.  Catch you then!

Poll: UNWIND Cover Art Smackdown!

So our next book, Unwind, has a lot of different cover designs - a LOT.  When this happened before with other past book club picks, everyone in book club had some very DEFINITE OPINIONS about which cover they thought was best (Throne of Glass, anyone?) - so why not get a head start on the debate? 

Here are several of the cover designs for Unwind - click on any picture to make it bigger, and vote on your favorite below!  Don't forget to click the "Vote!" button at the bottom after selecting your favorite cover!

Which edition has the best cover art?

• 
  
• English #1                     Polish                         Spanish  

English #2                       Indonesian                      French

• 
  
• English #3                    German                        Italian

Acepoll

More polls: Free polls

Calling All Writers!

Holla holla to my creative writers!  Smithies, your time has come:  in celebration of Teen Read Week in October, SPL is having its own WRITING CONTEST! Here're the deets:

Smith Public Library's Teen Read Week Writing Contest:

SEEK THE UNKNOWN

The Teen Read Week Writing Contest has begun, and this year's theme is "Seek the Unknown".  Teen Read Week runs from October 13th-19th, but we're holding our contest begins now and runs until October 19th!   

Entries will be judged in two age groups, 6th-8th graders and 9th-12th graders, which equals more people having a chance to win!  Sweet! 

WRITING GUIDELINES:   

• Short stories only, please - 1500 words or less.

• Go with our theme: make sure to incorporate the theme "Seek the Unknown" into your writing! Anything from paranormal, to sci-fi and fantasy, to mystery goes! 

• Include your info:  make sure your name, contact info, and age group (6-8th graders or 9-12th graders) are attached to your story when you turn it in to the teen reference desk.

Stories will be judged by various staff members, and the two winners will each receive a $25 gift card to Barnes & Noble as well as the opportunity to have their story published in the Wylie News and on our library website.

Get writing!  Make sure to get yours turned in for your chance to win!

October: Unwind by Neal Shusterman

Ugh, Long Lankin was SO three weeks ago.  Or whatever.  

Time for something new!  Get ready for dystopian craziness - check out our next book, Unwind by Neal Shusterman:

Unwind  by Neal Shusterman 

Connor, Risa, and Lev are running for their lives.  

The Second Civil War was fought over reproductive rights. The chilling resolution: Life is inviolable from the moment of conception until age thirteen. Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, however, parents can have their child "unwound," whereby all of the child's organs are transplanted into different donors, so life doesn't technically end. Connor is too difficult for his parents to control. Risa, a ward of the state is not enough to be kept alive. And Lev is a tithe, a child conceived and raised to be unwound. Together, they may have a chance to escape and to survive.

SHAPOW!  I've been wanting to read this book for a while - it sounds so so good.  If you haven't already signed up in the teen room and picked up your free copy of the book, GIT HERE NEOOOWWW - as of this moment, we only have one copy left to give away!

(No book trailer for this one. 'M srry.)

The Last Word: Ghost Story!

Creepy tree in the creepy forest surrounding Long Lankin's (alleged) creepy lair.  Photo credit: The Faery Folklorist

Welcome to a new regular blog post called "The Last Word"!  Posted a few days after each meeting, "The Last Word" is going to be just that - one last blog post about the book we read at the previous meeting before we move on to the next book.  In these posts you'll find info on a topic related to the subject the previous meeting's book so you learn more about the book you just read.

*  *  *

So before we quit Long Lankin for good… want to hear a ghost story?

As you might have figured out by now, the legend at the heart of Long Lankin is based on an actual old English/Scottish legend about a creepy guy who goes by, duh, “Long Lankin”.  But did you know that there are some non-mythical, absolutely real places associated with this legend?  Get ready – here’s the real story of Long Lankin.  Read on for the gory details, or just watch the video at the end.

It’s tricky finding info on Long Lankin, because just like everything old in Britain, Long Lankin goes by about TEN DIFFERENT NAMES!  Long Lankin, Long Lonkin, Lang Lonkin, Long Linkin, Long Lynkyn, Balankin, Rankin, Lambert Linkin, Lamkin, Lammiken… it’s worse than Snoop Lion/Snoop Dog/Snoopwhatever.  Whichever name, though, the story starts in the same place: northern England, near a little town named Prudhoe.

Today, this is all that's left of 
Nafferton Castle.  Photo: CastleUK.net

So back in 1218(!), the lord of the Prudhoe Castle petitioned the king to stop the construction on a new castle called Nafferton Castle, which was going up less than two miles away (check out all of the places mentioned in this post in the interactive map at the bottom, or click here for the full version).  The lord of Prudhoe Castle reeaaally didn’t like the lord of Nafferton due to some nasty political stuff that happened a few years earlier.  The complaint was approved, and Nafferton Castle was never finished and gradually became an abandoned ruin.  Maybe because of the dastardly dealings of these two guys, or maybe because of the creepy forest it was in, the ruins of Nafferton Castle eventually became more commonly known as Lonkin’s Lair – the lair of Long Lankin himself.

The legend tells of a stonemason – aka Long Lankin – who built a castle for a rich lord, which is thought to be a nearby castle named Welton Hall.  When the castle was done, the lord refused to pay the mason for his work, and the mason leaves, vowing revenge.  A little while later, the lord leaves to go see the king, warning his wife before he leaves to “Beware of Long Lankin”.  He even tells her to nail all the windows shut, just to be sure!

“See the doors are all bolted, see the windows all pinned, And leave not a crack for a mouse to creep in.” 

Oh, the doors were all bolted, oh, the windows were pinned, But at a small peep in the window Long Lankin crept in.

Apparently the nurse of the house, who was taking care of the lord’s baby, was in cahoots with Long Lankin and let him in the house.  These two creepers (the nurse and Long Lankin) the pricked the baby with a pin so he would cry and scream, causing the lady of the house (the baby’s mother) to come downstairs.  Once she does, Long Lankin jumps out of the shadows and kills her AND the baby!  As they are bleeding on the floor, he catches their blood in a silver bowl - probably because at that time, bathing in the blood of a noble was thought to be a cure for leprosy… so Long Lankin probably had leprosy, as well as the incurable disease of being a TOTAL PSYCHOPATH.

The forest around Nafferton Castle is SERIOUSLY CREEPY.    
Photo credit:  The Faery Folklorist

It’s around this time that lord of the castle, on the road to see the king, has a sudden feeling that something bad has happened back home.  He returns to his castle to find the still-warm bodies of his murdered wife and child, and seeing Long Lankin fleeing the scene, pursues him back into the forest, all the way to a creek called Bogle Burn (creepy fact – at that time, “bogle”, or “boggle”, were names for the devil; this is where the term "bogey man" comes from).  Long Lankin climbed a tree next to a pool along the creek, and the lord of the castle prepared to shoot him down with his arrows.  Rather than be captured and executed, Long Lankin jumped into the pool, sank, and was never seen again…

Still, this pool is said to be bottomless, and the water in it is said to be black, cold (even in summer), and never goes still, but is always moving and bubbling.  And on cold, misty nights, Long Lankin – whose body was never found – is said to haunt the forest and the ruins of Lonkin’s Lair, snatching children wandering out after dark.

Mwahaha. 

Photo credit:  The Faery Folklorist

Photo credit: The Faery Folklorist

The creek of Bogle Burn near where
Long Lankin supposedly drowned.
Photo credit: geolocation.ws

Locations in the Legend of Long Lankin!

View Long Lankin in a larger map



EXTRA STUFF:

• More info and details of different versions of Long Lankin's legend: http://www.folkmusic.net/htmfiles/inart679a.htm 
• More info and full text of the ballad from which the legend came:  http://mainlynorfolk.info/martin.carthy/songs/longlankin.html
• Several versions of the ballad in very old-timey English: http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/child/ch093.htm
• Bloggers' account of their visits to Lonkin's Lair: here and here

REFERENCES:
Long Lankin, Mainly Norfolk: English Folk and Other Good Music, Reinhard Zierke
Publications of the Folk-lore Society, Volume 35, pp. 190-193

Nafferton Castle/Lonkins Hall, CastleUK.net

Structure Details for Nafferton Castle, SINE Project, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne

93A: Lamkin, Sarcred-texts.com

Whittle Dene Fairies, The Fairy Folklorist

Lamkin, Wikipedia

Lamkin, The Living Tradition Magazine, folkmusic.net
'Beware of Long Lonkin that lies in the moss': The Legend of Long Lonkin, tynevalleywalking
"Whittle Burn Near Whirl Dub", geolocation.ws

September Sum-Up: Bustin' Rhymes + Scary Stories!

Cora and Mimi be crazy rappin' fools, yo

So last Thursday was our first meeting of the year in which we talked about Long Lankin by Lindsey Barroclough.  If you weren't there, you missed out - the discussion was awesome! Convo went WIDE, from Slender Man to ancient Roman methods of execution, scary movies to the meanings of English slang words (non-profane ones, anyway), poverty in post-WWII England, and the real meaning of honor - and shame.  Also Doctor Who.  I know.  Whut.

Did we like Long Lankin? Consensus sez: it was a bit too long with the scenes in between the spooky bits, but YES, we liked it and would recommend it to our friends!  So if you haven't finished reading Long Lankin yet, get on it!  It might be hot outside, but it's cold and creepy inside that book. Then...

We also played a Long Lankin-y game at the meeting!! And if you missed the meeting, you can still play here on the blog!  

First, some back story:  so the premise of Long Lankin (the book) is based on this old English/Scottish legend, which you can read in the form of a ballad (look here for the whole thing).  In part of the ballad, the lord of the manor is warning his wife about the dangerous Long Lankin (this is the bit of the ballad that's printed on the front cover of your copy of Long Lankin):

Said my lord to my lady as he mounted his horse,
'Beware of Long Lankin that lives in the moss.'

Said my lord to my lady as he rode away,
'Beware of Long Lankin that lives in the hay.'

So here's the game: create new stanzas for the poem by re-writing the ends of the first and second lines of the stanzas above! Here's how to do it:

"Said my lord to my lady as he _____________,  {an action he might do - in 4-5 syllables, if you can!} 
'Beware of Long Lankin that lives in the _____.'" {a place that Long Lankin could live - it needs to
                                                                        RHYME with line 2(!) in 1-2 syllables}

Confused?  Here's an easy example: 

"Said my lord to my lady as he put on his shirt,
'Beware of Long Lankin that lives in the dirt."

You can also break the formula for the fourth line of the stanza if you want; instead of filling in a play that Long Lankin could live, just re-write the entire fourth line and replace it with some dangerous fact about Long Lankin - making sure it rhymes and that the line has about five (5) syllables, of course:

"Said my lord to my lady as he combed his moustache,
'Beware of Long Lankin - he'll steal all your cash!'"

We went back and forth in the meeting: one person would come up with something to fill in the first blank (the action in line 2), and then everyone else tried to come up with something that rhymed for line 4!  

CHECK OUT OUR SWEET RHYMEZ FROM THE MEETING! 

Said my lord to my lady as he put on his socks, 

'Beware of Long Lankin who lives in...

          «  ... a box

          «  ... a mosque(?)

Said my lord to my lady as he combed his hair,

'Beware of Long Lankin… 

          «  He lives at the fair!  (like, inside Big Tex or something?)

          «  ... hey, do you see my socks anywhere?

Said my lord to my lady as he ran down the street,
'Beware of Long Lankin -

          «  He's got stinky feet!

          «  He ain't got no beat!  (he's a terrible rapper, really)

          «  He ain't got no… beets?

Said my lord to my lady as he put on his pants,

'Beware of Long Lankin - 

          « I think I'll do a dance!' 

Srrsly, you guys are hilarious.  Now it’s your turn!  Try it out yourself – leave us a rhyme in the comments! If you can’t think of how to start, try completing the rhymes below and leave a comment with your answer (that means you too, library staff! I know you've been reading this - just comment anonymously!).  If you were at the meeting and want to take credit for one of the SWEET RHYMEZ above, email me or comment.  Thoughts on the book are welcome, too! 

And now, some RHYMES TO GET YOU STARTED:

Said my lord to my lady as he sipped up his tea

‘Beware of Long Lankin,   … ____________

Said my lord to my lady as he buttered some toast,

‘Beware of Long Lankin,  … ____________

      > BONUS POINT!:

Said my lord to my lady as he put on his dublet,

‘Beware of Long Lankin,  … ____________

One Week Until CROWN OF MIDNIGHT!

Girlfriend could SO take honey badger in a fight.

Remember our book from last December, Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas?  (Remember when we got to skype with her last April?!)  Well, the sequel to Throne of Glass, which is called Crown of Midnight, is out August 27th, aka ONE WEEK FROM TODAY.  Srrsly, just one more week! Are you excited yet?

But it gets better:  if you're like me and you JUST CAN'T WAIT, I found a ton of online prequels and previews for Crown of Midnight that you can read RIGHT NOW    FOR FREE!!  Keep reading - I'll get you hooked up with all the goodies (there are a lot!).

NEW PREQUEL SHORT STORIES!

Sarah Maas has written two prequel short stories, which you can read online NOW!  These are "bridge" stories, meaning they take place after Throne of Glass  and before Crown of Midnight. 

The first is titled "The Assassin and the Princess", and it's been posted in little pieces on different book blogs, a.k.a. a blog tour.  You can read each part by clicking on the links below:

Part 1                    Part 7

Part 2                    Part 8

Part 3                    Part 9

Part 4                    Part 10

Part 5                    Part 11

Part 6                    Part 12

But that's not all!  Sarah's got another short story for us:  "The Assassin and the Captain".  This one isn't exactly a "bridge" story; instead, it takes place right at the beginning of Crown of Midnight, though it's not included in the book, making it more of a spoiler-free deleted scene! You can read this scene in pieces across several book blogs, or just use the links below:

Part 1                    Part 3 

Part 2                    Part 4

Be sure to snoop around these blogs once you finish reading the short stories     you might find a review for a new book to read!

THRONE OF GLASS STORY GENERATOR!

Bloomsbury, the publisher for Crown of Midnight, has created an AWESOME Throne of Glass story generator which lets you become a character in the series!  There are four scenes (three from Throne of Glass, one from Crown of Midnight); choose one, then answer the fill-in-the-blank questions the site asks you, and shaZAM! you're a character in the scene!  In a way, it's like fantasy-assassin-themed Mad Libs.  You can try filling in the blanks in a serious, fantasy-story-appropriate way; I had fun putting in really stupid answers (name:  Millicent Snarkface de Whifflington).

Have fun playing around with it!  Click on the examples below for ideas, and be sure to share the answers you put in the story in the comments.  You can even share your entire story with us: once your generated your story, click the "permanent link" button, then copy and paste the link into the comment section below!

Fill in the blanks; try to make your
answers super awesome, like mine

Share on facebook or tumblr,
or save as a pdf FOREVAR

Generate your story

READ AN EXCERPT from CROWN OF MIDNIGHT!!!

If you've clicked on the link for the story generator above, you may have noticed that there's also an EXCERPT FROM THE NEW BOOK on that same website!  You'll have access to the link for the excerpt only after you've used the story generator, but if you just can't wait, click here to read the excerpt from Crown of Midnight!

* * *

Hhhhhhawesommme.  What did you think of the short stories and excerpt?  Are you as excited as I am about this book?!!  Don't forget to share your thoughts (and your answers/results from the story generator) in the comment section!    

Oh     here, have a book trailer.