Read an Excerpt from HEIR OF FIRE!

Is this cover awesome or IS IT AWESOME?!  Correct answer: all of the above.

I've got good news and bad news, Smithies.  Bad news first:  I'm leaving the spectacular Smith Public Library.  That means I won't be at book club meetings anymore, I won't be writing this blog anymore, and you won't see my smiling face around the library.  I'll be working at my new job at another library nearby(ish), so if you want to come visit me there (please do!), then talk to Veronica - she can tell you which library to visit.  But Jenn will be taking over the blog (yay!), so credit for all future witty remarks belongs to her.

I know, I know - but contain your hysterical sobs for my departure, because there's good news, too!

In case you haven't already found and devoured this on your own, a sneak preview of Heir of Fire has been released online!  Heir of Fire is the latest installment in Sarah J. Maas' Throne of Glass series, and it's due to be published September 2, 2014.  Make sure you're sitting down when you read this excerpt - as I like to say, it's like a fire at a circus:  INTENSE.  (Get it? "In tents" = "intense", har har har puns.)

CLICK HERE TO READ THE EXCERPT

I know a few of you (by which I mean a lot of you) are as big fans of Throne of Glass and the sequel, Crown of Midnight, as I am - we've read both books in book club (read all our Throne of Glass-related posts here) and skyped with Sarah Maas a few times - so if you want more extras as soon as they're available, check out Sarah's blog and the official Throne of Glass facebook page!

There's also info on the Throne of Glass facebook page about how you could be a part of the Heir of Fire book trailer!  Click here for the official rules and etc.

Bloomsbury (the publisher) has also released this synopsis for Heir of Fire:

Celaena has survived deadly contests and shattering heartbreak—but at an unspeakable cost. Now, she must travel to a new land to confront her darkest truth . . . a truth about her heritage that could change her life—and her future—forever. Meanwhile, brutal and monstrous forces are gathering on the horizon, intent on enslaving her world. Will Celaena find the strength to not only fight her inner demons, but to take on the evil that is about to be unleashed?

The bestselling series that has captured readers all over the world reaches new heights in this sequel to the New York Times best-selling Crown of Midnight. Packed with heart-pounding action, fierce new characters, and swoon-worthy romance, this third book will enthrall readers from start to finish.

That's it for me, Smithies!  It's been real, it's been fun, so I guess that means it's been real fun; I'll miss you!  Play the video to hear my official exit music - as you listen, imagine me walking away, putting on sunglasses as something explodes behind me.  Or driving fast cars.  Or whatever.

Alyssa out.

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!

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

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

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.

ZOMG! Requiem Book Giveaway

HEY GUYS THIS IS SO COOL.

WE'RE GIVING AWAY A COPY OF REQUIEM.

F'reals: we - Smith Public Library - are giving away a hardcover copy of Requiem, the not-yet-released third book of Lauren Oliver's Delirium trilogy.

Yes, not-yet-released, meaning you can get a FREE copy of the book everyone else is dying to read but can't even buy yet.

Yes, that's the Lauren Oliver who'll be HERE, AT THE LIBRARY, IN PERSON, OMG.

... buuuutttt we couldn't just make it too easy for you - first you have to answer a little trivia question from the trilogy's second book, Pandemonium.  Here it is:

TELL ME THIS, TELL ME TRUE: 

In Pandemonium, what was the number of the tattoo on Lena's mother ?

Know the answer?  Veronica (and Jenn, another Smithie you might recognize) will be at Wylie High tomorrow morning - the first person to tell her correct answer gets the super-awesome copy of Requiem!

And don't forget to bring your copies of Delirium, Pandemonium, and Requiem (if you're lucky) to Smith Public Library on Monday, March 11 at 3:30pm and have Lauren Oliver herself sign your books!!

UPDATE:
This trivia question has been answered and the book has been claimed - congrats to the winner!  If you didn't win, you still have one more chance to win - see the next post for more info!

Marissa Meyer, author of Cinder, in Irving TONIGHT!

Remember Cinder, the book club pick for November?  Seriously, I KNOW you remember - some of you were CRAZY about that book (but if you don't remember, click here).

If you fall into that category - or need something free (and awesome) to do with your Friday night - you are so in luck.  Straight from Cinder's author herself, Marissa Meyer:

So looking forward to tonight's #ScarletTour2013 signing at the @irvinglibrary in Irving, TX! Come see me at 7:00!
— Marissa Meyer (@marissa_meyer) February 8, 2013

Awesome, right?! Okay, so Irving isn't exactly close, but compared to... Austin, or... Tulsa or whatever, Irving is kinda close, so I thought I'd fill you in just in case somebody's a fan of Cinder (and has a car).  Here's the official word from Irving Public Library's website:

"Marissa Meyer... provides a look into the world of Cinder and a sneak peek at its sequel, Scarlet. Ms. Meyer will be available for questions and autographs. Refreshments will be served and both books available for purchase."

The event for adults and teens and is my favorite admission price - FREE. It'll be held at Valley Ranch Library in Irving, tonight at 7:00pm.  To learn more, visit Irving Public Library's webpage for the event.

Are you going and super excited?  Need a ride to Irving (or already have a ride and need a friend to come with you)?  Can't go but want to go and in need of a place to vent about it?  Sound of in the comments!

And don't forget about our own SUPER BIG DEAL AUTHOR EVENT in March - bestselling Delirium author Lauren Oliver is coming to Smith Public Library, March 11th at 3:30pm!

UPDATE: In case you couldn't go, looks like Marissa Meyer posted pics from the event on her Facebook page.

Long Time, No See... er, Blog

Geez, you call this a BLOG?! Doesn't that mean there should be regular posts 'n stuff?  Lame.

Okay, so I haven't posted anything in, like, forevar.  Mea culpa.  Honesty, sorry about that, kids.  But I have a good reason!  I've been working on posters and such for something REALLY AMAHZING coming soon to Smith Library - brace yourselves, dystopian-lit lovers! Check out this sneak peek at one of the posters:                   >

That's right - Lauren Oliver, author of Delirium, Pandemonium, Before I Fall (which are New York Times bestsellers, by the way) and the soon-to-be-released Requiem, is COMING TO THE LIBRARY.  F'REALS. It's kind of a big deal.  And we may even have a special, extra (or extra special?) Teen Book Club meeting to read Ms. Oliver's book before she comes.  Tell your friends!  Tell your frenemies!  Tell your pretenemies! Tell that creepy kid across the street!  Tell EVERYONE!  We're a little excited - it's gonna be awesome.

And watch this space, and tell Madonna - because THE BLOG IS BACK. Check back soon for our regularly scheduled blogging.

Tongue-Tied? Pronunciation Guide!

Fantasy-genre books are great; in a different (made-up) world, there are different rules, giving you a sense that anything is possible.  The downside: the geography is different, the language is probably different, so the names of people-places-things can make for some REALLY HARD pronunciation guesswork. 

Throne of Glass definitely is no exception.  Seriously, who's going to guess correctly how to say "Eyllwe"? Seriously?

Lucky for us, Throne of Glass author Sarah J. Maas has provided a super-helpful pronunciation guide for the tricky bits!  Check it out here on the blog just in time for tomorrow's club meeting, or head to the author's website (sarahjmaas.com) and look for the guide under the "Extras" tab.

The pronunciations are... enlightening(?)... though a few of them aren't what I had in my head while reading about something for the ENTIRE book.  Did this happen to you? And if it did, which words, and what was your pronunciation?  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 talk about it in person at tomorrow's meeting - Thursday, December 5th, 6-7pm at the library!

Throne of Glass Novellas?! Um, YES PLEASE

So when I finished Throne of Glass, there was a little more than the usual grieving process of shucks, that was a great book, what am I going to read now; I really enjoyed this book, so it was more like OH MY GOSH IT'S OVER and THE SEQUEL'S OUT "FALL 2013"?!  THAT'S NOT EVEN A REAL DATE I NEED IT NOW SARAH J. MAAS I WILL FIND YOU AND--"*

You get the idea.  It was a bit traumatic.

So if any of you are also undergoing Throne of Glass-withdrawal, check out the Throne of Glass NOVELLAS!   These are four prequel stories about Celaena's missions as an assassin before she's captured and imprisoned in Endovier (where we meet her at the beginning of Throne of Glass).  They explain a lot more (almost 400-total-pages more!) about Celaena's backstory and Throne of Glass:  how she dealt with the Pirate King and his slave trade, her training with the Silent Assassins, who "Sam" is, and best of all, who betrayed Celaena and ensured her capture. Yes, you definitely want to know this. 

Bad news: they're only available as ebooks, and they're not free.  Good news:  they're really cheap! Only 99 cents each.  I read them on Google Play's site for books and downloaded the free app so I could read them on my phone; you can do pretty much the same thing with Amazon and a Kindle app or get the novellas in Spanish (!) at Barnes & Noble and use the Nook app (or just use a Kindle or Nook, if you're so lucky). Just click on any of the nice blue links in this paragraph - you can preview the first few pages for free!

From right to left, the order in which they're supposed to be read.  Y'know, if you're into following rules.

That's it!  And don't worry, you won't need to read these novellas for the book club meeting discussion - this is just an opportunity to get more Throne of Glass if you NEED MORE NOW like I did. Don't forget to come to the meeting, next Thursday, December 6th at 6pm.

*NOTE: I do NOT encourage threatening authors, either to get a sequel sooner or for your own crazy reason.  Authors are people too, and threatening them won't get a sequel to you sooner. F'reals.