The Atom Books Blogger Party

(Or, as I would like to call it, "How to Scare Pro Book Bloggers in Several Easy Steps...")

Okay, I am going to admit this to you now. I have NEVER been invite to a blogger's event before. NEVER! I have no idea how/why I was invite (I think it was because I tweet them A LOT about books!), but, nevertheless, I was invite. And I was giddy as hell!

And nervous as hell! Seriously, I thought they made a mistake. Me? They want ME there? Why? I feel like I was a mistake. All those REAL book bloggers will be there and then there will be me, going "Look at the shiny shiny!" (and yes, I do believe I said that once). I was so nervous when I walked in, Rose (aka the lady who invited me and, for that, I thank and cyberhug her) had to help me put it on.

So far, so unprofessional.

While everyone mingled with each other with cake & drink (champagne, juice and water - I went for the bubbly stuff to kill the nerves!), I got chatting to Matthew from Teen Library & Rhys from Thirst for Fiction (they were cool! Dangerous chats about libraries, politics and Harry Potter is always a good thing!) and then, we settled round a HUGE Apprentice-like table (I sat next to Liz from My Favourite Books - and I freaked her out by randomly hugging her! What can I say? We talk on Twitter! & I won a book from her site), we listen as Atom's finest: Rose, Kate, Sam, Gina and Kirsteen (who were lovely. And I fear might have begged for a job at one point), talks to us about they books for next spring.

Can I say now that we all went a bit giddy? We're book people! We'll get excited over this type of thing!

Now, I am going to show some self-control and go excited about books that are MEGA exciting! That, and what I want in my To Be Read pile in the future (er... that's nearly all the books. Maybe I should half it...)!

NIGHTSHADE by Andrea Cremer - I have heard SO MUCH about this book on Twitter and the Blogsphere. It's got werewolves and seems to ooze sexual tension. And, it's original! I read the first few chapters last night (I got an ARC - Advance Reader Copy. My first EVER! SQUEE!) and, I have to admit this, I forced myself to stop because this is going to be a "Read In One Sitting Book" or, as someone said Tuesday night, a "Gulp In One" Book. I like that term.

HALO by Alexandra Adornetto - An 18 year old writing about Angels. And it's published?! *hides jealous thoughts away* But seriously, I really have high hopes for this book. It seems to fit, yet standout, in the YA world of Angels. Angels (not fallen, FYI!) come to Earth to save us from dark forces and our heroine, Bethany, falls in love...

THE GATHERING (Darkness Rising: Book 1) by Kelley Armstrong - Before I go any further, LOOK AT THE COVER! Isn't it BEAUTIFUL?! Sorry, where was I? Oh yes, I know of Kelley, but never have read her. So, this seems a great place to start.

ROSEBUSH by Michele Jaffe - Another book I quite excited over (and not just because I got the ARC to this book. THANKS ATOM!), but because this is Atom's first non-paranormal novel. ... yeah, I know! (Atom is publishing Pretty Little Liars but they stole them from their sibling, Sphere so that doesn't count!) Jane is a victim of a terrible hit and run. She barely survived. But as she recovers in hospital, she realises that what her friends have told her and what she's slowly remembering doesn't match up. Someone tried to kill her, and her friends are covering for them...

There are LOADS of books I could go into. Like Awakened (the 8th House of Night book), Bloody Valentine (a Blue Bloods novella), Red Riding Hood (a book written as the script for Warner Bros was being written so it's different from regular movie tie-ins), Lois Duncan updated novels (include "I Know What You Did Last Summer"), The Alone series (Zombies in New York? SO WANT THAT!) The Game (Atom's first Translated series. Again, want!) & ... wait for it... One Seriously Messed-up Week in the Otherwise Mundane and Uneventful Life of Jack Samsonite (British talent! Imagine Inbetweeners with a dash of Adrian Mole). And, of course, The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide (which is, despite rumours, is actually written by Stephenie Meyer)

Oh! We were also told about a new project called Atomics! So, if you're 18 or younger, keep an eye out on Atom Books' site (http://www.atombooks.net/) over the next few weeks cause you might wanna get involved!

And... that's it. We talked about books, drooled over covers (we saw Wolfbane - the sequel to Nightshade and a possible cover for book 2 in the Monster High series) and we left. With information, books and me not making a complete fool of myself! All good!

Now, the links! If you would like to check out these sites, please do (because they were at the event too and I love them for making feel welcome!).

Atom Books (of course)
Ana's posts at The Book Smugglers
Liz and Sarah's posts at My Favourite Books
Jo's posts at Once Upon a Bookcase
Lynsey's posts at Words and Pieces
Karen's posts at Reading Teenage Fiction
Rhys' posts at Thirst for Fiction
Amanda's posts at Floor to Ceiling Books
Sammee's posts at I Want to Read That
Sarah's posts at Sarah's Book Reviews
Matthew's posts at Teen Librarian

Once again, I would like to say thank you for being invited to this event. It was made of awesome.