Happy Monday Everyone! Hope you had a very festive weekend, not long till Christmas now! I had an amazing weekend and this was partly down to where I went on Saturday, the Simon & Schuster Big Book Brunch where we saw previews of 2020 titles, whilst meeting loads of amazing bloggers. I’ve been to one in February and loved it.

Many book events as they are largely in the evenings and I’m just so tired from work that I never make it. But events on a weekend I can, and I try and make every effort to go. What I love about blogger events is the people, it’s the community that we are part of and we all have something in common, BOOKS specifically YA books.

Here are some of the previews we got:

Chosen (Slayer #2) by Kiersten White

Back in the Buffyverse – YES PLEASE!

Infinity Son by Adam Silvera

The first fantasy YA from Adam with POC and LGBTQ+ and it sounds epic. I managed to square a proof of that too.

Loveboat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen

We got a proof of this. Only acquired back in September, it sounds so amazing and I know Steph starting devoruing it on the train home.

Yes No Maybe So by Becky Albertali and Aisha Seed

Do we need more politics? NO! but do we need to read this book, YES!

Scars Like Wings by Erin Stewart (Paperback version)

I have a proof copy of this and I can’t wait to read it. The hardback came out in September and it’s described as a new Wonder. Plus a brand new cover for this very edition.

and Chasing Lucky by Jenn Bennett

I haven’t much of Jenn’s work before but this is certainly one I can’t wait to read.

We also heard about the sequel to Red Scrolls by Cassandra Clare. Sequel to a UKYA bestseller Chelsea Pilcher, Lies Like Poison and a new book from Nic Stone author of Dear Martin.

Our guest author was YA novelist Daniella Jawando,

Author of upcoming 2020 novel All the Stars were Burning Brightly. I hear about this book in the previous event where we got samplers and it was certainly on my radar then. I think that I speak for everyone at the event, that we were truly entranced by her, Danielle’s story, the inspiration behind her book, the passion and journey she’s been through. I can’t wait to read it. Here is a bit more about it for you:

An emotionally rich and current story of suicide, mental health, bullying, grief and growing up around social media.

When fifteen-year-old Nathan discovers that his older brother Al has taken his own life, his whole world is torn apart.Al was special.Al was talented.Al was full of passion and light…so why did he do it?Convinced that his brother was in trouble, Nathan begins to retrace his footsteps. And along the way, he meets Megan. Al’s former classmate, who burns with the same fire and hope, who is determined to keep Al’s memory alive. But when Nathan learns the horrifying truth behind his brother’s suicide, one question remains – how do you survive, when you’re growing up in the age of social media?

The best bit was meeting and chatting with your favourite bloggers…

…and making bookish baubles! These amazing people you’ve come to know on Twitter and Instagram or admire from afar. Steph from Bookslovereaders and I have been chatting on Instagram for month although it’s felt like years. It was so amazing to finally meet face to face. I also met another fellow bookstagrammer, Micky called bookphenomena. We haven’t chatted before but I know of her account and it’s just great meeting more and more people in our bookish community.

The one thing for me is I do find hard is saying hello to people/bloggers I’ve admired for ages. It can be awkward, sometimes I can be socially awkward and I think it’s different than saying ‘hi’ in a textbox. But I didn’t bottle it and I said hello Beth from Award Winning Blog, BooksNest, she also has the best mustard themed bookstagram and Julia from Julia’s Bookcase, once again bloggers that I’ve read and been inspired by for a long time.

Saturday was a blast, so thank you so much to Simon & Schuster YA team, for inviting me and celebrating 2020’s new books in festive style.