Em @ BookCon 2019 | Books for Breakfast, Panels, Signings, and Show Floor Fun!

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I’m finally writing this post! Yay! BookCon was nearly a month ago, but I’m still full of excitement about how amazing my first ever BookCon experience was! I went with basically no expectations, no plan, but ready for the time of my life.

I started my day off bright and early, getting ready, and wearing my favorite bookish shirt. I was lucky enough to be selected to attend SimonTeen’s Books for Breakfast event, which allowed me entry into the venue early (so cool)!

It was my first time ever going to Javits Center, too, so the Crystal Palace was an insane view!

Book & Movie Review: The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon (+ a visit to the set?!)

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After reading and enjoying Everything, Everything a long long while ago, I added The Sun is Also a Star to my TBR almost immediately. But like many books, it got lost in the list, and I didn’t get around to it until fate stepped in a pushed it to the very top.

As I previously mentioned, I was in NYC last summer for an internship. It just so happened that I was walking to work one day when I noticed these funny little yellow paper signs posted on all of the parking meters. Upon closer inspection, they were notices that street parking would be unavailable for the next two days for the filming of The Sun is Also a Star.

Being the book nerd I am, the name was immediately familiar. What incredible luck that a YA book-to-movie adaptation would be filming on the street I work on?! Crazy! So, of course, I was outside on every break I had, went to work crazy early just to catch a glimpse of filming, and I even got up the courage to talk to the incredible Yara Shahidi while she was on a break! She was so kind and genuine and inspiring to chat with, even for only a few minutes. Charles Melton was too intimidating to go up to because I mean, have you seen him? Heartthrob status!

It’s Been a Year…but I’m working at Penguin Random House?!

Long time, no see! Yep, hello, it’s Emily! How are ya?

It’s crazy to pull up my blog and see that my last post was April 23rd, 2018. It’s crazy to look back and think about how much my life has changed, and how much I’ve accomplished since then.

Every now and then I get a recurring sense of guilt for leaving this blog in a state of uncertainty and mysterious disappearance. I’ve been missing blogging and reading more now than ever, which is why I decided to come back and write this post.

Let’s take it all the way back to Spring of 2018.

As you may know, I am a graphic design student at RISD, with an incredibly taxing workload. In Spring of 2018, I was still a Sophomore, but I was also a Sophomore on the incredibly stressful internship hunt. Every ounce of my being went into my design work, perfecting it and trying to develop a style and direction for my making. Of course, this meant books and blogging (what I considered to be my hobbies) had to take a backseat. While this “hobby” designation I would later realize was not the right designation, my hard work paid off, and I got an internship position in NYC for the summer.

Look What You Made Me Do | Taylor Swift Book Tag, Part 2

Oh, look what you made me do!

Way back in 2014, I did the Taylor Swift Book Tag. Since then, it’s arguably been one of my most viewed posts, and it’s one of my favorites here on the blog! I thought I’d adapt the 1989 and (beginning of) the reputation eras into the book tag! If you haven’t heard her new music, listen and then come back! Her new album releases in 10 DAYS I CAN’T WAIT.

I also want to take a minute to acknowledge Taylor’s incredible narrative skill. Each of her music videos are so incredibly detailed and tell such full stories. We need to get a fiction novel from her sometime, please! She’s proven she can totally handle ANY subgenre.

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Welcome to New York

“the lights are so bright, but they never blind me”

Name your favorite city or setting for a book, real or fictional.

Actually, New York City! I’ve never been, but I love the way it’s portrayed in all of the books I read. Also, any book set on the coast by a beach! I love to escape when I’m reading, so places that I’ve never been, or wish I could visit more often are always my favorites. If we’re talking fictional worlds, I mean, Hogwarts, obviously!

Books and Cats, No Better Combination!

When I saw this tag on Holly’s blog, Nut Free Nerd, I just knew that I had to do it! I don’t think there’s a tag that is better suited for me or this blog! The tag was created by Kate @ meltingpotsandothercalamities — thanks for creating such an adorable tag!

Also, my adorable kitty Clary modeled for the graphic for this post! Isn’t she just the sweetest?! She just turned 3 in July, and is the best reader buddy and love I could have asked for!

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Purr: As cats do this when they’re happy or relaxed, what is the book that makes you happiest or relaxed?

I have to go with the first or third book in the Harry Potter series, Sorcerer’s Stone or Prisoner of Azkaban. I love this first because every time I open it up it feels like going home (J.K. Rowling spoke true words when she said that Hogwarts would always be there to “welcome [us] home”), and I love the third because of Harry’s relationship with Sirius.