I'm Back! (Sort of)

WHAAAAT?

I'm BACK?

(okay okay, I know you're all rolling your eyes here because I'm probably going to leave again, so I'm not really back back, but just stay with me for a moment!)

Yeah... I'm sorry guys. I'm horrible.

Yeah yeah yeah, I get it. I deserve it. Come on. You can slap me. As much as you want.

-slapping over-

Okay! I really am sorry, guys. I know, I keep on disappearing for no reason whatsoever, and then I'll post a random review like nothing happened and disappear again. It's quite horrible of me and I apologize.

But- this time I actually have a legitimate reason for my voodoo phantomness!

So I debated about whether or not I should post this, because goddamnit, EXCUSES SUCK. But I figured that this isn't an excuse so much as an explanation, so I'm going to make a wee little exception and explain really quick why I'm like Nearly Headless Nick.

I had planned on posting a LOT this summer, but the moment I got out of school I got diagnosed.

Specifically, I got diagnosed with two things: bipolar disorder, and also granulomatous uveitis. (I also went back to my home country of China for the first time since six years ago, when I first came here. Here being 'murica. But that's a post for another time.)

I have to stop with the sarcasm here and actually be serious for a moment because I don't want anyone to take this the wrong way. Sorry, no more GIFs for a while.

So. I mean first off I should clarify that I've been taking meds and my uveitis is much better. I should also clarify: uveitis is an eye inflammation. It's the reason why I've been missing from social media, and more importantly, this blog. I was completely blind for three days while I got this lovely little inflammation (apparently I can't whisk a sarcastic bone out of my body) and that was just... so eye-opening (heh... eye-opening...) (Oh, I had the inflammation for two months. The blindness was just the worst part. So don't worry, I'm not exaggerating one thing to cover the fact that I keep on vanishing). Here: close your eyes. You can do this for ten minutes, or an hour, however long you want. But close your eyes and try to do something normal, something that you'd usually do when you're bored, or a mundane chore: anything.

It's hard, right?

I know most of us here (especially if you're reading this) spend a LOT of time on the internet. I was also taking two years worth of math at the time, so it was like:

I lied about the no-GIF rule. Sorry not sorry.

except it was really more like this:

I know that sounds really dramatic and stupid... but ah, man, that was tough. Turns out my uveitis was caused by TB. I'm lucky though, the bacteria is still latent in my body, so it's not contagious and I'm taking medicine to prevent it from becoming active. But yeah. Yay inflammation and blindness...

But! My eyes are so much better now! (No duh Juli, look at your internet time log...)

Anyways, I just wanted to let you know about that. IF YOUR EYES EVER HURT, do NOT dismiss it as pink eye! PINK EYE DOES NOT HURT.

^Seriously. Go see a doctor just in case if that happens. I thought I had pink eye for the longest time, and in that time my optic nerve was getting damaged like frick. Not the best feeling.

Anyways. I don't want to seem like I'm complaining--I'm really grateful I got to have this eye-opening (eye-closing?) experience. I think I learned a lot from it. And I'm not going to say much about being bipolar because I'm not very comfortable with it yet and until I can accept it without raging like a raptor from Jurassic Park, I shall remain silent and let other beautiful people on the internet talk for me about that little beast.

So... yeah. Hi guys. I've missed you all so much it blows my mind. And I was prepared to miss y'all a LOT.

HI!

I hope this disjointed post--so so disjointed, and such poor writing...--shed some light (light is great. seriously. no more darkness please.) on my mysterious existence. I'm not going to go back and edit it because I feel like ranting on about bipolar stuff but I don't trust myself to do it without 1) boring you to death and 2) hating myself, so if you spot any grammar/spelling errors, I apologize on behalf of Juli's English Inc.™

School's starting for me again, but I'll do my best to post more this year. I already have a few posts scheduled, so yay for that.

Also, wow, my blog is OVER TWO YEARS OLD. That's insane. Be on the lookout for a celery-bration! Celery because yo, nutrients. And nutrients keep y'all alive.*

*Actual festivities will not include celery**
**Well, maybe for me. I'll eat celery. But I can't mail it to you because how do you even mail vegetables.***
***Hmm... celery is also green. And my blog is green. Wow wow wow serendipity yo. 

YEAH... I'm back.

Hi guys. :)

(I'm so sorry, I couldn't help myself. Please forgive me. T.T)

P.S. Only editing to say that if you know me IRL and you're doing the jazz fingers because yo, you can totally dish on dat Juli now...

I've got my eyes on you... -.-

Teen Book Fest (incl. Stephen Chbosky! O.o)

Hey you.

Do you love Stephen Chbosky (The Perks of Being a Wallflower)? Marie Lu (Legend -- my review of Legend is here and of its sequel, Prodigy, here)? Leigh Bardugo (Shadow and Bone)?

Do you live or will be in the Southern California area on Saturday, May 11th?

I really, really hope you just said yes. Because those amazing authors (and many more talented, crazy awesome peeps) will be discussing fabulous bookishess and also signing books (!!!) from 9AM until 5PM at the Teen Book Fest, hosted by the fantastic Ontario City Library! (Sadly, not the Canada Ontario. But Canadians, stay tuned--I do believe I will be giving away some signed swag/maybe books after the event!) It will be here:

Merton E Hill Auditorium at Chaffey High (211 W. 5th Street, Ontario CA)

The door will be open at 8:30AM! If you want to know more about the event, please visit its website here. This is seriously the type of event and author lineup that makes me want to throw up because I'm so excited (sorry- but it's true!).

Comeeeee onnnn, join me! I'll be there and these amazing people will be there and it will be a day full of BADASS bookish business (alliteration *cough*).

Hope to see you there!

Crazy crazy news alert!

This is Rapunzel from the Disney movie Tangled. Her hair glows. FYI.

Usually, I don't do book news posts since my good buds Steph and Kat over at Cuddlebuggery already round up all the info you need to know so fantastically well. But there were a few things that popped up this afternoon that I am SO excited about that I just had to share it with y'all if you didn't hear about it yet!

1) ALLY CARTER HAS A NOVELLA CROSSOVER OF HEIST SOCIETY AND GALLAGHER GIRLS COMING OUT! See more (and the cover--it's exclusive to MTV Crush for the day so I can't post it on my blog) here! It's SO EXCITING. Basically, Ally has a novella called Double Crossed that's about Macey, Hale, Kat, Aunt Abby, and ALL THE AWESOMENESS, releasing January 22nd FOR FREE as an e-book. Ally said on Twitter that Cammie and Zach won't be in the novella since it takes place between GG5 & GG6, but hey, it's way better than I could've hoped for! :D

2) CASSANDRA CLARE, MAUREEN JOHNSON, and SARAH REES BRENNAN ARE COLLABORATING TO CREATE The Bane Chronicles! Do you love Magnus Bane? Do you want to know all the secret stories he's stashed beneath his ridiculously glamorous self? Well well well, looks like my personal favorite, Sarah Rees Brennan (SQUEE!) and the fabulous Maureen Johnson, as well as of course, Ms. Clare herself, will be working together to create an e-series of these chronicles, ten of them, starting February 2013 and all the way up until the City of Bones theatrical release! Read more on Sarah's Tumblr here!

3) CARRIE RYAN AND HER HUSBAND JUST SOLD A FOUR-BOOK MIDDLE GRADE SERIES! The news isn't bombarding the web yet, but Carrie announced it on Twitter, and can you just say EXCITED?!? I can't wait to read The Map to Everywhere, even if that means I have to wait until Fall of 2014! *cries* Arghhh the wait! I can't stand it! It's going to kill me someday, just you watch.


And that's all for now! Go check out Cuddlebuggery's post for last week's shenanigans here, and leave a comment below letting me know whether you are excited or excited about all this shiny new stuff in the works!


P.S. If you're looking for some kick-butt YA books as a holiday gift or just for your own reading pleasure, I created this graphic to help you out! I was humbly selected as one of Paper Lantern Lit's Trendsetters, so if you'd like, you can check up on my own book shenanigans by following PLL's Tumblr!

Thank You + Giveaway

**THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW OVER. THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR AWESOMENESS!**

How do I start this post?

An explanation, I suppose. I've been gone so much lately that it's as if this blog is more of a phantom than an actual thing, but still I see you followers here--and just, your continuous support makes me want to weep. *hugs all* *wipes tears*

Alright, so you all deserve the truth. The reason why my posts are so sporadic is because of time. Or, rather, lack of it. I think most of you know that I'm a high school student, though there are only like, three people in the blogging community who know my real age. I'll reveal it someday. :) But anyways, so while I'm juggling school, I have three jobs (one full-time, two part-time), at least four hours in meetings a week, full weekends dedicated to debate tournaments, musical theatre shows, choir performances, running the fansite for Insignia, researching for academic competitions, and bagpipes lessons, just to name a few things, and while I'm thankful that I have the opportunity to all of these things, you can probably see that I have pretty much no time to read and/or blog.

But I've quit two of those jobs, and I'm finally learning how to really balance everything. It's not a perfect system, and I'm still not reading enough, but I hope that the posts I can now regularly get out will be good enough. I'm so sorry that I've been such a ghostly presences as of late, but that will change. It's time to truly thank you all with my words and action, not just fleeting apologies.

So there's my explanation. But that wouldn't exist without you guys, and so I want to take this moment to thank some of the most important people in my online life (in no particular order):

1) Monica from Cover Analysis, Jazmin from Wonderful Bookshelf of Jaz, and Rachel from Beauty and the Bookshelf . These people are some of the biggest reasons why the blogging community is so amazing. They give me so many amazing memories and so many times I've found myself asking them for advice, because I know they understand me and it's just such a satisfying, beautiful thing, you know? To have friends who know you for who you are and who would fan-girl along with you even though you've never met in person.

2) #TeamKilt. This. This is the reason why I started blogging. Oh, TeamKilt, there are NO WORDS for me to describe my love for you. For those of you who don't know, #TeamKilt is the  fan group for Jeri Smith-Ready's amazing Shade trilogy. (You can find my reviews of Shade, Shift, and Shine by clicking on the respective titles. Also, find more information on this amazing group of people at the fansite) Back in the summer of '11, when the lovely YA-Sisterhood held their first YA Crush Tourney, and I saw my beloved Zach on there, and- oh man. I'm going to cry now. I'm gonna do it. Darn it darn it darn it. Anyways, long story short: Zach's presence in that competition spurred me to create my own blog, and here we are, more than a year later, and my love for that series is still as strong as ever. (Also, wow, did I really not put up a post for the blog's anniversary? *grimaces* Okay, wow, totally shame on me.)

3) Goodreads buddies. I know, I know. This year was such a tumultuous year full of Goodreads author-blogger fiascos. But let's not focus on that. I want to bring attention to the fact that Goodreads connected me to a lot of amazing people, like Wendy, Steph, and Exp., who, though I don't very often chat with anymore, I quite admire. (If you want to find my Goodreads, here it is.)

4) Twitter peeps. Twitter. Oh, I know this thing is getting long, so here it is in one sentence: I used to be confuzzled by Twitter, but now I don't know what I'd do without it. #ObsessedButHappy (Shout out to Rory, even though you don't celebrate Thanksgiving, I don't think!)

5) YOU. Can I just-

Thank you. Thank you for reading my words, my thoughts, even though I am as unreliable as they come. I'm thankful for each and everyone of you, whether or not you subscribed or followed, because that doesn't matter--what matters is that you gave up part of your day for me, and no matter if it was a minute or fifty, I will forever be grateful.

Ah, darn it. WHY am I always so freaking sappy?!?!

So. Before we go, I have a giveaway for you guys. Because come on, it's Thanksgiving. (And haha, if you scrolled down here just for the giveaway, that's totally okay. I know, I do it, too. :) )

DETAILS:
-You must be at least 13 years old, or have parental consent to enter the giveaway if you are under 13.
-There are two giveaways. One is international, the other is U.S. only. Please be careful to enter in the one that applies to you! (i.e. If you're from the U.S., you  can enter in both. If you're from somewhere other than the U.S., you can only enter in the international one. Sorry! I'm trying to save all my money for college. >.< The Christmas giveaway will have international giveaways for all, though!)
-There are multiple ways to enter. However, you only need to complete the free entry to be considered "in" the giveaway.
-You are not required to follow the blog to enter. Still, a follow would be appreciated, if you like the stuff I post! :)
-The giveaway will end on December 1st, 2012.


GIVEAWAY #1 (INTERNATIONAL): 

Prize: THREE winners will receive swag packs, full of bookish goodness! Enter through the Rafflecopter form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Giveaway #2 (U.S. ONLY): 
Prize: ONE winner will win either a signed ARC of Every Day by David Levithan, a signed ARC of Beta by Rachel Cohn, OR a signed hardcover of Legend by Marie Lu.
-If you want this prize but live internationally, I suggest coordinating with your friends in the U.S. to see if you can work something out! Again, sorry!)

Enter through the Rafflecopter form below. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Happy Thanksgiving, y'all! <3

Fansite + Cover Reveal

So here's the thing:

I started a fansite.

I mean, yeah, I know. I am so bad at keeping up one blog, so how much nectar did I seriously drink to even consider starting a fansite?

Well... I don't know, man. The details are fuzzy. I think I ate some ambrosia after that, 'cause I got knocked out by a two-headed gorgon for my stupidity. (Can you tell I'm FINALLY reading The Mark of Athena?)

Anyway. So I started a fansite because my friends loved the book and I got them to actually do stuff, which is pretty much awesome.

What is this book that I started a fansite for?

INSIGNIA.

By S. J. Kincaid.

Dude. DUDE. THIS BOOK. AMAZING. Like, I CAN'T EVEN amazing. Do you know how much it takes for me to invest in a book THIS much? At least a three-year supply of chocolate! (Psst, read my review of it here, and my interview with Ms. Kincaid here!)

So, as you can see from the title of the post, there is a COVER REVEAL going on today...

hmm....

Yup. On The Pentagonal Spire. It's the fansite name, in case you didn't figure it out yet. (If you don't get it, read the book. Actually, buy the book first. Then read it.) And the cover/title/synopsis reveal is for the sequel to Insignia. So, I mean, yanno. Check it out and stuff. Ms. Kincaid is more awesome than Nutella. Okay... I mean... it's pretty close....

Just kidding. I'd choose Insignia over thee hazelnut spread any day.

Nominate me?

Hey everybody! What's up? So there is this Bloggy Awards ceremony going on, kind of like the Oscars--except for bloggers, of course. I wanted to take this time and ask that if you like/enjoy my blog for whatever reason to consider nominating me. You obviously don't have to, but if you do, know that you have my deepest thanks!

Here are the categories you can nominate me in:

• Well-known blogger
• Best design
• Best reviews
• Most helpful
• Best breakout blog (Best new blog, meaning within six months)
• Best review for a contemporary book (For this, if you nominate somebody leave a link to their review)
• Best review for a paranormal book (For this, if you nominate somebody leave a link to their review)
• Best review for a dystopian book (For this, if you nominate somebody leave a link to their review)
• Best review for a sci-fi book (For this, if you nominate somebody leave a link to their review)
• Best review for a fantasy book (For this, if you nominate somebody leave a link to their review)
• Best meme
• Nicest blogger
• Most creative blogger
• Hottest blog (best content: I just got tired of constantly saying "Best" and "Most")
• Best group blog
• Most influential
• Best author blog
• Promo Queen 
• Best tour group blog 

So that's it! All you have to do is email bloggyawards@gmail.com and list up to three nominations within each category. You can find more details here.

The nominations end at 8/13/2012, so if you do plan on nominating, now's the time! :)

Thank you all so much again.

Xoxo-

Queryometer and hiatus WHAT?

H-H-H-HIATUS

You guys. YOU GUYS.

I'm going on a hiatus.

"Wait, WHAT?" you say? I know, I know. I really don't want to, and I'll still be updating the blog at least once a week (so I guess it's not really a hiatus...) but here's the reason why:

I go to school. I write. I'm the debate captain. I have activities involving music. I need to wash those dishes. I need to finish my papers. I-

need to do a lot of stuff. And even though I want to try and balance all of this, it just doesn't work. For the past three MONTHS I've been sleeping at midnight every night, and I just can't do that anymore, so... yeah. I'm really sorry. :(


QUERYOMETER

Now, some of you may know that I have started querying my YA Fantasy novel. I want to share with you guys my successes and failures, so you know it's normal to get rejected, and that you shouldn't ever ever let that make you give up!

I'm going to start officially querying in November, but I've sent out one query so far. I also entered this pitch contest where the agent requested my full! YEEEP!! So, yeah. Basically, I will have a QUERYOMETER gadget on the right sidebar of my blog, and there I will post the number of rejections, partial requests, full requests, offer of rep, total, etc. Let's travel this journey together! :D


OTHER NEWS

In other news, I recently did a guest blog on the Midnyte Reader. Check that out here! Also, don't forget to vote for my friend Amy's trailer for the SLJ Trailee awards here (Amy's trailer is under the Adults category--Incarceron by Catherine Fisher)! Trust me, you won't regret it.

And that's it! Thanks for tuning in, all. YOU ROCK! \m/

Apologize

Hey everyone! I hope this works...

So, I know you're all wondering how come I didn't post any new contest posts yet. The answer is...

Blogger wasn't working.

I kept trying to post, but then a white page with the words "Bad Request" would show up. So, because of that, I'm extending the contest time to 10PM PST tomorrow! 

Thank you all so much for understanding, and keep putting in guesses!

Contest and News!

***CONTEST IS CLOSED***

*Edited to add: Due to a blogger malfunction, the contest will be going on until 10PM PST tomorrow, 9/2/2011. Thank you all for your patience, and keep on guessing!*

Hey everyone!

As you all know, today is the last day of August. I might consider doing this on the last day of every month, but the idea is not 100% settled, so... don't get too excited yet!

What am I talking about, you ask? Why, a contest, of course! From today to tomorrow, I'm going to be posting four posts of different topics at random time intervals. I will probably also post some random blog news in between, and will mention to you if they do not count as one of the aforementioned four posts.

So, what is this contest? Well, I want you to comment below what you think those four posts I'm posting will be about. I will be checking the time you leave your comment, so please don't cheat by writing down your answer after the post has been posted. It might lead you to a disqualification, which I will hate to distribute. You have two options:

1) Comment on what you think post number 1 will be of ON THIS POST BEFORE post number 1 is posted. And you can do the same with post number 2. You can comment your guess then on either post number 1 or this post, but you have to put down your guess BEFORE post number 2 is posted. The advantage, if you go this route, is that you can eliminate whichever topics have already be posted off your list of possible post topics, and that way you will have a better and more educated guess for the next post. The disadvantage, however, is that you will have to always post your comment before the next post goes out, or it wouldn't count. And since I'm not announcing when the posts will be posted, it could be a tedious process to continuously check back and forth.

2) Comment your guesses for ALL FOUR post topics ON THIS POST. You have to do this BEFORE post number 1 is posted. However, let's say post number 1 has already been posted and you want to guess on all of the other topics, you can write down in the comments what you think the remaining three topics will be. You will still be awarded extra entries for each correct answer, but you won't be illegible for the extra entries that you get if you guess all four topics correctly. The advantage of this is that you won't have to check back too frequently, and the disadvantage is that you won't be able to get a good grasp on what the topics could be about and eliminate your guesses. Your guesses DO NOT have to be in the correct chronological order to be rewarded extra entries for a correct answer!

How this works:

To enter, all you have to do is comment on this status, hopefully with a guess.

You can also receive extra entries for tweeting about this, posting it on your facebook/tumblr/myspace, or sharing it on your blog (3 extra entries for blog post, 1 for the others). Post their individual links in the comments, please!

If you go with option 1, you will receive 1 additional entry for each correct guess. If you succeed in guessing all four post topics correctly in their chronological order, you will receive 4 extra entries IN ADDITION to the ones you already receive for an individual correct answer.

If you go with option 2, you will receive 2 additional entries for each correct guess. If you succeed in guessing all four post topics correctly in their chronological order... you will receive 7 extra entries IN ADDITION to the ones you already receive for an individual correct answer.

Remember, this contest will be going on today AND tomorrow. From now until 10PM PST tomorrow, September 1st. You are responsible for converting the deadline to your corresponding time zone.

Hints:
-check this blog for a good idea of past topics.
-check my twitter.
-For the posts that will be posted tomorrow, they will NOT be posted before 3 PM PST.

Prizes:
-2 signed cards by Leigh Fallon, author of (The) Carrier of the Mark.
-a Vanish (Sophie Jordan) post card.
-a Meg Cabot bookmark.
-a Desires of the Dead (Kimberly Derting) bookmark.
-a SPECIAL, SECRET prize pack at the end of this contest!


May the odds be ever in your favor! :)

*Edited to add: Contest post number 1 is up!
Contest post number 2 is up!
Contest post number 3 is up!
Contest post number 4--and the secret prize reveal--is up!*

***CONTEST IS CLOSED***

Deliriously anticipating Liesl and Po!

Do YOU want to read a book by Lauren Oliver? Are you the younger audience anticipating the day you can read Delirium, when you can finally read Young Adult books? 
      
Well, I've got GREAT news for you (news I should've shared longgg ago, but... well...) Lauren Oliver has a new book coming out in October this year, specifically directed for the Middle Grades audience! 
      
     That's right, your middle-schooler daughter can get a taste of the deliriously talented author with this highly anticipated novel, Liesl & Po!
    
      Speaking of which, Lauren Oliver has a contest going on at her blog where she is giving away THREE ARCs (Advanced Reading Copies) of Liesl & Po a month until it is released! How nice and cool is that?
        
     That's it for the short blog news! Be on the look out for the new review of Shift by Jeri Smith-Ready soon! 


-Juli 

*Edited to add: I received an ARC, and feel free to read the review here.

A star fit for Disney!

I was cruising around on Youtube, you see, and, well, I stumbled across a very talented singer. 


Nick Piteria


What distinguishes Nick from other artists is that he can play all parts and sing all parts of a song/movie equally well. My favorite video of his (so far) is his One Man Disney Movie. It's a little bit long, but come on, those vocals are worth the 8 minutes. If you don't believe me, listen to it yourself.
     Nick also does wonderful popular contemporary covers, such as this cover of The Edge of Glory-Lady Gaga.


That's it for the short blog news! 
Check back tomorrow for more Reviews News, including a headline feature review of Delirium by Lauren Oliver!


Juli