When’s the next one coming out? That’s the first thing that went through my mind when it was over. In Being Nikki, Nikki (Em) has to deal with the fact that Nikki’s (the real one) brother comes to her looking for her (Nikki’s) mom, that Christopher wants to destroy Stark with her (Nikki since he doesn't know Em is alive...) help, that she feels more separated from her (Em’s) family, and she also has her model jobs that she can’t get out of. Does this sound too much for one supermodel to handle? Possibly, but Nikki (Em) has to find a way to finish it all, I guess being two people may help or just make it worse.
Once you pick the book up it’s hard to put down. Every page is just as great as the one before it. You fully understand the struggles Em/Nikki has to go through and feel her emotions. I'm not sure how I could stand being in her situation. It's especially hard at the end when there’s no more pages to turn and there's a major twist (a part even almost made me cry). It’s hard to have to wait for Runaway (and I have to wait even longer since I got an ARC. Meg, if you happen to need help editing Runaway, just ask…). Though the fact that it’s only a trilogy makes me sane since I know it should be finalized after Runaway.
I highly recommend Being Nikki, though make sure to read Airhead first (it was just as good). It has romance, humor, mystery, and everything else a Meg Cabot book has that makes them so addicting. Though the Airhead series in general is a slightly different angle than Meg’s other books, I think anyone who likes Meg’s books, everyone who likes mysteries, and mostly everyone else will love it!
We asked Meg these questions at her event in February (hence the plane/hotel questions). Hope you enjoy!
Who pwns everything? Buffy.
If someone suddenly threw a wad of twenty thousand dollars at you, how would you respond? I’d take it to the police because it’s probably drug money. I’d be very suspicious of that money.
If 'they' decided to make a movie of your life, which actress would you want to play you? Bridget Fonda.
What was the coolest thing at the hotel? Wi-Fi and a heavenly bed.
Who sat next to you on the plane over? A smoker.
What is the weirdest thing someone asked you to do at a signing? Sign their shoe.
Can you do the Time Warp again? Of course, do I have to prove it to you?
A fiery heroine that allows no man, no thing control her.
A man whose goal now is to charm his way through life and women.
What should happen if these two characters meet? Upheaval? Mass chaos? Understatement.
When Finnula's dear innocent sister gets herself pregnant and manages to waste all her dowry on trinkets, its up to Finnula (the sole Diana/Artemis of the village) to scrounge up the money to save her sister's reputation. Finnula then hears of a series of strange events occuring in her village: women holding men hostage and making their families pay a ransom for their safe return. Enter Hugo Fitzstephen on his way home from the Crusades with inconspicuous bags bulging with gold. A perfect target you might say. Wrong. He's also the Earl of her village along with the lands that surround it and she could have made the mistake of falling in love with the winsome hostage, with him all too willing to take the plunge. But their love soon attracts jealous enemies desperate for their money and their lives.
Meg Cabot's Ransom My Heart is a sweet romance novel with a twist regarding the average woman and a hearty serving of danger, secrecy and false identities. If you're looking for an escape from darker novels, pick up this book; its romantic plotline, humorous dialogue and unseen plot twists will keep your spirits high even when it exposes more serious topics just below the surface.
Brought to you by Erika. With comments in Red by Lorena, Brigitte in yellow, and Julie in green.
The afternoon started like most days we have events. The one exception being that was there were a lot more books. Lorena, Brigitte, Julie, and Debra told me to bring them all, so I did. (No I didn't! I told you not to!) I have over 50 of Meg’s books, which filled up exactly two of the large Books & Books bags. One of which I had to carry.
Brigitte and I got there a bit after 4:00 and right off the bat got to work. After Debra showed off the crowns we would be using; and we printed quick copies of my, Party Princess menu for the cafe, we went to the West wing to start decorating. While most everyone was doing manual labor Brigitte and I were having a hard time trying to get my glue gun on so we could decorate my plastic shoes & swans for the tables. But right as soon as it started working, Erika called that she was outside and needed help carrying her books to the store.
So, Julie and I arrived about 4:30 and everyone else was already there.
We immediately started decorating. Lorena and Brigitte hot glued pretty flowers in plastic shoes and swans while Julie and I attempted to start with the tulle. (The main word being attempted)Everyone kept passing out table and exclaiming about how cute they looked while I burned my fingers. It was a failed attempt, which led us to start on the podium instead. We then realized we wouldn’t have enough to do the whole thing, so we used the blue to make a bow. When I finished the shoes and got the area cleaned up I went over to see how i could help, between my failed attempt and Stephanie's help we managed to create some sort of decent bow thing. Thanks Stephanie for helping!
We finished the bow, had some tulle hanging from the top, and decorated the signing table. That's was probably one of the worst idea we've had. I almost fell over from that footstool getting the tulle over the railing more than once. Getting the tulle to hang was difficult since I'm so short. I stretched and I still couldn't reachso we just tossed it over and hoped for the best. It also got hopelessly tangled.
The chairs were already set up, so we just put some of the paper crowns we got around on random ones.
By then it was already about 5:40 and we had to change. There was also an incident involving not being able to find the YAthenaeum bookmarks [which are still currently M.I.A. and not at the airport (those from Miami will get it)]. Though, I always carry some around and had a small stack in my camera bag.
Julie and I finally decided which dresses we were wearing, thanks to Brigitte and Lorena deciding for us. So while Brigitte and Lorena had to quickly go somewhere, Julie and I changed. Julie into my black dress, and me into Julie’s purple dress.Yes it does make perfect sense. Apparently no one in Coral Gables has a copy of the 6th Mediator book. I confess, we committed blasphemy, I was ashamed to wear my Books&Books shirt.
When we were finished, Lorena and Brigitte managed to return and changed themselves. This was more or less an episode of yelling back and forth across the stalls about god knows what.
At about 6:20, Meg walked in and Debra introduced her to us. Debra also warned her about my collection of her books. (But nobody could create a proper warning without it being an understatement)
Then, Meg went to give an interview with a girl from Times for Kids.
We were the greeting team while Lorena put our corsages on. This proved to be a more difficult task than it ought to have been, especially on myself.
A little while later, Debra called us in and Lorena gave her her corsage as an honorary member of the Royal Order of YAthenaeum.
Meg then started signing all my books. (Thanks so much Meg!) She signed every single one. At one point while she was finishing Erika's pile she asked "These are all Erika right?" I was in charge of putting Erika's books back after Meg signed them, since they quickly overwhelmed the table.
While she was signing, we had a short interview with her, which will have up soon enough.
After Meg finished signing all of mine, she signed the rest of ours. Then, she opened the card we made for her. (Thanks Emma for helping me make it!)
After that, we grabbed our cameras and it was time to start.
The room was full… Debra introduced us and then I introduced Meg. (I’m SO sorry for pronouncing your name wrong, Meg, if you’re reading this. I realized right after… I was just nervous and had for years thought it was pronounced that way and it grew into a habit I’m trying to break.)Erika just hangs around me too much, I grew to mispronouncing Meg's name and it's stuck to everyone around me. I'm such a bad influence.Why yes, you are. Aside from that, I think I’m getting slightly better with the introductions; I’m not a complete wreck up there anymore. Sure... If it makes you feel better, Erika.
Meg spoke and answered questions. She is amazing!Erika's on the verge of obsession here so don't mind her. Correction: She is obsessing. Ignore the excessive fangirling.
We then went to the other side and began post-it duty. Once we were done, we went and ate chocolate… Most of us anyway, I sat on a stool and moped about not being able to eat chocolate. But you stayed strong and we are all soo proud of you! :D
Eventually, when it was time for stock, I handed to Meg and Debra took away. Meg is an incredibly fast signer; I could barely keep up. I was at first in charge of moving them to the table but we also needed to put Autographed stickers on them so I called Brigitte over to haul them back and forth while I put the stickers on. Becky came eventually and helped me finish the job.We took a few group shots with our assigned book.I didn't know my tiara was tilted so far back. Afterwards, though Meg was probably exhausted, she agreed to do the time warp with us.
The Brians (the DJs) started playing the song and this is what happened: (I was a fail.)
We then said goodbye to Meg and were ourselves exhausted from a great night; it's too bad Princess Mia had to miss it.
That's right! Meg Cabot will be at Books & Books tomorrow, February 7, at 7 pm.
Books & Books
265 Aragon Avenue
Coral Gables, Florida
"Meg Cabot brings her internationally bestselling series to a royal conclusion in the tenth and final installment, Forever Princess(HarperTeen, $16.99. Mia is now a senior in high school, and her future -- and Genovia's -- hangs in the balance. Mia has some tough choices to make.
What's a Princess to do?
It's Mia's senior year, and things seem great. She aced her senior project, got accepted to her dream college(s), and has her birthday gala coming up . . . not to mention prom, graduation, and Genovia's first-ever elections.
What's not to love about her life? Well . . .
Her senior project? It's a romance novel she secretly wrote, and no one wants to publish it.
Her boyfriend, J.P., is so sweet and seemingly perfect. But is he the one?
And her first love, Michael, is back from Japan . . . and back in her life.
With Genovia's and her own future hanging in the balance, Mia's got some decisions to make: Which college? Which guy? How can she choose? Especially when what she decides might determine not just the next four years, but . . . forever!"
Please join us to help make the last Princess Diaries event the best it can be! There will be a DJ and treats from Peterbrooke Chocolatier! Hope to see you all there!
Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci edited an anthology called Geektastic and are having a contest to give out ARCs of it. More details here and here.
Meg Cabot posted the winners of her book trailer contest for Forever Princess on her blog.
Random:
Melissa de la Cruz' short story that had been exclusively for Target with the purchase of Revelations, is now available for everyone. Details on her blog.
Meg Cabot will be having a live chat on her site tomorrow, Sun. 1/18 at 2pm est and on blogtalkradio 1/22 at 2pm est.
Neil Gaiman was on blogtalkradio on Thursday. You can hear the entire show here.
Books that came out last week:
Puppet by Eva Wiseman
Kisses and Lies by Lauren Henderson
The Black Stallion and the Shape-shifter by Steven Farley
The Devil's Paintbox by Victoria Mckernan
The ABC's of Kissing Boys by Tina Ferraro
3 Willows: The Sisterhood Grows by Ann Brashares
Books that come out this week:
January 19- Doom Lake Holiday by Tom Henighan
January 22- Flygirl by Sherri L.Smith
January 22- You Are So Undead to Me by Stacey Jay
January 22- Trippe Show Berrys in Love by Jody Gehrman
Forever Princess was a phenomenal way to end an incredible series. I’ll begin with something personal: I for one have grown up with Mia. I started reading them in 5th or 6th grade and now in 11th the series is complete. I probably would be sad if it didn’t end so well, but it did. Meg Cabot has been one of my favorite authors for years and I honestly can’t help it, but eat her books up and upon finishing have a hangover only her endings can bring.
Back to the review… Forever Princess is the tenth (full book, not counting halves and three-quarters) and final book in the Princess Diaries series. Most have probably heard of these books, or at least the Disney version, but here’s a short summary. As a ninth grader, Mia found out her father was the prince of Genovia, making her a princess. The books are her journals writing about her everyday life. Everything from guys to the princess lessons she’s forced to take from her grandmere who pencils in her eyebrows to her trouble it algebra and all the random thoughts in between. The final book is about the end of her senior year of high school. It takes place approximately two years after the ninth book, a time when Mia was locked away in her room writing her senior project. Michael just came back from living in Japan making a robotic arm to be used in surgeries and then there’s also J.P. who Mia’s been seeing for two years now. The book covers this love conflict, Mia’s 18th birthday, her final finals, prom, and more.
After 10 books, if you’d think the books would get tiring, they don’t; most certainly not. Overall, it was a brilliant way to end the series. Thinking back on it you can see how much Mia has changed over the course of her high school experience. The difference between ninth and twelfth grade are extraordinary and Cabot captured the high school years perfectly. For example, a girl who in ninth grade begged to go to the prom now is the one realizing that it’s just a dance with bad food. If you’ve been a fan of Mia’s for a while, it will not disappoint and if you haven’t, pick them up. Teenage girls can definitely relate to everything Mia goes through; no matter if they haven’t found out that they are a princess of a small European country. Which is just the thing, Mia is an average girl everyone can relate to, and the princess thing is just on the side; she’s so much more than that. After the ten books, the end is completely perfect and just what it needed to be. Though sad that this girl who we’ve known for four years of her life and possibly longer of ours doesn’t have another book coming out soon, the end will leave you smiling and overjoyed.
Forever Princess will definitely keep the readers happy, at least for a few years until Meg Cabot can visit Mia again later on in Mia’s life, which she’s been mentioning. I think I can wait till then, but maybe not much longer than that.
Meg Cabot because of the release of the final Princess Diaries book, will be at the New York Public Library January 9, 2009. Tiaras made by some amazing celebrities will also be on sale online afterwards to raise money for the library. (Meg will also be stopping by here, Miami, February 7! Which we're all excited for.)
Sarah Mlynowski will be at the Books & Books in Bal Harbour for the Parties & Potions release party! We'd love to see everyone there!
Books that come out this week:
Persistence of Memory by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
What If . . . Your Past Came Back to Haunt You by Liz Ruckdeschel and Sara Jame
Falling Hard: 100 Love Poems by Teenagers by Betsy Franco
Dr. Sigmundus: The Cracked Mirror by Brian Keaney
Books that come out this week:
December 16- Kissed by an Angel by Elizabeth Chandler
Congratulations to Judy Blundell who's book What I Saw and How I Lied won the National Book Award for young people's literature! We'd also like to again congratulate the other finalists, E. Lockhart, Laurie Halse Anderson, Tim Tharp, and Kathi Appelt.
In order to create excitement for the 10th and final Princess Diaries book, Forever Princess, Harper Collins has put up the entire first Princess Diaries book online for anyone to read.
Sadly, TTYL by Lauren Myracle has been removed in the Round Rock school district's middle school libraries by the Superintendent. Honestly, those on this team do not agree with this decision and feel it should be up to the parents to control what their students read and not the schools, but feel free to have your own opinion on the matter.
Books that came out this past week:
Trouble in My Way by Michelle Stimpson
Night World No. 2 by L.J. Smith
Eclipse: Book Twelve (Sweep) by Cate Tiernan
Books that come out this week:
November 25- The Parliament of Blood by Justin Richards
November 25- Love is Hell by Scott Westerfeld, Melissa Marr, Justine Larbalestier, and Gabrielle Zevin, Laurie Faria Stolarz
November 25- Lip Gloss Jungle by Melissa De La Cruz
November 25- Lily Dale: Connecting by by Wendy Corsi Staub
November 25- Exposed by by Susan Vaught
November 25- Crowned by Julie Linker
November 25- Belle: A Retelling of "Beauty and the Beast"- Cameron Dokey
November 25- Lankhmar Book 7: The Knight and Knave of Swords by Fritz Leiber
Erika’s Review of Being Nikki by Meg Cabot
