Happy New Year!

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Wishing you a year filled with laughter, love, health, and great books!

Pre-Order RACING SAVANNAH by Miranda Kenneally & get a cool gift!

Hi all – I couldn’t pass up this opportunity to highlight an upcoming new YA release AND pass along a great gift offer! Read on for the details, courtesy of Sourcebooks!

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From Sourcebooks….

They’re from two different worlds, but Savannah isn’t exactly one to follow the rules. . . get the next contemporary novel from blockbuster YA novelist Miranda Kenneally: RACING SAVANNAH!

Right before her senior year, Savannah’s father whisks the family off to Tennessee to work as head groom at fancy Cedar Hill Farms. Savannah finally sees it as the perfect opportunity to earn extra money as an exercise rider—no matter how many others don’t want a girl around the barn.  But she’s also caught the eye of Jack Goodwin, the owner’s son. She knows the rules: no mixing between the staff and the Goodwin family. But Jack has no such boundaries. With her dream of becoming a jockey, Savannah is not going to let someone tell her a girl isn’t tough enough to race. Sure, it’s dangerous. Then again, so is dating Jack.

We’ve put together a fun campaign to thank readers for pre-ordering: send us your proof of pre-order and we’ll send you this fabulous horseshoe key chain!

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A Gift for You, for Pre-Ordering RACING SAVANNAH by Miranda Kenneally

We have a special offer for U.S. and Canada YA fans for the release of RACING SAVANNAH by Miranda Kenneally in stores in a little over three weeks! If you pre-order the book, we will send you an exclusive horseshoe key chain—perfect for any busy teen on the go! You have until December 2 or until quantities run out.

Here’s how to get your charm:
1. Pre-order the book (print or eBook) through any retailer (Barnes & Noble, Amazon, your local independent bookseller/Indiebound, Books-A-Million, Hastings, etc.)

2. Email your proof of purchase (receipt or picture of the receipt) to teenfire@sourcebooks.com. Put “Racing Savannah Pre-Order” in the subject line. Don’t forget to include your home address (US & Canada only please) so we can send you the horseshoe key chain! If you’ve already pre-ordered this book—not a problem! Send us your receipt!

3. You will get an email back confirming when the items have been sent out.

4. Enjoy Racing Savannah when it comes out in December!

Optional: take a pic of you and your horseshoe key chain and share it with Miranda Kenneally or Sourcebooks Fire on Twitter! You can find Miranda @mirandakennealy and Sourcebooks Fire @sourcebooksfire.

What I did on my summer vacation

Warning: A non-bookish post!

I took time away from Bookshelf Fantasies at the end of June to go on a 10-day vacation to Costa Rica. I had mentioned my plans here in the context of picking out my vacation reading (thanks for your help with that!), but since then I’ve had several blog readers ask me how the trip was and asking to see pictures. So, begging your indulgence, here’s a smattering of my favorite Costa Rica pictures. Bottom line: Big iguanas, lots of rain, howler monkeys in trees, terrific scenery, beautiful plants and growing things, plenty o’ birds, and even some crocodiles!

So true.

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Got this from a friend. Don’t know the source. Whoever created this… thank you!

A giggle for Monday morning

Yes, I still read the Sunday comics — sometimes a day late. Here’s a gem to start off the week:

Source: gocomics.com

A quick giggle to start the week

And along the same lines:

And a pretty image to end the day…

I came across this image during a recent Google search for something else, and fell in love:

The artist is Cyril Rolando, and you can see more of his work here.

Sweet dreams!

If you love YA like I love YA…

… check out this fantastic infographic flow chart, courtesy of the Lawrence, Kansas public library teen staff:

You can check out the full chart here. Thank you, Lawrence Public Library!

A few quick glimpses of their fabulous work:

Go visit the library site to see more. It’ll make you smile, I promise.

When worlds collide, part 3

A friend sent this to me a while back, and I’ve never succeeded in finding the source:

I just love when my random obsessions co-mingle, and this truly tickled my funny bone. So just how many Harry Potter fans out there also geek out over Outlander (and vice versa)?

In any case, if you recognize this and know the source, let me know so I can give credit where credit is due!

Happy Birthday, Harry!

Wishing Harry Potter and his creator J. K. Rowling very happy birthdays today! With apologies to Neville Longbottom, whose birthday came and went yesterday without a whole lot of fuss.

Harry would be 32 years old today… if he was, in fact, an actual person and not a fictional character. Nevertheless, he’s near and dear to my heart, and he’s made my world a more magical place for the past 15 years… so cheers, Harry!