Wrap-Up: February Highlights

Hello!

It’s that time of the month again, this is going to be a short post as I have done much with my blog recently, I have managed to get to most of the events I had planned. I’m slowly getting back into the swing of things so hopefully posts will be more frequent for now on. Thank you so much for bearing with me!

Events:

An Evening with Karen McManus, C.L. Taylor and Emily Barr:

After reading and loving One of Us is Lying I bought a ticket straight away! The event was chaired by Katie Webber, so the questions were interesting and insightful, as usual. It was great to finally meet C.L. Taylor, too! Everyone who got books signed by Karen was given a cool enamel pin.

Writers’ Night: Stacey Halls, Bridget Collins and Sonia Velton:

As soon as I heard about this I knew I had to get a ticket! I adored The Familiars, and was eager to hear Stacey talk about it. I’ve also heard brilliant things about The Binder, so I’m looking forward to reading it! The event was chaired by Natasha Pulley, they talked about their books and all things historical fiction.

Scholastic Blogger Brunch:

This was my second Scholastic event I’ve been invited to, and one I really like going to. We were told about current and upcoming titles, including Shadowscent, The New Boy and Oh My Gods. We were given goody bags with some awesome books in and allowed to choose five from the giveaway window. It was so much fun and nice to catch up with Paula Rawsthorne and Sue Wallman again.

An Evening with P.M. Freestone:

I bought a ticket for this after the blogger event and I’m so glad I went. It was such a fascinating event, chaired by Alwyn Hamilton with interactive elements. I managed to grab a proof at the blogger brunch so I’m really looking forward to reading Shadowscent! It sounds amazing.

Hot Key Books Blogger Brunch:

This was such a fascinating and insightful event with Heather Morris and Lucy Adlington, authors of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and The Red Ribbon. Both books have been on my radar for awhile, though I hadn’t got round to reading either of them. It’s been awhile since I went to event and taken so much away with me. We were given copies of both books and definitely reading them asap!

King and Queen Tour with Cassie Clare and Holly Black:

I’d been looking forward to this event for months and I wasn’t disappointed! Cassie and Holly talked about their books briefly and opened up the floor to questions for most of it. Afterwards we had the chance to meet both of them and get books signed, there was also photo ops while you were waiting. My write-up of both events can be found here.

VIP Golden Ticket event with Cassie Clare and Holly Black:

I was one of the lucky Golden Ticket recipients for a Secret VIP event with Cassie and Holly, held in Waterstones Piccadilly. This one was similar to the tour event, though they talked about books for longer and when we got books signed by Cassie we were also allowed a posed photo with her!

An Evening with Samantha Shannon:

I’ve been dying to read Priory since Samantha announced it so I had to go to this event and finally get my hands on a copy! Alwyn Hamilton also chaired this one and did a brilliant job, as usual. They talked research, fantasy and my favourite, dragons! I know this book is going to be amazing, definitely going to start it sometime in March!

Books I’ve read:

I haven’t read many books during my break as it was too hard to focus on them.

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (★★★★★) – It was a little slow going to begin with, by the halfway mark I was hooked! I adore the characters and worldbuilding, I’m definitely going to read the next installment!

Two Can Keep A Secret by Karen McManus (★★.5) – This one started off well and I was loving it. After awhile, I became bored. I really wanted to love it, it just wasn’t for me.

How was your month, have you read anything you loved? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!