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Pretty Much You Need To Sign Up For UPS My Choice

by April (Books&Wine)

YOU GUYS! OH MY GOD. Okay, so the other day I was talking to Shanyn in g-chat and we were talking about books and packages like we typically do, and she just pulls this phrase out on me — oh such and such is sending me a package next week. And I am like ARE YOU A FORTUNE TELLER? And she is all no. I have UPS My Choice. And I am like WHAT IS THIS? At that point I had googly eyes in real life.

German Shepherd UPS

Book bloggers, you are going to love this. Okay, so UPS My Choice is a service you can sign up for through UPS and it has you do the regular registration things, then you have to verify your identity — mine asked me about my car and where I’ve lived before. There’s a choice to join the premium program or to just stick with the free. I stuck with the free. AND OH MY GOD IT IS SO WORTH IT.

Okay, so ha ha you are probably like oh my goodness April stop your inane rambling and get to the point. Okay, so UPS My Choice is a program where if you pay for it, you can schedule things to be delivered at certain times. The free version though, tells you when someone has printed out a UPS label with your name and address on it, and then it tells you when your delivery is coming and gives you a tracking number. LIKE YOU GUYS if publishers send you things, UPS emails you, tells you the weight of the package, who it is from and the expected delivery date FOR FREE. So now, like I know when to make myself wait on edge for the UPS guy. Like, yesterday I got some emails of delivery alerts from My Choice and did a total happy dance as I am wont to do.

Seriously, Shanyn just changed my life for the way better.

You can sign up for My Choice by clicking here. And I’m actually not an affiliate for it, but it kind of changed my life in the course of a single day so of course I need to tell you all about it.

2012 Penguin Putnam Upstate NY Warehouse Sale Alert

by April (Books&Wine)

Every year, I get super excited about living in upstate NY because it means I live close enough to hit up the annual Penguin-Putnam Publisher Warehouse Sale in Conklin, NY. You can check out my previous announcements by clicking here and here.

Here I am at the sale last year, stealing my boyfriend’s hat and gloves because it was FREEZING.

The 2012 Dates:

Saturday, November 3 from 1-8 PM
Monday, November 5 from 5-8 PM
Tuesday, November 6 from 5-8 PM
Wednesday, November 7 from 5-8 PM
Thursday, November 8 from 5-8 PM
Friday, November 9 from 5-8 PM
Saturday, November 10 from 1-5 PM

The Location:

The Old Maines Warehouse in Conklin, NY

Directions:

Interstate 81 Northbound: Make a left off exit 1. Go .8 miles to light at Conklin Rd. Turn right. Go 6.2 miles and turn left onto Terrace Drive. Interstate 81 Southbound: Take exit 3 to traffic light. Turn right, go to 2nd traffic light and turn left. Go over the bridge to Conklin Rd. turn right. Go .4 miles and turn right onto Terrace Drive.. When it comes to GPS, I usually just throw 1 Terrace Drive into my GPS and that takes me right where I need to go.

Payment Methods:

They totally do not accept credit card, I KNOW so weird, like who really uses checks anymore. So be sure to use cash, and if you are using checks, bring 2 forms of ID with you.

What you can expect:

Lots of children’s and YA books
Non fiction
Fiction
Audiobooks
Cookbooks
Waiting in a long line to get inside.

The prices are good too, and they decrease as the sale goes on. There’s been years where I spent $150 and left with over 50 new books. I will probably go on Thursday, so if you’re going tweet me and we may meet up! FYI here is a screen shot of the email I was forwarded with the information:

Twitter Party TOMORROW With Melissa Marr PLUS a few YA Kindle Deals

by April (Books&Wine)

ERMAGHERD! CARNIVAL OF SOULS!

You guys, tomorrow 9/8, Harper Teen is hosting a Twitter party for Melissa Marr in celebration of Carnival Of Souls, Marr’s latest book. The party will start at 2 p.m. EST and will follow the hashtag #MarrChat.

There will be spoilers for Carnival of Souls during the chat, so you should read it TONIGHT in order to prepare, I know that’s my plan. Well, I mean, I started it last night before bed (also FYI I think if you liked Daughter Of Smoke And Bone you are going to like Carnival Of Souls)

For $2.99:

FYI these books are only on sale until 9/17, so get them while they are hot.

Mark Your Calendars: Bookish Events June And Beyond

by April (Books&Wine)

Hey compadres, I just wanted to alert you to a few Bookish events coming up both offline and online!

June 16, 2012 – TOMORROW

There will be a Teen AuthorFest in Ithaca, NY at the Tompkins County Public Library starting at 10 a.m. The authors in attendance will be: Jay Asher, Elisa Ludwig, Madeleine George and Shawn Goodman. This is the first EVER Authorfest hosted by Tompkins County Public Library. There will be prizes and omg FOOOOOD. Click here for more information.

June 17, 2012

Heard about Fierce Reads? Oblong Books in Rhinebeck, NY will be hosting one of the legs of the Fierce Reads tour. The event starts at 4 p.m. The authors in attendance will be Anna Banks, Leigh Bardugo, Jennifer Bosworth, Emmy Laybourne and Caragh M. O’Brien. I will totally be going to this event as well. Tweet me if you are coming, I’d love to say hi! If you can’t make it, you can support AWESOME events like these and order signed books through the Oblong Books website. There is an RSVP required for the event. You can click here for more information.

July 15, 2012

Oblong Books and Music will be hosting – excuse me while I hyperventilate – HOLLY BLACK, CASSANDRA CLARE and SARAH REES BRENNAN. Holy crap you guys I am going to explode from excitement. I highly suggest you all make the road trip for this event. It will be totally worth it. ALSO let me tell you, Oblong Books is one of those stores that is not snooty towards adult YA fans. They are fantastic. I will definitely be at this event as well. RSVP is required and you can find out more about the event by clicking here.

ALL SUMMER LONG:

Raise your hand if you like audiobooks. Raise your hand if you like YA. Raise your hand if you like free YA audiobooks. I bet your hand is kind of tired of being raised. All summer long SYNC is giving away two free downloadable audiobooks a week. I already clicked as fast as I could to get this week’s offerings – The Eleventh Plague and The Grapes of Wrath. You can click here for more details.

List Of Twelve: The Next Books On My TBR List

by April (Books&Wine)

Y’all, I am such a fan of Michelle over at Galleysmith. She writes articulate, intelligent reviews. BUT EVEN BETTER? She has really awesome ideas. You see, Michelle, inspired by a friend, came up with this system for picking the next few books you read called the List Of Ten. I love the idea and asked her if it was okay if I made my own list and added to it a little and she said it was okay.

Friends, these are the next 12 books I will be reading. Posting this on the blog I hope will make me more committed to actually following through.

I love how my green donation bag for the library is chilling in the background.

1. Series: A Want So Wicked by Suzanne Young

2. eBook: The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa (currently reading)

3. Audiobook: Moby Dick by Herman Melville (currently listening — also this is on my Fill In The Gaps project)

4. Backlist: Magic Bites by Kate Daniels

5. Backlist: Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton

6. ARC: Insignia by SJ Kincaid

7. ARC: Enchanted by Alethea Kontis

8. New Release: Gilt by Katherine Longshore (technically this isn’t out until May 15, but by the time I finish all these books this will officially be a new release, also I have already started this)

9. New Release: The Hero’s Guide To Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy

10. Can’t Wait: Defiance by CJ Redwyne

11. Goodreads: American Gods by Neil Gaiman (this is based on my Goodreads To Be Read shelf, I am going in order by date added)

12. Blog Tour: Revived by Cat Patrick

My question to you: Have you read any of these books? If you were to pick your reads out ahead of time what would you pick?

JK Rowling’s Book For Adults Has A Name: The Casual Vacancy

by April (Books&Wine)

YOU GUYYYYYYS! When I was perusing Amazon to see what the Kindle Daily Deal was, I stumbled upon news about JK Rowling’s book for adults!

Expecto Patronum!

And it was a squeak of joy heard round the world.

JK Rowling’s Adult book will be titled The Casual Vacancy!

It releases September 27, 2012!

AND OMG The Casual Vacancy has a summary:

“When Barry Fairweather dies unexpectedly in his early forties, the little town of Pagford is left in shock. Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war. Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils…. Pagford is not what it first seems. And the empty seat left by Barry on the town’s council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations? Blackly comic, thought-provoking and constantly surprising, The Casual Vacancy is J.K. Rowling’s first novel for adults.”

It may not be the boy wizard my generation and I grew to love, but I am so pumped and am preordering that noise.

What do you think about this news?

Fill Your Kindle: TODAY ONLY DEALS!!!!

by April (Books&Wine)

OH MY GOD YOU GUYS! Yeah, yeah I get a little caps lock crazy sometimes, but holy eff mother of God, I am psyched.

So today’s Kindle Daily Deal is in honor of The Hunger Games movie release. You can get:

5 YA dystopia books for $1.99

Check them out:

If you click those widgets and purchase, Good Books And Good Wine gets a very small commission which helps to fund international shipping for the giveaways. Thank you!!

Fill Your Kindle: eBook Deals

by April (Books&Wine)

Good morning friends. This morning I woke up to check the Kindle discount thread and my eyes nearly popped out of my head with the amount of romance books being discounted. And well, you know how I review romance every once in awhile because it’s one of the genres that I’m slowly discovering? Well, I totally just filled my kindle with these cheap books.

For $0.99 Each:

For $1.99 Each:

*total disclosure: the images above are affiliate links and y’all know what that means.

SNEAK LISTEN: Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

by April (Books&Wine)

Okay, okay. I am really pushing it with these multiple blog posts, but you guys this is kind of an exciting time for books and I legit cannot wait TO TELL YOU THINGS.

Right, so you know how I love audiobooks? You know how I love Lauren Oliver? You know how I LOVED the audiobook of Delirium?

WELL.

The gorgeous, beautiful, FANTASTICAL Harper Teen Team emailed me with this kick ass widget where you can listen to an excerpt of Pandemonium read by Sarah Drew.

Yo, my finger would totally be hovering the order button for the Pandemonium audiobook if Audible had it up.

Welcome To The Books And Wine Team, Allison L

by April (Books&Wine)

Y’all, book blogging is a huge, monumental task to take on by yourself. Like many of you, I bust ass to put out rocking content every single day, occasionally taking a weekend day off or a holiday from posting. Sometimes, I’d like that pressure to ease up. And yo, apparently somebody up in the sky has delivered, because I have a new member joining my team, my very dear friend Allison L.

Is This The Sea World? I'm on the left Allison is on the right with the blonde hair

Okay, so sometimes it is REALLY scary telling people you know in real life about your book blog. And while it is nothing like a baby or anything, I still have that kind of ugly baby fear — you know you get scared people might think your baby is ugly. Or maybe I am just shallow? ANYWAYS. Allison was one of the first people to read and check out Good Books And Good Wine in my real life. And, what do you know, she’s been very supportive of it, occasionally popping on to comment from time to time. Also, she lets me drag her to book signings and the like. AND when I say OMG OMG OMG READ THIS BOOK, she actually does it. So, Allison and I have been talking and I was like, bro, you are so much smarter than me, what with your master’s degree and all and your sensible way of thinking. And Allison is all like, I know. And I’m like, so will you join Good Books And Good Wine? I would love to have you as a co-blogger. And Allison is all like, LET’S DO THIS. And then she’s like here are some reviews. And I’m like OH MY GOD I HATE YOU. Because she is intelligent with her writing in a way that I am not. And so, I’d love it if you all gave Allison a very warm welcome.

Allison at Disney World

A little bit of background on Allison and I: We’ve known each other since like fifth or sixth grade — elementary school was kind of a blur, when we met at this thing our school did called Saturday Schoolyard. We were both in the program for book lovers. Of course. I vividly remember us reading about Lily’s purple plastic purse. Our friendship solidified throughout the upcoming years as we had similar friends. She did marching band and was actually good at it. I joined too, junior year of high school and was bad at it. We had various adventures including the one time my parents went away for the night and left me with no supervision. Eventually we went to college and Allison transferred over to my college, which let me tell you was AWESOME. I mean, Allison and I had class together and she would often be the one to be like, dude you cannot skip class today! Yep, Allison is responsible and NOT flakey. THEN our friendship went up to the level of 11 when we took a road trip to Florida. And you know how on road trips you either get closer with your friends or you decide you secretly hate them? Allison and I got even CLOSER as friends. Anyways, now that we are adults and living like 45 minutes apart we still get together every now and then and talk books and meet authors and eat awesome food. And so, I can’t think of a better person to invite to co-blog at Good Books And Good Wine than my girl, Allison.

Allison The Smart Cookie