Trick or Treat

Happy Halloween, everyone! I hope you all have a fun and safe holiday. I don't have any big plans this year except to go to my friend's house and do a tiny bit of trick or treating with her and her 1-year-old. This means I can have some candy, too, right? After that we plan on watching a bunch of scary movies, handing out candy, and eating a lot of candy. :) I have no costume this year but I'd love to know what you guys are going as. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

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Santa Barbara Weekend

Hello again. As I mentioned yesterday, I didn't get a ton of reading done this weekend. That's because I was hanging out with my parents who came down for a quick visit. It was ridiculously hot in Los Angeles this weekend so I took them up north a bit to spend the day in Santa Barbara. Though it was still quite warm, it was way cooler than L.A. I took them to the SB Botanic Garden up in the hills. There was a lot of walking but it was really cool to see native California plants in the wild. My favorite part was the Redwood walk. Anyway, just thought I would share a few pics from the garden. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

 

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Heading to San Diego

I know I just got back but I am off again to San Diego for Comic Con. I have some posts scheduled though so you won't be too lonely while I am gone.  There are some really good book panels this year as well as some awesome giveaways. I'll be sure to give everyone a full update when I get back. If you want to check out what I am doing at SDCC, just follow my Twitter account @fishgirl182. I hope to see some of you there. Have a great week(end)!

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On Vacation

picture taken at carlsbad gardens

Howdy! By the time this goes up I will officially be on vacation. Nothing too exciting but I will hanging out with my family and chilling out. My posting may be a bit sporadic while I am away though I am trying to schedule some posts for next week. 

Vacation usually means lots of reading and one of my number on priorities is figuring out which books to bring with me. I am bringing my Kindle but I also like to bring a small selection of physical books as well. It's Friday night as I read this and I am agonizing over what to bring. Do you guys do this, too? I am betting you do if you are a book lover like me. 

In the end, I decided to bring the following physical books on vacation:

Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork - I borrowed this from Alethea a million years ago and I want to finish at least one of her books so I can return it.

Thief of Shadows by Elizabeth Hoyt - Historical romance that I picked up from ALA. I have never read anything by Hoyt before but I've heard good things.

God Save the Queen by Kate Locke - Steampunk urban fantasy where the Queen is undead. Sounds awesome.

Dark Companion by Marta Costa - Also picked up at ALA. Marta is coming to my town in a couple of months for a signing and I figure I should try to read this beforehand. 

I also have about a million NetGalley books that I want to get to since I joined NetGalley Knockdown. We'll see how much I actually get to read this week Are any of you going on vacation for the 4th? Do you have as much trouble as I do trying to figure out what books to bring?  If anyone has any method they use to go about figuring out what books to bring on vacation, I would love to hear it. I usually just go with my gut and how much I can carry but I'd love to know how other people decide. 

Have a great week!

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This Is How I Feel

This is how I feel after ALA - like I need a really long nap. :) And yes, that is my new niece. Could not resist putting up this adorable picture of her, and it illustrates my state of mind right now.

I spent a really fantastic weekend at ALA hanging out with librarians, bloggers, publishers and other book lovers. I saw tons of wonderful authors and met lots of really cool people. I want to give you guys a full update soon but I am a bit wiped out. It may be a bit quiet around here for a bit as I try to get back to real life. And I want to show you on what books I got at ALA. Not to make anyone jealous, but because I think book blog readers like to look at books. I know I do. And I got a lot of really awesome books that I am super excited about. 

I hope you're all having a great week! :)

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Hearts & Hugs

I know a lot of people don't like Valentine's Day. They argue that it's a manufactured holiday with no real purpose. But, to me, it's the best kind of holiday. It's a holiday with no real reason for existing except to remind us to tell our friends and family that they are loved and appreciated. Instead of letting it remind me of what I don't have, I think Valentine's Day is a great day to remind me of all of the wonderful people in my life.  It also has great candy (second only to Easter) and I love red and pink together. This holiday is a win all around.

So today, on Valentine's Day, I just wanted to tell all of my readers out there that you are awesome. Thank you for coming by and reading and commenting. You make my day brighter and more fun and I hope that today is a great day for you.  I am giving you all a big cyber hug (Can you feel it? I am squeezing pretty hard.) I hope your day is filled with cupcakes and sweet things that make you smile. Happy Valentine's Day!

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If you want to see how many cupcakes Thuy ate on Valentine's Day, ask her on twitter @fishgirl182 and ask her.

Giving Thanks

in front of shakespeare and company in paris

I'm not very good at these types of posts so I am going to try to keep it brief. This Thanksgiving I am thankful for many things. Of course, my wonderful family. We've had some trying times this year but I love them to death and am so glad to have them in my life (even if they do drive me insane sometimes).

I am also thankful for my wonderful friends. Extra big hugs to frootjoos and kimberlybuggie, two wonderful bloggers and friends in real life. Besides just having books in common, these ladies are fantastic friends who never fail to make me laugh and who are always up for a crazy adventure. Thanks, frootjoos, for inviting me to blog with you. It's opened up a whole new world and I am excited to see what the next year brings.

I am also very thankful to all of the wonderful authors, publishers, bloggers and readers I've met and interacted with this past year. You've all enriched my world and given me a giant reading pile! 

I hope everyone has a safe holiday. I plan to eat a lot of mom's home cooking, read in bed, and see Hugo. What are your Thanksgiving weekend plans?

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thuy will be eating homemade pho and yarn shopping on her break. you can follow her random tweets @fishgirl182