All tagged John Marsden

Episode #31: Chatting Books & Libraries with Molly Wetta

Episode #31: Chatting Books & Libraries with Molly Wetta

Sarah Moon
Podcast: Season Three

Awesome librarian, Tumblr rockstar, YALSA's The Hub editor and all around awesome human being Molly Wetta was on our "hit list" of dream podcast guests and we're so, so, so thrilled she was finally about to join us for a chat!

This is a pretty freewheeling discussion, with topics ranging from what it's like to work with books professionally (buying books with someone else's money seems like a dream job, but it's also really hard!), library school, how to make book recommendations and some of the more interesting questions she's gotten on Find Your Next Book. It was a whole lot of fun!

Book Matchmaker: Jillian Hearts Fairytales and Hates Insta-love

Sarah Moon
Book Matchmaker

Well, this is a tough one! Jillian from Pure Fictional Intent filled out our very scientific book matchmaker questionaire looking for some genre reads she hasn’t yet discovered.

Since she’s a blogger and Goodreader, Jillian has her finger what’s happening in the book world, so we were challenged with this one. 

Adult or YA: Surprise Me

Genres: Dystopia, Fantasy, Paranormal, Steampunk

Narrator/POV: First Person, Third Person, Multiple POV, Present Tense, Past Tense, Female POV, Main Character or Narrator

Swoon Factor: 4

Gross Out Factor: 4

Smut Factor: 3

Fluff Factor: 3

Favorite Books/Themes: Ella Enchanted, Finnikin of the Rock, Froi of the Exiles, Keturah and Lord Death. Why? I love that they take “old” ideas (fairy tales, fantasy world with conspiracies and intrigues, and folk lore, respectively) and bring fresh, engaging spins to them.

Turn Offs: Love triangles, instant love between heroine/hero and love interest, faulty and unengaging world-building

The Results

The Storyteller by Antonia Michaelis

{Book Matchmaker} Matt Wants Books with Action, Sex and Violence

{Book Matchmaker} Matt Wants Books with Action, Sex and Violence

Sarah Moon
Book Matchmaker

Okay, okay… so that headline is a tad inflammatory, but since I’ve known our latest Book Matchmaker victim volunteer since we were freshmen at good ol’ Canby High School, I’m going to take the opportunity to embarrass Matt, a fan of urban fantasy, adventure and Star Wars, just a bit.

Side note: when we were in high school I knew that Matt was nerdy, but I had no idea how incredibly nerdy he was until he filled out our Extremely Scientific Questionnaire. I mean, we were both in the Advanced Nerding Classes, but still… ;-)

Matt’s responses:

YA or Adult: Surprise Me

Genres: Action/Adventure, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Urban Fantasy, Mystery/Thriller, Magical Realism

Narrator/Style: First Person, Third Person, Multiple POV, Graphic Novel or Graphic Elements, Present Tense, Past Tense, Male POV, Main Character or Narrator, Female POV, Main Character or Narrator

Swoon Factor: 2

Gross Out Factor: 4

Smut Factor: 4

Fluff Factor: 4 

Fave Authors: Clive Cussler, Tom Clancy, Patricia Briggs, Kim Harrison, Orson Scott Card, Anne McCaffrey, Vicki Pettersson: Sign of the Zodiac, Hunger Games, The Call of the Wild, Harry Potter, the Star Wars novels. I am a guy: I like action, sex and some violence in my stories. I am also a tad whimsical, and like to believe there is more out there than what we see in our everyday life.

Dislikes: Victorian, Elizabethan, anything that doesn’t use common language; I don’t care much about nonfiction; I read to be entertained and “turn my brain off.” Twilight makes me want to throw up because it’s too teenage-girl-angsty. No horror, please. 

The Results:

Unholy Ghosts by Stacia Kane

Stacia Kane’s Downside Ghosts Series (Adult Urban Fantasy)

Dude. This series. It’s completely effed up and awesome, as it follows drug-addicted witch and ghost hunter Chess during the Ghost Apocalypse. This is a rough series, with Serious Consequences™ around every corner.