Maw Books » vlog

Leonardo the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems

Natasha Maw — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:17:17 +0000

My boys can not get enough of Leonardo the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems which we’ve been reading in anticipation for Halloween although I would stress that although great for Halloween with its monster theme is a great everyday picture book. And I must admit (although embarrassing), that Mo Willems is a new addition to our household. But he’s been welcomed with open arms.

I have a fun video for you of us reading Leonardo the Terrible Monster together. At one point, it gets most rambunctious. Another book that we will be sad to return to the library and will be added to boys permanent wish list.

Links of interest: Mo Willems website and blog, more book blogger reviews.
Genre: Fiction Picture Book, approx ages 4-8.
Publisher: Hyperion Book. August 23, 2005
Hardcover, 48 pages. ISBN 0786852941
Leonardo the Terrible Monster is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

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Maw Books has an affiliate relationship with several bookstores, including Indiebound, Powell’s, and Amazon . When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, Maw Books earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog. There is no cost to you.

Video Chat: Being Overtaken By the Number of Books Read But Not Yet Reviewed

Natasha Maw — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 01:36:29 +0000

I’ve discovered that my blogging must very much be a seasonal thing because ever since it got warm outside my posting has shifted a bit. I’m outside playing with my two boys a lot! But I’m reading the same amount, so the books are piling up waiting to be reviewed. In this vlog, I share with you the reviews that you can expect here in the next month or so.

I’m also heading out to Bear Lake, Jackson Hole and Yellowstone (without my husband – who “gets” to stay behind. Wish me luck with my two boys!), so I’ll be offline for a bit but expect to have prescheduled posts. I literally won’t be touching a computer but will be anxious to find out what I missed while I was gone and read your comments when I return. In the vlog, I also share the huge pile of books that I’ve set aside to take with me. Am I crazy? I know I’m taking WAY to much with me. But heck, why not?

What’s your bet? How many of these books do you think I can read while chasing a two-year-old and a three-year-old around Yellowstone?

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Why Read Book Blogs? Three Book Bloggers Vlog the Answer

Natasha Maw — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:00:49 +0000

Why do book blogs matter? Why should readers from all walks of life read book blogs?

Trish from Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin?, Amy from My Friend Amy and myself discuss why we think book blogs are so awesome.

Would you believe me if I told you that the above video was filmed almost two months ago? Well before the recent discussions found on many a blog and Twitter regarding book blogs in the aftermath of BEA?

At a time when anybody with an opinion and a computer can start a blog and have their voice heard, albeit one must raise their voice loud to be heard amongst the noise, book blogs are becoming more influential. We are here. And we are having the time of our lives.

So what say you? If you already know the merits of book blogs and had to give somebody an elevator pitch about why they should turn to book blogs as their source of book recommendations and reviews what would you tell them? And if you happened upon this post with no opinion one way or the other, what do you think? Have we convinced you?

P.S Don’t miss the blogging party! Come Bloggiesta with us!

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Video Chat: The BookExpo America Box Arrival (aka: lot’s of fun books!)

Natasha Maw — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 00:35:59 +0000

You wouldn’t believe it from my lack of posts (I swear I’m planning on it!) but I did in fact go to BookExpo America in New York City last weekend. It was my first visit to both BEA and the big city (squeezed in a bus tour on Sunday afternoon – I’d love to go back to experience it more hands on).

It was really great to meet a lot of bloggers, publishers, publicists and authors whom I’ve communicated with for the last year. I was thrilled to be on a book blogging panel and having the audience mob us afterwards made me feel almost like a superstar (what can I say, most of the time, I’m wiping snot off of my clothes – I’ve got to live it up while I can). Even the conversations that resulted from the panel were almost worth the trip!

The #BEAtweetup and the Kidlit Drink night were great (despite the fact that one agent was all sweet in my face until he found out I didn’t have a story to sell and did the rudest “drop the conversation and get away from me” I’ve ever experienced and then Betsy Bird aka Fuse #8 told me she mentions my blog not once but twice in a book she just wrote – so yay!) The networking alone was worth the trip and the big ‘ol box of galleys I brought home was a really nice perk.

My box (which was $75 bucks to mail home!) arrived today and I thought it would be fun to open it up with you, so to speak:

I’ve got a lot of great books to look forward to reading! There were so many authors that I would have LOVED to meet but missed.

And now that my books are home I can announce the winners of the #BEAtwittyparty giveaway! I LOVED seeing which authors you would party with. It was so much fun. The three winners are:

#29 Susan at Reading Upside Down with The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon.

#35 Clarice at Island Girl in Utah with Everyone is Beautiful by Katherine Center.

#5 Jen at Devourer of Books walks away with the grand prize of three ARC’s from BEA: Strength in What Remains, A Journey of Remembrance and Forgiveness by Tracy Kidder, American on Purpose by Craig Ferguson, and Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls.

Congratulations girls! I haven’t drawn my winner yet for The Chosen One giveaway. Watch the comment thread (probably tonight) where I’ll announce the winner.

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LA Times Festival of Books, Part 3: In Which I Meet Some Awesome Authors (And Vlog About Them Too!)

Natasha Maw — Fri, 08 May 2009 06:42:37 +0000

This is my third post about attending the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. I previously posted a vlog with Trish and Amy and also a photo post about meeting some wonderful book bloggers. Today’s post is all about the authors! I LOVE authors! I can not believe how many wonderful authors I was able to meet, bummed that there wasn’t enough time in the day to meet everybody there, and then even more bummed when I discovered authors were there after the fact.

I ended up sticking around the children’s area most of the time. I wish I could have been everywhere at once! First off, I have a vlog where I show off my signed books, talk about the authors and pretty much smile because I’m still so happy. I do overlap with my written summations below as well.

Jacqueline Woodson was one of the authors that I was really looking forward to meeting! I’m late to the game and only started reading Woodson’s books this past year and each one that I read just gets better than the first! I was estatic when a couple of months ago, I received an email and the sender said Jacqueline Woodson. No way that it was the Jacqueline Woodson. She said thank you for reviewing her books and that I had a beautiful family. After listening to Woodson on a panel (more details about that in a later post), I was able to catch up with her while she was walking to her book signing. I told her that she probably didn’t remember me but she sent me a nice email once. When I explained, she immediatly said, “Yes, the one with the beautiful family!” And then later while she was in a booth we were able to snap a photo and chat a bit more. She offered to take me all around Brooklyn when I come up for Book Expo America. While I don’t think I have time to take her up on the offer (but how cool if I had an extra day!!), isn’t that sweet to say so in the first place? She’s just as great as I thought she would be. Books I’ve reviewed by Woodson are Peace, Locomotion, Locomotion, Show Way, Feathers, If You Come Softly and Behind You. Jacqueline Woodson’s website.

Ah . . . Kathryn Fitzmaurice was a total and VERY pleasant surprise for me. I had no idea that she was there until I happened upon her booth while she was signing. When she discovered who I was she jumped up and gave me a huge hug! It was SO nice to talk to Kathryn and I felt as though we were both gushing over each other. Incredibly nice! I reviewed Kathryn’s debut novel The Year the Swallows Came Early and have an author interview as well. The best part? Kathryn sent me another signed copy of her book (because I”m not giving up mine!) to give away! So watch for it with a guest post from Kathryn. Kathryn Fitzmaurice’s website.

We check out David Shannon’s books so often from the library that I often ask myself how come we actually own so few of them? I was brave and bought two books, David Gets in Trouble and No, David, that were not board books. Very scary in my house. David was fantastic and I’m thrilled to have met him. If you have kids or know any kid, you’ve got to get David’s books. David Shannon’s website.

I attended a middle grade fiction panel that included Newbery author Susan Patron. I had her newest book Lucky Breaks already checked out from the library at home, so it only made perfect sense that I get a copy of my own. Susan was fantastic and agreed to an author interview as well, so that’s exciting! The Higher Power of Lucky was one of the very first books that I reviewed when I started my blog.

How can you not like Jon Scieszka? Two of our favorite books in our house are The Stinky Cheese Man and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. So much so that they are up high on the shelf and the kids actually aren’t allowed to read them on their own. So bummed I didn’t bring my own copies to get signed so I decided to get Math Curse and Science Verse to add to our collection. When I got home and showed my husband, he was really bummed that I didn’t get The Stinky Cheese Man autographed instead. I didn’t want to buy a duplicate copy, I explained. Apparently, I made the wrong decision.

Another author/illustrator that I was SO excited to meet (I waited outside his booth until he showed up because I didn’t want to miss him) was Kadir Nelson. Look at this photo. He looks even twice as gorgeous in person, which roughly means, he’s really good looking! And SO modest and quiet spoken! I was not expecting that. Nelson is simply AMAZING. Like Woodson, I have a lot of his back titles to go through. The two that I have reviewed which he illustrated are Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story From the Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine and Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford. I had him sign Henry’s Freedom Box and We Are the Ship: The Story of the Negro League Baseball (book website) which he wrote and illustrated and received many accolades for. I hope to review it soon! Kadir Nelson website.

Another surprise was Judy Blundell, National Book Award author of What I Saw and How I Lied. I’ve had this book in my reading pile forever. She was incredibly nice and I’m bumping that baby up to the top of the pile. One of the questions I asked her was what it was like when she became a National Book Award winner. She said when she got the call that she was nominated that she literally didn’t speak for a few minutes. The people on the other end of the phone line thought she had passed out or something. Excited to have met her. Judy Blundell website.

How about all the authors I missed?! I should have taken another photo of me and Laurie Halse Anderson to at least prove that I saw her again, but didn’t. I attended her panel and afterwards she saw me and crossed the lobby to give me a hug hello. The nicest woman ever. So sad to realize Mary Pearson, author of The Adoration of Jenna Fox was there and I missed her. One of my biggest disapointments was coming home and then realizing via Twitter that Jennie Nash, author of The Last Beach Bungalow and The Only True Genius in the Family, had signed. I’ve reviewed both of her books and she’s done a guest post and an interview with me. I would have loved to meet her. SO SAD!

I missed Ingrid Law even though I brought two copies of Savvy from home for her to sign. I missed her panel and couldn’t find her later. I did attend Kate DiCamillo’s panel, which was fantastic, but her line for signing was HUGE! I also brought books from home as well but just lugged them on back unsigned. Of Kate’s books I’ve reviewed Great Joy, The Tale of Desperaux, Tiger Rising, Because of Winn Dixie, and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.

I also attended a panel with Patrick Carmen and even asked a question. His line for signing Skeleton Creek was pretty long (that’s him on the left) and I felt pretty weird approaching him without a book to sign (I didn’t want to rebuy it when I already had it at home). And of course, Eric Carle was mobbed. No chance in meeting him without being in line hours before he showed. Other authors that I would have LOVED to have met but didn’t were Jane Smiley, S.E. Hinton, Luis Alberto Urrea, Janet Fitch and Lisa See among others. Watch for one final and last post where I recap the panels that I went to!

All in all, it was a wonderful time! Authors are the best!!

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The LA Times Festival of Books, Part 1: In Which We Vlog

Natasha Maw — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 22:38:26 +0000

As many of you know, I flew down to Los Angeles over the weekend to not only attend the LA Times Festival of Books but to also meet some amazing bloggers! I had a BLAST and hope to share my experience with you in a series of blog posts and at least one video. Tons of great books, great authors, great signings, and panels! But to whet your appetite, Trish from Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin’?, Amy from My Friend Amy and I made a short vlog to give you a sneak peak into the experience that we all had.

In addition to Trish and Amy, I also met up with Jill from Fizzy Thoughts, Lisa from Books on the Brain, Ti from Book Chatter and other stuff, Wendy from Musings of a Bookish Kitty, Tracy from Shelf Life, and Florinda from The 3 R’s: Reading, ‘Riting and Randomness. It was a great group! You can read Lisa’s, Ti’s and Tracy’s recap of the events for more bookish goodness to tide you over until I post more. I’m in awe that they can blog about it so quickly! I’m still recovering!

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Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-a-thon: And It’s Over, The Final Update!

Natasha Maw — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 02:56:31 +0000

Ah, it is over. My only question is this: do we have a date for the next 24 Hour Read-a-thon?! I really, really thought I’d totally stay awake! But I totally passed out for at least an hour and half sometime after midnight and then fell asleep again sometime after 4am. Being my first read-a-thon I had no idea how fast I could read but obviously I overestimated myself. Apparently, I read a lot slower than I thought!

I wanted to give a big shout out to our read-a-thon organizers Trish, Hannah, and Nymeth! They did a FANTASTIC job! And I have to give another shout out to Beth, she was the biggest cheerleader on Twitter, so much so that she got herself banned for an hour. Too funny. I really enjoyed the Twitter aspect of the read-a-thon and loved how many people noticed that “something” was going on.

Also, a mention of Dewey, the read-a-thon’s founder who passed away this past fall. We all missed her and I’m thrilled that her memory lives on in this tradition. I’m sure that many of us, including myself, paused for a moment to remember why we are all crazy enough to be doing this in the first place. It’s all Dewey’s fault!

Vlog: The Read-a-thon Edition

24 hours packed into a three minute behind the scenes recap:

Final Stats

Books Read:

Down to a Sunless Sea by Mathias B. Freese
Desert Flower by Waris Dirie
Love You Hate You Miss You by Elizabeth Scott,
Pictures of Hollis Wood by Patricia Reily Giff
Tales of the Beedle Bard by J.K. Rowling

Snacks Consumed: A smoothie, tomato-mozzarella pesto sandwich, Haggan Dazz Lemon Sorbet, Sweet roll with spinach dip (yum!), a chicken bean tortilla soup, sunflower seeds and juice. This morning I remembered I had a candy bar and ice cream that I never even broke out. Hmm . . . that sounds like a great idea right now!

Blog Posts: Smoothie recipe by author Sara Zarr, tomato-mozzarella pesto sandwich by author Susan McBride, update #4, update #3 with photos, update #2, update #1 – it begins.

Time Spent Reading: Seriously, I can’t complicate my life by trying to time this. But I probably read about 18 hours total.

Reading For Charity: $25 will be donated to Save Darfur in honor of April being Genocide Prevention Month (new to the Maw Books Blog? Check out these posts.)

Challenges: None entered. Maybe next year when I’m a pro at this then I can figure out how to do read, blog, twitter, comment, have kids in the house, go to a baby shower and enter challenges.

Twitter Updates: Check out my profile for the play-by-play.

End of event meme:

Which hour was most daunting for you? I started at 6am. The hardest was right after midnight mainly because I snuggled up to my sleeping husband’s warm body on the couch. Bad idea. I had to be out for at least an hour or longer. And then sometime after four with two hours to go, I fell asleep.
Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? Hmm . . . I say read whatever keeps you engaged personally.
Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Oh man. Maybe a post to go up the day before as a reminder, but really, I’m working hard to come up with an answer. Everything was FANTASTIC!
What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? LOVED that there was a dedicated blog and you girls did an AMAZING job with this event. We totally owe you. I loved the Twitter aspect of it and it seemed to get a lot of attention, people asking what was going on, etc. Maybe next year get the word out via Twitter earlier could recruit some attention and even more participation.
How many books did you read? I read five. And about 50 pages of First Daughter.
What were the names of the books you read? See above.
Which book did you enjoy most? Desert Flower by Waris Dirie
Which did you enjoy least? Down to a Sunless Sea by Mathias B. Freese
If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders. n/a
How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? 100% yes. I would be a reader.

Thanks for all of your comments and support! Now how far away is October . . . . ?

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Why Did We Start Our Book Blogs? Three Reasons Why from Trish, Amy and Me.

Natasha Maw — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 06:43:56 +0000

And yeah, I know that title sounds like it should read like the book title, Thirteen Reasons Why, which I have in my review pile, but it is what it is. So, how awesome is this?! Today you have a three for one. That’s right Trish from Hey Lady! Watcha Readin’?, Amy from My Friend Amy, and myself all come together and answer the question, “why did I start a book blog?” Hopefully some of the answers will surprise you or amuse you. Better yet, you get us in a vlog! (And by the way, after watching this video, you’ll never get over the shock that Amy actually isn’t blue in real life!)

I’m really excited to meet these two awesome bloggers and many others when I go to the LA Festival of Books. Trish is letting me crash with her in LA and then in May, Amy and I are bunking up together for BookExpo America in New York City. (!!!!!!) Give me a few weeks and I’ll be able to tell you if either Trish or Amy snores! I’ll put up a post about both of these events as soon as I can. Totally deserving of their own posts (hint – there’s a panel and guess who is all on it!) but I can barely keep my eyes open at the moment.

Many thanks go to Trish for cutting the video together. You rock, Trish! This will be an ongoing feature that you’ll be able to find on any three of our blogs. Who knows, perhaps we should do the next one while we are in LA together, what do you think girls?

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Video Chat: The READ-A-THON!!! (no, I’m not excited)

Natasha Maw — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 23:23:56 +0000

It’s time for another video chat! So today’s vlog is all about Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-a-thon which is THIS Saturday, April 18th!! I’ve watched with envy in the past and am really happy about being a reader this year. So in this vlog, I make an apology, talk about read-a-thon technicalities, and show off my book piles! You know you want to watch.

Are you doing Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-a-thon too? Don’t forget to let me know so I can make sure I’m following you. And if you’ve got any tips on posting, etc for a newbie, I’d love to hear them! See you Saturday!

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Video Chat: Talking About Signed Books (A Show and Tell)

Natasha Maw — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 03:27:41 +0000

Welcome to the fifth edition of the Maw Books Video Chat! Today’s vlog is totally inspired by Chris from Stuff As Dreams Are Made Of! Thanks Chris for the inspiration. It was much needed!

Today, I show off all the signed books in my house. Do you have a lot of signed books? Does having a signed book make you value it more? I’ll tell you that I think it does. I love meeting the authors and having them personalized. And even if I don’t meet the author, I love having them arrive in the mail already signed.

More on getting a lot of those books signed and meeting the authors are detailed in the posts below:

More on Meeting Laurie Halse Anderson and a Signed Wintergirls Giveaway!
An Open Letter to Laurie Halse Anderson
On Meeting Jodi Picoult and an AMAZING Giveaway!
An Evening Spent with David Ebershoff, Author of The 19th Wife
The Tale of Shannon Hale and a . . . Zucchini (????) (Rapunzel’s Revenge release party)
Authors Here, Authors There, Authors Everywhere! (Sara Zarr, Shannon Hale, Brandon Mull, Brandon Sanderson, James Dashner, Jessica Day George, Ann Dee Ellis, Mette Ivie Harrison)
My Evening Spent with Stephenie Meyer

Seriously, those giveaways right now are amazing! Don’t forget to enter!

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