Follow Friday and Book Blogger Hop #3

Follow Friday and Book Blogger Hop are awesome ways to connect with fellow bloggers and discover new blogs each week.

Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee's View, and this week's question comes from Mickey at I'm a Book Shark

Question: In light of the Summer Solstice. Also known as Midsummer...let's talk about fairies. What is your favorite fairy tale or story that revolves around the fae?

I’m going to have to go with Holly Black’s Modern Faerie Tale series (although Melissa Marr’s Wicked Lovely series comes in a very very close second). The series consists of Tithe, Valiant, and Ironside, all of which are excellent (you can read my review for Ironside here). Tithe was one of the first urban fantasy books that I ever read, and the series continues to be the standard by which I judge all other books focused around faeries.

My favorite parts of all three of these books are the endings, by far. Holly has a knack for being able to find the absolute perfect ending line, something I haven’t noticed in any other author. I especially love the last line of Valiant.

I’ve also been lucky enough to meet Holly herself, not once, but twice! I first met her about four years ago at the National Book Festival in Washington DC, and then again a year later at the Baltimore Book Festival when she was on the Zombies vs. Unicorns tour with several other authors from the anthology. She is just as cool in person as you’d expect. :)

Here’s a picture with Holly from the DC Book Festival, circa 2007:

Book Blogger Hop is a weekly meme hosted by Jennifer at Crazy For Books, and this week’s question come from Elena at Books and Reviews

Question: When did you realize reading was your passion and a truly important part of your life?

Oh wow, I really have no idea. I grew up with my parents reading to me all the time, so books have really always been a big part of my life. As soon as I was old enough to choose my own books we’d make regular trips to the library and I’d always come home with a huge stack. We also used to participate in those summer reading programs at Barnes and Noble, where if you read a certain number of books you got to pick a free one from the table. I wish they still did that for older people! :P

I actually started off my college years thinking I was going to double major in English and Dance, and even though I ended up changing my mind, I still have a really strong interest in the publishing world. I guess this blog kind of helps fulfill that a bit. :)