Armchair BEA - Novellas/Short Stories

Novellas/Short Stories
Now it is time to give a little love to those little stories in your life. Share your love for your favorite shorts of any form. What is a short story or novella that doesn’t get the attention that it deserves? Recommend to readers what shorts you would recommend they start with. How about listing some short story anthologies based upon genres or authors?

I read a lot of short stories thanks to teaching. Here are a few favorites:

"Lamb to the Slaughter" Roald Dahl
"The Landlady" Roald Dahl
"Candle Cove" - One of my students recommended this to me; it's pretty creepy!
"Down to a Sunless Sea" Neil Gaiman
"The Story of an Hour" Kate Chopin
"Word Problem" Bruce Holland Rogers
"The Necklace" Guy de Maupassant
The Lottery Shirley Jackson (suggested by Stacy)

And a bonus:
"Thoughtcrime Experiments" - a sci-fi/fantasy anthology collection

What's your favorite short story? Link to it in the comments and I'll add it to my list.

Armchair BEA - Author Interactions

Welcome back to day 2 of Armchair BEA! Today I'm sharing pictures from my three favorite author interactions. I'm really lucky to live in an area that my favorite authors visit pretty frequently.

First up, Neil Gaiman!



Yep, I've actually met him twice. Both times were at Agnes Scott College in Atlanta. The first time he came, the audience was asked to write questions for him on index cards. He answered one of mine, which was pretty exciting! (I asked him about maintaining privacy while blogging, tweeting, and otherwise putting his life on display.) The second time my Sandman comic book club had been discussing Morpheus's changing appearance and I made a bit of an ass of myself asking him about the way Dream appears to blind people. Oops.

Next, Lauren Myracle!



My BFF and I drove up to Kennesaw State to see her do a reading and signing. She was so friendly and awesome! My students love her books - all of my copies of the TTYL series went missing within a month of me putting them on my class bookshelf. :)

And last (but by no means least), Rainbow Rowell!



If you read yesterday's post about my favorite books, you will probably not be surprised AT ALL to see Rainbow on this list. I loved hearing her talk about her characters and her process. We even discussed fanfic, which led to the GREATEST inscription ever:



What are your favorite author interactions? Have you ever experienced the abject humiliation that comes with saying something profoundly stupid in front of a person you admire? If you could meet an author, who would it be? What would you ask him/her?

Armchair BEA - Introduction

Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging? Where in the world are you blogging from?

Hello, Armchair BEA-ers! My name is Jessi, and this is my first time participating in Armchair BEA. I started book blogging in 2006, fell off the wagon in 2009, and I've recently started getting back into it. I've already written more blog posts in 2014 than I did in 2010-2013 combined, so that's something. I started book blogging because I LOVE to read, and it was a great way to make new friends and find new books. I currently live in a tiny little town in Georgia that you've never heard of, but I'm moving back to Atlanta in a few weeks and I couldn't be more excited!

Describe your blog in just one sentence. Then, list your social details -- Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. -- so we can connect more online.

Casual Dread is a place for me to share my thoughts and opinions and to keep track of what I read - which is a lot!

Twitter
Tumblr
GoodReads
LibraryThing

What genre do you read the most?

I love to read YA because I teach high school English and I like to know what my students are interested in. And because I enjoy it! I also love to read sci-fi/fantasy because I enjoy the escapism and Jane Austen novels because I adore her characters.

What was your favorite book read last year? What’s your favorite book so far this year?

My favorite book last year was Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl. It reminded me so much of myself and my own obsession with Harry Potter fanfic in college. I wasn't quite as socially awkward as Cath, but I found her incredibly realistic and relatable. A close second would be Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor & Park, which is one of the sweetest and saddest YA love stories I've ever had the pleasure of crying over multiple times while reading. My favorite book so far this year was Attachments by (you guessed it!) Rainbow Rowell. My boyfriend gave me a first edition hardback for Christmas and I absolutely adored it! The protagonist, Lincoln, reminded me so much of my boyfriend that I couldn't help but love him. I'm sure Rainbow's newest book, Landline, will make it onto this list when I get my hands on it in July.

But seriously, if you haven't read any of her books, do yourself a favor. They're spectacular!

Share your favorite book or reading related quote.

I read To Kill a Mockingbird every year with my tenth graders, and every year I point out this quotation. It makes my day when my bibliophiles agree with Scout!

What book would you love to see as a movie?

One of my favorite books is Frank Herbert's Dune. I blame my dad, since he named me after one of the characters! Although it's been made into at least two movies (a theatrical release in the 80's and a Sci Fi channel TV mini-series), neither really captured the book accurately. After watching Jodorowsky's Dune, a documentary about the original attempt to translate the book to a film, I really wish he had gotten the chance. Check out the trailer below, and if it seems like your cup of tea, the entire thing is available on YouTube!



Thanks for learning about me! I'm looking forward to discussing books with everyone this week. :)