Armchair BEA Day 1--introductions

I'm Charlotte, and I've been blogging for nine years.  I now blog for the Barnes and Noble Kids Blog as well as here at my own place.  This is my second  time taking part in Armchair Book Expo America, I think. It is a good thing as I have a few books left from last years BEA still to be read (hangs head in shame).  My goal this summer is to really get on top of my tbr pile so that I can be truly wholeheartedly excited again about all the books (that being said, I still manage bravely to get more than a bit of a frisson from many of the books that come my way...Raven King, I'm looking at you, for instance....).

I mostly blog about middle grade and YA fantasy and science fiction, with a tilt towards middle grade (because I find that middle grade tends to move along with the story more quickly, without getting bogged down in turgid romance, and the middle grade protagonists are more believable and make fewer annoying choices....).  That being said, many of my favorite books are YA (or at least shelved in the YA section), like Megan Whalen Turner's Attolia series (my favorite being King of Attolia).

I have being doing most of my reading on the bus this week, because my car was stolen over the weekend, and though the car was found, Toyota is struggling to get a new key made for it (thoughtlessly, the perps didn't leave the keys in the car.  I guess they are more aware of the need for security than I am....).  Vexingly, the book I was in the middle of reading (The Drake Equation, by Bart King) was in the car too, and they didn't leave that either.  They also took a small stuffed mountain goat, but that was on its way to Salvation Army, so no loss.

So anyway, Armchair BEA is a nice distraction and I look forward to meeting new bloggers!