In My Mailbox

Hi everyone! Sorry this is a bit late (yeah I know- understatement), my cat just died (she had FIV, basically the cat version of AIDS, which she was apparently born with.) and I completely didn't feel up to posting. I promise there will be minimum moping in this post :P

Recieved for Review:

You Wish by Mandy Hubbard (TBR August 5th, 2010 from Razorbill Publishing) (finished already)

The Secrets of April, May and June by Robin Benway (TBR August 3rd, 2010 from Razorbill Publishing)

Thanks so much to Razorbill Publishing for giving me complementary copies of these two great books for review!

Library:

From 2 different libraries... I know it seems like a lot, but I returned all the other books I had out, soooo.... it evens out, right? *cough*

Kitchen Princess Vol. 1 (Manga)

The Heart is Not A Size by Beth Kephart

Me, the Missing and the Dead by Jenny Valentine (one of my favorite authors)

Margherita Dolce Vita by Stefano Benni (I'm in love with this imprint, Europa Editions!)

Solanin by Asano Inio (Manga I've been trying to get FOREVER)

The Nature of Jade by Deb Caletti (I really haven't liked Caletti's work at all, but I'm giving her another chance)

The Moving Toyshop by Edmund Crispin

A Good Day for Love Letters- George Asakura (not sure how I feel about the art)

Gentleman Prefer Blondes- Anita Loos

Cooking With Fernet Branca- James Patterson-Hamilton

Gourmet Rhapsody- Muriel Barbery

The Queen of the Tambourine- Jane Gardam

Kimmie66- Aaron Alexovich (I wish this imprint hadn't closed, Minx was so great!)

Emily the Strange: The Lost Days-Rob Reger (I have no idea what this is, it just looked cool. Is it a series?)

The Ghosts of Ashbury High- Jaclyn Moriarty (YAY! I love this series!)

The Evolution Man, or How I Ate My Father- Roy Lewis (Weird, I know :P)

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close- Jonathan Foer

The Line- Teri Hall (I never got to finish it)

Sorry- Gail Jones

Gimme A Call- Sarah Mylnowski

Wonderland- Tommy Kovac and Sonny Leiw (Pretty.... *gape*)

JPod- Douglas Coupland (love it even more than I thought I would, considering I'm not a fan of the pessimistic, vaguely pretentious Generation X stuff)

*deep breath* Even more than I thought I'd checked out.

Bought:

All but 2 of these (the one on top and the one on the bottom) are from a used book store. I got them for only 50 cents each down in Mississippi! *dance* Oh, and I got the Great Gatsby too, but I forgot to dig it out from under my bed (books are everywhere under there in my room, as I just got a new bookshelf and have yet to stock it). It's scary under there.

Dr. Slump Vol. 1 by Akira Toriyama (my favorite manga ever! The art is so simple but genius. Toriyama is great.)

The Taker- J. M. Steele

A Farewell to Arms- Ernest Hemingway

Great Short Works of Mark Twain

The Picture of Dorian Gray and Other Writings- Oscar Wilde

Pygmalion and 3 Other Plays- George Bernard Shaw

Pygmalion and My Fair Lady (in too horrible condition to show: my dog got a hold of it! Luckily I had finished it on the trip back from Texas :P)

The Great Gatsby- F. Scott Fitzgerald (I like it much more than I expected to.)

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Finally done with the list! I got a lot of great books this week, and didn't even spend that much money. A lot of these I've been trying to track down, and finally did, which is awesome :) Mostly mangas that weren't at B&N or either of my libraries. So, what was in you mailbox this week?

Interview With Yvonne Prinz, Author of the Vinyl Princess!

(While we're on the subject of reviews, sorry for my lack thereof- that's going to change, I promise :))

Thanks so much to Yvonne Prinz, author of the fantastic book The Vinyl Princess (my review here), for this interview!


A short bio of Yvonne: Yvonne and her husband own the largest indie record store in the world, Ameoba Records, in California. The Vinyl Princess is her first YA novel, and she also has a middle grade series about a girl named Claire, who is always getting into trouble. She also has a new book coming out in December, "All You Get is Me," which Prinz describes as a modern-day "To Kill A Mocking Bird".

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So, here's the interview:

1. Were you anything like Allie when you were growing up?
I was very much like Allie, I worked in a record store in Canada when I was sixteen and I absolutely lived for music.

2. Did you listen to a lot of music while you were writing? If so, what?
I did, actually. Usually I find it too distracting but I wanted the energy of the music to inform my writing. I listened to Joe Strummer, Billy Bragg, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, David Bowie, really, all the music that appears in the book was sitting next to me as I wrote.

3. What inspired you to write The Vinyl Princess?
Owning a record store did. I felt like it's an unexplored culture for a lot of people, sad, because it's been so scaled back and wonderful because it brings out the most interesting people. I set out to re-create what I'd seen every day working at Amoeba in Berkeley.

4. Tell us about your amazing record store, Amoeba Records.
We started as a sort of mom and pop kind of place in Berkeley 1990 but it just sort of took off. Now we have a big store on Haight Street in SF and an even bigger store in LA on Sunset Blvd. We do free live shows all the time and we cater to the collectors as well as the people who didn't grow up with record stores. Each store has it's own personality.

5. How and when did you start collecting records, and how many do you own?
I was hooked when my Dad brought home Abby Road when I was a kid. I started collecting then but I left that collection when I moved from Canada to California so I had to start over. I've never actually counted my records but my collection has morphed with my husband's and we must have thousands.

6. What song best describes you?
That changes daily. Right now it's "The First Day of My Life" by Bright Eyes.

7. In the book, Allie puts an Elvis Costello quote on her blog, about how the mp3 has "dismantled" the record. Is that how you feel about digital downloading, and what's your opinion on the future of vinyl and indie record stores?
Well, I think we all have to accept that downloading is here to stay. I'm excited to see that turntables are now readily available at your local Target store. I sure didn't predict that, and young kids are embracing vinyl! Man, that does my heart good. I think we can all agree that nothing compares to breaking the seal on a new vinyl record and spinning it for your friends to hear. The stores are fast disappearing but long live Amoeba!

8. Are you working on any other books right now?
I have a new book coming out in December called "All You Get Is Me". It's a sort of a "To Kill A Mockingbird" for these times with Mexican Migrant Farmworkers at it's center.

9. Will the be a sequel to The Vinyl Princess?
People seem to want one but who knows? Where would I take Allie next? If you can think of somewhere, let me know.

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Thanks again to Yvonne Prinz!

Her new book: All You Get is Me