Author Appreciation Week - JK Rowling and Ann Brashares

I'm sitting here at work thinking what to post…
the lovely Heidi Kling
author of the upcoming summer hit, Sea
came up with the brilliant idea of the Author Appreciation Week
as a way for fans to express their feelings towards their fave authors
*click here to see her initial post*
*and here for her own AAW post: Monday Mavericks*

 Now, I woke up this morning to see TONS of new posts and tweets about #AAW
Just goes to show the power of twitter

 As I tweeted I would follow the initiative
here I am posting
yet, I'm at loss for words
*or actually holding them back*

 First thing is that…
I'd love to post about some of the authors I tweet to daily…
some of the authors that are shaping the YA world right now
*although I'll post about a pair… later*
like Heidi Kling, Maggie Stiefvater, Diana Peterfreund, Jackson Pearce, Carrie Ryan, Melissa Marr, Kimberly Derting, Lauren Oliver, Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brenna, Holly Black and I could go on and on and on….
but, alas… I haven't read *or finished reading in Lauren Oliver's case* their books YET!
*check out my to-be-read page, on top*
so I'll stick to the authors that have shaped my reading experience so far
*and they are as awesome as the ones mentioned before*

 Reading to me is an escape
so I try to read things that have nothing to do with real life
no historic novels
no real-life stories
and in school, we had to read a lot
tons of real-life stories
tons of historic novels

 so you might understand the fact that I hated reading
up until January 2003

 My little brother's school had assigned him an essay about Harry Potter 4.
I had seen the Harry Potter movies, and loved them
but it had never crossed my mind to actually read it

 So when they bought it in my house, I read a few pages with my lil bro
to help him out and such
and liked it.
loved it.
obsessed with it.

 So I read HP3 *in Spanish, mind you* from my school library
and loved it.
re-watched the movies again
and knew that I'd have to read the books
as some parts mentioned in the books were missing.

 I proceeded to pester my parents for months on end to buy the books
until they agreed
and I read them in less than a week J

 after that I was hooked on Harry Potter
pre-ordered books 5 through 7
and read them in one day each.

 and while reading
I could smell the butterbeer…
feel the warmth from the candles in the great hall
fly through London atop the hippogriff

 And thus my love for books was born =)

 After that
I got interested in other books
I kept reading on and on
and haven't stopped since =P

 So, to my dearest J. K. Rowling
for giving me my love of reading
and transporting me to other realms through her books
I appreciate *cough*LOVE*cough* you =D

 Now…
after HP… I was on fire!
I kept reading and reading and reading
and then stumbled upon Ann Brashares' series:
The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants

 I thought I'd never like a seemingly real story
or even be interested in reading it
*because of what I said before*
WRONG!

 My school peep Jessy and I devoured those books in days
and waited with bated breath for 'Forever in Blue'
her last book in the SotTP series *tears*

I felt as if Carmen, Bee, Tibby and Lena were my friends
my sisters
and I cried through every heartbreak
and jumped for every win =D

I felt like an insider in their world
and considering the fact that I was going through my teen years whilst reading them
that meant a lot to me

 So, for showing me that I can read outside my box
and still make it an escape out of my daily routine
and enjoy it
for giving me sisters when I only needed friends
I appreciate thee =)

 Til the next one!~