TGIF: Giving Bookish Thanks

Believe it or not, today is the Friday before Thanksgiving. I would reflect on where the time has gone, but that sounds depressing so I will SKIP it. Instead, I will write far too much about the question the lovely, fabulous, wonderful Ginger at GReadsBooks has posed this week:

Giving Thanks: Which books are you most thankful for receiving from other bloggers, friends, family members, or publishers?

Where She Went is the first ARC I received from a publisher. It surprised me in the mail, about six weeks after I'd started this blog. I was FLOORED that I'd received it because I didn't request it (Hell, I didn't even know how to request an ARC at that point) and because there'd been SO MUCH buzz surrounding it. I'm still just shocked that I got this and thoroughly confused as to how it came to me. But I loooooooved it and am so so so glad and honored that I received an ARC. 

I was the first of my friends to jump on the Harry Potter train, but not without a lot of prodding and a good bit of boredom. I received this book from my grandmother the week that it was first released in the U.S. I was eleven and in that period where I did not want to read anything with a cartoon of a boy on the cover. I don't even think I read the jacket copy. I just put it aside and continued to read my Magic Attic Club and Saddle Club and every other girly series that ended in "Club" books. But my grandma kept calling my mom and asking if I'd read the book yet. So, finally, after several conversations where my mom was like, "Bethany, just read the book so she'll stop asking." I sat down and read it. And I couldn't stop. When I finished it, I immediately re-read it. So, yay for my grandma and her book-picking skillz! :)

So, this one is sort of abstract in that my introduction to John Green didn't come in book-form. My super-awesome sister sent me an email one day that included this video with the message "OMG YOU HAVE TO WATCH THIS." So I watched and was like, "HOLY SHIZZBALLS THIS IS THE BEST." So I started watching the Vlogbrothers videos from the beginning forward. I developed a huge huge huge crush on John Green and when I realized he writes books that are, you know, buyable I immediately sought out everything by him. And then I read the two books I could get my hands on at the time—Looking for Alaska and An Abundance of Katherines—in order of publication, so my first John Green book was LfA. And I fell in love. [I have a feeling I'll tell more of this story during John Green Week, so I'll go ahead and stop here.] But without my sister sending me that inaugural video, I probably would have never read these books. 

I got Hourglass via my very first ARC tour, hosted by Heather at Fire and Ice (whom I am also thankful for for sending me The Name of the Star). From the first time I saw the stinkin' cover for Hourglass, I KNEW this was a book for me. I was SO excited to get in on the ARC tour, and couldn't wait until it showed up on my doorstep. Fittingly, it arrived while I was watching a Doctor Who marathon on BBC America. And it was literally love at first word for me. I was super sad that I had to send it to the next person because I wanted to keep the book and love it and pet it and kiss it and read it again. But! I couldn't do that and I wanted others to have the opportunity to read it as well. 

And these days I have TWO copies of Hourglass. *ponders what to do with the extra copy*

Alright, so that is my very long-winded post. I could go on and on about this. And I should probably take a moment to give a HUMUNGOUS thank you to Miss Ginger for sending me not only her ARC of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, but for also buying me a copy of Sloppy Firsts (which I have yet to read. I KNOW, I'm on it.) and for just being an all-around awesome blogger and friend and person. 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and a fabulous Thanksgiving!

TGIF is a weekly meme hosted by Ginger at GReadsBooks.