The Raven Cycle [by Maggie Stiefvater] Geek-Out Thread

Saoirse said:

My book is delivering tomorrow! :hyperventilates:

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Netz said:

Mine arrived safely yesterday.

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Hooray! Maybe we'll all be reading at the same time.

Unfortunately, I had to postpone my date with Gansey et al tonight. Something came up. But hopefully tomorrow, by evening at the latest!

I finally wrestled some time free to read last night and oh, man. Between the tender moments and the masterful writing, this book made me weep. I just want to rip my manuscript into shreds and start again (but I won't). You only go forward by building on where you've already been.

In a nutshell: I'm loving it.

LadyA said:

Has anyone listened to Maggie Stiefvater's chapter-by-chapter playlist for TRK? She posted it here on her blog, and I read my copy too quickly to remember to listen to each chapter's musical accompaniment, but I think it would really add to the book and be pretty cool, so I'm giving you all a heads-up

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LadyA, thank you for this! I knew she had playlists for each book on Soundcloud and I considered playing it while reading the other night but I didn't know about the chapter-by-chapter thing. As it was, my own playlist sufficed very well for the first night's read!

I haven't gotten back to it since Sunday afternoon. My life has been insanely busy and now I am stupidly tired. Must nap. But hopefully tonight I'll get back to reading!

Maggie shared some news here (hope everyone can see the link). How could that NOT happen? Totally deserved.

I just checked her blog, too, and although the above news isn't there yet, she did post her thoughts on the final installment. I didn't read most of it because I'm hyper-intuitive and even "non-spoilery" talk often spoils things for me, but I post it here for posterity.

ETA: I just found out MAGGIE IS GOING TO BE AT A BOOKSTORE AN HOUR AWAY FROM ME ON MONDAY!!! I'll be on a trip and away from my husband and kids all weekend, but I have to go, right? Right?

Netz said:

Of course you have to go, RaggedEdge. You're taking one for the team by doing so.

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Wish I could take you all with me!!!

As it is, I hope to take my two teen girls. They love the books, too, and I'd buy them each their first personal copy of one book (can't afford them all at one go lol). I have no idea if it's just a wait-in-line and get your book signed kinda deal or whether she'll speak at all. On the two occasions where I've been to an author book signing before, each author gave a little presentation first. I'll see whether her blog post spells it out.

I just worry about getting caught in rush-hour traffic and missing the whole thing. Time will be tight with our schedules.

I just got back from The Raven King book signing. I wasn't the oldest person there, but almost. At least I had my 17yo daughter with me to help me blend in. I was lucky to get in at all since I didn't realize I needed to buy tickets until just a few hours beforehand. (A ticket was the cost of the new book minus a 20% discount.) The bookshop website had said "Sold Out" but also said something about calling the store, so I did. They had a few more tickets and reserved us a spot. Whew. So we drove through rush hour and a rain storm but it was all good. Maggie spoke to the large crowd for about 45 minutes, regaling us with funny stories from her life as a writer, some of which my daughter recognized from things Maggie has written on the internet. Then she signed books for nearly 3 hours! Our late reservations put us near the end of the line, unfortunately, but the bookstore worked it well so that we could browse books and eat at the attached restaurant while waiting for our turn to get books signed. Of course, since I don't need the fourth book, I had Maggie sign it with my second daughter's name and brought from home my copy of the first book to be signed. I felt kind of bad while she was signing my book, though. I'd asked her a question and as she was answering me, I got distracted worrying about my daughter, who'd lost her place in line to take a picture. So yeah, hehehe. Didn't mean to tune you out, Maggie! I noticed a lot of things all night, wondering if I'd ever be signing my own books... It was a long but fun evening.

And I still haven't finished the book. I have about 1/4 left to go...

I finally finished The Raven King an hour or so ago and with it, the entire cycle. SIGH. Such an exquisite read, the whole series. Exactly the kind of books that beg to be reread.

(Apologies for reposting this from the YA forum but I didn't want to express it any other way.)