It's my birthday...

...and this pretty much says it all:

   

Also, I just got this text from my (awesome) mother-in-law:

As birthdays go, 
we know how you'll rank it,
It's numero uno,
'cause you got a SLANKET!!!

Annnnnd then, just imagine a whole ton of emoji.

So, today, I would like for YOU to recommend a book to ME. It doesn't have to be YA, just something that you LOVE and think that I would, too.

Comments

[Brian F.]

Happy birthday! I'll recommend two books, in case you've read one. First is ELLA MINNOW PEA by Mark Dunn and the second is HAPPINESS by Will Ferguson. I also recommend you watch the Matt Smith episodes of DOCTOR WHO because, if you don't, you are dead to me.

[Leila]

I LOVE Ella Minnow Pea, so good call on that one, and I will look up Happiness RIGHT NOW. (Hoping it is unrelated to the movie, which is one of the more impressively depressing works of cinema EVER.)

Also, thanks for telling me that I'm dead to you ON MY BIRTHDAY, JERK. (I actually started re-watching the DW reboot recently, so you never know: MAYBE I'LL MAKE IT ALL THE WAY THROUGH THIS TIME. (I suspect that now that I have Capaldi to look forward to, all signs POINT TO YES.))

[Geri Diorio]

You got Priestly!!! Now we have to book club it.
Also, you should read Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway. It was my favorite book last year. I wanted to marry it.

[Jento]

Happy Burpday! I recommend The Magicians by Lev Grossman.

[Leila]

@Geri: Angelmaker looks awesome!

@Jento: Loved The Magicians, but now I'm inspired to finally read the sequel(s)! <3

[Jenne Abramowitz]

How about the Flavia de Luce mysteries by Alan Bradley?

[cc]

I'm not sure I approve of your sun hat (or the Jason Priestly book, but: duh). I deeply covet, however, both tea pot and slanket, which is all one really needs on one's birthday. Disapproval, envy... What did I leave out? Oh, you know.

[Leila]

@Jenne: I read the first one and loved it. I shall find a copy of #2 soon, thanks for the reminder!

@CC: I love you, too. <3

[Jennie]

Happy Birthday! I think you should try God Save the Queen by Kate Locke.

[Leila]

@Jennie: You know, I think I even OWN that one!

[looloolooweez]

Happy birthday! Nice slanket :)

Have you read Seraphina yet? I couldn't find a review for it here on your blog. I'm also interested to hear what you think about Side Effects May Vary (reading now, and I have mixed feelings).

[Courtney Waters]

Have you read The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender yet? It's soooo good. Happy birthday!

[Naomi]

Non-YA, but I am currently loving Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London (US title is Midnight Riot) and sequels.

[Lily Anderson]

Happiest of birthdays!!

Non-YA recommendation: The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King. I haven't read the rest of the Mary Russell series yet, but I super enjoyed the first one. Old Sherlock! Sassy young detective! Watson being less dumb than everyone assumes!

YA recommendation: No One Else Can Have You by Kathleen Hale. I think most people are pitching it like Teen!Fargo, but it's more non-supernatural Twin Peaks. Bizarre, hilarious, terrifying murder mystery.

[cc]

Oh, and did you ever read the (too few) Sarah Caudwell books? I just reread Thus Was Adonis Murdered and now I remember that you have read them. Boo. Okay, what about the Julian Kestral mysteries by Kate Ross? Regency dandy solves crime! I think Cut to the Quick is the first one. <3 you too.

[Angie]

Ooh. Ooh! Nowhere But Home by Liza Palmer. Looove. Friday Night Lights. Last meals. Old flame. SISTERS.

Happy birthday, Leila!

[Emily Childress-Campbell]

Happy Birthday!

Non-YA: I second The Beekeeper's Apprentice, also Oscar and Luncida by Peter Carey, Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin, and The Uncoupling by Meg Wolitzer

YA: I second Seraphina by Rachel Hartman also Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgewick, Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan, Will and Whit by Laura Gulledge, and Ash by Malinda Lo

[L. E. Carmichael]

Happy birthday! Territory by Emma Bull. I recommend it to all fans of Juliet Marillier.

http://www.amazon.ca/Territory-Emma-Bull/dp/0312857357/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1401297238&sr=8-1

[Brian F.]

To clarify, you are only dead to me if you cling to this unreasonable hatred of Matt Smith without having seen him in a single episode. THEN, you are dead to me. But if you get through a season and decide you still don't like him, well, then I can at least respect you and allow you to live in my mind.

HAPPINESS is about an editor whose job relies on him finding a sure fire self-help hit in his submissions. He grabs the first slush manuscript he can find and plays it up to his publisher as THE book that will revolutionize the self-help industry as it promises to help readers quit smoking, lose weight, stop drinking, and remove all vice from their lives. The book ends up being an instant smash and soon everyone is shedding their vices left and right. But that doesn't sit well with the vice industry... It's hilarious and wonderful.

[Lindsey]

Happy Birthday!
I second (third?) Seraphina by Rachel Hartman and the Flavia de Luce books by Alan Bradley. Also, I feel compelled to recommend some of everything that I've loved recently...

Picture Books: Sophie’s Squash by Pat Zietlow Miller, Journey by Aaron Becker

Middle Grade: A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd (I love this book SO much!)

Young Adult: 13th Child by P.C. Wrede

Adult: The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells, Tinker by Wen Spencer, Murder with Peacocks by Donna Andrews, Louisiana Longshot by Jana DeLeon, Generation V by M.L. Brennan, The Martian by Andy Weir

[Mia]

Happy birthday! Thanks for being a shining gem of book bloggery. If you haven't read it already, The Miseducation of Cameron Post is one of my favorite books in a long, long time.

[Karen]

Happy birthday! You may have already read it, but if not, I highly recommend The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker.

[Lisa]

Happy Birthday to youuuu!
Gosh I can't even think of something to recommend to you because everything I think of you've already read.
Unless you haven't read MORE THAN THIS by Patrick Ness. Then that is my recommendation. Because you know. Patrick Ness.

[sprite]

Have you read A Snicker of Magic yet? If not, I recommend this charming middle-grade novel about an 11-year-old word collector.

[Belinda]

happy belated birthday! (it's now 12:08 am Thurs. where I am)

I bet you've read this, but I just finished Keeping the Castle by Patrice Kindl and totally dug it.

[Ms. Characterized]

The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic -- Emily Croy Barker

Happy birthday!

[Lisa K]

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart