Today is a very special day. My daughter’s last day of school in the primary classroom at her school.

Bella goes to a Montessori School, so instead of having traditional grades (she’s in Kindergarten), they have age bands. Bella has been with her class since she was three years old, and today is her very last day as an all-important third year. Next year she’ll be moving on to the 1-3rd grade lower elementary classroom.

So, I’m offline today, celebrating this very important milestone to my child. Enjoy your summer everyone :).

I love these shirts. What they do is they take a story, and create a design using all the words in the book. Well, at least 50,000 of the words in the book.

I want to own them all. I’ve made a deal with myself that every royalty check I can get one (because otherwise I won’t pace myself at all and I’ll have a closet full of more shirts than I could wear). Here are my favorites by design and book. These aren’t a reflection of my favorite books represented on their site. I had to like the book AND the design for it to end up on my list.

The Aeneid

The Odyssey

Bulfinch’s Mythology

The Iliad

Obviously mythology shirts made my list. Not only do I love the content, but it’s basically walking advertising. These shirts start conversations where I can slide in the fact that I write mythology retellings. Plus they look cool. The shirts are Bullfinch’s Mythology, The Odyssey, the Iliad, and the Aeneid.

Alice in Wonderland

The Blue Fairy Book

Stories by Hans Christian Anderson

The Princess Bride

There are a million different children’s stories I want from the site, but these are my top four. Alice in Wonderland, The Blue Fairy Book, Stories by Hans Christian Anderson, and the Princess Bride.

The Tempest

Poems by Emily Dickinson

Cinder

The Last Unicorn

Miscellaneous. I love the way these look and I’m a huge fan of the actual books the text comes from. I already bought The Last Unicorn, Cinder is next on the list, Poems by Emily Dickinson is awesome on a lot of levels, and The Tempest has a really neat design.

Which one should I get next?

The best time to plant a tree s twenty years ago. The second best time is now.

I promise I will not spend every Friday celebrating random holidays, but I really like trees! Take a picture of one you planted today and share it with me on instagram for a chance to win an audio copy of one of my books (your pick!).

And just for fun, enjoy this song from one of my daughter’s cartoons that’s been stuck in my head on a loop for the last forty-eight hours.

What are my top five favorite couples in fiction? That’s a tough one because there are so many amazing relationships in books and movies. But I’m going to reserve my top five for the relationships I saw that shaped my idea of romance from a very young age up to the most recent couple I’ve really rooted for.

Serena and Darien from Sailor Moon. I spent the vast majority of my young life obsessed, and I mean obsessed, with Sailor Moon. And my little nine-year-old heart throbbed every time Darien came on screen. He was tall, dark, handsome, had ice blue eyes and a major attitude, she’s a short, fluffy blonde who also happens to be a naïve optimist with a core of steel. They’d die for one another and have a bit of an unhealthy obsession with each other, but they both have lives outside of their relationship, filled with actual people. Sound familiar? As an adult, I recognize the many issues in their relationship, but I can’t deny its formative impact on me. Clearly, it’s wormed its way into my head and my fiction.

Julian and Jenny from The Forbidden Games Series. Yes, it’s another Hades/Persephone ish relationship. What can I say, I have a type. And this one has a lot more issues than Serena and Darian, namely that half the couple is evil. But twelve-year-old me loved them.

Cory and Topanga from Boy Meets World. An epic and lasting romance. Happy to see them married now and raising a family. Even if I couldn’t get past the first episode of the new show.

Buffy and Angel from Buffy the Vampire Slayer This one I didn’t see until I hit my teen years, but oh my gosh. The season two finale had teenage me wailing. Can you tell I have a thing for doomed romances? Not to mention tall dark and handsome mystery men with tortured pasts?

The Doctor and Rose from Doctor Who. Like most shows I watch, I saw every episode of Doctor Who on the couch next to my husband, which makes really rooting for a couple a different experience. In fact, having a husband makes really rooting for a couple a different experience. Especially looking at stuff that you used to find romantic because I have such a better idea of what real romance actually looks like than nine-year-old me. So the fact that I really root for Rose and 9 or 10, was really interesting to me because there are elements of this relationship that are present in all the others and there are things that aren’t.

I’m trying something new for Fridays. Let me know what you think.

My Top Five Favorite Books

This list is always in flux because I love reading and am pretty much never without a book. But here’s the top five I’ve read since January.

Elantris by Brandon Sanderson

Sanderson is basically a writing god. His world building and magic systems awe me. I’m seriously obsessed with the guy. Fortunately, he’s a magnanimous writing deity and not only releases books with a startling frequency and attends conventions close to my home, he has a podcast full of writing advice called Writing Excuses.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

This book had me breaking down in the middle of a Chick Fil A. It’s a powerful story barely contained in a powerful writing style. I’ve rekindled my love of the epistolary novel thanks to this book.

Rebel Angels by Libba Bray

Rebel Angels is the second book in the Gemma Doyle series. I’d choose the first book as one of my favorites, but technically I read it in December. Libba Brey blends historical fiction and supernatural romance with a deft hand. This is one of those books that make you feel like you’re holding your breath the entire time you’re rushing through reading it because you have to know what happens next.

Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson 

This is an interesting fantasy series focused around one particularaly magical princess and a ton of political intrigue. What I liked best about the book, or the series rather, is how much emphasis it put on inner strength. The protagonist has such a profound character arc physically and emotionally. I know the phrase strong female character gets tossed around a bunch, but this arc handles it well.

Manners and Mutiny by Gail Carriger

Manner and Mutiny is the last book in the Finishing School series, which is possibly one of my favorite young adult series of all times. Carriger writes alternate history, steam punk, supernatural romance. She blends those unlikely genres as well as Melissa Marr blends fairy tales, cyborgs, and space operas. Impressively.