What would be a better way to celebrate moving my blog to its own grownup address than by kicking off Project Author Appreciation? Absolutely nothing. So without further ado, I give you February's Author of the Month (who we all need to appreciate): Ann Brashares.

I remember my first experience with The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I was working late one night, and was doing my usual book lusting on Amazon. I don't know how I got to it, but somehow I eventually browsed my way to the listing for it. Intrigued by its description, I made a bee-line to my local bookstore after work. I then proceeded to stay up half the night reading it. While very few novels can make me give up sleep, even fewer novels have the ability to move me to tears. I can honestly say that The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is the first novel to ever make me cry. The very next day I brought the finished book into work and said to my friend Penny, "Read this immediately. You'll love it." I've been sharing the book with my friends ever since.

If you haven't read Ann's Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, I have one question for you. Why the hell not? Seriously. The books are amazing. In a time where I feel like almost every YA novel I pick up has a Mean Girls theme (whether its directly tied to the plot or a mere sub-plot), the Sisterhood is a celebration of friendship between four very different girls. And when I say different, I mean very different. Bridget, Carmen, Lena, and Tibby are as different from one another as they can be. And yet the friendship that exists between them is so strong and powerful, you can't help but be touched by it. Which I guess is another reason why I love this series so much. It reminds me of the friendships I have been fortunate enough to have made over the years. I have a Tibby, a Lena, and a Bridget, which I guess makes me the Carmen of our group.

Last night I got the opportunity to attend a reading/signing with the author, as she is promoting her latest release Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood. So I was able to thank her in-person for sharing the Sisterhood with us.

Thank you again Ann. I can't wait to read the next (and last - sniff) Sisterhood book.

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