Best April Fool's Joke EVER

If you've ever asked me for a book recommendation or heard me talk about books and haven't heard me babble endlessly about how Brad Meltzer is the BEST. AUTHOR. EVER. (well, other than the fact that he didn't write my favourite book, but it's hardly his fault he didn't write "Charlotte's Web"), you should probably consider yourself lucky.

I mean, really. I've subjected many a person to watching this YouTube video that he put together from a string of bad reviews he received. The cast of characters? The Little League team he coaches, his grandmother, and her fellow nursing home residents.

When I first emailed him (yeah, FIRST emailed him - as in I've emailed him a few times since then. Actually, I kind of marvel that he hasn't marked me as a stalker...), he actually emailed me back. And it wasn't a form email thanking me for buying his book. I used to receive hand addressed invitations to his book readings. Last week, I received an invitation to his local book reading and I was both psyched and saddened to see that the address was computer printed. Psyched because I'm guessing he's now so popular that individually hand-writing them is just no longer feasible, but saddened because... well, that was just cool. Now, did I imagine Mr. Meltzer himself writing them out? No, but it was still hella cool.

So - if you ever ask me for a book recommendation, just know that I'm going to recommend Brad Meltzer. If you say you don't like legal thrillers, I'm going to tell you that his books might involve suspense and the law, but they aren't REALLY legal thrillers, per se (yeah, I just used a legal term in a sentence trying to convince you an author isn't a legal thriller author; get over it). And if you say you love legal thrillers, I'll tell you you'll REALLY love his books - especially "The Tenth Justice" or "Dead Even." Like feeling like you have an inside scoop on something? Try "The First Counsel," "The Millionaires," or "The Zero Game." And Superman fans can't miss "The Book of Lies." Intrigued by the Masons? Go read "The Book of Fate."

But other than plot points, the fact that he answers emails from his fans (who he insists aren't fans, but are family), and writes awesome things like this about his 15th anniversary on his blog (have some tissues ready)? His characters come to life, the dialogue is snappy, and his humour is intelligent and witty.

And speaking of humour... the point of this blog post. I DID promise the best April Fool's joke ever, right? Cori (Brad's wife) decided that Brad's 40th birthday (falling on April Fool's day) needed the BEST, the BIGGEST April Fool's day joke ever. She pulled in authors and publishers to help her out. Humour me and make with the clicky one more time to go read about it; it's worth it.