Here's a fun, interesting video from the wonderful Maureen Johnson on writing as a career.
Also, be sure to check out Maureen's new book Scarlett Fever which came out in stores today! I have only read the first two chapters so far, but I can tell you that I love it already. I have already written down one quote, I kid you not.
Additionally, check out the contest running over at Laina Has Too Much Spare Time for a chance to win a signed copy of Gringolandia by Lyn Miller-Lachman. The contest is open internationally so that anyone can enter, but hurry and leave a comment because this contest is only open for a day!
Showing posts with label Maureen Johnson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Maureen Johnson. Show all posts
Monday, February 01, 2010
Sunday, June 28, 2009
5 YA Crushes
I have more than 5, but that is not how the meme works. Jordyn over at Ten Cent Notes posted a list of the 5 guys in YA that she does and does not like the most and challenged the rest of us to do the same, so here are mine. If I wanted to make this really, really easy I could just pick one guy from every Maureen Johnson book & be done with it (and still have books left over) but I won't do that.
Just to name a few...
1. Spencer from Suite Scarlett
He. Is. AMAZING. He is sweet, smart, funny, and he can do a prat fall. And ride a unicycle! This is the boy for me. I was in love from his very first line, I swear.
2. Remus Lupin from the Harry Potter series
He's old, yeah, but whatevs, I don't care, I love this dude. Really smart, totally caring, and solves all your problems with chocolate.
3. Tom from Magic or Madnes
He's just fantastic. And he can sew. Although I have to admit, I fangirl him less & less as the series goes on. Probably because I don't like who he ends up with. (I like HER, I just don't like him with her)
4. Gavin from Shrinking Violet
I've always had a thing for guitarists, you know.
5. Hunter from So Yesterday
So he can be a bit of a wimp, but I'm willing to help him become braver. Still, he's smart as heck and nerdy, but also sweet. Good guy.
Guys I find very over-rated.
1. Edward Cullen. He's a creep, a stalker, & a pedophile. And a tonne of other things like those.
2. Harry Potter. I cannot stand him towards the end of the series. Honestly, where's the appeal?
3. Sirius Black. Even more-so than Harry. So many people are in love with him and I just don't get it! (double for Snape)
4. Victor from Runaways (totally counts). He is a robot, okay, got it...what else ya got?
5. Speaking of Marvel characters, why Wolverine?!! I never understood this. EVAH.
Just to name a few...
1. Spencer from Suite Scarlett
He. Is. AMAZING. He is sweet, smart, funny, and he can do a prat fall. And ride a unicycle! This is the boy for me. I was in love from his very first line, I swear.
2. Remus Lupin from the Harry Potter series
He's old, yeah, but whatevs, I don't care, I love this dude. Really smart, totally caring, and solves all your problems with chocolate.
3. Tom from Magic or Madnes
He's just fantastic. And he can sew. Although I have to admit, I fangirl him less & less as the series goes on. Probably because I don't like who he ends up with. (I like HER, I just don't like him with her)
4. Gavin from Shrinking Violet
I've always had a thing for guitarists, you know.
5. Hunter from So Yesterday
So he can be a bit of a wimp, but I'm willing to help him become braver. Still, he's smart as heck and nerdy, but also sweet. Good guy.
Guys I find very over-rated.
1. Edward Cullen. He's a creep, a stalker, & a pedophile. And a tonne of other things like those.
2. Harry Potter. I cannot stand him towards the end of the series. Honestly, where's the appeal?
3. Sirius Black. Even more-so than Harry. So many people are in love with him and I just don't get it! (double for Snape)
4. Victor from Runaways (totally counts). He is a robot, okay, got it...what else ya got?
5. Speaking of Marvel characters, why Wolverine?!! I never understood this. EVAH.
Monday, June 22, 2009
4 Ways to Win a Copy of Scarlett Fever!
I care about you, readers, which is why I will never fail to tell you about a way to win something awesome. Today's awesome object is a copy of Scarlett Fever by Maureen Johson! Here's a few ways to win, and all you have to do is comment on these pages!
Frenetic Reader
Carrie's YA Bookshelf
Tower of Books
GreenBeatTeenQueen
Go go go! I wish you all the best of luck! :)
Frenetic Reader
Carrie's YA Bookshelf
Tower of Books
GreenBeatTeenQueen
Go go go! I wish you all the best of luck! :)
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Money Issues in YA vs Adult Books
I generally reserve this blog for reviews, links, and other "formal" bookish stuff. In my mind there are "blogs" and then there's stuff to put up on my LiveJournal. I'm going to try to redefine my idea of "blog" this summer and work more personal thoughts into this, instead of only reviews. Whenever I want to say something about a book or literature, I will say it. I'll still leave out spoilers, of course.
Generally, I believe that children's literature (including Young Adult) holds more positive qualities than adult literature does, but this isn't the case in all areas. The biggest thing for me, lately, is that in regards to money, adult books seem more realistic. There's a simple reason for this: adults worry about money more. Because they spend their lives working for that money, and they have to pay the bills for water, heat, electricity, medical, insurance, etc etc etc. Then they have to buy groceries and toilet paper and rubber bands. Whatever. The point is, adults are constantly aware of how much money is going in, and how much money is going out. This is reflected in book catered to the adult audience. We see many issues of money in this genre: characters needing to pay rent, or trying to get a raise, worrying about how they'll pay their medical bills whenever something goes wrong.
In children's books, you don't see this. First off, because children don't pay their own expenses, they rely on their parents. This doesn't mean that children don't worry about money. When do we get to read the stories about the child who hides in the bathroom for the first ten minutes of lunch period so they can be at the end of the food line so that no one is around to hear them when they tell the lunch lady they get a free lunch? The story of the kid who has to buy all their clothes at the second-hand store and purchase all their shoes a size or two larger because they can't afford new things all the time? The kid who doesn't go to birthday parties just so they don't have to show up without a gift because the family couldn't afford one?
We don't read these stories very often. I think the main reason of this is that children who are reading the books don't want to read about those problems all the time--especially if they're living them. They might just want to escape the problem, put themselves in place of the main character, and live like royalty for a few hours. That's totally understandable.
With YA however, I see it a little differently. Young adults are no longer children, but not yet adults. They're somewhere in the middle, age-wise, and in this issue as well. Or, at least, in my opinion, they should be. That doesn't mean that they are. This is the age, especially in the later teens, that one gets their first job and starts to pay some things on their own. Sure, these things may just be movie tickets or new cds (assuming they even buy hard copies anymore), but it's their own money, and they need to keep track of it. Even still, you don't see this as much as you would expect. Yes, in John Green's Looking For Alaska this issue is tackled through The Colonel, who is always having Pudge pay for his cigarettes because he can't afford them. We go to his trailer even. But the thing is, the Colonel, much as I love him, is not the main character here. He's not the narrator either. It's all Pudge, and Pudge has the money to pay for cigarettes for both of them, to pay for McDonald's, and his family can easily afford the private school. Generally, the main characters have money. This may also go back to how poverty-stricken children want to escape their money issues through literature, but it may just be a way to make things easier on the author. Things are so much easier to get going if the character can afford them.
Still, there are books that address these issues, I'm not saying there aren't. Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson is a great example. The family is having financial troubles and are barely keeping their head above water at the point where the story begins. The hotel is beginning to fall into disrepair and we see the ways this impacts the family members. It's great, and more than that, it's believable. It's something that some of us can relate to. So why aren't there more books out there like this one? Why do our main characters always have to be upper middle class with spare cash and cars (even if they're not new)? Will books featuring a few money issues (even small ones) become more popular in our current economic situation, or will we see rise to more books like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, where the poor boy finds the golden ticket--a way to rise above the current situation? I'd love to hear your thoughts on anything mentioned. Leave them in the comments.
Generally, I believe that children's literature (including Young Adult) holds more positive qualities than adult literature does, but this isn't the case in all areas. The biggest thing for me, lately, is that in regards to money, adult books seem more realistic. There's a simple reason for this: adults worry about money more. Because they spend their lives working for that money, and they have to pay the bills for water, heat, electricity, medical, insurance, etc etc etc. Then they have to buy groceries and toilet paper and rubber bands. Whatever. The point is, adults are constantly aware of how much money is going in, and how much money is going out. This is reflected in book catered to the adult audience. We see many issues of money in this genre: characters needing to pay rent, or trying to get a raise, worrying about how they'll pay their medical bills whenever something goes wrong.
In children's books, you don't see this. First off, because children don't pay their own expenses, they rely on their parents. This doesn't mean that children don't worry about money. When do we get to read the stories about the child who hides in the bathroom for the first ten minutes of lunch period so they can be at the end of the food line so that no one is around to hear them when they tell the lunch lady they get a free lunch? The story of the kid who has to buy all their clothes at the second-hand store and purchase all their shoes a size or two larger because they can't afford new things all the time? The kid who doesn't go to birthday parties just so they don't have to show up without a gift because the family couldn't afford one?
We don't read these stories very often. I think the main reason of this is that children who are reading the books don't want to read about those problems all the time--especially if they're living them. They might just want to escape the problem, put themselves in place of the main character, and live like royalty for a few hours. That's totally understandable.
With YA however, I see it a little differently. Young adults are no longer children, but not yet adults. They're somewhere in the middle, age-wise, and in this issue as well. Or, at least, in my opinion, they should be. That doesn't mean that they are. This is the age, especially in the later teens, that one gets their first job and starts to pay some things on their own. Sure, these things may just be movie tickets or new cds (assuming they even buy hard copies anymore), but it's their own money, and they need to keep track of it. Even still, you don't see this as much as you would expect. Yes, in John Green's Looking For Alaska this issue is tackled through The Colonel, who is always having Pudge pay for his cigarettes because he can't afford them. We go to his trailer even. But the thing is, the Colonel, much as I love him, is not the main character here. He's not the narrator either. It's all Pudge, and Pudge has the money to pay for cigarettes for both of them, to pay for McDonald's, and his family can easily afford the private school. Generally, the main characters have money. This may also go back to how poverty-stricken children want to escape their money issues through literature, but it may just be a way to make things easier on the author. Things are so much easier to get going if the character can afford them.
Still, there are books that address these issues, I'm not saying there aren't. Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson is a great example. The family is having financial troubles and are barely keeping their head above water at the point where the story begins. The hotel is beginning to fall into disrepair and we see the ways this impacts the family members. It's great, and more than that, it's believable. It's something that some of us can relate to. So why aren't there more books out there like this one? Why do our main characters always have to be upper middle class with spare cash and cars (even if they're not new)? Will books featuring a few money issues (even small ones) become more popular in our current economic situation, or will we see rise to more books like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, where the poor boy finds the golden ticket--a way to rise above the current situation? I'd love to hear your thoughts on anything mentioned. Leave them in the comments.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Another Book Meme!
I was tagged via twitter by the awesome Sarah Maclean (check out her new book, The Season!), so here goes!
1. What author do you own the most books by?
Lois Gladys Leppard. I'm on a quest to someday own the entire Mandie series! (All 41 of them)
2. What book do you own the most copies of?
Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll
3. What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
...Lincoln Clinton Carter Kennedy? ^^; In my personal fandom he's an aloof, sweet-hearted 18/19 year old. It's a fanfic thing. But you see why this was a secret, right?
Also: Calvin O'Keefe, Jonathan Guyer, Jamie Madrox, and so many many more, but those aren't secrets ;D
4. What book have you read more than any other?
Hm...Through the Looking Glass or Looking for Alaska by John Green. The adult book I've read the most is The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald.
5. What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?
Most likely one of the Mandie books; or Holes by Louis Sachar, which came out about that time.
6. What is the worst book you’ve read in the past year?
If I don't like a book, I don't finish. Although I was pretty upset with the NOT ending of Superior Saturday by Garth Nix
7. What is the best book you’ve read in the past year?
I'm still pretty in love with Looking for Alaska...do re-reads count?
8. If you could tell everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be?
The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron. Powerful stuff, man.
9. What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read?
I'm with Sarah, Ulysses is definitely up there for me. But I think overall Crime and Punishment by Fyodr Dostoyvsky (whose name changes spelling all the time)
10. Do you prefer the French or the Russians?
I think my last answer would give you a hint, but if not: French. I like Camus, hate Dostoyvsky.
11. Shakespeare, Milton or Chaucer?
...that's hard. Uh...uh...Chaucer. I love Shakespeare, I really do, but all his plays are kind of the same? Plus, Paul Bettany never played Shakespeare.
12. Austen or Eliot?
Austen, no contest.
13. What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?
(Sarah, DON'T. They're awful) I've never read a lot of the High School English classics. They were always required for the other classes, but not mine. Like To Kill a Mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye, & One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
14. What is your favorite novel?
Like I was explaining last night, I don't have one favorite, I have three: one for each reading level I read/study.
Adult - The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald
YA - Looking for Alaska by John Green
Children's - The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron.
(notice a theme there? Yeah, so did I. I have depressing taste in books, I know...my own novel has kind of the same theme too)
15. Plays?
Love 'em. My favorite is The Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare
16. Poem?
Eh, it really depends. I can love them, hate them, or not care. I really like Emily Dickenson & Not Waving but Drowning by Stevie Smith.
17. Essay?
Not so much, but I guess if it had a really fantastic topic then I might.
18. Non Fiction
It really depends on the topic, but overall I'm not much for nonfic.
19. Graphic Novel?
YES. I work in a comic book store, okay?
20. Science Fiction?
Love 'em!
22. Fantasy?
Oh absolutely!
23. Who is your favorite writer?
Maureen Johnson. I know, I know, it goes with nothing else I mentioned in this post and all her books are happy & funny & not morbid. I don't know, I just like her style.
24. What are you reading right now?
Some birds outside & my dog snoring. It's very quiet here.
25. Favorite Genre:
YA - Realistic fiction. Go figure.
I tag YOU.
1. What author do you own the most books by?
Lois Gladys Leppard. I'm on a quest to someday own the entire Mandie series! (All 41 of them)
2. What book do you own the most copies of?
Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll
3. What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
...Lincoln Clinton Carter Kennedy? ^^; In my personal fandom he's an aloof, sweet-hearted 18/19 year old. It's a fanfic thing. But you see why this was a secret, right?
Also: Calvin O'Keefe, Jonathan Guyer, Jamie Madrox, and so many many more, but those aren't secrets ;D
4. What book have you read more than any other?
Hm...Through the Looking Glass or Looking for Alaska by John Green. The adult book I've read the most is The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald.
5. What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?
Most likely one of the Mandie books; or Holes by Louis Sachar, which came out about that time.
6. What is the worst book you’ve read in the past year?
If I don't like a book, I don't finish. Although I was pretty upset with the NOT ending of Superior Saturday by Garth Nix
7. What is the best book you’ve read in the past year?
I'm still pretty in love with Looking for Alaska...do re-reads count?
8. If you could tell everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be?
The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron. Powerful stuff, man.
9. What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read?
I'm with Sarah, Ulysses is definitely up there for me. But I think overall Crime and Punishment by Fyodr Dostoyvsky (whose name changes spelling all the time)
10. Do you prefer the French or the Russians?
I think my last answer would give you a hint, but if not: French. I like Camus, hate Dostoyvsky.
11. Shakespeare, Milton or Chaucer?
...that's hard. Uh...uh...Chaucer. I love Shakespeare, I really do, but all his plays are kind of the same? Plus, Paul Bettany never played Shakespeare.
12. Austen or Eliot?
Austen, no contest.
13. What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?
(Sarah, DON'T. They're awful) I've never read a lot of the High School English classics. They were always required for the other classes, but not mine. Like To Kill a Mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye, & One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
14. What is your favorite novel?
Like I was explaining last night, I don't have one favorite, I have three: one for each reading level I read/study.
Adult - The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald
YA - Looking for Alaska by John Green
Children's - The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron.
(notice a theme there? Yeah, so did I. I have depressing taste in books, I know...my own novel has kind of the same theme too)
15. Plays?
Love 'em. My favorite is The Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare
16. Poem?
Eh, it really depends. I can love them, hate them, or not care. I really like Emily Dickenson & Not Waving but Drowning by Stevie Smith.
17. Essay?
Not so much, but I guess if it had a really fantastic topic then I might.
18. Non Fiction
It really depends on the topic, but overall I'm not much for nonfic.
19. Graphic Novel?
YES. I work in a comic book store, okay?
20. Science Fiction?
Love 'em!
22. Fantasy?
Oh absolutely!
23. Who is your favorite writer?
Maureen Johnson. I know, I know, it goes with nothing else I mentioned in this post and all her books are happy & funny & not morbid. I don't know, I just like her style.
24. What are you reading right now?
Some birds outside & my dog snoring. It's very quiet here.
25. Favorite Genre:
YA - Realistic fiction. Go figure.
I tag YOU.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
BEDA, Sick, & Script Frenzy
So...it's BEDA. Which is Blog Every Day April. And I'm just barely getting this in on time. I actually did vlog earlier today and I'm working on getting that up right now. I look totally miserable in it though because I'm sick and I've had a really sucky week that will not end. If it wasn't already a day late, I would just re-shoot tomorrow.
Anyway, I already blog every day over on my LiveJournal so for this challenge I thought I would see how many days I can blog other places. This includes here, 5NerdsomeWriters, and maybe Maureen Johnson's ning, because that's where this all started. Well, technically it all started on Twitter, but it's centered on the MJ Ning.
It's also Script Frenzy, which I did not know about until about fifteen minutes ago. My friend Casye just begged me to join it with her, so I'm going to try. You write a script that is 100 pages long in 30 days. This is not as intense as NaNoWriMo thankfully, so I'm going to give it a shot. I make no promises though. I'll update you guys about that.
If you want a real blog, go read my post from yesterday on 5NerdsomeWriters about children's literature and why I think it's better than adult lit.
Anyway, I already blog every day over on my LiveJournal so for this challenge I thought I would see how many days I can blog other places. This includes here, 5NerdsomeWriters, and maybe Maureen Johnson's ning, because that's where this all started. Well, technically it all started on Twitter, but it's centered on the MJ Ning.
It's also Script Frenzy, which I did not know about until about fifteen minutes ago. My friend Casye just begged me to join it with her, so I'm going to try. You write a script that is 100 pages long in 30 days. This is not as intense as NaNoWriMo thankfully, so I'm going to give it a shot. I make no promises though. I'll update you guys about that.
If you want a real blog, go read my post from yesterday on 5NerdsomeWriters about children's literature and why I think it's better than adult lit.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
More Top List Stuff, of My Own This Time
Today is apparently a very good day to blog, because when I got on this morning (admittedly not until about noon) my LJ flist of friends & feeds was pretty full of people doing their bloggy thing. I love days like this.
This is also the day where I go back & talk about the books I read this year. In the past years I have put up monthly lists of what books I have read, when I read them, etc, but this year you may have noticed that I haven't done that here. Instead I favored for the master list of books I've read and movies I've watched in 2008. It was an idea that started out small (a meme I was tagged in by harvardbarbie that I kept up with. It doesn't have all the details of the original, but I was more likely to update it. I did leave out quite a few comic issues though, considering I read tonnes this year (what with getting a job at a comic shop & all).
Anyway, here's what I have to say about that list:
I have listed 198 books that I read this year, though I read more than that & forgot to write them down....
Children's Books
Best Children's Book I Read This Year: The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron (this would also go under Most Controversial, which I don't agree with)
Best Sequel: Small Steps by Louis Sachar, Sequel to Holes
Book I Most Often Recommend to Children/Parents: The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Best Picture Book: Flotsam by David Weisner
Funniest: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules! by Jeff Kinney (not as good as the first, but still hilarious)
My Favorite Children's Book I Read in 2008: The Witches by Roald Dahl. (though Lucky was a very close second)
Young Adult & Adult Books
Best Book of the Year (Published in 08): Paper Towns by John Green
Book I Believe Every Teen Should Read: Looking for Alaska by John Green (I read it twice this year)
Most Overhyped Book: Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
Best Teen Series: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares (I'm excited for her new series in 09!!)
Best Sequel: Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones (Sequel to Howl's Moving Castle)
Book That Was Far Better Than the Movie: Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Most Controversial: Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult (because of this, I believe it was a great pick for the high school's book club)
Biggest Cliff Hanger: Superior Saturday by Garth Nix (do not read this until Lord Sunday comes out)
Best Collaborative Effort: Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, & Lauren Myracle
Best Sci-Fi Book: Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Best Superhero Story: Hero by Perry Moore
What about you folk? What were your favorite books that you read in 2008? Do you have any special categories? What book do you most recommend for me to read?
This is also the day where I go back & talk about the books I read this year. In the past years I have put up monthly lists of what books I have read, when I read them, etc, but this year you may have noticed that I haven't done that here. Instead I favored for the master list of books I've read and movies I've watched in 2008. It was an idea that started out small (a meme I was tagged in by harvardbarbie that I kept up with. It doesn't have all the details of the original, but I was more likely to update it. I did leave out quite a few comic issues though, considering I read tonnes this year (what with getting a job at a comic shop & all).
Anyway, here's what I have to say about that list:
I have listed 198 books that I read this year, though I read more than that & forgot to write them down....
Children's Books
Best Children's Book I Read This Year: The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron (this would also go under Most Controversial, which I don't agree with)
Best Sequel: Small Steps by Louis Sachar, Sequel to Holes
Book I Most Often Recommend to Children/Parents: The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Best Picture Book: Flotsam by David Weisner
Funniest: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules! by Jeff Kinney (not as good as the first, but still hilarious)
My Favorite Children's Book I Read in 2008: The Witches by Roald Dahl. (though Lucky was a very close second)
Young Adult & Adult Books
Best Book of the Year (Published in 08): Paper Towns by John Green
Book I Believe Every Teen Should Read: Looking for Alaska by John Green (I read it twice this year)
Most Overhyped Book: Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
Best Teen Series: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares (I'm excited for her new series in 09!!)
Best Sequel: Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones (Sequel to Howl's Moving Castle)
Book That Was Far Better Than the Movie: Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Most Controversial: Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult (because of this, I believe it was a great pick for the high school's book club)
Biggest Cliff Hanger: Superior Saturday by Garth Nix (do not read this until Lord Sunday comes out)
Best Collaborative Effort: Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, & Lauren Myracle
Best Sci-Fi Book: Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Best Superhero Story: Hero by Perry Moore
What about you folk? What were your favorite books that you read in 2008? Do you have any special categories? What book do you most recommend for me to read?
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Book Review: Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, & Lauren Myracle
Let it Snow, in a way, is not one book, but three novellas. Written by three different authors, the book is split into three different parts that make up one great book. Each part follows a different character (or group) on a different part of the story, and all include a different love story. All of the parts take place in the same time period in the same town and the characters give appearances in parts other than their own.
The first part, The Jubilee Express, is written by Maureen Johnson and follows Jubilee Dougan. Jubilee, aside from having the misfortune of being named Jubilee (she assures the reader she's not a stripper or anything like that), has hit some rough luck: her parents have been arrested in a Christmas sale riot and she now has to spend the holidays with her grandparents. It gets worse, because leaving means she can't be at her boyfriend's family's annual Christmas party. And even as her train speeds towards Florida, it gets stuck in a snow storm. The train is forced to stop practically in the middle of nowhere, across the empty interstate from a Waffle House. Jubilee leaves the train and heads for the Waffle House. Unfortunately, she is followed by a squad of cheerleaders who were also on the train. This is when Jubilee meets Stuart and her luck begins to change.
In the second part, The Cheertastic Christmas Miracle, written by John Green, Tobin, JP, and the Duke have just gotten great news: a train has crashed nearby and an entire squad of cheerleaders has just arrived at the Waffle House where their friend, Don-Keun works. Don-Keun has made a deal with his co-workers: the first group of friends to arrive (with Twister) will be allowed in, but the others will not. So it's a race for the guys to get there first. Except that the Duke is a girl, but she's been promised hash browns and adventure, so she's in. The race to be first to the Waffle House is alternately intense and hilarious. In the end Tobin realizes that maybe love isn't all about cheerleaders, and finds an unexpected love.
In the third and final part, The Patron Saint of Pigs, written by Lauren Myracle we meet Addie. It's now Christmas day and Addie is not feeling the cheer. She's really messed things up this time. First, she cheated on Jeb, her perfect boyfriend. And then she dyed her hair pink. The biggest snowstorm she can remember has hit her town and she hasn't heard from Jeb in days--not that she blames him. On top of all this, she still has to work at Starbucks, because they are open no matter what. In an attempt to prove to her friends, Dorrie and Tegan, that she is not selfish, Addie agrees to pick up Tegan's teacup pig (it actually fits in a teacup) from the pet store across the street on her break. Things don't go quite according to plan, and Addie has to go on a hunt to track down who the pig was sold to by mistake. Everything turns out in the end though, as Addie is granted her Christmas miracle and her love story.
It's set apart from other books in that instead of seeing only one part of a tale, you see many, and see more than one part of that world. Each writer has their own style, but they all blend together well and are equally great reads. Each love story is unique and interesting, but more importantly, realistic. Additionally, all of the characters are enjoyable and relatable.The best part about Let it Snow is seeing how all the pieces come together in the end. This is a great book to curl up with on snowy days!
The first part, The Jubilee Express, is written by Maureen Johnson and follows Jubilee Dougan. Jubilee, aside from having the misfortune of being named Jubilee (she assures the reader she's not a stripper or anything like that), has hit some rough luck: her parents have been arrested in a Christmas sale riot and she now has to spend the holidays with her grandparents. It gets worse, because leaving means she can't be at her boyfriend's family's annual Christmas party. And even as her train speeds towards Florida, it gets stuck in a snow storm. The train is forced to stop practically in the middle of nowhere, across the empty interstate from a Waffle House. Jubilee leaves the train and heads for the Waffle House. Unfortunately, she is followed by a squad of cheerleaders who were also on the train. This is when Jubilee meets Stuart and her luck begins to change.
In the second part, The Cheertastic Christmas Miracle, written by John Green, Tobin, JP, and the Duke have just gotten great news: a train has crashed nearby and an entire squad of cheerleaders has just arrived at the Waffle House where their friend, Don-Keun works. Don-Keun has made a deal with his co-workers: the first group of friends to arrive (with Twister) will be allowed in, but the others will not. So it's a race for the guys to get there first. Except that the Duke is a girl, but she's been promised hash browns and adventure, so she's in. The race to be first to the Waffle House is alternately intense and hilarious. In the end Tobin realizes that maybe love isn't all about cheerleaders, and finds an unexpected love.
In the third and final part, The Patron Saint of Pigs, written by Lauren Myracle we meet Addie. It's now Christmas day and Addie is not feeling the cheer. She's really messed things up this time. First, she cheated on Jeb, her perfect boyfriend. And then she dyed her hair pink. The biggest snowstorm she can remember has hit her town and she hasn't heard from Jeb in days--not that she blames him. On top of all this, she still has to work at Starbucks, because they are open no matter what. In an attempt to prove to her friends, Dorrie and Tegan, that she is not selfish, Addie agrees to pick up Tegan's teacup pig (it actually fits in a teacup) from the pet store across the street on her break. Things don't go quite according to plan, and Addie has to go on a hunt to track down who the pig was sold to by mistake. Everything turns out in the end though, as Addie is granted her Christmas miracle and her love story.
It's set apart from other books in that instead of seeing only one part of a tale, you see many, and see more than one part of that world. Each writer has their own style, but they all blend together well and are equally great reads. Each love story is unique and interesting, but more importantly, realistic. Additionally, all of the characters are enjoyable and relatable.The best part about Let it Snow is seeing how all the pieces come together in the end. This is a great book to curl up with on snowy days!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
On Lauren Myracle, Reviews, & NaNoWriMo
I've recently created a new group on Facebook: TEAM MYRACLE. This is a response to the feud between John Green and Maureen Johnson over the book they co-wrote with Lauren Myracle. Lauren has taken an inspiring position of neutrality in the matter and I believe we should all follow her example!
JOIN TEAM MYRACLE HERE
(and yes, Lauren herself is a member)
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Two reviews going up in a moment, Paper Towns by John Green & Feed by MT Anderson. You may remember that I have reviewed Feed before, but I decided to do one for my school's newspaper and wrote a new one! I included a few points from the old one, but for the most part it is brand new!
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I am very behind on my NaNo right now. I missed two days worth of writing because of my massive school projects. I have a persuasive speech due on Friday, which I have had to do surveys & an audience analysis for. My English project has taken over my life with its bibliography & electronic notes. Thesis is due on Friday, but I really need to finish these notes first! PR project is actually going along well because I have such a great group (for the most part anyway). Religion required a 7 page paper on Judaism from me, and soon another 3 pages on our Christianity readings. School is insane, it really is.
But I am confident that I can catch up--I did once already, so I can surely do it again!
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P.S. for any fans of American Girl or Abigail Breslin or cute movies or movies about the Depression--go watch Kit Kittredge! I saw it for the first time last night and LOVED it. Abigail Breslin, Zach Mills, & Max Thieriot were all amazing as usual and the plot was interesting and the movie was cute and--oh just go watch it already!
JOIN TEAM MYRACLE HERE
(and yes, Lauren herself is a member)
--------
Two reviews going up in a moment, Paper Towns by John Green & Feed by MT Anderson. You may remember that I have reviewed Feed before, but I decided to do one for my school's newspaper and wrote a new one! I included a few points from the old one, but for the most part it is brand new!
--------
I am very behind on my NaNo right now. I missed two days worth of writing because of my massive school projects. I have a persuasive speech due on Friday, which I have had to do surveys & an audience analysis for. My English project has taken over my life with its bibliography & electronic notes. Thesis is due on Friday, but I really need to finish these notes first! PR project is actually going along well because I have such a great group (for the most part anyway). Religion required a 7 page paper on Judaism from me, and soon another 3 pages on our Christianity readings. School is insane, it really is.
But I am confident that I can catch up--I did once already, so I can surely do it again!
--------
P.S. for any fans of American Girl or Abigail Breslin or cute movies or movies about the Depression--go watch Kit Kittredge! I saw it for the first time last night and LOVED it. Abigail Breslin, Zach Mills, & Max Thieriot were all amazing as usual and the plot was interesting and the movie was cute and--oh just go watch it already!
Friday, November 07, 2008
NaNo Advice: End of Week 1
Good Ways to Boost Your Word Count and Keep Yourself Writing
I've learned a few tricks along the way from my own NaNo experiences (from this year as well as 06) and from other competitors ranging from first timers to old hats. I thought I'd take a little break from writing to share these with you. (btw, this is not me avoiding actual writing. This is me coping with my ADD in a positive way.)
+ Add a lot of defining words. "He said" "She said" may not always be necessary, but put them in there, an extra two words per piece of dialogue are a great way to add to your word count.
Take that a step farther. "She said, sounding offended." or "He told her with unquestionable certainty upon his face." Add as much as you want without sounding too wordy!
Of course, if you don't mind wordy, by all means, get that word count up! If the count is what matters, take a lesson from Dickens & write up a storm! Sentences that take up a full page? No problem!
+ Another great way to add to your word count is to include quotes. You don't have to wrack your brains trying to think of something new to type! Find a quote that works with your story and roll with it! John Green used "Song of Myself" at least fifty times in his NYT Best Seller "Paper Towns" and writers like Cornelia Funke, Ann Brashares, & Jasper Fforde begin every chapter with an applicable quote! There's no shame in borrowing words to raise your count.
Right now my own characters are quoting Shakespeare's famous lines from "As You Like It": "All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts." The best part? It fits my story perfectly. In fact, it has greatly inspired me and helps convey my theme of acting & masks in high school even more than I could alone!
+ Word wars. Timed, themed word wars with a friend. These work best through some form of instant messenger, and hey, there's one built into Facebook if you wish to use it! I personally stick primarily to MSN, so if you want to war with me through that (I still have friends on my list from NaNo in 2006 I warred with daily), leave a comment here and I can send you my contact info.
This is a great way to boost your count quickly and might give you some new inspiration for how to deal with a section if you choose to use the theme (you need not, you can just continue writing for the wars). If you have teenaged characters like I do, any theme can fit what they're talking about. Just today in the lunch room with my friends we talked about the origins of "saved by the bell" and ended the period by singing "Gaston" from Beauty & the Beast. Nothing is really far out of the realm for us college students, and the same goes for many other age groups so long as you have a good group of friends to chat with! It's okay if your dialogue is ridiculous. Sometimes it even makes the characters more believable.
+ A tip to keep going and keep up with your word counts (though admittedly I am behind because of a late start, but catching up quickly) is to set up a goal/reward system with yourself. This is what has worked best for me this past week. Prior to NaNo's kickoff this year my internet was down for almost a full week. I generally watch my favorite television programs online, so I had missed a few episodes. I would tell myself "Okay Jez, write 1000 words and you can watch Grey's. Then after you write another 1000 words, you can watch Private Practice." I even made the amount of words relate to the amount of time I'd spend not writing when I was enjoying the reward part. 1000 words for 1 hour of television. 500 words for a half hour. Or I'd get to a certain milestone before I could write up a new blog post (such as this one, I just finished chapter 10 & went over 9000 words).
+ If you're going to procrastinate, find a way to make it work to your advantage. I can honestly check Facebook every half hour or so with a clear conscience because my characters spend so much of their lives in the digital world. A fair amount of my novel consists of wall posts, instant messages, and SMS texts. So, by seeing what everyone else is doing on Facebook, I'm really researching how my characters should talk, what kinds of typos they should make, and how they'll spend their time.
When I spent ten minutes reading Michael Wesch's blog post on a look back at his famous YouTube video, A Vision of Students Today, I was gathering a teacher's perspective on how children learn today, and how the school system limits learning. One of Delilah's favorite teachers, her choir director Mrs. Rembrandt, agrees with Wesch and I was able to use his ideas to my advantage, and make them fit the story.
With a little creativity any time-waster can be used in your novel. Maybe your character likes to avoid homework by playing fifty games of Tetris just like you do. Figure it out. Make it work. I could tell you not to procrastinate at all, but that would be stupid and hypocritical for me to do. You are a writer, you are going to procrastinate. It's part of who we are. So instead of avoiding the "meaningless" ways of procrastination, make it work for you!
+ And try a program like Word Counter if you're on a Mac, or an online widget for PCs to keep track of how far you are in your novel. If you see that you are 79% of where you need to be for the day (that's where I am now, I'm behind, remember?) it seems a lot less farther away than if you were to take out the calculator & figure out that you have another 2456 words to go until you're back on track for the month. Plus it's cool to watch it update in Word Counter, it makes me feel more accomplished for those 100 little words I wrote than if I had only barely increased my word count for the day.
+ Most importantly, don't give up. So you're 2456 words behind, so what? That's exactly where I am, and I'm not letting it bother me. There are 23 more days in the month. That's just 107 extra words a day, that's nothing! You can catch up in no time at all! It's only week 1, you've still got time. Don't give up now, just keep going and even if you don't win, you can come close. Then when NaNo09 rolls around, you'll know you can get to 40,000 words and 50,000 won't seem so scary. That's what I'm doing. In 2006 I made it to 25,000 words before my computer crashed. I knew that I could have made it that year, and because I made it at least halfway that year before I was cut off due to technical difficulties, I know that I can make it this year. And I think if you really try, you can too.
I leave you now with two quotes that I hope shall inspire you, or at the very least, you can use them in your novel about someone writing during NaNoWriMo (hey, it happens).
Other helpful links: Maureen Johnson (accomplished writer of 6 YA books!) tells you how to survive NaNoWriMo. Involves lots of pretty pictures from old movies & witty observations.
Professor Michael Wesch's blog on Revisiting "A Vision of Students Today", which I mentioned above & used in my own novel.
The Quotation Page's Quotes of the Day. You can use these or use this site to search for quotes that pertain to your plot.
(Now, if I could write this whole blog post, a full 1448 words in twenty minutes, surely you can write 50,000 words in a whole month)
I've learned a few tricks along the way from my own NaNo experiences (from this year as well as 06) and from other competitors ranging from first timers to old hats. I thought I'd take a little break from writing to share these with you. (btw, this is not me avoiding actual writing. This is me coping with my ADD in a positive way.)
+ Add a lot of defining words. "He said" "She said" may not always be necessary, but put them in there, an extra two words per piece of dialogue are a great way to add to your word count.
Take that a step farther. "She said, sounding offended." or "He told her with unquestionable certainty upon his face." Add as much as you want without sounding too wordy!
Of course, if you don't mind wordy, by all means, get that word count up! If the count is what matters, take a lesson from Dickens & write up a storm! Sentences that take up a full page? No problem!
+ Another great way to add to your word count is to include quotes. You don't have to wrack your brains trying to think of something new to type! Find a quote that works with your story and roll with it! John Green used "Song of Myself" at least fifty times in his NYT Best Seller "Paper Towns" and writers like Cornelia Funke, Ann Brashares, & Jasper Fforde begin every chapter with an applicable quote! There's no shame in borrowing words to raise your count.
Right now my own characters are quoting Shakespeare's famous lines from "As You Like It": "All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts." The best part? It fits my story perfectly. In fact, it has greatly inspired me and helps convey my theme of acting & masks in high school even more than I could alone!
+ Word wars. Timed, themed word wars with a friend. These work best through some form of instant messenger, and hey, there's one built into Facebook if you wish to use it! I personally stick primarily to MSN, so if you want to war with me through that (I still have friends on my list from NaNo in 2006 I warred with daily), leave a comment here and I can send you my contact info.
This is a great way to boost your count quickly and might give you some new inspiration for how to deal with a section if you choose to use the theme (you need not, you can just continue writing for the wars). If you have teenaged characters like I do, any theme can fit what they're talking about. Just today in the lunch room with my friends we talked about the origins of "saved by the bell" and ended the period by singing "Gaston" from Beauty & the Beast. Nothing is really far out of the realm for us college students, and the same goes for many other age groups so long as you have a good group of friends to chat with! It's okay if your dialogue is ridiculous. Sometimes it even makes the characters more believable.
+ A tip to keep going and keep up with your word counts (though admittedly I am behind because of a late start, but catching up quickly) is to set up a goal/reward system with yourself. This is what has worked best for me this past week. Prior to NaNo's kickoff this year my internet was down for almost a full week. I generally watch my favorite television programs online, so I had missed a few episodes. I would tell myself "Okay Jez, write 1000 words and you can watch Grey's. Then after you write another 1000 words, you can watch Private Practice." I even made the amount of words relate to the amount of time I'd spend not writing when I was enjoying the reward part. 1000 words for 1 hour of television. 500 words for a half hour. Or I'd get to a certain milestone before I could write up a new blog post (such as this one, I just finished chapter 10 & went over 9000 words).
+ If you're going to procrastinate, find a way to make it work to your advantage. I can honestly check Facebook every half hour or so with a clear conscience because my characters spend so much of their lives in the digital world. A fair amount of my novel consists of wall posts, instant messages, and SMS texts. So, by seeing what everyone else is doing on Facebook, I'm really researching how my characters should talk, what kinds of typos they should make, and how they'll spend their time.
When I spent ten minutes reading Michael Wesch's blog post on a look back at his famous YouTube video, A Vision of Students Today, I was gathering a teacher's perspective on how children learn today, and how the school system limits learning. One of Delilah's favorite teachers, her choir director Mrs. Rembrandt, agrees with Wesch and I was able to use his ideas to my advantage, and make them fit the story.
With a little creativity any time-waster can be used in your novel. Maybe your character likes to avoid homework by playing fifty games of Tetris just like you do. Figure it out. Make it work. I could tell you not to procrastinate at all, but that would be stupid and hypocritical for me to do. You are a writer, you are going to procrastinate. It's part of who we are. So instead of avoiding the "meaningless" ways of procrastination, make it work for you!
+ And try a program like Word Counter if you're on a Mac, or an online widget for PCs to keep track of how far you are in your novel. If you see that you are 79% of where you need to be for the day (that's where I am now, I'm behind, remember?) it seems a lot less farther away than if you were to take out the calculator & figure out that you have another 2456 words to go until you're back on track for the month. Plus it's cool to watch it update in Word Counter, it makes me feel more accomplished for those 100 little words I wrote than if I had only barely increased my word count for the day.
+ Most importantly, don't give up. So you're 2456 words behind, so what? That's exactly where I am, and I'm not letting it bother me. There are 23 more days in the month. That's just 107 extra words a day, that's nothing! You can catch up in no time at all! It's only week 1, you've still got time. Don't give up now, just keep going and even if you don't win, you can come close. Then when NaNo09 rolls around, you'll know you can get to 40,000 words and 50,000 won't seem so scary. That's what I'm doing. In 2006 I made it to 25,000 words before my computer crashed. I knew that I could have made it that year, and because I made it at least halfway that year before I was cut off due to technical difficulties, I know that I can make it this year. And I think if you really try, you can too.
I leave you now with two quotes that I hope shall inspire you, or at the very least, you can use them in your novel about someone writing during NaNoWriMo (hey, it happens).
If writers stopped writing about what happened to them, then there would be a lot of empty pages.
Elaine Liner, We Got Naked, Now What, SXSW 2006
Please write again soon. Though my own life is filled with activity, letters encourage momentary escape into others lives and I come back to my own with greater contentment.
Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey, 'A Woman of Independent Means'
Other helpful links: Maureen Johnson (accomplished writer of 6 YA books!) tells you how to survive NaNoWriMo. Involves lots of pretty pictures from old movies & witty observations.
Professor Michael Wesch's blog on Revisiting "A Vision of Students Today", which I mentioned above & used in my own novel.
The Quotation Page's Quotes of the Day. You can use these or use this site to search for quotes that pertain to your plot.
(Now, if I could write this whole blog post, a full 1448 words in twenty minutes, surely you can write 50,000 words in a whole month)
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Book Meme
I'm not dead, school didn't kill me. I'm heading out of town in a few minutes here (as soon as the family is all finished packing), but when I get back next week I'll have plenty of wonderful things to post for you all. Including reviews of John Green's Paper Towns (comes out Oct 08), The first 3 (or maybe 4) Traveling Pants books by Ann Brashares, The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Paton, The Witches by Roald Dahl, and The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. Possibly some ranting over Louis Sachar's Holes and some stuff on children's literature and picture books too. My children's lit class has prepared me well and I'm more than happy to share what I learned!
Okay, until then I leave you with a book-based meme taken from Jordyn over at Page Numbered
Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews?
Maybe the House of Night series? Everyone always tells me good things about it and my friend Jess lent it to me once. I got through like 3 chapters and could not read anymore because I hated the main character so much.
If you could bring three characters to life for a social event (afternoon tea, a night of clubbing, perhaps a world cruise), who would they be and what would the event be?
Ooh, that's tough. Um. I'm reading the pants books now and really connecting with Bridget, so let's take her along. And maybe this is a current book obsession thing, but I want to bring along Margo Roth Speigelman from Paper Towns because she's so awesome, but still really deep and thoughtful. My third guest would be Ginny from 13 Little Blue Envelopes. We'll all go on a road trip! That seems to be the best idea with these girls.
You are told you can’t die until you read the most boring novel on the planet. While this immortality is great for a while, which book would you expect to be waiting for you at the end?
Crime and Punishment. I tried to read it for school and could not do it. Or maybe something by Dickens.
Come on, we’ve all been there. Which book have you pretended, or at least hinted, that you’ve read, when in fact you’ve been nowhere near it?
I don't remember exactly, but I know I did this a few times in school. Cuz that's what honor kids do, honestly.
As an addition to the last question, has there been a book that you really thought you had read, only to realise when you read a review about it/go to ‘reread’ it that you haven’t? Which book?
Hm...I'm not sure. There most likely has been. I know I do it with manga sometimes, like the 29th volume of Naruto I could have sworn I'd read before, but as I got farther into it I found out I hadn't.
You’re interviewing for the post of Official Book Advisor to some VIP (who’s not a big reader). What’s the first book you’d recommend and why? (If you feel like you’d have to know the person, go ahead of personalise the VIP).
Depends on the person, but either The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald or The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. I recommend Hugo Cabret to non-reading kids all the time because even though it's huge it's easy to read. Half of the book is like a picture/flip book anyway. And then when they're done and like it they can fell like "I just finished that gigantic book, now I can read anything."
A good fairy comes and grants you one wish: you will have perfect reading comprehension in the foreign language of your choice. Which language do you go with?
Italian, no contest. I would like French maybe because there are so many good books in French, but Italian would win out no matter what. I'm learning Italian and I love it completely.
A mischievious fairy comes and says that you must choose one book that you will reread once a year for the rest of your life (you can read other books as well). Which book would you pick?
Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. It was the first book to get me really into reading and I still love it. I try to read it once a year anyway.
I know that the book blogging community, and its various challenges, have pushed my reading borders. What’s one bookish thing you ‘discovered’ from book blogging (maybe a new genre, or author, or new appreciation for cover art-anything)?
I found John Green through Scott Westerfeld's blog, and whereas I'm not a big fan of An Abundance of Katherines I really love Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns. John Scalzi too, also through Westerfeld. I haven't read most of his stuff, but I really enjoy Agent to the Stars.
But more importantly I found Maureen Johnson through the blogosphere and she's my favorite author these days. I will read anything written by her, even if it is a blood & tears book. And I hate those books generally (Twilight is the only thing of that genre I like, but for the action and not the romance so should it count?). MJ is a writing goddess, that's all there is to be said about that. Thank you internets!
That good fairy is back for one final visit. Now, she’s granting you your dream library! Describe it. Is everything leatherbound? Is it full of first edition hardcovers? Pristine trade paperbacks? Perhaps a few favourite authors have inscribed their works? Go ahead-let your imagination run free.
I wrote this library into my book, actually. It's huge, with shelves so high you need those rolling ladders around. Most are hard cover or leatherbound, but some books are paperback and falling apart. These ones are all first editions or the ones I read as a child or never truly published by written by people I know. My favorite books are signed and have personalized messages to me. And there's a huge wall of all my favorite manga, with all the volumes there. And somehow my comics would end up somewhere in a way where the could not be ruined.
Take this if you want, I won't tag anyone this time around
Okay, until then I leave you with a book-based meme taken from Jordyn over at Page Numbered
Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews?
Maybe the House of Night series? Everyone always tells me good things about it and my friend Jess lent it to me once. I got through like 3 chapters and could not read anymore because I hated the main character so much.
If you could bring three characters to life for a social event (afternoon tea, a night of clubbing, perhaps a world cruise), who would they be and what would the event be?
Ooh, that's tough. Um. I'm reading the pants books now and really connecting with Bridget, so let's take her along. And maybe this is a current book obsession thing, but I want to bring along Margo Roth Speigelman from Paper Towns because she's so awesome, but still really deep and thoughtful. My third guest would be Ginny from 13 Little Blue Envelopes. We'll all go on a road trip! That seems to be the best idea with these girls.
You are told you can’t die until you read the most boring novel on the planet. While this immortality is great for a while, which book would you expect to be waiting for you at the end?
Crime and Punishment. I tried to read it for school and could not do it. Or maybe something by Dickens.
Come on, we’ve all been there. Which book have you pretended, or at least hinted, that you’ve read, when in fact you’ve been nowhere near it?
I don't remember exactly, but I know I did this a few times in school. Cuz that's what honor kids do, honestly.
As an addition to the last question, has there been a book that you really thought you had read, only to realise when you read a review about it/go to ‘reread’ it that you haven’t? Which book?
Hm...I'm not sure. There most likely has been. I know I do it with manga sometimes, like the 29th volume of Naruto I could have sworn I'd read before, but as I got farther into it I found out I hadn't.
You’re interviewing for the post of Official Book Advisor to some VIP (who’s not a big reader). What’s the first book you’d recommend and why? (If you feel like you’d have to know the person, go ahead of personalise the VIP).
Depends on the person, but either The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald or The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. I recommend Hugo Cabret to non-reading kids all the time because even though it's huge it's easy to read. Half of the book is like a picture/flip book anyway. And then when they're done and like it they can fell like "I just finished that gigantic book, now I can read anything."
A good fairy comes and grants you one wish: you will have perfect reading comprehension in the foreign language of your choice. Which language do you go with?
Italian, no contest. I would like French maybe because there are so many good books in French, but Italian would win out no matter what. I'm learning Italian and I love it completely.
A mischievious fairy comes and says that you must choose one book that you will reread once a year for the rest of your life (you can read other books as well). Which book would you pick?
Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. It was the first book to get me really into reading and I still love it. I try to read it once a year anyway.
I know that the book blogging community, and its various challenges, have pushed my reading borders. What’s one bookish thing you ‘discovered’ from book blogging (maybe a new genre, or author, or new appreciation for cover art-anything)?
I found John Green through Scott Westerfeld's blog, and whereas I'm not a big fan of An Abundance of Katherines I really love Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns. John Scalzi too, also through Westerfeld. I haven't read most of his stuff, but I really enjoy Agent to the Stars.
But more importantly I found Maureen Johnson through the blogosphere and she's my favorite author these days. I will read anything written by her, even if it is a blood & tears book. And I hate those books generally (Twilight is the only thing of that genre I like, but for the action and not the romance so should it count?). MJ is a writing goddess, that's all there is to be said about that. Thank you internets!
That good fairy is back for one final visit. Now, she’s granting you your dream library! Describe it. Is everything leatherbound? Is it full of first edition hardcovers? Pristine trade paperbacks? Perhaps a few favourite authors have inscribed their works? Go ahead-let your imagination run free.
I wrote this library into my book, actually. It's huge, with shelves so high you need those rolling ladders around. Most are hard cover or leatherbound, but some books are paperback and falling apart. These ones are all first editions or the ones I read as a child or never truly published by written by people I know. My favorite books are signed and have personalized messages to me. And there's a huge wall of all my favorite manga, with all the volumes there. And somehow my comics would end up somewhere in a way where the could not be ruined.
Take this if you want, I won't tag anyone this time around
Sunday, December 30, 2007
My Top 5 Books of All Time
This changes from time to time if I discover a truly remarkable book, but as of right now, these are my top 5 books.
I pick these books based on a 4-point criteria. The principles I consider are plot; characters; style; relatibility/what they mean to me & what I take away from them at the end.
Unfortunately, I have a very hard time ranking these from 1-5, so I'm not going to. Just know these are the top 5, in alphabetical order.
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Plot - This story is amazing & even the smallest things end up being important. The story also doesn't drag along.
Characters - The characters in this book are very original, yet the main character Shadow is still easy to relate to. All the characters are very developed, no matter how small a part they play.
Style - I don't even know how to describe Gaiman's style, just that it would include every synonym for "amazing" I know. I would even look some new ones up. I think people would just have to read it to understand.
What it means to me & What I took away - I liked the way this book approached faith, without encroaching on any one person's beliefs. So I was still able to keep my devout belief in God, and in a strange way, actually made it stronger. Also, his style helped me with my own writing. Secondly, I think I gained a much broader idea of faith.
Devilish by Maureen Johnson
Plot - This story is great & moves along quickly. A modern "selling your soul" story, which tackles how to beat the deal someone you know enters into with a devil.
Characters - Johnson writes the best characters in my opinion, always unique but so real you probably know someone just like them. And the depth of the characters is amazing, makes them whole.
Style - Maureen Johnson is my favorite writer, so I had to include her in my top 5. Her style is witty, funny, and thought-provoking. I like to look at her style, in this book especially, as an example of amazing writing.
What it means to me & what I got from it - I think this is a great coming of age book, that shows the strength that friendship can reach. This is another book that helped with my own writing, as I said.
The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald
Plot - This is a story that never gets old, and is played out time and time again in real life. A person doing all he can to win back his true love that he lost to someone else? No one can say that hasn't happened to them or someone they know. But despite how often this story is played out, Fitzgerald manages to have something original and in my opinion, he's perfected that story.
Characters - These characters are real, original, and deep. And honestly, I fell in love with Gatsby. The rest were just like people I actually know.
Style - This book is a masterpiece. Fitzgerald has a style all his own that is on a whole other level above any other author I've ever read. And the objective stance of the narrator is fabulous, considering how involved he gets.
What it means/What I got - This book truly touched me deep down in a soul-wretching way. The ending really hurt me in a way no other book has been able to. That alone is enough to get this book into my top 5, everything else is what makes it my #1. The icing on the cake is that this book has readability. I feel like each time I unconver this book I find a new layer of meaning in it, and that I will never be able to get to the center of it.
Stravaganza: City of Masks by Mary Hoffman
Plot - I have always loved this books, it's one of the first books I ever fell in love with, and the plot is one of the reasons for it. I really like the idea of being transported to another world, but in a different way than most books have done it. And giving a cancer patient the chance to live a full life free of his pain is really touching.
Characters - The main character, Lucien/Luciano is the first character I ever fell in love with. I love his depth & sincerity. And Arianna is fantastic & relatible, as are all the rest.
Style - This was the first book I read from different view points. I think this is such a cool idea that really helps move the story along and give it new sides.
What it means/what I got - This book was the first book, and one of the very very few books to ever make me cry. It was able to reach into me and touch my heart. In fact, though I don't cry anymore, I still come very close everytime I read the end of this book. Also, I took that fabulous idea of different view points and applied it to my own writing, and I honestly believe that it has made a world of difference in my books.
Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll
Plot - What a cute imaginative story! This is a great story to share with anyone, especially children.
Characters - These are the most unique characters of any book I've ever read. Alice is very innocent, and the Red Queen overbearing, and the White Knight is helpful and imaginative. This book has a wide cast where every character is very different from any other.
Style - I think the most notable thing about the writing style in this book is the crossing of rivers. Every time Alice crossed a river to bring her into a new square Lewis put in a zigzag of astricks. It was the simplest way to show a change, and also looked like a river, in a way that the reader also jumps over the river.
What it meant/what I got - I had to include this book in my top 5 because it's the book that made me fall in love with reading. I re-read this book at least once a year and it never gets old. This book will always hold a special place in my heart. In fact, I was reading from my great-grandmother's leather-bound pocket edition, which was mint condition when I got it...and I read it so many times when I was younger that the cover fell off and the pages began to yellow and come out. I have a new copy now, but I refuse to get rid of my original.
I pick these books based on a 4-point criteria. The principles I consider are plot; characters; style; relatibility/what they mean to me & what I take away from them at the end.
Unfortunately, I have a very hard time ranking these from 1-5, so I'm not going to. Just know these are the top 5, in alphabetical order.
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Plot - This story is amazing & even the smallest things end up being important. The story also doesn't drag along.
Characters - The characters in this book are very original, yet the main character Shadow is still easy to relate to. All the characters are very developed, no matter how small a part they play.
Style - I don't even know how to describe Gaiman's style, just that it would include every synonym for "amazing" I know. I would even look some new ones up. I think people would just have to read it to understand.
What it means to me & What I took away - I liked the way this book approached faith, without encroaching on any one person's beliefs. So I was still able to keep my devout belief in God, and in a strange way, actually made it stronger. Also, his style helped me with my own writing. Secondly, I think I gained a much broader idea of faith.
Devilish by Maureen Johnson
Plot - This story is great & moves along quickly. A modern "selling your soul" story, which tackles how to beat the deal someone you know enters into with a devil.
Characters - Johnson writes the best characters in my opinion, always unique but so real you probably know someone just like them. And the depth of the characters is amazing, makes them whole.
Style - Maureen Johnson is my favorite writer, so I had to include her in my top 5. Her style is witty, funny, and thought-provoking. I like to look at her style, in this book especially, as an example of amazing writing.
What it means to me & what I got from it - I think this is a great coming of age book, that shows the strength that friendship can reach. This is another book that helped with my own writing, as I said.
The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald
Plot - This is a story that never gets old, and is played out time and time again in real life. A person doing all he can to win back his true love that he lost to someone else? No one can say that hasn't happened to them or someone they know. But despite how often this story is played out, Fitzgerald manages to have something original and in my opinion, he's perfected that story.
Characters - These characters are real, original, and deep. And honestly, I fell in love with Gatsby. The rest were just like people I actually know.
Style - This book is a masterpiece. Fitzgerald has a style all his own that is on a whole other level above any other author I've ever read. And the objective stance of the narrator is fabulous, considering how involved he gets.
What it means/What I got - This book truly touched me deep down in a soul-wretching way. The ending really hurt me in a way no other book has been able to. That alone is enough to get this book into my top 5, everything else is what makes it my #1. The icing on the cake is that this book has readability. I feel like each time I unconver this book I find a new layer of meaning in it, and that I will never be able to get to the center of it.
Stravaganza: City of Masks by Mary Hoffman
Plot - I have always loved this books, it's one of the first books I ever fell in love with, and the plot is one of the reasons for it. I really like the idea of being transported to another world, but in a different way than most books have done it. And giving a cancer patient the chance to live a full life free of his pain is really touching.
Characters - The main character, Lucien/Luciano is the first character I ever fell in love with. I love his depth & sincerity. And Arianna is fantastic & relatible, as are all the rest.
Style - This was the first book I read from different view points. I think this is such a cool idea that really helps move the story along and give it new sides.
What it means/what I got - This book was the first book, and one of the very very few books to ever make me cry. It was able to reach into me and touch my heart. In fact, though I don't cry anymore, I still come very close everytime I read the end of this book. Also, I took that fabulous idea of different view points and applied it to my own writing, and I honestly believe that it has made a world of difference in my books.
Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll
Plot - What a cute imaginative story! This is a great story to share with anyone, especially children.
Characters - These are the most unique characters of any book I've ever read. Alice is very innocent, and the Red Queen overbearing, and the White Knight is helpful and imaginative. This book has a wide cast where every character is very different from any other.
Style - I think the most notable thing about the writing style in this book is the crossing of rivers. Every time Alice crossed a river to bring her into a new square Lewis put in a zigzag of astricks. It was the simplest way to show a change, and also looked like a river, in a way that the reader also jumps over the river.
What it meant/what I got - I had to include this book in my top 5 because it's the book that made me fall in love with reading. I re-read this book at least once a year and it never gets old. This book will always hold a special place in my heart. In fact, I was reading from my great-grandmother's leather-bound pocket edition, which was mint condition when I got it...and I read it so many times when I was younger that the cover fell off and the pages began to yellow and come out. I have a new copy now, but I refuse to get rid of my original.
My Top Books of 2007
Alright, I've read 105 books, comics, & manga this year and I've gone through them again to try and decide what my top books are. This is really hard because I read so many great books this year. I don't think there were any I didn't like.
In order of when I read them, because I doubt I could rank these. I'm including first reads only.
Children's
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney -- My little brother was reading this and forgot it at home one day, and I picked it up. I couldn't put it down until I finished it. This book was hilarious! And the way Kinney wrote it, half journal-half comic, was inspiring and made the story move along easier. I highly recommend this book to people of all ages.
Young Adult
Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix by JK Rowling -- This is my favorite book of the entire Harry Potter series, which I read at the very beginning of the year. The plot of this book is fabulous and the entire scene in the Department of Mysteries was amazing. Do not judge this book by its movie because the movie doesn't even begin to compare in my opinion.
Magic or Madness by Justine Larbalestier -- The fabulous first book in the Magic or Madness series which poses an interesting choice: use your magic and die young, or ignore your power and go insane. It's really cool to see the story told by three different and unique characters from two different continents.
Twilight, New Moon, & Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer -- I usually don't go for the "vampire in love with a mortal" books, but my friends finally got me to read this series & I really like it. I'm not really a fan of the main character, but its the action & vampires & werewolves that keep me going. New Moon is definately my favorite, and shows Meyer's unique style the best of the three.
Magic's Child by Justine Larbalestier -- the amazing last book in the Magic or Madness trilogy. I loved the ending of this series, very interesting! But I won't spoil anything, you'll have to read it for yourself.
13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson -- I love Maureen's books first off, and this is one of my favorites. I love the odd coming-of-age adventure, it keeps you interested the whole way through. The ending was unexpected, and splendidly done. And Maureen's characters are always the best part of her books.
Devilish by Maureen Johnson -- My favorite of Maureen's books. This book is very adventurous & interesting. Johnson's style of writing in this book amazes me. I wrote down one of the scenes in my notebook to look back on it every now and again as an example of great writing.
Feed by MT Anderson -- I love this book. These characters seem real, because they talk like teens, even if it would be offensive to some readers. The story is fantastic and I love Anderson's style. Absolutely love it.
Extras by Scott Westerfeld -- The sequel to Westerfeld's Uglies series. This one happens after the events in Specials, in a new area, with a new character. Honestly this is my favorite in the entire series. I think it was the change of main character, because I never really liked Tally, whereas I really like Aya. And this book gets extra points from me because the whole face-rank system is interesting & satorical.
Adult
The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare -- A classic play that I ended up falling in love with, despite my preconceptions of it. It was hilarious and amusing with its odd take on a love story. Seeing this play performed shortly after I read it was great too.
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger -- This book blew me away, seriously. I'm glad to finally find a book that represents time travel as non-changing, because I'm tired of "let's go back in time & change it" stories. The disjointed way of telling this story works so well for this book & the characters are fabulous.
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison -- This book is so different from anything else I usually read. Honestly, it disturbed me most of the time, but the funny thing is, that's why I liked it. It was real, unlike most books out these days--even the nonfiction stories. Morrison doesn't worry about what's acceptable or not, she just writes what's real and holds nothing back.
American Gods by Neil Gaiman -- I love this book. So much. I took a chance on this book, taking advice from one of the leaders of a local book club. Another book that doesn't hold back. The story stayed interesting every bit of the way, and nothing written wasn't important, no matter how small it seemed at first. And Gaiman's style and characters are astounding.
In order of when I read them, because I doubt I could rank these. I'm including first reads only.
Children's
Young Adult
Adult
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Book Review: 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
It's time I get back to writing reviews! First up is 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson.
Ginny recieves a letter from her eccentric Aunt Peg that tells her to get a passport, a one-way ticket from New York to London, and a backpack, then go to Peg's apartment in New York where she's to pick up a package. The letter has a few rules in it too: Rule 1, take only what fits in the backpack. Rule 2, no guidebooks. Rule 3, no extra money. Rule 4, no electronics or cell phone. For Aunt Peg, this isn't exactly strange. What is strange is that Aunt Peg is dead. This letter, and the 13 additional ones she gets in the package are what Peg has left to her: an adventure across Europe and glimpses of her life.
The story of 13 Little Blue Envelopes is fantastic and imaginative and overall, a true adventure. Maureen Johnson succeeds yet again with her brilliant, yet believable characters and wonderful plot. The main character Ginny is one that teen girls can easily relate to and the other characters, no matter how small they are, are painted vividly in the reader's mind and take on a life of their own. A story part mystery, part adventure, and part coming-of-age book. I highly recommend this, and anything else Ms Johnson has written.
Ginny recieves a letter from her eccentric Aunt Peg that tells her to get a passport, a one-way ticket from New York to London, and a backpack, then go to Peg's apartment in New York where she's to pick up a package. The letter has a few rules in it too: Rule 1, take only what fits in the backpack. Rule 2, no guidebooks. Rule 3, no extra money. Rule 4, no electronics or cell phone. For Aunt Peg, this isn't exactly strange. What is strange is that Aunt Peg is dead. This letter, and the 13 additional ones she gets in the package are what Peg has left to her: an adventure across Europe and glimpses of her life.
The story of 13 Little Blue Envelopes is fantastic and imaginative and overall, a true adventure. Maureen Johnson succeeds yet again with her brilliant, yet believable characters and wonderful plot. The main character Ginny is one that teen girls can easily relate to and the other characters, no matter how small they are, are painted vividly in the reader's mind and take on a life of their own. A story part mystery, part adventure, and part coming-of-age book. I highly recommend this, and anything else Ms Johnson has written.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Tell an Author You Care Day
Happy Tell an Author You Care Day! (I'm late by 13 minutes, but we'll pretend that's not true by backdating the entry)
Okay, here's how it's going to go, I'm going to give a few shout-outs to authors first, and then I'll go into what I had planned (even when I didn't know what day it was) to post today.
Scott Westerfeld: I love your YA books. So Yesterday is my favorite, but the Midnighters series kept me up all night because I couldn't put them down. And I'm sure you know by now that everyone who has ever read the Uglies series has fallen in love with it. I personally love the langauge, and have taken on a few phrases ("bubbly" "nervous-making" etc) and my friend and I think you should write your own dictionary. Plus, I'm absolutely on pins & needles waiting for Extras. That first chapter you posted? Genius. Pure evil genius. I say evil because it's cruel to tease us and make us wait.
Justine Larbalestier: In the past week I have gotten my sister and my friend to read your Magic or Madness series because I raved about it so much. I love it to pieces. I think what I liked best about it was the way you combined two different countries in a very realistic way, and mostly because it was magic that wasn't all about saving the entire world. Sorry, Harry, but I can't believe that the entire universe lays in the hands of a single teen. Justine, you're amazing and I'm addicted to your blog (and thanks for emailing me back).
Stephenie Meyer: First off, I'm coming to see you at the book kick-off in Naperville on the 7th. The 7th of August just so happens to be my birthday and I know this one is going to be amazing and one of my best because I get a new book, get to go to this party, and get to meet you. Now that I've said that, I love how you've managed to encapture so many teens (though mostly girls I have to admit) with your fantastic writing and brilliant suspense/romance story! Your characters are what I like best about your stories, I mean, barely into the first book and I was in love with Edward. And now I'm having a hard time choosing which I like better: Edward or Jacob (though Edward's still my choice for Bella). And Bella is a great character, very realistic, even in a fantasy novel.
Norm Cowie: I think it's pretty cool that I know a twice-published author in person. Glad we were able to meet at the author fair. Okay, I love your book (I say this because I've yet to get a copy of the sequel), it is by far the funniest book I've ever read. You're hilarious and I love the plot and the characters. I love how the characters interact with each other in the plot. I hope to see you at this year's author fair too!
Maureen Johnson: Maureen, you are the lucky person who really gets cared about today. See, the post I was going to write was all about you and your books. Today I went to Barnes & Noble and bought 13 Little Blue Envelopes because I thought it was one of the best books I've read this year, and I was so close to buying the splash-proof edition of The Bermudez Triangle (next time, for sure). Then I went across the street to see if Borders had Key to the Golden Firebird, and they did, so I quickly bought it! I've said it before "Even if she [being you] wrote the most horrendous pile of sludge plot ever, I would still read it because I love Maureen Johnson and her writing" Your style is fantastic, I'm absolutely in love with it. And your characters are superb! I have to say, out of all the books of your's I've read so far (all except Devilish, that's next) I've always fallen in love with one of the guys, even if the girl didn't. You write great people.
The part I was going to do next (after telling Maureen how much I love her books & that I bought 2 today, to give me a total of 3 MJ titles) I was going to write a review of 13 Little Blue Envelopes. I'm going to make that a seperate post.
All authors, everwhere, I thank you for what you've done for me and every other reader. We appreciate you very much and more importantly, we care. Thank you!
Okay, here's how it's going to go, I'm going to give a few shout-outs to authors first, and then I'll go into what I had planned (even when I didn't know what day it was) to post today.
Scott Westerfeld: I love your YA books. So Yesterday is my favorite, but the Midnighters series kept me up all night because I couldn't put them down. And I'm sure you know by now that everyone who has ever read the Uglies series has fallen in love with it. I personally love the langauge, and have taken on a few phrases ("bubbly" "nervous-making" etc) and my friend and I think you should write your own dictionary. Plus, I'm absolutely on pins & needles waiting for Extras. That first chapter you posted? Genius. Pure evil genius. I say evil because it's cruel to tease us and make us wait.
Justine Larbalestier: In the past week I have gotten my sister and my friend to read your Magic or Madness series because I raved about it so much. I love it to pieces. I think what I liked best about it was the way you combined two different countries in a very realistic way, and mostly because it was magic that wasn't all about saving the entire world. Sorry, Harry, but I can't believe that the entire universe lays in the hands of a single teen. Justine, you're amazing and I'm addicted to your blog (and thanks for emailing me back).
Stephenie Meyer: First off, I'm coming to see you at the book kick-off in Naperville on the 7th. The 7th of August just so happens to be my birthday and I know this one is going to be amazing and one of my best because I get a new book, get to go to this party, and get to meet you. Now that I've said that, I love how you've managed to encapture so many teens (though mostly girls I have to admit) with your fantastic writing and brilliant suspense/romance story! Your characters are what I like best about your stories, I mean, barely into the first book and I was in love with Edward. And now I'm having a hard time choosing which I like better: Edward or Jacob (though Edward's still my choice for Bella). And Bella is a great character, very realistic, even in a fantasy novel.
Norm Cowie: I think it's pretty cool that I know a twice-published author in person. Glad we were able to meet at the author fair. Okay, I love your book (I say this because I've yet to get a copy of the sequel), it is by far the funniest book I've ever read. You're hilarious and I love the plot and the characters. I love how the characters interact with each other in the plot. I hope to see you at this year's author fair too!
Maureen Johnson: Maureen, you are the lucky person who really gets cared about today. See, the post I was going to write was all about you and your books. Today I went to Barnes & Noble and bought 13 Little Blue Envelopes because I thought it was one of the best books I've read this year, and I was so close to buying the splash-proof edition of The Bermudez Triangle (next time, for sure). Then I went across the street to see if Borders had Key to the Golden Firebird, and they did, so I quickly bought it! I've said it before "Even if she [being you] wrote the most horrendous pile of sludge plot ever, I would still read it because I love Maureen Johnson and her writing" Your style is fantastic, I'm absolutely in love with it. And your characters are superb! I have to say, out of all the books of your's I've read so far (all except Devilish, that's next) I've always fallen in love with one of the guys, even if the girl didn't. You write great people.
The part I was going to do next (after telling Maureen how much I love her books & that I bought 2 today, to give me a total of 3 MJ titles) I was going to write a review of 13 Little Blue Envelopes. I'm going to make that a seperate post.
All authors, everwhere, I thank you for what you've done for me and every other reader. We appreciate you very much and more importantly, we care. Thank you!
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