Reading Critically

I've realized, since I started reviewing and writing, a change in my reading. I still enjoy the same genre of books that I did years ago; I still avidly read YA. But I read it more critically.

Before, I read a book for pure enjoyment. I would like and dislike things, but I wouldn't stop and think about them or discuss them. I would like characters and I would dislike writing or feel neutral about a plot, but I wouldn't falter in my reading or criticize it to any real extent.

I do now.

When I read, I pay attention to phrasing and setting and background characters and family situations and loopholes and world building. I talk about themes and write about writing and research authors. I go in-depth.

I don't know if this stems more from reviewing or more from writing, but it's a definite change. And I think it's both a positive and negative one. So I'm gonna go Rory Gilmore on you and make a pro-con list.

Pro: I think reading critically makes me a better writer. When I discuss and form thoughts about what I like and dislike about something I read, I can deliberately embody those thoughts into my writing.

Con: Reading critically might be less fun. Instead of reading just to read, I'll always think "what if this happens" or "what if that happened" or "this scene would be better if..." or "that character should die a horrible death", etc. I never thought I'd say there'd be a time for too many thoughts, but this might be the case with some of the books I read/discuss/overthink.

But I'm glad I read more critically. I may not enjoy as many books, but I know the ones I do enjoy are for good reasons.

So what do you think? Do you read more critically than you did years ago?

Book Signings

So my book, RAE, comes out in less than two weeks. (!!!) I wanted to invite all of you to a couple of my signings.

One, I'm doing in Cleveland, OH at Joseph-Beth Bookstores on August 5th at 7pm. You can check out info here. Joseph-Beth is an awesome indie bookstore with other locations (I went to one in Cincinnati for a Lisa McMann/Cassandra Clare signing, and it was awesome.) If you're around the area, I'd love for you to come! We can even have a pre-signing coffee or something.

The second one is in PA on August 21st and it's for Bring YA to PA, which benefits Pennsylvania libraries. You can find out more info here, but a ton of awesome authors are going to be signing, such as Stephanie Kuehnert, Josh Berk, Amy Brecount White, Jeri Smith-Ready, and several others. I'll be doing a writing workshop for teen writers, which you can find out more information about (and sign up!) on the PAYA site, and then I'll be signing afterward.

I hope to see some of you guys there!

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

This book is absolutely beautiful. The main character, Lennie, is an emotional wreck after losing her sister, Bailey. She always viewed her sister as the most alive of the two - she was always wild and fierce, while Lennie preferred to stay inside with her books and music. After Bailey dies, Lennie learns to live. But that isn't a bargain she ever would have chosen to make.

Toby was Bailey's boyfriend, and Lennie can feel her presence the most when they're together - even though she feels guilty about it. Joe, on the other hand, is a new kid from Paris who makes beautiful music and teaches Lennie about love.

I can't even fully form words that are big enough or good enough or unique enough to describe this book. Lennie's poetry begins several chapters, and it's so powerful and emotional and devastating and gorgeous that I want to clip it all out of the book and carry it with me. Not that the book, in entirety, can't use the same exact adjectives - but I don't think it'd fit in my pockets.

The characters in this book are fully developed and rich in their emotions. The Sky is Everywhere doesn't hold anything back in its (very) honest portrayal of life and death. Joe and Lennie and Toby are: tragic, fractured, happy, beautiful, artistic, critical, opinionated, scared, alive. They are everything you and I have ever felt and even some things we haven't. They speak quietly and loudly. They say and think things that are complicated and confusing but real. They burrowed into my heart.

I haven't read a book this emotionally wrenching and inspiring in a long time; I will never, ever forget this novel or its characters.

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

Shiver - the first in Maggie Stiefvater's werewolf series - was good, but I didn't absolutely adore it. Linger, however, was great. It wasn't Sam and Grace, the two main characters, that made me like it so much, though.

It was Cole (a new werewolf addition) and Isabelle (the bitchy "friend" of Grace's with some serious issues) that made me keep turning and turning the pages. Their relationship was so real and raw and twisted and I loved it. I wished it was told solely in their POV instead of broken into the four parts that it was.

I'll start off stating my problems before I tell you all the good things:

Grace's relationship with her parents wasn't developed well. They always seemed like they were in the way instead of being a part of Grace's life. I understand that there are a lot of parents like that, but it's a huge stereotype in YA. It's easy to make parents absent in a book with teen characters, but there are millions of teens out there who have an actual relationship with their mothers and/or fathers and I'm sick of seeing it ignored. Not that I haven't done the exact same thing in some of my own plots, but it's something I was very aware of in this book. Grace's parents were annoying and condescending and absent, and it was pointed out several times. I never saw any depth behind them. None of it seemed realistic to me.

And on another note (wow, my puns are horrible), Sam's guitar playing seemed like something that was just thrown in to make his character more interesting. He'd be his overly sensitive self one minute and then whip out a guitar and strum some chords the next. But it wasn't done in a natural way.

I just don't think I'm crazy about Sam and Grace. There are parts of Shiver and Linger where I enjoyed their relationship. I loved that Sam worked at a bookstore and collected paper cranes; those kind of details make his character more interesting. But, as a whole, S&G didn't intrigue me.

Cole and Isabelle did. They really, really did. Cole was sarcastic and bitter and Isabelle was bitchy and tragic. They clashed and fought and yelled, but they were perfect for each other in a completely imperfect way. I couldn't get enough of either of them.

I feel like Linger is darker than it's predecessor, so I think a lot of readers will have differing opinions on their favorite. Personally, I need a little touch of the more realistic and darker side of things, and Linger gave me that.

So while I had some issues with it, Linger was a great novel. Maggie Stiefvater knows how to write a story, and my overall opinion is definitely a positive one.

Into the Wild by Sarah Beth Durst

Rapunzel's daughter, Julie, has grown up in the real world - but her family has dinner parties with Snow White's seven dwarves and her grandmother has to protect anyone from making wishes in the wishing well. When Rapunzel left The Wild (where all fairy tales are created) with Julie as just a baby bump, all of it's creatures were able to escape. The Wild is now contained, of all places, under Julie's bed, shriveled into obedience.

But then someone makes a wish. And The Wild is hungry.

I love fairy tales. Love, love, love them. I thought this was a pretty refreshing retelling, reading like it's own fairy tale but jumbling all the classic characters together. Rapunzel and Snow White and Cinderella and Goldilocks and Jack with his beanstalk; they all took part in Julie's storyline inside The Wild.

The Wild itself is creepy. It's voracious and starving and manipulative. It has a mind of it's own, but needs people to complete it's sick, twisted games. It's kind of awesome. The idea of something that should be inanimate having conscious thought is slightly terrifying, but wickedly cool. It gave a darker twist to all the classic fairy tales, which I loved.

If you like retellings, you'll probably enjoy this one. It reminded me of a younger, more milder version of the movie Brothers Grimm. Except there's no Heath Ledger.

Going Bovine by Libba Bray

Libba Bray is a hands-down fantastic writer, but I wasn't 100% sold on Going Bovine. I love the premise: a teenager gets diagnosed with mad cow disease and goes on an adventure that involves a punk angel, a yard gnome, and mardi gras. It sounds just crazy and quirky enough to make me completely interested.

But it might have been just a little too crazy and quirky. And it takes a lot for me to say that. Fade to Blue by Sean Beaudoin was the weirdest book I've ever read, but Going Bovine came in at a close second. I enjoyed it while I read it, but trying to piece together depth and plot made my mind look like the inside of a Scrabble bag. But that might have been part of the point. The reader has no idea what's real and what's imagination, and really, neither does the main character. Regardless of the point, it made for a slower read.

But wow, the writing. There are hundreds and hundreds of quotable lines from this book. I feel like I could flip to any single page and find something completely and mind-blowingly brilliant. I wish I could live inside Libba Bray's mind for a day/year.

This book won the Printz award - "The Michael L. Printz Award is an annual award in the United States for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature." So says Wikipedia. And I agree. Libba Bray is a master of words and definitely deserves the Printz award. But there are things in this book that I question, question, question, and I'm not sure if I like or dislike that. It's hard to completely let go of plot and understanding and let yourself just hear Cam's story. It takes a lot of imagination, which Bray very obviously has.

I absolutely loved parts of this book. I loved the gnome and I loved the feathers and I loved the spontaneity. But it was all over the place. Sometimes I love that (Alice in Wonderland) and sometimes I want more depth. In this case, it was the latter. It was such a serious subject but it was also taken very lightly. I expected more.

So, while I absolutely loved the writing, I think Going Bovine is for a certain kind of reader. Not everyone's going to love it, but a hell of a lot of people are (obviously, since it won the Printz.) I'm on the neutral positive side.

July's Epic Contest

The winner of the epic June contest, which includes a Buffy tshirt, Bloody Jack, the Labyrinth movie or soundtrack, and a $10 $15 starbucks card goes toooo...Linda! She was the 47th person to enter and Random.org decided 47 was the way to go. Congrats, Linda! I've emailed you.

July's contest is $40 worth of YOUR choice of books. You can choose any you want, as long as it's $40 including shipping. (B&N gives orders over $25 free shipping, so that's a smart flippin' choice unless you want to support a local indie.) There are also stores that ship overseas, like Better World Books. So you can still enter if you don't live in the U.S.

Just fill out the form below. :)