Holidays

Merry Christmas! I'm taking a little break over the holidays, but I'll be back January 1st. :)

While you're busy drinking hot chocolate, here's what to read over your holiday break. If you don't have snow for Christmas, you can at least imagine it with these books:

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George.

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa. The Winter Court is rather...festive.

The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean

Shiver and Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

And just for fun, the Bloody Jack series by L.A. Meyer is one of my favorites. I'll definitely be picking them back up again before college starts again (agh) and I have no time for things like reading or sleeping. They're fast reads and totally perfect for reading over school or work breaks, when you can read just to read - as opposed to lighter Shakespearean works. >:o

What are some of your favorite holiday reads?

A Blue So Dark by Holly Schindler

This book was completely, absolutely refreshing.

The premise is simple: it's a contemporary about a girl whose mother has schizophrenia. But that's the only thing that's simple about this book. It was complex, detailed, alive.

The writing was beautiful. It made me feel, which is the best kind of writing. It's the kind that makes me stop while I'm reading, just to trace my fingers over a sentence that sounds like magic. And the details. Every little thing about this book created this family structure that was absolutely real.

It made me step back and look at life, and the state of the mind, in a completely different perspective. And art, especially. Because I've always been someone who has absolutely cherished art, in every form. And the idea that Aura would subdue her love of art, out of fear of schizophrenia, is absolutely tragic. It's a terrifying book in that way; it's dark, completely dark, and it pushes you to look at someone - at anything - beyond what you see.

It's just one of those books that completely surprises you. One of those books that gets under your skin in a completely uncomfortable and comfortable way. I wanted to hug and hurl the words. They were so heartbreaking but so heartwarming.

I just highly recommend this book. If it had ears, I would serenade it. It's an absolute gem and if there's one book of 2010 that I could make everyone read, it would probably be this one.

Forget You by Jennifer Echols

It's hard enough being in a car crash, but it's made even harder for Zoey by not knowing who she really has feelings for - the guy she's supposedly dating, or bad boy Doug, who was also in the crash. Mixed with the family problems she's having - her mother trying to commit suicide and her father being basically absent - her life isn't necessarily fun.

I had high expectations for this one. The premise reminded me of Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin, which I absolutely loved. And I've heard amazing things about Jennifer Echols. I very much agree that her writing is great.

However, I had some issues with this book. I'm very much a character-driven person. Characters have to be real and fleshed out for me to be able to enjoy and commit to a book. And while I thought Doug was kind of dreamy - he seemed particularly real to me - I couldn't stand the main character. She was very ignorant and naive, which is frustrating as a reader. I wanted to scream at her because as a reader I very much knew what was going on. And when it takes a character too long to come to the same conclusion as you, it can weigh down the book. Zoey just didn't seem real. There were scenes that contradict that statement, absolutely, but as a whole I couldn't connect with her. An excuse could be that she hit her head. Really hard. But I feel like her character should have had more...moreness. I can understand how she could feel how she feels, logically (especially the way her family is), but the words didn't bring that across to me.

That's not to say other readers won't be able to connect with her. And Jennifer Echols truly is a good writer. I'll definitely be giving her other books a try; it was just personal issues I had with the MC that drove me to not loving it.

I went in with high expectations, though, and the beginning chapter I thought was great, which might have contributed to my character issue. That said, this book definitely has fans and will find more, but it wasn't completely for me. I would recommend reading it for Doug, though. He reminded me of Jess from Gilmore Girls, which is totally win in my book.

Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton

Ellie starts seeing monsters - the kind that wouldn't fit under your bed. But, eventually, she finds out they're not monsters - they're reapers. Which is a whole lot worse, because they don't just kill you: they drag your soul to hell. Fun times. And then a (hot) boy shows up, Will, and tells her she's the one who has to fight them. And they really want to kill her.

Ellie's pretty BA. I love female characters who kick butt, and she definitely accomplishes that. (With angelic khopesh swords, to boot, which automatically bumps up her BA level.) She's sassy and fun, which pretty much describes this entire book.

The fight scenes were sometimes repetitive, but the book was really action-filled, which I liked. There wasn't a boring page in this one. It almost reminded me of Percy Jackson in that way - a lot of fight scenes, but the constant action engages you through the whole story. It made the scenes where there wasn't fighting - just character-driven scenes - much more intense and focused.*

But what I really have to rave about is the worldbuilding. Because the way the reaper - um, society?* - is set up is kind of brilliant. Some are ugly, some are gorgeously ethereal, but they're all deadly terrifying. And Ellie's role in the reaper world is also totally intriguing. I loved the idea of this book, when I first heard about it, but I liked the execution even more - which is rare.

I would kill at least twenty reapers to get the sequel right now.

*Lacking a better word here. Need more coffee.

* I use - a lot of dashes - in this - post - don't make fun - of me.

Book Hopping

So I've been having this problem recently where I start a million books at once and it feels very promiscuous. I've always been a one-book-at-a-time kind of girl, but recently one isn't enough. I don't support polygamy or anything, but sometimes seven > one. So I can read different genres and hop to different storylines when I'm in different moods.

I would rather read a fantasy book when I'm in the mood for a fantasy book, instead of finishing the contemporary I'm reading when I'm not in the mood to read it. A lot of my opinion - and, I believe, everyone's - depends on the mood they're in and their personal life/relevance to the book. So if I'm going to like a book more because I'm in the mood to like it, as a reviewer I think it's important to listen to that. And sometimes I'm terribly sick of fantasy and want to read historical fiction. I used to finish whatever fantasy book I was reading and THEN read the historical fiction, but lately I've just been stopping halfway and picking something else up.

My only worry is that A) I won't finish them all. Because a lot of the time the books I'm reading are good, I'm just not in the mood for them. Which goes along with B) I'll be pulled out of the storyline. When I stop reading a book and go back it doesn't have the same effect.

So do I be whoreish with my book-reading ways or stick to one book? What do you guys do?

Holiday Giveaway

Over at the WhoRuBlog, Liza is hosting a holiday readathon. For some festive cheer, several blogs are holding giveaways in the hopes that you lovelies will be inspired to join in and read some books and do a little good for the world.

So I'm giving away all six Louder than Words Books.

There's Alexis, who has an internet relationship with an older man. There's Hannah, who cuts and suffers from a mental illness. There's Rae, who has anxiety disorder. There's Marni, who can't stop pulling out her hair. There's Chelsey, whose father was murdered. There's Emily, who was diagnosed with West Nile. Six real teens, six real stories. You can check out the website for more information.

To enter, you can do one of two things. You have to fill out the form below and choose to either tell me 1) what you would write about if you were a LTW author. I will be the only one who sees this and I would love to hear your stories. But since it's personal, I'm giving a second option if you'd rather not share. 2) why you want to win these books.

Just fill out the form by the 5th at midnight, when the readathon is over. There's also a Twitter party on Sunday, 9PM EST for you readathoners. You can sign up for the readathon by clicking here and you can also read more about the Twitter party on the same page.

Happy Holidays, guys! :)