Tag: books

Reading: 2013 In Review

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I read some books this year. Check them out.

  1. Peter and the Starcatchers  – Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson
  2. Forgotten – Catherine McKenzie
  3. Guitar Notes  – Mary Amato
  4. Just One Day – Gayle Forman
  5. The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight  – Jennifer E Smith
  6. Splintered – A.G. Howard
  7. A Visit from the Goon Squad  – Jennifer Egan
  8. The Wrap-Up List  – Steven Arntson
  9. Drama – Raina Telgemeier
  10. Eleanor & Park  – Rainbow Rowell
  11. Attachments – Rainbow Rowell
  12. Who Done It?  – ed. by Jon Scieszka
  13. Requiem – Lauren Oliver
  14. Anya’s Ghost – Vera Brosgol
  15. Friends with Boys – Faith Erin Hicks
  16. War at Ellsmere – Faith Erin Hicks
  17. Trickets – Kirsten Smith
  18. Graffiti Moon – Cath Crowley
  19. The One and Only Ivan – Katherine Applegate
  20. The Geography of Girlhood  – Kirsten Smith
  21. Where’d You Go, Bernadette?  – Maria Semple
  22. This is What Happy Looks Like – Jennifer E Smith
  23. Winger – Andrew Smith
  24. Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong – Faith Erin Hicks & Prudence Shen
  25. You Look Different in Real Life – Jennifer Castle
  26. Death, Dickinson, and the Demented Life of Frenchie Garcia – Jenny Torres Sanchez
  27. All the Summer Girls – Meg Donohue
  28. Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin – Liesl Shurtliff
  29. The Moon and More – Sarah Dessen
  30. Blankets – Craig Thompson
  31. The Book of Broken Hearts – Sarah Ockler
  32. Doll Bones – Holly Black
  33. The Next Best Thing – Jennifer Weiner
  34. The Engagements – J. Courtney Sullivan
  35. Uses for Boys – Erica Scheidt
  36. Don’t Turn Around – Michelle Gagnon
  37. Starglass – Phoebe North
  38. In the Bag – Kate Klisse
  39. Wild Awake – Hilary T. Smith
  40. When You Were Here – Daisy Whitney
  41. The Longest Holiday – Paige Toon
  42. The Infinite Moment of Us – Lauren Myracle
  43. The Beginning of Everything – Robyn Schneider
  44. Fangirl – Rainbow Rowell
  45. The Vow – Jessica Martinez
  46. The History of You & Me – Amanda Grace
  47. Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn
  48. Monster on the Hill – Rob Harrell
  49. Johnny’s GIrl – Paige Toon
  50. Horde – Ann Aguire
  51. Will & Whit – Laura Lee Gulledge
  52. Spring Awakening – Steven Sater
  53. Little Fish – Ramsey Beyer
  54. Year One – Ramsey Beyer
  55. Battling Boy – Paul Pope
  56. The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
  57. The Reece Malcolm List – Amy Spalding
  58. Going Vintage – Lindsey Leavitt
  59. Belly Laughs: The Naked Truth about Pregnancy and Childbirth – Jenny McCarthy

Though not a published book, I’m also counting my friend Joe’s adult fiction manuscript because it was wonderful, and is currently in search of an agent. So, 60 books! Yay!

Some observations: 

If I like an author, I will immediately read everything else they’ve written (or illustrated, in regards to graphic novelists).

Speaking of, this was the year of graphic novels for me. And, not surprisingly, YA books. For the library, I’m on the summer reading booklist committee, so I have to read a bunch to see what might be a great fit for our list. Thus, quite a few listed. I might not have read them on my own, so I’m glad I was asked to check them out. And that led to my newfound love of coming-of-age graphic novels.

It’s really neat looking at my list and seeing friends on it (hi, Panera crew). And books my agent represents. And books my editor edited. So proud!

All said, my adult reading was very light this year. Whoops? I wondered what my ratio was, so I’ve decided to make a pie chart for my 2013 reads. Observe!

piechart

Fiction: 12, Non-fiction: 1, YA: 30, MG: 4, GN: 11, Play 1

I guess to make up for this, the two books i’m currently reading are both non-fiction.

I’m happy to say that i’ve enjoyed all books read this year. Some I absolutely adored and will remain top books in my heart for a while.

And now, I look forward to what 2014 will bring!

What were your reading habits for 2013? Read anything great that you think I should check out? Let me know – I love recommendations! 

Books That Stick With You

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There’s a meme going around Facebook that asks you to list the top 10 books that have stuck with you. They don’t have be classics, they’re just books that mean something to you, or are memorable personally to you. My friend asked for mine, and I obliged, but as I started listing them, I wanted to write more. I wanted to explore why the books mean so much to me.

So that’s what this blog is for, right? RIGHT!

So here are 10 books that have stuck with me. (There are probably more; these are just ones I adore, and have read 2+ times. They’re in category order, kind of.)

  1. The Giver by Lois Lowry. I read this book originally in 4th or 5th grade, when it was assigned to our class. It was something completely different than the Sweet Valley Kids books I was reading. It opened my eyes to new realms and new ideas and the aching children have when they want to learn something new and break free. I devoured it twice, then asked the school librarian for everything else Lois Lowry wrote. I read it all.
  2. The Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling. I realize i’m cheating here and listing an entire series, but come on. I can’t choose just one (though, if forced, I’ll say either the 3rd, 4th, or 7th). Though I didn’t start the series until I left for college, when Goblet of Fire was released, I still held these books so close. They were unlike a series I’d ever followed before. I was there at midnight getting the next book. I was there opening night for the movies. And I was there, at the bookshop I worked at, playing Hermione when The Half-Blood Prince was released. And you better believe I already have them lined up in our future child’s bedroom.
  3. If I Stay by Gayle Forman. I read this book on a plane ride from Orlando to Long Island. I took time off from seeing family to finish the last few pages. I cried like a baby. This book is just devastatingly beautiful in so many ways. And I’d like to, personally, give it credit for pushing me to write YA novels. After reading it, I knew I wanted to write something, too. (Also, I adore Where She Went as much as If I Stay.)
  4. The Fault in our Stars by John Green. I read this in one teary-eyed sitting. It’s wonderful, everyone already knows that. Let’s move on.
  5. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. Another obvious one. This is one of my all-time favorite books. It means so much to me, that my copy is barely held together. I hug it occassionally. Ahem.
  6. Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld. I read Prep in college with my friend Lindsay. I didn’t expect much from it, but something was urging me to read it. And I’m so glad I did. To this day, many of the lines, and the feelings I got from the lines, still stick with me. There’s especially one quote, where Lee’s friend asks, in regard to Lee’s crush, “What kind of a person is named ‘Cross Sugarman’?” that Lin and I asked one another regularly, whenever we liked a person that let us down. We used Cross Sugarman to symbolize all of the messy people that came before the people we ended up marrying.
  7. Laughter on the 23rd Floor by Neil Simon. This is a play, but no matter. In high school, when I was deep in my drama obsession, I read everything by Neil Simon. It started with Brighton Beach Memoirs (which almost made this list!), which I adored immensely (to the point that I scouted out an out-of-print copy of Broadway Bound, the third part of the Eugene trilogy) and then kept going. I now own all of the collected works. Laughter, though, stands as my favorite. I love the comradery of the writers. I love the jokes that still, years and many reads later, make me laugh. And I love the feeling I get every time I read the last, wonderful life. I directed scenes from it in high school, and to this day, I still smile whenever I see my director’s notes in my very worn copy.
  8. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss. This is probably the most surprising choice, because it’s not a book I talk about frequently, but oh is it one I love. It has two painful stories that intertwine, full of yearning and life. When they merged at the end, I couldn’t handle it. Truly, a beautiful book.
  9. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. I love this book. So much. The writing (though translated) is outstanding. The tone and feel of everything is beautifully memorable. I can picture myself in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. I see myself with Daniel on his wondrous (and scary) journey. It’s a book about literature, and I can get behind that. I bought the two sequels (The Angel’s Game and The Prisoner of Heaven) the day they came out, and I ache for the final book. ACHE!
  10. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Another obvious one. Every time I re-read Gatsby I get something new out of it. It’s about drive and passion and the American Dream, but also? It’s a story about love. And, man, do I love it.

BONUS! It’s a short story, so I’m not counting it, but “The End of the Affair” by David Sedaris (found in his book Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim) will forever hold a place in my heart. If it wasn’t so long, I would have had it read during our wedding ceremony, it’s that good. Because like Sedaris, I think love is internal, and doesn’t need to be shown in a dramatic fashion. Sometimes holding hands is enough.

[Books that ALMOST made the list: Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff (such a beautiful, gothic read), Ragtime by EL Doctorow (made me love historical fiction), Assassination Vaction by Sarah Vowell (made me fascinated with presidential history), A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (I love complicated reads like this one), The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (because of course), The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson (beautiful and heartbreaking), and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series by Ann Brashares (because Lin and I share a traveling shirt to this day).]

Books, Books, Books

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I haven’t mentioned books I’ve enjoyed in a while, so I figure it’s time. Here are four vastly different books that I’ve recently read and quite enjoyed.

The Engagements by J. Courtney Sullivan (Fiction)

It’s no secret that I love J. Courtney Sullivan’s books. I mean, I picked Maine as the second book for my library’s book club. So, obviously, I was excited by her third novel, which differs greatly from her first two. The Engagements follows a few stories over a decade – there’s one about the woman copywriter who coined the phrase “A diamond is forever” (this part is loosely based on fact, which was absolutely fascinating to me), and then four other stories that feature different types of relationships at different stages. There’s the elderly couple who’ve been together for ages, the down-on-his-luck man who  wants to provide a nice Christmas for his wife and kids, the woman scorned by her fiancé, the couple with a child who refuse to get married. As the book progresses, the stories slowly come together in a beautifully, unforced way that made me smile. It’s not always a happy book, but it’s a realistic book that showcases how there are many different kinds of love and marriages, and how the diamond ring has come to symbolize it all.

When You Were Here by Daisy Whitney (YA contemporary)

Like Sullivan, I’m a fan of Whitney’s books. When You Were Here, though, proved to be my favorite. Right before high school graduation, Danny loses his mother to cancer. He’s now alone with just a lifetime of memories and questions unanswered. So he leaves everything behind, and travels to Tokyo, where his mother was receiving treatment, and unwraps not just her hidden life, but also the lesson that how he should live may be answered in how she died. The book was absolutely moving and lovely, and I can’t recommend it enough.

Horde by Ann Aguirre (YA post-apocolyptic)

I started the Razorland Trilogy when it was first released, so obviously i’m thrilled that last month the conclusion finally landed in my hands. I feel like this is a series no one talks about, but should. It’s a very gritty, very intense post-apocolyptic world where Deuce, Fade, Striker, and Tegan live. They battle zombie-like mutated creatures and try to save themselves and their loved ones daily. That was book 1. In book 3, they’re still fighting, and though they’ve suffered many hardships and loses, and though their spirits are dying, Deuce knows she needs the courage and strength to lead an army against a horde of these creatures. I realize this all sounds far fetched, and even I was weary to read it at the beginning, but believe me – this series is utterly fantastic. And the ending did not disappoint at all.

Will & Whit by Laura Lee Gulledge (graphic novel) 

Such a lovely book! Will is a creative girl, who creates lamps out of old objects to battle her fear of the dark. When a hurricane hits, she has to battle not just her darkness fear, but also her own personal demons left behind from a family tragedy, to make it out okay. Quite simply…beautiful drawings, beautiful story. A great book for anyone looking to (pun time) shed some light on a personal situation.

Read: THE VOW

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Every now and then a new YA book comes around that’s different from all the others. I get really excited when that happens. Last night, I finished The Vow by Jessica Martinez, and not only is this book completely new, it’s also beyond good and, I personally think, beyond necessary.

No one has ever believed that Mo and Annie are just friends. How can a guy and a girl really be best friends?

Then the summer before senior year, Mo’s father loses his job, and by extension his work visa. Instantly, life for Annie and Mo crumbles. Although Mo has lived in America for most of his life, he’ll be forced to move to Jordan. The prospect of leaving his home is devastating, and returning to a world where he no longer belongs terrifies him.

Desperate to save him, Annie proposes they tell a colossal lie—that they are in love. Mo agrees because marrying Annie is the only way he can stay. Annie just wants to keep her best friend, but what happens when it becomes a choice between saving Mo and her own chance at real love?

The story is told by both Mo and Annie, alternating voices every other chapter, and because of that, you can see both of their struggles, and both of their willingness to risk a lot for each other. This isn’t a relationship book (though there is that), this is a friendship book. It’s about doing everything for your best friend, because you need them just as much as they need you. Because you know they’d do the same. And though their decision to marry at just 17/18 and basically lie to the government is extreme, it’s also real. Because if you could save the person you love (even platonically), wouldn’t you? How much would you risk or change yourself for someone? That’s, essentially, what the book questions. 

And there’s more, of course. There’s Annie’s past, and why she’s so determined to help Mo. There’s Mo’s past, and struggles with racism after moving to a very small, very white city. There’s the idea of belonging to a place and fitting in, and what it’s like when the place you used to call home isn’t any more. 

Jessica creates a very believable story, with an amazing cast of characters. Annie and Mo jump off the page, and you find yourself cheering them on even when you know it’s a stupid decision. Because they’re so well-drawn and real. The supporting characters are just as good – the co-workers at the ice cream shop where Annie and Reed (her chance at real love) work. Annie’s parents. Mo’s parents and vulnerable but strong younger sister. 

Though Jessica does a great job creating these characters, and showing the reasons behind every decision, what she does best is create an atmosphere. You feel the town around them. You understand Mo’s fears. You get a look at Jordan and know why he won’t fit in there anymore, even though he didn’t, originally, fit in America, either.

And, on a personal note, Jessica manages to gently address the racism issue so wonderfully. She could have gone extreme, she could have ignored it completely, but she walks this wonderful line that’s true. I say it’s personal because as someone with an Indian husband, I’ve seen the looks he’s received, I’ve heard the comments. I know he’s the only ethnic person in a room sometimes. She wrote what he’s gone through. (Though not the immigration issue; he’s a resident here, thankfully.) 

I highly recommend The Vow if you’re looking for something new and powerful. It’ll take you by surprise. It’ll make you cringe and cheer and weep. And it’ll piece you all back together with its power and beauty. 

Pirating Books

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Fun fact: libraries provide free books! I know, right? It’s a bit crazy. You can walk in, grab books, check them out, and leave. And it’s free! No one will stop you! You just have to return them after 3ish weeks (depending on the library). Libraries even have free eBooks! And movies! And CDs!

I know the above is a well-known fact, but sometimes I think people forget. They forget that libraries are there to simply provide free information (such as, you know, books). I bring this up because I keep hearing about the pirating of books, and it makes me a bit angry. Apparently people are ripping eBooks (or even scanning paper books – what!) and putting them online for people to download for free. This isn’t a new thing, it’s been around for a while, but It’s a bit disheartening to say the least. And I don’t say this from an author’s perspective (an author who’s afraid her books will be pirated, too), but from a librarian’s perspective. Because, hello, we’re here to give you free books!

So here are reasons people are pirating:

I want the book, but can’t afford it. Understood. It’s pricey buying every book you want. Does a friend have it that you can borrow? If not, go to the library!

But it’s checked out at the library. Put it on hold, it’ll come back soon! Or, does your school library have it? See if they do. (And if it’s checked out – put it on hold! Twice the chance of getting it quickly.)

But I want it NOW!! Does the library have an eBook of it? An audio book? See! Perhaps that can hold you over until your copy is in. (Also, browse the shelves. There are hundreds of other titles that may keep you busy until the book is in.)

But my library doesn’t carry it. Talk to a librarian, and ask them to order it. We love hearing recommendations. We can’t read everything, so perhaps we might miss a title. Let us know.

But it’s only released as an eBook. A lot of libraries have eBooks now. I know mine does. Check.

But how is getting it from the library different than pirating it? The author still doesn’t make any money. Wrong. First off, authors don’t like when you pirate their books. Period. Second, in libraries, check out statistics are very important. If a book has a lot of holds, there’s a strong chance we’ll purchase more copies. (We just put in a large order for Cuckoo’s Calling, obviously. And even though it’s an older book, my library just received a new batch of Looking for Alaskas because the hold list was just that long.) Also, if we see a book by a specific author is getting checked out often, we’ll definitely order their future books because we know readers want them. Supporting us supports the authors.

A main goal of a library is to give the patron what they want. If you come in and want a book, we’ll do everything we can to get it to you. You may have to wait a few days, but you’ll get it. You’ll see.