This book event recap is dedicated to Flannery. All three of us have read Ender's Game, but there is no doubt, Flannery is the biggest fan of Orson Scott Card's books (well, some of them anyway). She was the one who told me about the event, in fact. As it turned out, Card actually lives in Greensboro, NC, aka the middle of nowhere. I simply had to go see him, weather considerations disregarded, if not for Flannery, then due the fact that there is hardly any chance of any celebrity author visiting my local Barnes & Noble ever again.

I showed up at the store about 30 minutes early (you know, just in case) and at first was concerned whether the event would have enough attendees. I shouldn't have worried. There was a pretty decent crowd of about 50 people. Card must have a very strong fan base as there were people who had come all the way from DC and Atlanta just to see him, in spite of the hurricane Sandy. Overall I thought this turned out to be a pretty neat signing (not that I have anything to compare it to).

OSC himself came a tad early too and started off by signing the books of the people who were already there. First, I thought he was taller than I had expected, and second, he was a very confident author. He took the reins into his hands right away and acted like he'd done this signing thing a million times before (and he probably has), needing no introduction or help from the store's staff, and guiding and entertaining attendees like a pro.

Card was very chatty and managed to have a small talk with just about every person at the event. He was even able to identify my accent after me saying just three words ("to Flannery, please"). He has a rather elaborate set of signing rules though. If you are planning to attend an event with him, you might want to acquaint yourself with these rules posted on his website beforehand.

Card's wife was there as well;  he talked of her a lot and during his speaking part she was the one who often kept him on track. He likes to go off on tangents while answering questions.

As 7 pm rolled in, the event started.

1) OSC began his talk with the movie news. Ender's Game, the movie, is a sure deal. It will be released in November of 2013. Card joked that his involvement with the movie ended the moment he cashed his check. However, he did have a small role in the production - he did a very short voice-over of a pilot making an announcement. He did this during his visit to the  movie set where he met some actors starring in the adaptation - Harrison Ford (Colonel Hyrum Graff) and Asa Butterfield (Ender). Card was very much impressed with the actors, commenting on how shy and quiet Ford was in person and how smart of an actor Asa was. He said the scene he participated in isn't in his book, but that it's still very powerful. In fact, there are many differences between his book and the movie adaptation, but he is not bothered by that at all. Card expressed his hope that the movie would do well, because only in that case can more of his books could be adapted to screen. In his words, it is customary to blame authors for the failures of movie adaptations of their books and to punish them by not giving their works another chance. (I bet Philip Pullman knows all about that. No more chances for him after the failure of The Golden Compass, whereas Stephen King's movies are being adapted again and again.) Card encouraged all of us to go see the movie when it comes out.

Next OSC took questions from the audience.

2) On a sequel to Earth Unaware (co-written with Aaron Johnston): There definitely will be one. Originally this series was conceived as a series of pre-Ender comics. OSC and Aaron had all the stories planned and laid out, but later, while pitching this project to the publishers, they managed to sell it as a series of novels. Earth Unaware uses Card's story but was written entirely by Aaron Johnston. Card was very complimentary of Aaron, saying that he imitated his own writing style perfectly, not in terms of vocabulary, but in terms of style. He can't wait to read Johnston's very own book.

3) On if it's okay for a 7-year old to read Ender's Game:  Card said that in his opinion when it comes to YA, the perfect age to read any YA book is at the age of the protagonist -2 years. Ender's Game started when Ender was 5-6. Most likely a 4-year old won't find it interesting, but for a 7-year old this book would be perfectly acceptable, as long as the story itself is engaging enough for him/her.

Card was supposed to promote his newest book at this event, his YA novel Ruins, but he barely even spoke about it. However, he talked about why Ender's Game is considered adult and Ruins - YA, even though he wrote them both using the same language. He said because there was a section of Ender's Game written from an adult's POV, his publishers considered it adult.

4) Writing advice: Don't just want to be a writer, be a writer and write. Card said that every aspiring writer has to write about 10,000 pages of drivel before becoming a real writer. If you are lucky, you write them before your fist book is published. In his case, he is still occasionally writing drivel because he hasn't reached that mark yet. So if you see nonsense in his books, attribute it to that:)

According to Card, writing never gets easy. Every project presents its own set of challenges.

He also has an explanation for "writer's block." You experience it when you are subconsciously not satisfied with where your story is going. During times when you'd do just about anything  BUT write, your mind encourages you to find a new, better path for your story.

5) On why he chose to write such a dark story about child soldiers (meaning in Ender's Game): When the idea of this story came to Card, the concept of a "child soldier" didn't exist, at least not as it does now. So that idea wasn't the core of the story. Rather, Ender's Game was conceived after reading a book about pilots in WWII who got shot down by enemies because they didn't think to watch out for other planes approaching them from behind, above and below. These pilots only looked straight ahead. That's why Card started thinking about 3-dimensional combat in space. In his mind, soldiers had to be very young to be successful at such a training. OSC was only 16 when he thought of this idea, but he found an actual story involving aliens to incorporate it into when he was 23.

6) On his future writing: Here Card got very personal. He said that 2 years ago he had a stroke and it made him think about his whole approach to writing. At the time he had 2 outstanding book contracts and he realized that if he died his wife would have to return both advances and that would eat up all of his life insurance. So now he only accepts money for the books he has already written. Even though financial considerations are always at the forefront of his writing decisions, he never writes books he doesn't believe in.

Then more book signing and picture taking.

All in all this was a very interesting event. Card was very comfortable with the crowd, very sensitive to how the public was reacting to his stories, so at no moment was he boring. He is an engaging speaker and fortunately he left his political opinions I strongly disagree at the door, making this event more enjoyable.

Welcome to another Readventurer Wall of Books! This time, we're spotlighting YA literature from the United Kingdom. My first stop for sources was one of our favorite bloggers, Jo from Wear the Old Coat, who was kind enough to reorder her Goodreads shelves for me. I mined her books and asked her and another Brit blogger/writer (Anna from Anna Scott Jots) to give us their top ten UK YA books, which I'll share in one moment. While looking online for books to fill the wall, I also found a site called UKYA, which seems to have a rather comprehensive set of reviews on young adult from across the pond but also covers books from other areas/genres. 

By far, the most interesting aspect of putting this particular wall together was the fact that there seems to be a far greater number of male YA authors, at least the proportion of male authors to female authors in this wall is much greater than the prior ones. (Aussie YA and short YA fiction) In addition, the covers of UK YA book seem to be much more appealing than US covers, and by that I mean that they have actually interesting covers rather than some random girl in a dress or a guy and a girl caressing or some other cover that we keep seeing over and over and over again in the States. Just scan quickly down the wall and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about. These are covers I would pick up, for sure, though I also know that the US covers I am talking about are (hopefully) not marketed to me. (but I also think they are alienating 99% of male readers with those types of covers) 

Here's what Jo had to say about her top ten reads:

Top 10  UKYA (with a few extra ones) In no particular order…

His Dark Materials Series by Philip Pullman --  This is my favourite UKYA series. Actually, this is my favourite YA series. Actually, this is my favourite series. Just thinking about these books makes me lose my mind. 

Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman -- I’ve only read the first book of this series but it’s stuck with me like no other.  A terrifying and refreshingly different take on dystopia.  (Also, read Boys Don’t Cry)

Losing It, edited by Keith Gray -- This is an anthology of short stories written by an amazing array of well-known British YA authors on losing your virginity. Sometimes sad, sometimes hilarious, sometimes cringey, always wonderful.  

Goodnight, Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian -- I have read this book at least ten times and I will never, ever stop loving it. To me, it’s a masterpiece.

Being Billy/Saving Daisy by Phil Earle | When I Was Joe by Keren David -- Yes, ok, I know I’m cheating on this one, but if there’s something that us Brits can do well it’s gritty contemporary fiction. Both of these writers highlight what’s great about British YA that’s being written at the moment. 

The Enemy Series by Charlie Higson -- Hands down, the best zombie books I’ve read. Genuinely terrifying, brilliantly paced and wonderful characters that will just make you want to join their crew and whack adults around the noggin’ with cricket bats. 

A Swift Pure Cry by Siobhan Dowd -- It’s one of those quiet books that not many people have read/heard of but it truly should be read by everyone who loves excellent YA fiction. Actually, you should probably check out anything that Ms Dowd wrote. She was a glorious, glorious writer.

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett -- A childhood favourite of mine.  “Whatever comes," she said, "cannot alter one thing. If I am a princess in rags and tatters, I can be a princess inside. It would be easy to be a princess if I were dressed in cloth of gold, but it is a great deal more of a triumph to be one all the time when no one knows it.” Bliss.

Matilda by Road Dahl -- Oh come on, do I really need to explain to a site of book lovers why I adore this?

And no Top Ten (with a few extras) UKYA would be complete without, of course, Harry Potter by J.K Rowling. No book has even come close to this series in the way it has captured people’s imagination, got people who would never normally read to pick up a book, defined a generation and encouraged people, no matter how serious they are (or think they are), to believe in magic… even if just for a little while.   

Cheeky Addition: The Chaos Walking series by Patrick Ness -- Oh come on, Mr Ness holds dual citizenship so I’m claiming him for the purpose of this feature. This series seems to divide readers something rotten but… ahh… I know who my true friends are when their eyes fill with tears when I say “Boy Colt”.  It's spectacular. 

Anna's picks are also in no particular order and are very succinct: 

Code Name Verity -Elizabeth Wein
The Ask and the Answer - Patrick Ness
How I Live Now - Meg Rosoff
What I Was - Meg Rosoff
Solace of the Road - Siobhan Dowd
Finding Violet Park - Jenny Valentine
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole - Sue Townsend
A Monster Calls - Patrick Ness
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - JK Rowling
The Bride's Farewell - Meg Rosoff

A special note from Anna: "Sorry about all the Rosoff - I adore her :)"

The only Rosoff I've tried was How I Live Now and it was a little to incest-y for me at that particular moment. Perhaps I'll revisit it at some point.

**If you find any authors who are not from the UK, please let us know so we can replace them. We don't want to unknowingly offend anyone. Authors with dual citizenship are sometimes included in this wall as are some books that lean towards middle grade.**

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Author: Jesse Andrews
Publication Date: 3/1/12
Publisher: Abrams
[Goodreads | Amazon]

Blurb (GR): Greg Gaines is the last master of high school espionage, able to disappear at will into any social environment. He has only one friend, Earl, and together they spend their time making movies, their own incomprehensible versions of Coppola and Herzog cult classics.

Until Greg’s mother forces him to rekindle his childhood friendship with Rachel.

Rachel has been diagnosed with leukemia—-cue extreme adolescent awkwardness—-but a parental mandate has been issued and must be obeyed. When Rachel stops treatment, Greg and Earl decide the thing to do is to make a film for her, which turns into the Worst Film Ever Made and becomes a turning point in each of their lives.

And all at once Greg must abandon invisibility and stand in the spotlight.

Review:

Okay, if I would've known that this book was set in Pittsburgh, I would've read it on release day. As it turns out, while this author was in high school, presumably being hilarious, I was just down the street, playing badminton in my Catholic school uniform during free period. I had to investigate a bit further, so I checked my facebook and found that my friend Jake (who now has a luscious ponytail and who I once learned to waltz with) is facebook friends with Jesse Andrews. (like that even means anything in this day and age. I think I'm facebook friends with some people I'd be more than happy never to see again in my lifetime) Here's what went down:

It's too bad you can't see the ponytail in question but if there really was a section of the bar exam on ponytail maintenance, I'm sure Jake would ace it. I digress. This book was recommended to me by Maggie from Young Adult Anonymous as part of our She Made Me Do It feature, and I am so grateful it was because it made me ridiculously happy. There's been a lot of talk in recent weeks/months about why adults read YA literature and I've always been a detractor to the "going back to high school and high school problems" argument, but I will readily admit that my favorite part of this book was that Andrews just put Pittsburgh on the page and I felt like I was in MY high school again. The people, the neighborhoods, even the slang was spot on, though I think if anyone actually tried to legitimately incorporate Pittsburghese into a book readers would wonder if there mightn't be a colony of aliens living among us. ("Yinz all gawn dahntawn ta watch the Stillers n'at?") 

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is about Greg Gaines, a self-depracting, chubby teenage "surprise Jew" (because his name doesn't give it away) who is fringe friends with everybody but true friends with nobody, except for maybe Earl, with whom he makes movies that only the two of them watch. Told in first person, Greg's story begins when his mother informs him that Rachel, a girl he's known for years and once "dated" has been diagnosed with leukemia and he must go over to hang out with her. What follows is awkwardness, funny jokes, and eventually actual friendship.  The characters of Greg and Earl kept me entertained the entire time, and if the sense of humor in the book clicks with yours, you'll plow through it in two hours and love the experience. I'd love to see this book adapted as a film but the one thing holding it back a bit for me is Greg's self-deprecation. In the latter portion of the book, I started to get sick of Greg's constant whining about how lame and unfunny he is and his tryhard overcompensating drama got old as well, but I was ecstatic to see Earl and Rachel there to temper him out. In movie form, it might be too much for me to watch Greg try to saturate everything with humor.

The ending made my heart break a bit, especially just the realistic nature of friendships and growing up. It is so easy to form friendships in high school when most of us don't have a lot to worry about and we are forced to spend a large amount of time together. Especially when you go to high school in a city, surrounded by tons of other schools but also all sorts of things to do. When I saw Sherman Alexie at a book event the other day, he spoke about the sequel he is writing to The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. The "sequel" is actually going to be roughly the same time period, as told from the perspective of Junior's friend Rowdy, whom Alexie gets asked about all the time. The point of bringing this up is that Alexie said that the first line of the book is something like, "Everyone always talks about the ones who leave. No one ever talks about the ones who get left behind." I basically read Me and Earl right after I went to the event and I couldn't/can't stop thinking about how much I'd love to hear from Earl's point of view.  Greg mentions Earl's intelligence and there are several points during the novel where I saw glimpses of just how astute and clever Earl truly is, and it was a bit soul crushing to me to see how he was living his life, however realistic it is. (I think this is especially so considering I know of people like him and and could absolutely visualize all the settings, houses, personalities that Andrews describes so well) So Jesse Andrews, start working on Me and Someone and the Something Else from Earl's POV, mmmkay? 

Random notes: This cover kicks ass; I want to go to Pittsburgh right now.

This week was a bit low on actual book news, so this edition of Odds & Ends will be heavy on links on various... random stuff.

The "big" news of the week is that, apparently, younger Americans still read and use libraries a lot, refuting all the criers who've been telling us that literature is dying, young people are not reading, ebooks are killing publishing, etc., etc.

The other news is not much of a news item, or rather, not publishing news many of us truly care about - Penguin and Random House are in talks of a merger. But it sure became an inspiration for a great book nerd memes - #RandomPenguin and slightly less popular #PenguinHouse.

There is more random (and penguin) creativity here.

On a more serious note, you should check out these clever and thoughtful posts:

Dear Author has a great follow-up to the recent Jon Stock controversy, dissecting why the culture of authors stalking and intimidating reviewers in the name of "customer service" is wrong (yes, evidently this has to be explained again and again) - Ladysplaining the Value of A Literary Culture for Commercial Fiction.

Sarah at Clear Eyes, Full Shelves invites us to discuss the topic of the necessity of "new adult" category.

There is also a curious discussion going on in the world of fantasy lovers -Portal Fantasy: Threat or Menace?  (Portal fantasy - think Narnia, Alice in Wonderland, even Harry Potter where a character from the real world steps into a secondary fantasy world.) According to this post, literary agents participating in a panel claim that nobody accepts and publishes such stories anymore, that good portal fantasies haven't been in print for a decade.

"They explained that portal fantasies tend to have no stakes because they're not connected enough to our world. While in theory, a portal fantasy could have the fate of both our world and the other world at stake, in practice, the story is usually just about the fantasy world. The fate of the real world is not affected by the events of the story, and there is no reason for readers to care what happens to a fantasy world."

Really?! we want to exclaim, flipping through our copies of Daughter of Smoke and Bone, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making and even Dreamfever. Someone is out of touch. But read the discussion anyway. If nothing else it's a great insight of the minds of the agents.

And, speaking of literary agents, if you ever dreamed of becoming one, Pub(lishing) Crawl has advice for you - this week's How to Become an Agent, Part 1: The Way In and How to Become A Literary Agent in 2 Easy Steps. Good news: you don't have to have a fancy literary degree to become one. Bad news: prepare to work for free in the beginning.

And now, the warning of the week: Amazon or any e-reader manufacturer has every legal right to wipe out your purchased ebooks.

Every Day
Author: David Levithan
Publication Date: 8/28/12
Publisher: Listening Library
[Goodreads | Amazon | Audible]


Blurb (GR):
In his New York Times bestselling novel, David Levithan introduces readers to what Entertainment Weekly calls a "wise, wildly unique" love story about A, a teen who wakes up every morning in a different body, living a different life.

Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl. 

There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.
It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.

With his new novel, David Levithan, bestselling co-author of Will Grayson, Will Grayson, and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, has pushed himself to new creative heights. He has written a captivating story that will fascinate readers as they begin to comprehend the complexities of life and love in A’s world, as A and Rhiannon seek to discover if you can truly love someone who is destined to change every day.

Review:

Once upon a time, a high school-aged girl attempted to make lasagna for her three siblings and their parents. As both the youngest child and as someone with quite the reputation as a calamity machine of Amelia Bedelia proportions, she had a lot to prove. When her family came home and sat down to dinner, everyone remarked that the lasagna tasted...okay, but off. They asked her how she made it and she recounted the correct steps and then remarked that it took her a really long time to chop all that garlic. She used three cloves of garlic, right? Yes...well, what is a "clove" anyway? *blank stares* As it turns out, our poor lasagna-maker used three heads of garlic instead of three cloves. We ate that lasagna, and it tasted grosser with each bite, but we consumed it anyway. To me, Every Day is like eating a lasagna made with three heads of garlic, only the lasagna is a book and the garlic is agenda. 

The first thing you should know before deciding whether to read this book is that it is wangsty contemporary romance masquerading as paranormal and/or science fiction. (it isn't science fiction at all.) You cannot go into the book expecting an explanation of any of the paranormal elements in the book because you won't find any. A (that's the character's name) wakes up in a new body every day. The bodies are always the same age as A and always within the mid-Atlantic region of the US. Why the temporal and geographical bounds? No one knows. Many readers seem wowed by the existential discussions A goes through about living in a new body every day: What is it like to be genderless? What is it like to have no family? What is like to have no idea where you came from and to not have a body of your own? All of these questions are fascinating but minimally explored. Instead, A spends a day in the body of a disaffected teenage boy, falls for the boy's girlfriend in that one day, and then spends every subsequent day screwing with the lives of the bodies A inhabits by trying to get back to Rhiannon. Additionally, A is upset that Rhiannon can't see the "person" behind the ever-changing body. I mean, shouldn't everybody be attracted to a person's soul rather than their outward appearance? 

The idea behind this book is almost overwhelmingly exciting to me. I get giddy imagining the possibilities when every day is completely different and there are no repercussions for the main character. (it's quite another story for the bodies A is inhabiting) This premise has been done to some degree by Replay and Groundhog Day but the idea was tweaked a bit here. The thing is, in both of those cases, the characters experimented with doing fun and interesting things, learning skills, trying new things and A doesn't really do any of that. It is interesting that Levithan created a character who seems to have body swapped with a conscience for 16 years before it all went down the drain for a sudden infatuation. I truly cared about A's existential crisis. I could've read an entire book of just contemplation and reflection on each of the lives A encountered. Instead, the plot basically goes as follows:

A wakes up in a body. 
We learn a few things about that person.
A figures out how close Rhiannon is.
A checks email to see if Rhiannon has written.*
A figures a way the two of them can meet up.
Conversation ensues to try to get Rhiannon's on board with dating A.
Repeat.

*The asterisk is necessary to me because there is subplot about religious fanatics coming after A for possessing teenagers. I was not a fan of this storyline overall--it felt forced in that for a large portion of the novel, the only mention of this plotline was random emails from one of the bodies A inhabited that felt contrary to what we knew of the character. Then the ending, which is helped along by this plotline, went off the rails. To me, and don't forget that I am just one reader (and also representing the minority opinion), the book's pacing was solid for about three-quarters and then it drank a few too many Red Bulls. 

I'm all for diversity in YA (and all) fiction but there is a huge difference between subtly spreading your beliefs and preaching. I honestly don't know if I could be in love with someone if I had no clue what gender they would be the next day. I'd like to hope I could be accepting of that but I definitely wouldn't judge someone who couldn't. Not everyone is attracted to both genders and at times, it felt like A was treating Rhiannon as dense for not hopping right on that train. This idea definitely led to some interesting discussions with real-life friends of mine about hypothetical situations and how we would deal with x, y, and z. There was a lack of balance in the discussions in the book. 

If you want to read review after glowing review of this book, go here. There are tons to choose from. When it comes down to it, this book just didn't work for me. I love the idea of it, and Levithan's writing style wasn't the problem. My issues were with the plot and the characters. I swapped back and forth between the audiobook and the ebook and I definitely prefer the ebook. The narrator does a good ambiguously-gendered voice for A but a lot of the other voices sounded too similar and Rhiannon's voice was a bit too Valley Girl-ish for me to take seriously as a drop-everything-and-obsess love interest. 

If Levithan wrote a book entitled Sketches from a Body Jumper's Album in the style of Turgenev's Sketches from a Hunter's Album, I'm fairly positive it would be one of my favorite books. I would love to read day after day of body/life experiences. But as it is, I can't give Every Day more than 2.5/5 stars. 

Heart of Steel (Iron Seas, #2)
Author: Meljean Brook
Publication Date: 11/1/11
Publisher: Penguin
[Goodreads|Amazon]

Blurb(GR): The Iron Duke introduced the gritty, alluring adventure of the Iron Seas, where nanotech fuses with Victorian sensibilities—and steam.

As the mercenary captain of Lady Corsair, Yasmeen has learned to keep her heart as cold as steel, her only loyalty bound to her ship and her crew. So when a man who once tried to seize her airship returns from the dead, Yasmeen will be damned if she gives him another opportunity to take control.

Treasure hunter Archimedes Fox isn't interested in Lady Corsair—he wants her coldhearted captain and the valuable da Vinci sketch she stole from him. To reclaim it, Archimedes is determined to seduce the stubborn woman who once tossed him to a ravenous pack of zombies, but she's no easy conquest.

When da Vinci's sketch attracts a dangerous amount of attention, Yasmeen and Archimedes journey to Horde-occupied Morocco—and straight into their enemy's hands. But as they fight to save themselves and a city on the brink of rebellion, the greatest peril Yasmeen faces is from the man who seeks to melt her icy heart.

Review:

Last week, Noelle recommended three books to me based on my love of a song, my love of old-school girl hero fantasy, and lastly, based on my need for a mindless, no regrets sort of read.  Naturally, I jumped all over that last one.  I was promised “humor, action and adventure, some swoon for good measure and oh so much fun” with this book and I was not disappointed.  Yes, this is in fact a sequel and no, I have not read the first book.  I may have missed a few things here and there about the “rebellion” and Da Vinci and giant emotion-dampening towers and blah blah blah.

Listen, you can put away your lovingly decoupaged review notes journal right now, because keeping track of the details is not what this book is about.  This book is about fun and romance and cheesy, CHEESY lines and happily ever after.  It’s also about a nanobot-engineered badass female hero/airship Captain and her secret fictional crush who COMES TO LIFE.  Yep.  And not only that, but it turns out that he’s a hero in his own right, a feminist, and he wants nothing more than to fall in love with her.

This book has what I’d say roughly about 95% of romance novels out there* do not have: namely, love interests who are on equal footing.  They support each other, respect each other, and don’t try to parent each other (ugh, nothing annoys me more than that in a romance novel).  On the one hand, I am ecstatic to find that here, in a very traditional romance.  Previously I think I’ve only come across a pairing this balanced in fantasy (in The Queen’s Thief series or The Chronicles of Lumatere for example).  On the other hand, this all just reminds me of that Chris Rock bit about people** taking credit for things they’re just supposed to do anyway.  Your love interest is supposed to be supportive and respectful of you!  Your love interest isn’t supposed to treat you like a child and patronize you at every opportunity!  I wish this type of relationship were so much the rule that I didn’t even feel compelled to discuss it here.  But, here we are.

However, this IS a very traditional romance.  These two don’t have too many stumbling blocks or challenges, and one gets the feeling that they will of course be riding off into the sunset (on an airship, naturally) in the end.  This relationship, while remarkable in the equality of its lovers, didn’t pique my interest in any way.  I guess I just like my romances to be a bit more prickly and difficult.  So I can’t say that I’ll really remember this read in a year’s time, but hey – that was also advertised to me in the recommendation so I guess you can consider me one satisfied customer.

And despite the large number of cheesy lines, there were a few lovely ones:

“…I am not crew, but I would like to stand behind you.  Not above, not below.  To back you up, should you ever need it.”

Perfect Musical Pairing
Ed Sheeran – Kiss Me

I am choosing this song, number one, because these two take waaaaaay too long to kiss, and they basically equate kissing with falling in love in a way that completely reminds me of the lyrics here.  And number two, because this song is very sweet in a way that kind of makes me cringe if I listen to it too many times.  I can only take so many of these disco chicken reads per year, but I’m glad that I spent this year’s allotment on this one.

*Believe me, I have read a TON of romances.  My second pregnancy was basically like a 9 month haze of breeches, bodices, drawers, and corsets.  
**And yes, I know that bit isn't really about "people" in general, but I am staying well away from that can of worms.

3.5/5 Stars

No and Me
Author: Delphine de Vigan
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Publication Date: 8/3/10
[Goodreads|Amazon]

Blurb(GR): The international award-winning story of two girls from different backgrounds, united in friendship

Parisian teenager Lou has an IQ of 160, OCD tendencies, and a mother who has suffered from depression for years. But Lou is about to change her life—and that of her parents—all because of a school project about homeless teens. While doing research, Lou meets No, a teenage girl living on the streets. As their friendship grows, Lou bravely asks her parents if No can live with them, and is astonished when they agree. No’s presence forces Lou’s family to come to terms with a secret tragedy. But can this shaky, newfound family continue to live together when No’s own past comes back to haunt her?

Winner of the prestigious Booksellers’ Prize in France, No and Me is a timely and thought-provoking novel about homelessness that has far-reaching appeal.

Review:

One of my most vivid memories from childhood is the first time I realized that homelessness is a regularly occurring thing.  I think I was about five or six, and as my parents and I were climbing into our old car, a man came up and asked my father for some spare change so he could get something to eat.  My father gave him some coins but I was so shocked and devastated.  It didn’t seem like enough.  Surely this man needed immediate help!  When we got home, I went to the plastic jar where I’d been storing up loose change for months, hauled it out, and demanded that we go back and find that man so I could give it to him.  In my child’s mind, that jar was a vast fortune, capable of solving the whole situation.  My mom brushed it off and demurred, but I didn’t understand.  There was a man out there who didn’t have enough to eat and obviously that was an emergency that needed to be dealt with.  I felt anxiety for that man for months afterward, wondering where he was and what happened to him. 

In later years, when I didn’t have enough to eat, I learned that poverty is something that most people don’t want to hear about or acknowledge unless they’re living it.  I learned that it should be a source of shame for those who experience it first-hand.  I learned to hide it and pretend as much as I could that it wasn’t happening.  Now, when I’m driving in my closed up, air-conditioned car I often pass by people on the street, holding up signs asking for help.  And maybe I feel a stab, but I don’t stop.  And I try not to think about them after I’ve passed.

This book so artfully encompasses both of those points of view: the child’s and the adult’s.  Lou, the thirteen year old narrator, is a child prodigy wise beyond her years in some ways but still very immature in others.  When she begins interviewing eighteen year old No, homeless and abandoned by everyone she ever counted on, she wants to save her.  She’s old enough to know that saving No is not something that she should wish for or attempt, but she’s young enough to try to do it anyway.  She still has a bit of that belief left – that a jar of coins or a bath or a home or unconditional acceptance could solve everything. 

I think that what hits me the hardest about this story isn’t so much that Lou would try to save No, would believe that she could save No, but that No so obviously wants to be saved.  Despite knowing deep down that no amount of Lou’s help will save her, No wants it to be true.  Not just for herself, but for Lou too – it’s as if she wants to give Lou the gift of her rescuing.  And despite my years and years accrual of denial and apathy, these girls got to me too.  Even though I knew that nothing in this world is ever solved that easily, I desperately wanted it to happen.  As the story progressed and the slow but inevitable intrusion of reality set in, the sense of doom I felt really turned this quiet little book into something substantial and powerful for me.

No and Me has the kind of narration that I love best: a deeply personal voice with a narrow focus that feels all-consuming.  Lou is the very real, flawed, sympathetic person who gets to tell this story, but No is always very much there.  She may be in the background but her actions – both on and off-stage – are a huge presence in the novel.  If you’ve ever been a square peg/over-thinker/misfit (as I believe many of us readers are) then I think you’ll probably really relate to Lou:

“I’m not too keen on talking.  I always have the feeling that the words are getting away from me, escaping and scattering.  It’s not to do with vocabulary or meanings, because I know quite a lot of words, but when I come out with them they get confused and scattered.  That’s why I avoid stories and speeches and just stick to answering the questions I’m asked.  All the extra words, the overflow, I keep to myself, the words that I silently multiply to get close to the truth.”

No’s story hit me the hardest, but I loved Lou’s as well.  She’s a very closed-off and fearful person and her relationship with No (and with sweetie/layabout classmate Lucas) leads her to a very grey but fulfilling ending, which I needed after No punched me in the gut.

Delphine de Vigan’s writing is clean and subtle but powerful and I am completely impressed by the translation.  I’ve read a few translated novels this year and this one really stands out.  Every word just feels right.  That being said, this book also feels absolutely Not American which I LOVED.  I hate it when translated books are stripped of everything uniquely foreign during translation – what’s the point?  I read French and German and English and Australian and etc. books because I WANT to experience something non-American. 

This book reminds me quite a lot of Antonia Michaelis’ The Storyteller, but it’s much less brutal and much more quirky and sad.  Apparently there’s also a film!  But it’s only available overseas.  Boo.

Perfect Musical Pairing
Brand New – Sowing Season

Noelle from Young Adult Anonymous gave me this song and I matched it up with this book for her in one of our challenges.  I still think about this book every time I hear this song, which to me is about  slow healing and recovery and about inner strength.

But, while I was listening to this song (over and over, naturally) I started thinking about how much I love songs in general that have delayed and sudden crescendos (and books too...kinda like this one, for example).  And that made me think of this song:

Jimmy Eat World – Invented 

Which I think is my song for Lou and Lucas and that ending which was just perfect.

4/5 Stars

The top 25 reviewers over at Goodreads got a bit of press this week, as Forbes magazine posted an article about the diminishing importance of traditional book reviewing and marketing strategies and the growth of social media, citing Goodreads as an example.  If Goodreads can survive its own “improvements” then we tend to agree.  And we’re quite partial to #6 on that list.

Of course, it seems that the above article couldn’t be published without its obligatory counterpart – an outcry for the death of publishing at the hands of social media/amateur reviewers/self-publishing/ebooks or whoever happens to be the target this week.  This time, an article over at Pub Crawl which initially seems to downplay the exaggerated “death of the industry!!!” claims then goes on to place at least some of the blame squarely on the shoulders of readers and consumers – for not valuing books and book stores enough.  Which is interesting, because this time I (Catie) actually agree with it a bit.  Do I think that it’s important to support indie stores and to not engage in piracy?  Yes.  But it’s undeniable that the indie stores are just not able to keep up with the selection, pricing, and convenience of major online retailers.  However, I think that indie book stores do have a huge advantage because (and yes, this is obvious) they are actual, physical locations.  When I go to a lecture, book club, signing, or other book-related event, I don’t go to Amazon.  I go to my local book store or library.  And I think that’s good news.

More good news for libraries: this week in an article posted by Library Journal, Random House confirmed its stance that libraries own the ebooks purchased from Random House and are not just licensing them for use.  Which is huge, since other major publishers have announced that they will be placing lending “caps” on their licensed ebooks for libraries.  Hopefully other publishers will follow Random House’s example.

The American Library Association (ALA) released its top ten winners for teens this week, to which we collectively say: her?  What did you all think about this list?  We were a bit…underwhelmed.

There were a ton of great interviews posted this week with some of our favorite authors:

• John Green was interviewed over at Voya
  
• Sara Zarr was interviewed by Cat Clarke for The Guardian
  
• Melina Marchetta and John Marsden are part of a panel interviewed about young adult fiction over at First Tuesday Book Club

And some other exciting things:

• Neil Gaiman, Neal Shusterman, Lemony Snicket, and others will be reading Coraline aloud one chapter at a time in celebration of its tenth anniversary
  
• John Scalzi reviews The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led The Revels There for Omnivoracious
  
• Random House plans an open house at their New York headquarters for November 2nd, where for $25 readers and come and meet with publishing professionals and authors.  (Anyone going to this?  I am seriously considering it!)
  

Fans of Graffiti Moon will be very excited about this tweet:

And finally, we are saddened to report on yet another crime perpetrated against books in pursuit of home décor.  At least this one isn’t ripping out the pages, but still….  Based on the directions, it doesn’t even appear that she put any thought into which books or which passages would be forever nailed above her sleeping head!!  As a bibliophile, I gasp in dismay.

A few weeks ago, we compiled a long list of YA books under 220 pages. At the time, I was on schedule to finish my allotted 100 book goal for 2012, but I wanted to get ahead so I could be ready for the onslaught of Cybils nominees I am currently wading through until December. When I put those walls together, I try to put two descriptors/tags with each one so people can have even an inkling about what the book entails. However, when I was putting that specific wall of books together, I was so surprised to see how many "issue books" are also short YA books. I was chatting to Tatiana and Catie the other day about how I'd recently read short books about a disfigured war hero on a revenge mission, an intelligent teen stuck inside his body who might be murdered by his father, a girl kidnapped by a pedophile and made a sex slave, a kid with cerebral palsy and his new party-hard friend making a movie, and I can't say the last one because it would be a spoiler. 

You could read probably two of these books each day, and I suggest you do, as each of them has something unique to offer. Alright, maybe two a day is reaching but a few a week is definitely doable, even for slower readers. 
   

Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

I saw this book all the time, on Goodreads, on favorite lists, mentioned by authors, in a conversation about disturbing books, but I only picked it up after I put it on the wall and even then, I hadn't actually paid attention to what the book was about. This was probably a mistake. I basically read this book with bug eyes and slack-jawed astonishment, flying through the pages in a frenzy as I found out about how Alice was abducted and sexually abused for five years. She was starved to keep her body childlike, and she has received no education since her abduction. Some reviewers label this book as horror, and it honestly reads like a horror book, or a thriller, because it is off-putting and I was not sure where the story was going to end. I was compelled to keep reading. But one cannot call this story unrealistic. Pedophilia, child sex trafficking, and their like are very much still happening. I am uncomfortable recommending alternative reads to this one as most of the ones that come to mind do not actually cover the same topics: kidnapping is not always sexual, abuse is not always sexual abuse, captive/captor are not always deranged adult and young child, etc. If you want to read about what it might be like for the victims of a murderous pedophile or are looking for a shock, read this. It is uncomfortable and it is unforgettable.  4/5 stars

Heroes by Robert Cormier

Robert Cormier wrote I Am the Cheese, which will forever be burned in my brain as it was a question at pub trivia that I got incorrect a few months back. As such, I made it a personal goal to read several of his books in the next year or two because 1. I hate getting questions wrong in pub trivia; 2. His books are supposed to be twisty and well-written (some are required in many high school curricula); and 3. Most importantly to me, they are very short.  I immediately put Heroes on hold at the library when I read its blurb: 

Francis Joseph Cassavant is eighteen. He has just returned home from the Second World War, and he has no face. He does have a gun and a mission: to murder his childhood hero.

Imagine you are sitting in a room with me right now. Now go ahead and look into my eyes and tell me that if you read a blurb about a soldier with no face coming back to his hometown to murder someone, you wouldn't be interested in picking the book up. You're a liar, that's jacket copy at its best. I am very confused about what this soldier looks like from the cover. Does the background image look like a woman to anyone else? Maybe it's the bangs? There is somehow a ton and yet nothing going on in this story. I don't want to ruin the motive behind his revenge plot but I will say that this book just feels bleak. I felt horrible that a naive kid joined the army, was seriously injured, and then returns to a town that's forgotten him, filled with other physically and mentally injured vets, and devoid of hope.  Francis covers his entire face for the entirety so I never got a full idea of what he might look like but Cormier didn't play it down at all, instead (perhaps overly) mentioning the oozing crevices of Francis' face where his features used to be and the soaked-through bandages that filled with blood and pus. Heroes reads like a short story. It is a quick sketch of what one soldier's reasons were for joining the forces and how failing to act can haunt a person forever. In my opinion, the only reason to read this is the story. Those looking to get quotable quotes or flowery prose should just move along. 3/5 stars

Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr

Dear Sara Zarr,

How could you narrate the audiobooks of Story of a Girl, Once Was Lost, and Sweethearts and then NOT narrate How to Save a Life? Don't you have any respect for the "people" who get addicted to hearing you read your own books? I think you should consider the very real possibility that you are evil.

Sincerely,
Flannery

People is in quotation marks because I'm assuming from the level of my outrage that there must be other people out there. For now, though, it's just me. Story of a Girl is about a teenager whose family and social life were upturned when her father caught her having sex with her brother's best friend in a car. In typical Zarr fashion, the story is very contained, both temporally and in terms of side plots, but it is still contemplative. In one summer, Deanna does a lot of growing up, and the people around her aren't exempt from a bit of growth themselves. At times, it was painful to experience life in Deanna's home because I know what it is like to have something unsaid and undealt with hanging over a group of people until every interaction just feels awkwardly awful. I could feel how frustrating Deanna's life was and Zarr's unaffected tone of voice was perfect for Deanna's teenage skepticism. 4/5 stars

Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman

This book is one of the creepiest I've ever read, no question.  Stuck in Neutral is about an intelligent child who is a prisoner in his own body. While Shawn's mind is fully functional, he has no control over any other part of his body and the entire world, including his family, believes him to be intellectually disabled. Every so often, he is struck by a seizure. Shawn has come to love these times because he feels like he can break free of his body and partake in the world. His father, however, sees his child in pain. Shawn's dad left the family home when Shawn was a child because he couldn't deal with his son's cerebral palsy. He also wrote a Pulitzer Prize-winning poem about Shawn's birth and early years and still gets lauded for doing so. (I am not usually into "fake award-winning writing within novels" and I wasn't into this poem) The creepy factor came into play when the narrator, Shawn, informs the reader that he believes his father is going to murder him.  This short book explores what it might be like for a child inside an immovable body, what it might be like as a father who is always wondering what is going on in the mind of his son who can never tell him. I won't tell you the ending but I will tell you one more thing: Terry Trueman is the father of a son with cerebral palsy. I cannot imagine what life would be like to be constantly wondering what, if anything, your child is thinking or to know if they are in pain. Stuck in Neutral is absolutely a worthwhile read with a unique narrator. I can't guarantee this book won't make you feel awkward but it will certainly widen your perspective a bit. 3.5/5 stars

Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster

I found Daddy-Long-Legs courtesy of the lovely ladies over at Young Adult Anonymous and then devoured it in one sitting. (it is free for Kindle, though devoid of illustrations) Published in 1912, it is a series of letters from the fictional Jerusha (Judy) Abbott to the mysterious benefactor who plucks her from an orphanage and pays for her college. The conditions of receiving the monetary support  are that he will remain anonymous (as such, Judy calls him many things but most often Daddy-Long-Legs because she's only seen him once in shadow against a wall and he looked tall and thin) and that she write him monthly letters. Fans of epistolary fiction will love this, as well as Anne-girl fans, because Judy is spunky, hilarious, and outspoken in an Anne of Green Gables way. After a while I wanted the story to get to the point, though I never really tired of Judy's voice. Once the endgame of the author becomes clear, it is funny to see the actions of Judy and her benefactor change. I also think this book would appeal to fans of movies like Meet Me In St. Louis and the older versions of Cheaper by the Dozen. The descriptions of the homes, families, clothes, and such really made me picture those movies I've seen time and time again. (I feel kind of like a badass that I placed both those movies in the same time period as Daddy-Long Legs before looking the dates up.) 4/5 stars

Now you know I wasn't kidding about how weird some of the short book plots are that I've recently read. However, I think we can go even weirder, don't you. Thus, here are some suggestions I am making up right as I type this: 

1. Ken, a teenager with terminal brain cancer, decides to go out with a bang by going on a murder spree.
2. Christmas dinner at The Smiths is a bit awkward when Bree's long-lost half-sister, her biological brother who has secretly transitioned to female, and her aunt and uncle who are in love but have to keep it a secret all show up for some rotisserie chicken.
3. Everybody's  a twin. (Liz Lemon shoutout!)
4. For years, Holly's grandmother has been sending her $50 gift cards every month. Only they haven't been going to Holly's current address, they've been going next door. A boy from school has been spending them every month and sending her grandmother regular thank you cards. Obviously arguments and then true love occurs.
5. The most popular girl in school throws a Halloween masquerade ball where everyone has to keep their face covered at all times. Who Was It? checks in with all the attendees the next day, but you'll never believe who did what with who.
6. A Juggalo who loves Insane Clown Posse so much that he wears his makeup every day to school explores his life-long dream of being a taxidermist. 

What are your ideas? Let's hear them. 

The Diviners (The Diviners #1)
Author: Libba Bray
Publication Date: 9/18/12
Publisher: Little, Brown Books For Young Readers
[Goodreads|Amazon]

Blurb(GR): Evie O'Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City--and she is pos-i-toot-ly thrilled. New York is the city of speakeasies, shopping, and movie palaces! Soon enough, Evie is running with glamorous Ziegfield girls and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is Evie has to live with her Uncle Will, curator of The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult--also known as "The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies."

When a rash of occult-based murders comes to light, Evie and her uncle are right in the thick of the investigation. And through it all, Evie has a secret: a mysterious power that could help catch the killer--if he doesn't catch her first.

Review: 

This is actually my sixth Libba Bray book (although I never quite made it through Going Bovine).  It’s also the sixth book of hers that I’ve liked but haven’t loved.  I’m not sure why I keep coming back.  I think that Libba Bray is a hilarious person, a talented writer, and I agree with pretty much all of the views she writes about (most entertainingly) on her blog.  And yet, I never seem to connect with her books.

It’s hard to pinpoint one precise reason why this disconnect keeps cropping up, but one thing I have noticed is that her books consistently leave me feeling overwhelmed and fatigued.  I feel like she never does anything subtly or realistically.  Everything is over the top – cartoonish even.  In this case, I felt repeatedly smacked across the face with the fact that this book takes place in the twenties.  The slang, descriptions of the characters’ appearances, and the name-dropping of various locales and historical figures all got incredibly tiresome to me.  YES, I get it.  WE ARE IN THE TWENTIES.  Only, this never feels like any real time period – it’s more like the twenties as visualized by the directors of The Hudsucker Proxy or Sin City – i.e., completely exaggerated comic book versions that have little to do with the real thing.

This book is also has a very odd timeline.  It feels like a series of origin stories for a cast of superheroes all laid out in a row with no middles or endings – like the beginnings of about seven comic books all laced together.  And on top of that, the background stories really aren’t that original.  This cast could easily fit into any superhero team.  They have their troubled pasts, their secret powers, and of course – their hidden depths.  I’ve consumed my share of superhero entertainment and although this lot are all of the occult flavor, which is somewhat novel, there’s nothing really new about them.  And with background/origin stories taking up about 80% of the book, even the ones I liked started to get tedious. 

Okay, yes.  There is one character who doesn’t fit the mold – but mostly in the way that you’ll be scratching your head going “One of these things is not like the otherrrsss….”  He stands out, not because his story is original, but because he doesn’t fit.

The overarching mystery is also pretty unoriginal and wasn’t enough to tie it all together for me.  There’s a ritual serial killer with ties to a strange cult.  He must complete a certain number of murders, all following a specific plan by a specific time.  And of course, the main characters never suspect that they will in fact be a part of his final pièce de résistance.  Am I the only one who’s seen Se7en?  The final act involves you!  That’s practically written in the contract!  The odd thing is that the mystery wraps up well before the end of the book (and rather lamely, I might add) – leaving chapters and chapters to go – for (you guessed it) more background and origin story.  And really, there are only 2-3 characters who are actually involved in the main mystery.  The author makes a small effort to include some of the others but really I just ended up wondering why all of these characters were even introduced in the first place.  Pre-planning for book two is my best guess.

Which I guess is good news for book two.  With the foundation so thoroughly built, hopefully there will be room in the second book for all of these characters to finally come together and form the mystical crime fighting team I know they’re destined to be.  Based on the rather large amount of backstory Bray’s already provided here, I can see a lot of where book two is headed (and possibly even book three).  I strongly doubt that this will be one of those series that meanders and goes on too long.  It’s clear that Libba Bray has a definite plan for these characters in mind, and that gives me hope.  She has a really well-rounded cast here and now that she’s spent so much time giving us their life-stories, I hope she can send them all out to have more exciting adventures.

I also have to give fair warning: It appears that the new love triangle is in fact, a LOVE SQUARE.

Update: I saw these tweets the other day and now I'm not so confident about book two.

Come on Libba Bray!  You can do it!  Rah rah rah!  Make me want to read book two!

Perfect Musical Pairing
Louis Armstrong - Heebie Jeebies

I hope this is exactly what book two sounds like.

3/5 Stars