About two weeks ago, I wrote a blog post about all the long books that are sitting unread and collecting dust on my shelves. I found some partners for future readalongs of books like Gone with the Wind and War and Peace when I eventually get to them, but I decided to start my quest to finish some of these literary doorstops by attacking one of the alleged hardest books to get through--Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. After email pleas and Twitter inquiries, I started out last Sunday, February 10th, with ten other co-readers. The other valiant readers include Catie, my fellow Readventurer, Molly from Wrapped Up in Books, Heidi of Bunbury in the Stacks, Jessie from Ageless Pages Reviews, Maggie from YA Anonymous, editor-in-training Maggie M., and my roommate from college, Maureen. (I'm leaving out the rest of our roster as some people found the book unsuitable for their current mood, which Heidi's boyfriend was jokingly (or not) placing bets on. (How many people would/will drop out of the readalong.)) Here's the schedule we are following on our, as Catie coined it, "infinite readalong.":

Week One: 2/10 - 2/17, start at beginning, end at “What the hail...Struck says something that’s lost in the roar of a high-pressure toilet.” (105) 

Week Two: 2/17 - 2/24, start at “The feminized American stood at a slight...”, end at “some broad mock-supplicant’s gesture Schact’s just now made.” (219) 

Week Three: 2/24 - 3/3, start at “You can be at certain parties and not really be there”, end at “who told the guy to go peddle his linen someplace else.” (317)

Week Four: 3/3 - 3/10, start at “The sky of the U.S.A.’s desert was clotted with blue stars”, end at “rocketing people’s waste into the forgiving chill of infinite space.” (418)

Week Five: 3/10 - 3/17, start at “Marathe did not quite sleep”, end at “Marathe think of many windblown sparks.” (508)

Week Six: 3/17 - 3/24, start at “The following things in the room were blue”, end at “in a fish-eye lens, lifting: ‘Ready?’” (619)

Week Seven: 3/24 - 3/31, start at “Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment: InterLace”, end at “both seeming to be shrieking for help.” (716)

Week Eight: 3/31 - 4/7, start at “A disadvantage of your nasally ingested cocaine...”, end at “and past Hal, his face unspeakable.” (808)

Week Nine: 4/7 - 4/14, start at “The ceiling was breathing.” End at “I was impossible to knock down.” (902)

Week Ten: 4/14 - 4/21, start at “Gately’s cognomen growing up...”, end at “and the tide was way out.” (981, END)
*page numbers correspond to the First Edition, 1996. ISBN: 9780316920049

It breaks down to roughly 100-120 pages per week what with all the footnotes. During the first week, most of us found the format of the book unlike anything we have read in the past. Infinite Jest jumps from character to character with sometimes no introduction, and from year to year, with each sponsored by a corporate entity so they are no longer numbered but rather tagged with a sponsored product so we have to try to figure out if "The Year of the Tucks Medicated Pad" is before or after "The Year of the Whopper," "The Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment," "The Year of Glad," or our particular fan favorite, "The Year of the Trial-Size Dove Bar." If you are familiar with the book, if you would like to read along with us now, if you are reading IJ sometime in the future and feel lost/lonely in your quest, or if you do not care to be somewhat spoiled, here are short blurbs of the sections we digested in Week One:

EXTREMELY SHORT SUMMARIES OF THE WEEK ONE SECTIONS:

O, Year of Glad: Hal Incandenza, tennis player, at the college hearing with his uncle, C.T., where the panel is trying to determine if they should admit Hal. Hal is silent for the entirety until they prod him, after which he explains himself very eloquently, but as it turns out he was creating a raucous instead. He ends up being taken away by an ambulance.
O, Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment: An addict is waiting for a woman to deliver drugs to his house. He has obsessively planned and cleaned to get ready for the stupor-filled days that will follow. Ends with the telephone ringing and the doorbell ringing simultaneously and the addict on the floor, unable to decide which to address first.
O, 1 April - Year of the Tucks Medicated Pad: Hal(10, 11,14) and the conversationalist/his father talk about Hal’s ability to memorize portions of the dictionary, his mother’s dealings with medical attaches and diplomats and whatnot, his father’s drunkenness, etc.
O, 9 May - Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment: Hal wakes up extremely early for tennis drills while his brother Mario sleeps. As he is getting ready, Orin (O) calls on the telephone.
O, Year of the the Depend Adult Undergarment: The medical attache in Boston comes home on a Wednesday evening, the one night of the week his wife has plans and can’t attend to all his needs. He gripes on about having to figure out something to eat and sort the mail. While doing the latter task, he finds a weirdly marked entertainment cartridge which was postmarked from Arizona and had smiley faces and Happy Anniversary on it (it is not his/his wife’s anniversary.) He watches the beginning and the TP (teleputer) reads 1927h.
Year of the Trial-Size Dove Bar: In dialect, Clenette talks about life in the Brighton projects. Wardine, her half-sister, was beaten with a hanger by her mother, who thinks Wardine is tempting her mother’s boyfriend Roy Tony with her youngness. Reginald, who has a crush on Wardine, and Clenette help clean Wardine’s back. In another section, Bruce Green is introduced, as well as Mildred Bonk, an unfortunately named but beautiful young woman. The two both grow into depressing versions of themselves, have a child together, and move into a trailer in Allston with a drug dealer called Tommy Doocey who keeps snakes.
O, Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment: Hal and his brother Mario (called BooBoo here) are laying in bed at school and Mario keeps asking Hal about God. It is revealed that Himself (H & M’s father) has died and there is a discussion about whether the Moms (their mom) was suitably sad. A last and separate sentence is added to note that the medical attache of earlier is still watching the weird cartridge at 2010h.
October - Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment: We meet Orin Incandenza, Hal’s older brother, who is a football player (punter) in Arizona. He hates mornings, lives in a yellow-tiled condo filled with roaches he can’t get rid of, and sleeps with a lot of women he calls Subjects, one of whom watches a documentary about schizophrenia in this portion and Orin is reminded a bit of Hal. (also, he is reminded to call Hal (Hallie) when the subject of PR interviewers delving into the unmined pasts of the players is discussed)
O, Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment: Hal is 17 and at Enfield. He talks about getting high covertly and who does/does not know he does it. We find out the Moms’ name is Avril Incandenza and that C.T.’s actual name is Charles Tavis. At this point, Hal’s father has already passed away. Also, it is revealed that the Moms has three sons (so presumably Hal, Orin, and Mario are the only kids) and two of them are “high-functioning.” (Mario being the one not, I assume.) There’s a lot of description about the design of ETA, where Hal smokes, and how he gets away with it. (i.e. the failed pro alumni of the school don’t give a crap what students do.) The medical attache is still watching the cartridge, on repeat, at 0020h the next day (April 2) before his wife gets home. He has wet himself and the recliner he is sitting on.
Autumn - Year of Dairy Products from the American Heartland: We meet Don Gately, a narcotics addict who burgles to feed his habit. His MO includes a straight shunt of the power lines, which is ultimately his downfall because he uses this method when robbing the ADA who prosecuted him as well as a rich man in Brookline who was meant to be away at the time of the burglary. The rich man turns out to home, ill, and a Quebecer very involved in the nonsense I am having a really hard time following (and also have no interest in following.) Gately and his friend proceed with the burglary but it turns into a robbery after they tie the man up. The man dies. This section ends with what is presumably the back blurb/details to the cartridge that was delivered to the medical attache.
3 November - Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment: Jim Troeltsch, at ETA, roommates with Ted Schact and Michael Pemulis, who are both gone from the room. Troeltsch is sick, hopped up on different medicines, and having nightmares/daydreams. (DFW says Troeltsch is “awake and almost twelve” but not sure if this is part of the daydream or if actual age.)
O, As of Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment: About H/O/M’s father James Incandenza and his father, also James Incandenza. The elder was an actor and the younger was a filmmaker, among other things. The world’s longest footnote is included in this section--a rundown of all of JO Incandenza’s films, which includes several different versions of Infinite Jest. It is revealed that JO Incandenza committed suicide at fifty four in the Year of the Trial-Size Dove Bar.
Denver Co, 1 November, Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment: A quick interlude with Orin, still a punter for the Cardinals, in Colorado. He is dressed as a bird, doing promotional vid work for the team, and he is miserable about it since he is afraid of heights.
O: I *think* this is Hal, going on about a big brother/little brother program at ETA and about how early kids get into drugs at the school. He then talks about a recurring dream he has about playing tennis on a gigantic court against an unknown opponent, with his mother as the one decipherable spectator.
O, Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment: Kate Gompert is in a psych ward on suicide watch. She has attempted suicide several times in the past and has a long conversation with the resident on duty about her feelings of depression. She mentions that she smokes weed and buys from a dealer who calls it “Bob Hope,” which indicates that she is in the same dealing area as several other characters. She also mentions one dealer who keeps snakes in a tank--which would be Tommy Doocey, who lives in the trailer with Bruce Green & Mildred Bonk from earlier on. Kate repeatedly requests that they give her electro therapy to help get her out of the pain she’s in. (which may or may not be caused by giving up smoking--or rather, giving up smoking leaves her depression out in the open.) In a separate paragraph, the medical attache’s wife finally comes ohome at 0145h, 2 April YDAU and sees him in the recliner. He has no response but she looks to see what cartridge he is/was watching. Next, on to Gerhardt Schtitt, who works at ETA and spends a lot of time with Hal and Orin's brother, Mario. It is mentioned that Mario Incandenza is 18 years old here. 
Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment: We are introduced to Tiny Ewell, an alcoholic who has just finished detox and is now in a taxi on his way to Enfield VA to do rehab. While in detox, his roommate is a yellowed-from-hepatitis man who repeatedly turns the air conditioner on all different levels, chain smokes, and has long hair and glasses with one lense missing. (just in case we find out who this person might be later on...) It is mentioned that at detox they sometimes take your shoes away and give you foam rubber slippers embossed with smiley faces on top--smiley faces like those embossed on the cartridge the medical attache is still watching? At the end of this section, we revisit the medical attache, who is joined in watching the cartridge by his wife, the Saudi prince, the prince’s physician, and a few more people.
O, 30 April - The Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment: Marathe, a wheelchair assassin, meets with Steeply, another covert operative of some sort who is dressed as a woman, on a mountain in Arizona. The two talk about whether or not Marathe is a double agent and about the cartridge (“the Entertainment”) that the medical attache and about a dozen other people are now affected by. It sounds like the cartridges are multi-sensory experiences and perhaps some sort of chemical or bio-warfare. Also, they mention DuPlessis, who was associated with Marathe. DuPlessis is the sick man who died when Gately burgled his house earlier.
Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment: Hal and other upperclassmen are in the locker room at ETA. More talk about the buddy system, using lemon Pledge for sunscreen (does this really work?!), and Hal’s secret smoking. Confirmation that Mario is the middle child and Hal is the youngest. One brief paragraph about Marathe and Steeply still in Arizona.  (We stopped in the middle of a section, so this section will begin next week's assigned reading.)

I can only imagine how confusing all of that must be for people not familiar with Infinite Jest, as it is sometimes confusing for us, as people currently reading it. I thought the entire book was going to be about Hal Incandenza, though I knew it was going to be very mixed-up in terms of the timeline. Other readers were astute enough to set me straight early on about how sprawling the cast of characters is. I will try to update every week with summaries and some of the thoughts and discussions that are going on in our Google document. 

Here's this week's thoughts and comments:

• Heartbreaking quote: “I’d tell you all you want and more, if the sounds I made could be what you hear.”
  
• Reader comment: "I kind of can’t stop reading the book, even though I have no idea what’s going on.  My husband asked me what this book was about and I opened my mouth to talk but then just had to close it again and shake my head because there’s no way to describe what’s gone on so far without sounding like an insane person."
  
• We are torn about whether the ebook or the physical book is a better bet. Those with e-readers don't love that they can't see the visual evidence of progress and the footnotes are a bit harder but the paperback/hardcover readers are finding that the weight of the book is annoying (my word, not theirs).
• Quote: “The moment he recognized what exactly was on one cartridge he had a strong anxious feeling that there was something more entertaining on another cartridge and he was potentially missing it. He realized that he would have plenty of time to enjoy all the cartridges, and realized intellectually that the feeling of deprived panic over missing something made no sense.” (26) I sometimes feel this way about books.
  
• Several of us are finding DFW's technology inventions (Teleputers? Cartridges?) a bit clunky and we have to keep reminding ourselves that this was written in the mid-90s. 
• The hardest parts to get through and fully understand seem to be those dealing with the political issues.
• Most of us agreed to NOT put off our weekly reading until the last few days of the week. This book is not a breezy read and it is legitimate work to try to read tens of pages in one go. 
• At least three of us found Kate Gompert's chapter to be the most readable from the first week's sections. And we wish there were more female characters in this book. 
• Some things keep recurring: worrying that if you speak, no one will understand you; pot addiction; Byzantine erotica; Toblerone; bugs; sweat stains on pillows/bedsheets; your worst nightmare becoming reality (noticed by Maggie M.).
• Several of us are wondering how JO Incandenza's movies, 5 of which were titled "Infinite Jest" are related to "the entertainment" and this book. There are several possibilities we are keeping in mind, including the idea that the book is a written version of one of the movies, that one of the movies IS "the entertainment," and whether the confusing nature of the movies is meant to be the same with the book, namely that readers are meant to be confounded whilst trying to figure out what the hell is going on and how everything relates to everything and everyone else.

So, we are 10% done with this book. On to 20%, eh? Feel free to discuss anything in the comments section. Spoilers for the first 10% are welcome, as that's where we all are but PLEASE DON'T INCLUDE SPOILERS FOR THE OVERALL BOOK IN THE COMMENTS. If you'd like to join our readalong and think you can catch up, email me at (our blog name @ gmail) or tweet me @ our blog name. In nine weeks, we'll be done with this infinite readalong. 

Ever After (The Hollows, #11)
Author: Kim Harrison
Publication Date: 1/22/13
Publisher: Harper Voyager

[Goodreads|Amazon]

Blurb(GR): The ever after, the demonic realm that parallels the human world, is shrinking. If it disappears completely, so does all magic. It's up to witch-turned-daywalking-demon Rachel Morgan to avert catastrophe and keep life from changing... for the worse.

While saving the world is important, it isn't Rachel's only motivation. There's also the small fact that she caused the ley line to rip in the first place, setting off a chain reaction of unfortunate events. That little mistake has made her life forfeit unless she can fix it. It's also made her more than a few enemies, including the most powerful demon in the ever after—a terrifying entity who eats souls and now has an insatiable appetite for her. He's already kidnapped her friend and goddaughter to lure her out, and if Rachel doesn't give herself up soon, they'll die.

But Rachel has more than a few impressive and frightening skills of her own, and she isn't going to hand over her soul and her life without one hell of a fight. She's also got a surprise: elven tycoon Trent Kalamack. With this unlikely ally beside her—a prospect both thrilling and unnerving—she's going to return to the ever after, kick some demon butt, rescue her loved ones... and prevent an apocalypse before it's too late. Or, at least that's the plan...

Review:

The Hollows are back…and so am I!  (I hope.)  What better way to kick off my reviewing dust than to write about a series I’ve loved for almost a decade?  Even though I was mostly disappointed last January by the slow-moving rehash of old events that was A Perfect Blood, I knew that this author wouldn’t hold still for long.  This series, which now encompasses eleven books and will end at book thirteen (Thanks Megan!) never ceases to be inventive and surprising.

This book sees Rachel & Co. moving forward once again.  Trouble is afoot in the ever after as Ceri and baby Lucy are kidnapped in the opening chapters and Rachel’s ley line suddenly starts draining the ever after at an alarming rate.  The demons find it more convenient to blame Rachel, even though they all know that lab-created demon monstrosity Ku’Sox (aka Cute Socks) is to blame.  In an effort to save the day for everyone once again, Rachel finds herself working more closely with Trent and the elves than she ever has before.

This is the installment that the Rachel/Trent fans have been waiting for.  Harrison has been flirting with the idea of them as a couple for quite a while, and in this book I felt like she finally jumped off that cliff.  I’m still not sure if I will be able to buy into their relationship as a long term thing.  Harrison has certainly laid a lot of ground work over the past books, but a huge part of me will probably never be able to stop seeing Trent as the spoiled, arrogant rich pretty boy he was in the first book.  (He also made a comment at the end of this book that really turned me off.  It's pretty spoilery but I'll discuss in the comments if anyone's interested.) 

However, it’s refreshing to look back and realize just how much he (and Al and Rachel and Ivy and well…everyone) has changed.  This series never stagnates for me because Harrison lets her characters grow.  After reading this book, I now feel like while A Perfect Blood may have been slow and tedious to read; it was ultimately a necessary step in the series.  Rachel is more at home with her demon identity than ever, and it’s exciting to see her finally accept and use her powers to their fullest extent, without endless angst about the consequences.  Harrison grows her characters slowly but surely – in short, realistically.  Perhaps that means that one or two of these books has been more like a “transition” book but I think the end result is a much more fulfilling, believable story.  I have faith that she'll make me believe in Trent by book thirteen.

(As an aside – Harrison’s short story, Trouble on Reserve, available for free with download of the Sony Reader App – went a long way toward convincing me of Trent’s worthiness and feelings for Rachel.)

As an extra today, I’d like to pay homage to one of my favorite posts of Flannery’s by listing “50 things very nearly guaranteed to happen” in a Hollows book.  Like Flannery, I write these very much in good humor as a super-fan of Kim Harrison and her Hollows books.  Yes, there is a certain formula to these books but what impresses me the most is how much Harrison frequently tosses that formula out the window.

One of our favorite book blogs is The Book Smugglers. Ana and Thea read a ton of science fiction, fantasy, and young adult and it's rare that a book is reviewed on their blog that at least one of us isn't interested in. They have some amazing features like On the Smugglers' Radar, where they share exciting upcoming books, and Inspirations & Influences, in which authors share what makes their writing what it is. For the holiday season, they have a mega-feature called Smugglivus. (which is a play on the best holiday of all, Festivus (for the rest of us!) from Seinfeld.) During Smugglivus, which lasts for several weeks in December and early January, they post up some combination of two guest author or blogger posts. 


We are very happy to be included this year, so hop on over there and see what some of our favorite things were of 2012--they're all over the place! 

About a month ago, Flannery pointed out to Tatiana and I that we live a scant four hours apart and that if she were in our shoes, she would have just made the freaking drive already. She had a point.  A really, really good point.  Tatiana and I have been chatting on goodreads for probably over a year and a half and we email nearly every day about blog business and whatever else is going on in our lives.  It did seem a little odd that it had apparently never occurred to either one of us (well, to me at least) to just get in the car and make the trip.  After doing a little google-mapping and realizing how short the drive really was, I gladly offered to drive down and Tatiana agreed to let me enter her home and spend time around her family.  (Yay!  She doesn’t think I’m a crazy person even after all of those emails!  Woo!)

After setting up the date, I emailed Flannery in secret.   You see, Tatiana and her family are going to have a little change in January (which I’ll let her tell you all about below) and I wanted to give her a surprise party.  Flannery immediately had the idea to ask Tatiana’s online friends if they wanted to participate.  I thought that was a wonderful idea, but I wasn’t sure if Tatiana would like us to tell other people about her news.  Luckily for The Readventurer team, Flannery is one of the wiliest people I’ve ever known.  Within days she had somehow, someway, gotten Tatiana to say via email that she didn’t mind if people knew – all while maintaining the complete secrecy of our plans.  I still have no idea how she did that.

So we sent out the call to Tatiana’s closest friends – and we got a ton of responses.  You guys were amazing.  We got cards and gifts and mostly books galore (what do you expect when a bunch of book nerds throw a baby shower?) from all over the country and beyond.  On the day of our meeting, I loaded up the car with all of your thoughtful gifts and made the very easy drive down to Tatiana’s house. 

And we had a great time!  I won’t go into too much detail, but let’s just say that baked brie, an Indian buffet, Tatiana’s hilarious family (including her dog who I would have probably spent all day petting if I weren’t trying to be a good guest), and pasty/glittery vampires with tiny noses were all involved.  Thanks so much to all of you for being so amazing and making this happen!

In case you were wondering how Catie's and my meeting went, let me tell you, it was fabulous. Catie drove all the way from Virginia to visit me for a chat-and-lunch date, to patiently endure watching Breaking Dawn 2 with me (which had about 10 minutes of fun in it) and to allow my dog to slobber and shed hair all over her. (what I thought was going to happen) She also, imagine this, brought a baby shower with her! (Yes, there is a reason why I haven't been reading and blogging properly most of this year, or this is my excuse and I am sticking to it.)

This is how great my co-bloggers are - both Flannery and Catie got together with our multiple blogging and reading friends (you, ladies) and organized this event, and in absolute secrecy. I won't lie, this was a complete surprise and an icing on the "meeting-Catie" cake. I was already ecstatic to just meet her in person, after months, if not years, of virtual chatting, but everything turned out to be even better. The girls know that I am a pretty private person and, as a proper introvert, am not keen on being a center of attention, so they put this shower together quietly and by proxy. And I enjoyed it immensely!

If you were ever curious about how a baby shower would look like if thrown by your book friends, besides baby clothes and toys, expect a library for your baby be put together by them. My little boy is definitely all set for the future full of reading.

I can't quite express how thankful we, my husband and I, are to all of you who made this surprise happen. We were surprised and touched by your thoughtful attention. And of course, our special thanks go to Catie and Flannery who are even more awesome than I thought them to be (I didn't know if that was even possible.) I hope to meet Flannery one day yet, but Catie is even softer and nicer in person than she is in her writing.

Although we don’t restrict ourselves to a certain genre here at The Readventurer, we read a lot of YA.  Maybe we don’t make it through every single new YA release, but between the three of us, we get through quite a few.  So when we read something like this:

“But as we debate ad nauseam whether, for example, Bella Swan is a dangerous role model for young women, we’ve neglected to ask the corresponding question: what does it tell young men when Edward Cullen and Jacob Black are the role models available to them? Are these barely-contained monsters really the best we can imagine?”

Or this:

"Why is it that in YA literature — a genre generated entirely to describe the transition to adulthood — there is so much fear and ambivalence surrounding manhood? When I read contemporary young adult novels, I see them asking over and over again a fascinating question, a question both for boys and for the stories describing them: are there any good men? And how can a boy become a good man, if he doesn’t know what that would mean?”

we are tempted to scream: WHAT?!!  Are we even living on the same planet?  First of all, we would deny categorically that there are no male role models in the land of YA.  That is just patently untrue.  And secondly, as Malinda Lo so eloquently pointed out – manhood is not a strictly defined characteristic.  There are countless ways to be a “good man” just as there are countless ways to be a good person. 

This particular panicked assertion is just the latest in a string that consists of various THINK OF TEH TEEN BOYS! outcries. If it's not about lack of teen books for boys, then it's about boys being intimidated by public libraries that are apparently too girly- and girl book-saturated, or male authors writing for teen boys being outnumbered by female writers, or the shortage of male protagonists in teen fiction, etc., etc. While we think that there may be a lot to examine about the reading culture at large and about how different genders participate (or not) in this culture and why (Book View Cafe might be onto something here, in the article Girls and reading, the social act), we strongly disagree that teen boys are overlooked, underrepresented and discriminated in the world of YA. Rather, in our opinion, more often than not the alarmists who raise all these questions/issues are not familiar with the variety YA fiction has to offer. The balance might not be optimal but there is certainly a large amount to choose from. 

So today, we’d like to present this wall of over 140 books that we think will speak to the boys of YA.   They’re full of adventure, magic, real-world issues, and romance.  Some of them are even written by - *gasp* - women.    They give us all kinds of male figures: strong, brave, struggling, emotional, confused, and yes - even a few great role models. Most of all, they give us great stories for any reader -- almost all of these books appeal to us as adult women even though we are probably not  the target audience from a marketing perspective. That being said, while we do think that there will always be outlier readers who feel comfortable reading anything and everything (and we love them for it), we  also realize that it might be a struggle to hand-sell  a book with a girl in a dress on the cover or a romance-driven plot to the "average" boy.  We'd love to think of this list as a tool for educators, librarians, parents, and teens to find a great read for the boys in their lives, but anyone who enjoys a great story will find something in this wall of books.  

Tomorrow, we'll be back with a post filled with the recommendations of several  authors represented here. You'll find out what they liked to read as teenage guys, what they read and enjoyed recently, and what they recommend to other readers. Some of their picks are included in the wall but many of them are not, so be sure to check back tomorrow! (Edit: Here's the link! Also, check out the many, many more recommendations in the comments section of this post.)

(Note: this is the third part in a three-part series featuring songs for Melina Marchetta’s Chronicles of Lumatere.  If you haven’t already been, make sure to check out Young Adult Anonymous for songs about Finnikin of the Rock and Wordchasing for songs about Froi of the Exiles.)

Welcome to disc three of your Lumatere box set!  This disc covers loss, hope, slate over the head moments, swiving good times, feral spear-shaking, and an ending that ties it all together.  This is your disc for Quintana of Charyn.

How lucky do I feel to be in charge of the music for this particular installment?  Very lucky, which is a bit odd because I admit that this one is my least favorite of the three.  Even so, it contains my favorite moments of the entire series.  Don’t even ask me how that math works out.  Plus, this is the disc where I get to bust out alllll the love songs.

This is the book that had me laughing so hard I cried.  Lucian, I am looking at you right now.  I don’t think there’s any man (Gilbert included) who deserves to have a slate crashed over his head more than you do in this book. 

This is the book that had me saying holy moley…under my breath and fanning myself.  This woman may write YA, but she also writes one hell of a sex scene.

This is the book that made me cry at a loss I never expected, and a few others that I did. 

But this is also the book that made me beam with relief when everything came together.  And I admit, with a little bit of hesitation too – that ending was kind of too happy for me.  And I know what you’re all yelling at me right now, because I’m yelling it at myself right now too: haven’t these people suffered enough?!!  Don’t they deserve a happy ending?  Yeah, yeah.  What can I say?  I’m the eternal Grinch.

Still, this is a wonderful end to one of my favorite YA fantasy series of all time.  And now, we wait for Melina Marchetta to write something else which I’m sure will be even more brilliant.  In the mean-time, here are some songs:
  
1) Bjork - A Hidden Place, for Froi and Quintana

Froi and Quintana are not supposed to be together, and they both know that.  Their connection comes as a surprise to even them, and it’s something that they must always hide, to protect both Charyn and Lumatere.  They spend most of this book separated, but when they finally reunite, it’s like this instant fire and connection that only exists when they are alone.  This is a song for their relationship – hidden away.

 2) Mumford and Sons - White Blank Page, For the men of this story (Finnikin, Trevanion, Froi, Perri, Lucian…).

This song speaks so much to me about the laying down of pride and boundaries and the laying aside of guilt and shame.  

3) Me'Shell NdegeOcello - Fool of Me, For Tesadora and Perri.

What a story.  We only get to hear about it after the fact, but I think their history could probably comprise a book of its own.  This one is specifically for the betrayal and indignation I can only assume Tesadora must have felt.

4) Barnaby Bright - Gravity, for Lucian and Phaedra, who have so much to say to each other if only they could put everything aside and just say it already.

5) Rosi Golan and William Fitzsimmons - Hazy and
6) Van Morrison - I'll Be Your Lover, Too, which are both for Finnikin and Isaboe.

  
7) Guided by Voices - Hold on Hope, for Gargarin and looking on the side of wonder.

8) The Jezebels - She's So Hard, for Quintana and all the ways she's learned to be feral and fierce to survive her life.

Seriously, Irene of Attolia needs to watch her back.  She has some serious competition for my favorite fictional female heroine.  I mean...I don't see you fashioning your own spears, scaling huge hills, and hunting down game whilst heavily pregnant, Irene.  You'd probably have those ladies in the cave all sorted out in a matter of hours though...

EDIT: Last minute addition!  I can't believe I forgot to include this pick.  This is the song that inspired me to make a whole playlist in the first place.  When Maggie from Young Adult Anonymous suggested it to me, I knew that this book had to have more than one song.

9) Maxwell - This Woman's Work (Kate Bush cover)

And that's that for disc three!  If this is your first stop, head on over to Young Adult Anonymous for some Finnikin of the Rock tunes courtesy of the fabulous Noelle, and then visit the lovely Reynje at Wordchasing for her Froi of the Exiles list!

Also, make sure to pick up Quintana of Charyn - a very satisfying end to this series, which I wholeheartedly recommend.  You can order it from Fishpondworld here, and it should be released in the U.S. and Canada in the early spring of next year.

And feel free to give me all of your suggestions for the songs I missed in the comments!  

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.**

Earlier this week, we highlighted some of our favorite Australian young adult authors and books and many that we are excited to try in the future. While researching that post, I realized how very vast the choices were and how much we had left to explore. While I've included over 100 different Aussie YA books in this Wall of Books, there are hundreds more left out. If I've left out your favorite, leave it in the comments and I'll add it in. I'd like to thank Kat from Cuddlebuggery for helping me add in some of the data. I'd also love to recommend some other Australian blogs and reviewers that regularly feature Aussie fiction: Vegan YA Nerds, Belle's Bookshelf, Maree's Musings, Inkcrush, Trinity, Reynje, and Emily. I am almost certainly missing some very important people but it is late and my mind is mush. I know several people found some fun books in our Wall of Short YA Books so I hope some of you find one or two new Australian YA books to read from this post. I was/am surprised how many of them are available through Amazon US (and especially for Kindle!) There are a few which are not available on Amazon so I linked to Fishpond in those cases, though just a few seem to be sadly out of print. 

then you should consider dedicating a few weeks of your life to a marathon of short YA books! Exhibit A, to your left, shows in rather obvious fashion that a reader could plow through four shorter books and still have less pages than Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. But Flannery, you're forgetting how absolutely enthralling Harry Potter is and who cares how many pages it is, it could never be too long! Shush your mouth, you don't even know which four tiny books I used so maybe they're just as good as HP! (also, stop being so negative!) Just think how many more books you could be crossing off your Goodreads Challenge if you explored the wonderful world of short novels. (which also sometimes qualify as novellas or novelettes.)

I searched the net to see if I could find some lists of shorter books but the only useful one I could find was a list of "Short and Sweet Teen Books Under 150 Pages" from the Austin Public Library. The compiler ( Joanna Nigrelli) included a little blurb for each of the books included and I was particularly stunned by the blurb for Robert Cormier's (of The Chocolate War and I Am The Cheese fame) 135-page book, Heroes: "After joining the army at fifteen and having his face blown away by a grenade in a battle in France, Francis returns home to Frenchtown hoping to find--and kill--the former childhood hero he feels betrayed him. " Say whaaaat? Sign me up to read that, stat. I'm also excited to read two others from her list that deal with mental illness, Invisible by Pete Hautman and Inside Out by Terry Trueman.

At first I was at a loss as to how to compile such a list but that didn't last long. I received a few list items from friends on Twitter and then I hit the mother lode when I realized that Goodreads could help. If you go to your bookshelves, hit 'all', then sort by number of pages (in the shelf settings if you don't have that option), you can find ALL the short books in your shelves. With the recommendations from even more tweets and from my own shelves, I have a pretty respectable number. I included the cover, title/author, page count (for the default Goodreads version, it might vary), genre, and links to the book on Goodreads and Amazon. The cover images also link to Amazon. Because I had to be a bit picky, I didn't include some books that are more middle grade and I made an arbitrary cutoffs at 100-220 pages. (Sorry John Green, Looking for Alaska is 221!)

Sort your shelves and leave any more that you find in the comments. I'll add their information into the beautiful wall of books. For a few authors, many of their works are under 220 (Judy Blume, Elizabeth Scott, Francesca Lia Block, etc.) -- I've included only one book by each author but please do leave others in the comments so we can have them. (Note: Our comment form does not accept html)


Happy short book reading!