Books I Should Have Loved, But Didn't

The Forest of Hands and Teeth, Carrie Ryan

I got this book from the library immediately after seeing the premise. Dystopian with a neo-Puritan society, living in a colony surrounded by a fence that keeps out the zombie hordes? Sounds awesome to me! But I couldn't get over my intense and all-consuming hatred for the heroine. She seemed to me to be ridiculously selfish, and spent all her inner monologue time whining about her life and how unfair it was, and the cruel tragedies that befell her. Don't get me wrong – being stuck in a burning house with zombies clawing at your door is sucks pretty hard. But there's a fine art to having a character suffer without being really freaking annoying about it. Lots of other people – including those whose taste I trust – loved this book, but I had to force myself to finish it.

Uglies, by Scott Westerfeld

I love Scott Westerfeld. I thought his Leviathan series was fantastic. But I was never able to finish this one, even though a good friend of mine totally loves the series and thinks I'm insane for not loving it. I think there are two reasons why it didn't work for me:
1) The prose and the story felt very simplistic. I don't know if this was supposed to be a middle grade book, but I think I was expecting something more sophisticated. Which is kind of a weird reason to dislike the book (it didn’t measure up to my totally random expectations!), but there it is.
2) I was a little burned out on dystopias by the time I got to this one. Again, not the book's fault, but by the time I picked this up, I was about ready to run screaming from any dystopian premise (I am so there now). I mean, this book was actually published two years before the Hunger Games, so it was a pioneer in its genre*, but alas, I read it too late to appreciate the premise, which has since been copied dozens of times.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Benjamin Alire Saenz.

This is the most frustrating of the group, because I really can't tell you why I didn't like it. Look at all the awards it won! It's an amazing book about finding your identity and courage and the pain of being a young adult (particularly a child of Mexican immigrant parents). It has the most lovely heartfelt ending… but somehow, the emotion of the ending sailed right over my head (or should I say it sailed right over my heart?). Now, I am a middle class white lady, and I have never been a Hispanic teenage boy, so one could say there's an empathy gap missing. And yet, I think one of the things that distanced me from this book was that there were a couple of moments that were too real for me, the ones that recalled some of the helplessness and frustration that come from being a teenager. Those moments were so perfectly articulated, and so close to what I felt, that I think they might have made me withdraw from the emotions of the story.

In any case, you should all read that book, because I could tell it was beautiful, even if I never quite felt it myself.





*Okay, I started thinking "is it really a pioneer? When did dystopians really become popular?" And so I found this AMAZING infographic**, which credits Uglies as one of the earliest books in this recent resurgence.
**Do you want ALL the YA infographics?? You know you do!

Holiday Book Recommendations

Looking for a book to pick up this holiday season? Shopping for a young adult/middle grade reader on your list? I've got some recommendations that are both on my to-read and have-read piles.

First, of course there's this great up and coming author of YA and MG Science Fiction that you should TOTALLY read. Her space-set book CONVERGENCE is really fascinating, a great read for kids (ages 10 and up or so.)

(buying link here - available in paperback and ebook. This is my SF novel, just in case you hadn't caught on yet.)

How about a little steampunk train fantasy which feels just a wee bit science fictiony? My kids and I really enjoyed The Mark of the Dragonfly by Jaleigh Johnson this spring, and it's worth a look for readers of all types.

How about military SF cyberpunky stuff for teen readers? Very appealing to boys? The series that starts with the book INSIGNIA, by SJ Kincaid, is excellent. Another bonus, the series is complete, which means you don't have the long wait for another book in the series. YES, I'm looking at you, STEELHEART! (Steelheart is a great book for teen readers featuring a future Chicago with superheroes, only the superheroes are the bad guys. Excellent story, but the second book is only JUST coming out in January. Firefight's publication date is listed as Jan 5. We've waited so long!)

What else is out there? In fantasy, we adore the Magic Thief series by Sarah Prineas, and this fall a fourth book in the series came out, called Magic Thief Home. This one is great for younger readers, too. My kids began reading this series around 2nd grade. There are a few dark bits but not too much, and the books tend to end on a hopeful or upbeat note.

In older kid fiction, I'm really enjoying Blue Lily, Lily Blue, which is the final book in the Raven Boys series by Maggie Stiefvater. I recommend it to (older) teen readers and adult readers alike. It's a complex story of magic set in the modern day. I think what I like the most about this series is the complicated relationships the author sets up between the characters. Here in the third (last) book, I find myself just *understanding* the relationships between characters so deeply that their reactions to situations make sense even at the beginning of the book. I love an author who can characterize so deeply. There's also such a dreamy quality to the way the author describes the area, she clearly both knows and loves the environment she set this book in. Due to some strong themes of drug/alcohol use and abuse in the second book in particular, I don't recommend this younger than teenagers.

I'm just finished with a long bout of audiobook listening (a listening jag? Does that even work) of the Lois McMaster Bujold Vorkosigan series. It was an absolutely stunning ride, I'm still smiling. I love these books and as a friend suggested, I'm going to make my wishes known to my family that if ever I'm in a coma and they don't know if I'll recover, I want them to play these audiobooks in case I can hear. You, dear Prosers Readers, are responsible for reinforcing that wish if it ever comes up. I recommend starting with Shards of Honor. I really enjoyed this in audiobook, loved the narrator, but it would work in print as well. It's an older teen and up book, though, not for kids.

No matter what direction you read in this holiday season, I hope you read, read often, read lots, and share books with those you love. I've become "that crazy aunt who gifts books" and…I like it. (Gave my nephew a signed copy of The Mark of the Dragonfly, from above, for the holidays!) Enjoy!

The twisted relationship between author and reader

So... uh... Hi everyone! Karen kindly invited me to write a couple guest posts previously and honestly, I got a little hooked. I rarely talk about writing specifically on my own blog so when Karen extended me an invite to join these lovely ladies on a permanent basis, I jumped at the chance. So for the foreseeable future I'll be your designated Proser on alternate Mondays. Welcome to the show!

The thing I've been thinking about lately is just how weird the relationship between us writers and our readers is. Obviously we love you - and them - all. We're sharing little pieces of ourselves in every story we write and our readers pour themselves into them as they read. There's something extremely profound about the whole experience.

And yet... Well, here's the thing; by definition, if we're doing our jobs, we cause our readers pain. Mountains and mountains of pain. And quite a few of us are overachievers by nature.

A little over a month ago I read Marie Brennan's A Natural History of Dragons which was an excellent book. Highly recommended for all. But the ending left me completely broken. I wept uncontrollably for minutes and kept crying for pretty much the rest of the evening. So I of course took to Twitter to share my malaise and here's what happened:

@nniskanen Punching the air in victory probably isn't an appropriate response on my part.... :-)
— Marie Brennan (@swan_tower) July 31, 2014

The worst thing is that I can totally relate! I would not even hesitate to do a writerly equivalent of an end-zone dance if I could break a reader like I got broken. And that is all kinds of messed up.

Our readers trust us, not just with their time, but with their well-being.  And as ever, with great power comes great responsibility. It's just that our readers want, nay expect, us to make them suffer in many ways great and small. Even if we're not talking about emotional pain like the one I experienced at the expert hands of Marie Brennan, there's still stress and worry that every reader experiences when they read fiction. All the successful thrillers, horror stories and such create some type of emotional reaction in the reader. When Bourne is getting chased by whoever is the latest to get on his trail, there's a real fear in the reader, even if we do know rationally that he's going to get away somehow.

David Farland talks about reading as emotional exercise and it's the best reason I can come up with for why we and others as readers actually want to have our hearts wrenched out of our chests by the people we call storytellers. He talks about how the release of the artificial stress caused by fiction releases endorphins well after the actual reading experience is over. The article itself is long but well worth the read. It explains the reader's side of this weirdness. After all, the second I could see my screen I went online and bought the next installment in Brennan's Lady Trent series.

As for us storytellers... Well, maybe it's the satisfaction of a job well done and maybe there's just a little bit of a sociopath inside all of us. But that is probably a post for another time.

What have you read recently that completely broke your heart - in a good way of course?

Sheena's Favorite Books of 2013

 

My favorite book I read this year wasn't published this year. Star Girl by Jerry Spinelli was actually published thirteen years ago, (thereabouts) and if I had read it then, there's a good chance I wouldn't be a writer today. This is the book I started writing so that I could read.

This is a story about a strange girl names Susan, who goes by Stargirl, and the normal boy who falls in love with her.  I don't hardly know how to talk about it, except to say that it's a thin little book with my entire teenage experience somehow stuffed inside. And I didn't relate the most to Stargirl either, although I was a weird kid. The person I related to the most was Leo, this teenage boy who wanted to be normal but liked something he knew the crowd would hate.

And they did. They hated Stargirl. Hated her for daring to be herself. And she's the kind of crazy, that you get it. You get why they treat her the way they did, you get that she's doing something wrong, even as she's doing everything right. You get why Leo is sad and happy,  blessed and hurt by loving her, and why he's hurt by wanting to let go of her.

This is a beautiful, powerful, truth-filled story about teenagers in love who do nothing more than hold hands. If you haven't read this book yet, I don't care who you are, read this book.

***


My next favorite book I read this year could only be second in line because Stargirl was ahead of it. I read this book because Sabrina mentally punched me in the face when she heard I hadn't read this book, and that I had no clue who Peter Beagle is.

I do now. Peter Beagle is a freaking genius.

This book took me a week to read, which since it's so small, is far out of my custom. I read books in one sitting usually. That's just what I do. I had to keep stopping when I read, because the language and the words were so beautiful I had to give them time to settle in my brain and change the way I think and write. Let us hope anyway.  He made me cry with a sentence. He inspired chapters in my books with a throwaway detail.

This book, (I apologize in advance for blaspheme) felt like scripture. It's so powerful and beautiful, and it's a children's book about unicorns. Amazing.

***
 Number three on my list of favorites has to be The Dream Thieves. And may I say again, only on a year where I read The Last Unicorn, and Stargirl could this book possibly be number three on my list.

First of all... The prologue.
I read it eight times in a row before moving on to chapter one. Eight times. I called my sister and read the prologue to her while saying READ THIS BOOK. I typed the first few pages out in a comment with Melanie and Sabrina to say holy crap you guys it's THIS good.

I did like the Raven Boys very much, it's kind of a modern Fellowship of the Rings with kissing, or death. But the Dream Thieves takes the first book, and say's, "Ooh, so you liked that book huh, well here's everything you like, plus RONAN!"

RONAN!!! I love your POV so much. You break my heart, you darn sweartastic angry broken boy with a secret that haunts you. Oh. Oh, I loved it.

And then at the end, they bring back elements from the prologue, and it's like ten times better, and I'm like I know this! These words and I are friends.

The amazing thing, is I'm out of review room, and I didn't even mention the Gansey. GANSEY, or BLUE. BLUE! Or Noah, Or Persephone, or the Gray Man, or that jerkfaced dude with the glasses who needed to die, or ADAM, or BLUE AND GANSEY (Love them so much I must say their names three times.).

Or that ENDING.

Dang. Such a good book.

***


Dear 2013, what have you done to me? Only on a year with Stargirl, the Last Unicorn and the Dream Thieves could this book possibly be my number 4 favorite book read of the year.

If you haven't read the Fault In Our Stars yet, there is something wrong with your soul. Don't worry. The Fault in Our Stars will heal you. Okay?

Sigh.

What can I say about this book, except that I remember every strange vivid detail from this book, and I only read it once. This is not a book I'll be rereading, because I didn't just read this book, I lived inside it, and it scarred my soul forever. I honestly don't know how they're going to make any money out of the movie, because do you really want to live through this again?

Answer, yes. Yes, you do.

Dang John Green. I want to be your best friend, and also punch you in the face for this book, but I won't because the vlog brothers is the best thing ever, and I'd hate for that to end.

I guess the clearest way to describe this book, is that it will give you an emotional response. It may also leave you in an emotional coma. But read it anyway.

***

OH Dang.

2013 makes me want to swear,  because honestly, how on earth can Eleanor and Park be my number 5 favorite book read?

This book.

This effing book.

Oh man, I loved this book.

Sometimes when I rate a book, I regret the other times I gave a book five stars because it did the job, because this is a five star book that deserves every corner of those five stars.

This is a book I will carry with me, also literally, for a long time. My kind of imperfect characters. My kind of romance. My kind of twist ending. My kind of messed up.

Beautiful.

 This book is not the innocent love story that Stargirl is, but there's a very similar theme and feel. If you don't like casual drops of the f bomb, or romance that goes beyond hand holding... like a bit...ahem...beyond hand holding, then just read Stargirl over and over, and you'll be fine. But if you're like me and do all your sinning behind imaginary character's heads, please read this book, because it's powerful, truthful, dangerous, beautiful stuff.


***

I'm stopping at 5, because I'm making myself mad for the rankings on these books. I'm not going to over think it, this just is what is. I read almost a hundred books this year, and there are plenty that will stick with me, but these five may just stay in the favorite ever category for...maybe ever.

Can't wait to see what 2014 brings.*

*Spoilers...more books.
~Sheena

Sheena Boekweg's name is on the cover of these books, Alchemy,  and Funny Tragic Crazy Magic.

Well Read

I love Melanie's reading lists. Nathan Bransford has recently been posting lists of books, too. He has one on the best selling fiction books of the last hundred years, and the best selling non-fiction books.

The list that caught my eye, though, was the one about the Gilmore Girls. I used to watch that show on and off, but somehow never realized that Rory Gilmore had read her way through over 300 books during the series.  Here's the list, just to see how you compare.

So, how many have you read? It opened my eyes up a bit to realize that I hadn't immersed myself in many of the classics (except Jane Austen, of course) since high school. It may be time to expand my repertoire.

And that got me thinking of some other lists that might be fun to read through:

The Newberry Medals - begun in 1922 to honor distinguished writing for children.

The Caldecott Medals - recognizes the best in art for children's books. I love so many of these books. One of my favorites is Tuesday, which I bought before I even had children because I knew someday, someday I'd love sharing it with my munchkins.

The Printz Awards - only around since 2000, this newcomer celebrates excellence in YA lit. Did you notice that Code Name Verity got an Honor this year? (Melanie, you're going to love, love, love it!)

The Authors Deck - and last, but closest to my heart, is the game, Authors. Have you played it? I used to think everyone knew this more complicated (and literary) version of go-fish, but came to find out that most had never even heard of it. My sister and I played this so much when we were little. I've read most of the books, but not all. Maybe this is the list I should start with.

Is there a method to your madness in the books you pick to read?

~Susan

My Summer Reading List 2013--A Wrap-up

Karen asked if I could fill in for her this week, and so I'm answering the question Sabrina asked in Thursday's post:

What have your great summer reads been?

In my reading posts, I typically throw a zillion titles at you, lumping the books I've loved and hated and the books I haven't read yet all into one big pile for you to sort through on your own. Since I have an extra week to post, I'm not doing that this time. I'm only telling you about the books I've already read and enjoyed. I'm a little embarrassed by the easy-readingness of these books. Deal with it Mom*.

 

1.  Wednesdays in the Tower (Sequel to Tuesdays at the Castle) by Jessica Day George

From amazon: A castle that is constantly rearranging itself, and a young royal family sworn to protect it... Celie, Rolf, and their beloved Castle Glower are back in this exciting sequel. 
When her brother Rolf dares her to catch magical Castle Glower creating a new room, Princess Celie takes the challenge! No one knows the Castle better than she does. But as usual, the Castle has ideas of its own.Celie finds the new room first, and inside it is hidden a giant egg. It looks like The Castle wants Celie to care for the egg and whatever creature it hatches! Celie hadn't bargained for a pet, and caring for this one will prove to be especially tricky, once Celie and her siblings realize what else the Castle is hiding....

I read this one out loud with my son out on the hammock on a sunny day with a cool breeze, so I doubt it's possible for you to enjoy it quite as much as I did, but you'll love it, especially if you share it with that 8-12 year old in your life.

 

2. Earth Afire: The First Formic War (Book 2) by Orson Scott Card

Science Fiction This is the prequel series to Ender's Game--all about the Formics coming to Earth

From amazon: One hundred years before Ender's Game, the aliens arrived on Earth with fire and death. This is the story of the First Formic War.

Victor Delgado beat the alien ship to Earth, but just barely. Not soon enough to convince skeptical governments that there was a threat. They didn’t believe that until space stations and ships and colonies went up in sudden flame.

And when that happened, only Mazer Rackham and the Mobile Operations Police could move fast enough to meet the threat.

I listened to this one on audio. I enjoyed the first book, but I was frustrated by the sparse mentions of  Mazer Rackham. This second novel fixes all of that. It's not Ender's Game, by any means, but it's still a great read.

3. Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices #3) by Cassandra Clare

Steampunk YA. I've heard the audio is to die for

A net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute. Mortmain plans to use his Infernal Devices, an army of pitiless automatons, to destroy the Shadowhunters. He needs only one last item to complete his plan: he needs Tessa Gray.
Charlotte Branwell, head of the London Institute, is desperate to find Mortmain before he strikes. But when Mortmain abducts Tessa, the boys who lay equal claim to her heart, Jem and Will, will do anything to save her. For though Tessa and Jem are now engaged, Will is as much in love with her as ever. 

As those who love Tessa rally to rescue her from Mortmain’s clutches, Tessa realizes that the only person who can save her is herself. But can a single girl, even one who can command the power of angels, face down an entire army? 

Danger and betrayal, secrets and enchantment, and the tangled threads of love and loss intertwine as the Shadowhunters are pushed to the very brink of destruction in the breathtaking conclusion to the Infernal Devices trilogy.

I listened to this on audio as well, and the reader was great. Not "to die for" but apparently that was the reader of book 2, not the reader of this one. Oh well. Still good. I've always enjoyed this series, but haven't adored it like I adored the first 3 City of Bones books. However, the ending of this book was satisfying, and I'm very glad I finished it.

4. Edenbrooke by: Julianne Donaldson

Marianne Daventry will do anything to escape the boredom of Bath and the amorous attentions of an unwanted suitor. So when an invitation arrives from her twin sister, Cecily, to join her at a sprawling country estate, she jumps at the chance. Thinking she’ll be able to relax and enjoy her beloved English countryside while her sister snags the handsome heir of Edenbrooke, Marianne finds that even the best laid plans can go awry. 

From a terrifying run-in with a highwayman to a seemingly harmless flirtation, Marianne finds herself embroiled in an unexpected adventure filled with enough romance and intrigue to keep her mind racing. Will she be able to rein in her traitorous heart, or will a mysterious stranger sweep her off her feet? Fate had something other than a relaxing summer in mind when it sent Marianne to Edenbrooke. 

Susan has recommended this book to me several times, so I finally bought it and read it this summer while we were on vacation. I enjoyed it. In fact, I haven't swooned over a book like this since Twilight. The one thing this book has going for it over Twilight is stronger characterization. The heroine has a strong personality, and the hero is swoon-worthy. There were problems with the book--mainly characters overreacting to small things and plots that didn't develop fully enough before twisting, but I look forward to more books by this author and in this line.

5. Guards, Guards  By Terry Pratchett. Recommended as a good jumping-in place for the Discworld books. Fantasy

Welcome to Guards! Guards!, the eighth book in Terry Pratchett’s legendary Discworld series. 

Long believed extinct, a superb specimen of draco nobilis ("noble dragon" for those who don't understand italics) has appeared in Discworld's greatest city. Not only does this unwelcome visitor have a nasty habit of charbroiling everything in its path, in rather short order it is crowned King (it is a noble dragon, after all...). 

How did it get there? How is the Unique and Supreme Lodge of the Elucidated Brethren of the Ebon Night involved? Can the Ankh-Morpork City Watch restore order – and the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork to power? 

Magic, mayhem, and a marauding dragon...who could ask for anything more?

I was promised that Guards, Guards was the perfect jumping in point for the discworld series, and so I finally took the leap. It was lots of fun. I'm not a discworld aficionado yet, but I'll definitely read another one. What should I read next?

6.. Perfect Scoundrels (Heist Society Book 3) by Ally Carter

Contemporary YA

From BooklistThe stakes are not only higher but also personal in this third Heist Society novel. Teen criminal mastermind Katarina Bishop gathers her fellow con artists to help one of their own, W. W. Hale the Fifth, when Hale’s wealthy tycoon grandmother dies suddenly—and mysteriously—leaving control of her billion-dollar corporation to underage Hale and the family’s greedy trustee lawyer. This time Kat’s not after cursed jewels or stolen paintings but the original will—even if it means losing Hale in the process. 

While jet-setting around the globe, scheming elaborate break-ins, and even pulling off a “Basil E. Frankweiler” maneuver in a high-security London museum, Kat must keep her feelings for Hale in check. Can she trust her usually steadfast partner? Further complicating this cinematic caper is the meeting of Kat’s under-the-radar relatives and Hale’s socialite family. With razor-sharp dialogue, twists and tight squeezes galore, and one quick-thinking heroine, Carter doesn’t miss a step as she continues to entertain her numerous fans. Grades 7-10. --Angela Leeper

I adore Ally Carter, partly because I love a good spy flick, but I am usually underwhelmed by spy books. I'm often disappointed by the lack of characterization and character growth. This is a spy book you can get through in a few hours, without needing to keep notes to keep track of the story. And this book was particularly good because the characters grew and changed and had cool backstories.

What have you been reading this summer?


*This is a quote from my soon to be published book Alchemy. Sheena's character, Sam, says it at one point. You'll probably be reading it again, so now you're in the know.