Category: Books

Spirit Animal

About a month ago I mentioned that I was reading Eleanor & Park. I failed to mention that I finished it several weeks ago. It was fantastic; I loved it.

I loved it so much, in fact, that I decided to follow it up with another of Rainbow Rowell’s books, Fangirl. I positively adored it (there was no dread with this book). That book that I chose to finish instead of writing a decent blog post? That was Fangirl.

The remarkable thing, to me, is how Ms. Rowell manages to write one character after another that is my spirit animal. Both Eleanor and Park are my spirit animals (in different ways, of course), and I love them both to death. And then there’s Fangirl‘s Cath, who is even more my spirit animal. I find myself wanting to write fan fiction about Cath, which is pretty much the most Cath-like thing I could do.

Many thanks to the many people who had good things to say about these fabulous books (including, but not limited to, the always-wonderful John Green). And many thanks to my brother and sister-in-law who got them for me for Christmas.

See guys, YA literature doesn’t have to be dystopian to be awesome (though it helps).

Until tomorrow.

That Was Close

I just had a mini panic attack, you guys. I realized how badly I want to get my (not yet born) niece the Betsy-Tacy books. (A matched set, if you please.) But then I got worried that I wouldn’t be able to find the books at all. (I believe I wrote about the trouble I had getting my hands on the last four books in the early days of this blog.) Hence the panic attack.

See, as much as I want my niece to have the Besty-Tacy books, there’s no way I’d give her my copies. (And not just because mine are not a matched set.) I want to keep my copies for myself.

But it turns out that my worries were unfounded because Amazon has all the books. It even has the other Deep Valley books that are Betsy-Tacy adjacent; I’ve never read any of those books.

Crisis averted.

Until tomorrow.

Phooey

I had an interview yesterday for a temp job that would’ve been perfect: easy data entry, ending in December. Perfect. (It’s why I wanted good vibes yesterday.)

Alas, it was not to be. They chose the other candidate because she’s bilingual. C’est la vie.

But here’s why I’m bummed I didn’t get it: if I had gotten the job I could’ve justified buying Allegiant. (It’s not weird. Well, maybe it is a little.) The worst part is that I had resigned myself to waiting for Christmas to get my hands on Allegiant, but then I got hope and now I’m sad all over again. Stupid hope.

Until tomorrow.

Reading Always Wins

You know how I sometimes lose track of time while reading and only emerge to write a very short post on my blog? Well, it turns out that can happen just as easily when I’m re-reading. For instance, I’m three chapters from the end of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and I can’t wait to jump back in. The end is the best part of Chamber of Secrets after all. I just hope I don’t decide to start reading Prisoner of Azkaban when I’m done. (There’s a good chance I will, though, since it’s my favorite Harry Potter book.)

Until tomorrow.

Hotly Anticipated

Once upon a time I finished Veronica Roth’s Insurgent and immediately sent my personal cheerleader a Facebook message. In it I expressed my displeasure that the final book in the trilogy wasn’t going to be released until October (October 22, in point of fact). How in the world was I going to be able to wait until October to find out what happens to Tris, Four, and their world? (This was in May.) October felt soo far away.

Well, it’s October now and I’ve managed to survive the wait thus far. Unfortunately I won’t be able to read Allegiant this month because I’m poor and I literally cannot afford it. (And the current presale price on Amazon is only $11.99, too. For the hardcover. Being poor is The Worst.) I could put myself on the waiting list at my local library, but I did that with two other books and they never contacted me when the books became available. I will not let them fool me a third time, the bastards. So Allegiant will be the top item on my Christmas wish list (with a giant note that says it is the single most important thing on the list). (Yes, I still make wish lists for Christmas and my birthday. I love them. I’d rather get something I want/give something the recipient wants.)

Speaking of things I want and can’t afford, Kevin Devine’s Bulldozer and Bubblegum albums come out October 15. Thank God Kickstarter takes your money when the project is funded (read: months ago) and not when the product is released (read: now). I won’t have to rely on the kindness of my family to get my hands on Bulldozer and Bubblegum 🙂 Also, the video for “Bubblegum” is adorable and you should totally watch it.

Until tomorrow.

Hmm

I went to IMDB to look up some random actor this afternoon, but I got completely sidetracked when it had a link to the new trailer for The Host. I had to watch it immediately. (Sidenote: When the teaser was released back in March the March 2013 release date felt so far away; it doesn’t feel so far away now.)

My immediate reaction was “no me gusta.” I could only focus on the things that differed from the book (and there’s quite a bit considering it’s just a two-minute trailer). I felt like they’d taken this book and this story that I love and turned them into a movie that I didn’t even want to see. In retrospect, my anger may really be due to the lack of Ian in the trailer. (Seriously, Ian is very important; he may make or break my opinion of the entire movie.)

I just watched the trailer a second time on YouTube when I was looking for a link to include in this post and I’m not as anti any longer. I mean, I’m no longer considering boycotting the movie, so that’s a step in the right direction. And I’m feeling more positive about Saoirse Ronan as Wanda/Mel than I was when I first read about that piece of casting. So that’s a wholly positive development to come from the trailer.

Honestly, the biggest thing I got from a second viewing of the trailer was an immense desire to re-read the book. Which would be the second time this year, but who’s counting? There’s actually a very good chance that I end up doing it, too, because the book is currently sitting on my bedside table and I have poor impulse control 🙂 Now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure my YA Lit prof recommended The Host to us (even though it isn’t a YA book).

Seriously, I can’t recommend (the book) The Host strongly enough.

Until tomorrow.

Gutted (In A Good Way)

I’m late today, but that’s because I decided that finishing The Fault in Our Stars was more important than writing a blog post at my regularly scheduled time. Well, I just finished it, so now is the time for blogging. But my iPad is dying, so this will have to be brief. Which is just as well, since my head is so full of the book right now.

I read it in two days, so it should surprise no one that I absolutely loved it. Books with a teenage cancer patient protagonist should not be this awesome. But if it weren’t awesome it would probably be totally depressing, so I’m glad it was awesome 🙂 I also want to thank whatever magical spirit inspired me to listen to The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me while I read the last several chapters; it timed out beautifully and was just perfect.

The Fault in Our Stars was the first of 24 books I will be reading for my YA Literature class this semester. I chose it because I’d heard nothing but good things about it and my personal cheerleader just started it several days ago and she was raving. (It’s really, really good.) I’m glad I got my YA reading off to such a great start, but I’m also afraid that none of the 23 other books will be able to hold a candle to this one. If you have any suggestions of great YA books, please leave me a comment.

Until tomorrow.

Distracted

Crap, I hadn’t realized how late it was. That’s what I get for deciding that I must finish Fifty Shades of Grey tonight, I guess. But I did finish it, so mission accomplished.

So, yeah, I caved and read the first Fifty Shades book. How could I resist something with that much buzz? And I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Hell, I enjoyed it more than I should have, given how incredibly bad it was. And I’m not making a moral judgment when I say it was bad; I’m making a literary judgment. The glacial pace. All the inner goddess/bitchy subconscious crap. The first-person narrator who was dull as dirt. (Sure, there were interesting parts, but they’d be followed by page after page of boring Ana.) And what kind of English major in 2011 has a negative attitude towards computers? Calling her MacBook a “mean machine,” really? Gah.

The worst part is that I’m tempted to read the next book. But maybe if I sleep on it, it will pass.

Until tomorrow.