Crazy Red Pen

What My Mother Gave Me

2013-04-24T12:49:00.000-04:00

If you’re searching for a Mother’s Day present, buy What My Mother Gave Me: Thirty-One Women on the Gifts That Mattered the Most (Algonquin, April 2^nd 2013). It’s a compilation put together by Elizabeth Benedict and features stories by Lisa See, Joyce Carol Oates, Jean Hanff Korelitz and more.

I was scared that it would be “feel-good”, story after story that were more forced than genuine. My fears were unfounded and What My Mother Gave Me is real and touching. Some of the writers chose to talk about tangible gifts that their mothers gave them and others wrote about gifts of compassion, strength and ways of thinking. Lisa See wrote about her mother’s determination to be published, which was something that See also inherited. Joyce Carol Oates wrote a short essay about the quilt that her mother gave her, who writes, “There is nothing so comforting as wearing clothes your mother has sewn or knitted for you.”

Not all of the women featured in What My Mother Gave Me had happy childhoods but even they found gifts that they received from their mothers. The essays were real, raw and honest. The difficulties were stated and the happiness were written about in a way that was neither overly sentimental or mushy. It’s due to this that What My Mother Gave Me felt so relatable. It portrays the beauty in mother-daughter relationships and it’s something that everyone should read.

Prayers

2013-04-19T16:56:00.000-04:00

I honestly cannot contain the sheer shock that I felt when I heard last night that there was a shooter on the loose at MIT and that one hour after the shoots were fired, a police officer was down. It was 11:30 PM and I was on Facebook when a friend of mine shared the news.

All they knew then was that the there were shots fired at Building 32 on the campus. They warned students to stay inside since it wasn't clear what happened. Another hour later, a police office was down.

Sometimes, I wonder what has this world come down to? First the horrific Boston Marathon explosions, then the explosions in West Texas and now this? I love Boston with all my heart and my prayers go out to everyone.

It's disturbing, it's scary, it's intimidating. Right after the Boston Marathon explosions, warnings were sent out to avoid New York and DC. I was about to go to both places and for a moment, I was actually afraid.

The fact that these things happened, one after another, is shocking. I know people who are going to go to Boston-area colleges and I can't imagine how shocked they were last night when they received text messages to stay out of the city because a shooter was on the loose.

The first shooting in the news that I can remember distinctly was the one at Virginia Tech. I remember being in school and the teachers freaking out. This was before everyone decided to be attached to their phones since class was too boring and I could just remember sitting there shocked.

A friend of mine posted on Facebook that he picked up his brother in Cambridge, MA minutes before the shooting. Talk about timing. My friend is on short break in the greater Boston area and I hope she's okay.

My thoughts are with everyone in Boston and Texas right now. In moments like these, we see the good in others. Stay strong everyone.

Reasons Why I've Been Sporadic With Posting

2013-04-13T11:18:00.000-04:00

I've been quite sporadic with blogging lately, with literally less than 10 posts per month. This is not okay (but I don't think it's going to change any time soon, with major testing coming up next month).

Anyway, here's a list of excuses.

1. School
I don't know why but this year is like, really bad for some odd reason. Kelly posted a post titled, "How to Graduate College without Reading" and I was reading it like, "Yep... #mylife" WHERE DID THE TIME GO?!

2. Work
If I'm going to talk about school, you can bet (okay, I already said it so you can't bet) that I'm going to talk about work. Stress levels have increased. As I said above, I don't know why work is so bad this year.

3. Technology hates me

But I love technology! I was talking to my friend yesterday and she's like, "You're the type of person who needs to be connected." Probably. Technology is not working with me though. Things keep breaking down when I need them (laptop #1, laptop #2, phone, and iPod, I am looking at you) and I have to spend hours stalking tech forums, thinking "techguy1243487483, WHERE IS THE SOLUTION TO YOUR PROBLEM (THAT I ALSO HAVE?!". If this computer breaks down as well, I don't know what I'm going to do. Probably this:

4. Lost of Interest (Temporarily)

When you've been doing something (albeit, not that well) for four years, you tend to get bored with it after a while. This is me. While I do like blogging, I'm just not feeling it right now.

When all these things combine, I just feel like this:

Honestly though, I feel like Vladimir and Estragon in Waiting for Godot, where they're just making excuses.

I'll be back (like that one person who just comes back. And back. And back... eventually.)

Indie Bookstore Haul

2013-04-05T20:28:00.002-04:00

As I mentioned earlier, I’ve been obsessed with my local independent bookstore and the last time I was there, I ended up buying stuff (as usual).

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tsu (25^th Anniversary Edition, Vintage Books Edition [Random House])

I read a translation published by Barnes and Noble around five years ago, when I was into Chinese religion/philosophy. Tao Te Ching is the classic Chinese text that is fundamental to Daoism/Taoism. Since then, my interest in it has subsided a bit. It didn’t stop me, however, from picking up a copy of this when I saw it. It’s paired with black and white film photographs and the Chinese version done in calligraphy. I like to read it when I feel really calm.

A Literary Paris by Jamie Cox Robertson (Adams Media)

This combines my love for independent bookstores (where I bought it), reading and traveling. It has excerpts from famous works of literature (Hemingway, Collete, Sedaris and more) about Paris. It also contains quotes by famous authors about Paris and some historical background on the places that are described in the excerpt. Instant love! Plus, it’s a fabric covered hardcover, which makes it even better.

While Mortals Sleep by Kurt Vonnegut

It's a collection of Vonnegut's previously unpublished short stories. I bought this for my friend’s birthday because she’s a Vonnegut fan. I have no idea if she’s read this so hopefully she hasn’t! *crosses fingers*

I joked that I’ll probably end up going broke if I keep going to my local indie bookstore and buying books every time but my friend replied with “Isn’t that a good thing? You’re gaining knowledge”, to which I have to agree.

What books have you bought lately? Have you been to your local independent bookstore?

Things I'm Into Lately

2013-03-30T21:17:00.002-04:00

Things have been quite busy lately and it shows. Once second semester started, I thought, “Great! I can relax!". Ha! I’m busy with work and school but it’s finally spring break so I can relax (kind of)!

I thought I’d do a post of the things that I’ve been into lately (maybe this will turn into a semi-regular thing? We’ll see).

Typography I’ve been super into graphic design (I think I mentioned this in an earlier post) lately but most of all, typography. Now that I’m thinking about it, I’ve been into graphic design for quite some time, but to varying degrees. It started around the time that I started this blog (not related to my starting a blog, though) when I finally got Photoshop. I’ve made some hideous things but I’ve been improving. Some of my favorite blogs are EmmaDime, DesignLoveFest, and Pugly Pixel (so many resources, tutorials and how-to’s. If you’re only looking for one design blog to follow, this is it.).

Travel Sites My friend and I have a long bucket list. We’ve accomplished approximately 0.2% of it and it just keeps on growing. I’m quite into traveling and so is she so I’ve been surfing travel sites. This is the one thing that must get done on our bucket list that never seems to get shorter.

Independent Bookstores My first foray into my local independent bookstore was chronicled partially here, and I’ve been going loyally to it ever since. It’s on my places-to-go list every time I go downtown and the sale section is just amazing. Plus, there are tons of hipster/intellectual books on poetry and archaic topics. The atmosphere is quite nice, too and the employees are quite nice. I was looking for a book that I saw earlier to for a friend because I thought she’d like it and I forgot the title. I described the book cover in vague descriptors (“It was feminist-y about bodies or something like that? It had a vintage-y feel to it? ) and the employee immediately found it.

Frantically Searching for a Replacement for Google Reader It’s not okay that Google is pulling the plug on Google Reader. I’ve been using Reader for the past seven years, Google. It’s been integrated into my routine. This is not okay.

What are you into lately?

The Promise of Stardust

2013-03-28T11:27:00.004-04:00

The Promise of Stardust by Priscille Sibley (William Morrow (HarperCollins)) is among one of the best books I’ve read this year. It’s even more surprising that it’s a debut novel. It’s delicate, well-written and heart-wrenching.

Matt Beaulieu and Elle McClure have known each other since they were young. When Matt was two and held Elle, who was a baby, in his arms, he spoke his first words. When Matt was seventeen, he kissed Elle under a blanket of shining stars. Years later, they’ve married each other. However, an accident leaves Elle brain-dead. Matt’s ready to sign the papers to pull Elle off of life support, something that was Elle’s wish. Elle watched her mother, who was ridden with cancer, die a slow death and vowed that she would never be in the same position. Matt discovers that Elle’s pregnant and his choice becomes less clear. His family is split about what to do and so is Elle’s family. Soon, it spirals into a legal battle, driven by principle, and goes beyond the McClure’s and Beaulieu’s.

On the summary alone, The Promise of Stardust seems like a novel that would get lost between medical ethos, varying lines of right and wrong. However, it doesn’t. It presents a story that captivates the readers, that goes beyond life or death. It’s nuanced, it’s delicate and it sidesteps the question of right or wrong, presenting a story that readers can sympathize with. Both sides of the question are presented but as the story shows, there is no right answer. In the end, Matt’s still not sure if he’s made the right decision.

The paperback edition of The Promise of Stardust contains an additional section that contains an interview with the author, Priscille Sibley. In it, she mentions that she’s a fan of Jodi Picoult and I thought, “Yes! The Promise of Stardust is quite like Picoult.” That said however, The Promise of Stardust isn’t a mimicry of Jodi Picoult’s novel. It’s different, refreshing and shines on its own.

While writing this, I’m trying to find a passage I really like, but in reality, I flip to any page and I find something I like. So here I am, sharing a non-spoiler passage, with Matt sharing a memory.

“Mom insisted Dad’s funeral would not be morbid. Word went around that we were each to come up with five stories to tell about Dad-or else. Funny stories were best, but any nonsappy tale would do. I found out more things about my father in those two days than I’d known in my lifetime. For six months, when he was in elementary school, he ate nothing but peanut-butter sandwiches. In high school he and his father helped build a house for a family who lost everything after their furnace exploded…. I found myself wondering: Why is it we know so little about the people we love until they are gone?”

I’ve already reread The Promise of Stardust and will be following Sibley’s career.

Have you read any recent debut novels? If so, what are they?

Gevalia's Book Club Commercial

2013-03-18T23:53:00.003-04:00

I was watching TV the other day and saw this commercial for Gevalia's (Swedish company) coffee featuring a book club! It reminded me of Velveeta's book club commercial, which Allison (The Book Wheel) posted about earlier this year.

Gevalia's commercial compares its coffee to "losing itself in a great book". I don't like coffee that much but if it's comparison holds true, Gevalia must be some really great coffee.

What are your thoughts on this commercial?

This is What Happy Looks Like

2013-03-14T06:09:00.000-04:00

The first time I heard the synopsis of Jennifer E. Smith’s latest novel, This is What Happy Looks Like (April 2, 2013), I thought, how cute. Teenage movie star, Graham Larkin sends Ellie O’Neill, a small town girl who lives in Maine, an email about walking his pet pig, Wilbur, by accident and soon, they find that they cannot stop emailing each other. Ellie mentions by chance that there’s nothing to do in small-town Maine and Graham finds that her hometown is the perfect place for his latest movie.

Graham Larkin shows up in Ellie’s town, much to her surprise and he’s looking for Ellie. However, can she, a small town girl have a relationship with someone as famous as Graham Larkin, especially when she has secrets of her own to hide?

I read This is What Happy Looks Like with a smile on my face. It’s cute, filled with cute lines such as “I’m also terrible at saying goodbyes” and “Okay, then, I’ll just say hello again twice”. It’s a very happy cute book that made me look really strange. I was reading it in school, with a weird grin that seemed to be stuck on my face.

However, there lies the problem. No doubt, This is What Happy Looks Like is a good story about teenage love that’s rather adorable, but that’s it. It’s rather superficial and rather “happy”. Even when the main character was sad and depressed, I couldn’t get into her head. It wasn’t like the writing was particularly bad or anything like that but This is What Happy Looks Like is a very “feel-good” novel with nothing lasting. Sure, the story was rather cute and it’s a story that I’d probably read when I’m looking for a quick read.

In the end, This Is What Happy Looks Like is a quick read. It’s a satisfying quick read, but nothing more. It keeps in style with Smith’s previous novel, The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, with its cuteness (I would argue that This Is What Happy Looks Like is cuter), but whereas The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight had a quite a huge chunk of internalization by the main character, Hadley, over her parent’s divorce and her father’s subsequent remarriage, This Is What Happy Looks Like has offers a tiny view into Ellie’s mind. It teases the reader with some, leaves off, letting the reader smile at the cuteness of Ellie and Graham and returns later at the end for another glimpse.

No doubt about it, Jennifer E. Smith knows what teenage girls want to read about. This Is What Happy Looks Like is a book I’d turn to for a satisfying two-hour read, something that would make me happy. It’s not something I’d read if I needed something thought-provoking but sometimes, that’s okay too.

Review copy provided by the publisher

Fashion Meets Literature

2013-03-12T06:47:00.000-04:00

I ended up going to NYC for fun and ended up going full-on tourist. I've been to New York more times than I can count (or remember for that matter) but ever since I bought myself a DSLR , I can't stop taking photos. (Camera novelty, I think).

Right when I was taking this photo, some random Asian 20-year-old couple walked by, saying "Ugh, international tourists with their DSLRs". I laughed with my friend, because we're such "international tourists" from the next state over.

(Image-heavy; click below the jump for more)

I got off at the 5^th Ave. subway stop mistakenly (I had thought a place that we were going was close by, but I was way off) so I decided to walk around.

I ended up seeing a cool window display at Bergdorf Goodman (the one in the photo was actually the Bergdorf Goodman across the street), called "Great Moments in Literature", which I thought was pretty cool because it referenced many pieces of classic literature.

This is a reference to George Orwell's Animal Farm. While most of the allusions were rather shallow, I still thought it was cool.

An allusion to Kafka's Metamorphosis.

I had no idea what this alluded to but after some Googling, it's an allusion to Marcel Proust, who's a French novelist. One of his famous quotes from his novels was "Longtemps je me suis couché de bonne heure (For a long time, I've been going to bed early)."

I thought this was pretty neat to have the season’s clothes displayed in this fashion (no pun intended, har har har). Have you seen any other pop culture references to literature?

Fox Forever + Interview+ Giveaway

2013-03-07T05:00:00.000-05:00

I loved, loved Fox Inheritance (and the whole Jenna Fox Chronicles) so of course I jumped on the chance to be a part of the Fox Forever blog tour. You can find my review of it here.

Q: I just read an article in Time magazine about how scientists, researchers and a TV production company created a bionic man with among other things: plastic blood, full-service heart and sight-restoring eyes. It looks like our world is getting closer to a world resembles the world of Jenna Fox Chronicles. Do you think any of the characters or events from the Jenna Fox Chronicles will have a real-life counterpart?

Absolutely. Just this past fall there was a big story on the news about a man who climbed a skyscraper with his bionic leg—much like the ones that I gave to Allys in the story— limbs where you can “think” them to move. It works in synchronicity with the brain.

Here's a link to some of the coverage:

Man with Bionic Legs Climb Chicago Skyscraper (NBC News)

There’s just about no part of the human anatomy that can’t be recreated in the lab—including the eyes you mentioned! We have a ways to go to master some of these advances, but I think it’s only a matter of time before we’re able to put it all together.

The brain and how it works is still a bit of a question though. They’ve created prosthesis’ for parts of the brain to restore certain functions, but the mind is still a mystery. Is it only pieces of information? Or do all these pieces of information stored in the brain create an energy of their own that we can’t necessarily see?

Computers can certainly "think" already. Heck, I'm always battling mine because it thinks it knows better than me on a lot of things--which it probably does. But the constant pieces of information that come to us as humans--sounds, sight, touch, taste, smell--even senses we may not know about yet like sixth, seventh, and even eighth senses, they all affect our perceptions, and play into this five pound mass of white stuff we carry inside our skulls. It's going to take more than a gifted programmer to recreate that. But 260 years ago, who would have guessed that we'd be able to transplant a human heart into someone else? My philosophy is never say never.

As far as events go, I think many could happen. Sadly, with the political polarization in our country continuing to escalate, I could see a time in the future of another Civil War. On that count, I do hope I’m wrong. Come on people, let’s get it together!

Thanks for having me as a guest on your blog, Alice!

I hope your readers enjoy Fox Forever and the other books in The Jenna Fox Chronicles trilogy!

Thank you so much to Mary Pearson and Macmillan Books! Fox Forever comes out March 19th, 2013. Go, go, go pre-order it!

Also, I have a giveaway for US/Canada for one paperback copy of The Adoration of Jenna Fox, one paperback copy of The Fox Inheritance, and one hardcover copy of Fox Forever. That's the WHOLE trilogy!

(click below the jump for the Rafflecopter form)

Contest Rules:

USA/Canada residents only, ages 13 and older
I am not liable for any lost/damaged books
Winners will be notified by email sometime after the end of the contest and have 3 days to reply to the initial email or another winner will be chosen
Please make sure the email you use to comment is the same one as the one you use for Rafflecopter
Giveaway ends 3/21/2013

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Fox Forever

2013-03-06T18:17:00.000-05:00

When I finished Mary Pearson’s Fox Chronicles, I had no idea that there was going to be a third book (to be honest, I think I wasn't paying attention) , but I’m glad there is. Fox Forever is the third and last book in the Jenna Fox Chronicles and ends the trilogy that first started in 2009.

Fox Forever, like Fox Chronicles, is told from Locke’s point of view. He finally has freedom and the shady resistance group known as the Network wants a Favor. After all, they’ve helped him escape and he owes them. Locke has to infiltrate the home of the Secretary by gaining the trust of his daughter, Raine. However, Raine has secrets of her own and it may complicate things. Locke is pulled into Network and Raine’s life.

Like Fox Chronicles, Mary Pearson’s writing is stunning and thought provoking as she continues to examine both sides of genetic engineering, identity and ethics. What makes us human? The feelings that we have or what we’re made up of?

As usual, the pacing was wonderful. It was fast paced when it needed to be and slow when the moment needed to be savored. Also, the rhythm. Pearson switches between short sentences and long ones deftly.

Cock head to the side trying to understand what it is.
A breath.
A presence.
A closing in.
And then shadows.
Flashes of air.
A thousand screeches surround me and I’m knocked to the ground. Pounced on. Razors cutting into my flesh.

The ending to Fox Forever (and by default, the ending of the Jenna Fox Chronicles) is the perfect combination of bitter sweetness and hope. It was sad, it was happy, but most of all, it was satisfying.

Come back tomorrow and I'll be doing an interview with Mary Pearson, the author of Fox Forever and a giveaway!

Review copy provided by the publisher

Busy People, Life and Other Things

2013-03-04T17:44:00.000-05:00

I guess I'm hopping onto the (virtual) bandwagon of blogs sharing cool articles from the web with the post. I don't see myself turning it into a weekly or even bi-monthly feature because I don't have much to say about articles.

That said however I do find something to say about this article that Andrew Demont (business developer) wrote, titled "The Glorification of Busy".

For me, as more time opens up, my plate gets more full. I inflate the importance of tasks that accompany those added responsibilities. My effectiveness drops, and so does my level of sanity. I finish each day exhausted, without the satisfaction of production.

I find myself working just to work.

...

Let's stop glorifying over-work, and start congratulating smart work. The truly brilliant people.

This industry is a race, but it's not a sprint. It's a marathon, one that I hope to be running for a very long time.

I find this article applicable to anything in life, whether it's school (Pop culture does not portray high school to be this competitive at all. Lies, lies. Where are the dancing jocks on tables? Where are the food fights? Oh wait, everyone's too busy in the library studying.*), work, blogging (not that it can't be let's-all-be-friends but we all know that somewhere in ourselves we want our blogs to be more successful, have more readers, etc.)

So yes, work hard but work hard efficiently. Have some time for yourself (I need this). Sometimes I find myself pulling late hours or early mornings (before the break of dawn) to do work. Did I need to? Probably not.

*True story. The library is always jam-packed (during lunch) unless it's closed. Then it's usually packed with teachers.

Photo:ABC News
Edits: Me

Let's Take the Long Way Home

2013-02-28T15:40:00.000-05:00

I bought Gail Caldwell’s Let’sTake the Long Way Home on a whim, partially because it was on sale and partially because it seemed familiar.

I’m glad that I did because the novel is just so well-written, not becoming melodramatic nor heavy. Let’s Take the Long Way Home is a “memoir of friendship” between Gail Caldwell and Caroline Knapp, author of Drinking: A Love Story. Knapp died of cancer and Let’s Take the Long Way Home is the story of both of them and how Caldwell came to terms with Knapp’s death.

The novel starts out with a brief one page prologue of sorts that begins with:

“It’s an old, old story: I had a friend and we shared everything, and then she died and so we shared that too… For years we had played he easy, daily game of catch that intimate connection implies. One ball, two gloves, equal joy in the throw and the return. Now I was in the field without her: one glove, no game. Grief is what tells you who you are alone.”

Even from the first page, I knew Let’s Take the Long Way Home was going to be good.

The novel is written through anecdotes of Caldwell and Knapp’s friendship- their initial meeting at a book party, Caldwell an editor and Knapp, an author, their bonding over their dogs, their shared love for books, and walks, from which the novel takes its name. Although the novel seems like it would be primarily about Knapp, it reveals as much about Caldwell as it is about Knapp. When Caldwell writes about Knapp’s former alcohol addiction, Caldwell flawlessly transitions into her own struggles with alcohol.

It’s partially due to the flawless transitions and Caldwell’s eloquence (“The dailiness of our alliance was both muted and essential: We were the lattice that made room for the rose.”) that makes Let’s Take the Long Way Home such an enjoyable read. It’s a coming of age story of sorts as two middle aged women discover the pleasures in life and friendship. While grief novels are quite bleak and melancholy, Let’s Take the Long Way Home isn’t. She write in layers, showing readers the friendship she had and readers see how life-changing the friendship was, but when she writes about the grief she felt afterwards, it’s without sentimentality. It’s not a bad thing that she does, but rather a liberating one. She writes about her period of grief with equal control and elegant way that she did when writing about her friendship (“Life’s irrefutable forward motion, a one-way arrow pointed past the dead.”).

Let’s Take the Long Way Home is a deeply moving novel about friendship and ultimately, grief. It’s elegant, passionate, eloquent and just wonderful. Go to the bookstore and take the long way home while reading it. It’s so worth it.

Dualed + Interview!

2013-02-25T08:13:00.000-05:00

Sometime last year, I had the chance to read Elsie Chapman’s debut novel, Dualed*. It has a snazzy cover by Michael Heath. It appears with a digitally rendered cover, instead of the usual covers with photographs. Yay!

While it is another dystopian novel (dystopian seems to be very “in” right now, something no doubt is due to The Hunger Games), Dualed has many characteristics to set it apart. Dualed is set in Kersh, a futuristic place where there is a set of two genetically identical people-Alts. When they are between the ages of ten to twenty, the Alts face off against each other. “Be the one, be the worthy,” is the motto of Kersch. Supplies are limited and the only the strongest will win. (Cue Darwin’s theory of evolution.) West has just received her received her orders to start hunting her Alt. She’s capable of using many weapons but is she capable enough?

Dualed is a fast-paced action novel, which kept me on my seat. The writing was flowed well and was smooth, something that is not typical of action novels (“That pale,ashy light of a dying winter’s day is darkening to speckled granite, swirling with cloud now. Thin shadows of the last stubborn leaves still clinging to the maple tree drift overhead and are gone.”). I also liked how romance didn’t play a huge part of Dualed. I’m a little tired of love-triangles (seriously, they seem nearly ubiquitous in YA novels) and action novels that turn into romance stories (Hunger Games, I am looking at you). Romance was only a side note in Dualed, which was so refreshing. The romance is obvious but it’s not the focus of the novel.

Dualed is as much a story about surviving as much as it is about ethics. When is it okay to pit children against each other? Survival of the fittest, literally. Alts are genetically identical so it’s the upbringing that makes the final difference.

At the end of the novel, Dualed becomes a little philosophical but it’s not contrived, which is such a relief. West says, “Time plays with you, toys with your mind. Sometimes it flows slow and languid, sometimes so quickly that if you dare to blink you’ll miss it all.”

I loved the writing of Dualed (very picturesque), the story (it made me think) so go out to bookstores (or online) and buy it!

Dualed comes out on February 26^th, 2013.

I had the chance to interview Elsie about the book and here it is below:

Interview below the jump.

1. Which character in Dualed do you relate to the most?

I can definitely relate to the parents who show up in the book. It’d be a horrible thing, only being able to stand by and watch as your kids go off to face their Alts. I can also relate to any Alt who’s dead because there’s no way I’d survive in such a world.

2. What kind of person would your Alt be?

The first answer that popped into my head was that she would be like me, but that’s not necessarily true. Alts share a lot of the same traits as well as physical looks, but environment and experience come into play, too. My best answer is she’d be the same, but also different.

3. The first draft of Dualed took you five weeks to write. How long was did it take from conception to publication?

I think by the time it’s on the shelves in February, it’ll be a little over two years. Which sounds insane! But so much happens in between that the time eventually proves necessary. Of course, there’s a lot of just waiting, too, which is probably the hardest part!

4. What was the process like behind the making of the cover?

Most of the time, authors don’t have much to do with the process at all. Which for me was perfect because I wouldn’t even know where to begin! For DUALED, my publisher came to me with a few mock-ups and different directions that the cover could take. Artist Michael Heath came on board, and eventually it got narrowed down to the current cover, which I think is absolutely perfect for the book. The model for DUALED, Shanna Grace, actually contacted me a few weeks ago to say hi! So that was really cool. She’s back for the cover for DIVIDED, as well.

5. What message do you want readers to take away from Dualed?

I’m not sure all books have messages, or should. I didn’t write DUALED with a message in mind at all, but I do think messages can sometimes form as a story evolves. West is a flawed character, and she makes mistakes, but she’s also doing what she feels needs to be done. Whether a reader comes away with anything from that is ultimately up to them.

6. Kersh, the setting of the book is a violent place yet the citizens stay relatively civilized. Why is that?

I think a lot of it comes down to survival and somehow finding a way to just keep going. In a world where killings are not only normal but also expected, it’d be almost easy to let everything fall apart. So it says a lot to be able to take that feeling and not be overwhelmed by it.

7. Will readers be able to see any one from outside of Kersch in the later books?

I can’t say for sure? I know, that’s a non-answer, sorry!

8. We learn that West, the main character, likes to paint. What type of things would she paint?

I think she’d paint using lots of colours and expression. She goes through a lot, so painting would probably be her way of escaping from reality for a bit, when she’s able to let herself do that.

Thanks Elsie for letting me interview you!

Find Elsie Chapman online at:

Website

Twitter

Buy Dualed from:

Amazon

B&N

*Review copy provided by the publisher, via Netgalley

Saturday Night Widows & Fresh Off the Boat

2013-02-18T09:08:00.000-05:00

I'm wondering if I should try my hands (fingers, I guess since I type my reviews?) at mini-reviewing.

Saturday Night Widows

I didn’t like this book very much. I think the problem probably was that the topic wasn’t very interesting to me. The premise sounded interesting: Six widows form a group that meets on Saturdays once and month to bond and turn “traditional thinking about loss and recovery upside down (synopsis on the back cover).” The premise reminded me vaguely of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants but it wasn’t. I didn’t really like the writing either…

When I was on Time.com, I found an interview that the author did with TIME about grief and widows, which I read, with slightly more interest than when I read the book. It was probably because the interview was shorter than the book was.

Fresh Off the Boat

The package that contained Fresh Off the Boat was addressed to a “Janice”, which confused me and made me suspect that I got a review copy because I was Chinese. Never mind that.

Fresh Off the Boat is the memoir of the creator of Baohaus (NYC East Village shop that makes baos, a Taiwanese street snack), Eddie Huang. It’s funny, provocative and fresh. It’s filled with profanity, hip-hop references, history about food and the idea that Asian Americans should stand up for what they believe in, instead of meekly watching. Eddie Huang chronicles his life in America, how he defied “model minority” stereotypes, and how he founded Baohaus. It’s strangely moving, thought-provoking and alive.

It’s an immigrant’s tale and a foodie’s tale. Eddie Huang once wrote a letter to the editor of theOrlando Sentinel, which was published. The newspaper was so impressed with him that they wanted him write for them. When he showed up at the office, his interviewer said that he couldn’t hire Eddie because of his face (because of his race). Talk about infuriating. Eddie Huang talks about food with the equal passion.

Review copies provided by the publisher

Happy Valentine's Day

2013-02-14T07:27:00.000-05:00

I liked the way that you shared stories, the dramatic voice that you’d adopt. Boom! Smash! You’d string a long strand of words together and then you’d pause. I’d wait for it, knowing that something big was going to come. I liked those moments, where we'd both be happy, me hanging onto the edge of the seat waiting for what came next and you, pacing yourself, revealing things, little by little.

You had your sad days and I listened. Sometimes you drone on and on, and I listened. You had a bad day and I had an okay day. Sometimes, you’d mope and rant. On other days, you’d find yourself, your amazing ability to express yourself and we’d both cry together, even if I wasn’t sad when your started your story. I liked that part of you, your ability to influence my feelings.

It was also what I didn’t like about you, your charisma. You had that ability to make people like you a certain part of you and overlook everything else. I was blinded by it ,too sometimes. I'd get so annoyed by it. On other days, I was fine. We were fine.

I liked the way you dressed sometimes. You’d look really, really good on some days and I’d tell you. On other days, I was confused by your ability to dress incredibly well and your ability to dress incredibly off. I kept those days to myself. After all, it’s unpleasant to hear “What are you wearing?” so early in the morning. (It’s still incredibly unpleasant to hear that phrase later in the day.) It’s what’s inside that counts.

Those are the tiny things that sometimes annoy me. What am I doing, telling them to you at all?

You're amazing. What a cliche statement. I learned from you to stay away from cliches but here I am pulling them out.

So here I go, HappyValentine’sDay. I’ve never been particularly good at saying that phrase to others. Ilovebooks.

What'd you think I was going to say?

Original Photo: National Garden Month
Edits: me

Book Haul

2013-02-11T16:35:00.000-05:00

I explored local neighborhood recently and found the some of the above books (Year of the Gadfly, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, and The Emperor's Children) for sale at my library's used book section. I don't normally buy from the used books section (the selection usually isn't very good). Barnes and Noble had a great after-holiday sale, too so I stocked up on that too (found that their bargain book selection was really good, thanks to Kelly). I was a little annoyed that the books were all slightly damaged (including the packaging slip) in the mail.

It's my first non-review and non-life related post of the year, something I don't know whether to be happy or annoyed about it. I told myself in 2012 that I needed more reviews and now I'm adding more non-review posts. Balance, maybe?

Blogging has taken a back seat recently, as school eats up nearly all my time (Hello 3AM mornings! Goodbye, sleep). I read more textbooks than I do novels that aren't required for school and it's been rough. Breaks have helped though, to catch my breath and dive into blogging, only to come back up and bury myself in school-related things again.

With that said, my 2013 resolution is to be more efficient in general, not just blogging. It's getting harder to juggle everything-- school, work, blogging, and my (semi-existent) social life. 2013 promises more travel time (Thank you! I really do need a long vacation.) and more blogging events (BEA 2013, here I come*).

I totally related to Shini's (fashion blogger and an amazing photographer based in London) post about getting it together. Nearly five years (I cannot believe this) later, I'm still here blogging (and not knowing where I'm going with this blog that I created on a whim). Blogs that existed when I started are still chugging along and blogging has become so, so much more popular than it was when I started. Shini says, "Ultimately, I’m afraid that I am wasting my time doing something completely unimportant in the large scheme of things" and I relate so well. I have no idea what I'm doing or even if it's worth it. Like the day that I started this blog, I'm still confused at what my direction is with this blog. Hopefully, I can answer this question some time soon.

*Anyone else going to BEA? Feel free to tell me in the comments or on Twitter (@alicejane011)!

Happy Chinese New Year!

2013-02-10T09:27:00.000-05:00

When I was in elementary school, a boy came up to me and said, "Gong Hay Fat Choy!" and I stood there going like, "Huh?!" He stared at me like I was supposed to understand him and finally, with an exasperated sigh, he said, "Happy Chinese New Year, gosh!" I gave him my best smile and went home asking my parents what "Gong Hay Fat Choy" was.

It turns out that's how you wish people happy Chinese New Year (aka Spring Festival) in Cantonese, which explains the reason why I had no idea what he was talking about. (I speak Mandarin. It would be "Gong Xi Fa Cai" instead.)

Later when my parents decided to get CCTV 4 (a Chinese broadcast channel), I watched the airing of the Chinese New Year program, which is always an extravagant, multiple hour broadcast, annually and I realized I lacked knowledge of Chinese culture. My parents always laughed hysterically and I never really understood what was so funny. It usually revolved around Chinese idioms, play on words, and things I never really understood fully. I understand Chinese but not so much the tiny nuances of it.

Traditionally, Chinese New Year is a huge, huge deal in China (and for expats and diaspora across the world). We're all supposed to go back home, eat lots of food, act courteous to our elders, and other things that I don't really do. Chinese New Year always used to fall on a weekday and both my parents and I would be tired. It was a hassle, to pull out all the stops; we'd all be tired and we'd all start out work in the middle of the night due to the festivities, causing us to be dead-tired the next morning . My mostly-Chinese friends and I would always joke that we should just get Chinese New Year off.

Recently, one of my Caucasian friends asked me if I was going to eat dumplings over Chinese New Year and I mumbled no. He then proceeded to ask me if I was going to get red envelopes [envelopes filled with money], which I said "Yes" to.

I feel really Chinese on days other than Chinese New Year but when it gets around to Chinese New Year, I feel really inadequate. I think I was in middle school when I learned that giving oranges out was a tradition. I was at the library, which was doing a Chinese New Year celebration, and I kept getting oranges on the way out. (We also got quarters (or was it nickels?) too.) There were, and still are, many things I don't know about Chinese New Year traditions.

Maybe it's assimilation. Maybe it's just that my family isn't very big on traditions. Whatever the case, it's never too late to start learning and discovering your own culture.

Original photo: Good Food, Good Mood
Edits by me

Midwinterblood

2013-02-05T17:27:00.002-05:00

I’m not sure how to classify Midwinterblood (Roaring Brook Press [division of Macmillan], February 5^th 2013) by Marcus Sedgwick. Is it fantasy? Futuristic? Is it a short story collection? But really, it doesn’t matter what genre Midwinterblood falls into because it’s a wonderful novel.

Midwinterblood is a collection of interrelated short stories that more or less revolve around the same thing, that thing I will not talk about that much because it ruins the fun of reading the novel, and it’s at the end, that the whole story comes together. The stories of the archaeologist, painter, ghost, vampire, and finally Viking are all set on the remote island of Blessed and the stories are told in reverse chronological order, starting from the year 2073 and going backwards, until “time unknown”.

The story as a whole is relatively cliché but the beauty of the novel is in Marcus Sedgwick’s (Printz Honor author of Revolver) writing. His timing and the rhythm that he sets is rather poetic, with long descriptions following short, terse sentences. The following quote, from the first page of the novel, is a wonderful example of his writing.

“For now, he [Eric Seven] checks his watch as he stands at the top of the island’s solitary hill, gazing to where the sun should set. It has gone midnight, but the sun still shines, barely dipping its heavy rim into the sea on the far horizon.

The island is so far north.

He shakes his head.

He’s thinking about Merle. How something seems to wait in her eyes. How he felt calm, just standing next to her.

“Well, so it is,” he says, smiling with wonder.

He’s tired. His journey has been a long one. “

Midwinterblood is a relatively short read at 262 pages (the rest are either filler pages or author’s notes) and the short sentences make the read even shorter. Despite its length, Midwinterblood remains an excellent read and I’m excited to read more of Marcus Sedgwick’s other novels as his writing captured me.

Review copy provided by the publisher

This Is Me Wondering Where All The Time Went

2013-02-01T16:31:00.002-05:00

I recently received the February issue of TeenVogue and it had the huge headline "Celebrating 10 Stylish Years!" I flipped through it and there were so many images from past issues. Images that from issues I still have and images that are still fresh in my mind.

This is me when I read the year that the image was taken.

2007? 2008? 2009? Um, are you sure about that TeenVogue? I would've sworn it was only one or two years ago.

Time crawls up like this, "Five years have passed!"

Reading my blog archives (so embarrassing when I think about the things I posted about), I sit in shock and question the fact that I've been blogging for almost five years. Whenever I think about my place in the blogging world (still insignificant, if you're wondering), I want to crawl under my blanket. I don't think I have any more clue about what I'm doing now than I did when I started this blog.

Time flies. This is me ending this post with a cliche.

This post has been brought to you by the me, circa five years ago. The spontaneous, candid me that wrote random posts, nothing too contrived. I grew up, lost it, and just found it.

Pushing the Limits

2013-01-23T17:07:00.000-05:00

I first heard about Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry earlier this year. Harlequin Teen must’ve done a huge amount of behind the scenes work because nearly every book blog I subscribe to in Google Reader was reviewing it.

The marketing for Pushing the Limits felt forced and rather off because it construed the novel to be different than was it actually was. The title of the novel, paired with the cover image, and the blurb on the back (see below) did not make Pushing the Limits very enticing. It felt like a younger cousin to Harlequin’s adult romances.

Marketing of the novel aside, Pushing the Limits is a charming novel about a girl named Echo who’s trying to figure out what happened one night, so severe that it made her forget the whole day and Noah, an equally troubled boy who is trying to put his family back together.

Needless to say, Noah and Echo end up together as a couple but it’s the journey there and how they help each other that makes Pushing the Limits an interesting read. Echo dislikes her parents, her distant and overbearing father and her stepmother, who Echo believes broke up her parents’ marriage. Echo’s forced to attend therapy sessions to help her discover for herself what happened that night. Noah is a stoner and a foster kid, ever since his parents died in a fire. Despite his reputation as the “bad boy”, Noah is trying to get his family back together since his younger brothers were placed into foster homes. Initially assigned to be tutor and students, Noah and Echo discover that they can help each other come to terms with their lives.

Switching between the perspectives of Echo and Noah, Pushing the Limits was intriguing since the characters were so different and flawed from characters that I usually read about yet I connected with them a lot more than I thought would be possible. The characters had images of that they thought were right, but their perceptions weren’t the truth. There were numerous twists and turns, all surprising but none too random.

The ending was seemed tad rushed since it seem to tie all the loose ends together at the same time. At times, it was confusing and somewhat murky what really happened in Echo’s past (I couldn’t seem to get the details straight.)

Ultimately, Pushing the Limits is about two characters who try to overcome their pasts to create different and new futures. It’s complex, with its inclusion of themes such as abuse, friendship, memory loss, truth and more. It was surprising that Pushing the Limits could pack such a big punch.

Review copy provided by the publisher

Level 2 + Interview

2013-01-11T16:02:00.000-05:00

Way back in 2009 when I decided to start this blog, Presenting Lenore was one of the first book blogs that I knew of. Presenting Lenore was one of the only book blogs that I followed, the rest were design blogs. While I’m still just another book blogger on the web, Lenore Appelhans, the blogger behind Presenting Lenore, has added author to her list.

Level 2 (Simon and Schuster BFYR, pub date: January 15^th, 2013) is Lenore’s debut YA novel. It tells the story of Felicia Ward, a girl who has recently died from a tragic car accident. She finds herself trapped in an in-between place called Level 2 (from which the novel gets its name) and she’s limited to watch memories from her life and other’s.

However, everything changes when Julian, an acquaintance from Felicia’s life, reappears in Felicia’s chamber on Level 2. He lures her into joining a rebellion against the Morati, the angels in charge of Level 2. The Morati haven’t been acting as guides for the souls instead they keep the souls in Level 2. Julian convinced Felicia to join the cause, telling her that he knows where Neil, Felicia’s boyfriend, is.

Interspersed into the story are Felicia’s memories, which surprisingly, fit seamlessly into the story. The constant flashbacks reveal Felicia’s past- her multicultural upbringing due to her parent’s career as Foreign Service officers and her fall from grace-leading to her subsequent return to Ohio, where Felicia’s grandmother lives. It’s in Ohio that Felicia returns to a normal suburban high school life and where she meets her boyfriend, Neil. At times, the flashbacks seem a tad overbearing, spanning multiple pages and I want to know what’s happening on Level 2, not the past. However, the flashbacks do reveal what kind of person Felicia was and gives way to the changes that she undergoes to fight against the Morati.

Level 2 seems like a simple story about a girl who’s tasked with the job of fighting against evil in an in-between place but it’s far more complex than that. It tells the story of a girl who wanted acceptance from her parents, normalcy and a girl who discovers what she’s capable of. Readers find out about Felicia’s adventures in Level 2 but also her past. While the two perspectives mash together well, I still couldn’t figure out what happened in Felicia’s past in Nairobi. Since Level 2 is the first in a series, I’m hoping that the haze will clear up in the upcoming novels.

Overall, Level 2 was a enjoyable quick read that was definitely different than the novels that I’ve read. It was a fresh story about a girl finding herself and it offered a lot of insight on what it’s like to grow up in many places before high school graduation.

Lenore was nice enough to find some time in her busy schedule to fit a quick interview, which is below:

1. Was Felicia's cosmopolitan upbringing inspired by your own childhood?

In a way, yes. Due to my father’s job in the US Air Force, we moved around a lot, so I could definitely relate to Felicia’s sense of not really belonging anywhere. Felicia’s mother is a Foreign Service Officer and works at the US consulate in Frankfurt, Germany (where I live now). I have a bunch of friends who are FSOs and I even took the test myself a few times back in college. I needed Felicia to have an upbringing where she would have traveled a lot before her 18th birthday and the Foreign Service fit my idea of Felicia’s life perfectly.

2. What was it like to get your dream lit agent, Stephen Barbara, before you finished the manuscript for Level Two?

It was one of the most magical and surreal moments of my life when Stephen responded to the partial I submitted saying he loved it and knew exactly which editors would love it too. He’s had some amazing editorial suggestions too. I am thrilled to be represented by him.

3. You mentioned in earlier interviews that you've always imagined yourself to have a job related to writing. What made you say "I want to be a published author?"

To be honest, I never dared to say that. I studied journalism and worked in advertising for years, so I was right about the writing related job. But even up to the very moment where we accepted the offer from S&S, I simply couldn't imagine putting my name together with the words “published author”.

But despite that, I wrote a book anyway. The German Lottery has a slogan I love: “Wer nicht spielt hat schon verloren.” It translates to “He who doesn’t play has already lost.” I think that philosophy can be applied to all areas of life.

4. What makes Level Two stand out from the YA genre?

I’ve read hundreds of YA novels over the past few years and reviewed them on my blog, so I have a good idea of what’s out there. My goal with Level 2 was not only to write the kind of high concept book that I enjoy but to also breathe some fresh life into the dystopian thriller genre. As it turns
out, Level 2 is actually not all that dystopian, but so many early reviews have praised it for its originality (that or have called it “weird in the best possible way”) that I can say with authority that it’s not like anything you have ever read before.

5. You're almost done with Level Three. What's next?

I’m working on another high concept novel as well as on a few picture book ideas with my husband (illustrator Daniel Jennewein). Our first picture book together, Chick-o-Saurus Rex, comes out in July 2013 and it’s so totally different in scope and tone than Level 2. It’s fun to change gears once in a while!

Thank you Lenore for letting me interview you! Level 2 comes out on January 15th.

Review copy provided by the publisher

AN82DRDSEZFN

Hikikomori and the Rental Sister

2013-01-03T15:32:00.000-05:00

It’s been a while since I received the ARC for Jeff Backhaus’ debut novel, Hikikomori and the Rental Sister (January 8^th, 2013, Algonquin Books) and I’ve only found the time to review it now. I wish I read it earlier since it’s simply breathtaking in its delicacy and prose.

It tells the story of Thomas Tessler, a man who has essentially been a shut-in for the past three years since the death of his son. He occasionally comes out of his room and into the world in the wee hours of morning, when the sun is barely out, to the local grocery store to buy some food. He is a hikikomori.

At her wit’s end, Silke, Thomas’s wife decides to hire Megumi, a young woman who understands the hikikomori phenomenon to help lure Thomas out, back into the world.

Told from two perspectives, Thomas’s and a third person narrator’s, Hikikomori and the Rental Sister is a soft, finely attuned novel about overcoming tragedy to find the beauty in life again. The writing is beautiful too, as evidenced by this quote:

“These cups are over one hundred years old,” Megumi says. Foreigners never understand the significance, but she says it anyway. It’s not that the age itself is important or that one hundred years is particularly old, but that for one hundred years people have been sitting across from each other drinking tea out of these same cups, a long string of moments that have come and gone never to return, and in that whole time the only thing that hasn’t changed is the cups.

Backhaus’ writing is sparse, very minimalistic, rarely flowery and it’s the simplicity of everything that increases the impact of the story. The story is a very simple one- the story of how a woman helps a shut-in man discover the world again, devoid of overly complex plots and story lines, but Backhaus manages to lead the reader onto such an emotional ride. At times, I felt like I wanted to cry, such was the genius of Backhaus’ writing.

The ending was fitting and despite the fact that I didn’t like it originally, I soon saw that it was the perfect ending. The way it ended (I won’t spoil it for you here) made such an impact. It was so… beautiful.

The way that it portrayed Asian society, whether Korean (Megumi is half Korean and half Japanese) or Japanese was pitch perfect. Megumi often says that she has a hard time finding the English equivalent for a Japanese term but through Backhaus’ delicate sketch, the Asian society comes alive. It’s hard for me to describe it but somehow Hikikomori and the Rental Sister captured it. There are certain quirks that Western authors sometimes miss but Backhaus got it. He even brought in the atmosphere (here is where I struggle for words. It’s not because I’m Asian but because it’s just a feeling that’s hard to form into words.)

Overall, I loved Hikikomori and the Rental Sister which was so simple yet so deep. These kinds of novels are my favorite and I liked Hikikomori and the Rental Sister even more because it captured that Asian essence.

P.S It wasn't until when I sat down to write the review for this novel that I realized how genius the cover was. Hikikomori is a person who shuts themselves away from the world and by taking the first two letters of the word, you get the word “Hi”, which means that the person isn’t shutting themselves off. The designers at Algonquin, you guys are geniuses!

Review copy provided by the publisher

Happy New Year!

2012-12-31T21:32:00.004-05:00

I'm sure that you realize that the graphic that I made for New Year's is utterly irrelevant except for the text that says "Happy New Year!" in a font that resembles my handwriting (it isn't my handwriting though).

Instead of the usual summary of the past year (current year I should say, because 2012 is not over yet), which I've noticed has popped up everywhere from book blogs to photography blogs, I decided to end this year with an utterly irrelevant (or relevant, which ever way you decide to look at it) post.

2012 was interesting. I can't recall what I specifically did each month unless I dredge up my blog archive or my personal life. Neither option is appealing. One involves regurgitating information and the other involves me revealing information that I'd rather stay private.

2012 for blogging was different. I made a bunch of friends (hey guys!) and found many new blogs. I hope 2013 will be 2012 but even better. Planning to go to BEA so that should be interesting.

Not really sure where I'm going with this post so I'll end it here. The graphic in fact is semi-relevant as I went to go see an actual Monet (yes that is an actual Monet). And yes, I took that picture.

As always, may 2013 be better than 2012.

EDIT: Just read over this and I sound really... odd. I guess that happens when I decide to wake up at 5 am. Here's to a more awake 2013.

EDIT TWO:

Posting this picture of another Monet (another real one) that I saw. So sorry that the picture is awkwardly cropped! Didn't take a good pic of it...

Merry Christmas!

2012-12-25T07:28:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas! I hope you have a wonderful holiday and see you in the new year!

P.S I made the graphic and took the photo. Here's to another year of interesting graphics and semi-amateurish photography!