WORD for Teens

Quotables

2012-05-27T09:00:00.000-04:00

I've been browsing Goodreads and a lot of other blogs lately and it's reunited me with my love of certain quotes. I thought I'd share them with you -- if you haven't read the books they're from, maybe they'll encourage you to read them!

Some of them will be some that I've seen some lovin' for recently, and some you will have never heard at all, perhaps. If you like the quote, click the book to be brought to the Goodreads page!

“If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”

"A girl what's born for hangin' ain't likely to be drowned.

"You don't forget the face of the person who was your last hope."

"Nature didn't need an operation to be beautiful. It just was."

"I'm not going to wear a red dress," she said.

"It would look stunning, My Lady," she called.

She spoke to the bubbles gathered on the surface of the water. "If there's anyone I wish to stun at dinner, I'll hit him in the face."

"Some books should be tasted, some devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly."

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I am the future queen of the world, at the very least. You may refer to me as Mistress Koboi for the next five minutes. After that you may refer to me as Aaaaarrrgh, hold your throat, die screaming and so on."

"She's under duress," Peaseblossom said.

"I don't care if she's under duress, over it, or alongside it," Moth said. "Nothing in this world supersedes cake."

"The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again."

These are just a handful of my favorites. Are these any of your favorites? And be sure to share some of your favorite quotes in the comments!

Merchandise for the Bibliophile

2012-05-26T09:00:00.000-04:00

I should not be allowed to surf the web. Or have money. Or be allowed to do both at the same time. Because then I make lists of book-related things that I want, and that can never end well.

Take, for example, everything on this list.

ThinkGeek's collection of The Hunger Games replica items
Need a shirt to wear to the gym? How about the shirts from when the Tributes are training?

Or maybe you need a new raincoat! One that keeps heat in and the rain out? Katniss' jacket can help with that.

Or maybe you just need the perfect accessory, like a pin that is also not a weapon.

ThinkGeek's The Hunger Games recipe book

It would go perfectly with my Harry Potter recipe book! I can make book-themed meals for the rest of my life!

(Seriously, I'd love to start cooking The Hunger Games inspired food.)

Practically everything from The Literary Gift Company
They have SO MANY BOOK THEMED ITEMS. They are, after all, a website entirely devoted to book-themed items.

How could I not want to spend all my money there!?

Personally, I'm a big fan of the Helvetica scarf -- typography for the win! -- and the library mug.

Beanforest's pins
The number of these I own is actually quite astounding -- somewhere around 20 or so. I can't help it. I love all of them, and I keep wanting to buy more and more and more. They're not ALL about books, but a lot of them are, and the rest are just downright hilarious.

Some of my favorites:

The occasional SnorgTee
All SnorgTees are hilarious, but occasionally you get a book related one, and then I get happy.

These are a good example. There are others, but I like these.

The Novel Print posters
Expensive? Sure! But they're posters made up of the text of classic novels. They're fabulous!

Pride and Prejudice

Have you seen any fabulous book related merchandise lately?

Feature Friday: Bookcases (80)

2012-05-25T15:00:00.000-04:00

Who said storage had to be boring?

If these chairs are as comfortable as the are practical, I want all of them.

This one is hollow so you can fill it with books. That's right. Not only is it your reading chair, but it's also your bookcase.

There's also a slightly more uncomfortable looking wooden version. The wooden one appears to have more storage space, though.

But if you value comfort over storage space, there's this guy.

Plenty of cushion AND a little nook for the book!

Homedecorarcade.com originally found all of these and put them together in a post. Credit of finding them all goes to them -- I just appreciate them as much as they do!

Friday Fronts - Breaking Glass

2012-05-25T09:00:00.000-04:00

I love, love, love the simplicity of this cover.

We get a vague idea of the setting and the kind of book. It actually ties into the title rather than just having the title randomly meshed in.

And the font? The way the did the title? Love it! It's catchy and fits in with the cover and it looks like a piece of art as a cover rather than just, "Hey, here's words on a photo."

What do you guys think?

Young Adult Literature: The Class (Day 14)

2012-05-24T09:00:00.000-04:00

"Who here is really sure about what happened in the robbery? I'm not sure, and I've read it three or four times!"

Spoilers ahead for Walter Dean Myers' Monster.

Fun fact: the first thing we talked about was the cover.

See, the cover of Monster presents one interpretation of the book, but the awards on the cover "muck up the interpretation," so to speak. It gives it a glamor that the actual book itself didn't want to present.

Shame on you, award seals!

But after our moment of coverlove, we jumped into talking about why Steve used the screenplay to document his life rather than a regular journal or something.

You know what that means? List time!

It was Steve's way of coping with the loss of his innocence. It allows for detachment and new judgement, and separates him from reality without losing touch from his story.
It acts as a counterpoint to his diary -- introspection, without stepping outside of one's self.
It establishes a trusting relationship with the audience, following the classic rule of, 'Show, not tell.'
A screenplay is forced to confine to expectations of form; Steve is confined to the expectations and stereotypes of race.

We talked about the importance of the typeface in the screenplay sections versus the diary sections, which I loved because I'm a fontwhore.

And then we talked about the plot, and how it's handled.

Steve uses the screenplay to go back in time and show different things that happened, usually coming back to his trial before jumping to the next bit.. We see how his life is affected by perspective and by who has the power -- a concept that's constantly destabilizing. Or something.

I just know that it treats guilt and innocence as something that can change, depending on the point of view of the person.

"The novel treats guilt and innocence as discourses. As discourses, they're concepts that shift in meaning depending on who has the power."

We ended the class by accidentally making parallels to Monster and the Treyvon Martin case, not in terms of actions but in terms of how race is perceived.

Rather than get into the nitty-gritty of that conversation -- mainly because I didn't take notes and I don't remember it well -- here's a Daily Show clip.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

C.N.I.: Cable News Investigators - Hoodie Threat

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor & Satire Blog

The Daily Show on Facebook

Next class, we tackle Skellig by David Almond!

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Waiting on Wednesday: The Raven Boys

2012-05-23T09:00:00.000-04:00

Because we all have something we're waiting for.

The Raven Boys
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Series: Raven Cycle (#1)
Release Date: 18 September 2012

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

Not gonna lie; I'm kind of in love with the summary. Not the paranormal aspect so much as the group dynamic of the Raven Boys -- I'm really curious to see how that plays out, especially once Blue gets involved with them.

But the real reason I'd kill to read this?

Two words:

Maggie

Stiefvater.

I haven't read a book of hers I haven't liked, and I'm pretty sure this one won't change that.

Plus I'm a sucker for that cover. What can I say? It's a YA paranormal that looks like an adult high fantasy. I'm lovin' it.

You guys ready for some more Stiefvater?

Wolf Tower

2012-05-22T09:00:00.000-04:00

Wolf Tower
Author: Tanith Lee
Series: Claidi Journals (#1)
Publisher: Firebird
How Received: bought

When a stranger is captured by the Guards of the House and Garden where she has worked all her life as a slave and maid, sixteen-year-old Claidi helps him escape and sets out with him to journey to his home city through the dangerous Waste.

This was one of those books that was on sale online for a dollar or two, and I picked it up, because why not? It was a high fantasy. Heroine runs off to create a better life. Sounded like I could like it.

I was wrong.

It's not that Wolf Tower is all terrible; there's a reason I kept reading until the end of the book. There's a handful of side characters that I actually enjoyed. The world that Claidi lives in actually interests me -- I liked learning about it.

But Claidi, Claidi, Claidi.

Now, I know Claidi hasn't seen much of the world. Slave her whole life, whatever. But the minute she escaped was when I stopped liking her, not when I started!

In the first chapter, when she's trapped as a slave, she's annoyed with the world, doesn't trust anybody. She's fascinated by the outsider -- different appearance, perhaps a way out of her life -- and tries to protect the other slaves around her from getting hurt. She's no fragile flower.

But the minute she leaves?

Oh, clearly she's in love with the newcomer! Everybody can be trusted except the people who obviously can't be trusted because the newcomer doesn't like them! Oh, love love love do whatever he wants loyalty yay!

Her and Bella Swann would get along greatly in the "fall-in-love-faster-than-humanly-possible" bit.

But I'll give Bella this -- it took her more than 24 hours, and she didn't entirely trust him at first.

Claidi? Not so much.

Overall Rating & Final Comments: 4/10. Good world-building and a handful of side characters I loved, but Claidi made me want to strangle her, and since we're reading from her point of view, that can't possibly be a good thing.

Have you read the sequels? Does Claidi get better or...?

Guest Post: The Hunger Games, book and movie.

2012-05-21T09:00:00.000-04:00

I was actually pretty reluctant to read the Hunger Games books in the first place. It took Nicole over a year of telling me I should before I gave in, because seeing the movie was going to happen one way or another, and I always try to read the book first. In the past I haven’t been a fan of dystopian stories, but this series may have proven to be the exception. I think that the world created by Suzanne Collins, as different as it is from our world today, is easy to connect to. It doesn’t take a lot of effort to believe that the faults of the current generation of humans could lead to as unfriendly a place as Panem. I like the characters too; they feel like real kids (and adults) dealing with a really horrible situation in much the same way that I would probably try to deal with it.

This book also really gets me to think. What would I do if I lived in Panem? In District 12? What if I were selected as Tribute for the Hunger Games? What if I won? What if I inadvertently started a rebellion? Although these may seem like musings for a rainy day, they may be more important than you think. It’s unlikely you’ll be thrown into the arena any time soon, but the events of the Hunger Games trilogy can definitely correlate with real life situations and circumstances that it can never hurt to be prepared for!

As for the movie, I saw it the day after it came out so I had heard some other people’s opinions on it before I experienced it myself. All of my friends seemed to like it, but I heard from my brother that some of his friends had thought it was bad. I went in with no idea how it would turn out, but I walked out of the theatre extremely impressed (what do my brother’s friends know, huh?). This film stayed very true to the book, something that is very important to me (and anyone else who’s a part of a fandom like this – we like details!).

I really admired the filmmakers judicious editing; the things that they cut out were things that could stand to be cut out; things that wouldn’t ruin the story line if they weren’t included. This is probably largely due to the fact that Suzanne Collins wrote the screenplay. They also didn’t really add anything in, which is another thumbs up. I hate it when movies (*cough, cough* Harry Potter) put in completely made up scenes, sometimes to the detriment of the film itself as well as those that come after it. The only added scenes in the Hunger Games were the scenes between President Snow and Seneca Crane in the garden and Seneca’s “death,” but these were not overwhelming and were very well done, as well as somewhat implied to have happened in the book.

I had certain trepidations about the casting when I found out who was playing who. I didn’t really know anything about any of the actors, not having seen any of their other movies before. My before and after reactions were like this...

Katniss:
Before: Jennifer Lawrence? Who’s that? Isn’t she blonde? Oh she looks good with brown hair. Ok. (Then
after seeing interviews with her on tumblr) THIS GIRL IS HILARIOUS CAN SHE BE MY FRIEND?
After: PERFECT EXCEPT SHE DOESN’T LOOK HUNGRY PER SAY BUT I GUESS THEY CAN’T STARVE THE
ACTORS RIGHT? (And after more Tumblr… ) She talks about her peeing habits and how derpy she is for
goodness sake; she NEEDS to be friends with me!

Peeta:
Before: Josh Hutcherson? Who? But I picture that guy who’s Peter in the Chronicles of Narnia as Peeta… I don’t know. (Then after tumblr) Can I have one?
After: PERFECT GIVE ME ONE NOW.

Gale:
Before: Isn’t that Miley Cyrus’ boyfriend…. Meh. I always pictured Ben Barnes as Gale.
After: HE WAS PRETTY GOOD I GUESS BUT I STILL WANT BEN BARNES TO BE GALE.

Haymitch:
Before: Woody Harrelson? Perfect.
After: WOOOO I KNEW HE WAS PERFECT.

Caesar Flickerman:
Before: Stanley Tucci? I freaking love Stanley Tucci.
After: STANLEY TUCCI IS MY HERO.

President Snow:
Before: Donald Sutherland? Wasn’t he Mr. Bennet in Pride and Prejudice? I guess it works.
After: ...Hide me.

I didn’t know who anyone else was by name, but I think that they were all spectacularly cast. Effie was spot on and Rue was awesome (cutest little girl ever). The other tributes were brilliant as well. Oh and Cinna! I knew about him going in, but I didn’t really have anything to go on for Lenny Kravitz. He is basically all I could hope for in that character however; he more than met my expectations for that oh-so-important role. By the end of the movie, I was very pleased with the entire cast.

All in all, I think this is potentially the best book to movie adaptation I’ve ever seen. Ever. I can’t wait for Catching Fire to come out, although I’ll be nervous about a new director taking over. I hope they’ll continue to stay true to the spirit of the story that pulled me in so completely.

That being said, what do YOU think about it? Do the books make you think? How do you feel about the film?

Julia is Nicole's rooommate and temporary assistant for all things WORD. She likes costuming. Check out her tumblr at Adventures in Nerdland.

List of Ten (or, how I'm starting my summer)

2012-05-19T09:00:00.000-04:00

Galleysmith does this super cool thing where, every month, she creates a list of ten books she's going to read. She chooses:

one ebook, one book from a series, one audio, two backlist (at least a year old if possible), two ARCs, two recent releases and one book I just can’t wait to read.

During this school year, this is waaaaay out of the question for me. I read one to two books for fun, a month, if I'm lucky. But over the summer? After school lets out? Oh-ho-ho, that's a whole 'nuther story. I average about 20 books a month then.

But I figure I should at least choose ten to definitley get out of the way. Today's the official start of summer break for me - my last final was on Thursday! - and here's how I'm going to do my list of ten. I don't read ebooks and I don't listen to audiobooks, so I'm replacing those with rereads. (Summer is the season for favorite books!) I'm defining recent release for those within six months.

I'm counting on you all to hold me to this list! I won't stick to it after these original 10, but I need some way to kick off and focus my summer reading!

Series: Kiss of Frost by Jennifer Estep
Backlist: Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson
Backlist: Across the Universe by Beth Revis
ARC: Evertide by Tracy & Laura Hickman
ARC: Journey to the Fringe by Kelli Swofford Nielsen
Recent release: Planesrunner by Ian McDonald
Recent release: The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa
I can't wait!: Le Morte d'Arthur: King Arthur and the Legends of the Round Table by Malory Thomas
Reread: Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
Reread: Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey

Have you guys read any of these? Do you like them?

Feature Friday: Bookcases (79)

2012-05-18T15:00:00.000-04:00

Who said storage had to be boring?

It's a maze.

And it's a bookcase.

I don't know how functional it would be in reality -- those cubes seem awfully small, and what about all that extra space!? However, it is really cool to look at. I think it would work better for storage of random things rather than for books.

On the other hand, if it can fit a normal-sized book, think how cool it would look filled up!

Originally discovered on weburbanist.com.

Friday Fronts - Dani Noir

2012-05-18T09:00:00.000-04:00

I am so in love with this cover.

The artistry is just beautiful; I love the black and white with the hint of pink. The author's name is perfectly incorporated into the cover. The entire thing is just - gah. If I saw this in a store, I would most definitely pick it up. (That's why I'm sad the cover was redone. The new one (also renamed) is nice, but it's just not the same.)

Young Adult Literature: The Class (Day 13)

2012-05-17T09:00:00.000-04:00

"Melinda recovers, in part, by writing things down."

Spoilers ahead for Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak.

We ended last class with Melinda's choice to be silent -- but now, we talk about her recovery!

Let's have summary with citations, shall we?

Melinda slowly begins to recover as the novel goes on, kicking off with actively staying away from Andy Evans (page 175) and acknowledging her issues with him, finally giving a face to "IT" (page 185). Melinda finally says "no" to Heather (178), foreshadowing the event at the end of the novel with Andy Evans. And most importantly, she starts making friends -- Ivy, David, her art teacher Mr. Freeman.

We also talked about how her recovery ties into her story as a bilsdungroman, and the evolution of Melinda throughout the novel.

"Part of coming the age can be the realization that the world is not all good."

We'll skip the heavy plant imagery -- it represents Melinda's healing, yadayada, it's not difficult to figure out. The trees, the working in the garden, the artwork, you got the deal.

And we'll skip the show of the written word to help heal and how she gives up the closet, how she finally admits she's raped, etc. It's all clear evolution of Melinda and fun stuff and good but kind of boring to read about, because you can figure it out.

No, no, let's go back to Andy Evans.

We spent a while on Andy in class and decided that even though he comes across as kind of flat, it works for his character as a symbol (and a villain). He doesn't need to grow as a character, because he doesn't see himself as having a problem -- and, as it's through Melinda's POV, she's never gonna see him as changing.

Hence why it's so gratifying when she reclaims her life -- through the mirror -- at the end.

Because Andy Evans is an asshole.

Next class, we talk about Walter Dean Myers' Monster.

Question for the comments:
Have you seen the movie version of Speak? What do you think of their interpretation of the ending?

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Waiting on Wednesday: Keeping the Castle

2012-05-16T09:00:00.000-04:00

Because we all have something we're waiting for.

Keeping the Castle
Author: Patrice Kindl
Series: ---
Release Date: 14 June 2012

Seventeen-year-old Althea is the sole support of her entire family, and she must marry well. But there are few wealthy suitors--or suitors of any kind--in their small Yorkshire town of Lesser Hoo. Then, the young and attractive (and very rich) Lord Boring arrives, and Althea sets her plans in motion. There's only one problem; his friend and business manager Mr. Fredericks keeps getting in the way. And, as it turns out, Fredericks has his own set of plans...

Not gonna lie; it reminds me of some of my favorite historical romance plots. It's the main reason I'm interested. The sole supporter of the family! A wealthy attractive lord! A potentially heinously evil villain!

Come on, who doesn't wan to read that!?

What do you guys think? Has anybody read any of Kindl's other works?

False Covenant

2012-05-15T09:00:00.000-04:00

False Covenant
Author: Ari Marmell
Series: A Widdershins Adventure (#2)
Publisher: Pyr
How Received: publisher ARC

Release Date: 26 June 2012

Read my review of Thief's Covenant.

A creature of the other world, an unnatural entity bent on chaos and carnage, has come to stalk the nighttime streets of the Galicien city of Davillon. There’s never a good time for murder and panic, but for a community already in the midst of its own inner turmoil, this couldn’t possibly have come at a worse one.

Not for Davillon, and not for a young thief who calls herself Widdershins.

It’s been over half a year since the brutal murder of Archbishop William de Laurent during his pilgrimage to Davillon. And in all that time, Widdershins has truly tried her best. She has tried to take care of Genevieve’s tavern and tried to make a semihonest living in a city slowly stagnating under the weight of an angry and disapproving Church. She has tried to keep out of trouble, away from the attentions of the Davillon Guard and above the secrets and schemes of the city’s new bishop.

But she’s in way over her head, with no idea which way to turn. The Guard doesn’t trust her. The Church doesn’t trust her. Her own Thieves’ Guild doesn’t trust her.

Too bad for everyone, then, that she and her personal god, Olgun, may be their only real weapon against a new evil like nothing the city has ever seen.

Warning: Upon finishing this book, you may experience feels.

I don't just mean the kind of feels where you're sad that you finished a good book, or that you wish something else had happened, or that you loved it a lot. I mean the kind of feels you feel at the end of a good season finale, where you're screaming and wanting more and half crying because there was a lot of drama and awesome and you just don't know how to handle yourself.

If you can't tell, False Covenant meets all the expectations I had going into it, and then some.

I adored Thief's Covenant; I had an overwhelming sense of pride when one of my review quotes was chosen for an ad for it; I've been recommending it to all of my friends who love fantasy. The characters, the world, the plot -- all of it was amazing.

False Covenant was just as amazing.

Widdershins is one of those characters - and False Covenant is one of those books - that will imprint on your mind for a lifetime. She's clever and snarky and impatient and rash and sneaky and just a beautifully well crafted character. Olgun? Fantastic. We never hear from him except for what we get from Widdershins, but you can't help but love him.

The plot in this was absolutely stunning; I'm going to keep this review spoiler-free, but it's just as fast-paced as the first one with even more twists and turns. I love not knowing how this story was going to end.

And let me tell you, I was shocked at how it ended. I started yelling at my book - the first time I had in ages, and much to the alarm of my roommate - before devouring the last few pages. It's an ending that had me shocked and hurting and proud and confused and man, oh man, do I need the next book now.

I should also mention that all of the other characters are equally as fantastic to read about as Widdershins, especially considering the book occasionally derails to follow their stories -- the only book to do that that I've actually enjoyed, rather than keeping it focused to one point of view. Renard makes me giggle; Robin makes me proud; and Julien? I'm not sure if I want to be him or marry him.

If you're a fantasy lover and you haven't read this series, you're missing out on one of the best young adult fantasy series to come out in the past few years. Ari Marmell's characters, plots - everything is fabulous. Pick it up now.

And for non-fantasy lovers who are looking into dabbling, this is a brilliant place to start. It's not all magic and flashy battles -- there's a level of realism to the characters, to the setting, even to the plot to an extent, that I'm absolutely in love with.

Overall Rating & Final Comments: 10/10. One of the most engaging books I've read in a very long time; I can't think of a single thing I disliked.
Cover Comments: It's Widdershins! It's a simple cover! The font is fantastic! Maybe I'd move Ari's name, and make "A Widdershins Adventure" a little smaller, but besides that I love it.

Have you read this series yet? What do you think?

Thoughts On: Not hiding your blog. (Or, how I keep using WORD for school projects.)

2012-05-14T09:00:00.001-04:00

So I made a brochure for WORD for my advanced PR class because my teacher wanted me to do my final on WORD instead of the club I had been working with all semester.

Oh, and I got to help Jennifer Castle, author of The Beginning of After, with her presentation at school because my young adult lit teacher knew about WORD and asked me if I wanted to be involved. I got permission to blog about the entire ya lit class because the professor knew about WORD.

Last semester I got to write an essay comparing Harry Potter to some random work of classic literature that I'm not remembering, which my teacher only approved because she knew of WORD and knew I knew what I was talking about.

In high school I got to do part of my final English project on WORD. I also got WORD linked on the library website, got to create recommendation and ordering lists for the fiction section of the school library. One of the other English teachers there still recommends WORD to his students.

Outside of school, WORD is connected to my local paper, the Poughkeepsie Journal. I cover BEA for them -- and covered ComicCon this past year, which was lots of fun -- and they occasionally run stories on bigger events going on at WORD.

Some of the local bookstores know about me, and apparently a lot more local people than I thought because somebody in my Shakespeare class works at one of the local bookstores and overheard people talking about me. (She then described me as a 'local celebrity.' Lol wut.)

You might be asking what I'm trying to get at here; what's the point of all of this?

To those of you who keep your blog secret, who don't let anybody know about them -- friends, coworkers, teachers, even family -- you might not have to. Yes, some of you are going to encounter assholes who think you're stupid for wanting to do it, or who make cracks about you getting free books or whatever.

But I can bet you that nine times out of ten -- especially when you're talking to a teacher of some sort -- they're going to be impressed. They're going to wonder how you find the time to do all of that and juggle your normal every day activities. They're going to ask if you want to tie it into something you're doing in school, or if you have a recommendation for something they can read, or if you want to come with them to a really cool book signing they were thinking of going to but were shy because they didn't have anybody to go with.

It can be fun to let people know.

And hell, it can be productive at the same time.

I mean, just look at this! I had fun working on it and it's for a school project. You can't get any better than that, right!?

Click to enlarge. Twice the printed size.

So don't be afraid to talk about your blogs. They are a part of your life, after all.

The Lizzie Bennett Diaries

2012-05-14T07:00:00.000-04:00

These have been floating around for a month now, and if you haven't seen them, you need to.

The Lizzie Bennett Diaries are a series of vlogs produced by Hank Green (of Vlogbrothers fame, who is amazingly awesome and I refuse to hear otherwise). It's a modern-day take on Pride and Prejudice, in which Lizzie Bennett vlogs about her life.

I'm in love with it. It's multi-ethnic and funny and awesome and really a fantastic tribute to the original, and I'm excited to see where it goes.

If you haven't watched it, you should check it out! I've embedded the first one below, and you can click the link above to subscribe to the entire channel.

Have you watched them? Do you love them as much as I do?

Young Adult Literature: The Class (Day 12)

2012-05-12T09:00:00.000-04:00

"The 90s and the 00s have been marked with some interesting experiments in form with YA literature, and I like experiments in form."

Spoilers ahead for Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak.

We've hit the era of more contemporary writing! Excellent!

Unlike the problem novels we talked about earlier, Speak is a trauma novel. It's not Melinda versus Andy, it's Melinda vs. PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).

We took a look at Speak through a psychological lens. Rather than try to poorly explain what we discussed in class, here's a handout from class!

Click to enlarge.

In Speak, Melinda is suffering from PTSD before we know where the trauma comes from. It creates a psychological portrait of a character.

But if our interpretation is so focused on the trauma and Melinda's psychological portrait...

"In what ways does the novel ask us to care about Melinda, well before we learn the details of what happens in August?"

We got sidetracked talking about Melinda's personality - her sense of humour, her fear (especially in regard to IT), how she's an outcast from in school and with her family.

The use of first person POV was discussed quite frequently; the interior monologue works for a story like this, especially as it leads us with the same path as Melinda. Will she be okay? We don't know until the end.

The present tense is also important to the story: the immediacy makes it a story of reaction, not a retelling, and helps the emphasis on the psychological portrait.

Then we got onto the topic of Andy Evans.

"Rape is not about sex. It's about power."

A heavy debate was had about the portrayal of his character: was Melinda demonizing him? Was it realistic? Was it just bad writing?

The eventual settlement was that no, she wasn't demonizing him -- the portrayal actually was realistic despite her fear. Seeing as rape is about power, and much of what Andy does to Melinda in the book is power-based, to most of us, it seemed like a realistic and logical portrayal.

Her relationship with Andy brought about Melinda's choice to be silent. Why the silence?

Out of shame?
In fear of social ramifications?
Because she feared others identity and behavior?

That is the question for the comments -- why do you think Melinda chose to be silent?

More on Speak next week!

Did you miss a class?:
(Syllabus)
(Day 1)
(Day 2)
(Day 3)
(Day 4)
(Day 5)
(Day 6)
(Day 7)
(Day 8)
(Day 9)
(Day 10)
(Day 11)

Feature Friday: Bookcases (78)

2012-05-11T15:00:00.000-04:00

Who said storage had to be boring?

When I said I wanted to live in a cave of books, I didn't mean, you know, literally.

This is actually an art piece from a gallery from 2011:

Magnan Metz Gallery is proud to announce Home, the first US show for Colombian artist Miler Lagos.
Home will be on view from September 8 – October 15, 2011 with an artist reception Thursday,
September 15th from 6-8pm.

You can find out more about the piece here, but I feel like this is something I could build if I got a few YA bloggers and a few hours of time. To be fair, I'd probably get distracted by books I wanted to read... or reread... or just talking about books...

Friday Fronts: The Lost Prince

2012-05-11T09:00:00.000-04:00

I loved the covers of the Iron Fey series. They weren't zomg gorgeous, but I liked them -- they suited the series well. When Julie released the covers for The Lost Prince and The Iron Legends, I liked the cover to The Iron Legends.

But this? This looks like a bad adult paranormal romance. I love the effect they did on him, but the shirtless guy, the pose... still loving the font, but it looks all wrong for the book's target audience.

What do you think?

The Last Good Book I Read (or, lots of book reviews)

2012-05-10T09:00:00.000-04:00

I don't have time to preschedule a review this week because I ran out of reads and I have finals and it's crazy and I'm going nuts and ahhhhhh.

But luckily, I've been reviewing things all semester. Not just here, but for New Paltz's student-run paper, "The Oracle"! "The Oracle" is an award-winning student newspaper (ooooo) and I just like it because I get to have fun and be snarky and review young adult literature.

So if you're looking for a review from me this week, I suggest you follow this link where you can read all of the reviews I've done this semester. Some are of books I've read recently, some are of books I read a while back or reread, and some are books that I've never even reviewed on WORD.

Fancy, huh?

So do check it out, and check out the rest of the site -- this week is our last edition, and it goes up this week, and it IS quite fabulous!

Do any of you do reviews outside of blogging? Do any of you read reviews outside of the Interwebz?

Waiting on Wednesday: Stormdancer

2012-05-09T09:00:00.000-04:00

Because we all have something we're waiting for.

Stormdancer
Author: Jay Kristoff
Series: The Lotus War (#1)
Release Date: 1 September 2012

A DYING LAND
The Shima Imperium verges on the brink of environmental collapse; decimated by clockwork industrialization and the machine-worshipers of the Lotus Guild. The skies are red as blood, land choked with toxic pollution, wildlife ravaged by mass extinctions.

AN IMPOSSIBLE QUEST
The hunters of Shima's imperial court are charged by their Shōgun to capture a thunder tiger – a legendary beast, half-eagle, half-tiger. But any fool knows thunder tigers have been extinct for more than a century, and the price of failing the Shōgun is death.

A SIXTEEN YEAR OLD GIRL
Yukiko is a child of the Fox clan, possessed of a hidden gift that would see her executed by the Lotus Guild. Accompanying her father on the Shōgun’s hunt, she finds herself stranded: a young woman alone in Shima’s last wilderness, with only a furious, crippled thunder tiger for company. Even though she can hear his thoughts, even though she saved his life, all she knows for certain is he’d rather see her dead than help her.

But together, the pair will form an indomitable friendship, and rise to challenge the might of an empire

I've had my eye on this since Jay swung by for Debut December. It sounds absolutely bad-ass, and I love the sword on the cover - gorgeous!

The phrase "clockwork industrialization" may have been what won me over within the first line on the summary. That sounds like a very interesting world that I must definitley want to read about.

What do you think? Hmmmm?

Giveaway & Excerpt: Wentworth Hall

2012-05-08T09:00:00.000-04:00

This giveaway is over.
Haven't had one of these in a while, have we?

Abby Grahame's Wentworth Hall is up for grabs! Not just one copy, but two. I know a lot of you love historical fiction, so how could I pass up on giving you a chance to snag a copy?

And you thought there were secrets in the Abby...

The Darlington family of Wentworth Hall, an elite British family, fills their time by caring for their extensive estate, and looking over their shoulders as they struggle to keep up an elaborate charade to hide their scandalous secrets of illicit romances, and bitter betrayals.

Wentworth Hall is a lush historical novel by debut author Abby Grahame, which is spot-on perfect for fans of Downton Abbey!

Is that summary not enough to pull you in? Then check out this excerpt!

And I'm betting you want to know how to win a copy, hmmm? Well, here we go!

Quick recap:
[2] copies of Wentworth Hall up for grabs
[2] winners in the U.S. only
ends March 17

How to win:
[mandatory] fill out the form below
[mandatory] follow WORD somehow (Twitter, GFC, subscribe, Tumblr, Facebook)
[+2] follow in another place

Book Trailers (13)

2012-05-07T09:00:00.000-04:00

A whole bunch of book trailers have slowly been collecting in my bookmarks (and likes on Tumblr), so it's about time I weeded them out!

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

This is one of those books that I'm really looking forward to. It has a great title and a great series name and a great cover and a great premise and a great...

... wait, nope, not a great book trailer.

The flashes of video in this are brilliant, gorgeous, I loved it. But what's with all the text? Odds are, if they're interested in the book, they've already read the summary of it. Less text, people! More action!

What I Didn't Say by Keary Taylor

I love love love how this one starts off. The video is adorable, and I even love how the voiceover is done -- the way it's phrased reminds me of a movie. (Not digging the narrator's voice, but I can't have it all.)

It should have ended at the 25 second mark. It was just enough to make me interested in the book. The rest of it -- the text, the cheesy music, the bad special effects with the text -- just turned me off. You don't have to tell the entire book! You just have to make me interested in it!

The Right and the Real by Joelle Anthony

I have a firm belief that if you're going to do something, you better do it well. If you don't, it'll hurt you more than it'll help you.

I stopped watching this trailer 20 seconds into it. The first 20 seconds of a video are important. That's what drags you in. But this was just painfully simple and looked like it was thrown together in ten minutes using all of the Windows Movie Maker special effects. I would rather not have a book trailer than have a bad one.

Breaking Glass by Lisa Amowitz

What have I told you guys about using photos and text?! Give me video! Give me narration over text! Be minimal about it! I'd rather see a great 30 second video that only gives me a hint of the story than a three minute one that's painfully dull, photo-filled, involves a lot of text and explains the entire story.

What do you guys think of these?

Timeless

2012-05-05T09:00:00.000-04:00

Timeless
Author: Gail Carriger
Series: Parasol Protectorate (#5)
Publisher: Orbit
How Received: library

Review of Soulless (#1)
Review of Changeless (#2)
Review of Blameless (#3)
Review of Heartless (#4)

Alexia Tarabotti, Lady Maccon, has settled into domestic bliss. Of course, being Alexia, such bliss involves integrating werewolves into London High society, living in a vampire's second best closet, and coping with a precocious toddler who is prone to turning supernatural willy-nilly. Even Ivy Tunstell's acting troupe's latest play, disastrous to say the least, cannot put a damper on Alexia's enjoyment of her new London lifestyle.

Until, that is, she receives a summons from Alexandria that cannot be ignored. With husband, child, and Tunstells in tow, Alexia boards a steamer to cross the Mediterranean. But Egypt may hold more mysteries than even the indomitable Lady Maccon can handle. What does the vampire Queen of the Alexandria Hive really want from her? Why is the God-Breaker Plague suddenly expanding? And how has Ivy Tunstell suddenly become the most popular actress in all the British Empire?

Spoilers ahead for the Parasol Protectorate series.

I'm going to miss this series.

Honestly, I could praise the plot of this story -- I had some points figured out, and some I didn't -- and I could praise the continuation of the world building and the beautiful plot continuity itself.

But what's the point?

The reason that I have always loved this series and the reason I will always love this series is because its characters. Alexia Tarabotti is everything I want to be as I get older - smart and sassy and demanding and kind and clever and a large fan of pastries. Lord Maccon is hot and angry and kind and loving and angry and a werewolf and immortal and gorgeous and flawed and beautiful.

Oh, and Biffy! Dear, dear Biffy! I was not expecting you to be so important, but oh, you were! And then your plot was beautiful and unexpected and I was so very PROUD! (Which, if you note, is a silly emotion for a character that you didn't write and had no attachment to prior to this book, but still. Perhaps it was pack pride?)

Akeldama is as hilarious and intelligent as always, and Madame Lefoux is always a tricky and interesting character to read about.

Prudence was perfection in the form of a two-year-old. Everything she said had me giggling or wincing on behalf of those in the room with her. Who would have thunk a two year old would be such a great character!?

But that's Carriger for you. That woman could rewrite the phone book and I would read it. Her characters are always multidimensional and interesting and I've fallen in love with all of the -- even the villains, to an extent. They're just... ugh. So good.

And for the record? Lord Maccon and Alexia will always be my OTP (one true pairing, for those of you not familiar with fandom terms) above every other pairing. I've never met a couple I've loved so much.

Overall Rating & Final Comments: 10/10. Carriger's writing is witty and hilarious, and her characters will stay with you for a lifetime.

Feature Friday: Bookcases (77)

2012-05-04T15:00:00.000-04:00

Who said storage had to be boring?

This is a theatre.

And it's also a bookstore.

This is a theatre that is also a bookstore. It's like they took my two favorite things and mashed them together!

Okay, so technically this isn't an individual bookcase, but hell, this is gorgeous. I'd happily visit Argentina just to see this store.

You can read more about the theatre-turned-bookstore here.