24 Book Reading Challenge: THE END!

My first blog post of 2016 is also the last of the 24 Book Reading Challenge - and no, I didn't finished every single book by the new year, like my goal. I did, however, make a dent that I'm very happy with. I finished 11 out of 24 in about three months, while I was working at my full time job and dealing with all the other things in my life during that time, so I'm calling that a good accomplishment. So even though this challenge is coming to a close technically incomplete, I'm happy!

In the new year, my goal is to read at least 2 books a month, and boy do i already have such a wish list, including the books I own but haven't read yet. I also want to continue writing book reviews here. It's a fun way to talk about a book once I've finished with it and maybe give anyone reading these a recommendation.

So, onto the last five books I read from this challenge!

3. A book about someone you admire

Binge by Tyler Oakley

I was lucky enough to go to Tyler's book signing/meet and greet when he was in Arizona in October, which was so amazing. I had a wonderful time with my friends and Tyler was hilarious (and so short!)

His book was everything you've probably heard about - very shocking and very scandalous! I liked Tyler's writing voice. It was similar in many ways to his YouTube videos, but different as well. I think he really found his own tone while writing. One day I want to listen to the audiobook - hearing his stories with his own actual voice would be great!






Also bonus: my photo with Tyler (he called me queen when he saw the boas).












4. Any novel NOT by James Patterson

The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz

This one was a little weird. By weird, I mean the sense of time and setting was really all over place near the beginning. I'd say the first third at least. It's told in first person and the main character is retelling her life story to a third party and in the way stories are told, it sort of goes from anecdote to anecdote jumping over several decades. As it goes on, it begins to settle more into one time period - the present - and makes a lot more sense. In the end I did like it. It was entertaining at the very least and had some solid characters.


9. A book inspired by a true story

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

Very detailed and factual, but an amazing story. Some details are so awful to read about and hard to believe that people went through this during the war. I always enjoy reading up on history, especially this time period. WWII is such a fascinating time and there are so many points of view to look at it. This one is from the perspective, in a way, of an Olympic runner turned solider. Now I can't wait to watch the film that was made based on the book!














13. Read a Mystery

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

This was my first Christie novel and I really enjoyed it. It was a bit to settle into the older way of storytelling, but it really hooked me from the start. My mind kept going over the whole thing, trying to figure out the mystery and "who done it." I wasn't disappointed at the surprising twist ending. Most mysteries or plot twists you can sort of see coming or guess, but not with this. I really want to read it again and see if I can pull out the clues now that I know the end. It was also spooky, which was the vibe I was hoping for!

16. Read a Scary Novel

Through the Woods by Emily Carroll

Now instead of going with my original plan and reading my first Stephen King novel, I came across this book at work and checked it out because the YouTuber Frannerd had mentioned it before. It's a graphic novel and filled with a handful of short horror stories that are completely illustrated. And god, is it creepy. I never actually read this at home at night - only at work during my lunch break!













Every story has chilling moments where you feel the need to look over your shoulder because you get that feeling, if you know what I mean. It was beautifully detailed and the illustrations were just fantastic. The stories, as I said, were chilling and I don't know how people can come up with these sort of ideas. I'm definitely not ever going to be a horror writer - I value my sleep too much.

If you can, get a hold of this. I might actually want to purchase it so I can keep looking at the illustrations. You get so much from the drawings. Sometimes there aren't any words on a page or two and the picture tells you the whole story.


And there we are - the end! If you were following along with this challenge, I hope you read a lot of amazing books that you might have never picked up otherwise. I can tell you I would have never thought to read a western or an Agatha Christie novel without this prompt. It was exciting and I hope to do something like this again one day!

Happy new year!

Rose

"Afterworlds" Review

I mentioned in this post (where I attended the Scott Westerfeld signing) that I would try to get a book review up for "Afterworlds" as soon as possible. That was in October. It's now March.

Oops.

I can only blame my two jobs and a dash of pure laziness - but I finally finished the book and am writing up this review. About damn time. (Warnings for some spoilers, though nothing major.)

The signed page from the copy I got in October (the day before my birthday). 

Let's get one thing out of the way: I loved it. Unsurprising, considering how much I've enjoyed pretty much all of Westerfeld's other books. If haven't read the book or haven't heard of it, the summary boils down to being about a girl named Darcy writing a YA paranormal romance novel, which you also get to read. Since brevity would mean this review would officially be over, let's expand a little bit.

I feel like the concept of this novel is pretty brilliant. The odd chapters are from Darcy's point of view and the even numbered chapters are the novel she is writing. Often, when you have a character who is a "writer" you never get to see what they are writing - which sort of slights them as a character, I feel. This way, you really get to see more into Darcy, the character, by seeing her own character. Don't they always say that the fictional character and writing is just an extension of the author? (Side note: does that mean that Lizzie (Darcy's character) is also an extension of Westerfeld, since Darcy is in turn an extension of himself? Like, a grand-extension? Okay. Stopping that "Inception" worthy thought right there).

Throughout the novel the reader sees Darcy, who is a recent high school graduate who got majorly lucky and is getting her first novel published, grow and dip her toes in the adult world. She moves to New York City, since that's where writers live, to work on the second book in her book deal as she edits "Afterworlds" (which, isn't just the title of this book, but Darcy's book). Through that growth and maturation, her novel also grows and matures as Darcy experiences more herself. Westerfeld said something along these lines at the book signing/Q&A I attended: if you look closely enough, you see words and concepts Darcy has learned slip into later chapters of her novel. It's one interesting way to look at the writing process on behalf of Westerfeld. Here you have a group of characters in the "real" world talking about writing - like word choice, researching how to write out a realistic scene, the publishing world, and more - and then on the flip side, you're seeing the fruits of that labor. As a writer, it's infinitely interesting.

Furthermore, in a very deliciously nerdy way, Westerfeld is winking toward the YA community with Darcy's chapters. The way YA writers in New York City community flock together to talk about writing and some descriptions of a particular character (that by far seems the most "famous" of all the YA writers) that could perhaps be a particular nerdfighter...put that together with the fact that Darcy wrote the first draft of her novel during NaNoWriMo, you have a sort of love letter to the community on a whole. To a bunch of teens and let's face it -  adults - who love to read YA fiction.

The book Darcy's writing is just as interesting as all of the above. It's one of those paranormal romances that you know would be a hit and it's no wonder that Darcy got her book deal. It's the story of Lizzie who, during a terrorist attack, wills herself into the afterworld by pretending to be dead and escape actual death. She ends up being the only survivor of the attack and as an after effect, is able to see ghosts. (Was there a sixth sense reference? Man, I can't remember if there was. Well, if there isn't, you lost your opportunity, Westerfeld.) Not only does she gain this ability, but a love interest in Yamaraj (or, just Yama if you don't want to be too formal), a boy who is just like her and too, willed himself into the afterworld. Now he acts as a sort of grim reaper, or guide, to help spirits be remembered (and has been for centuries).

Let's just say there is an age difference.

Another one of those funny YA romance tropes, if you will.

I liked how much mystery was involved in Lizzie's chapters. There is a murder of the childhood best friend of her mother that she pursues and it gets pretty dark. A lot darker than I was expecting at first but, as Darcy says in her own chapters, it's a book about death; it shouldn't be so surprising.

Probably one of my favorite things, despite some of the reliability to Darcy (like some insecurities she has, the struggle of both trying to be an adult and buy a mop for her apartment and not blow her money on food, and the how difficult writing can be at times) is how kickass her girlfriend is.

Yup. Girlfriend.

The issues with sexuality are pretty low-key in this novel and in fact, aren't really issues at all - not in the traditional after school special kind of way (I'm looking at you Glee - but I still love you). The fact that Darcy is gay isn't so much of a huge revelation or point of conflict for her; she sort of always suspected but had never been in a relationship before moving to New York. Her relationship with Imogen isn't necessarily about that, nor is its source of conflict have to do with being targeted by their sexuality. It's brought up a few times, yes, that Imogen was out in high school and it wasn't all good and that maybe Darcy had it lucky - but it's not dwelled on in the same way. It's just a fact of who they are and they move on and are established as just a normal couple with conflicts that all couples have: miscommunication and untruthfulness on occasion. Later, when Darcy comes out to her family, it's taken like she just told them the weather. Well, maybe a little more than that, but it's not the big deal Darcy feared it would be (though she fears that with her family's background it would be).

I think that Westerfeld should be applauded for this choice. He took a gay character and didn't make their whole plot revolve around that aspect of their character. Darcy, and Imogen, are both more than that. He is a popular writer and could have easily had Darcy fall in love with someone just as handsome and mysterious and male as Yama - as in Lizzie's part of the novel - but that wasn't what he did. It's touched on that Imogen's novel might have failed because of the lesbian character she has in it; well, that could have happened to Westerfeld as well, but it wasn't so much a problem. He created this character that I feel has so much life and believability to her and I'm just in love with that.

This review only really scratches the surface, but this is the take away of some of my big thoughts after reading the novel. One other notable thing was how invested into both worlds you get. I would be reading a Darcy chapter and when it would end I'd be so upset as I started Lizzie's chapter. I didn't want to stop reading Darcy's world. Then I would read Lizzie's and get caught up in the mystery and ghosts and then not want to part from that character when the chapter ended and another Darcy chapter began. That definitely shows the strength of both plots and on a larger picture, Westerfeld's writing ability.

In the end: I definitely recommend going out to buy this bad boy. It's a big book, believe me, but once you really get into it the pages go by so quickly. And while you're at it, go pick up Westerfeld's other works. If you like this, you'll like his other stuff. On the flip side, if you've been a fan of Westerfeld and haven't read this yet - do it!

Let me know if this review was interesting or helpful and if I should do any more. I really need to get to reading more books, even though I have been busy working a lot. Let me know if you have an suggestions (though working at Barnes & Noble, I find way too much stuff I want to read as it is).

Until next time,

Rose

Initial Review: Lullabies by Lang Leav

I'm so excited because today I got to buy "Lullabies," a collection of poetry by Lang Leav after work! It's not "officially" out until the 16th, however there seems to be a lot of stores with it already out on the shelves. I work at Barnes and Noble, so even though it was still in the back room, I was able to purchase it as it's not a book that has a strict on sale date.

"Lullabies" is the sequel to "Love & Misadventure," Lang Leav's first collection of poetry. Both explore the themes of love and loss.

Excuse the cover; my copy is rather well loved.

I've only flipped through the book a bit, since I've only had it for a few hours, but already have a few favorites. Leav's style of poetry is something I enjoy so much - it's modern, often short and concise. She also delves into some of my favorite style of poetry - prose poetry. 

Lang Leav's poetry is emotional and clever. Like any successful poet, she makes you feel every word and makes every word count. 

Here is her reading some of her poetry and talking about her craft, from her first book "Love & Misadventure."

I ardently recommend this to anyone who even casually enjoys poetry. It's not some sort of epic, like "The Odyssey" or anything. It's from a modern author, as well, and easy to grasp if you find older poetry harder to relate to. If I'm leading a customer over to the poetry section when I'm working, I like to point out the copies of "Love & Misadventure" whenever I can.

The cover is beautiful, with a golden title that is such an elegant touch. The book also features the author's drawings, something it shares with her first collection of poems. 

If you want to learn a bit more about Lang Leav, visit her website/Tumblr. She has her About and FAQ there. It's also very exciting to see an author that is so in touch with her fans. Check out both "Love & Misadventure" and "Lullabies" here on the Barnes and Noble website (yes, that's a plug!)

I'm quite happy to have both of my copies side by side now! I like how they complement each other. Having a collection of poetry is nice in that you don't have to sit down and read it cover to cover. You're able to flip around its pages and explore. It does have a unique story to tell if you do read in in order, but can be just as interesting if you skip around. Especially the first: it's a very personal journey from its start to its end and when you flip through the pages, it feels like you're time traveling through years of a life. I expect that "Lullabies" will be just as good a journey.  

Until next time, Rose