Book Review: The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls

Genre: Adult Historical Fiction (set in the South in the 1920s)

This is a beautifully rendered, atmospheric gem of a book about a young girl learning who she is without her family. There were many things that surprised and delighted me about it. But first, here's a synopsis from Shelfari:

"A lush, sexy, evocative debut novel of family secrets and girls’-school rituals, set in the 1930s South. It is 1930, the midst of the Great Depression. After her mysterious role in a family tragedy, passionate, strong-willed Thea Atwell, age fifteen, has been cast out of her Florida home, exiled to an equestrienne boarding school for Southern debutantes. High in the Blue Ridge Mountains, with its complex social strata ordered by money, beauty and girls’ friendships, the Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls is a far remove from the free-roaming, dreamlike childhood Thea shared with her twin brother on their family’s citrus farm — a world now partially shattered. As Thea grapples with her responsibility for the events of the past year that led her here, she finds herself enmeshed in a new order, one that will change her sense of what is possible for herself, her family, her country. Weaving provocatively between home and school, the narrative powerfully unfurls the true story behind Thea’s expulsion from her family, but it isn’t long before the mystery of her past is rivaled by the question of how it will shape her future. Part scandalous love story, part heartbreaking family drama, The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls is an immersive, transporting page-turner — a vivid, propulsive novel about sex, love, family, money, class, home, and horses, all set against the ominous threat of the Depression — and the major debut of an important new writer."

What I loved about this book, in no particular order:

1. It's atmospheric as hell. I felt myself being sucked in from the very first page by the two rich worlds the author created: the tangled Florida orange groves and stately house Thea grew up in, and the pine-wooded, mountainous North Carolina girls' camp she finds herself outcast to. Both settings were ones I found myself happy to get lost in for hours at a time, sucked in by the fascinating details and the deft way she made each place an important character in Thea's story. This aspect of the writing reminded me very much of Charles Frazier's Nightwoods - the highest compliment a book can get, in my world.

2. The story revolves around a mystery that takes its take revealing itself. We are given to understand, early on, that Thea gets sent away to camp because she's done something bad, very bad (which, for a girl in the 1920s, can safely be assumed to have to do with sexual misconduct). Instead of finding out about it all at once, the story takes us back and forth between her childhood memories and her present time at the camp, weaving the two together so that they blur beautifully, but never totally merge.

3. The heroine herself. Thea felt to me like a real teenager: she's sometimes fragile, sometimes strong, often confused but also steadfast. She was full of all the contradictions that we all carry, but wrapped in the notion that she is defined by her family. I loved watching her slowly come to realize that there was both pain and real freedom in knowing that she is her own entity, separate from the people who 'own' her. She was not a wilting flower, and she was not afraid to make mistakes. 

4. The finely-woven relationships: between twins, between girlfriends, between parent and child, between young girl and inappropriate lover. I loved the way this author told us volumes about these relationships without stating it explicitly, through hand gestures and things done unsaid.

And, of course, the writing itself: it is lyrical and lovely, does a wonderful job with dialogue, and generally feels as if it's been sewn together by a masterful hand.

It may be early to call this, but I'm going to go ahead and say it: this is going to be one of the most surprisingly magical and memorable reads of my year.

Best Books of 2013

Before we get any further away from 2013, I've got to recap my favorite reads of the year. The general theme within my favorites can probably be summed up as: dark, lyrical, and full of everyday magic.

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
YA Dark Speculative Fiction

Synopsis from Shelfari: Gansey has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on the hunt to find Glendower, a vanished Welsh king. Legend has it that the first person to find him will be granted a wish—either by seeing him open his eyes, or by cutting out his heart. Blue Sargent, the daughter of the town psychic in Henrietta, Virginia, has been told for as long as she can remember that if she ever kisses her true love, he will die. But she is too practical to believe in things like true love. Her policy is to stay away from the rich boys at the prestigious Aglionby Academy. The boys there—known as Raven Boys—can only mean trouble. When Gansey and his Raven Boy friends come into her life, Blue realizes how true this is. She never thought her fortune would be a problem. But she was wrong.

This book, Part 2 in the four-part Raven Cycle, offers some of Maggie's strangest, most complex, and most accomplished storytelling yet. It strikes a perfect balance between all of my favorite things: a subtle, mostly unspoken, angst-ridden romance; complex characters that are both horrible and wonderful; a strong mystery and a world full of speculative elements built up in a way that makes it all feel very REAL. I enjoyed a whole host of things about this book, but here are some of the highlights:

1. It is incredibly atmospheric. You fall into her descriptions of teenage male bonds and of rich kid high school parties, and they all feel richly drawn and very true. She didn't shy away from painting her world in honest details: her characters swear. A lot, but not gratuitously. She talks about drugs, but they aren't some racy prop meant to prop up the drama. She makes a conscious choice not to shy away from the rougher edges of teenage (particularly wealthy teenage) life and problems, and her book is all the better for it. 
2. It involves the ability to take things out of dreams. There is a character who can take things out of his dreams. While this could easily become overdone, this author's deft touch makes it dark and tangible and pleasantly haunting. I've wanted for years to describe what it feels like to wake up from a dream and feel like it's followed you into waking--Maggie does it in ways I could never have imagined. 
3. This book is beautifully written. It is what I would like my writing to be when it grows up.

Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff
YA Dark Speculative Fiction

Synopsis from Shelfari: A girl haunted by the troubled ghost of her best friend finds herself sucked into a darkly mesmerizing string of murders, in which a serial killer who leaves a paper-heart 'valentine' on his victims' bodies draws ever closer.

This book shares some of the same qualities as Maggie's Dream Thieves--it is dark, atmospheric, deals with taut issues of friendship and love, and delves into a well-drawn (but by no means overdone) love story. I love the way Brenna does the Seemingly Broken, Bad Boy with a Good Heart. As a love interest, Finny is endlessly fascinating. Brenna has a mastery of spare detail that makes his interactions with the main character feel both very true, and very real. Her characters are always complex, and not always lovable, but she finds ways of making you love them, even when they're a total mess. It's the murder mystery and the way she deals with ghosts that really intrigued me. I was drawn into this book from the very first page.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Adult Speculative Historical Fiction

Synopsis from Shelfari: The circus arrives at night, without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within nocturnal black and white striped tents awaits a unique experience, a feast for the senses, where one can get lost in a maze of clouds, meander through a lush garden made of ice, stand awestruck as a tattooed contortionist folds herself into a small glass box, and gaze in wonderment at an illusionist performing impossible feats of magic. Welcome to Le Cirque des Rêves. Beyond the smoke and mirrors, however, a fierce competition is underway - a contest between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood to compete in "a game," in which each must use their powers of illusion to best the other. Unbeknownst to them, this game is a duel to the death, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will.

I can't quite describe how deeply and immediately I loved this strange and beautiful book. She creates an incredibly unique and richly-drawn world in The Night Circus: I can't imagine anyone reading this book and not yearning to be amongst the crowd experiencing all the wonders it holds. The book features many characters and side stories, but they all end up being woven together beautifully, in ways that make you feel as if you're reading the work of someone who TRULY knows what they are doing. I particularly liked the slow burn of the love story between two young magicians brought up to be rivals, but who fall in love through the magic they create: whose tricks meant to thwart the competition actually turn into a kind of magical love letter, written in a language only they can truly understand. This book feels like the product of Pride and Prejudice marrying Lev Grossman's The Magician, and then holding hands with Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. This book created the kind of awe and absorption that reminded me why I love to read.

All That Glows by Ryan Graudin
YA Speculative, History-tinged Fiction


Synopsis from Shelfari: Intense and electric, this is the ultimate tale of forbidden love. Emrys, a spirited and charismatic Faery Guard of the British monarchy, is sent to London to guard Richard, the bad-boy prince of England, from assassins and paparazzi. Despite her status as a guard of the royals, Emrys struggles with her feelings as she tries to not fall in love with the charming prince. But when an ancient Fae murders the king, Richard’s father, and starts attacking the other royals, Emrys must risk everything to hunt through London’s magical dark side in order to protect her charge—and the boy she loves.

While this book by my fabulous critique partner Ryan Graudin doesn't officially come out until Feb. 11, I'm excited to call it one of my favorite books of this year! All That Glows is a YA Historical Fantasy that tells the story of a modern-day prince guarded by the young fairy who has to protect him from all of the forces that threaten his life, and the powerful pull that threatens her heart. I've read this story several times over the course of its budding life and have remained sucked in by how atmospheric her descriptions of both London and the fairy world. She makes you feel like you're there, walking the darkened streets of London. Even in scenes of violence and darkness, she makes you want to step into the pages and be there with her characters. She deftly weaves bits of Arthurian legend into the trials of a modern-day prince, giving readers a window into what it might be like to be a royal, and crafting a beautifully-drawn fairy world that exists parallel to it. The strength and beauty of Ryan's writing definitely make her a writer to watch!

The Great Gatsby
Literary Fiction

Synopsis from Shelfari: The exemplary novel of the Jazz Age, F. Scott Fitzgerald's third book, The Great Gatsby (1925), stands as the supreme achievement of his career. The story of the fabulously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan, of lavish parties in West Egg, Long Island, at a time when The New York Times remarked, "gin was the national drink and sex the national obsession," it is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s that resonates with the power of myth. A novel of lyrical beauty yet brutal realism, of magic, romance and mysticism, The Great Gatsby is one of the great classics of twentieth-century literature.

While this isn't the first time I read Gatsby, it was the first time I had the privilege to teach it. From the day I first introduced them to the America of the 1920s to the day we held a dramatic reading of the 'hotel scene' in our classroom, I got to watch my students collectively fall in love with Fitzgerald's novel in a way I've never seen students do before. It reminded me what I've always loved about this beautiful novel: the powerful, stunning sweep of the language, the magnetic pull of its opulent, devastating world, and the subtle exploration of what it means to try to something lost and to define your life by your love for someone else. This is the ultimate exploration of the American Dream and whether it exists in life, or only in our country's imagination. If I had to read one book every year for the rest of my life, I think this would probably be it.

Top 5 Books of 2012

The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff
Genre: YA Speculative Fiction
Why I Loved It: Because it was dark and magical, but sparingly so. The narrative voice was sharp and subtle, deftly crafted in a way that pulled me in completely without getting in its own way. I'm not sure if that will make sense to anyone but me, but that's how this book read for me. I'm not always a lover of stories about angels and demons, but this one felt fresh and accessible: this was less about religious exploration and more about what it is to be an outsider in your own life. I also happen to LOVE books that utilize dramatic irony well, especially when it comes to two love interests heading towards each other and NOT EVEN knowing it.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: YA Speculative Fiction
Why I Loved It: I love this author so, so much that I find it difficult to imagine disliking anything she writes. In fact, I love her so much that I read this book for the second time over Christmas, and loved it even more than I had the first time. Maggie's writing is so distinctive, and so beautifully and lyrically crafted. Her characters in this book felt incredibly real, exhibiting tragic flaws and beautiful vulnerabilities that made them a pleasure to follow around even when they were pissing me off. The premise (I don't want to spoil it--just read the prologue, would you?) is one of the most unique I've come across in a while. It has all of the crucial ingredients that make me fall in love with a book: great writing, a compelling voice, dark edges, unique characters, and angst. It it has real twists and mysteries, too. I was sad both times when I turned the last page.

Nightwoods by Charles Frazier
Genre: Adult Literary Fiction
Why I Loved It: I was afraid that, after Cold Mountain, I could never love another book of his as much. To my surprise, though, this book worked a kind of spell on me. It has all of Frazier's characteristic hallmarks of style: a lush, detailed setting, a calm and beautiful voice, and an atmospheric pull that makes it incredibly satisfying to read slowly and savor. He deals with issues of abuse and brokenness in a way that is beautiful, but never gratuitous. It isn't often that I read a book that makes me believe in literary magic, but this one certainly did.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Genre: I'm stumped...let's say YA Historical Fiction with a speculative twist?
Why I Loved It: I had the pleasure of finishing this book while sitting on a bench in Switzerland. I also had the pleasure to teach this book to 9th graders, and watching them fall in love with the strange and devastating world of this story. I don't know that I have ever read something so carefully--or uniquely--crafted. You fall in love with the characters and the place they inhabit, and you can't look away from them even when horrible things are happening in their lives. It creates a commentary around the Holocaust that feels new, and devastating, and also filled with hope. I feel lucky to have had the change to read it so closely and talk about it with my students.

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn

Genre: YA Contemporary
Why I Loved It: This short novel felt so incredibly stylized--the way teens talked and moved and felt--while managing, at the same time, to feel incredibly real. I loved following the two characters around as they stumbled their way through their feelings. I read most of this book out loud to a friend as we drove through the South, which brought home what an incredible job these writers did at creating two very distinct voices for their characters that still managed to meld and flow together. 

The Power of Simplicity

As I round the 60,000 word mark in my WIP, things are starting to get complicated. I am trying to weave several different threads together, and to make sure they all make sense side by side. There's pacing to consider, and whether my characters are still humming along on the right track. I worry about this, sometimes, because it's easy to overcomplicate stories. You think you need to add in rather than take out; to add in more drama and more monsters, or else you'll lose people's attention. That's the stuff that keeps readers reading, right?

Except then I see a book trailer like this one, reminding me that evocative storytelling doesn't have to be complicated. Sometimes it's more powerful when it's not.



You don't know what this story is about, right? All you know is that this kid who likes music is having a hard time, and that he's trying to find ways to deal with it. No words are spoken, no secondary characters introduced. There is only this kid with a bloody nose walking off with an axe...and I really want to know what he's going to do with it. Don't you?

Currently Writing To: "White Blank Page" by Mumford & Sons

Five Best Books of 2011

This year, I thought I'd challenge myself to slim down my "I loved this book so much" list to just five titles. These are the books that absolutely rocked me this year.

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy
Because: This book is beautifully written, incredibly atmospheric, filled with visceral landscapes and expertly-developed mood. Stiefvater makes the island of Thisby into a character that wraps itself around you like a cloak that you never want to take off. If you're going to try out a YA in 2012, try this one.

***

I'll Be There by Holly Goldberg Sloan
Genre: YA (I suppose, though only because it has some teenaged characters)
Because: This is an amazing book. So amazing that I don't even want to tell you what it's about: this is a story that's better appreciated without any foreknowledge. I fell in hard and fast love with this lovely, affecting, magical piece of fiction. If there was one book I could make everyone I know read, this would be it.

***

Dark Matter by Michelle Paver
Genre: Historical Mystery/Ghost Story
Because: This is one of the best ghost stories I've ever read: vivid, historically fascinating, well developed, and fantastically creepy. I had the pleasure of reading this book (with many lights on) first, then listening to the audiobook read by Jeremy Northam... and WOW is that the BEST audiobook I've ever had the pleasure of enjoying. I've listened to it three times: if that isn't a glowing endorsement, I don't know what is. Don't forget to keep your light on.

***

Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
Genre: Dystopian/Urban Fantasy
Because: This book about a zombie with heart is at once funny, philosophical, moving and suspenseful.   This book managed to take two things I'm not wild about (zombies and futuristic, end-of-the-world stories) and make me a little bit wild about them. I just loaned this to one of my fantastic creative writing-class seniors, and now several of them are reading it. It's spreading (just like the zombie plague)!

***

Just My Type by Simon Garfield
Genre: Nonfiction
Because: This is the one book I loved this year that I haven't blogged about: it's a book all about FONTS! Now wait. Because you start shaking your head, hear me out a sec. This book is fantastically fascinating. It gives us what amounts to a character study of some of history's most important and game-changing fonts: where they came from, how they developed, and what quirky cast of artists and cultural heroes made them unique and significant. This book is a veritable treasure-trove of well-written tales to keep any word nerd entertained for days.

Book Review: The Hunger Games

So I finally read Suzanne Collin's The Hunger Games. I have a thing about not wanting to hop on massive reading trends, but it felt like it was time. People kept looking at me and saying, "You haven't read The Hunger Games yet? Really?" So I figured it was something I needed to check out. Especially with the movie coming out, which I'm hoping they haven't completely overdone.


I won't recap the story for you: check out the movie trailer and you'll have a good idea. I'm not hugely fond of the dystopian drama, but I definitely stayed up way, way too late to finish this very engaging read. The premise is fascinating and the world that Collins has created is one that's easy to get hooked by. I found myself actively rooting for the characters and wide-eyed at the horrible scenarios they find themselves in. The writing isn't mind-blowing; that isn't to say that it is bad (it's certainly not), or that it bothered me. That's to say that I've read several YAs this year that, writing-wise, blow this one out of the water. A lot of the dialogue felt stilted to me. But I love that Katniss, the main character, doesn't spend most of her time dreaming of boys (although look at the boys in the trailer... when I was 16, they would have been ALL I thought about). She is a kick-ass survivor, and I like that in my heroines.

This is an incredibly engaging series, no question. I am currently ripping through the sequel and can't wait to sit through the movie with ten billion tweens.

Book Review: I'll Be There

This is the first year since 2006 that I've been in the States for Thanksgiving, and I find myself grateful for a lot of things. For my family, who believes I'm capable of greatness even on the days when I refuse to change out of pajamas. I'm thankful for the collection of close friends and confidants who have urged me to keep on writing stories. I'm thankful that I have a place to live, good food to eat, and an individual espresso maker.

And, this week, I'm thankful for I'll Be There by Holly Goldberg Sloan.

Genre: YA, I suppose (although I only think it falls under that umbrella because it has several young people in it)

In a nutshell: beautiful, gripping, thoughtful, and heart warming. 

First of all, look at this cover... I think it's the best one I've seen in years. If I could ask this cover out on a date, I'd think about it.

I don't often say I'm "thankful" to have discovered a particular book, but this one is very special. It is about two brothers who have nothing to cling to in life but each other until they move into a small town where a chance meeting changes the course of their lives. Sam, the oldest brother, goes into a church to hear some good music only to hear Emily singing terribly, so nervous that she latches onto his face in the back of the crowd to get through it. This is very much a story about connection: what happens when we reach out and touch each other's lives, even in seemingly small ways.

This is one of those rare reads that I am desperately trying to get everyone I know to read. It is so, so lovely and heartwarming despite its moments of terrible sadness. It made me cry, and it made me laugh loud enough to wake people. It made me so, so anxious to know what happens that I stayed up to some unacceptable hour to finish it. But I didn't want it to end, either. The relationship between the two brothers, Sam and Riddle, is touching and haunting. In fact every relationship in this book is pretty lovely to discover. The book has us skipping between all the character's thoughts, so we get to have access to pretty much every important perspective. The young voices are crafted so thoughtfully and so believably. And although there are things that made me angry and upset, I never found this story depressing. There is so much that is uplifting in it, and the sad moments only make those richer.

I know I haven't really told you what this book is about. I don't want to ruin it: you should get to experience it for yourself, and I highly recommend that you do. 

Book Review: The Scorpio Races

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Young Adult urban fantasy

Those who know me understand how passionately I feel about Maggie Stiefvater's work, so I was excited to crack her newest book open. The story is set on the island of Thisby where every year magical, killer water horses climb out of the sea and roam the beaches in search of human flesh. My friend Tori likes to call them 'horse nymphs', but trust me when I say they're much more awe-inspiring than they sound. It's tradition that the locals try and tame these beasts and ride them in a deathly festival called the Scorpio Races. Puck decides to ride her own, non-magical horse in order to keep a roof over her family's heads. Sean races because it's in his blood: he's described as having 'one foot on land, one foot in the sea'. This story is about what happens when two people with a lot to lose choose to race--and fight for--each other in a world that's as beautiful as it is deadly.

If I could only use one word for this book it would have to be atmospheric. That's the thing I loved most about it: the island of Thisby is a character on its own, one that influences and affects each character profoundly and in different ways. The descriptions of setting are stunning, so visceral that you really do feel like you're there. It makes you want to be there, even if it does have demon horses. Stiefvater uses townsfolk and local lore in a way that makes Thisby jump off the page. I don't know how she does it--only that, as a writer, I wish I did.

The magical element is taut and unique. I was a huge horse girl when I was younger, so I loved reading the race descriptions and all the talk about bits and snaffles.

There are a lot of YA novels that go very, very heavy on the hunky, sexy love angle; I can really only take so many pages of heavy petting. But the love story here is beautifully crafted and totally understated, which made this story special for me. So much of what goes on between them happens in subtext as they quietly edge their way towards a relationship. I love that neither one of them had to give up who they were in order to be together. There was definitely sexy tension, and it was powerful without being anywhere near overpowering. This book is, above all, about connection, not just between two lovers but between family members, human and nature, man and beast.

The writing is, as always, beautiful, and the narrative voice is strong and sure. This is a unique and lovely book; if you're into YA, it isn't to be missed.

**Update 5/4/2014: I have now listened to the audiobook version of this novel an embarrassing number of times and recommend it very highly. If you're into being read to, it's a real gem.**
  

Book Review(s): The Last Werewolf & Ship Breaker

I just got back from a tropical island, which means I just spent a lot of time reading. I mean, I did other stuff, too. I swam with giant turtles. I sailed in a very small series of circles. And I got a marginally nice tan. These books are also worth a mention.

The Last Werewolf

by Glen Duncan

This story is about a man who realizes he's the last werewolf left alive and he's feeling pretty apathetic about it. He's planning to end his life at the next full moon unless the men who hunt him find him first. But almost as soon as he decides that life is no longer worth living, a series of events--and a beautiful woman--change his mind. This is not your typical paranormal story. This is like nothing else I've ever read. The writing, for one, is completely unique and beautifully crafted. Duncan's sharp sense of humor and way with words is so astounding that I found myself rereading whole pages, nodding emphatically, smiling to myself like I'd just discovered a secret no one else knew about. I had nothing in common with his characters, but he found a way to make me feel connected to them on some fundamental level.

Plus, the story's just fascinating. Talk about characters with interesting baggage.

But there were moments when Duncan's voice was so clever (and so aware of the fact) it made my teeth hurt a little. There are moments when I wanted to pull this writer (or, really, this narrator) and say, "really? We get that your smart. Do you need to rub it in my eye with a stick?". This book has moments of pretentiousness, for sure. Which I hate to say, because I loved it enough that it was worth those moments of eye-rolling.

Verdict: A little violent and raw around the edges with beautiful writing and moments of clear, mesmerizing brilliance.

Ship Breaker

by Paolo Bacigalupi

This YA book is about a young boy in a dystopian world. Life is pretty brutal on the beaches off what used to be New Orleans where he lives breaking down ruined ships for their precious metals. He doesn't have much to look forward to. Until he and a friend find a beached cruise ship, and half dead rich girl, and the opportunity to change their lives forever.

This is a beautifully written book. You've got a fast-moving plot that never stops churning, and a set of characters that are rich and interesting to follow around. The world that Bacigalupi describes is not a pretty world, but he manages to fill the story with hope and friendship. Unlike a lot of other YA novels I've read lately, it doesn't rely on its more fantastical elements and a cloying love story to tell a gripping yarn. This is a book that boys won't roll their eyes reading and that girls will love just as much, I think.

The verdict: Unique, well crafted, and well worth a read.

Upcoming Book Release: Forever

I'm so, so, so excited for the upcoming release of Maggie Stiefvater's third and final book in her Wolves of Mercy Falls series. She's a bit of a YA literary hero of mine, and I've loved following her through her publishing process. One of the many reasons she's a favorite of mine is because she's ridiculously artsy. Artsy enough to put together stop-motion trailers for her books. This is the kind of thing I could see myself doing when I'm a published author (and a crazy cat lady).

http://www.fountainbookstore.com/autograph-maggie

Kindling

So I did that thing I never thought I'd do. I bought a Kindle.

Well, actually, some other lovely person bought it for me, but the point is that it's mine. Even though I'm a prime candidate for the e-reader trend - I travel and I read like a dehydrated camel drinks water - but I was always a little skeptical about the e-book thing. It's not that I didn't think they were a great idea. Lightweight, portable, tree-friendly - what's not to like? But I already spend a large chunk of my day staring at a screen. I couldn't bear the thought of reading for pleasure from one. Reading is my escape from being 'plugged in'. Plus there's that whole obsession with printing and cover art and bookstores - it just didn't seem like e-books and I were meant to be.

And then I went on my umpteenth very long plane journey across the planet with three big books in my handbag. And I realized that a certain portion of the books I read are ones I don't feel the need to keep on my shelf. There are books I rip through in less than a day that end up taking up prime real estate in my already cluttered bookshelves. Why overload my handbag with half my weight in books when I could keep them all on a Kindle (and buy them for a fraction of the price)? Don't mind if I do.

And I have to say, I'm loving it. It isn't back lit, so it really is like reading from a printed page. I quickly forgot about the things I thought would bug me - the blackout blip between page changes, the slightly grainy quality of the text - and found myself losing sight of the fact that I wasn't reading an actual book.

If I had to complain about anything, I'd say that I miss the cover art, although Kindle has come up with lots of cool screen savers that pop on every time you turn the device off. But e-books tend to be cheaper than hardbacks, and I can't say I'm not a fan of that. Although, considering the fact that you're getting an electronic file instead of the whole printing package, some of the prices should really be cheaper. (But that's a subject for another post.)

That said, I'll never stop buying hardbacks. People talk about e-readers as if you have to choose to read one way or the other, which I've never understood. I'll buy books on my Kindle for travel, for books I know I don't need on my shelf, and for books I plan to rip through. But I'll still buy hardback copies of the books I love. I'll buy them because I love the printing process - the binding, the cover art, the feel of the pages. I'll buy them because the books I cherish are ones I want to leaf through and to keep on my shelves as treasures. Because I don't think there is one decorating feature more telling and lovely than a wall full of cherished books.

So I'm not ashamed to say that I love my Kindle. Because you can be up with the reading times without having to shove hard copy books aside.

Someone Save Me (From Myself)

Life gets tough sometimes. So much so that we want to disappear.

Some people disappear with naughty things like booze and random dalliances with muscly strangers. Me? I read. I've always thought this was a fantastically wholesome habit. What's better for a hurting spirit than a good 'ole dip in the literary pond? But then I started reading when I should have been doing other things. Like applying for jobs. And working on my writing. And eating proper meals off plates.

I read to get away from the stuff I don't want to deal with. Sometimes that means I'm spending over half a day reading instead of being a productive member of society. And I find myself wondering: is there a point when a book addiction becomes bad for you? Has that point been reached when you try to read and do dishes at the same time? Or when you actually contemplate skipping a shower because hygiene takes up valuable reading time?

My name is Kate Armstrong, and I'm a readaholic.

Best Books of 2010

As I delve into my reading list for 2011, I realize I never posted my favorite reads from 2010. I feel this is an oversight that should be rectified immediately.

Stolen

by Lucy Christopher

A haunting, tortured, beautiful story about a girl who is kidnapped from the airport and taken to live in a remote Australian desert by a boy she comes to both love and hate. This is a special, rare read that stuck with me for weeks after finishing it.

The Dead-Tossed Waves

by Carrie Ryan

This is the second book in Ryan's 'zombie romance' series. While I didn't think I could ever get into a zombie story, hers are so well paced and well written that I wanted to unhinge my jaw and swallow them whole. I preferred this installment to her first because it combines several of my favorite things in fiction (love triangles, secret longing and thwarted dreams) and delivers them with breakneck speed.

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell

by Suzanna Clarke

I listened to this period/fantasy on audiobook - twice - and loved it. I'm a fan of dry, British, Jane Austen-style language and am also a fan of history and of magicians in general. All of those things combined? Awesome.

The Magicians

by Lev Grossman

Combine Harry Potter, A Separate Peace, and something else literary and angsty, and you have this fantastic fantasy for grown-ups. The main character, Quentin, is fun to follow around as he tries to figure out the key to magic and to the meaning of his life. A book to treasure.

Linger

by Maggie Stiefvater

I love this writer. Love. Her. This second book in her Wolves of Mercy Falls series got some flack from avid lovers of her first, Shiver, but I loved it just as much. If anything, I thought this second book showed greater talent and a richer storyline. I loved getting the story from four perspectives, and that each character was raw and damaged in their own ways. Stiefvater has one of the most unique voices in YA fiction.

Bird by Bird

by Anne Lamott

A classic for anyone who wants to be a writer. I'm amazed it took me so many years to discover this.

Eat Pray Love

by Elizabeth Gilbert

I was loath to read this book, as I don't tend to sway towards things labeled 'spiritual nonfiction', but this book came into my life right when I needed it. I think Gilbert is a brave and eloquent writer and that her journey has a lot to say about the importance of finding the balance in every woman's life.

The Graveyard Book

by Neil Gaiman

Beautiful. Go read it. Right now.

Job Hunting (Sucks)

I'm sure you've known someone (maybe more than a few someones) who has unexpectedly found themselves out of a job. If you don't, now you do.

Ah, the sweet, unfortunate nightmare of realizing that, despite your best intentions, you are without the luxury of waiting for the perfect job. Instead, you find yourself trolling the streets and the internet for (almost) anything that pays, because you're an adult with bills and a hungry book addiction to feed. Suddenly all those jobs you thought you'd left behind you forever start to look shinier than they've looked in many a year. You start adding things to your resume such as 'can juggle miscellaneous fruit, perfect for spicing up board room meetings' and 'comfortable dancing in ten-inch platform heels'. Some friends call this 'liberating' and 'a great transition time'. You try not to call this 'astoundingly depressing'.

Which is perhaps one of the reasons I fell in love with Michaela McGuire's book Apply Within. McGuire, a twenty-something writer living in Melbourne, takes us on an hilarious adventure through her eclectic resume, detailing the woes of temporary employment. She talks about her time overseeing private lap dances at a gentleman's club and chronicling a bank executives' stamp collection. Using her dry wit and deadpan humor, she details the absurdities of working for a politician who thinks a trip to a barbershop for a haircut counts as getting out into the community and the harrowing, soul-sucking silliness of trying to sell anything door-to-door.

McGuire, who seems like a smart, funny, and very capable human being, appears to take all of this indignity pretty well, which amazes and heartens me. She delights in the absurd situations she finds herself in and doesn't seem overly concerned about things like steady career progression - at least, not all of the time. That's the genius of her stories: she's taken something that most twenty-somethings fear (floating from one inane job to the next, never finding a place to belong) and turned it into fantastically funny prose. Her book gives me hope that good writers can always find a way to have the last laugh.

Apply Within took me back to all of those fantastically awful jobs I had through high school and college. These include:

1) Stuffing envelopes for a Republican I didn't like very much.

2) Painting curbs.

3) Shampooing old ladies' hair (don't even get me started on this one).

1) Waitressing at a restaurant where I had to both stare at large hunks of meat all day AND line dance every 45 minutes.

So what are your worst jobs ever?

And...

are you hiring?

Book Review: The Forest Of Hands And Teeth

I'm not all that into zombies. Werewolves and shapeshifters, absolutely. Fairies, sign me up. Vampires? As long as they come in the half-dressed-Eric-from-Trueblood variety. These are monsters with varying levels of heart and conscience and personality. Zombies have no conscience. They're the walking dead. They're gross. And, they're kind of boring.

But the Forest of Hands and Teeth might just have changed my mind on this point. Not about zombies being interesting in and of themselves, but about them being fun and fantastically fun to read about. This book is, essentially, a postapocalyptic zombie romance (not something I'd generally get excited about, but trust me as I rave). The book centers around a teenage girl named Mary and her life in a small village surrounded by ominous woods (think The Village). The woods are overrun with zombies kept out by the Sisterhood, the Guardians, and a circle of fences. Mary has always dreamed of a world beyond the fences, a place where the Unconsecrated don't fill life with fear. So when the fences are breached and Mary's world is shattered, she and the people she loves must fight their way towards that hope.

There are so many things to love about this book. It's got mystery, it's got a love triangle, and it's got the perfect amount of creepy. That, plus the fact that it's incredibly suspenceful and fantastically well paced. I couldn't reach the end of one chapter without itching to jump into the next. This was a stay-up-until-3AM-even-though-I-have-to-work-tomorrow read. There was constant danger and building drama, but the author also leaves room for contemplation. She uses the growing zombie nightmare as a means of exploring the fragility of life, of human connection, the resilience of the spirit in the face of true adversity, and the yearnings and feelings that define the human condition. Even with a horde of dripping, moaning flea bags banging at the door, this book offers tender moments and introspection. Not to mention the fact that it's very well written and that the main character's voice never wavers. I didn't always like Mary, but I always believed her and believed in her.

The zombies weren't lovable (I'm waiting for the author who can achieve that feat), but they were lovably creepy. Ryan turns the woods and the zombies that plague it into a chilling, unknown world that was a pleasure to step into. The book is tagged as YA, but I don't think this is a strictly 'teenage' book at all. This is a book that I think a huge range of readers could happily fall into.

Editorial Domination: Book 2

I am VERY proud to introduce:

(c) HEMA Maps Pty Ltd

This is the first book in Hema's Atlas & Guide series that I saw through from initial draft to finished product. I wrote several sections, including the intro and the back cover blurb, selected and edited all of the photos, and checked the research provided by our lovely head of research (and did a whole lot of my own - who knew how hard it would be to find a good picture of a mountain pygmy possum? Who, by the way, is the only marsupial that hibernates? Ah, sweet useless knowledge). I shaped 4WD track descriptions and checked them against many, many maps. I compiled both the index and the contents page (manually. That's right.) I got to spend long hours reading about bushrangers with wily beards, wildflowers and mountain wines. I lived and breathed this sucker for about three months. It is in many ways my first editorial baby - I love it no matter what others think of it (and pushing it out... well, there were times when it hurt like hell). Here are a few pages for your viewing pleasure:

(c) HEMA Maps Pty Ltd

(c) HEMA Maps Pty Ltd

(c) HEMA Maps Pty Ltd

(c) HEMA Maps Pty Ltd

I'm pretty proud of how it turned out, I have to tell you. This thing is pretty AND useful. And I'm grateful to it, because it taught me an amazing amount about the editorial process. I have the feeling I'll be carrying this around in my purse for the next few weeks and showing it to strangers: "Look! A book! I helped make it!"

The Ugly Cry

We had an interesting discussion at my Write Club the other night about books that had made us cry. I'm fascinated by which books seemed universally weep-worthy and which were very specific to one person's tastes and experiences. I'm developing a theory that which books make a person cry says a lot about that person, or that person's state of mind. It's not (that) often that I cry over my reading, and I've had fun looking through my memory for them.

1. The most recent would be Eat Pray Love, a book that took me totally by surprise by how much it affected me. I don't know if it was the honesty in the writing or the fact that I was going through a tough time when I read it, but that book made me all sorts of snotty. The author lays out her flaws and her failures with such heartbreaking detail. Who couldn't help but cry in her moments of sublime transcendence? I also think that a lot of her character traits and emotional longings mirrored my own so distinctly as to be almost eerie. When she sits on a bench in Italy, cracks her book open, and reads "and from my life there sprang a great fountain", I cried with her because I felt, in that moment, as if I was her.

2. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe. This book made me howl in the last few pages.

3 Othello. This was the only play of Shakespeare's that brought me to tears, and to this day I'm not sure why.

4. The first book to ever make me cry was Hemingway's For Whom The Bell Tolls. I'm not a Hemingway fan, generally, but I have a deep love for this book. I love that he captures a man's whole life in three days and shows us that when one person dies, it ripples outwards through all of us. Or, more accurately, showed us how it should.

I've just realized that all of these books made me cry for a common reason: they all have to do with tragic separation and bone-crushing loss. I wonder if that's at the root of what makes all of us cry over our books: that most universal fear of losing someone well loved.

Book Review: Linger

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

YA Urban Fantasy

It's been a loooong time since I blogged. It's been a rough couple of months. And when times get rough, I get reading. And watching period films. And, recently, Buffy the Vampire Slayer seasons 1 - 3 (something about 90s fashion and bad vampire makeup seems to sooth me).

I'm going to be upfront and say that when I eagerly picked up Linger I was already in love it. I had already read Shiver, the first book in this series, and am a regular reader of Maggie's blog. I have a huge aspiring writer's crush on her. But still: this book lived up to all of my expectations.

I loved this book for the same reasons I loved Shiver.

First, because of the strength of the story's tone. The book oozes longing - the longing for connection, for permanence in a crazy world, for escape - it pervades every sentence, every beautifully constructive phrase, hanging over the story like a good soundtrack. The mood is satisfyingly palpable, and you can see how the four POV characters mirror that longing in different ways.

I was captivated by the strength of each characters' individual voice. All four character's voices are very distinct: you could crack open the book to any page and know who is narrating. Because of this, you get a story made richer for experiencing it through very different sets of eyes. These characters become mirrors for each other, reflecting a new and surprising truth with every change in point of view. I love that the same scene would sometimes be narrated by more than one character and would bounce back and forth between two perspectives. This book is a good example of how the 'always keep us in one character's head' rule can (and sometimes should) be ignored.

Third, the unabashed grit in the story. This is not just a 'boy and girl in love vs the world' YA story. It contains emotionally ugly, raw, and sometimes uncomfortable truths. I love that these four characters all said and did things that made me feel frustrated and disappointed. I like that Grace's parents were horrid in such a believable and unsightly way. I like that this book leaves frayed edges exposed, refusing, as many other YA books like to do, to tie up all the loose ends and make everything neat and tidy by The End. This story is emotionally jagged, and all the more enjoyable for being so.

Reverence, Respect & Mauling

In Anne Fadiman's book Ex Libris, a fabulous ode to book nerds the world over, she discusses the different ways in which we treat our books. Fadiman wisely surmises that "... just as there is more than one way to love a person, so there is more than one way to love a book". The way she sees it, there's 'courtly love' and 'carnal love'- and which the book lover practices can say more than one thing about them.

I found myself fascinated by her articulation of a thing I've thought about for years. It's interesting to me how people treat their books and how adamant they are about the right way to love literature. One of the authors at work- definitely a courtly lover- admitted to me that she hates writing in books, so much so that she didn't want to mark in a copy of her own book. I'd say that's an old-fashioned feeling- books are hallowed, keep them clean- but I've known many an older reader who beat their most loved books into submission. My grandfather lived by his books, and he wrote in his (with a pencil). Granted, he only put tiny tick marks next to paragraphs, a pretty minimalist legacy to leave behind. Reading past his tick marks is like becoming a detective: why did he mark that part? What was it that made him slow down and make note?

It seems to me like every reader has their own cringe-worthy feelings about a certain book marking vice. There are those who think writing in a book is a huge bookkeeping sin.

Then there are those people who want to cry when they see a book laid open and face down instead of using a book mark. I've never much cared about leaving books laid open, but a broken spine is a tough pill for me to swallow.

Then there are those people (I'll say right now that I DO NOT get you) that won't buy second-hand books because they are 'dirty'. You know what else is dirty? Money. Treadmills. Door knobs. Your car seat probably has a higher probability of giving you somebody's cooties. And isn't there something great about a book with a history? One that you know has been in someone else's hands, has passed through somebody else's life? Plus they are savers of trees. So get over yourself.

I'm a carnal lover of books (shocking, I know). I tend to devour them, underline them, sometimes (often) stain them. That, plus my frighteningly acute power of losing book marks (even while lying supine and still), means that dog-earring is sometimes a necessity. But ever since I watched Finding Forester, I've had conflicted feelings about dog-earring a page. I can understand why someone would find dog earring offensive... but isn't it better to see that a book has been consumed?

All of this nerdy musing leaves me wondering: can you tell the level of love a book has experienced by its condition? By looking at how someone treats their books, can you learn anything interesting about them that you wouldn't have known otherwise?

I went to my own bookshelf to investigate.

Most of my books are still State side, so I've got a limited sample size. That said, here are some of my findings from books I picked (somewhat) at random:

St Lucy's Home For Girls Raised by Wolves (loved it): browned, water wrinkled, and written in. Still has the price tag on from Politics & Prose (bought 12/7 of an unknown year), which makes my heart squeeze.

Confederates in the Attic (loved it): Holding up well, but a little dirty around the edges. It still smells like the bookstore at the Antietam battlefield. Makes me think of fall and of my Dad.

Down Under (loved it): Wow. I just found my ticket stub from my flight from Paris to Dubai in this book- one of the flights on my first long journey to Australia. I can tell I had this book while in 'Europe' mode- it is yellow, beaten, tired-looking and proud of it.

Watership Down (loved it): scratched and a bit weather beaten, but still in pretty good shape. I found a bus slip in it from grad school days. Spine still very much unbroken.

Mudbound (loved it): spine broken (damn), and bottom corner stained, probably because I loved it so much I loaned it to three people and keep on my desk (where I often eat [spill] breakfast and writing snacks).

Conclusions?

1. I have not made a habit of keeping books I've only sorta liked since coming to Australia.

2. I can tell which books are from which eras of my life. Dog eared and written in profusely= high school falling-in-love-with-literature era. Sun damaged from sitting on a windowsill/dented from holding up a bed= frantic, boisterous college era. Filled with memorabilia but otherwise treated with some semblance of respect= big girl era. All have been ravaged. Just in different ways.

3. My books are a time machine through which I can revisit the time when I bought them and read them. That's pretty nice.

4. The only books of mine that look pristine are the ones I haven't read yet.

Inconclusive findings, but interesting (to me, anyway). So what's your book handling philosophy?

Books Just Make the Greatest Present

I'm a big fan of birthdays. The last few months have seen a lot of friends and family members birthdays come and go, so I've got them on my mind. I may not always remember whose is on what actual date (I'm getting better... right?), but I think they're a pretty big deal. I don't why people want to pretend they're not happening. If you're going to stand up and celebrate anything, you should celebrate the day you were born. It's a celebration of the fact that you're alive. On what other day do you get to sip wine with the people who love you and have them rejoice in the fact that you are, well, you?

I'm also a big fan of giving books as presents. Yes, they're generally heavy and you can't guarantee that the person will like/not have read a particular book, but I can't think of a gift that is more personal. Personal, you say? Really? Yes, really.

I never give books that I haven't read. I only give books I've loved. By doing so, I'm giving that person something that has moved me, brightened me, inspired me, even shaped me. That book says a lot about me, about who and where I was when I loved that particular story. It is a window into my life and my passions, given in the hopes that it will serve the same service for them as it did for me. It also says a lot about my relationship with that person, because for me a book I've loved is a way to strengthen the bond between me and the friend I'm giving it to. It's me saying, "This book illuminated my life. I want to share that light with you."

There are people from my past who have given me books that have turned into beautiful keepsakes, more treasured than some of my oldest pictures and cards. When I open The Sheltering Sky and Catch-22, I remember the teachers who believed that I was something special. When I flick through Into The Woods and Dandelion Wine, I remember the good friends who love and have loved me. When I look at The Fledgling, Mom feels less far away.

Books own a special kind of magic. They're a great way to tell someone you're glad that they're alive.