Category: Books

Links Galore

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A few more links to start your week off right:

Even Blog Post Titles Are Hard

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Some people are really good at titles. They can come up with really memorable titles that perfectly connect with their novel/play/poem. These people are also probably visited by helpful elves and ride to work on their pet unicorns.

I am not one of these people.

Either I come up with a title and no accompanying story, or I finish a story and stress about the title for a while. But titles are worth some stress. A good title can capture a reader’s attention right away, while a bad title can make an otherwise compelling book forgettable. Sometimes I’ll remember the plot well but totally forget the title and not remember that I’ve read/seen it until someone describes it more.

To see the difference that a good title can make, check out these alternate titles for famous movies. While I love the sound of The Rebel Nun, it has a very different feel than The Sound of Music.

Are you good at coming up with titles? What are some of your favorites?

Novels I’d Like to Call My Own

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Although it’s not Friday anymore (sigh), I still love the idea of last week’s Friday Fives by Paper Hangover: What are the five novels you wish you had written? It’s a tough one! There’s a big difference between enjoying or loving a novel and wishing you could call it your own. I’m sure I could add several to this list, but my five wish-novels are:

1. The Giver by Lois Lowry
The first book to really make me think. The writing is fantastic, the characters are engaging, and the plot unfolds in a terrifying but realistic manner. Lowry has dozens of wish-worthy novels, but this one tugs at my heart in a very special way.

2. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
I almost claimed the whole series but figured I’d better stick to one novel instead. The first in the His Dark Materials series is gorgeously written and compelling, and main character Lyra is one of my favorites.

3. The Commitments by Roddy Doyle
Doyle’s novels all have a wonderful lyricism and vibrancy. I think it’s almost impossible to incorporate music well into a novel (usually the lyrics or descriptions of music fall flat), but Doyle really gets the vibe of soul music. The movie is awesome, too.

4. Feeling Sorry for Celia by Jaclyn Moriarty
Even though it’s full of whimsy, when I first read this I thought “Yes, this is exactly what it feels like.” Moriarty handles everything well, from having crushes to losing/gaining friends to family drama, while still maintaining an enormous sense of humor.

5. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
A novel that truly stands the test of time. It’s a beautiful look into small-town life, the first encounters with violence and chaos, and how there are still people who refuse to back down to prejudice and hate.

You can check out other people’s lists over at Paper Hangover’s post. I found the challenge through Reading on the F Train–great choices there, too! Feel free to blog about your own choices, or share them in the comments.

Historical Background, or How Often Do You Notice the Toaster?

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Over at Six Boxes of Books, Roger Sutton talks about the Scott O’Dell Award and what makes good historical fiction. From the interview:

What is something that you see over and over again in the books you read, a common mistake that authors make [in writing historical fiction]?
RS: The thing that always bothers me the most, both judging this award and reviewing books, is undigested historical information thrown into a story. There was this great article in School Library Journal by Joan Blos called “Bunches of Hessians” where she talks about the various mistakes that are made in historical fiction. She said to take something from a historical novel–for example, a mother making dinner–and translate it into contemporary fiction. And then she wrote this hilarious passage about “Mother stood in front of the white box and carefully adjusted the black dial.” It has to be natural to the person telling the story. They shouldn’t be noticing things that only an outsider would be paying attention to. That always pulls me right out of the story.

This seems so obvious when Roger says it, but I think it’s a very common problem when trying to write historical fiction–or any kind of world that’s not our own. I know I’ve run into this issue of how much to describe and when. You want to develop the setting, but you don’t want to throw details in just to sound “authentic,” which actually makes you sound less authentic.

Make sure to check out the rest of the interview, too.

Friday Fifteen

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Welcome to another edition of the Friday Fifteen, in which I review fifteen books in fifteen words or less!

1. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
Inspired take on a lesser known fairy tale. First in a series.

2. Summer Sisters by Judy Blume
Mom got this for me thinking it was YA. Scandal! Still prefer the Blume YA/MG.

3. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
So good I wrote about it on the AP English exam. Not embarrassed.

4. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
Got it without knowing anything about it and was initially confused. Still loved it though.

5. Go Away, Bad Dreams by Susan Hill
I had nightmares a lot as a kid. This book helped.

6. Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence
Really enjoyed it when I read it, but can’t remember much about it now.

7. Baby-sitters’ Summer Vacation (Baby-Sitters Club Super Special #2) by Ann M. Martin
The BCS goes to summer camp, encounters poison ivy, romance, and racism. Typical camp experience?

8. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters. Love Elinor and Marianne.

9. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
Touching novel, with only one or two missteps. Ashima and Ashoke shine.

10. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
Didn’t have a good professor, probably I could have gotten more out of it.

11. Coyotes: A Journey Through the Secret World of America’s Illegal Aliens by Ted Conover
Fascinating look at immigration as Conover lives and works with people crossing over.

12. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
Makes me glad I had Buffy in middle school.

13. Civilwarland in Bad Decline by George Saunders
The title story is excellent. Others are good, some don’t hold up as well.

14. Brighton Beach Memoirs by Neil Simon
Hilarious and heartfelt look at growing up in pre-WWII New York.

15. I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence by Amy Sedaris
Amy has the best party games for kids.

Happy reading/reviewing, everyone!

It’s Alive!

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Over at A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy, Liz shares her reactions reading on Frankenstein. I just read this classic novel last November and shared a lot of Liz’s thoughts. (Just not as funny.) It’s a fascinating book, and a great example of Romantic literature, but totally hilarious in parts as well. (Victor, could you pass out once or twice and also never tell anyone anything helpful?)

Make sure to check out Liz’s post, even if you haven’t read the book before. One part I loved:

“The dissecting room and the slaughter-house furnished many of my materials.”

Ew, ew, ew. And also, at this point I’m going to assume that the unshared details include what Victor did so that his rooms (and himself) didn’t smell like rotten corpses. Otherwise, the neighbors hated him! And you thought the people next door smoking was bad!

Now I’m wondering what my neighbors are up to. Looking forward to seeing what else she has to say about Frankenstein!

 

Links Galore

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No groundhogs in these links, but they’re entertaining nonetheless.

 

 

Love-ly Reading

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The Horn Book has some fantastic suggestions for YA novels to get you in the Valentine’s Day mood. They’re not “romance” novels, but they all deal with love or heartbreak. A few suggestions of my own:

Dangerous Angels by Francesca Lia Block
When I was in high school, Weetzie Bat had one of my favorite descriptions of a kiss: “A kiss about apple pie a la mode with the vanilla creaminess melting in the pie heat. A kiss about chocolate, when you haven’t eaten chocolate in a year. A kiss about palm trees speeding by, trailing pink clouds when you drive down the Strip sizzling with champagne. A kiss about spotlights fanning the sky and the swollen sea spilling like tears all over your legs.” Swoon! The whole series is fantastic, too, especially in how it looks at love.

Searching for Dragons by Patricia Wrede
The whole Enchanted Forest Chronicles series is fantastic, but this one is a compelling take on the Prince (ahem, King) meets Princess (ahem, (Chief Cook and Librarian to the King of the Dragons) story.

Feeling Sorry for Celia by Jaclyn Moriarty
Mostly a book about friendships, but Moriarty also handles budding romance and heartbreak really well. Elizabeth Clarry gets letters from imaginary organizations like the Young Romance Association telling her she needs to stop being such an embarrassment and get a boyfriend already. Probably one of the most hilarious and relatable novels for teens without a lot of relationship experience.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Technically not a YA novel, but it’s about teens at a kind of boarding school, so I think it counts. A great example of a love triangle, with a creepy dystopian backdrop and gorgeous writing.

The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Also technically not a YA novel, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a reason not to put it on a teen reading list. It’s got a dashing pirate, a beautiful princess, a giant, a fencing expert, miracles, an evil prince, an evil-er count, and Rodents of Unusual Size. What more could you want than true love and high adventure?

What are your favorite novels about love?