Book Review: The Raven Boys

 This is the first book I have ever read by Maggie Stiefvatier and I'm kind of beating myself up thinking, "Why? Why haven't you read anything from her before?" I have no answer to that...

But, this post is all about her newest book, The Raven Boys. (Click the link to go to the book's webpage)

Holy crap. I loved it.

Usually I gobble books up. I let myself get lost in them and the world could be ending around me, and I wouldn't notice. 

I didn't let that happen with this book. Like The Night Circus, I wanted to savor this book. But not just that. I didn't want it to end. I told my husband last night, "I'm so conflicted. I don't want to keep reading, because I don't want the book to end. BUT I DO want to keep reading because I want to know what happens next." To which he replied, "Well, you don't have to read anymore tonight. Let's watch a movie."

Why I loved this book:

• First and foremost, the characters. They just feel so real. So, easy to relate to. One of the things I love most about John Green is his ability to write characters that I feel I could be friends with. Maggie has done the same thing in this book. I think one of the hallmarks of a fantastic writer is that the characters in the books become more than imagined people, they become your friends in a weird way. 
• The magic. The magic in this book comes to the reader slowly. It isn't like "BAM!" There are little hints and then more and more come until it's totally okay if otherworldly things start happening. I mean, the characters still react believably, but Maggie does an awesome job at suspending the disbelief of the reader. 

There are so many more reasons why I loved this book (and can't wait for the next in the cycle - there's supposed to be four books total), but I can't tell you any of them without spoiling the book for you. Therefore, you must read.

Things I didn't like about the book:

• Every so often (and this happens with every writer) I come across a bit of dialogue that I don't understand. I sit there and reread it. Reread the paragraph and try and puzzle it out. Now, that doesn't happen very often in this book. Really, to me it was just the last line of the book. I'm not sure what was meant by it and felt a tiny bit cheated.
• Also, when the main characters discover something of importance regarding one of their teachers at school (I don't think this is a spoiler...) they seem to accept it a bit too easily for me. Just saying.

But that's it. I kinda adore this book and would seriously start rereading it right now if there wasn't a small colony of unread books on my bookshelf. 

I highly recommend this book. And if you want to purchase a hard copy of it go here. It's an independent bookstore that works closely with Maggie. So much so that you can order signed copies of her books for the same price that you would pay at Barnes and Nobel or Amazon. SIGNED COPY! And, you'd be supporting an independent bookstore. So, why would you not get it from there?

Lastly, here is the book trailer that Maggie made herself. That's right. She did the art. She did the music. She pretty much did it all. She's pretty much some kind of writing superhero... Anyway, to finish up this post, I'm going to go on record and say that she has now filled out my TOP FIVE FAVORITE AUTHORS - and I plan on reading everything she's ever written.

   

A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words

Well, I have been working on my thesis. If you follow my blog at all, you know this. I thought I'd post an update on how things were going, but then I had a better idea.

I'll let the pictures do the talking....

Feel free to take the pictures and post them on your own blog if you want to. Just leave me a comment with a link so I can check them out!

Sometimes it make me feel frustrated other times it makes me feel SUPER AWESOME -Take the picture how you will

Book Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone

My friend LHughes practically forced me to read this book she loved it so much. Not that I wouldn't have read it on my own (eventually), but she sped the process up. While we were at school, she drove me to the bookstore, marched me in, and bought the paperback version of Daughter of Smoke and Bone before shoving it into my hands.

It wasn't that I didn't want to read it right away, I did, but I was in the middle of The Night Circus and couldn't put that down.

Well, I finally read this book.

And I am so glad that I did! It was so beautifully written. Her description is so vivid and unique. I almost wanted to go through as I was reading and take notes on the way she described things in new ways so that I could use it in my own writing. Not like, copy and paste what she said, but hopefully be influenced by it.

The novel takes place, mostly, in Prague. And while it's an amazing setting and Taylor uses it well, it's not overwhelming. I am lucky enough to have spent some time in Prague (just a few days) and I think that she does a fantastic job of setting the piece in a foreign city, but not making the reader feel left out if they've never been there themselves.

Okay, so what is it about? I can't tell you too much without spoiling the entire book, but I will tell you what I can. Karou is the main character of the novel. She is a mystery even to her self. She has been raised by a (for lack of a better phrase) family of monsters, but has no real knowledge of where she comes from. Who her parents are. Or where she got these unique eye tattoos on the palm of her hands. She exists between two words, the word of her monsters shop where they trade wishes for teeth, and the human world of Prague. Suddenly, black handprints are burned into doors all over the world, and Karou's family is threatened.

Taylor does an amazing job of world building here. Not only does she make the places in the human world so real and vibrant I'm convinced that she's spent many a vacation in both Prague and Morocco (a place where she runs errands for Brimstone, her foster father/ Wishmonger) AND this "Elsewhere" she's created.

So there was only two things that bothered me.

1.  And this would totally ruin everything for you so I'll be vague, is when you discover who Karou really is. I felt it was just a bit easy at first. Not the discovery, but who she is. 
2.  Sometimes Taylor's sentence structure bothered me. I'm not usually one that pay attention to that sort of thing, but after about 2/3s of the book it was really popping out at me. She has this habit of doing this: Original thought, side note on something that pertains to the first part of the sentence but goes on for a bit, return to original thought. The only reason this bothered me was that I found myself forgetting how the sentence started and had to go back and reread the first half to figure out what the last bit what saying. 

Now, here's the fun part. The sequel, Days of Blood and Starlight, comes out November 6th. So you totally have time to get out there and buy Daughter of Smoke and Bone and read it. Which you should do. Don't trust me? Check out LHughes' review here.  

Children and Thesis Writing

Ah. 

Children.

I don't have any, but that doesn't stop people from asking me (whenever I feel tired) "Oh, do you think your pregnant?" I suppose that question is fair game now that I'm married. 

However the answer is always, "No."

But that doesn't mean I don't have a child... of sorts. 

I have a thesis. 

I've seen posts and things where people compare writing a novel to a bad relationship. I'm sure I've even done it myself.

But right now, I think my thesis writing (which IS writing a novel) is a bit more like having a baby. Disclaimer: I've never had a baby therefore my comparison is biased/uninformed. But here we go anyway.

How my thesis is like a baby...

• It keeps me up at night
• I have to check on it every few hours to make sure it's okay
• I don't like leaving the house without it. What if it needs me while I'm gone?
• It needs to be looked after, and worked on, ALL THE TIME
• I can't really think of anything else
• Mostly, it's the only thing people ask me about anymore
• I love it
• And kind-a wish I could give it to a baby(thesis)sitter for just a few hours so I could relax and just not worry about it
• It keeps me from my housework 
• I tend to forget why I walked into a certain room because I'm too busy pondering what the thesis may need next
• I've put so much of myself into it
• Once you start it your life will NEVER be the same
• You really don't just have any "me time" anymore
• It needs to be nurtured to grow
• Really, it's the most ADORABLE thesis you've ever seen
• It has a personality all of its own
• Sometimes it does what it wants and just gets itself into trouble
• Lastly, it consumes so much of my time/life/mind that I might be a little crazy, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Thesis writing has been WHY I've been so MIA for the past...forever. And will be, until this spring. I hope. That is my goal. 

So, until then expect sporadic and random updates. Many of which may focus around my thesis, because really, it's my life now.

Book Review: The Night Circus

I fell in love with this book. If you are looking for something to read go out and buy this book. Right now.

Okay, maybe not right now, finish reading my blog post and then go and get it. Or download it.

I found this book to be such a delight. There are some books, The Hunger Games series comes to mind, where you can't put the book down. You gobble the books up one after another. You would rather read than sleep. It consumes you. Some people think that that talent of making the reader turn the page again and again is a quality of a great writer. And it is. As a writer you want the reader to keep going. But I don't think that that makes a good book. You want the readers to savor the book as well.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is a book worth savoring. Morgenstern has created a world that is so real and vibrant that you just want the circus to be real. If you are of the Harry Potter persuasion, it's like that desire to open your mailbox one day and find your letter from Hogwarts. You want to wander through the black and white striped tents and experience it all.

I would recommend this book for older YA, adult readers, and adult readers that enjoy YA. The main characters are in their upper teens and early twenties. The romance is intense and tastefully done. Yes, there is a sex scene, but if you ask me Breaking Dawn is more pornographic than this.

One thing that I didn't really like about this book was how each chapter started with a date and a place. Usually I don't mind these place markers in books, and they are needed  in this book as well, but it got me too focused on the year and how old the characters are. So, if you do go read this book (which you need to) just be aware of the two different timelines. There is the one with Marco and Celia and then there is Bailey and his plot line. Just be aware to keep those two plot lines straight and the other dates don't really matter.


So all in all. This is a MUST READ! Highly recommend! So, why are you just sitting there? Go! BUY IT NOW! 

Revision is a New Form of Hell...

Well, my plan has been to work on writing the last few chapters of the novel and revise the earlier chapters at the same time. You know, one day writing, one day revision, and so on. 

Ha!

That plan didn't really work out. I am making progress, however; it is not as quick as I would like for it to be. 

Writing the climax of my novel is really intimidating. It's like, it's been in my head for so long, it's what I've been working toward, and what if it doesn't come across as well on paper? What if I fail at delivering? It's what the readers has invested their time in reading the novel for. 

So there's that lovely little rain cloud hanging over my head.

Then, there's the revision.

Yes, I have revised things before. How can I be in a writing program and not have done it. However, this time it seems different. Reading Chapter One and getting ready to revise it was just depressing. I looked at it and was like, "Shit, I'm going to have to rewrite the whole damn thing." This is such crap! 

Then I took a break and literally stared at the hard-copy pages I printed out. I thought about things. About revision, about how to crawl inside of something and make it all better but not waste all the words and work you've already put into it.

After that, I put my little bird on my computer screen and went to work.

It really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It really was like I could climb into the chapter and fix it. I cut pages and saved paragraphs. I shuffled things around and rewrote big chunks. What I found was, it was fun. I have a better handle on my characters now than I did when I started this years ago. I know who they are, how they talk, and how they react to thing. Even better, I know how to fold description into the story and eliminate huge paragraphs that are all telling and no showing. I know the weight of one perfect word over half a page of the almost right words. 

It is a slow process. In a way it's daunting and hellish, I wonder if I'll ever get it done. 

But, I just have to keep going. One page of revision at a time and writing one sentence at a time. 

 

Back to Reality

Yes, I lied.


I said that I would post (not regularly, but post none-the-less) this summer. Well, I didn't. Sure, I posted a bit, but not enough to count.


I was super busy! This was my last summer to be on campus during my program and I wanted to make it count. And did I ever. I made tons of new friends, got lots of writing done, fell back in love with my novel/WIP/thesis, AND came to terms with the fact that I am a good writer.


For such a long time I felt like I wasn't good enough. That the words that I put done on the page were just awful and that I'd never get a book deal. 


Well, I don't feel that now. I reread a lot of my older stuff, stuff I typed up three months ago and with each key stroke would think, "This is shit. This is total and complete shit, but just get it on the page and then you can revise." I don't think that anymore. 


I need to believe in myself, because if I don't then who the hell is going to? Yes, my super-amazing husband will always believe in me, and so will my family, but that is only enough when you believe in yourself. 


I'm stepping off of my soapbox now. 


Goals for this new "year." I say year because by this time next year I will (hopefully) have my thesis done and will be looking for agents/ editors. Well, let me rephrase... Goal for this year. Work on my thesis/novel (it's one in the same now) for AT LEAST one hour each day. I need to do that to get the last few chapter written and then begin the revision process before sending the revised chapters to my thesis advisor for notes and even more revision.

But it's so exciting! There is an end in sight! I will have this  novel done soon, and before you know it you will be seeing it on the bookshelves at bookstores. Mark my words. I will continue to make salads and whatnot to help my husband with the finances but also so that I can focus on my work.


From here on out, my real job is my novel. My hobby is going and making money.