Category Archives: reading

my favorite supporting characters in YA

Posted on by
4

I decided to do something a little different: blog about book characters but NOT the main ones!

Here’s my list of favorites:

Magnus Bane from The Mortal Instruments series | A party-boy warlock with sass and wit, and willing to take fashion risks?  Love Magnus.

Molly Grue from The Last Unicorn | Even though Molly seems a little volatile at first (“Damn you!  Where have you been?”), she ends up being the solid one of the group.  I admire her humble servanthood and her level-headedness.

Raffy & Chaz from Jellicoe Road | I had to group these two together.  They are some of the best supporting characters in all of YA … and they bring a whole new element of tension into the story.  I LOVE HORMONES!

Eustace Clarence Scrubb from the Chronicles of Narnia series | Arguably not a supporting character, but I’m reading Voyage right now, and he’s kind of a supporting character in this one.  An absolutely fantastic character transformation.  Love his un-dragoning.

Thomas Mackee & Jimmy Hailer from Saving Francesca | Melina Marchetta completely nails her depictions of teenage boys in this book.  We have Will Trombal to swoon over but also Jimmy and Thomas to fall in love with in a totally different way.

Ben Cassidy from Jellicoe Road | At only 5’4″ he sure has some guts.  Not to mention he is freakin’ hilarious.  I love that he is willing to go head-to-head with Jonah Griggs, even though Griggs is a tank.  (In case you never realized it, Ben, Anson Choi, and the Mullet Brothers from Jellicoe Road reappear in The Piper’s Son, which features Tom Mackee.)

Diana Barry from Anne of Green Gables | Could you find a truer bosom friend in all of literature?

Neville Longbottom from Harry Potter | Neville probably has the greatest transformation of any character in the whole series … in those early books, you would never guess what a heroic heart lay waiting to wake in that chest.

Max Vandenburg from The Book Thief | A Jewish fistfighter who paints over the pages of Mein Kampf and then writes stories on them is my idea of a brilliant character.

neville

weird little beast

Posted on by
2

beast

 

I love being a weird-little-beast writer.  I love finding things so bloody interesting.

Things that fascinate me:

Kryptos, this encrypted sculpture

Witold Pilecki, who volunteered for Auschwitz

As of 1994, there were over 85,000 Chinese characters.  Apparently, basic literacy requires knowledge of about 3,000, although an educated person will know even more.  The English alphabet has just 26 letters, like a short train with the Z as caboose.

chalcophaps

Karel Soucek (and all Niagara Falls daredevils)

synesthesia

colors and all their shades (and names)

Pallor mortis is the paleness a body has after death, as the blood stops circulating through it.  Imagine: a stopped machine, the workers take a nap forever.

wind turbines

believing six impossible things before breakfast

 

I miss reading.

Posted on by
10

As you may remember, I am frantically editing my manuscript before I go to the Big Sur Writing Workshop a week from tomorrow, and in doing so, I have neglected reading in favor of spending all my time writing.

I think it’s fair to do that for a short amount of time (for me, six weeks), but it’s starting to feel unhealthy.  When I read, I join in on a large conversation, I connect with a bigger community.  Writing the way I have for the last five weeks is a much more solitary act.  I feel a little lonesome and left out, as if I was in the restroom when the juiciest gossip was shared.

When Big Sur is over, let me tell you, I’m knocking down doors and rejoining that conversation.  It’s what feeds my writing.

Can. Not. Wait.

P.S. I literally have … hold on, I’ll go count … sixteen new books on my shelves.  Dying.

if you think

 

I judge you based on the books you read. :-)

Posted on by
26

(This post is meant to be in fun, so no one is allowed to be offended, kapeesh?)

I think we all do something like this, to some extent.  I have a dear friend who judges people based off of their favorite Beatles songs!  My choice of “Here Comes the Sun” passed muster, but if you were to say, for example, “I Wanna Hold Your Hand,” her opinion of you would drop pretty fast.  For some people, it’s the music you listen to; for others, the movies you enjoy.

But for me, it’s books.

librarian

If you read C.S. Lewis, I like you automatically, but if you haven’t read his space trilogy, I start to doubt just how big a fan you are.  When I discover people who haven’t read Narnia, I jokingly ask them why they don’t love Jesus.  (JOKINGLY!  Calm down!)

If you read Melina Marchetta, I think you are brilliant and first-class.  If you’ve discovered Jandy Nelson’s one novel, I’m impressed and can’t wait to discuss it with you.  If you loved The Fault in Our Stars, I think you’re a deep-thinking intellectual.  Same thing if you like Yann Martel’s books.

If you read paranormal romance, I will probably automatically think you’re not serious about good books.  Probably.  Not for sure.  I rather liked The Mortal Instruments, but then again, I kind of judge MYSELF for liking them.  Ha!

If you’ve read Sophie’s World, I’d be blown away.  I’m not sure I’ve ever met anyone else who has.

If you refuse to read Harry Potter, I will probably joke that, Yeah, the rest of the world must have been wrong.  But yet, I won’t let that argument work on me if you try to use it for another book.

If you’re a big fan of Christian romance, I’m going to raise an eyebrow.  (You can convince me of your sound judgment if you tell me they are a guilty pleasure.  I have one friend– you know who you are!– who avoids my judgment this way.)

I’m not impressed if you read Austen or the Brontes.  I’m not saying these are bad books at all, just that I don’t care for them much (excepting Wuthering Heights).

A friend of Billy Collins is a friend of mine.  Same goes for Anne Lamott.

I respect LOTR fans though I myself am not interested.

If “cancer books” are your thing (you know, those books where kids fall in love and one of them dies, and every story is almost identical), we should talk.  I can kindly redirect you.

Now, tell me yours!  Do you produce snap judgments, and if so, based on what?  Give me some details!

Sometimes the audiobooks are better.

Posted on by
12

Just as there are people who argue the book is always better than the movie, I’m sure there are people who would argue that a paper copy of a book that you can hold in your hands is better than reading on a Kindle or a Nook or listening to an audiobook.

I personally think that it’s awesome that people are reading, no matter which way they “take” their stories.  Audiobooks have been a huge blessing in my life; they entertain me on long car rides, distract me from my OCD, help me fall asleep at night, and make mundane things (like driving, cleaning, etc.) worthwhile because I’m engaging my mind.

There are even a few books where I prefer the audio version over all others.  Here they are:

1. Saving Francesca and Jellicoe Road, both by Melina Marchetta, both read by Rebecca Macauley.  Let’s be honest: reading about Aussie schools in an Aussie accent is incredible.

2. The Piper’s Son by Melina Marchetta, read by Michael Finney.  Again, the Aussie accent.  This time a male Aussie accent.  (You have to understand that I listen to certain parts of this one over and over again, becoming more and more and more certain that it wouldn’t be quite right for me to marry any man who wasn’t Australian.)

3. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, read by anyone.  I found it really hard to read the paper version because Burgess writes in “Nadsat,” an Anglo-Russian slang he made up for the “droogs” in this book.  I kept tripping over the words and eventually gave up.  But I later revisited it on audio, and by the end felt practically fluent as a malenky horrorshow devotchka who wants to peet moloko.  (This alone makes me believe the Rosetta Stone curriculum works!)

4. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, read by Alan Corduner.  Great voice, awesome German accent!  Makes Liesel, Rudy, Max, and the Hubermans come alive as real people living in Nazi Germany.

5. The Last Unicorn written AND read by Peter Beagle.  I love hearing the tone and rhythm that were originally intended.  Plus, Beagle actually sings the songs!  And you get guitar interludes in between chapters.  Brilliant.

6. Absolutely everything by David Sedaris.  I about DIE laughing when I listen to him read his stories in his own voice!  Definitely better and funnier in his voice than on paper!

[Edited 9/30/13:

7. The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater.  Absolutely breaktaking.]

I also have to throw out major props to Jim Dale, who read the whole Harry Potter series and The Night Circus.  That man is unreal.  I don’t know how he can keep track of so many voices/characters!

How about you?  Do you listen to audiobooks?  Any audiobooks you prefer over the paper version?

audiobooks2

a literary life

Posted on by
8

What is your favorite thing about reading and/or writing?

It’s hard for me to choose just one thing!  I love that I get to create new worlds, love that it’s my responsibility to make people think about God and ideas.  But I think my very favorite thing is that I know that, when I write, I am sitting in the very seat of God’s will for my life … I am doing what I was created to do.  How many 31-year-olds are that clear on their calling (and are able to respond)?!  I love my literary life.

read16

books books books

Posted on by
Reply

Christmas vacation is definitely over– I haven’t had nearly as much time to read!  And now that I have only a few weeks to prepare my manuscript before I attend the Big Sur Writing Workshop, all my free time is dedicated to working on my novel (along with blogging and time with friends).  I have lots of new books on my shelf that are calling out to me, but I have to ignore them till after the workshop is over.

Just finished:

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore | This is the sequel to Graceling, and while I enjoyed it, I did think it was weaker than Graceling and Fire, the prequel to Graceling.  Set 8 years after Graceling, Bitterblue is now 18 and a queen, dealing with a country that is still really broken.  I liked the characters in this: Katsa, Po, and Giddon make reappearances, and readers meet a cast of other fun new people as well.  I don’t want to spill too much so that I don’t spoil the first two books.  Cashore again leaves readers with an unexpected ending, which is refreshing in some ways and disappointing in others.  Still definitely worth the read, although Fire remains my favorite of the three books.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern | I have reviewed this book before, but let me just say that the second time through it was just as breathtaking as the first.  Morgenstern is a sensory genius.  I grovel at her feet.  And she is so humble and likable too.  I cannot wait for the Night Circus movie to come out and for Morgenstern to write another book!

Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta | Another re-read for me, but this time around, I think I liked this book even better!  (Which is saying a lot, since I loved it the first read through!)  I think because I am working on a young adult novel about a girl with her own family issues, Saving Francesca rang a bell in me that just didn’t exist the first time I read it.  This is the story of Francesca, a young Australian-Italian girl who is learning to navigate a new co-ed school (new to her and also new to being co-ed … and the boys are not excited that there are girls there now) all while her normally active and energetic, lifeblood-of-the-family mother has sunk into a deep depression.  This book is marvelous.  I can’t recommend it highly enough.  I still think Jellicoe Road is my favorite of Marchetta’s books, but Saving Francesca is right up there, competing with it!  (This book is one of the reasons I started thinking about going to grad school.  I want to be as good a writer as Marchetta.  Ironically, she doesn’t even have a bachelor’s degree in writing, let alone an MFA!  BRILLIANT, I TELL YOU!)

The Piper’s Son by Melina Marchetta | This is the sequel to Saving Francesca, and it is so good to be with those characters again.  This story follows Tom, one of Francesca’s friends, years after high school, after he has made a mess of his life.  It isn’t as friendly as SF.  Tom is a jerk through a lot of it, but you still find yourself loving him and rooting for him and his family.  Marchetta is a genius.  If I could go study under her, I think I’d do it in an instant.

Up next (after Big Sur) …

Son by Lois Lowry | The fourth book in the Giver series!
Janie Face to Face by Caroline B. Cooney | The final book in The Face on the Milk Carton series, which I first started reading back in 1990.  (In other words, this book is a long time comin’!)
Unwholly by Neal Shusterman | The sequel to Unwind, which I read last October and loved.
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater | Desiree’s fiance bought me this for my birthday!  So excited.
Help Thanks Wow by Anne Lamott | Her new book on prayer (thank you, Des, for buying me a bunch of these books as birthday presents!)
A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver | Her latest poems
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness | I read Ness’s A Monster Calls recently and loved it.  So excited for this book.
Hokey Pokey by Jerry Spinelli | His new book about a land without adults and how growing up someone still creeps in!!!
Vex Hex Smash Smooch by Constance Hale | The book on verbs my daddy bought me for Christmas
Across the Universe by Beth Revis | From what I gather, this is a story of survival in space after being cryogenically frozen.  Eeep!
The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker | A novel about one girl’s life when the earth’s rotation begins to slow.

Ordered …

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
Under the Wolf, Under the Dog by Adam Rapp
Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach

Pre-ordered (because I am just so excited about them) …

The Holders by Julianna Scott | Includes a boarding house for kids with special powers.  Makes me think of Hogwarts and of Ender’s Game.  Can’t wait.  Love boarding school books– get rid of those adults!!!
The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay | Advanced reader copies are getting rave reviews, and I’m so jealous and want to read it now instead of waiting until this summer!  The story is about a girl who refuses to speak and a boy who has everyone he’s close to die, and about their friendship.  

So … yeah.  A lot on my radar, as well as a potential grad school application and application materials.  But I’ve got tunnel vision until after Big Sur!  I love my literary life.  Sigh.