So You Know

Hey world! It certainly has been a while. In the spirit of a new year, a new book, a new sense of urgency and excitement and wonder at the universe--I've started a new blog.

I'm not saying this so that you'll follow the link or check it out. If you do, you might be shocked to see that... it looks almost exactly like this one! I just needed a fresh start and a new place to express myself. And I care about you guys. If I'm being perfectly frank, I've missed you and I wanted you to know where I've gone. Not so you have to drag yourself after me. Just so you know.

July In Books

I like taking my time with a good book. I like lazily wandering through a chapter or having the time to really appreciate a well crafted sentence. Oh, what am I saying--sometimes I like to read to finish. I plow through books with a grim determination, recording their titles like victories.

So. In the spirit of conquest (I'm playing online Risk right now and watching Battlestar Galactica--sorry for all the war references), here are the ten books I read this July:

1. Delirium by Lauren Oliver - 4.5/5 such a good book! Characters and a universe that I can't wait to explore in the sequel, Pandemonium
2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson - 3.5/5 Not really my kind of book, but I enjoyed the mystery and action
3. The Name of the Star - Maureen Johnson - 3.5/5 A fun read, and a little spooky, that let me play out all my English boarding school fantasies
4. City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare - 4/5 Very entertaining and fun to read. I've grown to love these characters through the Mortal Instrument series (especially Jace and Simon!)
5. Forest Gump by Winston Groom - 4/5 Surprisingly fast paced and entertaining; this was so much fun to read--although it took a little time to get used to the way Forest speaks
6. 1984 by George Orwell - 4.5/5 Even though it was a little tough to get through, I'm so glad I read it. A brilliant, thoughtful novel that really makes me look at other dystopian novels differently.
7. Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins - 3.5/5 A fun, lighthearted book that made me smile and fall in like with the quirky, charming Cricket
8. Daughter of Smoke and Bone - 5/5 A beautifully imagined book that was so incredibly unique--I haven't read anything like it before
9. The Shifter by Janice Hardy - 4/5 A passport to a completely different world that was absorbing and fast paced
10. A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews - 5/5 Fantastic. Just a brilliant book that was full of thoughtfully crafted ideas and characters that made me happy sometimes and gut-wrenching-sad at others

Can't wait for August!

Welcome home

Well this is new. Really, blogger, I leave you for seven months and you what--you completely change on me! It's like all the time we spent together meant nothing! Like you've spent the past seven months having, dare I say it, a life. Like you don't regret the time we've spent apart, wish we had kept each other better updated on our lives, but are happy to move forward and start fresh, accepting each other for who we are rightthissecond now?

That sounds pretty good to me.

oh hey there

To the boy who Googled my name and found my little corner of the internet: Hello.

To the rest of the world: Hello.

I've missed you! I've missed writing for the sake of writing and being able to share my thoughts with (relatively) complete strangers. I've even missed the mixed feelings of freedom and anxiety when you realize that you have no idea what you're writing about. It's been a while so maybe we should take a moment to catch up.

There have been a few earth shattering moments since October 24th, such as:

• We performed Hairspray, the musical. I was Brenda, the slutty girl on the Corny Collins Show. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend you fill this gaping hole in your life with some fun-filled, racially insensitive joy ASAP.

• I went to India for three weeks! Whoa! My dad, brother and I spent Christmas drinking chai tea and being stared at wherever we went. It was brilliant, it was miserable, I'm happy to be home.

• Winter. Where did that come from? I love it, I love it, I love it. The snow is so beautiful, the trees look like they've been sprinkled with powdered sugar (the cold has also motivated me to do an unspeakable amount of baking), and it gives me an excuse to buy new wool socks.

Life is good. Life is really good.

Love,

Erika

little things 5

Hello darlings,

Unfortunately, my internet presence over the past few weeks has been restricted to facebook chats and old Pokemon episodes. And sooo... I'll leave you with this, one of my new favorite things:

Little Things "A list of little things we should appreciate."

A couple little, good things from my week:

1. Leftover pizza
2. Crazy friends who will dress up as a zombie with you
3. Comfy, cozy, old man sweaters
4. The sound of rain pounding on the school roof
5. The word "hootzpuh"

Enjoy,

Erika

baby animal of the week: kangaroo

Hello friends,

Yesterday was my ultimate evening of culture and cool things. After musical rehearsal, I went to a book sale, a coffee shop, and an art show. Thus, today is my day of sitting on the couch eating Goldfish crackers, listening to Two Door Cinema Club, and staring adoringly at the following pictures:

Also, I know "of the week" is no longer an accurate time frame. Unless you adopt my new calendar where one week can stretch for MONTHS! Never be late for a deadline again! Just don't specify which Monday you'll do something...

some news

I never know how to keep this balance between my personal life and... other stuff. Writing stuff? Book stuff? Some days I just don't feel like I have enough expertise on anything but myself, and therefore don't have any right to post about them. But! These past few weeks have been supercrazybusy and I have a few things to share.

I got a role in the musical! It's a very small part--my character's name is Vicky and she's a chorus girl who sings/dances/acts in the background. I'm happy with it. And rehearsals are already in full swing, meaning every day after school I'm at the theatre or the music room practicing until 5:30. I honestly have no idea how the people with lead roles can handle it.

I'm not sure if I'm doing NaNoWriMo this year. If I do, it'll be my fifth year in a row. Wow, I've been trying to write novels since I was 11. That boggles my mind. My mind has been boggled. But between band, jazz band, musical, choir, homework... I don't know if my mind can handle any more of this boggling nonsense.

You tell me: Are you doing NaNoWriMo this year? There are 28 days left to plan your epic novel! And, if you don't mind me asking, what do you think of Hairspray?

book of the month - september

My first ever book of the month: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

I must confess that, back at the beginning of September when I said I was going to read and review Outlander, I didn't think I would make it. I was about a hundred pages in to an 800+ page book. And I wasn't planning on finishing.

But Diana Gabaldon's historical romance has something about it that pulls you in and will not let you go. She uses a line quite often, when one character says something, and the other responds not to what was said, but what was meant. The entire story reads like that, going beyond what I first expected to something rich and complex.

The story follows Claire Randall, a British nurse who, while exploring 1945 Scotland, is pulled through a magical stone circle and finds herself two hundred years in the past, surrounded by tribesmen and clans and war. After reading the back cover, I figured I had a decent sense of what I was about to read: Girl goes back in time. Girl meets handsome Scotsman. They fall in love. Some other stuff happens. The end! But all of the characters were so... so smart. They figured things out, they acted rather than just reacting, they came up with solutions that I never would have.

Outlander is totally unpredictable. Gabaldon describes the Scottish highlands in such beautiful detail I actually looked forward to those big blocks of descriptive text. And there were no set heroes or antagonists. A character wasn't good or evil simply because of who they were--you got to see them develop and change through the novel, and make your own assumptions based on what they did, not what you were told.

All in all, it was an incredible novel, perfect for curling up on a cold Fall day. It's long, yes, but it goes by quickly. It stands boldly alone--but is also the first in a series. I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to read a book that is fabulously thought out, but doesn't feel like a chore to read.

fall five

Good morning, world!

1. I auditioned for a musical. This year my school is doing "Hairspray". Oh my gosh, I don't think the full horror of singing/dancing/acting in front of other people really sets in until you're there, on stage, and your heart starts to race.

2. I miss eating crunchy things. Like popcorn, pizza, chocolate cake, chips, pecan pie, apples, pears, strawberries, cereal, cheezies... Basically everything I can't eat right now.

3. It rained today. I've discovered sky lights that run the length of the upstairs hallway and make the lack of windows a little more bearable. The sky was white and grey this morning. You can hear rain plinking on the roof of the school when you're sketching in the art room.

4. Over the summer I fooled myself into thinking I missed this: school, homework, waking up early every day... I think I could do without it for a few more months of sunshine.

5. Boys with long hair pulled back in pony tails: yay or nay? I'm watching Survivor and I can't make up my mind...

surgeryerific

To my dearest fellow human beings,

I am exhausted. I have a piece of gauze taped to my arm where the IV was inserted* and my lower jaw is completely numb. Nothing major going on--I just had my wisdom teeth removed this morning. I know it had to happen sooner or later, but can I just say that I'm feeling a lot less wise than I was yesterday?

So, to look on the bright side, I have a list for you!

Three Things You Must Do When Your Mouth Is Completely Numb:

1. Swallow pills. Depending on the reason for the numbness, the pills might be mandatory. But that doesn't make them any less fun! I swear, it's the weirdest thing to see the pill in your hand, put in it your mouth, and then have it completely disappear because you can't feel it anymore. I had to open my mouth and ask my mom if it was still there (which I'm sure she enjoyed to no end).

2. Touch your face. I've been constantly poking my lower jaw because it feels so weird. My hand can feel my jaw but my jaw can't feel my hand. It's like I have an imaginary chin! I have to double check in a mirror every once in a while to make sure it's still there.

3. Talk. A lot. Simple words have never been so hilarious! And if they sound funny to you, the people hearing you talk are clearly having a fabulous time! It's amazing how much you can get across with a couple hand gestures, some very intense facial expressions, and a garbled "Mahhhhh erm a kloopnak ottobob lushvas."

Because I am hoping that I don't get dental surgery very often in my life, I plan to relish this moment. Sure, there might be a little blood on my pillow when I wake up, but hey, sticking out my tongue is like a whole new experience!

Love,
Erika

*I am not so good with needles. Not at all. And, because I have "small veins," my dentist ended up calling in his dad (an ER nurse) to help insert the IV. The dentist's dad, my mom, it was like a family affair. Of course, it would've been considerably more fun if there weren't any needles involved, but what can I say? Dentists have a weird sense of humor.

book of the month info

I've been exploring Once Upon A Time... , a blog by a writer named Cristina Dossantos, and I love it. The design, the writing, the features. So much that I want to steal (read: take inspiration from) one of her segments--Book of the Month.

I find book reviews a little daunting. Someone created something, put so much of themselves into a book, and what makes me think I have any right to critique it? But I want to practice and I love to read. One book review a month should be... doable.

If any of you have read the same book, or would like to, we can discuss it and share what we loved/hated/couldn't put down. For September, I've chosen something nice and thick: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon.

The year is 1945. Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon--when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient stone circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach--an "outlander"--in a Scotland torn by war and raiding Highland clans in the year of Our Lord...1743.

Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire is catapulted into intrigues and dangers that may threaten her life...and shatter her heart. For here she meets James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, and becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire...and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.

Let me know if you've read it, or if you'd like to read it. Book club, anyone?

so this is September

Today was the first day of school. I spent the entire time wandering around in a confused daze while my thoughts flitted between:

Oh my God, why did I wear this?
WHY on earth did I decide to take all these difficult classes?
Everyone looks so pretty and smart and talented!
Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no.
Is that my classroom? Where's my classroom?!
Oh good, my locker won't open. I'm so glad.
I really should've worn something else...

Every year, I start school thinking the exact same thing: This is it. This year, everything will be different. I'll make tons of great friends, all my classes will be amazing, nothing will be the same. Everyone reinvents themselves over the summer--I know I do--but sometimes not as much as you'd like. And having to deal with that, the fact that there will always be unpleasant people in the world, and there will always be people who are smarter and better looking and more talented than me... It's an adjustment.

I don't know. I don't know if this will be good or bad or just plain confusing. I don't know if I'll meet nice people or hate all my classes or feel overwhelmed or have a lovely time of it. I don't know yet.

And that is terrifying.

august

Good evening, my friends.

Sorry. I know that sentence makes me sound like a 700 year old vampire Lothario with greasy hair and a dirty mustache. I just can't help it. We've been apart for so long, I'm a changed person. Oh, and I've developed a vaguely Eastern European accent which really helps with the wooing.

I've been doing some book buying recently, trying to make the best of working through the summer (long days = more money to spend on books = looooong days). Here are a few new ones sitting at the foot of my bed:

Nightshade by Andrea Cremer (YA Urban Fantasy)
The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester (MG Urban Fantasy)
French Food at Home by Laura Calder (a Cookbook!)
The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross (YA Steampunk)
Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares (Adult Fiction--I think?)

I'm super excited about Girl in the Steel Corset. I haven't seen a lot of new Young Adult Steampunk novels around the bookstore--but we have vampire books by the dozen. Do you have a favorite steampunk novel, or are you looking forward to a particular release? I loved Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare.

Also: is 'steampunk' the official terminology? I have this bizarre feeling that it's what my mom would call a "little boy word," like fart or bologna. Okay, maybe not in quite the same playing field.

Love and books (wonderful, wonderful books),

Erika

book anxiety

When I was cleaning my room, repainting and rearranging, I decided to do something really dumb: I separated my unread books from the ones I had read.

This book-segregation finally ended last night, when I took all my books off the shelves and ended up getting very little sleep. Thank goodness. I would look at my bookshelf and instead of thinking, hey, cool beans, maybe I can read something really good today, I would feel overwhelmed. My reading went from being an escape to a chore.

Does this ever happen to you? Working in a bookstore, I feel like I have to be reading constantly so I can give people up-to-date recommendations. Not only that, but my heaps-of-books-to-read anxiety actually made me not want to buy new books.

What

is

this

madness?!

Now that my books are happily intermingling again, I think I'm on my way to getting over my book anxiety. I might even have to buy a few more, you know, to fill out my collection.

You tell me: Do you ever get book-anxiety? And how do you deal with knowing that you aren't physically able to read everything out there that you want to read?

on not flying alone

Yesterday was the last night of a week-long writing camp I've been attending. It was put on by my local college and library and was been, well... affirming.

Every time I meet other writers in real life, I get this wonderful glowy feeling. It's like someone else finally gets it. Imagine if you had a burning passion for flying kites, and you're walking home one day when you see a flash of something colorful in the sky. You follow the thin line of string down to the earth and see a boy holding a spool, watching the kite dance in the wind. You spend the day discussing aerodynamics and the pros and cons of flashy ribbons and how much it sucks when you don't notice a nearby tree. And by the end of it the kite has flown off somewhere, but you're both smiling because you've shared your passion with someone else, and they understood.

This camp, and every other gathering of writers I've ever been to, has felt like that. A kite in the wind. A sign that you are not alone.

We did a lot of little exercises where one of our instructors, Jess, would give us a writing prompt and we'd spend ten or fifteen minutes writing, then people would share what they came up with. On my own, I rarely use prompts or write like that, in short bursts. They were great, though, and it felt so nice to write without forethought, without an outline or a story arc. Just to get the words down while they were still warm. A few of my favorite prompts were:

1. Write something involving a mirror or other reflective surface
2. If you had a key that could open one door (anywhere, anytime), what would be on the other side of it?
3. Write a brief autobiography, and include one lie
4. Write about yourself, the writer, from the point of view of someone else (your friend, your laptop, the flies on the wall, etc)
5. Write a song lyric/nursery rhyme/poem you know by heart, then respond to it line by line
   

during and after

So it's taken me three days, but in the past 72 hours of hard work, extremely poor nutrition and probably inhaling way too many paint fumes, I have taken my room from this:

To this:


Sorry that they're both flowers. I do realize that takes away from the comparison. But! It's pink! And white! And French and muted and sophisticated but not snooty and it feels like my room, and it feels like home.

baby animal of the week: elephant

I can totally picture myself befriending a baby elephant. We could go on long walks, stay up late crying over Dumbo and Water for Elephants, paint each others' toe nails...

On second thought, I think I'd rather see a baby elephant in the wild, smiling and playing with all its elephant friends. Remembering everything.

XVI by Julie Karr

Summary from Booklist:

In 2150 Chicago, girls are walking billboards. Upon turning 16, they receive government-issued tattoos on their wrists that read “XVI.” They’re supposed to keep the girls safe, but in reality, the tattoos broadcast their brand-new sexual availability.

As their sixteenth birthdays approach, Nina is increasingly disturbed by her best friend’s obsession with becoming the ideal “sex-teen” and entering the Female Liaison Specialist (FeLs) service, the only option for women from the lower tiers to move up the social ladder.

Meanwhile, Nina works hard to uncover the mystery her dead mother left behind, a secret that could end the entire FeLs program.



I was so, so looking forward to this book. The whole premise is fascinating--when girls turn 16, they basically lose any right to refuse a guy. People assume that they're obsessed with sex, appearances, clothes, boys, and sex. And for many of them, that's true. But not Nina Oberon.

For those of you who don't know, I am 16. And, to be honest, it doesn't feel like a big deal. The guys in my life are still who they were. It's not like you go to sleep one night and wake up the next morning a completely different person. Not even on your sixteenth birthday. That being said, I couldn't imagine being branded with an XVI tattoo, having everyone know that I was suddenly "available". Earlier today, at the bookstore I work at, a creepy guy called me "cutie", and I wanted to punch him in the face whilst yelling something totally feminist. So having that be the way people were expected to treat me? No way.

But there were some parts of the book that... to be frank, I didn't like. All of the slang definitely confused me. It's a dystopian novel that takes place in the future, and things like "trannies" (like cars, only more hover-y) just weren't explained enough for me to properly understand. I suppose it's just a choice: Do you back away from the story a bit to provide more info on where you are and what's happening? Or do you totally immerse yourself in the character's POV, and lose some of your audience?

Another thing that got to me were all the nicknames. This coming from the girl who grew up with very few nicknames, bear in mind. But I feel like you have to put so much thought into giving your main character the best name possible--so why cover that up with at least half a dozen nicknames? One, sure. Two, tops. I know it's a personal choice, but it's always one where I choose no.

The story follows Nina Oberon as her life changes dramatically--she meets a boy who makes her feel like love and sex might not just be government-sexteen-propaganda, finds out that her mom's abusive boyfriend Ed is much worse than she ever could've imagined, and has some serious doubts in the society that she grew up in. To me, this book was... okay.

Pro: fantastic cover, brilliant and frightening concept, likeable characters from all different class levels (which is a big deal in the XVI-universe)

Con: hard to get in to, some strange pacing (in my opinion), I felt disconnected from what was going on.

Buy/Borrow/Bust: I'd say borrow it from your local library to see if it's your taste. On the plus side, it's already out in paperback!

comfort books

Sometimes, when it's cold outside, when you're stressed out from school/work/family/life, or when you just want to curl up with something tried and true, you need a comfort book.

To me, the definition of a "comfort book" is a lot like mashed potatoes. Not something overly thought-provoking or edgy. Definitely nothing good for you. A comfort book makes you feel warm and good and instantly at home.

My version of comfort books are things that I've read before, and can read over and over again. They're YA and MG, and just plain friendly. That's the thing. As much as I hate the word, a lot of my comfort books are "wholesome". Romantic, descriptive, and full of heart.

1. Which Witch by Eva Ibbotson. This book was suuuch a big part of my childhood. It's about seven witches from a small town who compete to marry the dark wizard Arriman the Awful. Six of the witches are totally mean and nasty, and then there's Belladonna, the only "white" witch. She's kind, friendly, generous--and surprisingly good at magic, and finding ways around the general meanness of the challenges Arriman gives them, while still being successful. It's such a quietly lovely book, like a fairy tale. Really. Everything by Eva Ibbotson makes me smile.

2. The Gravesavers by Sheree Fitch. Oh, this sweet, sweet book. A family tragedy sends 12-year-old Minn to her sour grandmother's for the summer, where she meets a boy and discovers the most devastating shipwreck since the Titanic. The POV shifts between Minn and Thomas Hindley, a passenger on the S.S. Atlantic. It's just beautifully written, and weaves together the past and the present, not to mention all the different characters' stories. But my favorite part? Minn's mom's job is naming paint colors. Every time Minn looks at something--like the night sky--she comes up with a name for the color. Midnight Madness. Deepening Blue. Endless.

3. Inkheart by Cornelia Funke. I wasn't sure whether I liked this book, despite the fact that the author's name is super amazing. But everything about it is like a dream come true: when Meggie and her father read out loud, things come out of the books. Not always nice things. And every time something is pulled out of a book, something has to go back in--like Meggie's mom. It's magical and awe-inspiring, and by the end of the trilogy virtually every character felt like an old friend.

These are the books I grew up with. They make me feel good no matter what's happening in my life. Mashed potatoes squished between two covers. But not gross.

baby animal of the week: ocelot

Oh herro. Time to make today a little bit more adorable. Ocelot-style. Now, how often do you get to say that?

They have blue eyes. This amazes me. So far, all the blue-eyed things I know are human. I think.

Happy Sunday.