city of updates

I don't know if anyone else is a massive Cassandra Clare fangirl (we can be friends!), but I have seriously been falling down on my duties as a City of Bones freak. Not only has the cover of the fourth book in the Mortal Instruments series (City of Fallen Angels) been revealed, Lily Collins has been cast to play the main character, Clary, in the movie.

OH MY GOSH Cover:
NO WAY Lily Collins:
If you haven't read the series, and thus have no idea what I'm going on about, here's one of my favorite quotes from Jace, the MMC:

"I don't want to be a man. I want to be an angst ridden teenager who can't confront his own inner demons and takes them out verbally on other people instead."

sicksicksick

Hello,

The band, Port O'Brien, has a song called I Woke Up Today (weirdly enough, O'Brien is my gym teacher's name. Coincidence? I think not). It's a pretty good song, in my opinion. They're a folkish band who, according to their website, have been heavily influenced by the ocean.

If it was written about my life, though, I fear the song would go more like, I woke up today... and then I went back to bed.

I stayed home from school today because my head felt like someone had chosen it as the convenient location to blow up and twist around party balloons. This marks my First Cold of Fall. Wow, only six days into it and I'm sick. Pretty impressive, really.

Yesterday, I was outside in the pouring rain for about three hours because my town had it's first ever Graffiti Fest. There are a few big, abandoned buildings around town, and during the Graffiti Fest, the Arts Council and Skeena Diversity Society got permission to completely spray-paint over one of them. I left my mark on a concrete road barrier that was off to the side of the building.

Here I am, with my finished work:


Ugh, lovely rain-soaked hair and I-wasn't-planning-on-leaving-the-house clothes. So, I painted "Je t'aime" (I love you in French). Then it pretty much washed away in the rain, so painted it again.

At least being sick has given me lots of reading time. I finished Paranormalcy yesterday and The Demon's Lexicon today. Now I'm torn: I Am Number Four or Clockwork Angel? It's so hard to say.

So, what are you doing today?

SPEAK up

I read Speak when I was in grade eight, and it made me sign up for Art the next year. It made me value my words, and the power they carry, that much more. It made me think before I spoke.


For those of you who haven't read Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, it's a book about a girl named Melinda Sordino who begins her freshman year refusing to say anything, due to a trauma explained later in the book. Spoilers below, please scroll down quickly if you don't want to read them!

*Spoilers*

Melinda got drunk at a party a few weeks before freshman year, and was raped by senior Andy Evans. She calls 911 and cops bust the party--once the school year starts, she is alienated by all her old friends, and because she doesn't tell anyone what really happened, she falls into a deep depression.

Melinda spends most of her time in art class, or holed up in an abandoned janitor's closet she claims as her own, not saying a word to anyone. When her friend Rachel starts dating Andy Evans, though, Melinda feels obligated to tell her about the rape.

*End spoilers*

It's a very emotional, moving book that deals with all sorts of feelings of isolation, guilt and depression. I think it should be a definite must-read for all teenagers and adults. But apparently not everyone feels the same way.

Enter a man named Wesley Scroggins. He's both associate professor of management at Missouri State University and was a speaker at Reclaiming Missouri for Christ. I don't have anything against his religious beliefs, but I do have something against him calling Speak filthy and immoral. He called it soft porn, because it has two rape scenes.

1) The idea of sex itself is in no way the main point of the book.
2) How is rape soft porn? That part really disgusts me.

My main argument, however, is against the idea that kids and teens shouldn't be reading books like Speak because they can't handle them. Rape is a topic that teens need to know about, and keeping it out of the school system won't stop it from happening. As Veronica Roth said in her brilliant post on the subject: The world is broken. No matter how much time you spend covering your eyes, and covering your children's eyes, the world will still be broken when you uncover them., you can't shelter your kids forever. In my mind, sure, a seven-year-old probably shouldn't be reading Speak. But teenagers always read above their level, and reading about the horrible, ugly parts of the world help us to better understand the good as well as the bad. Just because you read a mystery novel about a psychopath doesn't mean you're going to go out and kill a dozen people.

Reading is just as much about what you take away from the book as what the book actually says. And reading a book like Speak definitely helped me better understand my classmates, and my world.

For a much more coherent piece on the subject, check out Laurie Halse Anderson's website here.

I don't think you have to give your kids, or the young people you know, free reign to read anything they want. Obviously some books are inappropriate until the ready is "ready". But you can't shield their eyes forever, and reading is all about choice. Who do I want to be today, what do I want to learn about today, what do I need to know?

Everything.

Love,

Erika

500 Books of Summer

School starts tomorrow. I have less than twenty-four hours of summer left and, rather than partying it up, I've pretty much resigned myself to staying home, being dull. I'm sick, I didn't sleep well, and I need to clean my room or my dad will cut off my pinkie toes (not really, I was just trying to think of some kind of horrible torture).

I've been waiting for a while to talk about my favorite books of summer, so here goes. I could've sworn I read more, but I suck at reading. Really, I can't read more than one book at a time or I completely forget what's going on--and I'm picky :P

500 Books of Summer (okay, more like ten):

1. Porcupine by Meg Tilly - MG Contemporary - She was in Fame and I MET HER! Such a cool person, and this book was bursting with voice, but the chapters--or lack thereof; the book was arranged by seasons--were a little confusing.

2. The Gryphon Project by Carrie Mac - YA Urban Fantasy - I'm not really sure what genre this fits in, but I loved the idea of a society where people have more than one life--and the amount of lives you have determines your class. I actually read this as an ARC I got from work. It was a good story, but I felt like it fell flat at some points, despite the interesting characters.

3. Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen - YA Contemporary - This was my first experience reading anything by Sarah Dessen. I loved how the MC's parents were really well defined characters, but it was a bit too wholesome and good hearted for my taste ;)

4. Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen - YA Contemporary - I didn't like this book. I just couldn't connect with the main character, and, as well written as it was, I felt like there were things that could have been left out.

5. Dead Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan - YA Dystopian - Is this Dystopian? I wasn't sure if YA Zombie counted as a genre, but it definitely should, and Carrie Ryan can be the poster child. I am legitimately terrified of zombies, but I liked this book, and I liked how much it scared me.
But I found myself at odds with the MC some times, and wishing a few lines had been left out.

6. Shiver and Linger by Maggie Stiefvater - YA Urban Fantasy - I absolutely loved Shiver. One of the main characters, Sam, is so poetic and vulnerable, I couldn't wait to read his chapters--and it kept me on the edge of my seat. In Linger, I really liked the contrast of Cole and Isobel's voices, but I didn't have the same sense of urgency as in Shiver--until the end, that is.

7. The Darkest Powers trilogy by Kelley Armstrong - YA Urban Fantasy - Definitely one of my favorite reads this summer. I loved the main character and the fact that she wasn't all, "Woo-hoo, magic!" right away. She had to adjust to the idea of having 'powers' just like any other person would.

8. Break by Hannah Moskowitz - YA Contemporary - I liked this book, but at times I had a hard time connecting to it. Still, a great, realistic read with dialogue that made me laugh out loud several times.

9. Mockingjay by Suzanne Colins - YA Dystopian - OMGWOW. This book was the perfect way to end the Hunger Games trilogy (for the record, the first book was my favorite), and my friend and I have been discussing it in whispers every time we see each other.

10. The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan - YA Urban Fantasy - Again, I suck at determining genres, but oh well. I'm not done this yet, but I love it already. And I wanted this list to be an even ten. I love Nick's dialogue, and all of the characters, and I feel like there's just enough internal monologue to give the story dimension without slowing down the pace.

This summer, I also had my first experience Beta Reading! I beta-read and line-edited Someone Left to Love by the lovely and patient Dana-Lynn Mauldin. It was a nice read, very emotional, and very well written. I can't wait to see it published :)

All in all, I really need to read more. Maybe the rainy days of Fall will inspire me. So, what are your books of summer?

Love,

Erika

to be read

What are you reading these days?

Ever since I started working at a bookstore, my to-be-read pile has grown exponentially. Yesterday, someone actually bought my staff recommendation! It was fantastic! (And it was On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta, one of my all time favorite books.)

I'm currently reading The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan, review soon to come (and this time I mean it!).

My To Be Read pile is looking a little like this:

1. Looking for Alaska by John Green - I've started this book twice and still haven't gotten through it. I know it's an amazing poster child for YA, and there are parts of it that I love, but I really haven't gotten into it.

2. Paranormalcy by Kiersten White - I ordered this through the store and it arrived yesterday. I can't wait to read it! All the reviews online make it sound absolutely fantastic.

3. Harry Potter by JK Rowling - I'm determined to re-read this series, starting from book one. I have read all seven Harry Potter books, but only once. I don't know why.

4. Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta - I found this in a used bookstore and did a little dance that seriously freaked out all the employees. So excited to read this!

5. My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares - A few of my friends have read this, and they all say it's really awesome. I'm a big Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants fan :)

6. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl - Again, I've heard a lot of fantastic reviews of this book, and the cover looks so fancy and cool! (Exhibit A to the left.)

7. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss - I read the first few pages while I was putting some books away and it sounds really cool.

So, what's on your book list? Do you have any suggestions for reading material on windy fall days (like today--there's some blue sky in the distance, but I refuse to let it get me down)?

Love,

Erika

crazy screaming fans = awesome

Soundtrack: Standing on the Shore by Empire of the Sun
Words: 0, again, but I'VE BEEN READING!

I think the every writer, once they get to a certain point, dreams of publication. Whether they realize those dreams or not, it can be pretty inspiring to imagine hoards of people dressed up as your characters, waiting in line for a packed reading/signing event a la Ms. Rowling.

Harry Potter is amazing. If you've read my blog before, you may know that I adore everything about it: the series, the characters, the writing, the magic. It's been a while since a series of books has inspired such utter fanaticism. Sure, you have Twilight, but let's be honest. That's mostly about the abs.

Just in case you don't understand my rambling, I bought a copy of Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins today :D :D :D

In case you haven't read them (which, by the way, you definitely should!), Mockingjay is the third book in the Hunger Games trilogy, a YA dystopian series featuring the daring, the stubborn, the AWESOME Katniss Everdeen, who is the most kick-butt heroine I've read about in a while.

Basically, I spent eight hours sitting on the couch, reading. I haven't done this in a while--the last time I can really remember reading non-stop is when the Deathly Hallows came out. Basically: book fanaticism, in my mind, is totally freaking awesome.

Yeah, this post isn't really going anywhere. I just wanted to tell you that having something to dream about, be it a big, glamorous release party or crazed fans chanting "PEETA!" can get you through some tough moments. I'm sure it certainly hasn't hurt Mrs. Collins.

Of course, fame and fortune (not that these are guaranteed what so ever when it comes to writing. Scratch that--just assume these things won't happen and move on) can't validate you're writing if you aren't confident with it. Screaming fans are one thing, a truly beautiful, quiet, unimposing book is another. And if you do dream big about publishing one day, you have to realize that you're book may inevitably be neither.

So, in closing, buy yourself a copy of Mockingjay, read read read, then go back to writing. And, just for a moment, give yourself permission to be completely and utterly self absorbed. Picture the autographing, the smiling fans, the flash of cameras...

Whoever you are, reading this, take a moment to realize just how much you rock.

...And then get back to work. Right, I should probably do that sometime :)

Love,

Erika