To fill the dark, miserable, sunless evenings we've been enjoying around here. Is it just me, or do 4:30 p.m. sunsets really sap the joy of life right out of a person? The Otherworldlies by Jennifer Anne Kogler...
Think Vampire-lit.
Also in that genre, we have Night World Volume 3: Huntress, Black Dawn, and Witchlight by L.J. Smith.
Before you tell me these are novels 6-9 in the series, I know. Volumes 1 and 2 are on their way. For some reason volume 3 took way less time getting here.
One of the mysteries of the universe.
Also, we have Demon Princess: Reign or Shine by Michelle Rowan...
This isn't vampires exactly, but it is paranormal fantasy meets chick lit, and it seems like fun.
We have City of Glass by Cassandra Clare (The Mortal Instruments 3)...
Hold list is already a mile long, so get your name down if you're interested!
And last but certainly not least, we have Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater, a romance for all of those on Team Jacob...
This novel is a kind of Twilight-y epic romance involving Grace, a human girl, and Sam, a yellow-eyed wolf who spends a fraction of the year as human. Team Jacobs might like this especially.
I told you I would be more entertaining, and I plan on starting now--with new books!
We have new Naruto (volumes 35 and 36) new Death Note (volume 6--so you know, 5 is on the way) and a new InuYasha (volume 17). I'm not going into a ton of detail here, because I'm betting if you want to read these, you already know more about them than I do.
We also have a Holly Black graphic novel, illustrated by Ted Naifeh, The Good Neighbors: Kin.
This is part of a new series, following in Black's dark fantasy vein. Rue, our protagonist, is reeling after her mother's disappearance and dealing with her father's legal trouble--he's accused of murdering Rue's mom. But Rue's mother isn't an ordinary parent, she's a faerie, and she's gone back to the faerie realm. Now Rue has to bring her back.
One more graphic novel--Black is for Beginnings by Laurie Faria Stolarz!
This series was in prose before it went graphic, so if you're interested in seeing how it all started, check out her other novels.
We also have two brand new audio books, which makes me happy because they're all favorites of mine!
We've got the audio version of Catching Fire to go along with the new hardcover--that I love and everyone should read.
Another recent addition is An Abundance of Katherines by John Green--this was so hysterical that I spent half my time reading it out loud to my family members. I can only hope the narrator does justice to TOC and Colin's big finish. If you've read this novel, you'll get that. If you haven't...you're missing something.
It's my congratulatory NaNoWriMo banner, the one that tells you that I did it--I wrote a 50,000 word novel in 30 days! Except, since I'm posting this today, and I won last night, I really wrote a 50,000 word novel in 29 days.
I thought it might be nice to have one November day not consumed by writing. Also, my brother was telling me he wanted to be able to talk to me sometime soon. I've been ignoring him when he came to speak to me, or just telling him he is "interfering with the process" and to "go kill something" in World of Warcraft.
Apparently, I missed a great deal this month, because he let me know yesterday that he quit WOW weeks ago. Oops.
For all of you still clattering away on your keyboards--you can do it! For all of you who've already finished--Hooray! We did it!
And for those of you who didn't write this year, give it a try next November. There's nothing like the feeling of accomplishment you get when you can call yourself a "Novelist" and have it mean something.
I was reading an old mystery novel the other day and I noticed something.
You know how we have "line-ups" here in the states? Say, someone took a sledge to the front of my new-ish car. I would be upset. But I might not know who exactly did it, if the person who attacked my car thought it belonged to someone else. I may have seen that person do it, though. The police would then fill a room with a ton of people and wait for me to tell them who did it. A line-up.
Just like we see on CSI five times a week, or more.
Sigh.
Well, in Britain, I have discovered, they call a line-up an "identity parade"--proving yet again that our names for things are not as entertaining as the names they come up with abroad.
I'm done, now. But first, an identity parade of new books:
Frannie in Pieces by Delia Ephron!
Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale!
Envy--book three in the Luxe series--by Anna Godbersen!
And (drum roll) Fire by Kristin Cashore!
Did I mention how much I loved this book? Did I? Because I do. Very much. Just like I loved the awesome, amazing, fantastic, better-than-any-adjective-I-can-think-of Graceling, also by Kristin Cashore. Read them both, you won't be sorry!
Now I am going to write 5,000 words or more, because I've been sleeping a little, so I am way behind on my NaNoWriMo word count. Not 9,000 words behind, though, so I'm not in as much trouble as John Green.
Don't quit now, John! Week three is about to begin, and week three is when it all turns around, finally becoming both fun and rewarding, instead of miserable and degrading!
We now have The Wild Things by Dave Eggers, the novelization of the new movie. However, in the little introduction he wrote, Eggers says his book is different from the screenplay, which he also wrote.
And although I have read the book (Egger's and the original Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak--I mostly liked the pictures) I can't tell you how different the book and the movie are, since I haven't seen the movie. I also do not plan on seeing the movie.
Why, you ask? Because the whole giant monster thing is really cool in a children's book, but kind of weird in a movie. Also, it's what, two hours long? And in that time the following will happen: Max will get ticked and his mom will punish him for his behavior. Max will be in his room, bored/hungry/ticked, and he will leave for a faraway place [cue sweeping, magestic music, images of the ocean and little sailing boat] where he will meet freaky monsters not unlike the people he knew in the world he left behind. Also, the personality flaws/struggles of the wild things will mirror the problems Max and his family face (sorry, literature major). Then, he will give up and go home, eating food his mother left for him. The end.
What's that, about 20 minutes of story, give or take?
And you can't knit in a dark theater. Well, you can, but people think there's something wrong with you when you do it. Especially when you are knitting a sock.
Also, the movies are expensive. Even without popcorn. And what is life without popcorn?
The book is amazing, not so much due to plot (which we already know from the children's book) but due to Egger's amazing writing. Check it out.
Next we have Steampunk Lit: Scott Westerfeld's new novel Leviathan. I'm reading this--you can have it when I'm done.
But the art on the cover and throughout (all by Keith Thompson) is amazing. The map alone--but you should just go check it all out. Ignore me. I can't properly describe it.
And what else is on Scott Westerfeld's blog? Could it be the same thing that's happening at Maureen Johnson's blog? And is it the same thing that's happening at John (and Hank) Green's YouTube Channel (and maybe eventually his blog)--to a more extreme degree?
See?
It's NaNoWriMo!
As some of you know and others of you are finding out, November is the month where crazy people like me (and, apparently, John Green) take time out of our lives to give ourselves carpal tunnel syndrome and ulcers by forcing ourselves to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days!
In 2007, I did this. In 2008, I said, "No way am I doing that again!" At some point between November 2008 and now, I forgot the stress, impulsive eating, and lost knitting time and signed up to try this thing again.
If you're wondering...No, it is not too late to join us! Yes, you, too, can age prematurely, stop eating balanced meals, and start talking about fictional characters as if they are real people. You might find yourself looking across the dinner table at your family and friends on Thanksgiving, saying to them, "No, I can't have pie. I just killed off the villian and MC needs help getting out of that well she's stuck in. She's had a bad day. I really shouldn't have even eaten dinner. She needs me."
Then you dart back to your computer, notebook, or dark corner to continue writing writing writing until the tips of your fingers fly across the keyboard so fast scientists decide to study you!
Does it sound fun, yet?
Maureen Johnson and Scott Westerfeld are giving special NaNoWriMo writing tips, so is Justine Larbalestier. John Green is telling us that we have license to write horrible, horrible novels, and if you sign up at NaNoWriMo.org, you'll get pep talks from other authors. In 2007, I remember Neil Gaiman wrote us all a long note about how awesome writing is, how rewarding it can be, and how the world wasn't going to end on November 30, even if it felt like that to us right now!
Good times.
Also, the Nerdfighters have a forum going on NaNoWriMo, and John Green is keeping us up to date.
Give it a try, it's a lot of fun (I mean it, we joke, but it's a blast), you meet tons of people who love to write just like you, some of them right at your school, and when you're all done, you have bragging rights. For. Life.
