A Boring Beginning... sigh

Hmm... well, I finished Beautiful Creatures, and I have to say, I wasn't too impressed.  Over all, I'd have to say it was boring, and I am disappointed that my YALSA reading project started off so full of suck.  I just wasn't drawn in to the characters or their world.  I didn't think the relationship between Ethan and Lena came across very strong.  They have this psychic connection, so, you know, they can talk to each other from across town and stuff, but I just didn't feel it.  It takes more than just saying "these two people have a strong connection and are in love" to make it feel believable.  

There were also points in the narrative that I had to stop and re-read because the authors would mention a detail that I was supposed to have gotten before but missed, or the action was choppy and I'd be reading along and then suddenly the scene would change, and it was a complete non sequitur and I would be mightily confused, but I just kept reading and brushed it off because I wanted the book to be over.  

I also didn't understand the title.  Who or what are the beautiful creatures?  Are they supposed to be Lena and Ethan being beautiful together?  I just didn't get it.  I like when titles mean something in the context of the book.  I think that if someone would have asked ME (which no one did, and I can't imagine why) I would have titled it Sixteen Moons.  This would have made more sense.  I'm also worried that they are going to attempt a series out of this, because the main characters are in tenth grade, so they could do at least a trilogy while they're still in high school.  Ugh, I hope not. (UPDATE: They are.  Beautiful Darkness comes out in October.)

On the plus side, the librarian in the book was portrayed as eccentric but cool, which I appreciate, but that's just about this book's only redeeming factor.

So even though the first book was suck-y, I'm still excited about reading most of the other books on the list.  Right now though, I'm starting The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Steig Larsson, which I am super pumped to be reading (a month before it comes out in the US, whoops).

Okay, I haven't posted in over a year, sorry about that, blah blah, you know.

Anyway, I'm trying something new. YALSA which, for those of you who aren't members of the ALA, is the Young Adult Library Services Association, just released their nominations for the 2010 Teens' Top Ten, and I am going to attempt to read ALL OF THEM. These are just the nominations at this point, so there's 26 of them total.

I've already read two of them, Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, which is the sequel to The Hunger Games, and was amazing. I check my library catalog for signs of the third book in the trilogy, Mockingjay, just about daily. And hush, hush by Becca Fitzpatrick, which was so awful I don't even think I wrote it down in my Books I've Read notebook (hereafter known as the BIRN). Seriously, it was terrible-- loose plot, awful characterization, totally boring, and I have a pretty high tolerance for YA books.

I'm also about half way through another on the list, Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, which is, so far, mildly better than hush, hush. It's about a boy and a girl (because what teen book isn't?) who meet and fall in love, but she is a Caster, and he isn't, and I think they're reliving a romance that their respective ancestors had during the Civil War, though I'm not too sure about this, because there's been a lot of hinting around and vague plot points so far. I think that one of the main reasons I'm disliking the book so much so far is because it is told from the boy's perspective and in first person, and the two adult, female authors don't afford Ethan a very realistic 16 year old boy voice.

All I know is that I'm going to finish this book so that I can check it off and zip through The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest before returning to the task at hand.

Peeker

I always peek at the end of books. This has nothing to do with a When Harry Met Sally-like cynicism, but just an uncontrollable desire to just know. Maybe I have to verify that the book actually does end and the characters don't exist. I don't know, but I always peek. I'm a peeker-- I used to sneak down stairs every Christmas Eve just to verify that the presents were, in fact, there. I had to know! What if they weren't? As if my peek-age would affect the outcome of Christmas morning, or the end of a book.
Example 1: I peeked at the end of New Moon when I was about 100 pages in. There was no doubt in my mind that Edward was coming back, but I had to verify, mostly to find out when the ridiculous vapidity of that novel would be over.
Example 2: I'm finishing the last book in a series by Megan McCafferty, which is enjoyable mostly because the main character, Jessica Darling, is the #1 literary character who is most like me- the moodiness, the caustic criticism that is kept mostly within the confines of my head, the rapt attention to popular culture. But anyway, I'm half way through the last book, and I don't really want to know if the two main characters get married, but some nagging pull at the back of my brain, rationalized by just checking to see how many more pages I have, forces me to look at the end of the book. I didn't really see anything, and I don't really know the end, but I still feel like I cheated myself out of something.
I swear... the next book I read I will not look at the end, even to see how many pages it is.

This is a pledge I will probably not keep.

Today I had the exciting opportunity to pluck the first gray hair from my head. I had no idea that it was such a delight to lean over the sink in the bathroom only to look up and notice a glaring gray strand in your hair screaming, "You may think you're only 22, but you're getting older by the second, and you're going to die alone!!!" The hair actually specified that there were three exclamation points after that sentence. There was nothing to do but call my friend who (bless him) has been graying since tenth grade, though his gray hairs look peppered and distinguished, like Anderson Cooper. Mine look like I'm growing a wart on the end of my nose and my skin is turning green.
Also, due to the fact that my life is so action-packed, I read an entire book this evening, which I suppose was slightly more thought provoking than watching another episode of House Hunters, a show which is reminiscent of a five-paragraph essay-- intro, 3 body paragraphs, and a conclusion. The book was Spanking Shakespeare by Jake Wizner, and it was hilarious in all of the truths that it tendered. It has the distinct honor of being the only book written in my "Books I Have Read" notebook that I put three stars next to. I'm not sure what those three stars mean, but it is something good, I assure you.

The Bro Book

I have been in a reading rut since Twilight. I did, however, recently finish Guyland by Michael Kimmel, which was AMAZING. Early last year I went on a feminist literature bender. I blame it, in part, on my Women Artists in Literature class that I took in my last semester at Mansfield, which was such an awesome class. We read Song of the Lark by Willa Cather and it totally changed my life, but then that semester Jessica Valenti, who founded feministing.com, came to speak, and I bought her book and read it (loved it!). Then I traded it with my BFF for Female Chauvinist Pigs by Ariel Levy (also loved it!), and Guyland kind of reminded me of Female Chauvinist Pigs in reverse. Early in the book, Kimmel defines the guys he's writing about mostly as white, middle class dudes from 16 to 26, so basically every dude I know, and he writes about their coming of age.
In a lot of ways Guyland was kind of scary for a single lady of 22 to read. It is a lot to think about, and Kimmel's descriptions and stories are never too graphic, but sometimes they were just scary. His research is expansive, though. He did such a good job. The book made me angry and frightened sometimes, but it was so interesting. He makes so many excellent points, but the things I found most intriguing were his ideas about boys becoming men. He says that in a lot of cases girls know they are women because they decide it themselves, or it just doesn't mean that much anymore, that for a lot of girls being a woman is whatever she wants it to mean, but that for guys, being a man is still really important. And more and more, it is not fathers passing down manly traits and assisiting their sons in becoming men-- it's a guys' peers who usher him into manhood and teach him what it means to be a man. I had never really thought about it in so many words, but that is so true. I have never really thought of myself as a "woman." I mean, I guess I am, but it has just never occured to me to think of myself as a woman-- it's never been that important to me. I always figured that when I was an adult, then I'd be an adult, but never a woman. It sounds weird to me.
His discussion and thoughts on the anger and entitlement that these boys feel is another really fascinating aspect of the book that runs throughout it. Kimmel talks about it in just about every aspect of "Guyland." It is prevelant everywhere-- in music and video games and porn. I have to say, it is really scary to read about. I think that this is a really important time to be a feminist. There is so much left to do, and though Kimmel never calls it that, I think his writing is feminist. I liked that the book ended positively, and I like his suggestion that we just start dialogue about this stuff! No one seems to talk about it, or any talk about it just gets brushed off as too academic or girly or something. Whatever. This book is totally worth reading for everyone, and I think more people should read it so that I can talk about it with them.

New Book!

I know that I said that I couldn't take any more fantasy right now, but the third book in the Inheritance series finally came in for me at the library, so I had to take it, lest I lose it to the person behind me and have to go to the bottom of the long long list. I read Eragon and Eldest over the summer on a whim, and, while they're not my favorite, far be it from me to ever leave a series unfinished. You're reading the blog of the girl who read all 11 of the Gossip Girl novels. I have a high tolerance for these sorts of things... not that Eragon and Eldest even approached the coma inducing powers of Gossip Girl, I'm just saying.

I'm looking forward to seeing how some loose ends tie up in Brisingr (yeah... that's the title), though I read somewhere that while this was supposed to be the last book in the series, Christopher Paolini thinks he's going to need another book to adequetly finish his story. I'm a bit suspicious of this. Personally, I would sacrifice some nit-picky details for a concise story, and it makes me a little sad to think of authors writing more books just for the money (who am I kidding, if I got a book deal I would quit everything and write all day). I guess that I'm okay with it, because it means I still have something literary to look forward to now that Harry Potter is over.

November Disappointments

I'm so disappointed in myself. My reading this month has been seriously lacking. I am still wading through Abhorsen by Garth Nix. I really do like it, honest, but it just doesn't grip me. I'm close to the end, and I like a lot of the ideas Nix has about death, and any book with a nod to the multiverse gets an A+ in my book; however, this battle sequence is getting pretty drawn out. I want something to just happen! It seems like there are a lot of tiny, unnecessary obstacles that Lirael has to get through, and because there are so many of them it is getting cumbersome.

I'm also having trouble where to go next with my reading. I have pages of books to be read and an entire county library system at my fingertips, but I'm just lost. I don't think I can take another fantasy book right now, but if Brisingr by Christopher Paolini comes in for me at the library, I have to take it. I've been waiting for that book ever since I finished Eldest, and now I'm number 3 on the list, and the two people ahead of me already have their books waiting, so technically I'm number 1. I also feel like maybe I should read something classic. I've never read any of the Brontes, and I think that should be rectified. I also have been hankering for a good non-fiction book. There's this one by Tom Standage called A History of the World in Six Glasses that I thought looked good, and another about tomato farming, by Tim Stark. I love tomatoes. There are just too many choices. I know it isn't true, but I feel like they're all going to go away if I don't read them all right now. I wish I lived in communist China where I would only have one option.

Okay, I Think I'm Ready Now

Last night I got the first Twilight book back from my aunt and embarrassingly stayed up until two in the morning reading it again. Don’t judge me. It wanted me to. And then I lay in bed for lord knows how long thinking about these ridiculous books, these insane characters, and I decided that I liked them. At the same time I decided that what compels me (granted, somewhat reluctantly) to stay up half the night reading it is their extreme power to suck me in. I am compelled by Twilight because of the escapist factors it offers to me. Here I am 22, monumentally single, broke as hell, considering grad school. Why be myself when I could exist in the greatest, most intense, passionate love story EV-AR? I mean, I know that in reality I would never ever for a moment consider being in a relationship like Edward and Bella’s—the misogyny and abusive aspects totally gross me out. But when I’m reading these books I am 17 again and worried about what’s happening Friday night. I’m hanging out with my friends watching the OC, and if I had read these books when I was 17, I don’t know if I ever would have come out of them. I just may have existed in Forks forever, walking around like a zombie looking for Edward around every corner. I think being 17, maybe a teenager, really, is the cruelest joke of all. You’re continually teetering (God, this sounds trite) between wanting to act on a gazillion different feelings and the actual gory agony of growing up. And Twilight finds that balance so perfectly. Seriously, great job, Stephanie Meyer.

I mean, I remember being 17 and half of me wanted to strike out on my own away from my family, and the other half wanted desperately to be taken care of for the rest of my life. Bella, at 17 gets all of that. She unlocks a secret world of vampires that only she is privileged to, and in that world she is practically worshiped as the prodigal daughter, come to lift their brooding son out of his darkness and into the fluffy clouds of first and true love. So she finds this person who she gets to stay with forever, masquerading as an adult, plus she’s completely taken of, never needing to make another real decision again. Okay, so there are some meddlesome vamps to deal with, but really? WTFC? Lord knows it’s not the gripping action scenes that make this series successful.

Twilight plays on every single fear and desire I had when I was 17, and does Stephanie Meyer do it well. She is, I believe, an agent of the patriarchy, but oh… she has created the perfect storm of stories—they will eat you alive and you’ll enjoy it until they spit you back out in your bed at your parent’s house and it’s 2:30 in the morning and you have to get up for work in four and a half hours.

Disbelief Buttresses

I have fo' real been behind in my reading this month. It is already the 10th and I have only finished one book (Lirael) so far in November, and I started that book at the end of October. I'm a bit disappointed in myself. I did very much enjoy it, though. I love series. I love a long story that is in depth. I need a lot of information to buttress my suspension of disbelief. The more details an author can give me, the more willing I am to believe in a world that an author has created, and Garth Nix does a good job of this. I have just started on the third book in the series. I hope that with my day off tomorrow I can make a serious dent in Abhorsen. A serious dent... like the dent Edward put in that van that was about to hit Bella... 11 days until Twilight!
I blame my lack of reading on the first two seasons of Weeds that my aunt loaned to me. I already watched them both and have started on the third. It's an interesting show. Bizarre. And only getting bizarrer, but I really like it. Unique characters, totally odd situations-- love it.

This American Life Forsakes Me Again

The main problem with working in a library is that I can write down books I want to read much much faster than I can read them. It is mostly a problem, and it is illustrated, too, as I sit on my bed this afternoon listening to This American Life. Ohh... that reminds me-- we just got the first season of This American Life in at the library. I have to request that. Anyway, I'm cutting out recepies that I want to try from my Paris Gourmet magazine, laughing uproarously at David Sedaris when I realize that I have never read a David Sedaris book!
And just like that, I have five new books on my reading list. I know that others out there have read David Sedaris, and perhaps could help me to narrow my list down, or at least decide what to read first.

Otherwise, most of the reading I got done today was chapter 10 in my math book, which was terrible. You may ask me, "Hannah, do you care at all about/have any interest in modular arithmetic?" and my answer would be no. In fact, on a scale of one to I believe that modular arithmetic is pointless, I would have to say that modular arithmetic is pointless.

I did read Lirael for a while today. Currently the story is being told from the prince's POV, and he's a whiny little bitch. I wish I would get back to Lirael's story, which is awesome because she's a kick-ass, strong, independent girl. Like Buffy.