Hey guys.
I totally reached into my bag and accidentally impaled my finger into a metal bristle on my hairbrush. And it went really deep, too.
Yea. It hurt.
Anyway.
Been doing a lot of reading and not a lot of writing...read Wuthering Heights, read Emma, read Mansfield Park, saw and then read I Am Number Four, read Across the Universe, read Accomplice, read Lord of the Flies, and read a bunch of other books. And plus also, saw Beastly. And some other films.
Let me elaborate a bit.
1. Emily Brontë Wuthering Heights was incredible, of course- the writing is just indescribable. But I will whine a bit and say it was so sad and frustrating and none of the characters were likable! The whole time I just wanted to reach out and shake the characters and say, "Come on! You were so close to being likable! Why did you have to do that? Why??" And then you feel guilty for liking the characters, the way you feel guilty for loving the Joker more than Batman. And the whole thing is just an emotional roller coaster. But it's a brilliantly written emotional roller coaster. And it's totally worth reading.
2. Jane Austen #1 I adore Jane Austen. I saw this movie before I read the book, so the whole time I was reading I kind of had to deal with that 'gah I know what's going to happen next and it's so exciting but when when when' feeling. But it was brilliant anyway- I love the humor and the story and just everything.
3. Jane Austen #2 I loved this book and looking at people who are stuck-up, ignorant, selfish, and cruel from the perspective of someone who is incredibly kind and yet completely wise and insightful. Fanny Price is so different from Austen's other main characters- although she does remind me a bit of Jane Bennett in Pride and Prejudice- and she's so sweet it's impossible not to fall in love with her.
4. "Pittacus Lore" I put quotes around the author of I Am Number Four's name because his author's description makes me think that this is probably not his real name.
“ Pittacus Lore is Lorien’s ruling Elder.
He has been on Earth for the last twelve
years, preparing for the war that will
decide Earth’s fate. His whereabouts
are unknown.
”
...So, I'm just gonna make a critique ignoring that.
I saw the movie first. It was not exactly a quality film, but I enjoyed it, anyway. And I really liked the story (particularly the concept of only falling in love once, other than all the science fiction aspects- being the hopeless romantic that I am) so I bought the book.
It was not exactly the most wonderfully written book in the world- I've seen far worse, but I've also seen much better. (Obviously. Brontë and Austen. Come on. That part is not "Lore"'s fault.) Anyway, it wasn't awful, but it wasn't particularly well-written- but the story was addicting and it was page-turner just the same. And "Lore"'s writing became progressively better throughout the book- or maybe I just fell farther into the story- anyway, by the end of the book it was a much better book than at the beginning, and I'm excited for the follow-up.
Also, Alex Pettyfer is extremely attractive. So that's a bonus. (I totally bought the book with the movie cover.)
5. Beth Revis First, let me just clear up- in case you don't know- that this book has absolutely no relation to the film whatsoever, other than both being partially inspired by the brilliant Beatles' song they're titled after. Across the Universe is another science fiction- geez, I've been feeling like such a geek lately- that takes place on a spaceship in the future being sent on a trip across the universe of exploration. Similarly to I Am Number Four, the writing started off a little rocky and got progressively better throughout the book. Revis's style is wonderful and her character's voices are wonderful but she's a new writer and she has a little trouble with pacing and such. Everything happened really fast, and the male main character made discoveries throughout the story that...well, let's just say it didn't really make sense that he wouldn't have ever discovered them before, rather than conveniently when everything else is going on. But, as I said, her writing got progressively better throughout, and I'm confident that the follow-up will be wonderful.
6. Eireann Corrigan First of all, when I bought this book, I was totally ignorant to the fact that the character Finn was female.
And this is where we cue the gasps when I say: and so it happened that I read a YA book that was not a romance.
Anyway, I was bit disappointed by that, but rather than discarding the book from my line of sight because of its utter lack of love, I read the book anyway. It was...creepy. So creepy. So bizarre and creepy. But original. Certainly original. I'm pretty sure no one's written this particular story before.
It's about these two girls that stage a kidnapping in order to get into good colleges.
I know. Sounds weird. And it was weird, too, but also, in the freakiest way, completely believable- it really scared me how realistic the whole thing was.
I hope this book doesn't inspire anyone.
It was really bizarre but it was extremely compelling and it was well-written and plus also creepy. Did I mention that it was creepy?
I enjoyed it. In a oh-geez-I-hope-this-never-actually-goes-down kind of way.
7. William Golding So, duh, this book is a masterpiece of metaphor and that twisted perspective on human nature that seems to make books automatic classics- The Giver, To Kill a Mockingbird, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, to an extent anything by Austen, etc, etc. Although Lord of the Flies portrays this opinion on human nature in a darker shade than the aforementioned novels. It was unbelievable to see the boys- children, the picture of innocence- plunging into the darkness and chaos that the adult world had already given into. The way the thrill of killing a living thing took over the boys like a disease, so that they didn't even really realize what they were doing, simply losing their heads in the chaos and desire to destroy, was disturbing and imprinting on the mind. This book was exquisite, but I wouldn't exactly recommend reading it to the children it centers around.
8. Alex Flinn (sort of) This movie definitely had its weaker moments- occasionally an awful line or a horrible show of acting- but for the most part it was enjoyable, and I adored the way Pettyfer's portrayal of the character Kyle Kingson (horrible last name, just a note,) completely reminded me of the original Beast, in the 1996 Disney film. The way he acted shy and embarrassed around "Belle" and was easily frustrated, especially when she refused his gifts to her, tugged on my heartstrings like nothing else. It was like watching my childhood play out on the screen- it was just incredible because it was this character I knew and loved coming to life in a way that more suits my current tastes than the animated Beast would if I were to watch him again now. I'm not really a huge Vanessa Hudgens fan but I also don't have anything against her- I try to make it a point to hold no grudges on people I don't know, though I occasionally slip up (I'm sorry, but- I've never even seen Jersey Shore and I can't stand those people.) So I sort of didn't expect all that much from her, but I was really impressed- her acting wasn't breathtaking or anything, but she made her character very likable and relatable, and I enjoyed watching her with Pettyfer- they had great chemistry. I really liked the whole concept of the movie, so I looked up the book, and read the first chapter, but...I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude, but it just...it was awful. It started out with an online chat, which, unless extremely well done- in a way that's realistic (i.e., no one says "gr8") but not obnoxious and irritating- is pretty much a red flag for books. But I carried on, read the whole chat, trying not to cringe at the main character completely unrealistically believing that these random people in a web chat also happened to be mythical creatures, rather than just wacky and bored nerds with a lot of time on their hands. I got through the whole darn chat, though, and read the rest of the chapter, and, um. It didn't get better. I won't go into details, but I will say that, seriously- if you're a writer, please do us all a favor and don't say your title in your book. This rule has exceptions, of course, but Beastly is not one of them. And plus also, "Beastly. The word was from another time and place. It made me think of fairy tales, and I felt this weird tingling, like the hairs on my arms had caught fire from her eyes." FALSE. The word beastly itself may not be used all that often, but the extremely close derivative 'beast' is used every three seconds, especially in the high school community where this character resides- and even if the word was something extremely bizarre and not a derivative of a way-overused slang adjective, people still simply do not get a tingling like their arm hairs are on fire from someone calling them a weird word. Actually, I'm pretty sure people don't ever feel a tingling like their arms hairs are on fire.
Ok. Now I feel sort of mean. Sorry, Flinn. I do like the concept! Really! And my friend loved your book, so, you know, maybe I'm just crazy.
What do I know, anyhow?
And in conclusion, I now have to start up writing again, plus also editing Broken Glass, Broken Hearts, and I have to wait.
Oh, how much waiting I have to do.
Things I'm Waiting For
- Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
- The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
- More news to come out about the Shiver movie
- More news to come out about the Thirteen Reasons Why movie
- All Things Bright and Beautiful, the new Owl City album
- The All Things Bright and Beautiful summer tour
- The follow-up of Across the Universe by Beth Revis
- The follow-up of I Am Number Four by "Pittacus Lore"
- I Am Number Four to come out on DVD
- Beastly to come out on DVD
- Breaking Dawn part 1 to come out in theaters (SO FAR AWAY. GAHH.)
- Restless to come out in theaters
- Jane Eyre to come out in theaters (this one's easier to stand because I'm still reading the book)
- SPRING BREAK.
Elevator Music For the Waiting Person With Impatient Tendencies
- Dance Dance Dance by Lykke Li
- Complaint Department by Lykke Li
- Creep by Radiohead (Scala & Kolacny Brothers cover)
- Better by Regina Spektor
- Burning by The Whitest Boy Alive
- Crystallized by The Xx
- The ENTIRE amazing Speak Now album by Taylor Swift- especially
- Enchanted by Taylor Swift
- Alaska by Sky Sailing
- 100 Years by Five For Fighting
- Hometown Glory by Adele
- Set Fire To the Rain by Adele
- Set Fire To the Third Bar by Snow Patrol
- Vanity by Hanover Swain
- Don't You Want Me by Glee Cast
p.s. In case you're wondering, my repetiton of the phrase "and plus also" is not simply a bad grammar tendency that my elementary school teachers neglected to correct. It's a shortened version of the quote "...and plus also, stewed broccoli" from the book series Junie B. Jones by Barbara Park. I used to LOVE those books and at some point in middle school I was babysitting my friend's little sibling, and I was reading a Junie B. Jones because it was there and I don't think I had much else to do at the moment (baby asleep, or something along those lines) and I saw that line, and found it exceedingly hilarious, and started saying it everywhere- at first I would just say the whole thing, and have to explain the whole backstory and the context of the quote in the book, and then gradually over time it's become shortened, and a regular in my dialogue, I guess. So. Yea.
And plus also, stewed broccoli.
© 2011
