Book Recommendations

I don't usually do book reviews, here on the blog or elsewhere. The reason for this is mostly that my opinion of a book tends to seem so incredibly subjective and personal that it wouldn't be useful to anyone outside my head. For example, I read John Green's new book The Fault in Our Stars a few days ago and if I tried to talk about it, I would start jabbering about how much I was sobbing and how fragile I still felt days later and how the book broke my heart. And it would sound like I didn't even enjoy it very much. Which would possibly be the most inaccurate impression of a book ever put into a review.

However, while I don't enjoy writing reviews very much, I do love recommending books that I loved. And I read and loved a lot of great YA books in 2011. So here's a few of them that were my favorites with a tidbit of completely subjective information about them for anyone who happens to be looking for something to read. Please note that these are not necessarily books that were published in 2011. I just happened to read them last year.  

"Revolution" by Jennifer Donnelly
Andi, heartbroken by the death of her younger brother, is forced to accompany her father to Paris where she finds the journal of a girl who lived during the French Revolution. As Andi becomes obsessed with reading the two-hundred-year-old diary, the two girls' stories are told in turns. I was impressed by how Donnelly handled the two voices, making them distinct and connected at the same time. The book was achingly beautiful and impossible to put down. One of my absolute favorite books of the year.  

"Deeper Than Blue" by Jill Hucklesby
Thirteen-year-old swimmer Amy loses her best friend and her leg in an accident. The story deals with the aftermath of that accident: pain and loss and picking up the pieces. To be honest, I didn't expect anything exceptional from the book. But what I found was beautifully poetic language mixed with three-dimensional characters with lively and sometimes funny voices. A very satisfying read for me.  

"Sweethearts" by Sara Zarr
When Jenna's only childhood friend Cameron, who disappeared years ago, returns, she is confronted with her past and her carefully recreated self-image begins to crumble. Sara Zarr has a way of portraying emotion that invariably makes me cry at some point. Her books stay with me for a long time after I finished reading. "Sweethearts" was no exception.  

"21 Proms" edited by David Levithan and "Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd" edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci
Sometimes I like to read short stories. It's a good way of reading when you have attention-span issues like I did at times in 2011. And it's a great way of discovering authors you hadn't heard of. Usually, in a collection of short stories, there are some good ones and some that I don't like very much. But in the two books above, I either liked or loved almost every single story.

And just in case you are a Harry Potter fan, I finally read Melissa Anelli's "Harry, A History" and it made me happy in a very geeky way. A thoroughly enjoyable read for anyone who has some connection to the HP fandom and a book that includes some interesting insights in the publishing world surrounding the Harry Potter phenomenon.

I also read a lot of other great YA novels in 2011, including books by John Green, E. Lockhart, Gayle Forman, Maureen Johnson, Stephanie Perkins, and Sarah Dessen, but most of those are very well known. And if I told you what I thought of them all, you wouldn't believe me anymore if I said I didn't do book reviews. ;-)

What were your favorite books of the year?

Week Four

Hi guys!

My posts are getting later each week... I blame NaNo and the moving chaos! ;)

This week I have good news and bad news.

The good news is, I reached 50k in the weekend and finished my novel at 52k on Sunday! Yay! Today I should be able to let the illiterate NaNo robots count my words and get my winner's certificate..

The bad news, though, is that I wasn't happy at all with how my book ended. I tried to come up with an interesting climax for days, but nothing worked. As it turns out, I just didn't plan well enough and all my lovely character conflicts were too easily resolved with a few anti-climactic conversations. It all felt pretty boring.

But I reminded myself to think of this book as an exploratory draft. It showed me what doesn't work, and when I am ready to go back to it, I'll know what I have to change in the rewrites. I foresee a LOT of rewrites for this one, though. Still, all a first draft needs to do is exist, and that it does. ;)

Since I was feeling a little deflated and there were still ten days of November left, I started writing something else. It's not going to be a novel, though... Just a little story to entertain myself and stay in the flow of writing. It's about twin brothers who were separated when they were kids and only find each other again when they are eighteen. More awkwardness! (I love awkward character moments more than anything.)

It's funny how every NaNo (and every book, really) there is a new set of joys and troubles that I didn't expect... Certainly keeps things interesting. ;)

I hope all your books have great climaxes, and I wish all of you who are still racing toward the finish line the very best of luck!


Angela H.
Anna M.
Brooke Busse
Charity Bradford
Elizabeth Davis
Elizabeth Poole
Fida Islaih
Huntress
Jen McConnel
Mia Hayson
Miranda Hardy
Nyxie Moon
Tessa C
Zoe

Week Three

Hey everyone! I realize I am really late on the blog chain this week... There were so many other things to do this week that I had to reserve what little time I had left for my writing. The happy result of that is, though, that I am now 45k into my novel! 50k is near, but my guess is that the story will perhaps need another 10k after that.

I had a moment this last week when I suddenly realized I hadn't actually figured out the climax of the story yet. (It was a moment of panic.)

But with the help of my dear friend Liz I figured at least part of it out, and now I am happily writing again. Still not quite sure how everything will end, but at least I am moving in some direction.

In anticipation of my usual post-50k slump and lack of motiviation, I have decided that once I hit 50,000 words, I will go back to my One-Word-A-Day Rule . Hopefully that way I will be able to complete the first draft within the month, before I disappear in moving chaos entirely in December. ;)

I hope all your drafts are going well!

Angela H.
Anna M.
Brooke Busse
Charity Bradford
Elizabeth Davis
Elizabeth Poole
Fida Islaih
Huntress
Jen McConnel
Mia Hayson
Miranda Hardy
Nyxie Moon
Tessa C
Zoe

Week Two

Hi everyone! I hope your novels are going well!

Thanks to everyone who left a comment on my last post and a big sorry that I haven't been reciprocating! My first week of NaNo was a bit crazy, with lots of stuff to do and a family visit over the weekend. Also, I am a bad, bad blogger. And a worse social networker.

In terms of word count, week one was a success, though. I managed to get a good head start and am currently standing at 23,051 words. The novel is behaving, too. I had a brief moment last week when I wasn't sure where I was going with the plot, but I figured it out.

Because some people asked, my novel is a YA fantasy about a girl who, together with her best friend, teases and bullies a boy at their school. Then her mom remarries and suddenly she and the boy are stepsiblings. Awkwardness galore! There's magic, too. And pranks.

Week two in NaNoWriMo is known as the most difficult week. I've personally never had this problem. My slump comes when I hit 50k early but am not done with the book and have no set goal to work toward anymore. Anyway, this week two could be difficult because I am pretty sure I am getting a cold right now. Throat ache, wooziness and all.

So, keep writing everyone and don't get sick!

Because it's not helpful. But you knew that.


Angela H.
Anna M.
Brooke Busse
Charity Bradford
Elizabeth Davis
Elizabeth Poole
Fida Islaih
Huntress
Mia Hayson
Miranda Hardy
Nyxie Moon
Tessa C
Zoe

Ready, set, write!

Happy First of November everyone!

I hadn't planned on doing it, but in the end I did stay up until midnight last night to start writing. There's something special about waiting for the minutes to pass until you're allowed to start writing... I just didn't want to miss out on it! But I was tired, so I only wrote 413 words before giving up and going to bed.

I continued this morning and am now proud to say I have written 3513 words. It was my goal to make a good head start today because I will be busy in the weekend and am not sure how much time I will have for writing then.

My novel is doing well. I think I have found my FMC's voice, and I had a lot of fun with a rather mean prank that takes place in my second scene. Now I'm working on scene no. 3 and it's time to introduce the love interest! :-)

I hope everyone else is having a good first day of NaNoWriMo too!

Check out everyone else's posts in the blog chain here:

Angela H.

Brooke Busse http://brookerbusse.blogspot.com

Charity Bradford http://charitywrites.blogspot.com

Elizabeth Davis http://www.lizwritesbooks.com/

Elizabeth Poole http://writerelizabethpoole.blogspot.com/

Fida Islaih http://fida-islaih.blogspot.com

Huntress http://spiritcalled.blogspot.com/

Lena Hoppe http://lenalothanas.blogspot.com/

Mia Hayson http://literaryjamandtoast.blogspot.com/

Miranda Hardy http://www.mirandahardy.blogspot.com/

Nyxie Moon http://creativedawdle.blogspot.com

Tessa C http://tessasblurb.blogspot.com

NaNoWriMo Is Near!

Yes, it's that time of year again.

It's getting cold and foggy outside, the leaves are turning yellow, and I am desperately trying to figure out which of two-and-a-half story ideas to turn into a novel this November.

This year's National Novel Writing Month will be particularly challenging for me, since I am going to move to a new apartment in December. I maybe have to do some of my noveling in between half-packed boxes. But then again, last year's NaNo was not exactly easy for me either, and I did not have as many distractions then. So I will just try to relax and have as much fun as possible!

This year I will take part in a NaNoWriMo blog chain that the lovely Elizabeth Poole and Charity Bradford came up with!

The idea is that every participant posts a progress report on their NaNo novels (or other projects) every Tuesday in November. You can read more about it here! So, you go and check out some of the many links I managed to sneak into this post, and I shall return to freak- um, I mean, figuring out my plot.

Recharging

I am finally done with the complete rewrite I started in May. Since I kept little more than two of the characters and the basic premise of the first version, this rewrite was very much like a first draft. I kept to my At-Least-One-Word-A-Day Rule and wrote for 89 days straight, reaching a final word count of just under 75,000 words.

(Re)Writing this book was fun and a great experience, and I do believe I managed to improve the story, not break it. Phew! But now it's time to take a break.

I don't just need this break to catch up on all the things I neglected while I was writing (how *did* the apartment get so messy anyway?). I need a break to recharge.

Recharging every now and then is very important. Creativity isn't some endless supply of ideas from a mysterious source. You can't have output without input. You need to experience life so that you can turn those experiences into ideas for your stories.

If you just keep creating without ever taking any time off, you'll burn out eventually. How quickly this happens is different with each writer. I am beginning to learn that I will start to feel mentally and creatively drained if I try to write or edit two books in a row without taking any time off in between.

I do the following things to recharge:

* Rest. Also known as goofing off. Looks very lazy and pointless to the outside world, but (and I'm not kidding) it is very important. Being creative is hard work for your brain, and you need to give it some time off sometimes.

* Get fresh impulses. Read all those books on your pile. Read what you feel like, too, not just what you think you should read. Read outside your genre. Watch TV, too. Listen to music. Go out into the world and see stuff, like exhibitions, plays, a forest, people, dogs, and cows.

* Do creative things other than writing. Writing is something that happens mostly in my head (I don't count the typing here), so I like to do stuff with my hands to balance things out. I am trying to learn how to draw, and every now and then I'll try something new in arts and crafts. If you have other hobbies, now is the time to catch up on them.

* Note down ideas as they come to you. BUT don't actively try to develop them into books. Because, you know, that wouldn't be taking time off.

And that's it! Hopefully, by the time November comes around I'll have recharged sufficiently and found a shiny new idea so I can start my next first draft during NaNoWriMo. And, you know, edit the book I just finished.