Class of 2012 Blogfest: Popularity Contest

And we're back for day two of the Class of 2012 Blogfest!

Thanks to Katy Upperman, Alison Miller, Jessica Love, and Tracey Neithercott for hosting!  Check out their blogs for more info or to join up!

Class Clown: 

 
Iko from Cinder by Marissa Meyer.  This goofy little android totally stole the show at every turn.  Some would say she has a busted personality chip; I say I want one just like her.








Most Likely to Become a Rock Star:

I've put together something of a supergroup from the historical novels I read this year.  After all, being a rockstar is all about attitude, and these four have it in spades.  Ismae from Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers is rocking out on bass while also keeping an eye on things because she doubles as the security detail.  "Verity" (that's her stage name) from Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein is the fearless, glamorous lead guitarist. Catherine Howard from Gilt by Katherine Longshore is the shining lead singer every guy has his eye one.  And Cecily from The Wicked and the Just by J. Anderson Coats is the snarling drummer.


Mostly Likely to Start a Riot :
   

America Singer from The Selection by Kiera Cass.  She's already found herself at the center of some political unrest, and also, please: it's like, the Royal Wedding plus a reality show that people actually care about plus weird caste issues?  I don't think she's seen the last of people absolutely freaking out.








Biggest Flirt  :
 

Catherine Howard from Gilt by Katherine Longshore.  Sadly, and this is not so much a spoiler as a matter of historical record, this did not work out super-well for her.  Poor Catherine.








Fashion King and/or Queen:

 Friday Woodcutter from Enchanted by Alethea Kontis.  This was one of my favorite reads this year: it focuses on the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter who falls in love with a frog who (spoiler alert) is actually a prince.  But her six sisters each have something remarkable about them, and Friday is gifted with a needle, making brilliant patchwork skirts out of the scraps left over from her charitable sewing projects.  And you should see the gowns she whips up for the ball!





Girl You’d Most Want For Your BFF:

"Verity" from Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein.  Talk about a loyal, brave, all-around perfect bestie.  You can't do better than her.  But I'm afraid I've already said too much.  Just read it, please?  All I want for Christmas is for everyone to read this book.








Boy You Wish You’d Dated in High School:   

 Giddon from Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore.  Ok, so he's an adult now, and I guess I didn't like him as much before this book, but if you could take the Giddon from Bitterblue and just age him down into a teenager, he'd have totally been my type.  (Although of course, he would have a hopeless crush on one of my best friends.  Because that was invariably my type in high school.  Sigh.) 






Most Likely to Become President:    

Gansey from The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater.  I mean...do I need to explain?  (I will, however, take this space to ask if anyone else can ONLY picture a young Matt Czuchry when they think of Gansey.  Fellow Gilmore Girls fans?  Anyone?)








Quirkiest Character:   

 Sunday from Enchanted by Alethea Kontis.  The afore-mentioned seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, Sunday is quite the odd duck.  She's not so keen on her circumstances and seeks solitude for writing whenever she can.  Then of course there's the whole business of falling in love with that frog...anyway, Sunday's story is as far from ordinary as it gets.








Villain You Love to Hate:   

Mrs. Cavendish from The Cavendish Home For Boys and Girls by Claire Legrand.  Technically MG, but creepy enough for YA readers, I think.  The truly horrible Mrs. Cavendish is a villain for the ages. She makes this one of the most squirm-inducing books I can think of.   Ewwwwww.  (Read it!)








Favorite Parental Figure: 

Colby's Dad from Starting From Here by Lisa Jenn Bigelow.  This was a quiet little book, and I liked it all, but Colby's relationship with her long-haul trucking dad after her mom's death leaves the two of them alone together really stood out to me.  Her struggles with when and how to come out to him and her wish to have him around more often felt very real, and so did his love for her.






Coolest Nerd:    

 Death from Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore.  This ill-tempered librarian just wants to be alone with his books!  Definitely a standout supporting character. 

Class of 2012 Blogfest: Head of the Class

Ladies and gentlemen, it's that time of year: time to plug in the tree, curl up with the nog of your choice ("soy nog" wins for funniest name, coconut nog wins for tasting good and being dairy free at the same time, and eggnog is what I will be drinking, with the help of a Lactaid pill, on Christmas Eve, because tradition is stronger than lactose intolerance), and celebrate the best books of the year!

 The blogfest is hosted by Katy, Jessica, Tracey, and Alison--stop by their blogs to see the list of participants!  If you participate for all four days, you can win a 2012 book of your choice from the Book Depository!

I've read 61 2012 releases--you can see the list here.  Today's categories celebrate the very best in a number of genres: 

Favorite Dystopian
Insurgent  by  Veronica Roth

As good as Divergent was, this one managed to top it for me, as well as a field full of tough competition.  Getting to know more about the other factions was fascinating, and I found a new favorite supporting character in Johanna Reyes.

Favorite Science Fiction      

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

 I still remember the feeling I had when I finished this one: What. Just. Happened.  I had expected to be into it--Cinderella with cyborgs?  Yes please!--but it had that magical thing that makes me love a book and not really be able to explain why.  I mean, the plot, the characters, the writing, all obviously great--but this one is more than the sum of its parts.



Favorite Fantasy
Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

This one overcame the fact that I am not so much a fan of the impish, scruffy, bad-boy romantic lead, because the world of this book is so much bigger than one romance, and there is so much more to Bitterblue than who she falls for.  A wonderful cast of characters, from poor, sweet Giddon to cranky librarian Death, drew me in and made me love this one nearly as much as I loved Fire

Favorite Contemporary    

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

 This is the book that made me want to write contemporary; it's also the book that makes me wonder if I'll ever really be able to.  The combination of family issues, best friends, boyfriends, and Big Problems is so perfect, every piece interwoven to form the world of Samantha Reed.  The romance is great, but it almost takes a backseat to how well done the friendships and family relationships are. 



Favorite Action/Adventure
Grave Mercy by Robin LeFevers

Yeah, I could have put this book in another genre, but really, assassin nuns totally fit the "adventure" category.  This was so different from anything else I read and grabbed my attention in the best way.  A book this thick that feels like a quick read is pretty impressive--I must have been distracted by dreamboat Gavriel Duval.  I mean, there's a lot of other awesome going on, too--historical intrigue, poisons, old religions working in mysterious ways--but really, DUVAL, you guys.

Favorite Historical Fiction    

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

 Just read it.  Get through the first half--I mean, I liked it, but I know a lot of people found it slow.  (You'd go slowly too, if you were in a Gestapo prison and you only stayed alive for as long as it took you to tell your story.)  But once it starts paying off, prepare to have your mind blown more than once.  Best 2012 release I've read, hands down.
  


Favorite Comedy
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

       
 Ok, this seems like a pretty twisted choice for comedy.  But I couldn't not highlight it, and truly?  It was one of the funniest books released in 2012 that I read this year.  (Also, of course, one of the saddest.)  It's not a comedy, but it certainly uses comedy to great effect.  So, this one goes to Hazel Grace, for being funny in the face of a whole lot of suck.  (Also the winner of "favorite tragedy", a category I just made up so you know I am not a sociopath.

Favorite Mystery   

 Adaptation by Malinda Lo

I wasn't totally sure where to slot this one in--it's science-fiction, it's action-adventure, it's romance--but the bigger story arc is a great big mystery.  Satisfyingly, we get a lot of answers, but there's also plenty left open for the next book.  This is a great creepy read that will keep you guessing.



Favorite Romance 
Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard

Bria and Rowan's slow, carefully-built romance was definitely a reading highlight for me this year.  The little things that brought them closer and closer together never came too fast and never rang false.  I loved watching them get to know each other in this sweet, beautiful book.

Favorite Paranormal     

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

 Does this count as paranormal?  I think so--magic trees and witches and ley lines and ghosts making up a large part of the story.  Really, this was just one of my favorite reads, period, and I had to find a spot for it.  Blue and the Raven Boys are all so unique and memorable that I was in from the beginning; Maggie Stiefvater's gorgeous language and the mindblowing final line were just the icing on the cake.  Can't wait for more!

Favorite Family Drama    

Send Me A Sign by Tiffany Schmidt

This book grabbed me from the beginning, and I was invested all the way through in Mia's friends and romantic interests.  However, Mia's family?  Oof.  Mia's mom is one of the driving forces in this story, convincing Mia not to tell her friends she's sick.  Mia's struggles with that decision and with her mother were at the heart of this story, and I found them tremendously compelling.







Favorite Genre Bender   
 Blink Once by Cylin Busby

I don't even know what to call this book.  It seems like a contemporary story dealing with a hospitalized teenager as he recovers from devastating injuries.  But then we learn that all is not as it seems.  Whatever it is, this one blew me away.

Sunday Sunshine: Trying To Be Of Good Cheer Edition

On Friday I got up, cleaned the house a little, then went shopping with my mother-in-law.  I got to pick out some lovely new boots so that I can keep up my recent habit of walking a mile or two each morning even when the snow comes.  I got some toasty woolen socks, too, and then we went out to lunch.

When I got home, I passed a relaxing few hours reading, listening to Christmas songs, and finally redesigning my blog into a color scheme that I like.  I discovered that a piece of mail from my school was pay for unused sick days, which meant that I was going to be able to go to the SCBWI Winter Conference after all.  In short, I was having a really delightful day.  And I went to blog about it, but first, I checked some of the other blogs I follow.

And of course, several of them mentioned the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

That's why, despite a weekend that was lovely in every other respect, in which I've had many, many things make me happy, I'm feeling pretty subdued this morning.  But I'm trying to balance the sadness I feel for Newtown with my own reasons for happiness, large and small.  I made the last of my Christmas travel plans today, and picked up the last of my gifts yesterday.  Today and the rest of the week I'll be baking the Christmas cookies I've always loved.  I'll be enjoying the holiday season, but I have a hunch the children and teachers of Sandy Hook won't be far from my mind during any of it.  I'm planning a catch-up post, to properly celebrate the things that have made me feel especially lucky and joyful this week, but I'm not ready to do that quite yet.

As always, though, here's What I Read This Week: 

 A Breath of Eyre by Eve Marie Mont
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book is kind of tricky to review. For long stretches, it's just a fairly compelling contemporary novel. And those stretches, if they had made up the whole book, might have been a four-star read for me (they'd need a little of the fleshing out provided by the other sections, but I think it could be done.) I liked the writing, I liked the characters, there were scenes that made me smile and character revelations I cared about.

But the whole thing of the book is the Jane Eyre business. I'm a fan of that novel; it's a big part of why I picked this one up. However, there are big chunks of this book that read like the Sparknotes for that one. (Spoilers ahead, potentially?) The idea of Emma getting sucked back into the world of Jane Eyre, and into Jane's life, was interesting. And I liked the parallels, and all of that. But in order to make that work, Jane Eyre had to be re-told for readers unfamiliar with the plot. At one point, Emma herself fades away, and it's just straight up Jane Eyre for...a while. During that part...I kind of just felt like, ok, I should just go re-read the original.

By the end, watching Emma-as-Jane make some independent decisions worked for me, for sure. And the way the novel resonated in Emma's life worked for me. So I'd still recommend this one to fans of contemporary and classic romance--with the caveat that, if you've read Jane Eyre, you may be ok skimming most of part 2. It does pick back up, though, and overall I enjoyed it.

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Road Trip Wednesday: How Many Books?

Phew!  I'm finally back to Road Trip Wednesday!  Getting back to a normal blog schedule now after NaNo/the post-NaNo recovery period.
This week, YA Highway asks: About how many books do you read in a year? Do you want to read more? Or, less?

Ok, tricky question.  This year, I set a totally crazy-pants goal for myself of 150 books.  If I had been commuting by train for all twelve months of 2012, I might have pulled it off, or at least gotten very close--I pretty much always read three books a week when I dedicated my commute to it.  But things change, and in June when school ended, so did my commute--for good.  And somehow, despite the fact that I no longer spend 8-9 hours a day at work, and despite the fact that my nights and weekends are no longer full of lesson planning and grading, that has translated into less reading time for me.  I'm at 114 books so far this year, and now my "stretch" goal is 125.  I definitely think I can make it to 120. 


But next year?  I actually want to read fewer books.  I know that sounds weird, given the constantly overflowing state of my TBR shelf.  But I think if I set a lower goal, I will give myself freedom to read different kinds of things.  I've only read one adult novel lately, and I was impatient the whole time (even though I liked it a lot) because it took longer to read than I was used to.  And there are a few long books sitting on my shelf that are probably going to have to wait until 2013 for me to pick them up, just because I'm trying to hit a number.  (That's just kicking in now, though, because we're so close; I certainly read other long books this year.)   Then there are books I want to re-read before reading their sequels or ones I just think deserve another pass through (I'm selfishly hoping that a few of them--I won't name names, I don't want to seem biased--make the Cybils shortlist, so I can justify re-reads soon!) 

So next year, I'll be making some changes around the blog.  I'll still do Sunday Sunshine--I just won't post reviews of every single thing I read.  I'm going to try to read a craft book each month (although I may frontload that, since I'm planning to start revisions in February or March.)  I'll be reading more adult and more non-fiction, although certainly my focus will still be YA.  I've enjoyed this year's experiment, and it really jumpstarted my reading habits and convinced me that I could carve out time for reading.  But I'm looking forward to making a few small shifts in 2013.

Any suggestions for non-YA I just HAVE to read?  Already on the list: Girl in Translation, Cutting For Stone, Gone Girl, The Night Circus.  

What about craft books? Already on that list: Bird By Bird, On Writing.

Sunday Sunshine: There's A Tree In My House Edition

It's true!  There's totally a tree in here, y'all!  It's a sweet, lumpy-enough-to-be-cute Fraser fir.  The cat is still deciding whether to acknowledge it, although she did enjoy the tree skirt before the tree was here:

Anyway, this wound up being a pretty productive week.  I added another 6,000 words to the WiP and finished three books toward Ghenet's 12/12/12 challenge!  They were...very, very different from each other.

What I Read This Week:


Devilish by Maureen Johnson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a totally weird, fun read. Knowing Maureen Johnson's work (and totally loving her sense of humor) meant that there was no way I could resist her book about what happens when Satan (or rather, a mid-level employee of the corporation that makes up Hell) comes to an all-girls Catholic school. I passed it over a few times in favor of shinier, newer books, but every time I went to the bookstore, it was in the back of my mind until I was driving myself crazy wanting to read it. And, to be fair to my brain, it totally lived up to the little voice in my head that kept telling me, "Read this one! It's gonna be awesome!"

I think I've said before that Maureen Johnson vies with Libba Bray for "author who makes me laugh the most". This book has a weird, dark, goofy sense of humor (I mean, obviously) that I completely loved. I wasn't always super-invested in all the characters, but when they were sketchy, they were at least good sketches. (I particularly liked Jane's super-smart academic dad and her "lovely and happy" sister Joan who may be the sweetest, most likable complete moron in the history of literature.) Overall, though, the humor was wacky enough and the plot intriguing enough that I kept turning pages. This is definitely a book I will look back at when I'm doing revisions--Maureen Johnson is a master at embedding humor in a simple turn of phrase, a three-word description, or a horrible situation. For that alone, I'd recommend it to anyone who likes funny. (But, around Halloween? I'd recommend this to pretty much anybody.)


Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I don't know how much I can say about this book that hasn't already been said. Yes, it is the story of a teenage girl and her family trying to survive their brutal deportation from their home in Lithuania under Soviet rule. It is horrifying with small, infrequent moments of grace and happiness. You have read the stories of survivors before. But you have not read this story.

What shocked me was how readable this story was. I read this book in one sitting of about three hours. The story is simply told, and many characters are given descriptors instead of names--the man who winds his watch. The grumpy woman. It feels like a story. Until it doesn't, because in stories, really bad things eventually stop happening to the good people that we care about. But I think the simplicity and readability just make the reactions against what is happening stronger.

This isn't a normal book so this isn't a normal review. This is the kind of book that needs to be read by as many people as possible. This is a book with a mission, but at the same time it's a beautifully told story. If you haven't picked it up yet, please just make an evening in your life where you can read it without distraction. It's definitely worth the time.


Adaptation by Malinda Lo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book...I don't totally know how to describe it. It's in strong contention for weirdest book I've read this year, in a good way. When Reese and David find themselves stranded hours from home on a day when the birds of North America have freaked out and caused huge numbers of plane crashes, they try to make their way home through the Nevada desert by car. But a bird causes them to crash, too, and they wake up nearly a month later in a strange, mysterious hospital. Once they get home, they start to realize that things have changed forever.

There are parts of this book--Reese's worries about messing up at Debate Nationals, her romantic woes, her relationships with her parents and family friends--that feel like scenes from a pretty likable contemporary story. Like, I would read a book about Reese and David, flirty stranger Amber and best friend Julian just...having a summer vacation? Negotiating a love triangle? But of course, they have bigger fish to fry. Like maybe the U.S. Government.

One of the big challenges when writing a book with sci-fi/fantasy/paranormal elements is creating a believable, grounded world. This is especially true if we're meant to believe that these elements are a part of the world we actually, currently live in. Malinda Lo definitely succeeds with this. I did occasionally find myself thinking, really? Reese is still worrying about the fact that she screwed up that debate competition when these huge, life-changing, earth-shattering things are going on? But...yeah, she is. I totally would have been, when I was a teenager. So I'll give her that.

I will say this...don't be put off by the science-fiction element. It is a weird, creepy story, but it feels new and fresh. I read a lot of science-fiction as a teenager, since there wasn't enough actual YA around to fill the YA stacks at our library, so random genre fiction would get dubbed YA and stuffed in there. This is something wholly different. In what I've read about it online, a lot has been said about this being like The X-Files and I think it would definitely appeal to fans of that show. But it also does something all its own. I think the closest I've come to feeling like this about a book is The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer just in terms of sheer "what just happened?" I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next in this story.

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Sunday Sunshine: Happy December Edition!

Well, we've made it through November.  I love December--we should start getting some real snow (and in Buffalo, that really means something.)  End-of-year lists start coming out.  And, of course...CHRISTMAS.  I'm a big Christmasser--my mom always goes all-out decorating and baking and picking out the best, most thoughtful, goofiest, most specific gifts.  If you say something to her in passing in June that gives her an idea, the gift will be under the tree in December.  She is the queen of gift-giving.

And this year is the first time we've had enough space to really decorate!  I will post pictures when there is a tree--our very first Christmas tree!  So that's what I'm looking forward to this week.

As I scrambled to get to the 50K mark for NaNo, I slowed down a little bit as a reader.  I only have one book this week.  But, there are a few other things I want to share first:

1) Ghenet Myrthil has issued herself a 12/12/12 challenge: read twelve books in December 2012.  I'm going to challenge myself to do the same.  If you want to see her awesome December TBR, check her out here.

2) For those of you who are in the middle of writing, NaNo or otherwise--you need to see Kristin Cashore's post about how Bitterblue came to be.  You may be familiar with the general story--after she spent three years writing an 800-page draft, her editor suggested that she start revisions by re-writing the story from scratch--but she has given the internet this marvelous gift of pictures.  Pictures of pages entirely scribbled out.  Notes to herself in the margins: "Don't freak out.  You can fix it later."  And the most stunning of all, a picture of the heaps and heaps of paper that made up her many, many drafts before she got to the wonderful finished product.

3) Jaime Morrow and I have been talking about both reading Anne Lamott's Bird By Bird in January, book-club style.  We're hoping we're not the last two writers in the universe to read it, so if you're interested in reading along, let us know in the comments.  I'll post more info closer to January, but I thought I'd test the waters now (and give people time to put the book on their Christmas lists!)

What I Read This Week: 

 Jane by April Lindner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Aaaahhhh I couldn't stop reading this one. I don't totally understand why I found it so engrossing--after all, I've read and loved Jane Eyre so I knew what was going to happen! The adaptation was pretty faithful, to the best of my memory, which meant that occasionally there was a moment of, "Wait, why is this an obstacle?" Jane Eyre, while definitely a strong individual with her own quirks and oddities, was also still a product of her time. Jane Moore's quirks sometimes felt a bit too anachronistic. But I was totally willing to forgive that because this retelling was so compulsively readable. And who can resist the good-girl nanny and the bad-boy rockstar?

I would also note that this seems to fall squarely in the "new adult" category, rather than the "young adult" category. I think that's because a) it's a contemporary book where the heroine at least contemplates marriage--ok for YA fantasy/historical but weird in contemporary--and b) the love interest is definitely a grown-up and no one is really freaked out by that. Jane does experience a lot of "firsts" in this book, but they're framed much more as adult firsts than teenage firsts. It definitely felt different than the YA Contemporary I've been reading, so know that going into it. But it's a really fun read, and quick despite its length. Definitely recommended for fans of Jane Eyre (and if you haven't read that yet, do it, and then compare with this version!)

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NaNo Update: Day 30

Yup!  I did it!  My WiP has broken 50,000 words, all in the month of November.  And it feels awesome.

Of course, 50K isn't a whole YA novel.  I've got a lot more writing, and then a heck of a lot of editing ahead of me.  (I can't wait!)  But for the moment, I'm going to take a minute to do something else.

See, I have no idea whether this book will ever see the light of day.  If I'm realistic, odds are good that it won't.  But it's already indebted to so many people.

So if you'll indulge me for a minute, I'd like to do a mini-acknowledgments section to celebrate winning NaNo.

Thanks to Mr. S for not minding about all the laundry and dishes that piled up periodically while I was writing.

Thanks to my family/friends/former students and colleagues who acted interested rather than skeptical when I said, "I'm working on a YA novel."

Thanks to my awesome friend Nicole who made me the world's greatest "Last Writing Day" podcast.  It was on when I crossed 50K ("Eye of the Tiger", to be exact--I feel good about that.)

Thanks to Willow, my kitty, for glaring at me when I watched Brotherhood 2.0 videos instead of writing and purred contentedly on my lap when I was thinking about getting up, so I had to keep writing instead.

And of course, thanks to the people I've met through this blog.  So many of you were NaNo Buddies, posted updates of your own, cheered me on, and generally made me feel like part of a community.  If you've left comments here, responded to panicky emails, exchanged tweets with me, shared your own writing, sent tea, or answered weirdly specific medical questions, you know who you are, and I really, really appreciate it.  I've been noodling around with the idea of NaNo since I was a freshman in college (2003!) and I never even came close before.

If you're NaNoing yourself, then good luck getting to your goal by day's end!  If you've already gotten there, CONGRATULATIONS!  And if you spent the month working on something else entirely, I hope it went well.  And if not--well, it's snowing as I type this, I'm curled up under a blanket, and I spent the morning ordering Christmas presents.  December is just about upon us--a whole new month, just waiting for new reading/writing/life goals!  (More on those later.)  For now--Happy November 30th, everyone!