Review: I'll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson

First of all I just want to say thank you to Barb at Prairie Lights bookstore for providing me with the ARC. That was incredibly generous of you! Now onto the review:

Synopsis

"Jude and her brother, Noah, are incredibly close twins. At thirteen, isolated Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude surfs and cliff-dives and wears red-red lipstick and does the talking for both of them. But three years later, Jude and Noah are barely speaking. Something has happened to wreck the twins in different and divisive ways . . . until Jude meets a cocky, broken, beautiful boy, as well as an unpredictable new mentor. The early years are Noah's story to tell. The later years are Jude's. What the twins don't realize is that they each have only half the story, and if they could just find their way back to one another, they’d have a chance to remake their world." 



Here is one thing I realized while reading this: Jandy Nelson seems to be the type of author that gets better with age. 
Her first book, The Sky Is Everywhere Published in 2010 by Dial (respectively) Was great. I found I really enjoyed it. However I personally don't think it was as good as this one. In fact I think this might actually be my favorite book at the moment. 
I loved the complexity of the plot as well as the switching narration, between siblings, Noah and Jude. But there was also something else about this that can really get to you, even more so than, "The Sky Is Everywhere." This book seems very personal. It examines the relationships between family members, as well as the potential fallout of our actions. But it also emphasizes the importance of communication and the sometimes dire consequences that may take place due to lack of communication or misunderstanding. It just felt very personal. Maybe it's because we're able to see what mistakes that were made in the characters past that led them to be the people they are now or maybe it's just Jandy Nelsons brilliant and heartbreaking writing that does it. Either way you feel like you are the character, you laugh and cry and feel so much from this one book. It never fails to amaze me the kinds of stories and emotions authors can create using words. Jandy Nelsons writing is spot on, heartbreaking, and brilliant. I highly recommend this book.

Review: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Well, for starters, I had probably wanted to start reading this a year, year and a half ago, and, to put it simply, it wasn't worth the wait. It wasn't a terrible book, it just kind of felt like the characters weren't real, or that they were working and talking about things too quickly, and even though the dude Oliver was British, I find that I really fell in love with his character like I usually would. I have read Jennifer E. Smith's This is What Happy Looks Like, and the endings feel kind of the same; you don't really get any closure from the book like you would with a regular, fan-girl, freak out book like the Fault in Our Stars or something, though don't get me wrong, there were a few moments like that, but not enough to make it any better than what it was. It just wasn't all that appealing, because I love those moments when you absolutely freak out and scream and jump up and down in your seat moments. I think that that is one of my favorite parts about reading, is that you have those moments often enough for the book to stay exciting, and with the Statistical Probably of Love at First Sight, I didn't really have any of the exciting moments like that, and think that is what made it rating that it is. And, with both this book and This is What Happy Looks Like, it kind of explained more than it actually told the story, and was more in the past, like your telling a story inside of a story, than just that first, original story. It didn't really appeal to me, though I do really like contemporary a lot more. It just wasn't for me, to be honest, though it isn't to discourage you from reading it, because you may like it better than I do.

Review: Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Life of Pi by Yann Martel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this for school and before we started reading it,I thought that it would be a bad book and that it would suck. I was very wrong.

Life of Pi is about a young teenager that leaves India with his family to find a new life in Canada. During their trip to Canada, a ship called the Tsimtsum (pronounced sim-sum) sinks and Pi is the only survivor. He gets thrown overboard and lands in a life boat with a 450 pound Bengal tiger. This is a story that is very descriptive and sometimes gruesome at parts, and even though it is fiction, you think that this really happened. That's how good Life of Pi is. Especially the way that the author sometimes inserts himself, when the adult Pi is telling Yann Martel his story. I really enjoyed the way that Martel wrote the story, and how he told about Pi's story. It was an phenomenal novel, and I really do encourage you to read this book if you haven't.

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Top Ten Tuesday: Books, Music, and More

Hello, so this week the second week or so of NanoWrimo and a lot of us are starting to get up there word count wise and plot out our stories, which is nothing less than AWESOME. If you have not reached a certain point yet or, are not on track, do not worry. There is still plenty of time to get in some serious word count. The first week of Nanowrimo I couldn't really get into my story, and kept switching Ideas so I would be typing one story about a hundred words in and then switch to the next. So my only advice for this week is stick with it. I can guarantee you it will be worth it in the end. And after, or in case you have already finished a manuscript (edited and all) you can sign up and submit it here:  http://www.swoonreads.com/submit-a-manuscript For a chance to win a 15,000 dollar book deal. http://www.swoonreads.com/ is an official sponsor of nanwrimo. So big thank you to them. :)
This week we are doing top ten books, movies, or songs that can hopefully inspire some creativity.

Books:
1. The House on Mango Street-Sandra Cisneros
2. Fight Club-Chuck Palahnuik
3. The Catcher in the Rye-J.D. Salinger
4. Shatter Me-Tahereh Mafi
(All of these were chosen for there unique writing styles and original story lines)

Music:
1. Hideaway-Karen O. and the Kids
2. Over the Love-Florence and the Machine
3. Buzzcut Season-Lorde
4. Back to Black-Amy Winehouse

Movies:
1. E.T.  (Stephen Spielberg. Universal Pictures.)
2. Coraline (Laika, Focus Features, Henry Selick, Universal pictures. Originally based on the novel of the same name by Neil Gaiman.))  

Top Nine Saturday: Books, Music, and More

So it is approaching the second week of Nanowrimo and since, unfortunately we've missed top ten Tuesday. I've decided to do Top nine Saturday. About the top seven songs, television shows, and possibly books that could get you in the writing mood. :) Really I should just encourage you to get down and just write, even if what you write is terrible and you want to throw it out, or delete it. Don't. Just do it. You can revise and edit after you've finished. And you will finish. :0)

1. Daughter-Run
2. Hey Jude-The Beatles
3. Skin and Bones-David J. Roch

In Television:
1. Dexter (Showtime)
2. Sherlock (BBC)
3. American Horror Story: Coven (FX)

In Books:
1. Anna and The French Kiss-Stephanie Perkins
2. Eleanor and Park-Rainbow Rowell
3. The Unbecoming Of Mara Dyer-Michelle Hodkin

NaNoWriMo and Word Counts....

So NanoWrimo has just begun and people are already starting to get busy with writing. I just wanted to share a couple of things that may help distress or encourage those who are doing NanoWrimo this month.


1. Quick and dirty:
The first draft is not necessarily meant to be good. It is something that is meant for improvement and that will sort of give you a baseline fore your story. So that other better drafts can come from your first draft.
2. Quality not quantity.
It's true that the goal is to write about fifty thousand words or more by the end of November. And I suppose this relates to the bit above. But in the end it doesn't really matter about the word count if your novel sucks. It is better to have fewer words and have your novel be incredible than to have less words and have it suck.
3.Notes.
I was unable to really get a baseline for my novel going because I had signed up so late, but also because I had not taken note or allowed myself the time to really brainstorm and write down my ideas. So it is always a great idea to take a break, to take some notes gets your thoughts together before continuing.
4. Music.
It is always good to get inspired and be creative while writing. I find that music really, helps with this. Here are some songs that may be good for a boost of inspiration.

Born to Die-Lana Del Rey
Digital Rot-Tan Vampires
Wishing Well-The Airborne Toxic Event
Until We Bleed-Lykke Li
Armistice-Phoenix
Shake Me Down-Cage The Elephant
Oblivion-Bastille
Pompeii-Bastille
Dog Days Are Over- Florence+The Machine
Blue Jeans-Lana Del Rey
Fluorescent Adolescent-Arctic Monkeys
Peaches-In The Valley Below
Cough Syrup-Young The Giant

5. Books.
Each and every author has their own writing style. And voice. So it may be a good idea to grab some inspiration from other books. Do not copy or plagiarize. But practice writing with their style. See how you like it and see if it may be possible to incorporate  a mixture of styles within your story.

6. Tweaks.
It may be necessary while writing to go back and read or fix paragraphs or word choices every once in while. In order to make the story continuously better. I find that I often have to stop and read through the sentences and paragraphs I've just written before going back and tweaking it. Sentence structures and wording are also vital to the story-line. Often times a couple of words have the power to make the story better or worse. Which in a way I suppose is why writing can be so hard most of the time.

7. Dictionary's.
I have said it before and I will say it again. Sometimes it is vital to have a dictionary lying around. Not only because of the diversity of words that could be used to make your story more interesting. But also, if there ever comes a time when spelling or grammar needs to be checked than it's good to have around.

8. Avoid the use of cliches while writing. It is often refreshing to see new or unused story ideas and back grounds. So be creative!

9.Avoid repeating sentences and wording.

10. Try not to over explain things. It is good to appeal to the five senses. Taste, Touch, Sight, Smell, and sound. Often times it is easy to over explain or examine things which can lead to a boring story structure. However appealing to the readers five senses is something that is vital. "How did it feel, smell, look, sound, taste, etc."

11. And finally if what your writing seems boring to you it is probably going to be boring to the reader as well. So it may be necessary to try and change up your writing every once in a while. Remember falling action, climax, falling action, and major plot points.

Review: It's Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han

It's Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

WWWWHHHHAAAATTTTT TTTTHHHHEEEEE FFFUUUCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!
What even just happened?! She wasn't supposed to do that! Why would you do that to Conrad! CONRAD IS WAY BETTER THAN JEREMIAH!!!!!!!!!!!! JEREMIAH IS A DOUCHE BAG!!!!! WHAT THE FUCK!!!????? WHY WOULD YOU GIVE HIM THE NECKLACE BACK?! IT WAS A SYMBOL OF YOUR LOVE FOR EACH OTHER! AND HE WOULDN'T HAVE GOTTEN IT FOR YOU IF HE DIDN'T LOVE YOU, DUMBASS! HE WOULDN'T HAVE REMEMBERED THAT IF HE DIDN'T LOVE YOU! AND HE WOULDN'T HAVE SAID THAT HE THOUGHT YOUR SPECIALTY WAS COCOA IF HE DIDN'T LOVE YOU!!!! CONRAD FUCKING LOVES YOU! DON'T BE STUPID!

Okay. Now that I got that out of the way, I really liked this book, except for the fact that she chose fucking Jeremiah, even though Conrad is CLEARLY the better choice. I loved everything about this book, like the way that it felt like it had a mission. It was really freaking amazing, and I'm excited for the next book.

BUT I MEAN SERIOUSLY! JEREMIAH?! HE ISN'T EVEN THAT ATTRACTIVE, NOT COMPARED TO CONRAD. I thought that I liked Jeremiah better, but . . . . I was VERY wrong. I love Conrad. Simple as that. Conrad and Belly, FTW. That's it. I'd say read the book, but you know, based on the fangirling above, you should already know by now.

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