I Want A Rewrite

Nothing makes annoys me more then a book that should have been awesome.  I am talking about those books that have a great premise, and amazing world, or just really good writing but somehow still fall short in the execution phase.  I don't know if it is just that I read so much that I have gotten insanely picky about what I consider a good book (Hubbin calls me a book snob) or that I just have a very specific sense of what I think a book should be...I don't know.  Anyways there are many times (as I am sure going through my ramblings will show you) that I really want to like a book, or that there is an aspect of the book I really enjoyed...but the book still ends up with a 4-6 rating.  These are books that I have decided need a re-write.  What does this mean?  Let me give you an example...I'll use the Twilight Saga series...mostly 'cause most people know at least the basic plot of the book even if they haven't read it themselves.  I have read the four original books in the series for two reasons, a) I can't ramble/rant about books I haven't read and b) I kept wanting these books to get better 'cause the idea was pretty spot on.

I actually very much enjoyed the idea of these books, a vampire family that comes from different times and places living together as a family unit doing it's best to fit in.  The girl who "discovers" them gives the author the chance to show us how they use their immortal time.  Pretty cool.  Unfortunately the ridiculous saccharine girl in distress theme and the over the top immortal/teenage/shaggy dog love triangle make this series almost unreadable.  I desperately want to go back and rewrite this possibly intriguing and complex story to it's full potential.  I feel this way about a lot of books I read.  Some times I find myself rewriting the story in my head long after I have finished the book.  Sometimes I take it in a new direction, sometimes I expound on a particular character or aspect of the world,  sometimes I even combine books in my head to make the perfect Frankenstein monster of a story.  I guess in some ways this is where we get fan fiction, a place where people take what they love about a book or story and turn it into their own perfect version.  I also understand that what I think would make a perfect story is not necessarily what other people would want to read.  Anyways, I guess as long as I am still thinking about at least some aspect of a book the author did their job to some degree.  I will continue looking for those great books and in between I shall be re-writing them in my head and probably slipping some of that into my ramblings.  Let me know what books you think need a re-write.  Happy Reading Everybody!

Banned Books Week

We are into Banned Books Week this week.  As I've mentioned in previous posts, this is the week I celebrate my freedom to write, buy, read, and discuss whatever my little heart desires.  This year I thought I would list some of my favorite books that were at one point banned for some reason or another.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

I understand the instinct to want to ban this book from younger readers, but I felt that after reading this, it is a book most teenagers can personally relate to AND that makes it perfect reading and discussion material.  I feel that if more kids were encouraged to read books like this and then openly discuss them they would feel less alienated and be able to actually talk and deal with issues instead of feeling like they need to hide them all of the time.

Bridge to Terabithia

To me this book, and many other ones on the challenged and banned list is a case of people getting so caught up in the most minor of details that they completely miss the point of the book.  This book had issues for it's supposed profanity (using the term "Oh Lord") and this wasn't even like in the 1800's, this was 1986.  Again I understand parents wanting to keep an eye on what their young children read, but to challenge a book with so many great points to it on the basis of a few phrases that a quick conversation could cover just seems dumb to me.

The Chocolate War

This book is deemed "inappropriate" for several reasons, language, sex, abuse, violence, authority issues and such.  This book has all of this...and again a brutal and realistic look of how teenage life really is.  When books like this get challenged I almost want to laugh, because what do these adults think kids live on a regular basis?  This book and others like do nothing more then put it in written form and to ban a book just because it makes somebody uncomfortable that stuff like this is happening is kind of counter productive.

To Kill A Mockingbird

 I feel that books like this get challenged sometimes because people are uncomfortable about the idea that stuff like this happens in real life.  I also feel that sometimes parents and institutions get a bit overprotective and feel the need to protect kids from the potential harsh realities of life.  I think that by having kids read about this kind of thing, we can use it as a stepping stone to a discussion instead of having them find out unawares with potentially disastrous consequences.

The Golden Compass

I hate this book, I do not get the hype, I think it is scary, traumatizing and I just really don't like it.  It has been on the challenged list for years because of it's supposed "Anti-Christian" overtones.  Guess what?  I don't want it banned or challenged and if my nephews want to read it, I hope they do.  I then hope they discuss is with each other, with their parents, with me, with whomever, and if they don't feel the same way about I do, awesome 'cause that my friends is how we learn and grow as a society.

I do not think that we should take away the rights of parents to keep an eye on what their children read, especially young ones.  I agree that there are books out there that are more appropriate for a mature audience and that not ever book out there is a healthy one.  I do however think that all people need to examine why they want to challenge a book and if there is not a better way to help kids choose and understand appropriate books.  I also believe that as soon as you hit the high school age (give or take, each person is different) that unless there is extenuating circumstances we need to trust that we have raised them well enough to start choosing their own reading materials.  I love that I live in a country where I have this awesome freedom to choose and hope that we never lose it.  Happy Reading Everybody!

How To Use The Words

I feel like I haven't said this in a while, but everything on this blog is completley my own opinion.  I do not think I am the ultimate authority on anything...I just know what I like and what drives me crazy.  So on that note...here we go.  With the books I've been reading lately I have noticed something that either makes me very happy or makes me roll my eye and that thing is words.  Ummm hmmm what are talking about is what you are probably saying right now.  Are not books all about the words?  How do words do anything but enable me to read?  Let me see if I can explain with any coherency what I mean.  It's not so much words that have grabbed my notice, but the way authors use words.  Hmm let me try this in list form and see if it makes more sense.

Flowery Words - Words that are put in a story strictly to make it sound more poetic, lyrical or artsy.  This works on occasion, especially in certain short stories.  They can add an extra layer to a place or feel and in piece that is supposed to be mostly imagery it is necessary.  Unfortunately I have found that certain authors, especially first timers use these types of words to over describe everything, or make a book...I don't know...more authory...is that a word?  To use these over the top phrases takes skill and restraint, and an author who can successfully pull it off is rare and amazing. Mostly though when used improperly you come across as overly pretentious.

Repeat Words - Lot's of authors (myself included I am sure) find a word or turn of phrase and get stuck on it.  I see this in everything from first time writers, to established authors to your local book bloggers.  Some writers stick it in ever other sentence, some spread it out in a more palatable manner, but I would say I could probably put together a list of authors and their favorite words and/or phrases (hmmm possible blog post).

Descriptive Words - These words are different then flowery words as in they are almost always adjectives.  These words when used appropriately are wonderful, necessary and can make a good book great.  On the other hand when over used can turn a great book into a tedious laundry list.  I have read books where every single outfit, piece of furniture and the physical description of every person in the room was detailed, and let me tell you BORING.  I also don't need every single landscape described to me in perfect detail, give me the general idea and only use the super descriptions on the things or people that need my attention.

Font Styles and Punctuation- I will be the first to admit that I suffer from this myself, I love ellipses...tee hee hee.  The occasional use of italics, Bold, Underline, or some combination can give some variation to a text, especially when they are used to delineate between characters.  The same goes with other punctuation (other then your normal grammatically correct stuff), but when any of these becomes over used, it just gets confusing.  Although I have seen this in every type of book, recent YA novels seem to be the biggest offenders, especially with the exclamation points!!!!

Simple Words - Some of my favorite books in the world utilize simple words and phrasing to produce a clean, beautiful read.  I think this is the hardest style of wording to use because it takes the skill of a master. Unfortunately I have read to many books that do not utilize the simple words as well as they could and the result reads as very stilted and juvenile.  As much as I love e-books and the ability to read authors that would never have gotten published by a major print outfit, I feel it has also led to a lot of wannabe's putting out stuff that hasn't had the benefit of an editor or even other people reading it resulting in a lot of the above misuse of the simple word.

I have seen all of the above examples used in both awesome ways and in ways that have driven me bonkers.  The words themselves and never good or bad, it is the way they are used and crafted that make a book what it is.  Words are tools, and some authors just know how to use them better then others.  I know that for good or bad, without words, I would be a sad person.  Happy Reading Everybody!

No Apologies

So...Hmmm...about that book, you know the one your best friend/sister/book critic/favorite blog recommended to you and swore up and down that you would love 'cause they just loved it sooooo much and they can't wait for you to read it so that you can rave about it with them.  You are so excited to crack into this critically acclaimed novel/biography/collection of essays and about two or three chapters in it hits you...you really are not into this book, in fact you kind of hate it.  You keep reading, thinking maybe it will get better, you know you've read books that don't get good until half way through...only this one doesn't, you finish it because that is just the kind of reader you are, giving it the benefit of the doubt all the way to the last page.  So now what?  Do you politely smile as your mother/co-worker/hairdresser excitedly "discusses" all the "wonderful" parts of the book?  Do you quietly slip it into your library donation stack and pray it never comes up?  Do you get on your blog and do a full on rant about how horrible said historical fantasy/biopic/sci fi novel was and how nobody in their right mind would ever read it, much less recommend it to anybody else?
What if you are on the other side of that coin?  Have you ever picked up a book or series and absolutely LOVED it, you thought the story was great, the characters engaging, the writing well done.  You hop on to your favorite book review site, ready to bask in the glow of the being part of a commenting community that can't help but rave about this amazing work of art/collection of poetry/most wonderfully witty satire ever produced...(I'm loving my ellipses today)only to find out it is being bashed in almost every arena.  Comments run towards "hacky writing"  "unoriginal story" and "what the heck was that author on when he/she/it wrote this?!?"  It kind of feels like somebody is bad-mouthing your best friend.  So what do you do?  Do you write back scathing retorts on how uneducated and illiterate they must be to not get the genius that is this book?  Do you go back and reread it, doubting yourself?  Do you quietly get a book cover for it so nobody see's you actually reading it?

Good news folks...IT DOESN'T MATTER!  That's right, you are allowed to love, hate, like, meh, woohoo, any book your little heart desires.  Reading is like food, different people have different tastes and just because your "supposed" to like something doesn't mean you have to.  Take caviar for instance, it is supposed to be the epitome of fine dining and sophisticated taste, but what if you really really really don't like the taste of squishy fish eggs, you can still be a gourmet chef and not like caviar.  You may also not like a food that is commonly loved, I know a person who hates chocolate...I mean seriously who hates chocolate?!?  Books are the same way, they come in every type of category, flavor, length, style and voice you can possibly imagine.  If you are a true reader, you will find what you love and be okay with what you don't.  You do not have to love a book because somebody else does, nor do you have to be ashamed to read books you love (I'm looking at you Twilight fans :-) )

All I ask is three things, try and finish a book before you judge it, my biggest review pet peeve is people who say "I only got through the first chapter then I put it down, I give it one star"  There have been a very few books I put down after the half-way mark, but even books I hate I try and get all the way through, 'cause then I feel justified in giving a review of why I don't like it.  There are also many books that all of a sudden come alive later in the book, a few of my favorites don't even get started until the 5th or 6th chapter.  The second thing is try and be adventurous and open minded to some degree, we all have our favorite books, just like we have our favorite foods, but just like I would never have discovered my love for goat cheese if I had not tried it, there are many books outside my comfort genre that I never would have found without a little leap of faith. Third and maybe most important, don't judge others on what they like to read, anybody who reads is awesome.  Sometimes a persons book choice may be baffling to you, the urge to deride a person based on what they are reading is really strong sometimes, just remember that you probably have a book you love on your shelf that another person thinks is absurd as well. (The exception to this is if you have a blog about books 'cause sometimes you just have to let loose with a rant, just don't make it personal)

Ok so this turned into a much longer post than originally intended, so I will end it here and let you all get back to whatever fabulous/trashy/awesome/judgmental book you are in the midst of right now.
What book do you love that others seem to hate?  What book have you tried and tried to get through and just couldn't?  What is supremely popular right now that just isn't in your wheelhouse?  What is your favorite way to hide books that would be totally embarrassing in public?