2013

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Not a lofty, ambitious to-be-read list consisting of 100+ book titles. Just a simple plan for the upcoming week — what I’m reading now, what I plan to read next, and what I’m hoping to squeeze in among the nooks and crannies.

How did I do with last week’s agenda?

Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris: Finished! My review is here.

Doll Bones by Holly Black: Finished! My review is here.

Invisibility by Andrea Cremer and David Levithan: Started over the weekend; about half-way through. I’m intrigued, but withholding judgment until I see where it’s going.

Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis: Another Narnia book goes in the “finished” column! My son and I finished this one a few days ago — and like the rest of the series, it’s great!

Fresh Catch:

No new books this past week — can that be true? I did buy one new book from Amazon — but when it arrived, it had some ugly sticker marks and residue on the cover, so I returned it… and realized I didn’t want it all that badly after all. So, in my mind, it’s like I saved money! (Technically, that would be a no, but hey, whatever works…)

Also in the Amazon fail department, a book I’d preordered ages ago was supposed to arrive on Thursday — and then got delayed until this coming week. Bummer.

I did get approved for a few review copies via NetGalley, but I’ll wait to discuss those until I’m ready to start each one.

What’s on my reading agenda for the coming week?

I’ll be wrapping up the rest of Invisibility by Andrea Cremer and David Levithan in the next day or so.

After that, I’m looking forward to reading The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay.

And if there’s time, I’ll continue working my way through my stack of library books, starting with Fathomless by Jackson Pearce and This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith.

The kiddo and I have gotten our Narnia reading order slightly messed up — going neither by publication date nor by story chronology — but that’s okay, we’re enjoying it all anyway. We’re now a few chapters into The Horse and His Boy. And after that? Only three to go!

So many book, so little time…

That’s my agenda. What’s yours? Add your comments to share your bookish agenda for the week.

5Feb2013

Book Review: Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist by David Levithan & Rachel Cohn

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Book Review: Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

I love being proved wrong about a book, and Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist is a good example of a happy surprise for me.

It’s possible that I just picked the wrong time of day to start this book. Perhaps I was simply too tired to give it a chance. I read about 50 pages and jotted down some quick notes before heading off to bed. My notes included phrases such as “no point of entry”, “exclusionary feel”, “impenetrable”, and “can’t relate”. Not a very auspicious beginning, to say the least.

And yet… when I continued the next day, I found my attitude toward this book completely turned around. So how and why did that happen?

For starters, a brief synopsis:

Nick is the 18-year-old bass player in a teen “queercore” punk band, who feels music — and life — deeply and passionately. Nick has been dumped recently by his girlfriend, and when she shows up at his gig, he impulsively asks the flannel-wearing girl at the bar to be his fake girlfriend for five minutes. The flannel-clad girl is Norah, who has just turned down Brown University in order to follow her on-again, off-again boyfriend to a “kibbutz” in South Africa for a year, and who is starting to realize that everything in her life may be a big mistake. Nick and Norah fake-kiss… but boy, it feels good, and thus starts a night of music, clubs, city streets, drunken friends, cab rides, Oreos, and dancing in the rain.

The book is written in alternating chapters, switching between Nick’s narration (written by David Levithan) and Norah’s (written by Rachel Cohn). The pace is quick and sharp, with dialogue that is witty, vulgar, and in-your-face. Nick and Norah are a couple of angst-ridden, deeply introspective teens, who think deeply about life, love, music, friendship, and finding meaning in the world. The beauty of this book is in the inner workings of Nick and Norah’s minds and in seeing the interplay from one chapter to the next, as Nick and Norah reinterpret each other’s actions and words, and we see the chasms of misunderstanding that must be bridged over the course of one night.

I’m always fascinated by the single-night story — they meet, they share an intense moment… but will they part forever when the sun comes up? Of course, the best example, in my mind, is Before Sunrise, a movie I could watch again and again. Nick & Norah ends up fitting nicely into this mode, showing how a chance encounter blossoms into an unexpectedly delicious and slightly dangerous, extremely intense connection. The rising sun feels like a deadline, and the only question is whether to say good-bye or face a new day together. I won’t say which happens here; in Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, it’s the journey that matters.

So why the about-face for me regarding this book? Again, perhaps it was just a matter of starting the book at the wrong time, but I found the early chapters somewhat off-putting due to their setting in the Lower Manhattan punk-rock scene. The club, the people, and the musicians — all seemed to be flashing the words “not for you” at me in big neon letters. I read a lot of young adult fiction. I am definitely not a young adult myself. But as I’ve said many times, the best YA fiction is just good fiction, period. You shouldn’t need to be a teen or twenty-something to read a book about people in that demographic, so long as it’s a good book with well-drawn characters. At the beginning of Nick & Norah, I felt that age would be a barrier to my enjoyment. As the story progressed, however, I began to really enjoy Nick and Norah’s explorations not just of each other but of their own fears and hopes. The more deeply the characters journeyed, the more I came to appreciate the passion and emotion expressed by the gorgeous, full-frontal, no-holds-barred writing.

I was originally drawn to this book after having read the authors’ two other collaborative efforts, Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares and Naomi & Ely’s No Kiss List. Both were lovely, and both featured the pattern of alternating voices that work so well in Nick & Norah. As an added attraction, all three books read as love letters to New York, and it’s great fun to revel in this glorified, gritty version of the city, its people, and its hidden treasures.

A note: I have not seen the movie version of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, and I’m not sure that I’d want to. For me, the glory of the book is in getting inside the characters’ heads, and I can’t imagine that translating well to the big screen. Plus, from the movie stills I’ve seen, the casting does not at all match the pictures in my head, and I don’t want to replace “my” Nick and Norah with the Hollywood version. (But if you’ve read the book and seen the movie, please do share your thoughts! How do they compare?)

All in all, I’m very glad that I stuck with this book long enough to get past my initial turned-off phase, as I ended up enjoying it very much. This is a short, quick, intense read, but one which really held my interest and touched my emotions as well.

3Sep2012

The Monday agenda

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

You might think an agenda has no business showing up on Labor Day. What can I say? A reader’s work is never done! It’s time to take stock and plan for the upcoming week.

From last week:

Every Day by David Levithan: Read as fast and furiously as I possibly could. See my review here. The short version? I loved it. Add this one to the list of YA fiction that everyone should read.

Going Bovine by Libba Bray: Finally finished, after several stops and starts. My review is here, but the bottom line is that, despite several laugh-out-loud moments and some truly snazzy writing, I just didn’t enjoy this one nearly as much as I’d hoped.

In graphic novels, I ended up diving into the Jack of Fables series by Bill Willingham (a spin-off from the incredibly wonderful Fables series). I’m on #4 of 9, and so far, I’d say… amusing, but not essential.

My son forced me to read the comic/graphic novel he gobbled up, Giants Beware! by Jorge Aguirre. Quite funny and spirited — definitely a good choice if you’ve got middle-grade readers to entertain.

Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon (group re-read): Need I keep saying it? Terrific book, terrific chapter discussions!

And this week’s new agenda:

I’ve simply got to make some headway with my stack of library books. Next up should be Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker, which I’ve really been looking forward to.

After that:

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Frozen by Mary Casanova

Plus, I’ll plow on through and finish up the Jack volumes. Must see what that scamp gets up to next!

Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon (group re-read): Chapters 44 and 45 on deck for this week.

So many book, so little time…

That’s my agenda. What’s yours? Add your comments to share your bookish agenda for the week.

2Sep2012

Book Review: Every Day by David Levithan

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Book Review: Every Day by David Levithan

Every day, main character/narrator A wakes up in a new body with a new life. We never learn how or why; it’s just the simple reality of A’s existence. A can be any ethnicity, gender, identity, or orientation. The only constants are that A is sixteen, and that each visit in a particular body lasts one day, no more, no less.

(I can tell already that this book will be a challenge to discuss, if for no other reason than that pronouns are pretty much off the table. A is neither male nor female; A is whatever the body he/she inhabits for that day is. If I’m confused, I can only imagine how A feels).

A seems to manage this ever-changing life with equanimity. A accepts A’s life; for A, this is normal. A’s modus operandi to to do his/her best with the body of the day, making a good faith effort to get through that body’s normal life as well as possible, whether that means taking history tests, going to a family outing, or playing in a soccer game. Fortunately, A is able to access the memories of whoever’s body he/she is in, so A is more or less able to fake it with teachers, parents, boyfriends, girlfriends. A goes on dates, A hangs out with friends, A does whatever was on the agenda for the day. Each day is something new. Each set of circumstances can be adapted to, and then abandoned for the next.

And then, on day 5994 of A’s existence, A wakes up in the body of Justin, a rather ordinary, somewhat sullen boy. What’s remarkable about Justin is his girlfriend Rhiannon, whose lack of self-confidence masks an inner and outer beauty that largely goes unappreciated by Justin, but which speaks to A’s heart in a way that’s never happened before. A, as Justin, spends an unforgettable day with Rhiannon, who doesn’t understand why her indifferent boyfriend suddenly seems interested in her soul as well as her body. At the end of the day, A can’t let go, and this is the catalyst for everthing that happens in Every Day. A spends each subsequent day trying to get back to Rhiannon, to convince her that he/she is the same person inside, no matter what’s on the outside, and to try to find a way to make a connection that lasts more than one day.

Even when Rhiannon overcomes her disbelief and allows herself to become involved with A, it’s interesting to see her reaction to A’s physical self vary based on the body he’s in. She holds hands with A without hesitation when he’s in an attractive male body, hangs out with A with a minimum of touching when A is a girl. On a day when A shows up as a morbidly obese boy, Rhiannon can’t hide her discomfort at being out on a date with someone of this appearance, despite knowing that the person she loves is inside.

David Levithan’s writing soars. The author presents with great sympathy and sensitivity the range of experience that represent normal for a 16- year-old. We witness a typical day from the inside of relativity well-adjusted jocks, sensitive girls, hot girls, happy slackers, but too, we see from the inside the misery of suicidal depression, drug addiction, and the desperation of an illegal immigrant forced into domestic servitude. The plot of Every Day is absorbing and compelling, but so too are A’s meditations on identity and belonging. A has been boys and girls, gay and straight, healthy and ill, in a happy family and with a troubled life. Attending a gay pride parade and baffled by some of the protesters, A muses:

In my experience, desire is desire, love is love. I have never fallen in love with a gender. I have fallen for individuals. I know this is hard for people to do, but I don’t understand why it’s so hard, when it’s so obvious.

Of course, I also love A’s thoughts as he browses through a bookstore with Rhiannon:

I show her Feed. I tell her all about The Book Thief. I drag her to find Destroy All Cars and First Days on Earth. I explain to her that these have been my companions all these years, the constants from day to day, the stories I can always return to even if mine is always changing.

Every Day reaches its climax as A faces a moral dilemma: Given an opportunity to find a way to remain in the same body, should A do it? If it means having the ability to have a more or less normal life, does that make it justifiable? Or is it kidnapping, in essence, to poach someone else’s life for the sake of achieving one’s own normalcy?

It’s diffcult to do justice to the glorious writing and thoughtful sentiments of Every Day. I loved this book, and was deeply moved by it. I have no hesitation in recommending Every Day.

27Aug2012

The Monday agenda

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Continuing with the Monday agenda concept started a few weeks ago, it’s time to see how well last week’s reading agenda worked out and sketch out the plan for the coming week.

From last week:

Going Bovine by Libba Bray: As of early last week, I’d gotten about 2/3 of the way through this bizarre, funny book about a boy with mad cow disease. And then I hit a wall. It’s not that the book stopped being interesting or engaging in any way; I just reached a point where I felt like moving on. Going Bovine is still in my huge messenger bag that I carry everywhere with me, and I haven’t officially given up or anything. It’s just become a “not right now” kind of situtation.

Gold by Chris Cleave. Finished last night a few breath’s shy of midnight (hence the dark circles under my eyes and the failure to watch the True Blood season finale). The review should be along shortly. The fact that I went from half-heartedly picking up the book on Friday to staying up reading way too late on a work-night should tell you something about how I felt about this book.

In graphic novels, I ended up going with the Locke & Key series by Joe Hill. My library had volumes 1 – 4 available, and I gobbled them up. Dark, creepy, compulsively readable, Locke & Key has me hooked. Here’s hoping the wizards at the public library decide to order volume 5 pronto.

Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon (group re-read): Two challenging, thought-provoking chapters. We’re really getting to the good stuff!

And this week’s new agenda:

Every Day by David Levithan: I’ve had this one on pre-order for a while, and it should arrive tomorrow. This was my Wishlist Wednesday book a couple of weeks ago; you can see why I want to read this one here.

Beyond that, for once I can’t say that I have absolute plans. I’ll try to get back into Going Bovine — would love to cross this one off my pending list already. Maybe a young adult novel from my to-read shelf: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer or Small Damages, perhaps. I have review copies of a few upcoming titles as well, so I should really start digging into some of those. (Thank you, Netgalley!)

In graphic novels, I have the Jack of Fables series ready to go, but seeing how I tend to start a series and then not come up for air until I’m done, I’d better try to get some other reading done first.

Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon (group re-read): Chapters 42 and 43 on deck for this week. Like I said, the good stuff! And by the way, if you’re a fan and want to jump into the conversation, please do! Let me know if you need directions to the online group — I’d be glad to point the way.

So many book, so little time…

That’s my agenda. What’s yours? Add your comments to share your bookish agenda for the week.

8Aug2012

Wishlist Wednesday

Posted in Wishlist Wednesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

And now, for this week’s Wishlist Wednesday…

The concept is to post about one book from our wish lists that we can’t wait to read. Want to play? Here’s how:

Follow Pen to Paper as host of the meme.
Please consider adding the blog hop button to your blog somewhere, so others can find it easily and join in too! Help spread the word! The code will be at the bottom of the post under the linky.
Pick a book from your wishlist that you are dying to get to put on your shelves.
Do a post telling your readers about the book and why it’s on your wishlist.
Add your blog to the linky at the bottom of the post at Pen to Paper.
Put a link back to pen to paper (http://vogue-pentopaper.blogspot.com) somewhere in your post.
Visit the other blogs and enjoy!

My Wishlist Wednesday book is:

Every Day by David Levithan

From Amazon:

Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.

Every morning, A wakes in a different person’s body, a different person’s life. There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.

It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.

With his new novel, David Levithan has pushed himself to new creative heights. He has written a captivating story that will fascinate readers as they begin to comprehend the complexities of life and love in A’s world, as A and Rhiannon seek to discover if you can truly love someone who is destined to change every day.

Publication date: August 28, 2012

Why do I want to read this?

I always love a good young adult novel, and David Levithan never fails to impress me. I’ve read several of his novels co-written with other YA authors:

Will Grayson, Will Grayson (co-authored with John Green)
Naomi & Eli’s No Kiss List (co-authored with Rachel Cohn)
Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares (co-authored with Rachel Cohn)

With each, I’ve been incredibly impressed by the authenticity of David Levithan’s voice. He doesn’t talk down, he doesn’t imitate, he’s not an adult trying to capture the lingo of “kids today”. His characters have a depth and dimension that’s unusual in YA fiction. They experience a slice of life, deal with real-life problems and dilemmas, and most of all, have personalities and wits that sparkle.

I’m eager to read some of David Levithan’s stand-alone works, and the story synopsis sounds for Every Day sounds intriguing. Who doesn’t love a story that involves body-swapping? I’ll be interested to see Levithan’s terrific writing skills applied to a fantasy scenario.