3 Books I Want Everyone To Love

Just recently I read a post by the young writer John Hansen that talked about luck and bestseller lists and also illustrated the point that a lot of people feel that popularity equals quality when it comes to books. However this isn't necessarily true. I mean, Fifty Shades of Grey is the fastest selling paperback of all time and it's literally Twilight fanfiction (ugh). And from what I've heard, it's not very good.

A lot of books have hype surrounding them, and the hype just makes people want to read the books more, even if it's just to find out what the fuss is all about. I'm definitely guilty of checking out books because of the hype. But there are so many awesome, incredible, life-changing books that never make it onto any bestseller list.

Anyway, these are some of my favourite books that maybe don't have as much hype as say The Hunger Games or Fifty Shades of Grey. (By the way, I highly recommend you check out 50 Shades of Grey: The Musical, because it is awesome.)

Also, I'm talking about these books in the hope that you'll pick them up and fall in love with them as much as I have BUT everything's subjective, so even though I want everyone to love these books I know not everyone will and I'm OK with that.

1. JELLICOE ROAD by Melina Marchetta
Genre: YA contemporary
Goodreads page
My review

I know, I know, I talk about Jellicoe Road pretty much every chance I get. But it's soooo gooood. I love it when books have multiple stories that are beautifully woven together with strong characters supporting the entire thing. If you haven't read this book yet, you should. You should also check out some of Marchetta's other books that I love, Saving Francesca and The Piper's Son. All of these books are really character-heavy so if you like falling in love with characters, go check those books out right now!!

2. KING OF ATTOLIA by Megan Whalen Turner
Genre: Fantasy
Goodreads page

Megan Whalen Turner is a writing genius. Her writing and characters are so intelligent and clever, it blows my mind. Just when I think I know what's going to happen in one of her books, something happens I never, ever saw coming yet the unexpected twist still feels natural. Also, her books are excellently researched and perfectly subtle. I LOVE IT. I love all three books in The Queen's Thief series (The Thief, Queen of Attolia and King of Attolia) but King of Attolia was the most amazing.

3. OKAY FOR NOW by Gary D. Schmidt
Genre: YA contemp
Goodreads page

This book I just recently read and... it was amazing. It almost made me cry, and no one even died in it. It was just completely beautiful and true, and the writing was amazing. Schmidt did this thing where he used paintings of birds to kind of reveal truths in the MC, Doug's life and also just to the reader and it was SO COOL. And the layers to the characters... I have no words for the amazingness.

So what are you still doing here? Go check out those books. ;)

Cliff-hanger Endings: Are They Really That Bad?

Hey guys! In order to make up for my silence over the last while, I thought I'd just give you a short update on what's going on, and then I'll start my post. So, I'm actually in the midst of exams right now so I am taking lots of time studying and writing those (normally my exams would be in June, but because of the kind of courses I'm taking, they're in May). I'm also getting ready for wrapping up school completely and graduating high school in only twoish months! Eek. :D Let's see... I'm also trying to prepare a short story to enter in a local writing contest. I hope to start some fun new blog stuff after I'm done more of my exams, so you have that to look forward to. I have a few ideas up my sleeve. ;)

Anyway, I wanted to talk about endings. The two books that my English class most recently read were A Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence and A Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. Neither of them had very satisfying endings. A Stone Angel ends with the two words "And then..." and that's where the novel ends. The story ending of A Handmaid's Tale ends with the main character being taken away, and whether to safety or to her death the reader doesn't know. Then the last line of the epilogue-like ending is a university professor asking his students "Are there are any questions?" which is funny because, um, YES.

A lot of the students in my class complained loudly about how these endings were horrible, you don't get to find out anything, it wasn't wrapped up nicely at all, etc, etc. Then they write the entire book off as awful because you don't get to find out anything - and what's the point of reading a book that doesn't answer any questions it raises?

Well, that's a discussion for another day. But are these somewhat cliff-hanger endings really that bad? I feel like they are very effective, and they make you think. That is what I like about these endings - they force you to think. If there is anything that makes me love a book, it is that it makes me think. That's part of the reason why I loved Jellicoe Road so much. The intertwined and complicated plots required a whole lot of thinking to figure them out.

I think this is also why those "20 years later" epilogues sometimes really bug me, such as the one in Harry Potter or Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles. I feel like they shut down any opportunity for the reader's mind to wander and wonder further about the characters and story. Basically, it shut downs any opportunity for the reader to think about the book.

Yes, endings need to wrap up loose ends and whatnot. But I think they also need to be left at least somewhat open-ended to allow the reader to think and wonder.

So, I want to know what you think about all this... Do you like books that make you think? Do you like endings that wrap up completely, or that are left open? What books have made you think the most?

Has a Negative Review Ever Convinced You to Read A Book?

I have begun to notice that pretty much EVERYTHING is subjective. Almost everything is affected by a person's own opinions, moods, beliefs, background and what have you. (I totally just had to look up the phrase "what have you" to make sure I wasn't making it up and to figure out if it was one word or not).

For example, here is a conversation I had my with my friend Monday night. We were talking about making muffins together:

Strawberry muffins... tell me they do not look yummy!

Friend: What kind of muffins should we make?
Me: strawberry!!!
Friend: EWW
Me: What? Why! My mom said her friend made them once and they were really good!
Friend: That sounds... EEW!
Me: Why? Don't you like strawberries?
Friend: yahh

I still think my friend is not justified in thinking strawberry muffins are gross (I mean, she's never even tried them...), but this kind of shows how affected we are by our own ideas and opinions and just basically who we are.

So. This also applies to books. (HA you never guessed that I would say that, right?? Haha.) I have figured out that I like certain types of characters way more than other types of characters. I really don't like dependent, scared, hesitant characters that don't really know much. I absolutely fall in love with really clever, independent characters. For example, in the book Inkheart by Cornelia Funke (amazing book, by the way) my favourite character, hands down, is Dustfinger. I adore him. He's one of those clever, sort of goes-by-his-own-terms type of character that I like. I think this is also the reason that I liked the character Katniss in The Hunger Games, and the character Eugenides in The Thief, Queen of Attolia and King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner.

To be honest, until recently, I had no idea that it was me. I just thought lots of writers wrote really bland, annoying characters but as it turns out, I just wasn't interested in the characters because of me - who I am and what I like as a person.

That being said, different things will attract a person into reading a book. When I'm wandering through the library, my eyes usually go to the covers (and spines) that are unique, bright, and different. I tend not to be attracted to the darker, spooky covers or the covers with girls' faces on the front. It also depends on what I'm in the mood for. If I feel like reading romance, I look for titles and covers that hint that the book is a romance.

Whoops... kind of getting off track. Back to... different things attract a person into reading a book. That is why I think when reading a book review, different things will stick out to different people. Just like while I'm in the library, certain covers or titles attract me, certain things said in a review will attract me to a book.

SO that brings me to my final point... because of all this, has a negative book review ever convinced you to read a book? I can see it happening if, I don't know, the reviewer says something like "The character was just way too clever for me, I didn't understand them" (this would only be for me, obviously) and then I would be like... well, I like clever characters... maybe I should read that book.

So? Has a negative book review ever convinced you to read a book? If not, do you think it's possible that one could? What do you think?

Also go here for information on the 21 Minus Blogfest and Contest that I'm participating in... it starts tomorrow!