Writability: reading

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Vlog: Can Books Be Scary?

It's Halloween...tomorrow! So today I'm posing a question I haven't answered for myself: can books be scary?

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How to Make Your Villains Awesome

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I Have Been Terrible at Reading

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It's April and I've only read ten books so far this year. And I feel bad about it. It's not as if I have a shortage of books I have access to—I'm fortunate enough to both generally be able to buy books when I want them and also often have access to free ARCs or final review copies from my grad school program and day job.

So what this means is I actually own a lot of books I want to read—my physical TBR shelf is nothing to scoff at. But what I have an abundance of in books I lack in time and energy.

I try to cut myself some slack. I know I have approximately a million things going on right now—grad school, part time job, book edits, my social life, etc. So it makes sense that I might find it slightly difficult to squeeze time in there to read, but that doesn't stop the part of my brain that makes it clear in no uncertain terms that my reading lag is some kind of personal failure.

Granted, I know that's not true, but it still feels not great to not be reading much when you're fully aware of how important reading is in your field and also you want to.

Anyway, sometimes schedules don't line up the way we'd like and make reading more difficult—and I'd like to acknowledge that, because I'm sure I'm not the only one. I'm hopeful things will be easier on the other side of book deadlines and finals but...we'll see.

Do you ever struggle to squeeze reading into your schedules?

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Discussion: Do You Read Books Similar to Your WIPs?

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As I revise the last book of the Beyond the Red trilogy (which is surreal, and weird, but also, in a way, feels right), I've been thinking about all the YA Sci-Fi books I'm going to catch up on. Because since 2013, when I first started writing Beyond the Red, I've let my YA Sci-Fi reading—especially Sci-Fi that involves other planets, or aliens, or space—fall to the wayside with only a couple exceptions.

It wasn't an accident, either.

I think it's really important to know your genre and category really well—and I do feel that I do know YA Sci-Fi relatively well. But as a person with a lot of anxiety, I've also experienced more than my fair share of anxiety attacks over my brain convincing me my book(s) are too similar to books that are already out there. And not in a Red Queen is similar to Hunger Games and both are successful kind of way, but in a THE AUTHOR WILL SUE YOU FOR PLAGIARISM kind of way, which is an irrational fear because no, I've never plagiarized nor will I ever, but anxiety disorders aren't rational with their brain spirals.

So, as a way of coping with that, and also as a way of avoiding the worry as I write that I'm being too influenced by what I've recently read (which, as you can imagine, is a paralyzing thing to worry about), I've avoided books even remotely similar to what I'm working on.

And you know? Anxiety-wise, it's worked: I haven't had an anxiety attack over too similar!! in over a year now. And as a nice bonus, I now have a pretty decent idea of all of the YA Sci-Fi alien/space books I'd like to catch up on.

As I start thinking about projects I'm going to work on after I'm done with The Rising Gold, I've acknowledged I'll want to do research before I start writing—research involving other books in the genre and category that aren't too similar to my premise, but will still help me get to know the genre and category before I dive in. Once I start writing, though, I imagine I'll cut myself off a little more strictly.

I'm curious, though—do you read books similar to your WIPs while you're drafting? What are your thoughts?

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On Reading Many Books at Once

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I used to be the kind of reader who could only read one book at a time. I'd often binge read and get through a book quickly—especially if I was enjoying it, especially especially if I was enjoying it and eager to read another book—but one book at a time was a firm rule for me.

Then I started doing literature programs in college and I didn't have the luxury of sticking to my one book at a time rule.

Granted, I suppose I could have added all the pages I needed to read in a week (adding together the page counts of the books I needed to read) and then gone through one book at a time that way, but for some reason I've found it's less daunting to read 50 pages of one book and 30 pages of another book and 35 pages of yet another book than it is to read 115 pages of a single book. Which is silly, I know, because I'm reading 115 pages a day either way, but it doesn't feel like it as much as it would if I was reading that amount from a single book.

After I broke that rule initially years ago now, I started occasionally pleasure-reading multiple books at once, oftentimes because I'd get a book I was really excited about and couldn't wait to read so I'd dive into that one while still reading another one. It's not something I did often but...#noregrets.

The other thing book hopping allows me to do is get through books I'm not enjoying as much (a necessity, in literature programs because invariably there will be books I have to read I'm not really into) in bite-sized pieces. I'll tell myself, okay, I'll read 50 pages of this book I don't love first, then I'll get to read 65 pages of those other books I do like.

Granted, reading several books at once means it takes me longer to finish all of them—but it evens out because I end up finishing a bunch of them within a couple days as I near the end of every book around the same time.

Moving to reading a bunch of books at once has actually been easier than I anticipated, although it's quickly becoming clear to me that pleasure reading is a thing that's probably going to be rare as long as I have three (or more) books in a week to read for school. But that's okay—I'm reading lots of books I probably wouldn't have otherwise—or at least wouldn't have so soon. And that's certainly not a bad thing.

Do you read multiple books at once?

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Vlog: Discussion: What Are Your Favorite Books?

It's time for another discussion vlog! Let's talk your favorite books from different genres. Sound off in the comments below!

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What are your favorite books from different genres?

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5 Favorite Reads of 2017 (So Far)

I'll openly admit I haven't read quite as much this year as I originally intended. This has been for a couple reasons, in part because I was flaring a lot at the beginning of the year and frequently found myself too exhausted to read (which is a thing, I learned), in part because I've been ridiculously busy and found myself with less reading time than usual, and in part because I also had an epic reading slump that really ate away at my reading motivation.

But that said! I've still read some really amazing books this year so far and I'd like to share my favorites until now. In no particular order:

Photo credit: Goodreads

History is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera
YA Contemporary

Goodreads summary:

"When Griffin’s first love and ex-boyfriend, Theo, dies in a drowning accident, his universe implodes. Even though Theo had moved to California for college and started seeing Jackson, Griffin never doubted Theo would come back to him when the time was right. But now, the future he’s been imagining for himself has gone far off course.

To make things worse, the only person who truly understands his heartache is Jackson. But no matter how much they open up to each other, Griffin’s downward spiral continues. He’s losing himself in his obsessive compulsions and destructive choices, and the secrets he’s been keeping are tearing him apart.

If Griffin is ever to rebuild his future, he must first confront his history, every last heartbreaking piece in the puzzle of his life."

Why I liked it: This book is a heartbreaker, and boy did it make me feel things from start to finish. I wrote a review talking about History in depth, but the short version is this story is raw, impactful, and just really beautifully written.

Photo credit: Goodreads

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzie Lee
YA Historical Fiction

Goodreads summary:

"Henry “Monty” Montague was born and bred to be a gentleman, but he was never one to be tamed. The finest boarding schools in England and the constant disapproval of his father haven’t been able to curb any of his roguish passions—not for gambling halls, late nights spent with a bottle of spirits, or waking up in the arms of women or men.

But as Monty embarks on his Grand Tour of Europe, his quest for a life filled with pleasure and vice is in danger of coming to an end. Not only does his father expect him to take over the family’s estate upon his return, but Monty is also nursing an impossible crush on his best friend and traveling companion, Percy.

Still it isn’t in Monty’s nature to give up. Even with his younger sister, Felicity, in tow, he vows to make this yearlong escapade one last hedonistic hurrah and flirt with Percy from Paris to Rome. But when one of Monty’s reckless decisions turns their trip abroad into a harrowing manhunt that spans across Europe, it calls into question everything he knows, including his relationship with the boy he adores."

Why I liked it: I'm actually still reading this one, but I'm about 90% done and I've been loving every step of the journey. It's hilarious, compelling, and I'll be honest, seeing a major chronically ill character on the page has meant a lot to me. As a bonus, the protagonist, Monty, is very clearly bi from the first page so the book is super queer and super awesome.

Photo credit: Goodreads

Adulthood is a Myth and Big Mushy Happy Lump by Sarah Andersen
Graphic Novel

Goodreads summary:

"These casually drawn, perfectly on-point comics by the hugely popular young Brooklyn-based artist Sarah Andersen are for the rest of us. They document the wasting of entire beautiful weekends on the internet, the unbearable agony of holding hands on the street with a gorgeous guy, and dreaming all day of getting home and back into pajamas. In other words, the horrors and awkwardnesses of young modern life. Oh and they are totally not autobiographical. At all.

Adulthood Is a Myth presents many fan favorites plus dozens of all-new comics exclusive to this book. Like the work of fellow Millennial authors Allie Brosh, Grace Helbig, and Gemma Correll, Sarah's frankness on personal issues like body image, self-consciousness, introversion, relationships, and the frequency of bra-washing makes her comics highly relatable and deeply hilarious."

Why I liked it: I'm lumping these together because they're both very quick reads and related—but I loved these graphic novels so much. They're incredibly funny to begin with, and also super relatable, full of sketches about anxiety, stumbling through adulthood, and relationships. I definitely recommend them both for a quick read that'll make you laugh.

Photo credit: Goodreads

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
YA Contemporary

Goodreads summary:

"Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil's name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.

But what Starr does or does not say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life."

Why I liked it: I obviously couldn't do a first half of 2017 book post without including THUG. I already reviewed this book and talked about why I felt it's so excellent and poignant, but the short version is the voice and story are both incredibly compelling and I truly believe it deserves every ounce of buzz it's gotten so far.

Photo credit: Goodreads

Scratch: Writers, Money, and the Art of Making a Living by Majula Martin
Writing Reference

Goodreads summary:

"A collection of essays from today’s most acclaimed authors—from Cheryl Strayed to Roxane Gay to Jennifer Weiner, Alexander Chee, Nick Hornby, and Jonathan Franzen—on the realities of making a living in the writing world.

In the literary world, the debate around writing and commerce often begs us to take sides: either writers should be paid for everything they do or writers should just pay their dues and count themselves lucky to be published. You should never quit your day job, but your ultimate goal should be to quit your day job. It’s an endless, confusing, and often controversial conversation that, despite our bare-it-all culture, still remains taboo. In Scratch, Manjula Martin has gathered interviews and essays from established and rising authors to confront the age-old question: how do creative people make money?

As contributors including Jonathan Franzen, Cheryl Strayed, Roxane Gay, Nick Hornby, Susan Orlean, Alexander Chee, Daniel Jose Older, Jennifer Weiner, and Yiyun Li candidly and emotionally discuss money, MFA programs, teaching fellowships, finally getting published, and what success really means to them, Scratch honestly addresses the tensions between writing and money, work and life, literature and commerce. The result is an entertaining and inspiring book that helps readers and writers understand what it’s really like to make art in a world that runs on money—and why it matters. Essential reading for aspiring and experienced writers, and for anyone interested in the future of literature, Scratch is the perfect bookshelf companion to On Writing, Never Can Say Goodbye, and MFA vs. NYC."

Why I liked it: Unsurprisingly, I wrote a review for this one too, so if you want in-depth details you can check that out. But the brief version is I largely found this book eye-opening, honest, and encouraging (though some who read it found it depressing, so YMMV).

So those cover my top five favorite reads so far. What are yours?

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Discussion: Top 5 TBR

Photo credit: Goodreads

So while I haven't had as much time (or motivation, if I'm being honest) to read as I would like, as of late, and I'm hopelessly behind on my Goodreads reading challenge, I still do have a schedule of books I'm itching to dive into, as always. Because while the never-ending TBR list is overwhelming, some books I own eventually find their way to the top for more immediate reading.

My top five TBR right now includes:

A Gathering of Shadows & A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab. Technically I'm cheating by including both books, but I'm nearing the end of my A Gathering of Shadows re-read (because it is a re-read) anyway. Next up will be A Conjuring of Light because the whole point of re-reading AGOS was to have everything fresh in my mind for ACOL. And honestly, I'm just impressed I haven't run into ACOL spoilers yet. (*knocks on wood*)

Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller. I am super blessed because I managed to get my hands on a Mask of Shadows ARC which immediately leapt to the top of my TBR pile because I've been dying to get this book since I first sneakily heard about it before the publication announcement was up. Which is to say forever ago, or at least, it feels that way. But I have a copy, so you can bet I'll be reading this as soon as I'm done with the Shades of Magic trilogy.

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzie Lee. Technically this isn't out yet but I have a pre-order and I figure it'll be out by the time I finish AGOS, ACOL, and Mask of Shadows. (Given how long I've been re-reading AGOS, it's a pretty safe bet.) Anyway! This is another I've been super excited about since I saw the pub announcement and I'm absolutely delighted it's been getting reviewed so well because I really want to love it. And judging by the sample I heard already, I'm sure I will. :D

The Girl From Everywhere & The Ship Beyond Time by Heidi Heilig. Cheating again with two books here, but like AGOS, my The Girl From Everywhere read is a re-read. I originally read TGFE way back in 2015 as an ARC, so I definitely want a refresher before I dive into my beautiful copy of The Ship Beyond Time. I expect it'll be a fun re-adventure.

Wildcard. Obviously this isn't a book, but I'm letting myself cheat because technically I already have six books on this list. I'm not quite sure what I'll read after I get through this list, but I have a pretty large selection of unread books I own, so that won't be a problem. But I suppose it'll depend on my mood after I've read these books. Whatever I settle on, I'm sure it'll be excellent. :)

What books are on your top five TBR?

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7 Diverse Fall 2017 Books I'm Psyched About

Somehow, the fall 2017 publication season is not that far away. Earlier in the year I did a diverse books for 2017 post, but I only covered the first half of the year, so now it's time to take a look at the books going forward that sound amazing.

I've been psyched about most of these for quite some time. Because they sound incredible.

Without further ado, here are seven I'm looking forward to:

Photo credit: Goodreads

The Girl with the Red Balloon by Katherine Locke (September 1)
YA Historical Fantasy

Goodreads summary:

"When sixteen-year-old Ellie Baum accidentally time-travels via red balloon to 1988 East Berlin, she’s caught up in a conspiracy of history and magic. She meets members of an underground guild in East Berlin who use balloons and magic to help people escape over the Wall—but even to the balloon makers, Ellie’s time travel is a mystery. When it becomes clear that someone is using dark magic to change history, Ellie must risk everything—including her only way home—to stop the process."

Diversity note: Ellie is Jewish (#ownvoices).

Photo credit: Goodreads

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera (September 5)

YA Contemporary

Goodreads summary:

"On September 5, a little after midnight, Death-Cast calls Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio to give them some bad news: They’re going to die today. Mateo and Rufus are total strangers, but, for different reasons, they’re both looking to make a new friend on their End Day. The good news: There’s an app for that. It’s called the Last Friend, and through it, Rufus and Mateo are about to meet up for one last great adventure—to live a lifetime in a single day."

Diversity note: Mateo (and possibly Rufus?) are Latino, and I'm guessing they are queer boys too (#ownvoices).

Photo credit: Goodreads

Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller (September 5)

YA Fantasy

Goodreads summary:

"Sallot Leon is a thief, and a good one at that. But gender fluid Sal wants nothing more than to escape the drudgery of life as a highway robber and get closer to the upper-class―and the nobles who destroyed their home.

When Sal steals a flyer for an audition to become a member of The Left Hand―the Queen's personal assassins, named after the rings she wears―Sal jumps at the chance to infiltrate the court and get revenge.

But the audition is a fight to the death filled with clever circus acrobats, lethal apothecaries, and vicious ex-soldiers. A childhood as a common criminal hardly prepared Sal for the trials. And as Sal succeeds in the competition, and wins the heart of Elise, an intriguing scribe at court, they start to dream of a new life and a different future, but one that Sal can have only if they survive."

Diversity note: Sal is gender fluid.

Photo credit: Goodreads

27 Hours by Tristina Wright (October 3)

YA Sci-Fi

Goodreads summary:

"Rumor Mora fears two things: hellhounds too strong for him to kill, and failure. Jude Welton has two dreams: for humans to stop killing monsters, and for his strange abilities to vanish.

But in no reality should a boy raised to love monsters fall for a boy raised to kill them.
Nyx Llorca keeps two secrets: the moon speaks to her, and she’s in love with Dahlia, her best friend. Braeden Tennant wants two things: to get out from his mother's shadow, and to unlearn Epsilon's darkest secret.

They’ll both have to commit treason to find the truth.

During one twenty-seven-hour night, if they can’t stop the war between the colonies and the monsters from becoming a war of extinction, the things they wish for will never come true, and the things they fear will be all that’s left."

Diversity note: I've heard the representation includes characters who are bisexual (#ownvoices), gay, pansexual, asexual, trans, deaf, and POC.

Photo credit: Goodreads

Not Your Villain by C.B. Lee (October 5)

YA Fantasy (Graphic novel)

Goodreads summary:

"Bells Broussard thought he had it made when his superpowers manifested early. Being a shapeshifter is awesome. He can change his hair whenever he wants, and if putting on a binder for the day is too much, he’s got it covered. But that was before he became the country’s most-wanted villain.

After discovering a massive cover-up by the Heroes’ League of Heroes, Bells and his friends Jess, Emma, and Abby set off on a secret mission to find the Resistance. Meanwhile, power-hungry former hero Captain Orion is on the loose with a dangerous serum that renders meta-humans powerless, and a new militarized robotic threat emerges. Everyone is in danger. Between college applications and crushing on his best friend, will Bells have time to take down a corrupt government?

Sometimes, to do a hero’s job, you need to be a villain."

Diversity note: Bells is a trans guy.

Photo credit: Goodreads

Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao (October 10)

YA Fantasy

Goodreads summary:

"Eighteen-year-old Xifeng is beautiful. The stars say she is destined for greatness, that she is meant to be Empress of Feng Lu. But only if she embraces the darkness within her. Growing up as a peasant in a forgotten village on the edge of the map, Xifeng longs to fulfill the destiny promised to her by her cruel aunt, the witch Guma, who has read the cards and seen glimmers of Xifeng's majestic future. But is the price of the throne too high?

Because in order to achieve greatness, she must spurn the young man who loves her and exploit the callous magic that runs through her veins--sorcery fueled by eating the hearts of the recently killed. For the god who has sent her on this journey will not be satisfied until his power is absolute."

Diversity note: This is an #ownvoices East Asian fantasy reimagining.

Photo credit: Goodreads

Whichwood by Tahereh Mafi

MG Fantasy

Goodreads summary:

"Our story begins on a frosty night…

Laylee can barely remember the happier times before her beloved mother died. Before her father, driven by grief, lost his wits (and his way). Before she was left as the sole remaining mordeshoor in the village of Whichwood, destined to spend her days washing the bodies of the dead and preparing their souls for the afterlife. It’s become easy to forget and easier still to ignore the way her hands are stiffening and turning silver, just like her hair, and her own ever-increasing loneliness and fear.

But soon, a pair of familiar strangers appears, and Laylee’s world is turned upside down as she rediscovers color, magic, and the healing power of friendship. "

Diversity note: This is an #ownvoices dark Persian fantasy.

So that's a sampling of the books I'm psyched for this fall. What diverse falls books are you looking forward to?

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Guest Post: What Reading Picture Books Can Teach You About Writing Novels by M.E. Bond

Photo credit: Megan Hemphill (Prairie & Co) on Flickr

With three kids under five I read a lot of picture books. In fact we usually have two dozen different picture books out from the library at any given time. So how can I use all this reading to benefit my writing, even though I'm working on adult novels? I came up with six ways to use picture books to my advantage; I think they'll help you, too.

Mimic plot and structure. If you stop and think about what makes a satisfying picture book, you're sure to find applications for novel-writing. How is conflict introduced and resolved? How are surprise endings constructed? How do repeated imagery and phrases tie the story together?

Reflect on rhyme and rhythm. You're probably not writing your novel in rhyme, but the rhyme and rhythm in a good picture book will inspire you to think about word choice and the cadence of your sentences.

Know what to leave unsaid. Often the best part of reading picture books is studying the relationship between the words and pictures. Think about what you want to convey with your writing and what you should leave to your reader's imagination.

Consider different ways to approach a story. You'll often find picture books on the same topics – be it counting, welcoming a new baby, or getting ready for bed – not to mention those based on traditional stories (like these two retellings of the same Jewish folktale). Let them guide you as you take some time to think about different approaches to story-telling.

Find inspiration. The subject matter of picture books may well give you an idea for your next novel or an addition to your work in progress. For example, any of these 17 picture books about historical heroines could spawn a dramatic adult novel.

Remember the joy of writing. When you're pressed for time reading aloud a beloved picture book may be the best way to remind yourself of the wonder of words and the magic of stories. Then you can press on, reinvigorated, to tackle your adult projects.

How do picture books inspire you? (And which are your favourite?)

M.E. Bond is a part-time writer and full-time mother living in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She spends her writing time blogging about history, archives, and libraries, and endlessly revising her first novel, a mystery set on a university campus.

Blog | Twitter | Goodreads (including two shelves of favorite picture books)

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On Reading Slumps

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I'm not sure if this is a busy-ness thing, a dealing with a whole lot of words thing, or a tiredness thing (or maybe all three?) but I've been dealing with a bit of a reading slump lately.

It's not like I don't have good books to read (that is definitely not a problem *eyes growing TBR shelf*), but I've been finding that my motivation to read has just been...waning. Which it shouldn't be, because there've been so many books I want to read but when I sit down to actually get through some pages, I've been super easily distracted and just...in general struggling.

Maybe it's partially what I've been reading too? I've been enjoying the last several books overall, but it seems even when I'm invested the motivation has been lacking. I'm mostly hoping this too shall pass and I'll be back to my regular reading motivation levels soon, but for now it's been a struggle with nearly everything I've tried to read, which has been annoying.

#bookworm problems, I suppose. Or overworking problems, maybe.

I'm curious, though: what do you guise do when you hit a reading slump? What has gotten you through it?

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On Learning From What You Read

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It's often repeated that one of the few rules without exception in the writing world is if you want to be a good writer, you must read. Reading is essential for writers for a variety of reasons: it keeps you aware of what's out there and what's selling, it shows you what's already been done and what's popular, and it gives you the opportunity to really consider what works and what doesn't for every novel you pick up.

I've gotten questions about that last point in particular, namely, how do you analyze the books you read to apply lessons to your own writing?

For me, I find that most of my analysis is passive. I'll quietly consider voice, tense, and stylistic choices as I read, really only paying close attention when it's an usual tense (second person, third person present, etc) or when the voice is very different from anything I've read before (Half Bad, The Hate U Give, and so on). When a book has a lot of POVs, I'll ask myself as I read why (and whether) each POV is necessary and whether or not I think it works. I'll sometimes find myself asking how I would improve a sentence—or if a sentence is really well-written, I'll sometimes re-read it and consider why I like it so much.

Then when I go back to my own writing, I kind of have two modes of applying what I've learned. When I specifically want to evoke a similar technique or stylistic thing, I'll sometimes open up the book I learned it from and re-read a section so it's fresh in my mind as I consider how I'll write. But most of the time, the lessons I've learned come out passively—they embed into my writing as I first draft, and more often as I revise and consider how to improve a manuscript. I'll often find that something especially reminiscent from a book will stick with me for years—even without re-reading—and as I write I'll occasionally recognize what book I learned a particular technique from.

I know some writers take notes when something sticks out to them from a book, and that's cool too—I could definitely see that paying off. But the passive application of just paying attention while I read and asking myself questions as I go along has worked well for me so far—and maybe it'll work for you too.

How do you learn from books you've read?

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Discussion: How Do You Feel About Hyped Books?

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For the most part, I've generally had good experiences with hyped books. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli, The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, and Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, for example, were all pretty intensely hyped books that completely lived up to the hype for me.

But there have also been more than a handful of hyped books that I was cautiously interested in—or even very interested in—until early reviews came out, revealing problematic elements or disappointing things that made me remove the book from my TBR. Many have gone on to continue to be successful, but the early reviews made me pause and think twice before picking them up—for which I'm glad.

But there is always the chance, of course, that the massive hype surrounding a book will inflate expectations so much that it'll be hard for the book to live up to it. I think the closest experience I've had with that is a YA book I was really looking forward to for a specific aspect of representation—until a review came out with really troubling information and I pulled the book from my TBR. But I think, in most cases, I've been able to avoid too much disappointment in that area by either only pre-ordering the books if it's from an author I've loved before or if people I trust have said they read and loved an early copy of the book. By being somewhat cautious in that sense, I've been able to cut down on some reading experiences I wouldn't have enjoyed otherwise.

So I suppose, in a sense, the same source of (much of the) hype—social media—can also serve as a buffer for disappointment if you follow the right people. So for me, when I see a book getting hyped and I see people I trust giving it a thumbs up I can pretty safely pre-order without worry of disappointment. And it's worked well so far.

How do you feel about hyped books?

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Discussion: What Are Your Favorite MG Reads?

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I've kind of made a pact with myself that I'd like to read more Middle Grade this year, in large part because even though most of what I read is YA, my experience with MG has always been positive. From Artemis Fowl, to the Percy Jackson series, to The False Prince trilogy, to George, and The Last Great Adventure of the PB&J Society, I've really yet to pick up a Middle Grade book I didn't enjoy.

My knowledge of Middle Grade books, however, is super limited. I've got quite a few excellent ones on my TBR, like The Gauntlet, Ravenous, Furthermore, The Lost Hero, The Sword of Summer, The Pants Project, Finding Perfect, Some Kind of Happiness, Amina's Voice , Love Sugar Magic, and Escape from Aleppo, but as I'd like to expand my Middle Grade repertoire, I figured what better way than to ask.

So who are your favorite MG authors? What are your favorite MG books? I'm especially trying to focus on MG reads with marginalized characters, if at all possible, but I'm pretty open to anything as long as it's well-paced. Shout out your recs!

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Discussion: Do You Power Through Slow Openings?

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So I'm currently reading This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab, which I've been reading on and off for over a month now. Yes, a month. This is an interesting case because while I tested the book before buying and loved the opening (I mean, it starts with a teen girl burning down an (empty) school chapel with the explicit aim of getting expelled from said school, which is a pretty sweet hook if I've ever read one), and while I loved the writing and was interested by the fascinated world building...for some reason it just didn't grab me at first.

I still haven't really pinned down what it was, exactly, that made it so easy for me to put the book down and not feel super motivated to pick it up again later. It wasn't like I was bored while I was reading (I wasn't!) but I guess I just wasn't invested in the first 100 pages as I generally like to be.

Over the weekend, however, I sat down and power through the pages partially because I felt bad for letting it sit there for a month, partially because my Goodreads challenge was (is) yelling at me, partially because my pre-orders of A Conjuring of Light, The Hate U Give, and The Ship Beyond Time are all arriving soon and I have some re-reads I need to get started on, and partially because I really wanted to finish it before picking up another YA. So I sat and read and after I got beyond the 100-page mark, I found it was not-so-difficult to keep reading because I was finally invested (yay!) and I ended up reading over 200 pages that day.

So now I've made good progress (finally) and I'm super hooked to the story (so hooked I chose to read it instead of playing more Final Fantasy XV, which is saying a lot) and I'll probably finish it before this posts. But all of that made me think about how usually, when I pick up a book with a slow opening in the store, or I hear about books with slow openings in reviews...I tend to walk away.

Granted this was a special case because the opening wasn't slow and I couldn't have predicted that the first 100 pages wouldn't pull me in despite liking so many elements, but the situation is similar. In my own writing, I always make sure to try to do my best to have a compelling opening, because I'm well aware a lot of readers testing a book won't give you the chance of a 100 pages for the story to get interesting unless they already like your writing—meaning they've already read your previous books and are willing to give you the benefit of the doubt—or for some, they've been told to read past the slow part and they're willing to do it.

When working with unpublished writers, my advice is similar—to make sure you have a compelling hook, because most agents and readers won't wait around for the story to get good for a writer they don't know.

But I think that's the key there, too—This Savage Song isn't the first Schwab book I've read, so even if I'd been bored by the opening, I still may have very well given the book a chance because I already know I love her work. Same goes for those pre-orders coming in save for The Hate You Give, which is a debut, but I pre-ordered them all without testing because I either already love the author's writing or I trust the people who've read the book and said it was awesome.

While I admit I don't test books quite as often as I used to because I tend to rely more heavily on word of mouth these days, I still tend to follow the unspoken agreement with myself that I won't waste my time on a boring book because quite frankly, I have way too much to read. So if I test a book out and don't love the opening—I put it back. Or if I browse book reviews and see more than one say they found the first third slow—I don't add it to my TBR.

But given my experience with This Savage Song, which I will probably be recommending with the caveat of "power through the first 100 pages," it does make me wonder how many other books I've passed by that I would actually enjoy after the first third or so.

I won't be finding out because I'm still keeping to my agreement with myself because I really shouldn't be taking over a month to finish a book. But it's interesting to think about nevertheless.

Do you power through slow openings? Always? In certain cases? Never? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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On Clearing Out Your TBR List

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I currently have 275 books on my TBR list. This is actually a pretty decent improvement—not too long ago I had over 320, and while scrolling through my list it occurred to me many of those books had been on that list for years.

For some of the books, that's okay—when I opened the summaries again I found I still wanted to read them, so I'll probably pick them up from my library sometime. Others, however, while looking at the summaries I realized I...probably wasn't going to get to them.

The truth was, my enormous TBR list was starting to feel a little overwhelming. So I went through my list and started removing books for these reasons:

Reviews of poor representation. While this isn't an automatic no for me, especially if there's multiple groups represented and only one has an issue, if I was already iffy about the book, this made it easy for me to remove. At this point, I've decided I honestly just have too much to read to make time for super problematic books. If an issue is small, and I'm still really interested in the book, then I may very well read with the criticism in mind—but if it was a huge problem, or an issue I'm sick of seeing, then this made it easy for me to pull a book off my TBR.

Sequels for books I haven't read yet. I suppose I originally added sequels for books I haven't read so I wouldn't forget about them—but it occurred to me that especially for a series longer than three books, it really didn't make sense for sequels to take up space on my shelf when I wasn't sure how much I'd like the previous books.

Books I'd added years ago that I'm not enthusiastic about anymore. I mean, this happens—and I had to remind myself it's okay that my tastes have changed over the years.

Books I own...but don't really want to read anymore. I'll admit I felt bad about this one—I have ARCs from a conference in 2014 that I'd 100% intended to read and review when I got them, but I ended up not getting around to. Some of them I still plan to read, but some of them I've lost interest, so I've decided to donate them so someone will still get some enjoyment out of them.

Between the four I was able to trim down my TBR a pretty sizable amount. And while it likely won't last because I stumble on new books that sound amazing every day, it did provide a useful refresh to more accurately represent when I'm currently interested in reading.

Have you cleared out your TBR list recently?

Twitter-sized bite:

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The Quiet Joys of Re-Reading

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Even though I'm behind on my yearly reading goal at the moment, and have been over a month, I've been doing some re-reading lately.

The first was Six of Crows, mostly because I wanted to dive into Crooked Kingdom without worrying about not remembering details or minor characters. This turned out to be a smart decision, because while I remembered the overall plot, I'd forgotten a lot of the details. As a bonus, Six of Crows is one of my favorite books ever, so it deserved a re-read anyway.

Right now, I'm finishing up my re-read of Illuminae by Jay Kristoff and Amy Kaufman, once again because I have the sequel (Gemina) and want to go in with the previous book fresh in my mind. This is also proving to be a good decision, not only because I'd forgotten details (which I had, even though I technically finished reading it for the first time this year), but also because it's been really interesting to go through it already knowing the twists. Plus there was one major twist I'd forgotten about, and then remembered before it was revealed, so it's been pretty fascinating to look for the clues and foreshadowing going in. Also, I don't really remember how it ended, so there's that minor tidbit.

Earlier in the year I also re-read Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban for the fifth time, for two of my classes. That was also fascinating, because my last read had been years prior, so it was really cool to re-experience everything I loved about it the first (five) times and read it a little more analytically.

So even though my yearly reading challenge has been yelling at me, it's been a nice change of pace to sit and re-read some of my favorite books before diving into the sequel. And I do think it's productive—examining what it was, exactly, that you liked so much the first time can be a great way to learn. Every time to read a book, you can walk away with something a little different—and to me, that journey never gets old.

Do you enjoy re-reading books?

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What Books Must You Read Before 2017?

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So, incredibly we have just over two months left of 2016 which means, if you're anything like me, you're looking at your reading challenge and laughing nervously about how you're going to read seventeen more books before the end of the year. Or you're looking at your TBR shelf and thinking about what books you want to squeeze in before the New Year. Or both.

I am firmly in the both category and thought it might be fun to talk about what books you guys plan to definitely (try) to read before 2017. Because my list is growing, which is good because those seventeen books aren't going to read themselves.

The books on my list include:

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
Gemina by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman
Last Seen Leaving by Caleb Roehrig
This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab
The Last Leaves Falling by Fox Benwell (w/a Sarah Benwell)
All the Rage by Courtney Summers
Killer Instinct by S.E. Green
Timekeeper by Tara Sim
Fear the Drowning Deep by Sarah Marsh
Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit by Jaye Robin Brown
Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed
Bad Boy by Elliot Wake
Gena/Finn by Hannah Moskowitz and Kat Helgeson
More graphic novels/comics?
Some writing craft books?
Definitely others I'm not remembering at the moment.

Most of those I either own, have pre-ordered, or have ARCs for, and the rest I plan to hunt down at my library, which I've confirmed are there. And because of course it's totally not too early to be thinking about Christmas list books, I'll be asking for these:

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake
When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore
As I Descended by Robin Talley
Labryinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova
Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst
A Darkly Beating Heart by Lindsay Smith
Fear the Drowning Deep by Sarah Glenn Marsh
Timekeeper by Tara Sim
Probably others

How about you? What do you aim to read before 2017 and/or plan to ask for in December?

Twitter-sized bite:

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Vlog: Where to Find Books to Read

Love reading, but not sure where to find your next TBR? Today I'm answering a question from a vlog viewer: where to find books to read.

RELATED LINKS:

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On Book Binges

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So it's the last day of August and last weekend I realized I was four books behind schedule in my reading challenge. I already mentioned last week why that was, but now I've sent off Into the Black to my CPs, so I'll have a little more time to read over the next two weeks than I did before. Which means, of course, trying to squeeze in a book binge.

In the past, when I've fallen behind on my reading, I'd take a day to do a reading binge by selecting the shortest books in my physical To Read bookshelf, sitting down, and reading it all in a sitting or two in the same day. That worked marvelously and was really fun to do—until I sort of ran out of short books I could do this with. Oops!

So this time I started doing something a little different. I read a lot of the book I'm in the middle of (Skandal by Lindsay Smith), but I also headed over to my library's website to see what Middle Grade books they have that I could pick up, because I've been wanting to read more Middle Grade anyway and they tend to be shorter than the YA books waiting for me on my To Read shelf. This was a great plan and everything, until I learned my library had just paired up with Hoopla, which is a service that provides digital comic books, e-books, music and movies to library patrons.

And I was delighted. Because I could dive into the graphic novels and comics I'd been wanting to read anyway without leaving the house (win!).

So that's what I'm doing now. I read two volumes of The Wicked + The Divine which was interesting, but after reading poor reviews for the third volume I decided to move on to Rat Queens which I am loving. I wanted to read Amulet and Ms. Marvel but it doesn't look like Hoopla has them right now, so I'll save those for another time. But pretty much all of my graphic novel reads on Hoopla were recommended by readers here on Writability because you guys rock, so thank you. I read three graphic novels in 36 hours and want to read another volume of Rat Queens today, so I'll definitely be back on target in no time.

But I'm curious how you guys book binge, if you've ever book binged, because I am happy to learn your book binging secrets and tips. So throw them at me!

What book binging tips do you have?

Twitter-sized bite:

What strategies do you use for a book binge? Join the discussion on @Ava_Jae's blog. (Click to tweet)

What I've Been Reading

So somewhat unsurprisingly, this month I've fallen behind on my yearly reading goal. I say somewhat unsurprisingly because I'm revising on deadline, and also have been sick more than usual, and also it was the Olympics (which ate up a bunch of my reading time) so I was kind of expecting it. But that said, I have still been reading and while I haven't had the chance to write up any formal reviews, I figured it'd be fun to talk about some of the books I've read recently a little about why I liked them.

So here we go!

Photo credit: Goodreads

The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi

I've been wanting to read this one since I first heard about it, and it was beautiful. The writing, the incredibly unique fantasy incorporating Indian mythology—gah there was so much about this book that I was just heart eyes over. I've heard some people say they found it a little hard to get into at first, and all I've got to say is keep reading if you can because I really loved this beautifully complicated world and the truly gorgeous imagery and writing that went along with it, even as I was initially incredibly frustrated with the protagonist. ;)

Photo credit: Goodreads

Slasher Girls & Monster Boys edited by April Geneviece Tucholke, with Stefan Bachmann, Leigh Bardugo, Kendare Blake, A.G. Howard, Jay Kristoff, Marie Lu, Jonathan Maberry, Danielle Page, Carrie Ryan, Megan Shepherd, Nova Ren Suma, McCormick Templeman and Cat Winters

I mentioned reading this anthology before, but I hadn't finished it last time I talked about it and now I have! I really enjoyed this anthology—and I can say a story scared me for the first time ever because while I was fine while reading it, as soon as I turned off the lights and glanced at my open closet...I had to get up and close the doors for reasons. I have maybe been closing those doors more than ever since I read a particular story in there. >.<

Anyway, these stories were disturbing, and unsettling, and creepy, and I definitely give it a thumbs up if you like scary stories.

Sekret and Skandal by Lindsay Smith

I just recently finished Sekret and I've just started Skandal and they've been a fun read! I don't often read historical stuff, but this is historical fantasy, and this blend of fantasy—psychic spies—was just too awesome to pass up. I've never read about telepathic teens quite like this before and seeing Smith's unique blend of psychic writing plus the Cold War era has definitely been entertaining thus far. I'm curious to see how the duology ends!

So those are my most recent four books that I've read/been reading—what have you been reading over the last couple months?

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