Waiting on Wednesday!

So, I decided to join in on the Waiting on Wednesday fun. This meme was created by Break the Spine.

This week's Waiting on Wednesday is The Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but The Mortal Instruments is one of my favorite series. Ms. Clare likes to post little teaser excerpts and quotes from the book on her Twitter and Google Group, which makes me even more excited for the new series! Anyway, I think that this will be one hell of a good read. It will be coming out in the US on August 31, 2010.

Slightly cheesy synopsis:
Magic is dangerous—but love is more dangerous still.

When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination 
is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting 
for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk 
stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world 
of demons, keep order amidst the chaos.

Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, members of a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa soon learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare 
ability: the power to transform, at will, into another person. What's more, the Magister, 
the shadowy figure who runs the Club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa's power for his
 own.

Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute,
 who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds 
herself fascinated by—and torn between—two best friends: James, whose fragile beauty 
hides a deadly secret, and blue-eyed Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods keep 
everyone in his life at arm's length . . . everyone, that is, but Tessa. As their search draws 
them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy the Shadowhunters, 
Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping her 
new friends save the world. . . . and that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.
(from amazon)

*I promise I will have reviews for Audrey, Wait!, Little Blog on the Prairie, and 
The Returners up by Monday!

I decided to try out this new thing called sleep everyone's been raving about, which 
means not much free time left.

Random Question of the Week!

I'm one of those people who wonder about very random topics throughout the week. I've decided to start posting some of these questions here, and I would love to read your thoughts on them!

This week's question is:

Why did you start blogging in the first place?


I decided to start blogging after Staysi, my lovely friend in the real world (YES, THE REAL WORLD!), told me about her blog while we were scouring Barnes and Noble looking for books on palm reading and Greece one day. She told me a little about blogging, but I didn't think much of it until I visited her site, which lead to me discover a lot of other great blogs out there. I'm a very opinionated person, so I thought that a blog would be the perfect place to store all of my thoughts. Now I actually have some people who read my posts, which is amazing! So, that's how it started for me and I would love to hear your stories on how you got started too!

Suite Scarlett Review!

Overall Rating: 3.6
Characters: 3.2
Plot: 3.8
Cover Art: 4

Favorite Line:
The entire verbal smack down Scarlett gives to Marlene. It was awesome and well deserved.

Synopsis:
Scarlett Martin has grown up in a most unusual way. Her family owns the Hopewell, a small hotel in the heart of New York City. Her nineteen-year-old brother, Spencer, is an out of work actor facing a family deadline to get his career in order. Eighteen-year-old Lola has the delicate looks of a model, the practical nature of a nurse, and a wealthy society boyfriend. Eleven-year-old Marlene is the family terror with a tragic past.   When the Martins turn fifteen, they are each expected to take over the care of a suite in the once elegant, now shabby Art Deco hotel. For Scarlett’s fifteenth birthday, she gets both a room called the Empire Suite, and a permanent guest named Mrs. Amberson. Scarlett doesn’t quite know what to make of this C-list starlet, world traveler, and aspiring autobiographer who wants to take over her life. And when she meets Eric, an astonishingly gorgeous actor who has just moved to the city, her summer takes a second unexpected turn.   With Mrs. Amberson calling the shots, Spencer’s career to save, Lola’s love life to navigate around, and Marlene’s prying eyes everywhere, things won’t be easy. Before the summer is over, Scarlett will have to survive a whirlwind of thievery, Broadway glamour, romantic missteps, and theatrical deception.

Suite Scarlett is a light and fun tale of a dramatic teenager learning to deal...
I'm just going to get it out of the way now, I absolutely adore Maureen Johnson. Seriously, The Bermudez Triangle made me worship her. Now that that's over with I'll get on with it. Scarlett is a teenage girl living in a not so lucrative hotel that her family owns. All she wants is to get a job so she'll have money to do things with her very wealthy friends. The plan is on track, until Mrs. Amberson moves into the room Scarlett is assigned to take care of. I love Mrs. Amberson. I think she's a complete riot and reminds me of the old socialite you get stuck next to at Starbucks. You know, the one that will throw the barista out the door if she has three ice cubes instead of two. I also love Spencer. He's the awesome guy that you talk to at a party once but never forget, the one that sheds a little light on any situation. (Can you tell I'm into analogies today?) Now onto the characters that I hate with a burning passion. First up, we have Marlene. This one hits home, because I know someone who is exactly like her. He had cancer when he was in first grade (I was in his class that year, and will never forget him leaving the same time every wednesday to get treatments). Anyway, after he was cured everyone treated him like royalty and I totally understood that. The only problem is now he's a complete and total jerk. Hello Marlene-male edition. So yeah, I hate her. One of my favorite parts in the entire book was when Scarlett called her out on the Queen Bee act and basically told her where she could shove it. Another one of my favorite parts was when Spencer decked Eric. I guess that gives away the next character I dislike, Eric. I don't hate him nearly as much as Marlene, but I'm not a fan. I'm still not buying the whole, "I'm perfect because I'm from the South" routine he keeps trying to pull. If he becomes some mass murderer in the sequel I will scream "I told you so" to the high heavens. Now that I've very thoroughly described my thoughts on almost every character, let's dive into the plot. Mrs. Amberson's antics make the story. She adds pizazz to any scene she's in, and makes you wish she was a guest in your house. The rest of the plot isn't up to the par I've come to expect from Ms. Johnson. The main idea of this book is that you're following Scarlett on her journey through the summer as her world is turned upside down. The problem is that most of the problems aren't her problems at all. Besides her Eric issues (which I'll get to next), her siblings are the ones with all the drama. Spencer's acting career takes the spotlight for most of the novel, and besides Scarlett wanting to help her brother, it doesn't involve her. Then, she meets Eric. His character traits are hot, southern, and actor. Scarlett knows basically nothing about him besides a few stories he tells her and yet she becomes completely obsessed. He should literally mean nothing to her and yet she's desperate to see him all the time. Then, when she finds out some unflattering things about him she's irrationally surprised. After that, she of course becomes infatuated again. Even though it may seem like I've done a lot of bashing in this post, I actually did enjoy this book. Even though I didn't like every detail, I did enjoy other parts of the story. I recommend to anyone looking for a light read for spring break.

Happy Endings and Why I Hate Them

No, I don't hate all happy endings, and yes that title was supposed to catch your attention. (; I've been inspired recently by a lot of posts about certain parts of YA fiction and blogging in general to share some of my opinions. You, being educated people, have probably already realized the topic of this rant, the happy ending. This is also known as the point in a book where I groan in frustration if every single problem that any character had or ever will have is solved and all questions are answered. I truly love when you get to the end of a book and there are a few questions left dangling and maybe a few problems still linger. It makes the characters (and the story in general) seem real and alive, like they're still out there trying to figure their lives out a little. When a story's ending is handed over wrapped up tight in a twinkling little package filled with rainbows and sunshine, it dies there. There's no more mystery, and no chance that there's more going on in the magical, imaginary dimension in which the book is set.

Honestly, I feel that some of the magic is lost. I truly hate to name names, but a prime example of a horribly  happy ending is Breaking Dawn. My reaction to finishing it went a little like this: "Aw, they all survived but Irina and they found all the answers to their questions about the child with the really long, impossible to pronounce name... What the hell?" Don't get me wrong, I did like Twilight and The Host was great, but it's just that that particular ending is one of the worst I've ever read. I'm not saying that every novel should finish on the high note of death and decay (I'm not saying any novel should have that), just that the conclusion needs to be realistic. Life imitates art imitates life, right?

It seems that a number of readers prefer these lackluster conclusions to what I believe are more interesting closings. I'm part of a few mailing lists and Google Groups, and most of the others on those actually get angry when an author doesn't reveal every single detail. They argued that an ending needs to leave you feeling elated. I, as you can see, do not agree at all. One of my favorite endings made me ball my eyes out, and not from joy. It was heartbreaking, but it made me reassess my views on what living really is and also death. I believe that those are the best kinds of books, the ones that make you think. You don't sit down and go "Hmmm, what did I think about that message?", it just comes to you. The best thing that anything you read can do is affect you, in any way at all. There are thousands of wonderful books out there that do just that, but I think this 'so happy that it's dull' syndrome is starting to become chronic in recently released YA books. Once again, I'm not knocking anyone, just stating something that I've noticed.

Now that I've done my talking, I'd love to hear from you! Leave a comment, and I might include it in a follow-up post.

Author Interview: Cathleen Davitt Bell!

Staysi and I were lucky enough to meet Ms. Bell at the massive signing in New York, and she agreed to answer some questions for me. Enjoy!

-When did you realize that you wanted to write for a living?

I always knew I wanted to write. I was so little when I started thinking about it that I didn’t so much have a concept of making a living at it. I was more attracted to the idea of the furious scribbling, the hours of sequestering myself, the emergence with something that has been transformed. I really loved the image created by Louisa May Alcott in Little Women of Jo March hiding out in the attic with a bowl of apples and a sheaf of paper, coming downstairs ink stained, with her hair askew, a story in her hands.

-Does anyone really stand out for inspiring you to become an author?

My father was a professor, and I was very impressed that he had a book. And I LOVED seeing my own name in the dedication. But my real inspiration is the experience I had reading. When I finish a good book, I am so excited to get down to writing myself. When a writer is really good, they make it look easy...and that makes me want to give it a try myself. 

- Slipping is a ghost story, so is there any ghost story that truly terrified you?

Many ghost stories have scared me—and I scared myself a little as I was writing Slipping––but the real live ghost story that actually happened to me wasn’t scary at all. It was funny. It involved my father who died, his house, and Roto Rooter. When I’ve done school visits and kids have visited my website, this is the story they ask me to tell. If any of your readers want to check it out, you can get to it here: http://www.cathleendavittbell.com/myghoststory.html. 

-What are you currently reading?

I’m reading a lovely book about a boy who escapes feeling like a loser in eighth grade by stepping out of himself and helping others. It’s by my friend (get ready, she has a big name...) Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovitch (she goes by Gbemi). She and I have kids who are the same age and have been in the same class two years in a row at school. Since I’ve known her, this book, her first, has been in production, and it’s so fun and fantastic to read it now. It’s called 8th Grade Super Zero and you can read more about it at www.olugbemisola.com.

Before that I’d read Lorrie Moore’s Gate at the Top of the Stairs, about a girl in college who babysits for a family that adopts a baby girl and then has to let her go. It was heartbreaking.

And before that I read Justine Lardbalestier’s LIAR, which was chilling. At one point, I literally threw the book across the room. At another point, I felt like it was inspiring me to write in an entirely new way. By the end I had that fantastic What the Heck? feeling I used to get watching the Twilight Zone, when the nee-nee-nee-nee music came on at the end: totally freaked out.

-Now a tough one, what is your all-time favorite book and who is your favorite author?

I mentioned above that my dad was a professor. Well, we had the entire canon of British Literature in our living room in cheap paperback editions that publishers mail professors for free, hoping they’ll make all their students buy them for class. (My dad had the American canon in his office.) Every time I was looking for a good book, he’d go to the shelf behind the piano and pull down a dusty paperback that would inevitably have yellowing pages and some sort of oil painting on the front, and tell me to get reading. I really can’t say that I’ve found any books in my life that can beat that first reading of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I reread it a few years ago and found the writing alarming and clear and fresh. Jane was such a complicated child — angry, rebellious, full of hope and faith that there can be more. And then when she grows up, she’s tamed, but she never loses her fire.

I don’t know that that’s my favorite book of all time though. When I was sixteen I read my mom’s old edition of the complete works of Jane Austen straight through. I’ve read some of those novels over and over. Persuasion remains my favorite. I go back to them again and again and find something new every time. The love stories are what you remember and then they fade and you’re left with the perfection of pacing, of dialog, of holding back of information, of getting every single motive and emotion just right and in a not-a-big-deal kind of way. 

 -Random: Who is your favorite character(book/tv/movie/comic/cartoon)?

Maybe Sidney Bristow in Alias. How cool was she? I find that when I watch movies or TV shows with really cool characters in them I feel like I am just a little bit cooler myself. Does this happen to everyone?

-What's one thing that the readers don't know about you?

I played Ultimate Frisbee in college and I was horrible. I was team captain and had a great time even though I could barely throw the frisbee in a straight line (everyone else who qualified was away on study abroad). 

-Can you tell us a little about your inspiration for Little Blog on the Prairie, and about the story itself?

When I was nine, I amused myself in a car trip designing a vacation camp I thought would be awesome: you’d go to a farm, get dressed up in old fashioned clothes, and live like you were on the frontier. One day two summers ago, I was walking down the street remembering that idea and I started to laugh thinking about what a modern teenager might think of that experience. Thus, Little Blog on the Prairie was born.

In the book, a 14-year-old girl named Gen is forced by her mom to go to family frontier camp. She has to leave everything she loves behind––the computer, the phone, shorts, her phone. The cabin they’re staying in doesn’t have screens, the bugs are bad, the chickens are on the war path and don’t even get her started on the outhouse.

She maintains her sanity only by texting her friends, and one of them starts a blog...which goes viral. To find out the rest, you’ll have to read the book! And do — it’s fun and funny! (I hope!)

-Any message for your fans?

Read Gen’s blog!! It’s a total experiment and I want to see if it’s fun or builds any kind of momentum. I’m thinking that if it works—if people are reading and commenting––I’ll try more things like it. Maybe a whole book as a blog, or a series of stories.  Gen’s at www.GensLittleBlogonthePrairie.blogspot.com. Happy reading!


A huge thank you to Cathleen for taking the time to answer my questions amidst preparing to release her new book. Little Blog on the Prairie will be released on May 11, 2010; make sure you grab a copy from your local B&N (or bookstore of choice) and follow Gen's journey on her blog linked above! Also, check out her official website here!