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Island Heritage

~ garrettpinder ~ Leave a comment

The year is drawing to a close, and as I reflect on the books I read this year, and those I didn’t, I can’t help but look forward. For the first time since 2009, since before starting this blog, I am finally able to return to The Bahamas for the holidays. As one who has spent nearly as much time away from home as I have living at home, this time is incredibly sentimental. We alternate our holiday destinations between the United States and The Bahamas. My birthday is a week after Christmas, right after New Years. In the past, this has meant that the whole family is together for at least a week or two.  This year, everyone will be down in the islands. While I write this, our first New England snow of the season comes down. The plows scrape and rumble by, frightening my cats.

But to the heart of this entry: This year was also the first time I’ve attempted NaNoWriMo… and by attempted, I mean, I didn’t really write much… BUT, I do have an idea. A grand idea if you ask me — but one that requires quite a bit of research on my part. I realize that next semester should be my last in my graduate school career, and for next NaNoWriMo, I want to be poised and ready to hammer out my fifty thousand words. Though I feel it’s too early to discuss this idea, I will say that it involves some aspects of the Caribbean. There’s not a terrible amount of visible Caribbean literature out there. I say visible because I know how rich and vibrant story-telling is in the islands, but not as many tales are written down and then published.

I also can’t stop thinking about Tiphanie Yanique’s book Land of Love and Drowning sitting on my shelf (scandalously adjacent to Herman Wouk!) so, tonight, I’ve picked it up. Yes, there are still three titles I haven’t read out of my 16 book gauntlet, and I still have reviews to write for about a half-dozen, but I’m still pleased that I finished most on the list! Anyone watching my other page will notice how much that list has grown… Trust me, I’m reading!

land of love and drowning tiphanie yanique caribbean Ah, look how beautiful under the dust jacket!

My task for this next year is to read as much as I can find about my cultural heritage from The Bahamas, as well as the other topics involved with my NaNoWriMo idea. I’ll be starting with the titles I already own, such as Tiphanie’s book, but also Paradise Overdose, by Brian Antoni, re-reading titles by Patricia Glinton-Meicholas, whatever I happen to find at home in my old room, and many more Caribbean authors. I’m taking International and Comparative Librarianship in my final semester of grad school, so ideally, I’ll be making some contacts (in the islands) for a class-related project. (You see how I worked that out, right?) We’ll see if I can skate around without purchasing any books… But I’m a sucker for a signed copy! I’d also like to revisit some titles from my childhood studies, such at The Cay by Theodore Taylor, and The Wooing of Beppo Tate by C. Everard Palmer. I can’t believe I actually remembered those to tell you the truth. Despite realizing that many… most… of these will not have audiobook versions, I am looking forward to reading physical copies.

If nothing else, I hope these books help me feel a bit warmer during the winter.

Down With Dystopia: The Rise of the Royal Court

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When I tried describing a book to someone last week, I realized that I was mixing up characters and plots, pulling from multiple titles I had recently read. Finally setting aside some time, I decided to look into these books a bit more, and then I fell down a rabbit hole. Suddenly, I’m not seeing dystopian books a-la Hunger Games and Divergent anymore. Now, books about princesses and kingdoms (and magic – ooo!) have taken the floor and are proudly waltzing by.
dystopia royal court princess

Is anyone else noticing this? Does this mark the end of depressing dystopian worlds? Is historical fiction donning a fancy new Y.A. get-up? We still have strong female characters completely dominating young adult literature; however, rather than the run-of-the-mill dystopia once dominating popular books, our heroines are now featured in the high courts of fantasy realms and fairy tale retellings.

I’m not saying this is a problem, but, does my observation carry greater meaning when I point out that many…most… of these books are written by debut authors?  I get that these things come in waves, but this seems more like a tsunami. Below are a number of recent, and soon-to-be books that include some aspect of royal courts:

  1. Red Queen (et al) – Victoria Aveyard
  2. Shadow & Bone (et al) – Leigh Bardugo
  3. Girl of Fire and Thorns (et al) – Rae Carson
  4. Graceling (et al) – Kristin Cashmore
  5. The Selection (et al) – Kiera Cass
  6. The Healer’s Apprentice (et all) – Melanie Dickerson
  7. The Jewel (et al)- Amy Ewing
  8. Deception’s Princess (et al) – Esther M. Friesner
  9. Princess of the Midnight Ball (et al) – Jessica Day George
  10. Seraphina (et al) – Rachel Hartman
  11. Cruel Beauty (et al)- Rosamund Hodge
  12. Princess of Thorns – Stacey Jay
  13. Stolen Songbird (et al)- Danielle L. Jenson
  14. The Queen of the Tearling (et al) – Erika Johansen
  15. Grave Mercy (et al)- Robin LeFevers
  16. Winterspell (et al)- Claire Legrand
  17. Stitching Snow – R. C. Lewis
  18. Throne of Glass (et al)- Sarah J. Maas
  19. Cinder (et al)- Marissa Meyer
  20. Suspicion – Alexandra Monir
  21. Legendary (et al) – L. H. Nicole
  22. Queen of Hearts: The Crown (et al)  – Colleen Oakes
  23. Snow Like Ashes (et al) – Sara Raasch
  24. Camelot Burning (et al)- Kathryn Rose
  25. Legacy (et al) – Jesikah Sundin
  26. Stray (et al) – Elissa Sussman
  27. A Wicked Thing (et al) – Rhiannon Thomas
  28. Crown of Ice (et al) – Vicki L. Weavil
  29. Storm Siren (et al) – Mary Weber
  30. Illusions of Fate (et al)- Kiersten White

That’s well over a two dozen titles, not including the respective continuations and sequels, e-book prequels or e-book short of some kind. (Those marked by ‘et al’ indicate some continuation in their series or intended series.) Of the authors that I’ve pulled into this list, there are only three that do not explicitly note a continuation of story.  I have a sneaking suspicion that we’ll see more than just one entry in these remaining three all the same.

So what’s with this sudden spike in popularity? Here are some observations:

Women authors — At least in this genre, it seems as though unless your name is George R.R. Martin, most fantasy books are being written by women. There are a few men that are writing for young adults: John Green, Rick Yancey, Patrick Ness, Scott Westerfeld, Rick Riordan… but they’re not necessarily explicitly ‘fantasy’ authors. Where is the new blood? Where are the male debut authors? And where are the male debut fantasy authors?

Princesses — I don’t think I need to point out the dream every little girl (and some boys!) have of growing up to be a princess. Rags to riches, coming of age, reluctant hero(ine)… and other themes are common in such princess fantasy stories. Also present are kings, queens, princes, duchies, nobility, lords, ladies, and the like. Everyone loves to play dress up. Everyone also loves coming from modest beginnings,  and not necessarily entitled to the fame and fortune, but, of course, deserving. Humble = likable.

Gossip — I really, really don’t want to go there, but there’s also a clear connection between certain elements in this genre (such as spies, assassins, espionage…all of which boil down to gossip, lies, and general underhanded-ness,) that are present in many stories with women characters. Perhaps it’s simply an aspect of the everyday feminine culture that is handled in different ways from book to book, but it is undeniable that gossip is a common thread.

**NOTE: There’s much hesitation, self-awareness, and self-censorship I exercise in writing this entry. I feel like feminist readers of my blog will tear me to pieces… but these aren’t meant to be pokes or jabs at the nature of feminism or female culture. I’m not criticizing these points I bring up, but rather I seek to open a thread of conversation to be had with a purity of motive.**

~    ~   ~

At this year’s Horn Book Awards Colloquium, held at Simmons College (Boston, MA), there was an interesting panel held on the diversity of literature for children and young adults. This was headed by individuals in the publishing world, all of whom claim to scour for talent every day trying to find diverse books to publish. Unfortunately, without the talent… there’s nothing to publish.

So much of this time I had been blaming the publishing world. I’d thought, well, of course they are the reason there is not more diversity in books – because they want to take something popular that makes them money and drill as far down into the well as they can… Further illustrated by my list above. Or is it? Are books like these getting published because that’s just what the writing talent is currently producing? Is it because these books are easily marketable to the established audience? Are there writers out there producing diverse literature and the work is just ‘not good enough’ yet to make it to print? I think it’s unfair to place the blame on any one faction of the book world. Everyone simply has to work harder to produce and promote diverse literature.

My final question is this: Does the list above demonstrate the diversity we are all working so hard for?

A Fever in my Blood

~ garrettpinder ~ Leave a comment

 

Boy, this took me long enough! I finally, finally, got around to reading Rebel Heart by Moira Young, book 2 in the Dustlands trilogy. I happened upon Blood Red Road (book 1) while I was in Canada one summer. Without having heard much about it before, I picked it up, because I couldn’t leave a bookstore empty-handed. Honestly, I didn’t begin reading it until a few months later, but once I did, I flew through the pages. Once I realized there were to be two more books following, I pre-ordered the titles as soon as they became available. That was a few years ago now, and since I loved BRR so much, I wanted to be sure Rebel Heart made it on my list of books to read this year.
Rebel Heart, Blood Red Road, Dustlands, Moira Young

 

The first thing you’ll notice about the Dustlands trilogy is the way it is written. That may sound sort of generic, but flip through the pages and you’ll see there are no quotation marks indicating speech. It is also written in the vernacular of the world. G’s are dropped from words ending with ‘-ing,’ instead of ‘for’ it’s ‘fer,’ rather than ‘afraid’ it’s ‘afeared,’ ‘can’t’ is ‘cain’t,’ etc. Honestly, it felt really odd for the first 40 pages or so, but soon you find yourself in the rhythm and you don’t even notice. Sometimes, the line spacing even makes the prose feel like verse… which may sound weird, but it works!

Moira Young does a marvelous job of supplying the reader with just enough detail. Sort of like a watercolor painting, her words suggest description while leaving us to fill in the specifics with our own imagination. It’s remarkable how liberating that feels… but I didn’t realize it until after I was through reading the book. It’s not like other writers that will ramble for pages about the bark of a tree.

Rebel Heart starts with a shift in perspective – we hear from another character’s point of view. Immediately I thought about Ally Condie’s Matched trilogy, wondering if this book would follow the same pattern: book 1, one perspective – book 2, two perspectives – book 3, three perspectives. In this case, the shift serves as a prologue. The book picks up pretty much where the first left off. (I’m purposefully leaving out characters and plot points for spoilers — Yeah, I’m being nice this time. You’re welcome.) Again, it took me a little while to get into the stylized rhythm, but I adjusted. The character names were all familiar, but I had to remind myself who was who from the previous book.

Saba, the protagonist, is the same as she was – stubborn, fierce, and unrelenting. After the events of the first book, it’s rewarding to see her struggle and develop through this next installment. She’s not perfect. Often I feel as though these strong-female-protagonists-in-a-post-apocalyptic-dystopian-world-for-young-adults all start to blend together. Not so with Saba. Her inner conflict is so… I wanna say textured, but that sounds weird… It’s pebbly and rocky, if that makes sense. And a few times, her decisions made me go “what?!” — and THAT’S what makes her such an interesting read. Saba is easily my favorite protagonist in this genre so far.

Oh, and speaking of genre. Something I should mention: this is very much a Western. That may shock you readers, but I urge you to give it a try. There are a lot of John Ford and John Wayne influences… In fact, does anyone remember The Searchers (1956 film)? If you liked that, you’ll definitely like this series. Now that I think about it, I suppose book 1 sort of follows along that same kind of story too.

Hopefully it won’t be another 3 years before I read the final book, Raging Star!

 

I’ve Been Featured…

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I’m totally geeking out right now.

I was interviewed by the lovely Nicole Brinkley (@nebrinkley) a little while ago and it was published online today! How awesome is it that I’m featured on YA Interrobang?? VERY! I’m so appreciative to have been a part of Nicole’s column and I’d love it if you all went over and showed some support.

ya interrobang yainterrobangFor those unfamiliar with YA Interrobang (@yainterrobang), it’s an online magazine all about the world of Young Adult literature. In other words: everything right up my alley. Though you may be skeptical since they only launched in August 2013, trust me, Nicole knows what she’s doing, and she had created an awesome ‘zine. There’s Author News, rants, event announcements, giveaways (who doesn’t love a good giveaway??) and so much more. The content is quality and there’s a lot of it. Ever since I Twitter-met Nicole at BEA earlier this year, I’ve been a fan.

So go read my interview, and go support another awesome blog.

Bloggers unite!

Letdown-iversary

~ garrettpinder ~ 1 Comment

Womp womp…

Okay folks, I was PLANNING on writing a big, bright, shining awesome entry today because it’s nearly the third anniversary of the inception of BookSick. Some of you may recall last year I mentioned that someone purchased the domain for booksick.com and I marked in my calendar the expiration date – today! I woke up early, charged with purpose, to snatch up the name. Well… it didn’t quite work out as I intended. What resulted was about two hours of frustration, and an unintentional course on the registration, expiration, and ownership of domains, from which I gathered the following:

Perks:
– The (old) booksick.com site has been down for several months. I’ve checked periodically.
– The current domain owner has allowed the renewal to lapse.

Drawbacks:
– There’s a 27 day renewal grace period, during which time, the current owner may renew.
– If unclaimed, the domain is put on hold for 30-45 days.
– Then there’s ANOTHER 30 days for the original owner to repurchase. (How many chances do they get? Come on!)

If I’m Desperate:
– I can backorder the domain through services like GoDaddy (ick ick ick!)
– Hire a domain acquisitions agent (ugh…)
– End up spending upwards of several hundreds of dollars. (NOT happening!)

I could possibly get the domain now, but I would have to hire someone for $69 to then negotiate with the owner, which could cause them to renew and then inflate the cost. Then pay a 10% commission to the agent (which they’re saying has to be a minimum of $60) which means I would be spending upwards of $730 — when I could have purchased it through WordPress for a measly $25. Why won’t I let this go? Or why not go for the .net or .co? Or what about booksickblog.com instead?

No. Why? Because – and that’s that. This domain WILL be mine. Period.

Until then, I’m going to play the waiting game. After all these periods of holding and pending and deleting from the Registry, assuming no one else in the world wants this domain, I should be able to pick it up once it is released back into the public pool. So basically, by the middle of November, if all goes well, I can then purchase the domain without paying crazy amounts of fees.

Please, give me strength to hold out until then!

“You’re Hired”

~ garrettpinder ~ 1 Comment

Can I talk about this yet? I think so? Yes!

To those in the blogosphere that may not follow me on Facebook or Twitter and may have missed my ecstatic postings of jubilation, I was chosen out of many-many-many candidates as the new Young Adult Services Coordinator at The Jones Library. It was quite a process, but I got the job. I’m simply over the moon with excitement, and at the end of my 2nd week, I feel great. Everywhere I go in the library, I meet people who say “Oh, YOU’RE the new YA person!” and they congratulate and my face flushes while I thank them and wave off the compliment… but it is so invigorating to feel so accepted and appreciated in this new place. It’s so refreshing to walk in to that building, and I couldn’t be more honored to be selected for such an important position.

Don’t get me wrong, after four years of employment at my previous retail job, I was taken care of, and I really do respect my old coworkers…I would not trade that time or experience for anything. I hope people out there realize how important customer service really is, and understand that it’s NOT difficult to be nice and smile, even when you’re having a bad day. Lashing out and being a DB doesn’t gain any respect or make you friends. So please… everyone… be nice to everyone else! (At least pleasant!) Okay – end of lecture!

Next step: graduation! With only four courses left, my MLS degree is nearly complete. Soon I can officially call myself a Librarian – with a capital L.

Guest Review: Landline

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LWA Guests's avatarLove. Writing. Adventure.

by Garrett Pinder

It’s rare that I’m able to connect with a book on a level that really resonates with me, but Landline by Rainbow Rowell did. Better known for her wildly popular YA novel Eleanor & Park, Rowell carried me along with her easy flowing prose in this, her fourth book. At BEA 2014, I had the pleasure of meeting her as she signed an ARC (advanced reader copy) of the book. (Out now!)

Landline by Rainbow RowellLandline Signed by Rainbow Rowell

What’s it about?

We enter the story finding Georgie and Neal in the doldrums of marriage, struggling to manage work and care for their two young girls. Christmas is swiftly approaching, and the family has plans to visit Neal’s mother in Omaha for the holidays, when Georgie is offered a once in a lifetime opportunity at work. Unfortunately, this opportunity conflicts with travel plans, and Neal bitterly insists Georgie stay home while he takes…

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The Young World

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A review by Alyssa Lacross

 

the young world chris weitz

My loving boyfriend (who is not a book lover at all and tends to read exclusively postings on “The Truth About Cars” website) won an ARC of The Young World from our awesome (not-so-local) bookstore The Odyssey while attending a YA Author Panel.

 

I was a mix of excited and skeptical, the concept sounds great, but another Hollywood-type trying to be an author? (If you are less than familiar with the Hollywood crew, he was the director of New Moon.)

 

I’m telling you now, this is one of those books you either love or hate…and based on the very teenaged plot and constant references to Google, 2012 top charts songs, Facebook, and partying like it’s the end of the world all meant dreams of my boyfriend picking up this book were zero.

 

The book is set in post-apocalyptic New York City, where a strange sickness has killed all children and adults, leaving behind only teenagers. The two main characters Jefferson and Donna are part of one of many heavily armed tribes in New York. When Jefferson becomes their tribe’s leader he, Donna, and a misfit gang set out, traveling through lands of other tribes where they are constantly in danger to to try and save humanity and cure the sickness. The book has a lot of action, a little bit of romance, and some things that are just down right strange, all in a way that plays out like a movie script, which is great because the film rights were picked up by Warner Brothers already! I have to say my love of all things YA and my nearly embarrassing appreciation for pop culture means I’m definitely curious.

 

I don’t think its really a “timeless” book because of the many pop culture references, but in the present it will definitely make some hype once teen readers find it on the shelves of their local libraries and bookstores. Keeping in mind the cliffhanger ending and the adorable potential love story between Jefferson and Donna, they’ll soon be clambering for the sequels too as it is set to be a trilogy.

 

The book is to be released on July 29th, so check it out!

 

 

alyssa brian

A little about me ☺

My name is Alyssa Lacross. I’m from Connecticut. I wear many hats, including a children’s and teen librarian hat, at a few libraries in CT and MA while obtaining my Master’s in Library Science with a concentration in School Libraries from Simmons College. I love to read (but only children’s and YA books), binge watch Netflix, listen to the radio (but only in the car) and run (but badly). That’s the boyfriend in the picture with me, since this post came from him winning the book!

Permanent Collection

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After adding my newest addition, Land Of Love and Drowning by Tiphanie Yanique, to my shelves last night, I realized just how many books I have signed and dedicated to my name. This is a double-edged sword, my friends, because in my pursuit of reading and book-buying, there are some books I simply cannot part with. It all comes down to the signature. I shy away from the word “collected” because I wouldn’t consider myself a collector of signatures, but I really have gathered a fair number already, simply by attending author events. Many are personally dedicated to me, which make the books incredibly special – I’m reminded that I have made a connection with the author in some way. This also solidifies the book’s place on my shelves. In light of my recent separation from several entries, these with signatures will never be resold or donated (unless to another family member, I suppose), making them permanently and steadfastly mine. I totally have Middle-Child-MINE-Syndrome.

Below is the list of books* I have signatures (sig) and dedications (ded) in:

  1. Witch Island – David Bernstein sig/ded
  2. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown – Holly Black sig/ded
  3. Fat Angie – e.E. Charlton-Trujillo sig/ded
  4. City of Bones – Cassandra Clare sig
  5. Emissary – Patricia Cori sig/ded
  6. The Search for WondLa – Tony DiTerlizzi sig/ded
  7. All I Know and Love – Judith Frank sig/ded
  8. Endgame – James Frey and Nils Johnson-Shelton sig
  9. Magician’s Land – Lev Grossman sig/ded
  10. Flying Shoes – Lisa Howorth sig/ded
  11. I Am Not Myself These Days – Josh Kilmer-Purcell sig/ded
  12. Evil Librarian – Michelle Knudsen sig/ded
  13. We Were Liars – E. Lockhart sig/ded
  14. Dorothy Must Die – Danielle Paige sig/ded
  15. Mort(e) – Robert Repino sig/ded
  16. Jackaby – William Ritter sig/ded
  17. Eleanor & Park – Rainbow Rowell sig
  18. Landline – Rainbow Rowell sig/ded
  19. A Sudden Light – Garth Stein sig/ded
  20. Land of Love and Drowning – Tiphanie Yanique sig/ded
  21. Briar Rose – Jane Yolen sig/ded

*A number of these books are ARCs from BEA ’14

Look Out Pinterest

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That’s right —

BookSick is now on Pinterest! There you’ll find (awesome) bookshelves, (neat) little quotations, and (inspiring) literary tattoos… And much more as I settle in continue developing and pinning like a fiend.

booksick pinterest

I’m going to take some time to go through my old posts and pin those entries on a special Blog Posts board too, but that’s several years of entries in the past, so it may take some time! Rest assured, I am fervently reading several books at the moment and reviews will be coming soon… Not just on THIS blog, but I’ll be making a guest appearance on another blog in the near future! Stay tuned!